Keyboard Immortal

Zu An reached out his hand and lifted her chin gently, admiring her pretty face up close.
“Since I already knew your objective from the very start, did you think that I would have taken no precautions?”

A sudden thought flashed into Xiao Tuo’s mind, and her face warped with horror.

Zu An traced his finger across her face, feeling her soft and smooth skin.
“I’m sure you’ve passed on all of the intelligence that you’ve obtained from me during this period.
Even though you were always rather careful, I was already aware of your intentions, so there was no way I could let you achieve your goals.”

“But I still obtained a lot of secret intelligence!” Xiao Tuo said quickly.

Zu An laughed.
“Because all of that was false information that I deliberately let you have access to.”

“False information?” Xiao Tuo felt something snap within her, and her soul seemed to leave her body.
She completely forgot about the hand on her face… Of course, given the things they had done during this period, such a trifling thing was hardly a big deal.

Zu An nodded.
“Actually, I feel truly grateful to you.
It was rather difficult to get rid of those who opposed me, but by having you mislead Lian, I had him take care of many of his own trusted subordinates for me.
Haha! He thought that those people that he removed had been bribed by me.
Instead, the people he now trusts and placed in important positions are the ones that actually work for me.

“You’ve really helped me out and put him in quite the miserable position! Tell me, do you think Lian will still think fondly of you, or will he hate you?”

Xiao Tuo’s body went ice-cold.
“You’re a devil!” she cried.

Zu An grabbed her hand.
“Let me make something clear.” he replied, his voice devoid of emotion.
“You were the ones who plotted against me first.
Who is the real devil here?” 

Xiao Tuo’s face went blank, and her entire body went limp.
She began to sob.

The last of her faith had crumbled, and she finally realized that everything she had stood for was a joke.

She had given up her own purity and happiness, and ruined all of Lian’s dreams in the process.
All of this was just too much for her to take.

The man in front of her showed her no mercy, his fiendish voice continuing to batter her ears.
“Once he realizes all of this, and he associates it with the grievance he has already been feeling all this while, his first thought will be that you somehow developed feelings for me, which will lead him to think that you betrayed him.
He will believe that you plotted with me to fool him.”

“No, he won’t…” Xiao Tuo mumbled, frantically shaking her head.
However, she knew just how powerless her words were.

“Why are you telling me all of this? Is it just so you can humiliate me even more?” Xiao Tuo looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

Zu An looked back at her, then reached out a hand to wipe away the tears dripping down her cheeks.
“It’s because I want you.”

“You’ve already had me all along!” Xiao Tuo screamed.
He had already toyed with her day and night! Don’t tell me he’s still not satisfied?!

Zu An shook his head.
“No, I haven’t.”

Xiao Tuo was stunned.
She was confused at first, but she slowly understood what he meant.
He did not only want her body, he wanted her heart as well.

She sneered.
“Do you think it’s even possible?”

Zu An said indifferently, “If it wasn’t because of the changes I’d seen happen in the way you treated me, as well as the hesitation and doubt you subconsciously felt whenever you leaked out information, I wouldn’t have even bothered to say so much to you.”

Xiao Tuo stayed silent. Could I have unknowingly…?

Zu An continued, “There’s really no need for you to feel sympathy for someone who uses his lover’s body to achieve his goals.
Besides, putting aside your feelings for now, you still have your family and the people of the Tuo State to worry about.
Do you truly wish for all of them to be chopped up into mincemeat and offered as human sacrifices just because of their relationship to you?”

Xiao Tuo’s entire body began to tremble.
“You really are a devil after all!” 

Zu An shook his head.
“I’m not saying all this to threaten you.
You need to understand that, more often than not, decisions are not left up to the king alone.
When it is time for Lian to stand accountable for his deeds, the court officials will examine both you and your family and the people within your state.
This isn’t something I can dismiss with a wave of my hand, even if I wanted to.
If I did so, our entire country would be thrown into disorder.

“I’m only telling you this because I want you to choose a path that actually benefits yourself.
Only if you willingly give yourself to me can I convince everyone that everything you did was a part of my plan.
Only then can you, your family and the people of your state avoid that bitter ending.”

When he saw her blank expression, Zu An lowered his head to kiss her cherry-colored lips.

Xiao Tuo subconsciously reached out to push him away, but her hands froze midway.

Zu An smiled.
He interlocked his fingers with hers, and then he carried her to the bed.

Xiao Tuo’s heart began to pound.
Even though she had embraced him intimately on many occasions over the course of this period, for some reason, she felt extremely nervous.
She might have been even more nervous than the first time.

She knew that, this time at least, her heart was awash with contradiction and hesitation.