Chapter 43: A Confession Gone Awry?

"You have only yourself to blame for dragging me here like this..."

After striking out for a moment, Luo Qianfan felt something was amiss. Lowering her head, she realized she was actually draped over Dongfang Yuyue. With a sudden flip, she jumped down and dismounted from him.

Her beautiful eyes still glared fiercely at Dongfang Yuyue.

Luo Qianfan: "——"

What was the meaning of this? He had dragged her all the way here, only to say nothing at all?

After a short while, Dongfang Yuyue said in a doting tone, "Well then, have you vented your anger?"

"No!" Luo Qianfan actually replied in cooperation.

Dongfang Yuyue grabbed Luo Qianfan's delicate, boneless little hand and placed it against his chest. "Then should we go for a few more rounds?"

Glancing at the faint scratch marks visible on Dongfang Yuyue's chest, Luo Qianfan pushed him away in disgust. "No way! You'll just start acting shamelessly again in a second!"

Dongfang Yuyue smiled. It seemed this fellow still remembered his words.

Previously at the Medical Underworld Valley, a similar situation had occurred. Back then, Dongfang Yuyue had said: *Young man, do you know that in this empire, 'flirting' with an imperial prince is a capital crime? If I were to spread the word, your Medical Underworld Valley would be reduced to ashes in an instant. Do you dare?*

His words had carried an enchanting and overbearing aura. He had tried to use the Medical Underworld Valley to threaten her, but she wasn't going to fall for that!

However, did she dare? Of course she did! The tiny Fengyue Kingdom wasn't enough to make her bat an eye. So why had she panicked back then?

Dongfang Yuyue reached out and poked Luo Qianfan's soft, boneless, pink little cheek, a frivolous smile lingering on his face—one that made the heart race while simultaneously stirring up anger.

This was the second time today that Dongfang Yuyue had poked her cheek. A wave of irritation surged in Luo Qianfan's heart. What did this man take her for, someone he could touch whenever he pleased?

"What kind of game are you trying to play?" Luo Qianfan asked ungraciously. If she weren't physically outmatched by the man before her, she would definitely make Dongfang Yuyue find even crying a luxury.

"This prince wants to make you my woman!"

As those words fell, Luo Qianfan's head buzzed with a dull roar.

Unexpectedly, Dongfang Yuyue's tone grew even more sincere, his brows and eyes filled with deep affection as he continued.

"I fancy you, so what about you?"

His direct words, devoid of any adornment, reflected Dongfang Yuyue's straightforward, uncomplicated mindset.

Perhaps in the face of love, all pretense, all grandeur, and all flowery language fell short compared to the most direct confession!

Luo Qianfan's heart skipped a beat, leaving her stunned and unable to recover for a long time.

She unexpectedly discovered that fine beads of sweat were seeping into the palms of her hands, which she held limply at her sides.

She had never known that there would one day be a person who would confess to her in such a manner!

"——"

Did that saucy phoenix just say he likes me? Is that what he meant?

Seeing that Luo Qianfan gave no response, Dongfang Yuyue was about to continue when a teasing voice rang out.

"No way! Prince Yu, were you just confessing your love to me?"

Luo Qianfan's brows curved into smiles. Completely devoid of the shyness other girls showed when encountering such a situation, she instead faced Dongfang Yuyue frankly, treating his words merely as a joke.

Dongfang Yuyue naturally understood Luo Qianfan's thoughts. He placed both hands on her shoulders and applied pressure to her wrists, forcing her to look him straight in the eye as he said with a solemn expression:

"I am not joking. I genuinely like you! I want your remaining years to have me filling your heart!"

Time paused for a single second.

Suddenly, Luo Qianfan burst into loud laughter.

"Prince Yu, you say you like me, but what exactly do you like about me? Apart from the first time when I was dressed in men's clothing, we've only met about three times, haven't we? You can fall in love with someone after just three encounters?"

"And look here, the time before last, we ran into mountain bandits. We didn't seem to have a very pleasant chat that day, did we?"

*Pleasant?* It was nothing short of heart-pounding!

"And last time, that day seemed to be... a thief broke into my room in the middle of the night, and I was too focused on catching the thief, so nothing particularly special should have happened either, right?"

"And then there's this time, just now. So up until now, I consider that nothing particularly heart-stirring has happened between us." Luo Qianfan meticulously counted the countable meetings she had shared with Dongfang Yuyue.

"Four unhappy partings in exchange for your Highness's deep, ocean-like affection?"

"And you expect me to believe you like me?"

"Prince Yu, do you think I'm too foolish and easily gullible, or are you... too casual? Casual enough to love everyone you see? Or could it be that you actually fancy men?"

Every word Luo Qianfan uttered struck straight to the heart, her plain language landing heavily upon Dongfang Yuyue's chest, sparking an unprecedented surge of anxiety in his heart.

Dropping her previous joking tone, Luo Qianfan said in earnest:

"Since your Highness claims to like me, could it be that during these four meetings, this humble maiden left some particularly special impression on your Highness?"

It wasn't that she didn't believe in Dongfang Yuyue's sincerity; there was simply no logical reason for it.

Every time they met, they either cursed at each other or threw blows. Dongfang Yuyue had no reason to like her, so she defined this as either a joke or a scheme on his part.

Furthermore, it was impossible for Luo Qianfan to let her heart flutter for a man ever again. Absolutely not!

Matters of the heart could not tolerate deceit or jokes; therefore, liking was liking, and not liking was not liking. She rejected all scumbags who used "affection" as a facade to achieve some hidden agenda.

Watching Luo Qianfan speak fluently while constantly trying to distance herself through her words, a complex emotion flashed through Dongfang Yuyue's eyes.

In truth, sometimes a single glance at a person was enough to determine a lifetime!

The corners of Dongfang Yuyue's lips curved upward.

"Perhaps the last time, perhaps the time before last, or perhaps it was today!"

No one knew that the answer locked deep within Dongfang Yuyue's heart remained that handsome youth on Mount Jiuwu—dressed in pristine white, carefree and uninhibited, wicked and arrogant, living out the very freedom she was meant to possess!

Luo Qianfan was dumbfounded. What kind of pace was this? In his eyes, was "liking" something one could pull out of thin air whenever they pleased?

"Dongfang Yuyue, let me ask you, is this your first time confessing to a woman?"

Speaking with such a lack of standard clearly marked him as a novice with zero experience. For some reason, an inexplicable sense of triumph bloomed within her chest.

"Call me 'Yue', or 'Dongfang', or come up with a new one! In short, you cannot call me by my full name! It's too distant!"

Luo Qianfan marveled at how Dongfang Yuyue could still pick a bone over forms of address at a time like this. Was what she called him really important?

Besides, wasn't a bit of distance between them completely normal!

"Phoenix, Peacock, pick one. I can't bring myself to say any others!" Luo Qianfan said impatiently.

Seeing how persistent she was, Dongfang Yuyue sighed. "No, and yes."

Luo Qianfan let out an "oh", and then abruptly raised her voice: "What did you just say?!"

*Not! And yes!* It wasn't his first time confessing to a woman? Then what was it?

Dongfang Yuyue's deep, profound gaze shifted slightly. "I said, it is my first time confessing, but not my first time liking someone!"

Luo Qianfan didn't know whether she should praise this man's honesty or lament encountering such an eccentric specimen.

Who on earth confessed to someone while confessing to their own romantic history beforehand? Even if she had asked, he could have at least spun some well-intentioned lies!

Luo Qianfan felt that Dongfang Yuyue was beyond saving.

"Then why did you give up on her later?" It wasn't that Luo Qianfan was gossiping; she was simply curious since it involved Dongfang Yuyue.

"Because I met you!"

Luo Qianfan: "!!"

So this guy had been treating her like a spare tire all along!

Her mood instantly soured, and the words leaving her mouth lost all warmth as she muttered nonstop:

*Well, that woman must be quite lucky not to have her life ruined by a super scumbag and a modern-day Chen Shimei like you!*

"He is a man!" Dongfang Yuyue stated decisively.

"Ah! Wh—what?!" Luo Qianfan's soft lips parted into a round 'O' shape, letting out a sound resembling a duck's quack. Her legs wobbled, and she nearly took a tumble.

Her mind, however, was too slow to process the details. If she hadn't misheard, he had just said—the person he liked was a man?

What the hell?

Unbelieving of what she had just heard, Luo Qianfan asked again, "Are you sure the person you like... is a man?"

Dongfang Yuyue looked straight into her eyes without a single flaw and nodded. "She said so, therefore she is!"

He vaguely remembered a certain night when a certain woman had locked him outside her door and sternly warned him: *Remember, Luo Qianfan has nothing to do with the Master of the Medical Underworld Valley!*

Therefore, in Dongfang Yuyue's eyes, Luo Qianfan was both a man and a woman! And during their very first meeting, Luo Qianfan had happened to be dressed as a man.

Luo Qianfan felt like she was about to explode! She hurriedly retreated several steps until her back hit the door, leaving her nowhere left to run. Her hands instinctively flew up to block his burning gaze as she cried out in shock:

"Dongfang Yuyue, you aren't—are you a GAY? A pervert! Homosexual...!"

Her mind went completely blank. Not a single one of the high-frequency buzzwords that usually bounced around her brain could be summoned when she needed them most.

*GAY?*

*Pervert?*

Fortunately, she had asked that extra question; otherwise... she would have been led into a pit by him and left for dead...

However, he actually liked men?

Could his affection for her stem from her male disguise during their first meeting? Was that why he kept tangling with her, refusing to let her go even after seeing her in women's clothing?

...

Dongfang Yuyue didn't understand the rambling words tumbling out of Luo Qianfan's mouth, but judging by her facial expressions, he could roughly guess they weren't flattering terms.

Before he could even digest the meaning of her previous sentence, Luo Qianfan's shocked voice rang out once more.

"Then when you said you liked me, could it be that you want me to help you escape this sea of bitterness? Or are you planning to use me as an excuse to satisfy your—**!" Or did you genuinely take a fancy to this young master's men's attire? Luo Qianfan was so naive she was almost cute!

The only explanation she could think of was this.

He liked men! He had no interest in women! Yet he insisted he liked her! Luo Qianfan could think of no other reason besides him wanting to prank her.

The thought of one day being used as a beard for someone else's homosexuality made Luo Qianfan's scalp tingle with panic, and the gaze she cast toward Dongfang Yuyue carried a trace of disdain mixed with pity.

She hadn't expected Dongfang Yuyue to be so insidious, trying to pull a fast one on her in the end. Fortunately, this young master was witty!

Luo Qianfan inwardly praised her own sharp, clever little brain.

Without a doubt, Dongfang Yuyue furrowed his brows deeply, his profound eyes locked unblinkingly onto Luo Qianfan's eccentric, mischievous little mind.

Just what on earth goes through this little head of hers all day long...

Silence descended upon them once again.

"Master, dinner is ready." Guifang's voice rang out, shattering the prolonged silence between the two.

"Come in." Swiftly, a robust and solitary voice replied.

Dongfang Yuyue's brows relaxed slightly, as though he had just emerged victorious from a life-and-death battle.

Guifang crept in with cautious tiptoes, followed by two or three guards carrying various bizarrely shaped yet appetizing delicacies in their hands. It all looked rather good.