Although Lu Liangwei’s birthday celebration was far from grand, being together with her family and friends and enjoying the moment without any restraint made her happier than anything else.
After the banquet was over and everyone had left the palace, Lu Liangwei sat in her bedchamber, having a foot bath. She was delighted that she got to have dinner with her family and friends that day, but when she thought of her brother, far away at the frontier, she could not help feeling a little gloomy.
They exchanged letters frequently, and Lu Tingchen would often send someone to bring Lu Liangwei delicacies from the frontier, but the fact that everyone she loved came today except her brother filled her with melancholy.
When Long Yang walked in, he saw her sitting there with a glum expression. In contrast to her cheerful mood just now, the sadness on her face seemed rather abnormal.
However, he made no comment. Rolling up his sleeves, he squatted down beside her, took her dainty foot into his palms, and massaged it gently.
The sight of the man crouching by her feet dazed Lu Liangwei for a moment.
When she came back to her senses, she struggled gingerly in an attempt to free her foot, but the man only tightened his grasp on her.
Biting her lip, Lu Liangwei reminded him, “This is against the rules.”
Long Yang looked up at her, his dark eyes carrying a hint of a smile. “Why should I care about rules while washing my wife’s feet?” His tone was relaxed and without the slightest bit of reluctance.
Lu Liangwei blinked, too surprised to speak. After a while, she said, “But you’re the Emperor…”
“But I’m your husband before anything else.” Long Yang’s tone was gentle yet authoritative.
A smile tugged at the corners of Lu Liangwei’s mouth as warmth enveloped her heart, and she eventually swallowed the words of refusal that were on the tip of her tongue.
Being so loved by a man filled her with bliss.
This blissful feeling dispelled the gloom in her heart.
When she met the man’s tender and affectionate eyes, she felt as if she was going to drown in them.
Fortunately, Long Yang soon lowered his head and continued to massage her feet.
He washed them thoroughly, and seemed even a little reluctant to release them from his grasp.
If he had to wash her feet every day, he would gladly do it.
At this moment, he was no longer the exalted Emperor who wielded power over life and death, but an ordinary man who coincidentally was Lu Liangwei’s husband.
The man’s facial features were already exceptionally handsome, and although the few cups of wine he had drunk with her parents during the banquet were not enough to intoxicate him, they added a tinge of crimson to the outer rim of his eyes. Under the lights, he appeared even more stunning and seductive, and even the usually cold and chiseled contours of his face seemed to soften into a gentle and mesmerizing blur.
Looking at the Emperor, so different from his usual demeanor, Lu Liangwei could not help herself from leaning over, cupping his face, and planting a kiss on his forehead.
The moist and soft sensation on his forehead made Long Yang stop in his tracks, but he promptly proceeded to wipe her feet with a towel as if nothing had happened.
After cleaning up, Long Yang headed to the bathroom.
When he returned, Lu Liangwei was already yawning sleepily and crawling under the covers.
With a smile, Long Yang walked over, put on his inner garment, and took her into his arms along with the covers.
The faint smell of alcohol crept up Lu Liangwei’s nose, waking her slightly from her drowsiness.
“Weiwei.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you miss your brother?”
After a pause, Lu Liangwei peeled open her sleepy eyes to look at him. “How did you know?”
Instead of replying, Long Yang gave her a fond smile before lowering his head and kissing her on the forehead, then her nose, and finally went for her moist, rosy lips.
There was a brief hesitation on his part before he surged forward and captured her lips without warning.
Something seemed to have stimulated him; gone was his usual tenderness, and in its place was a sense of aggressiveness.
Lu Liangwei could not help opening her mouth.
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