Gu Guangli was kicked so hard his body flew a couple feet away. His back slammed violently against the trunk. The scream out his mouth was cut off abruptly. A streak of blood splattered onto the ground.

Khan Bojing rushed forward, immediately covering her exposed skin with his cloak. "That damn bastard."

Before she knew it, Li Wei was wrapped in his embrace. The knife dropped onto the ground and her hands went to him. "Khan Bojing..."

"I'm here now, you're safe with me. Xiao Wei, look at me. I'm here now. " His comforting voice filled her ears repeatedly until she could no longer hear anything else.

"I-I know," She managed to say.

Gu Guangli's body laid limply on the ground unmoving, every breath he took was painstakingly painful. With whatever was left of his strength, his fingernails dug into the dirt, and he managed to crawl over. "Your Majesty, don't you want to know who Li Wei is?"

"Get her name out of your filthy mouth." Khan Bojing let go of his wife and held his sword against Gu Guangli's neck.

Gu Guangli's eyes followed the sharp blade placed against his skin. "Your Majesty, if you don't know, Li Wei was a whore known all over the streets of Na'an. Which bed had she not climbed into? I was only one of the many men she played with! Both you and I, are we not on the same boat?"

"You and I will never be on the same boat. It's you who don't know her," He spoke in the coldest tone she had ever heard him use. "Li Wei is no longer the girl you can bully as you wish. She is now my wife and the empress of Hai'an. If she wants it, your life can end faster than your eyes can blink."

"I can't believe it, there's a bigger fool than me! Has no one dared to tell you the truth before? How can a whore become an empress?" Gu Guangli laughed crazily, hitting the ground with his fist in satisfaction. What a fool of an emperor!

"Better shut that useless trap of yours or else I'll gladly do it for you."

Gu Guangli studied the emperor's face and his smirk faltered slightly, "Can you still be so confident if I tell you, Li Wei was once my mistress?"

Khan Bojing's glare turned murderous. This stupid man surely had a death wish! "I don't care which version of her you claim to know, I believe only what my wife has shown me. Everyone else can stand aside, especially a worthless nobody like you."

"Your Majesty, don't be so quick to brush me aside. I think we're quite similar. We both had a taste of the same woman--"

The blade pierced Gu Guangli's skin. Not deep enough to kill him on the spot, but enough to place him in unbearable pain. Khan Bojing used all the self restraint he possessed not to kill the man right there and then, "You better thank my wife. If it wasn't for Xiao Wei, your head would've been off your body the moment you looked at her. Her eyes are too precious to witness such a bloody scene."

Gu Guangli panicked as blood smeared his chest. The seemingly gentle and timid emperor was capable of killing. "P-please don't kill me."

Khan Bojing kicked him aside without an ounce of sympathy. "As for your terrible information, Xiao Wei never climbed into anyone's bed. There were only thirsty and dirty men like you who harassed her."

Without another glance at the ghost by the roadside, he carried her away. Li Wei could see the anger blazing in his eyes, not fully contented with just leaving a cut.

Anyway, Gu Guangli was as good as dead. He'd die as soon as he returned to Na'an.

Accidentally.

---

In Star Pavilion, Khan Bojing applied medicine on Li Wei by the window.

The large bedroom was lit up by a single lantern in the corner. It was a humid night and the room was warm, but Li Wei shivered. In the bathing room, she scrubbed until her tender skin turned pink. Still, she could recall Gu Guangli's crawling touch on her skin even after washing.

"No one can hurt you now," Khan Bojing quietly assured her again.

The sound of his voice calmed her crazy thoughts. She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Everything was okay now. No one could hurt her.

After each application of medicine, he softly blew on the area. "Next time, make sure to take guards with you wherever you go, alright? San'er is loyal, but she isn't skilled in martial arts. I can order Ye Dequan to follow you from afar since you don't like too many people swarming around. If you don't mind, I can accompany you too..."

Khan Bojing was so serious in treating her that he didn't look up. The air from his lips were gentle, as if it could hurt her. Li Wei watched him with curious eyes. "You don't have things to ask?"

He stopped. "What do you mean?"

Li Wei's eyes averted to the starry sky. Maybe he wanted to give her space. Maybe he really didn't have anything to ask. Whatever it was, she had things to say.

Not hearing her, he looked up. "Tell me anything, I'll believe if you say it."

Khan Bojing would believe her, no matter how crazy it was. His words was the last push she needed. Li Wei squeezed her eyes shut. "You know Gu Guangli?"

"I know."

"Gu Guangli... I was to marry him."

"W-what?" The small jar of ointment fell out of his hands.

Li Wei hurriedly spoke the rest before her mind could change, "Before Li Zhilan's wedding, Uncle Li Qian accepted a marriage proposal. Once Gu Guangli returned, we were to wed."

"I had no idea, Xiao Wei. I didn't know..." Khan Bojing's voice was barely a whisper.

"I was in an unstable state of mind, desperate to rebel in some way. It was only a matter of time before he came back, so I... I used you." Li Wei bit her lips in guilt. "Even if I had to be with him, I wanted my first time to be my choice. I was selfish, I was greedy, I wasn't thinking right. I dragged you into my mess."

Uncle Li Qian was thought this was a pairing that benefited her when in fact, she would rather die than spend the rest of her life with Gu Guangli. No one knew what he had done to her. He was worst than the most horrible nightmare.

Heartbroken by the royal wedding and stressed from the sudden marriage proposal, Li Wei rashly turned to Khan Bojing who happened to be in her way. How ironic it was, while in desperation, she could only thought of him.

He was too good and she was too bad. Deep inside, Li Wei knew she would never be deserving of him even after their marriage. The gap between them would always be a painful distance unable to close.

"Khan Bojing, didn't you hear me? I said I used you! I used you for my own gains!" She screamed out in frustration and hit his chest when he only stared back with those calm eyes.

Where was the fire in his eyes? He almost lost control with Gu Guangli, why couldn't he be as mad, if not more, with what she did?

Khan Bojing had one thought-- thank the heavens it was him. If she had turned to someone else, that would be when he couldn't bear it. "I have nothing much to say except that we have a lovely child."

"Then you have no care whatsoever about anything Gu Guangli said? You're not mad? Not even a little?"

Khan Bojing thought about it. There was one thing he didn't like. "Don't say his name so many times."

"..." Khan Bojing was definitely not normal. Out of all things, he paid attention to how many times she spoke another man's name? Were they not having the same conversation?

Li Wei was rendered speechless. "You hate it?"

"Hate," He said firmly. Very straightforward.

"Oh."

"En."

Li Wei didn't continue further and he also didn't say anything. They awkwardly sat side by side on the cushioned seat, watching the flame flickering in the corner. After a while, Khan Bojing cautiously placed his head on her shoulder and sneakily snuggled to her side.

"Khan Bojing, don't be so good to me. I can't accept it anymore," Li Wei whispered weakly. If he kept being good to her, her act was going to come off.

Khan Bojing was somewhat amazed with her silliness. "You're my wife, who else should I be good to, if not you? I trust the words of my wife, not some stranger's. I pamper my wife, not some random woman. Li Wei, you have complaints?"

"... No." How could she dare? He was clearly pampering her endlessly. Foolishly.

When his warm kiss landed on her forehead, the icy heart of hers started trembling. Li Wei allowed his lips to stay way longer than necessary. "Khan Bojing, I-I'm scared. W-will you always be like this?"

He knew what kind of person she was the most. Sensing the coming change within her, Khan Bojing supported her bravery with his own. "Xiao Wei, I'll always be good to you."

"You don't want to be with someone better?"

"Shh, I refuse to hear such nonsense. There is no I don't deserve you or you're too good for me. Erase all of that, there's only you and me."

"Really?" She asked. Was it so simple?

"Really," He confirmed.

In her last fight, one side came out victorious from the long battle destroying her mind. In that moment in which she almost became a cold blooded murderer, she realized there were no more fears holding her back. If it was Khan Bojing waiting for her, the fall she dreaded didn't seem so scary. In fact, she would willingly take the jump just to meet him.

With her new found courage, she planted a kiss on his lips. Khan Bojing was so shocked he fell back and dragged her along with him. The two people fell onto the floor.

"Khan Bojing, you're so clumsy--"

What was meant to be a quick peck quickly turned into a deep kiss. She was immediately drawn into the unique warmth that belonged only to him. There was no way she hated him. After all, how could her enemy taste so sweet?

Li Wei breathed heavily, taken aback by the strength of the emotions she suppressed over the years. Between really hating him and later, pretending to hate him, when did she become the fool of her own play?

Khan Bojing was driving her crazy again. This time, she quite liked it.

Breaking their kiss, her lips trailed down his chin and onto his neck. Sharing intimacy with him again felt so good, so right, until the green of his robe caught her eye.

"Tonight, Li Zhilan wore red," She mumbled.

"What?" Khan Bojing, who was in a daze from her sudden display of affections, blinked in confusion.

Li Wei hovered above him unhappily. "Tonight you wore green and Li Zhilan wore red. It's very matching, you're like the stem and she's the flower. In my black dress, I can only be the dark clouds above..."

"Is that what you think?" He smiled amusingly.

Her small kisses turned into bites. "Is it that funny? You dare make fun of me? Khan Bojing, how dare you!"

Khan Bojing chuckled lightly. It was funny. "Silly, if I'm going with your analogy, then Li Zhilan is the flower in Hua Xifeng's sky."

Li Wei's teeth let go of his skin. "...And?"

"You're the soil in my world. I can't live without you." He pressed her head onto his chest.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

His heartbeat drummed against her ear. Oh how beautiful his mind was... Li Wei suddenly thought the previously annoying shade of green on his robe became so gorgeous, she ought to hang it up just to see it everyday. "This color is my favorite from now on."

"No. That won't do," He disagreed.

"Why? It's my favorite, I get to choose."

Khan Bojing used her hand to caressed his cheeks. "Let me be your favorite instead."

"..." Heat washed over her face and she studied his lips in fascination. "How is it possible that your mouth is endlessly sweet?"

"Is it? Let's test it again, just to be sure." He carried her to the bed.

From beneath, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How are we testing it?"

"Answer a question. Can you still be like this when tomorrow comes?" He asked earnestly, his calm eyes searching through the depths of her soul.

Her fingertips touched his face and she gave a smile. "I'll try."

"Then let's forget the bad memories and create happy memories."

Li Wei broke into strings of giggles as he proceeded to tickle her. The sound of her sweet and rare laughter filled the room. When she thought she would die from laughing, she raised her hand in protest. "Wait, you said only to keep the good memories!"

"Exactly, we're creating the best memories together." Khan Bojing nibbled on her neck, his shameless self finally dared to return.

"Khan Bojing, we're not close enough to do that."

"What?" He paused and glanced at her. Not close enough? Were they still enemies in her mind? Had they not reconciled?

Li Wei's lips curled mischievously. "Come closer."