The Imperial Princess’s Resolve and a Cucumber’s Deception

‘You… you…’

Ji Xue’s eyes widened, her expression a mask of utter disbelief.

Time seemed to arrest its relentless march at this precise moment.

A deafening roar erupted within Ji Xue’s mind, as though she had been struck by a bolt of divine thunder from the heavens. Every drop of blood in her veins instantly congealed, only to surge violently to her head the very next second, before plummeting through her body, leaving her limbs and bones thoroughly chilled to the core.

Her gaze locked onto the abrupt, rigid, and utterly impossible-to-be-female presence on Lin Mo’s body, her pupils contracting sharply into pinpricks from extreme horror, leaving the whites of her eyes threaded with blood.

Her mind was a complete blank. The gentle composure and the self-assured confidence of imperial strategy she had so carefully constructed just moments before crumbled into dust, like a sandcastle obliterated by a raging storm.

‘Wh-wha… uh…’ A short, fractured, almost tuneless gasp tore itself from her tightly clenched teeth.

Her chest felt as though an invisible hand were crushing it, and a suffocating sensation washed over her like a relentless tide.

Or rather, it wasn’t merely a feeling, for Lin Mo’s hand was, in fact, resting firmly on her chest!

Her vision blurred, and a profound dizziness assailed her. ‘You… you…’

Her voice, wet and hoarse, rasped like sandpaper, and she could only stammer, utterly incapable of forming a coherent sentence.

Ji Xue’s mind was churning with a tempest of thoughts.

Lin Wan’er was not a woman at all! She… he was truly a man?!

What had she just done?! She had embraced him! Allowed him to rest his head on her chest! And even ‘comforted’ him with tender words!

She had acted like an utter fool!

And… she had even allowed him to touch her…

A burning sensation of shame and indignant fury consumed her.

As Lin Mo lay cradled against her chest, he distinctly felt the furious pounding of her heart, its wild rhythm threatening to shatter his eardrums.

He also registered the rigidity of her body and the uncontrollable, subtle tremors that coursed through her.

Her eyes, typically sparkling with vibrant spirit, now held nothing but immense terror and incandescent fury, staring fixedly with an almost terrifying penetrative power, locked onto that undeniable ‘truth’.

The sinister smile on his face had not diminished; if anything, it was now tinged with a cruel mockery and a deep, unspoken weariness. “Has Your Highness truly seen it?” he murmured, his voice a low, hoarse rasp laced with derision. “This… this is a man… that existence so utterly reviled by all.”

Innumerable doubts surged into her mind.

If this fellow truly was a man… how had he managed to survive all this time?

How had he become the Sect Master’s true disciple?

Could it genuinely be due to his immense potential, compelling the Sect Master of the Xuan Nv Sect to override all objections and push his discipleship through?!

“Well, Your Highness,” Lin Mo’s voice cut through the silence, “can you still maintain your earlier pronouncements?” Each word was like a searing brand, fiercely pressed against her heart.

She was an Imperial Princess! The future sovereign of the world! Her word was gold, the very bedrock of her integrity!

Once uttered, her words were as irreversible as a team of four galloping horses.

This was not merely a comforting utterance, but a testament to her reputation in the wider world, a demonstration of her mastery over the hearts of others!

An emperor could be ruthless, venomous, and manipulate hearts with ease, but they absolutely could not break their word!

To renege now would not only render all her previous efforts futile, but every ‘sincere’ emotion she had displayed would transform into an enormous joke. Her supposed ‘magnanimity’ and ‘promises’ would vanish into thin air, leaving her a complete laughingstock.

At that point, her relationship with this Lin Wan’er… would be reduced to nothing more than a transactional, employer-employee arrangement.

While she could certainly use this secret as leverage, keeping someone by her side under such duress meant they would inevitably harbor resentment and disloyalty.

Retreat was not an option.

What did it matter if a man had touched her?

If a mere touch could secure her such a capable subordinate, it would be an absolute bargain.

Furthermore, she now held this fellow’s most profound secret!

She would transform this terrifying secret into the perfect tether, binding him to her while simultaneously showcasing her true magnanimity and formidable courage! This crisis, she decided, would become an opportunity unequivocally advantageous to her!

In an instant!

All traces of shyness and anxious trepidation were instantly crushed by a heavy, resounding gate. Her heart’s door had swung open, and what emerged was a resolve as unyielding as bedrock, now dictating her every thought and action.

Her heartbeat remained wild, yet it was no longer a chaotic thrum of panic. Instead, it was forcibly infused with the power to command all — for a true emperor must remain unperturbed in the face of calamity! They must meet a collapsing mountain with an unchanging countenance!

Rather than pushing him away, she encircled his head even more tightly with her arms — a gesture that proclaimed both his captivity and her absolute dominion!

She compelled her gaze to tear itself away from that horrifying ‘truth’!

Her eyes met Lin Mo’s, which, though still brimming with mockery, had begun to register a nascent surprise and bewilderment at her unexpected actions.

Her voice, though still slightly unsteady, raspy, and taut from the overwhelming sensory assault, cut through the suffocating silence between them with extraordinary clarity, sharp as fracturing metal or cleaving stone. “Lin Wan’er…”

With both hands, she cupped Lin Mo’s face.

She drew a deep, bolstering breath, her chest rising and falling conspicuously with the exertion, as though channeling every ounce of her inner strength to a single focal point. Her gaze grew increasingly clear, drawing an undeniable power that seemed to emanate from her very bloodline.

Each word seemed wrenched from between her teeth, from the profound depths of her soul, imbued with the weighty essence of iron and blood.

“I… have said…” Her voice abruptly surged in volume, carrying an unquestionable authority, as if severing all paths of retreat.

“You are a man,” she declared, the words “I will not disdain you” pronounced with a heavy, deliberate weight, “I will not disdain you!”

Lin Mo’s gaze faltered, as if utterly unprepared for such a drastic turn of events.

Ji Xue’s gaze sharpened, becoming like a sword unsheathed, keen and brimming with imperious resolve. “This Princess,” she stated, her voice now firm.

It was the first time Ji Xue had ever referred to herself with such imperial formality.

“This Princess’s heart is vast enough to embrace mountains and rivers! To contain a hundred flowing streams! How then could it possibly fail to accommodate a mere Lin Wan’er?”

“You enjoy touching? Then touch as you please. Consider it a token of gratitude for standing up for me today!”

Her tone adopted a solemnity befitting an oath sworn to heaven and earth, her gaze burning brightly as it locked onto Lin Mo’s eyes. “What this Princess has just declared, that I will not disdain you, is a golden decree! My words are law!”

“As an Imperial Princess, how could I possibly betray the trust of the world? A sovereign’s word is inviolable! The truth of your identity today is known to Heaven, known to Earth, known to you, and known to me! Should even a single word of it ever be revealed—”

She leaned in, lowering her head slightly to bring her face close to Lin Mo’s, her voice dropping to a grave, solemn whisper. “Then this Princess shall die without a resting place.”

Each pronouncement, like a heavy hammer imbued with the unyielding will of imperial power, struck forcefully into Lin Mo’s heart.

Her gaze was utterly resolute.

Although her face was flushed crimson at this moment, the panic and trembling were meticulously veiled behind her unwavering gaze.

Yet, her hurried breaths and subtly trembling frame still betrayed something profound within Ji Xue’s subconscious.

But… this, in itself, was enough.

She would adhere to her word.

For Lin Mo, this was more than sufficient.

Yet… one person alone could not alter the entire world.

He simply needed a single answer.

Ji Xue would prove a formidable ally, a truly good friend, but she belonged to Lin Wan’er, not to him, Lin Mo.

And so, he—

“Hahahahaha—!!!” Lin Mo erupted into breathless laughter, wiping away tears with one hand while the other, trembling with mirth, pointed mischievously at the ‘world-shattering presence’ beneath him. “Your Highness… my dear Your Highness! You… you, hahahaha, you silly girl! You’ve been played! I’ve had you completely wrapped around my finger!”

“What?!” Ji Xue was utterly dumbfounded. A colossal wave of emotion—

—just moments ago, she had been steeped in the tragic grandeur of her own ‘unparalleled magnanimity’ and ‘unwavering resolve’—

—and now, this unrestrained, booming laughter was like a bucket of ice water mixed with…

…splashed directly over her head!

“Silly girl!” Lin Mo seemed to be laughing so hard he could barely breathe, yet the expression on his face was remarkably vivid, a picture of supreme triumph at a prank successfully pulled off.

Ignoring Ji Xue’s expression, which threatened to shatter, he swiftly reached inside the hem of his loose garments and fumbled for a moment.

As Ji Xue’s gaze froze in an instant, transitioning from incandescent rage to utter bewilderment, he suddenly pulled out… a cucumber?

“Ha! See this?” Lin Mo crowed, brandishing the cucumber—still warm from his body—triumphantly before Ji Xue’s eyes, his grin blossoming like a flower. “The ‘treasure’ that nearly scared you half to death is right here! A fine, hefty cucumber! It creates quite the imposing illusion! I’ve bluffed more than a few people with this trick back in my day! Hmph! Who would’ve thought, though, that today, I’d manage to fool even you, Your Highness, the magnanimous, sagacious, and awe-inspiring Imperial Princess! Hahahaha! Worth it! Absolutely worth it!”

Lin Mo tumbled off Ji Xue, collapsing onto the ground beside her, dissolving into uproarious laughter.

Ji Xue’s face first stiffened into an unyielding mask, then abruptly flushed crimson, only to drain of all color, turning a horrifying, ashen white. Ultimately… it settled into a stormy, livid hue, like the sky before a tempest. The veins on her forehead and temples bulged like awakened venomous dragons, each one throbbing with furious intensity!

Her meticulously crafted imperial stratagems, performed with such pride and exhaustive effort; her ‘broad-mindedness,’ forcefully maintained against all dissenting voices; her ‘unwavering resolve,’ backed by the very authority of the throne… all her calculations, all her unwavering determination, all her ‘magnificent courage’… it turned out, in the end… had all been spent upon…

…a single… cucumber?!

“Lin Wan’er—!!! ROAR!” It was no longer a mere roar of incandescent fury, but a primal bellow, erupting from the very depths of an ancient, savage beast, laden with boundless murderous intent and an overwhelming tide of mortified shame! The sheer volume of the sound threatened to rip the roof from its foundations!

“Wan’er—!!!” Ji Xue herself transformed into a blazing inferno of vengeful fury, utterly consumed by humiliation!

All imperial poise, all aristocratic grace, utterly incinerated within her beautiful eyes, leaving only a blood-red, unhinged madness!

Like a lunatic completely devoid of control, she lunged at the snickering Lin Mo, who was still clutching his stomach and shaking with laughter, driven solely by the most primal instinct of rage!

Her speed was that of an arrow loosed from a taut bowstring!

“I’ll kill you, you liar! You beast!”