The Cannon Fodder Was Pampered By The Tyrant - Chapter 16

Sexual Orientation Unchanged

Lin Yutian had said those words on a whim, but she never expected Si Yan to actually agree.

Inside the Hot Spring Palace, Si Yan stood by the edge of the pool. Her phoenix-like eyes drifted toward Lin Yutian, her tone leisurely. “Why aren’t you undressing?”

The Emperor had removed all her head ornaments, letting her raven-black hair cascade down to her waist. Her face was as pale as snow further down, her slender waist was wrapped in black fabric, though Lin Yutian knew there were faint, elegant traces of muscle hidden beneath.

“……”

By the time Lin Yutian realized what she was thinking, it was too late.

Finished, I’m finished. Have I really read too many storybooks lately? Has my sexual orientation started to waver?

Lin Yutian’s heart was filled with suspicion and uncertainty. But soon, she calmed herself down.

I’m probably just admiring Si Yan’s beauty purely as an aesthetic appreciation. After all, who could resist looking at a beautiful landscape a few extra times?

Steeling her nerves, Lin Yutian resolutely reached out to unfasten Si Yan’s belt, though her hands trembled slightly.

“So unskilled. Have you never undressed anyone before?” Si Yan stared straight at her.

Lin Yutian was busy monitoring her own internal emotional shifts. Interrupted by Si Yan’s voice, she momentarily forgot her current status. “Don’t talk for a second.”

“……”

Si Yan watched her and indeed remained silent. Deliberately avoiding the question? It seems there was someone else. The Emperor felt a flicker of annoyance. I’ve lost again.

Removing the first two outer robes wasn’t so bad. Lin Yutian’s heart maintained a stable rhythm. However, when it came to the final layer, her hand faltered.

She realized then that Si Yan wasn’t wearing a stomach cover (dudou). There was no doubt, once this inner garment was removed, she would see everything.

Lin Yutian found herself lacking the courage to proceed.

Si Yan remained motionless, prompting her coldly, “Why have you stopped?”

Lin Yutian kept her head down, her neck flushed pink. She gathered her courage several times but couldn’t bring herself to pull away that final layer. Finally, she turned around and said awkwardly, “Perhaps Your Majesty should finish the rest herself.”

Si Yan was satisfied with this reaction, yet her spoken words carried a tone of feigned ignorance. “Since Ayu doesn’t like women, why are you being so coy about helping me undress?”

“Could it be…” Si Yan leaned into her ear and whispered, “Ayu is afraid of feeling something upon seeing my body?”

“Nonsense!” Lin Yutian snapped back with a hollow defensiveness, as if volume equaled conviction. “I just wanted to give you some privacy.”

Aren’t ancient people supposed to be the most reserved and well-mannered? Why is Si Yan so lawless? I have no way to handle her.

“Since you aren’t afraid of feeling anything, then finish undressing me.”

Lin Yutian was the type who couldn’t back down from a dare. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Her hand returned to Si Yan’s clothing ties. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and yanked the final layer away.

A faint, constant fragrance lingered on Si Yan, and in this moment, Lin Yutian could smell it more clearly than ever. Panicked and losing her sense of direction, she let go and turned to flee, only to misstep and fall directly into the hot spring.

The accident happened so fast that Si Yan couldn’t catch her in time.

Lin Yutian was terrified. Her nose and mouth filled with water, the primal fear of drowning took over as she thrashed in the pool, screaming out, “Si Yan!”

The next second, she felt a pair of arms scoop her up by the waist. Soaked to the bone, Lin Yutian pressed her wet body against the equally warm, wet body of the person holding her. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around Si Yan’s waist.

Si Yan could feel the frantic, erratic heartbeat of the girl in her arms. she lightly kissed Lin Yutian’s forehead and said softly, “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Lin Yutian slowly came to her senses. She realized the water in the pool only reached her abdomen, it was physically impossible to drown. Her earlier panic had been purely a lapse in logic.

Embarrassment set in. She looked up at Si Yan, whose stunning, aloof face was now beaded with water, her dark eyes fixed intently on Lin Yutian.

“Thank you…” Lin Yutian whispered.

Recalling how Lin Yutian had blurted out her name in fear, Si Yan’s lips curled into a slight smile. “Just words?”

Lin Yutian blinked. “Then how do you want me to thank you?”

Si Yan’s gaze dropped to the girl’s wet clothes, where her curves were vaguely visible through the fabric. Her tone turned mischievous. “Then Ayu shall undress herself in front of me.”

“Piece by piece.”

Lin Yutian’s eyes filled with shame and disbelief. But since she was the one who suggested bathing together, she couldn’t back out now without losing face. After a long pause, she managed a weak protest: “But I… I prefer bathing with my clothes on.”

“You can’t get clean that way,” Si Yan refused to let her off the hook. “I’ll count to three. If Ayu doesn’t undress, I’ll help you myself.”

Lin Yutian folded immediately. “I’ll do it myself!”

But they were far too close. Lin Yutian whispered, “Can you put me down first?”

Si Yan raised an eyebrow, her tone sounding very serious. “That won’t do. What if you fall again?”

Lin Yutian’s body turned even redder. She had planned to have Si Yan undress first so she could find an opening to escape, but now she was the wet one, held up by Si Yan with her legs forced around the Emperor’s waist. There was no escape.

Skin pale and water hot, Lin Yutian’s neck deepened in color with every garment she shed. Her green robes floated away on the water until she was left in only her trousers and a pink stomach cover.

At this point, she looked like a boiled shrimp. Seeing no way to hide, she buried her face in Si Yan’s shoulder, her voice pleading, “Is this enough?”

She sounded truly shy now, her voice soft and vulnerable completely different from the posturing she had done over the past few days.

“Si Yan.” Lin Yutian’s hands were clasped behind the Emperor’s neck, her fingers nervously twining together. “Can I please stop now?”

Si Yan finally snapped out of her daze. Looking at Lin Yutian’s flushed face, she gave a raspy “Mhm.”

Granted amnesty, Lin Yutian hastily washed herself. Si Yan remained quiet, making no further moves. Before getting out, Lin Yutian turned back to negotiate. “Can you close your eyes? Don’t open them until I’ve changed.”

Si Yan’s eyes darkened as they lingered on the girl’s white neck. “What’s the trade?”

Lin Yutian’s sense of shame had been thoroughly eroded tonight. With a flaming face, she stiffly leaned in and gave Si Yan a light peck on the cheek. Her skin temperature seemed to rise even higher after the kiss.

She had expected Si Yan to make things difficult again, but to her surprise, the Emperor actually let her go. Lin Yutian didn’t stop to think; she just wanted to flee the scene.

She didn’t see that after she left, Si Yan expressionlessly picked up Lin Yutian’s wet clothes, brought them to her nose to catch the lingering scent, and replayed the image of Lin Yutian’s watery eyes looking up at her.

I meant to bully her but suddenly, I couldn’t bear to.

Si Yan slowly lowered her hand beneath the water.

When the Emperor eventually finished and prepared to leave the palace, a guard immediately bowed. “Your Majesty.”

Si Yan gave a low grunt, her voice sounding unusually hoarse. “Any results?”

“Based on the investigation, Miss Lin stayed home almost exclusively and had no contact with anyone. As for her family…” The guard hesitated.

“Speak.”

“My investigation shows that Miss Lin’s family abused and enslaved her during their lifetime. After their deaths, all assets were placed under the proxy of her grandfather.”

The guard held her breath. Si Yan said indifferently, “You know how to handle it?”

The guard nodded. “I understand.” Naturally, it meant digging up the graves and scattering the ashes of those involved.

“Dismissed.”

Lin Yutian had practically bolted out. She wandered the garden for a while until her heart settled.

That didn’t count, she told herself. She hadn’t expected Si Yan to be missing that specific layer of clothing. If she had been dressed properly, Lin Yutian wouldn’t have been so nervous. It was just a natural reaction to seeing something she shouldn’t.

She finally convinced herself. To verify her conclusion, she picked a flower and started plucking petals.

“Changed, hasn’t changed, changed… changed.”

The result contradicted her conclusion. Frowning, she picked another flower. It still said “changed.”

Lin Yutian refused to accept it. She reversed the order and counted again. When the result finally landed on “hasn’t changed,” she heaved a sigh of relief and buried the “flower corpses” in a small pile of dirt.

See? How could I possibly like women?

She assumed Si Yan would be back in the room waiting to cross-examine her, but the Emperor hadn’t returned. Feeling good about her “unchanged” orientation, Lin Yutian sat boldly in Si Yan’s chair and began flipping through unread official scrolls.

I have to admit, even though she’s a bad person, her handwriting is unexpectedly beautiful sharp, elegant, and full of character.

…Wait, no.

Lin Yutian slapped her own cheeks. Why was she constantly thinking about Si Yan?

To reset, she imagined the scene of herself winning ten million dollars. Her familiar, greedy heartbeat returned. She let out a long breath. That was close. Thank goodness my love for money remains constant.

She went back to admiring the calligraphy, though she couldn’t understand the content. Soon, her eyelids grew heavy.

When Si Yan returned, she found Lin Yutian asleep on the desk. She looked much better behaved while sleeping. Si Yan picked her up steadily. The girl, who usually jumped three feet high if touched, was now as limp as a kitten.

Since Lin Yutian’s hair was still damp, Si Yan laid her on the bed and let her rest her head on her lap. She ran her long fingers through the black hair, using a fan to gently dry it.

Lin Yutian frowned and huddled into the blanket as if cold. Si Yan’s hand paused. “High maintenance,” she muttered, though her movements became even gentler.

She thought back to the person Lin Yutian had mentioned before, and her expression darkened. If I can’t find them, are they already dead?

Suddenly, a new possibility struck her. Lin Yutian was always so obedient, why would she suddenly start provoking me? Is she trying to get me to kill her so she can join him in death?

Looking at the girl’s peaceful sleeping face, Si Yan felt this was likely. The accidental fall into the water showed she wasn’t truly seeking death herself, so her provocations must be a plan to use Si Yan’s hand as the “blade.”

But Lin Yutian didn’t realize she had already caught Si Yan’s attention five years ago. This behavior was nothing more than delivering herself to the tiger’s den.

Si Yan stroked her silky hair and said coldly, “I will never let the two of you meet.”

“Give up on that dream.”