Chapter 230: Cliche, Prince Fuji’s True Love Is Mine Now!

Chapter 230: Cliche, Prince Fuji's True Love Is Mine Now!

When my eyes peeled open in the morning light, the warmth against my chest reminded me that I was still holding Ning tightly in my arms. She lay completely still within my embrace, her porcelain skin flushed with a deep, radiant crimson that spread all the way to the tips of her ears.

Her deep blue eyes locked directly onto mine, swirling with a mixture of embarrassment and lingering vulnerability. "Can you please leave the room, so I may get ready? I-I could not get-out of your hold this morning..."

The soft heat of her body made me want to pull her closer rather than let her go, but I forced a sheepish smile and loosened my grip. "Sorry, I tend to hold my lovers in my sleep, sorry. Then I will wait and call room service, if you like?"

She gave a small, hesitant nod, immediately scrambling to pull the silk sheets tighter around her shoulders to shield herself from my gaze. Her brightly burning face told me that our single night of passion was not nearly enough to make her fully comfortable yet, an entirely natural reaction for a young noblewoman fresh into a physical relationship.

Just as I turned to head toward the exit, her voice soft but hurried caught my attention from the bed. "Don't call room-service, we can go to the buffet in a bit. This lady has nothing to be ashamed of... I just need a little time to clean, we made a mess..."

I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind me, knowing exactly what she intended to do next. It was a time-honored custom among noble women in China to personally remove and keep the stained sheets, hiding the undeniable evidence of their first marital union.

Roughly a half hour later, the bedroom door clicked open to reveal Ning standing in the frame, her hair neatly arranged and her composure mostly restored. "I have finished preparing, can you please bring my chest. I will go to your room now."

I gave an immediate nod of agreement, noticing the distinct shift in her demeanor. Instead of the venomous, hateful glares she used to throw at me, she was now granting me genuine courtesy, prompting me to treat her with matching respect.

Stepping past her to retrieve her luggage, I scanned the floor and found a heavy, reinforced footlocker secured with high-grade lock mechanisms rather than a standard travel bag. I easily possessed the technical skill to break through the security encryption, but doing so now would completely defeat the purpose of building our new bond.

A glance at the stripped mattress confirmed that the sheets were indeed gone, leaving absolutely no visual trace of our intense night behind. Ning walked alongside me while slinging a high-end laptop satchel over her arm like a designer purse, prompting me to whistle softly at the hardware.

"That is some serious computer power you have there. It is one of the latest models that my Floppy-Tech company produces, at a nasty price-tag, and normal users would never use it. So are you into computers? I am pretty good with them."

The moment the words left my mouth, her expression shifted instantly as a familiar, venomous fire ignited in her eyes and she gritted her teeth together. "Bastard, I know you're good at computers, I am Hungry Ghost, and have been on the receiving end of your shenanigans, Jerk!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, my jaw dropping as I pointed a finger directly at her in absolute shock. "Wait, you were Hungry Ghost, and that means you were only fifteen back then?!"

She stomped her foot against the carpet, her face twisting into a furious pout as she yelled back. "Why can't I be good at 15 and I was the one who was bullied... Who sends endless porn to a 15 year old girl, you Jerk?!"

Guilt washed over me instantly as her words hit home, making me feel like a complete child under her sharp reprimand. "Sorry, Sorry, I made that program for Adam Lee, and you had been making life difficult, I really am sorry now that I know who you are, and um... Stop using your computer, because it has a faulty Valentine feeding you bad advice, like if you ask it for good food, it sends you for an intestine, he-he."

Her lower lip trembled slightly as her eyes welled up with unshed tears, forcing me to realize the sheer scale of the digital torment I had put her through over the years. I stepped closer, setting the satchel down gently to capture her gaze with absolute sincerity. "Ning'er, I will fix everything alright?! I will even teach you more so you can get better, just don't be mad. Up until last night, you had been my adversary, so let me make it better okay?"

The visible tension in her shoulders drained away just a fraction, though she quickly masked her softening expression by shoving the heavy computer satchel hard against my chest. She spun around on her heel and marched down the corridor ahead of me, deliberately hiding her face so I could not see her lingering anger.

I let out a long, heavy exhale, silently cursing my father's convoluted schemes once more in the privacy of my mind. Slipping the strap of her expensive laptop case securely over my shoulder, I grabbed the handle of the heavy chest and dragged it along behind the highly agitated Ning Tang.

We entered my original suite to find Mei and Hinata waiting for us, completing our small circle as the four of us gathered around the seating area.

Ling'er had already slipped away the exact moment I arrived to maintain her strict public facade in front of Pam, though she had left me with a parting smile that openly mocked my chaotic situation.

Hinata shifted on her cushion, looking up at me with gentle, dedicated eyes as she spoke. "Master, I and my parents are going back to the ship after breakfast. So I will be with Ryu. I don't want him to miss me too much."

I gave her an understanding nod, adjusting my posture as I thought of the little guy. "Yeah, I heard he cried missing you last night. Make sure and tell him I will be back in a week."

My fingers flew across the keyboard of Ning's laptop, actively reformatting the operating system and scrubbing out every single piece of malicious code I had previously infected her hardware with. Ning sat directly across from me, watching the screen as all my hidden digital traps were exposed, her glare burning into me while Mei watched the exchange with an amused smile.

Mei leaned back slightly, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she addressed our new companion. "Mrs Tang, what time is the Prince's party?"

I suppressed a grin, thoroughly enjoying how Mei delivered a perfectly polite question that simultaneously served as a sharp jab to test Ning's boundaries. Ning did not show even a flicker of offense at being addressed as my wedded wife, keeping her composure perfectly steady.

"The party starts at 6 pm at the Central Imperial Ballroom. And I had been sent invitations for me and a +1. Naturally my +1 should have been for my maid-bodyguard, but now it will be for my husband."

A sudden instinct warned me that a massive trap was buried beneath her words, prompting me to immediately open a secondary terminal window to dig into the Prince's private online records. Ning leaned closer, a smug, highly satisfied smile spreading across her lips as she watched me work.

The digital logs confirmed my suspicions instantly; this royal brat was turning eighteen today and had spent the entire past year aggressively courting Ning. I turned my head to the right, finding her troublesome smile incredibly annoying as I pointed directly at the silk-pants prince's intercepted email history.

"He is the real reason you wanted me, was to make him and I go at it, right? Kinda petty, right?"

The smug satisfaction vanished from Ning's face, replaced instantly by a childish, defensive pout as she crossed her arms. "Well, I had intended to pretend to like you to cause him to stop pursuing me, and maybe annoy you a bit... How the hell could I have guessed I would become your wife, humph. You did not get the bad end of this deal."

I opened my mouth to fire back a sharp retort, but the memory of her vulnerable cries in my bed last night flashed through my mind, completely killing my desire to be a petty bastard.

I offered her a warm, confident smile instead. "Ning'er, you are right, I did become a lucky man. I will go and proudly flaunt you in-front of the Prince so he knows I am the best, and the luckiest, right?"

Ning turned her face away entirely, refusing to give me a verbal answer as she locked her arms tight across her chest. She tried her best to hide the sudden rush of color to her skin, but because she had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail, her bright red ears were completely exposed to my view.

I chuckled softly under my breath, turning back to the laptop to finalize the clean operating system installation.

Mei watched us for a moment before shifting her focus back to me, her expression turning uncharacteristically serious. "I will be your driver tonight, I want to see him as well. It had been too many years, and a part of me just wants to ask why he never told me."

Ning turned her head back toward us, her voice softening with genuine empathy as she spoke directly to Mei. "He had severed his past, till he came out of the shadows, hence the reason for not telling you. May Lee would have found out for sure. He told me to tell you he was sorry for leaving you in the dark, and is happy you found your way to Rick. That was what he wanted me to pass on for you Mei Xia, his saved child."

The weight of the explanation seemed to lift a heavy burden from Mei's shoulders, and she looked at me with absolute clarity. "I changed my mind Rick, I will go back with Hinata. I will now move on and look forward to it. Hating his staying hidden is just not healthy anymore. Just tell your father, my last job was this, and I no longer belong to the shadows, but my Master and love."

I reached over to squeeze her hand firmly, my voice absolute. "Yup, you earned early retirement, and if he has a problem with it, I really will punch him hard."

Ning looked at me from across the table, her lips curling into a visible look of deep appreciation. A wave of satisfaction hit me as I realized how much she genuinely loved seeing my dominant, unyielding side.

Following our final breakfast together, Mei and the Kyusho family departed to make their way back toward the safety of the cruise ship. Once they were gone, Ning'er and I headed straight into the high-end commercial district to hunt down a matching ballgown and tuxedo for the evening gala.

She transformed into an absolute fashion dictator the moment we stepped into the boutique, flatly rejecting every single outfit until she found something up to her aristocratic standards. She made it clear that we were going to wear matching pitch-black fabrics paired with solid, pure gold accessories, tossing a playful comment my way that I didn't fully comprehend until the trap clicked shut.

"My Yellow Emperor and his Empress must wear formal gold, no other color suits the two of us, husband."

I looked at her smirk as we finalized the purchases, realizing too late that she had been leading me around by the nose with her clever imperial hints all along. These younger women truly possessed a terrifyingly petty streak...

As my sleek Rolls Royce black limousine glided onto the sprawling, meticulously manicured grounds of the Imperial family, a highly coordinated team of liveried attendants instantly rushed forward to open the heavy passenger doors the exact moment we came to a smooth halt.

Stepping out onto the pristine pavement, the striking contrast of my midnight black tuxedo drew immediate stares from the gathering crowd. The fabric featured intricate, hand-woven eastern embroidery depicting majestic dragons and fierce tigers that seemingly blended into the darkness of the outfit, catching the bright camera flashes perfectly.

To complete the heavy gold theme my wife had demanded, I flaunted an array of solid gold accessories including a silk tie, a luxury watch, a heavy neck chain, a perfectly folded pocket handkerchief, and polished gold cufflinks that shimmered under the estate lights.

While the surrounding VIP guests and high-society onlookers watched our arrival with bated breath, I elegantly turned and extended my right hand back into the vehicle to assist my partner. A soft, delicate hand placed itself firmly in my palm, followed by the smooth extension of a long, slender leg adorned with high-end pumps crafted in matching gold and black.

As she stepped out fully into the evening air, the sheer visual impact of her presence instantly ignited a wave of unbridled lust among the gathered noblemen and a palpable surge of bitter envy from the high-society women whispering near the entrance. Watching the crowd react to her absolute beauty, a profound sense of possessive pride swelled deep inside my chest for this striking young lady.

Ning'er stood incredibly tall on her heels, wearing a form-hugging, long black dress that flared out beautifully near the bottom like an obsidian silhouette holding up her flawlessly shaped chest, smooth shoulders, and slender arms. The breathtaking design made her look exactly like a dark mermaid rising from the depths of the ocean.

Her dark hair was styled up into an incredibly intricate, delicate bun held together by polished golden hairpins that radiated a sense of ancient imperial elegance. Her heavy gold earrings, matching necklace, solid bracelets, and a custom gold purse tied the entire classic look together seamlessly.

Despite her regal appearance, the sheer irritation passing through her deep blue eyes as she glared at my smirking face gave her an incredibly vulnerable charm. Seeing her flustered expression would make any outsider want to slap me hard across the face just to defend her honor.

If anyone wondered why Ning'er looked at me with such immense agitation at this exact moment, the explanation was entirely practical. Given the incredibly tight checkpoint security of the Imperial family, sneaking in tiny vials of lethal poison required a highly creative solution, forcing me to use my new wife's generous cleavage as an unsuspecting drug mule.

The heavy security presence ensured that all arriving men received a thorough, invasive physical search, while noblewomen of her high standing were granted far more privacy. "Ning'er, when we get in, I will take them back so just endure it, ha-ha."

Her teeth gritted tightly together as she leaned in close, her whisper dripping with venomous irritation against my ear. "I want to bite you to death, pervert. Your smile while placing it was disgusting, humph."

We maintained a unified front as we walked toward the main entrance checkpoint, where Ning'er handed over our elegant physical invitations while the guards diligently confirmed our official passports. The security detail immediately guided us into separate men's and women's security lines for standard physical pat-downs.

My own search finished quickly, but I found myself waiting a bit longer for Ning'er at the end of the corridor due to the sudden bureaucratic delay of verifying her marriage documentation, which had officially updated her standard passport status.

The moment she cleared the final security barrier, she marched straight to my left side and locked her arm firmly around mine, letting out a sharp huff of air. The intense glare she leveled at me clearly inferred that her slightly awkward, painful stride had everything to do with my earlier actions, though I kept my mouth shut.

I knew better than to remind her out loud that she didn't have to marry me in the first place, especially since the rice was already cooked and she was officially mine.

We slowly joined the formal line of arriving guests waiting to enter the main hall, moving forward in an organized progression because every single noble party had to be formally announced by a loud herald standing at the double doors. This traditional custom drew the absolute focus of the room to all newcomers, meaning the local nobles who knew of Ning'er's former identity were about to receive a massive shock upon realizing this highly coveted woman had been claimed with absolutely no prior notice to the social circles.

Just as the attendants signaled that it was our turn to cross the threshold, I turned slightly and reached out to straighten her gold necklace. Her face flushed a brilliant crimson as my superhuman reflexes went to work, deftly and silently retrieving all four hidden poison vials from her cleavage without a single onlooker noticing the theft.

The master-level thief skill allowed my fingers to glide across her bare, fleshy chest so quickly that she only felt the sudden absence of the cold glass, leaving her in a brief, dazed stupor from the sheer speed of the violation.

Before she could shake off the shock and reflexively pull her body away from my sudden approach, I leaned down close to her ear, my warm breath brushing her skin. "Don't resist me tonight, they are watching..."

I pressed my lips firmly against hers in a deep, intentional kiss, deliberately flaunting our physical intimacy in front of the entire gathering of high-ranking guests. I knew the news of this public display of affection would travel instantly to the arrogant Prince Fuji, and a massive part of me simply wanted to bully my fierce wife a little bit more before the real conflict started.

Releasing her lips slowly, I offered her another confident smirk. "My adorable Ning'er, as long as you're not cursing and scolding me, you are absolutely adorable."

Overwhelmed by intense shame, public fluster, and a healthy dose of genuine anger, she looked down and whispered under her breath. "You bastard, I-I am going to fight you to death later."

Her mouth remained incredibly fierce, but my sharp eyes swore they caught a faint glimmer of genuine anticipation buried deep within her gaze, resembling a lonely girl who had finally found her very first friend but possessed absolutely no idea how to treat them properly. I realized then that both she and I genuinely enjoyed the thrill of bullying one another back and forth.

Ning'er was an absolute spitfire, and tonight was shaping up to be far more entertaining than I originally anticipated. She clearly despised the predatory smile playing on my lips, her slender body trembling slightly like Little Red Riding Hood trapped directly under the Big Bad Wolf's unwavering gaze.

If someone had told the chaotic, eighteen-year-old version of me that I would one day be openly teasing and dominating the highly feared Empress of the China Empire, I would have shot them directly in the face for being completely stupid.