The fire within Xiao Yu that once was burning brightly had been dimmed by the man she thought that she loved, Yi Long and now she knew that whatever love there was between him and her was nothing compared to the hidden truth that she knew now in her heart. People often say that you can't choose the one you love and that was the honest truth, she couldn't very well chose who she loved or who she feel in love with. If she was asked before the very night, she would have said that love was a fickle thing and that it wasn't in her cards, after all what else could she say after being hurt by Yi Long so many times. In the moment though, she was in love with Milo. She was in love with the man that she knew he was, because her heart had been calling out for him for so long.<br/><br/><br/>"Milo.." His name, the name escaped her soft lips in a breath of hot air that filled her room and interrupted the other noises that had been a constant; it was a like a spark that sizzled every time that they touched. She was having a hard time holding back her moans aside from the higher pitched noises that she had no idea that she was even capable of producing. She didn't know whether or not she should closed her eyes and savor the way he was making her feel or to keep them open and gaze on his face the whole time she was drinking up the pleasure. As she felt his hand against her ass, her body reacted. She slung forward slightly and a loud half moan half gasp echoed before her lips found his again with a renewed passion. She pressed her lips against his feverishly she felt her harden nipples prest against his chest, being slightly smooshed in between the two of them. Her arms squeezed his body slightly before her fingers curled and her palms pulled away from his skin.<br/><br/><br/>"It feels so good...." her voice was trembling just a little as she dug her nails into his back and dragged them slightly. "Please don't stop, baby." Her hands came up and cupped both sides of his face and for a moment she looked into his eyes, her brown eyes melting for the heat of them.. She bite down lightly on her her bottom lip to keep herself from saying the three little words that she knew would scared him away but that she was feeling reverberating all throughout her very being besides the warm throbbing that was between a pair of moist and tightening lips. She found herself trying to sit up and further down onto him. Her right hands cup the back of his neck and brought him with her as she lowered herself on to him more, feeling herself reach his base. A ripple ran down her back and her head lulled back momentarily and she exhaled, her chest rising and falling fast. She closed her eyes and whispered almost frantically, "I'm so close... I'm going to cum if you don't slow down."<br/><br/><br/>-----------------------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/><br/>There she was sitting in her chair, the one that he worked hard to obtained the special meteorite for. He never did tell her that he wanted to do something special for her, but he always counted on her knowing that he loved her. For anyone else it would have been weird that two of them left so many words unsaid and still could understand one another so well. He counted on her ability to read his mind too much and as they grew she gained the ability to read his heart. She was the only one to break through the barriers, natural and supernatural, to reach him when he raged out. She was the only one that he could not bear to hurt. He was not a mind reader or a heart reader, but he could tell that she was still not one hundred percent recovered from walking away from the scholar. His left hand balled up into a fist and he wanted to slam it into the smoothed granite table that he was sitting at in the foyer, but before he could, he'd seen her twitch and look in his direction.<br/><br/><br/>He hated that even now she could read him so easily and he could only guess what she was thinking.<br/><br/><br/>If she could tell that he was angry why couldn't she tell that he loved her more than anything and anyone. He was the perfect mixture of royalty and intelligence. Then he remembered that she knew he loved her. If he could have stayed in that moment forever. He could remember the night clearly...well part of the night. He couldn't remember anything before the blackout, the rage that plagued him and make him turn into a beast, a monster. But he could remember that she was the light in the darkness and that she had risked her life to reach out to him. He remembered carrying her to bed amd hearing her asking for him to stay with her that night. He knew that he shouldn't have stayed but he couldn't refused her. He knew that the scholar was outside her room but he didn't care. She had asked for him so he was going to oblige.<br/><br/><br/>He could remember it so clearly the way that she looked up at him and wiped his tears away. "Lengxie, I'm alright. I promise. You could never hurt me." He remembered that her words stung his heart so much. He remembered how much Wuqing was blushing when he set her down on the edge of her bed. It was then that they shared a moment and in that moment his heart old her that he loved her and that someday he would make her his wife. Her cheeks had gone red and she had hidden her face. He remembered that they both sat in her room awkward and embarrassed until she had drifted off to sleep. It was then that he gone to tuck her in and she grabbed his hands with hers and pleaded, "Lengxie gege, don't leave me please." He blew out the lamps in her room and sat at the edge of her bed letting her hold onto his hand tightly as if she was scared. He remembered that he thought she was like a scared little girl then and he just knew he wanted to protect her for the rest of his life.<br/><br/><br/>He remembered that he was the first to awaken the morning after, though it wouldn't have been a surprise given the fact that she had expended all her energy. Somehow she managed to coax him, or he willing get into bed with her. They were still fully clothed but he found her sleeping on his chest. He should have moved but he couldn't help but think that someday he would be waking up to her like that everyday. He wanted to kiss her forehead and ask her if she was alright, ask her if she slept alright. He'd wanted to stroke her back and hold her in silence and then she asked about Lin Anbo.<br/><br/><br/>if he was smarter, he would have asked his god father and her god father that day or that week for her hand in marriage. he should have because it would have saved them so much heartache. Sure, An Bo would have been hurt to see the girl that he was falling for marry but at least back then there would have never been this much baggage. She would be his. His fist balled up again but he made sure not to let his emotions get the better of him otherwise she would know. He watched as she turned her back to him and realized that this was how he would spend the rest of his life looking at her and longing for her. At least from here, he could love her as his own a;ways two steps behind her cloaked in the shadow; fitting since she was the sun and he was the moon.<br/><br/><br/>I love you, Wuqing! Only he shouted it inside of his now icy heart. I love you!<br/><br/><br/>She stirred again and he quickly turned his back towards her and stiffen up his shoulders telling and willing himself to walk away from her. Today was not the day he would profess his love to her. Today was the day that he would give her away to the man that she loved whether and he had to do it without her discovering it. it would kill him not to have his last hurrah, the last chance to win the heart of the woman that he loved and knew loved him too somewhere, somehow. His brothers knew that he needed them and soon the three were walking side by side. Tieshou and Zhuiming both clasped his shoulders in a silent affirmation that they were there for him.<br/><br/><br/>"Is everything set?" He asked them.<br/><br/><br/>"We're set." Tieshou answered.<br/><br/><br/>"Are you sure that it has to be him?" Zhuiming asked frowning.<br/><br/><br/>"You know it can't be one of us." He said.<br/><br/><br/>"It can be us two but--"<br/><br/><br/>"Zhuiming, that's enough. Let us go get ourselves ready."<br/><br/><br/>"Lengxie..." they both started but he gave them both a stern look.<br/><br/><br/>"She loves him. If I told her now it would break her and even if she agreed it would start a fight between my god father and Taizi. We've done enough of that already. Zhuge Shushu cannot be punished on our behalf anymore; even Wuqing knows that."<br/><br/><br/>The boys shook their heads and Tieshou responded, "Even Wuqing shimei knows her place. Are you sure da shixiong that this will work?"<br/><br/><br/>He nodded, "I'm sure. Now let's go get the groom before i change my mind."<br/><br/><br/>-------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/><br/>The way that her family was walking on eggshells around her hurt more than knowing that she had broken An Bo down the way she said she would never do. It was for his survival and his own good.. She needed him to live on when she was gone. She could die for her country and for the people she loved. They would all be taken care of after she passed, but An Bo wasn't allowed to die. His father needed him to be alive. She would not let him be a dishonored son on her behalf. She was her father's daughter and she had his patriotic and proud blood running through her veins. She could sacrifice her own happiness and he own life for everything and just to spite the man who believed he was the son of heaven. Yes, she realized that she was getting the chance to live a glamorous life and that many women in all of China dreamed for the chance to be Empress. She was not one of them. She wanted to just be a putong nuren (common woman) who loved a putong nanren (common man).<br/><br/><br/>She realized how silly she used to be thinking that one day she would win the admiration of Lengxie gege and she would be the envy of every eligible maiden. As she aged she came to realized that she could never give Lengxie gege the prestige that he deserved. He was always a da yingxiong (a grand hero) and someday the Emperor would grant him the hand of one of the princesses. It was a given. She couldn't compared to a princess so she removed herself from the equation even when she knew that he loved her. It would have been a wonderful thing to wake up in his arms for the rest of her life. She would forever treasure the silent dream that she was granted once. She got to feel what it would be like to her his heart beat with her ear and not her heart or her mind. Perhaps if they hadn't been so afraid then...perhaps if he had kissed her forehead that morning she would have had the courage to confessed that she loved him beyond their working relationship, beyond their 'sibling-ship', but it didn't come so she made herself believe that he didn't love her.<br/><br/><br/>Then the unthinkable happened. She feel in love with a man who shone so brightly that she found herself mesmerized by him as he would recite verses of poetry and stanzas of philosophy.. He reminded her of her father. A memory that almost faded away and ceased to exist until he walked into her life. He wasn't China's revered hero and that meant that she could selfish and possessive, but she had already become possessive and jealous of him more so than she ever was of Lengxie gege. That was the first sign that made her realize that she felt different for him. And yet, she would become the sole reason why he could not pass the national exam. At first he was just as baffled as he was when his results would come in. But in time, she came to realize that she was the reason why Taizi sabotaged him. If her marriage to the Crowned Prince would mean that she could ensure that An bo was named royal tutor than it would be the very least that she could do with him.<br/><br/><br/>Everyone's future fell on her shoulders and she was determined to fortify them before she took her leave. She had it all planned out:<br/><br/><br/>Agree to the marriage<br/><br/>Break An Bo so he would leave her alone<br/><br/>Kill Lengxie, if necessary<br/><br/>Endured the etiquette squad<br/><br/>Marry Taizi<br/><br/>Ensure that An Bo became the royal turo and immune to any judgement of her husband<br/><br/>Ensure that Shen Hou Fu and all those who swell within its walls were not under the jurisdiction on her husband.<br/><br/>Marry each of her brothers to a princess<br/><br/>Die before Taizi could impregnate her<br/><br/>She was happy that she didn't have to kill Lengxie, she came close but he understood that he could not stop her from making her own choice. She was just as stubborn as he was.. Her wedding day was approaching soon and that meant that she no longer had to endure the etiquette squad.. An Bo finally understood that she didn't care for him since she would have the power and wealth of the Emperor at her disposal. Even Lengxie had given up on her because she could feel his anger pushing against her. When she turned to look at him, he would not face her.<br/><br/><br/>This is easier this way, she told herself.