Rejected Beauty Practices the Villain Play

Chapter 697 - 677: Kisses

Lan Ningzhen wiped his face while saying, "The world says that beauty is a gift from the Heavenly God, but if someone is born beautiful and lacks the power to defend it, it is a tragedy. You are a young man from Qianling Town, sent to serve in a noble’s household. If you have an exceptional face, you might not survive a year. Disguising yourself to look ugly is understandable, so why panic!"

Xie Jue thought quietly, he wasn’t panicking, he just wanted to kill her!

She knew too much!

However, Lan Ningzhen’s words were reasonable, perfectly explaining why he needed to disguise himself. Yet, he couldn’t use this excuse. If his disguise was discovered, he would have no way out, for the men of the Xie Family from the Marquis Zhenbei had similar brows and features. If the Beiman King, Great Prince, and Second Prince saw his true appearance, they would definitely suspect his identity. Lan Ningzhen was different; she hadn’t seen anyone from the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion, so she could use this excuse to get by.

Lan Ningzhen was incredibly skilled in martial arts. Ever since she started pestering him, Xie Jue secretly investigated her. She had challenged several renowned female generals from Beiman and won.

Even the always formidable Third Prince was no match for her.

Xie Jue thought that if he wanted to kill Lan Ningzhen, he could only do it through strategy, not a direct confrontation, which would be courting death! He couldn’t beat Lan Ningzhen, but no matter what, he had to get rid of Lan Ningzhen before returning to Fox City!

At that time, find a suitable excuse; at worst.

Xie Jue remained silent, slightly lowering his eyes, not speaking. No one could tell what he was thinking, but the person in front of him raised an eyebrow with a smile, grabbing a piece of ointment, spreading it in her palm, and mockingly asked, "Why so quiet? Planning to kill me? Afraid I’ll expose your secret?"

Xie Jue was surprised by her sharpness, his heart pounding. This Lan Ningzhen was truly too monstrous, too clever, with a kind of confidence that all things were in the palm of her hand.

"I don’t dare!" Xie Jue admitted his weakness, "I can’t beat you."

"If you can’t beat me, you could poison me!" Lan Ningzhen leaned down, the ointment in her palm spread, giving off a faint fragrance. She looked at him with sparkling eyes, "Mr. Helian, your heart is like iron, kill me, and you’ll never meet anyone who likes you this much again."

Xie Jue looked at her indifferently, "Miss Lan, you’re overthinking it."

Lan Ningzhen laughed, her palm pressed against his cold face. Xie Jue’s cold face felt nothing, no warmth was felt, yet Lan Ningzhen felt a pang of pity. Her palm was very cold; had she not discovered it early, the face would have been ruined. In the place unseen by Xie Jue, a fierce glint flashed in her eyes.

Is it worth it?

Xie Jue stopped speaking, pondering how to kill Lan Ningzhen. Meanwhile, Lan Ningzhen continued kneading his cheeks, trying to restore warmth to his face. Soon, Xie Jue’s face was slightly flushed, the ointment fully absorbed into his skin, his cheeks reddening, prettier than blush.

Xie Jue gradually felt a slight warmth, and gradually another sensation became clearer, that was the thin calluses on Lan Ningzhen’s fingers and palms. The skin on his face was soft, and this rough texture was hard to ignore once it regained sensation. Xie Jue was inexplicably reminded of the time his shoulder was bitten by a poisonous insect; it was both painful and itchy, and the army doctor had told him not to scratch it.

He had strong willpower and restraint, but the itch was uncontrollable at night, and he always wanted to scratch it in his sleep. At that time, Fang Chuning, who slept beside him, would hug him, gently rubbing his wound, which relieved the itch and soothed his anxiety. During those few days when he was bitten by the poisonous insect, he suffered insomnia continuously, and it was because Fang Chuning tirelessly rubbed his wound at night to relieve it.

He would turn his back to Fang Chuning, the tent pitch black, and all they could hear was each other’s breath and heat. That year in Ningzhou, the sultry heat made the tent unbearably hot, they each covered with a thin blanket, feeling clearly the sizzling power behind him and the refreshing sensation when Fang Chuning’s calloused palm grazed the wound.

He couldn’t reach the wound himself, and it was itchy, so the relief of the thin calluses grazing over it was like finding a source of water after days of solitude in the desert. Therefore, he began to overbearingly demand Fang Chuning not to stop. He liked the feeling of Fang Chuning’s palm grazing over the wound.

Lan Ningzhen’s palms also had a layer of thin calluses.

He had heard that Lan Ningzhen used a sword, a heavy sword with unrivaled might. People who used swords often had calloused palms, and this was the first time Xie Jue noticed the peculiarity of her hands!

"You grew up on Heavenly God Mountain, so why handle weapons?" Xie Jue seemed curious, inadvertently asking.

Lan Ningzhen chuckled lightly and said, "You don’t know, do you? Heavenly God Mountain is cold, isolated from the world. I can’t just stand on the mountaintop watching snow all the time during those long years, so I took up handling weapons. Oh, I also learned the Yanyang language?"

She also recalled that in a moment of urgency, she had spoken a sentence in Yanyang language.

It was a fatal mistake, but luckily, the identity of a Goddess provided her with many shields.

"Oh..." Xie Jue said, "You are already famous, having challenged several generals, and also defeating the Third Prince. With such formidable skill, after the New Year, won’t the King be taking you to the battlefield to kill the enemy?"

"The King already mentioned it to my father, but my father refused. Too many sons of the Lan Family have died, and since I was separated from him since childhood, my father hopes I can be by his side to fulfill filial duties." Lan Ningzhen leaned over with a smile and looked at him, "For instance, getting married, having children, and taking care of him."

Facing this stunningly beautiful face, Xie Jue was calm but did not dare to look at her eyes and brows.

Lan Ningzhen’s eyes and brows were too much like someone’s!

They always made him feel a bit dazed, so before he avoided Lan Ningzhen’s gaze, his eyes fell onto her hands, suddenly tensing all over. If he didn’t look at Lan Ningzhen’s face and all the jewels on her head, just looked at this pair of hands, Xie Jue would never have thought these hands belonged to a woman.

The fingers were evenly spaced, long, and well-defined, too much like... Fang Chuning’s hands!

But different, Lan Ningzhen had long nails painted in rouge, the pink hue softening the masculine impact of those hands, making them appear gentle yet heroic.

Fang Chuning hated long nails, finding them inconvenient, so the moment they grew out a bit he’d use a knife to trim them, leaving them always uneven, unlike Lan Ningzhen’s rounded and delicate nails.

Lan Ningzhen also seemed to notice his gaze, she waved her hand, "Mr. Helian, you seem to like my hands... Do they look good?"

She seemed pleased with herself, leaning closer to his face. Xie Jue looked straight at those hands, as if trying to discern something, unconsciously saying, "They look good!"

Lan Ningzhen raised an eyebrow, not expecting his honesty, and her eyes slowly softened with a touch of warmth. Suddenly, she gently pressed two fingers over his lips, "Beautiful man, if you like them, then kiss them!"

Caught off guard, Xie Jue, "..."