Quick Transmigration: The Sweetheart Everyone Loves Is Stuck in Romantic Chaos Every Day - Chapter 232

“All of you, step back! Her Highness is drunk—her words don’t count! Don’t you dare trick her into promises she doesn’t mean!”

“Lu Yi, that’s not fair—”

“Exactly. Who do you think you are? She’s the Phoenix Princess, and you’re just you. Still dreaming of keeping her all to yourself? Stop fantasizing.”

Lu Yi’s face sank. His arms tightened around Ruan Tang’s soft body as he gritted his teeth.

“So what if I am dreaming? She gave me her jade pendant. She said she’d ransom me. In Her Highness’s heart…”

His voice faltered, uncertain.

His eyes reddened suddenly, as if he might break down crying the next second.

Still, he clenched his jaw, trembling as he forced the words out.

“In Her Highness’s heart, there must be a place for Lu Yi…”

The others fell silent, staring at him with complicated expressions.

There was even pity in their eyes.

Everyone knew his words were nothing but a hopeless fantasy.

Even he didn’t believe them.

But still, he had to say it—because speaking it aloud made the possibility feel a fraction more real.

Just a fraction was enough. Enough to give him a sliver of hope to keep going, like a single lantern flickering on a dark road.

They had to admit—they weren’t even as bold as Lu Yi.

They didn’t dare dream at all.

The sound of steel leaving its sheath shattered the silence.

Mo Xuan’s sword gleamed coldly, its sharp tip pressing straight against Lu Yi’s back.

“If you want to live, let go of Her Highness.”

The killing intent rolling off him filled the air, making the untrained men tremble uncontrollably.

Even Lu Yi’s face paled, though he stubbornly shot back:

“If you kill me, Her Highness will never forgive you.”

Mo Xuan’s aura spiked, his eyes black as ink, burning with icy fury.

“I’ve stood by Her Highness’s side long enough. I’ve seen her toy with countless men. How many of them actually end up truly taken as her consorts? Barely any.”

His lips curved in a rare, venomous sneer, his voice carrying a malice he never showed in ordinary times.

“And you? Just a brothel plaything. Do you really think you’re worthy?”

Lu Yi’s face twisted with hatred as he glared at Mo Xuan.

If looks could kill, the cold-faced guard would have died a thousand deaths under his gaze.

Yet in the end, Lu Yi ground his teeth and released Ruan Tang.

Mo Xuan instantly swept her into his arms, her delicate body soft against his chest.

And in that moment, a thousand waves rose inside him.

The touch was even softer, even more perfect than he’d ever imagined—so much that even his iron heart melted into something unrecognizable.

Ruan Tang curled into him like a kitten, her small waist pressing against the hilt of his sword.

Her brows furrowed faintly, and she mumbled in a hazy, tipsy complaint.

“Mmm… so hard…”

Every man present immediately thought in the wrong direction.

Their faces flushed crimson with strange expressions.

Mo Xuan froze, stiff as stone, his breath quickening.

Forcing down the surge in his chest, he unfastened the treasured sword at his hip and slung it carelessly across his back instead.

Then, without hesitation, he scooped the drunken Phoenix Princess into his arms, leapt into the air, and carried her away.

Lu Yi’s eyes followed the two disappearing figures, his beautiful face twisting with thick jealousy.

“Your Highness…”

His voice was low, almost a prayer, yet his gaze burned with madness and obsession.

…

Mo Xuan carried Ruan Tang through the night, light-footed as he skimmed over rooftops.

The evening wind lifted her hair, revealing a flawless face, pale and delicate as lotus blossoms, breathtakingly beautiful.

He stared, dazed, nearly missing his footing.

Only by luck did he manage to land safely outside the palace walls.

He should have handed her to the palace attendants.

After all, men and women had to keep their distance—and she was the Phoenix Princess. A mere bodyguard had no right to hold her this way.

But he couldn’t let go.

She nestled against him like a drunken kitten, and holding her felt like holding the entire world.

His wandering, rootless heart finally had a place to rest.

How could he give her to anyone else? He couldn’t bear it.

He didn’t want anyone else—man or woman, or even eunuchs—to touch her, to hold her.

His possessiveness was that irrational.

So Mo Xuan made a reckless, treasonous decision.

—Instead of the main gate, he would sneak her into the palace himself, straight into her chambers.

But as he landed on a tree branch in the imperial garden, a pebble infused with internal force shot out of nowhere and slammed into his leg.

His body lost balance, tumbling down.

If it were just him, he could have righted himself midair easily.

But with Ruan Tang in his arms, his only thought was shielding her—making sure she didn’t suffer so much as a scratch.

With a dull thud, his back crashed to the ground.

Ruan Tang, however, remained unharmed, still fast asleep.

A calm, commanding voice rang out:

“And here I wondered who dared trespass in my imperial garden… so it’s you?”

The aura was steady, authoritative—belonging only to a ruler.

It was the Phoenix Kingdom’s sovereign himself, the Phoenix Monarch, Ruan Xiang.

He sat in a pavilion, pale fingers turning a fine jade cup in idle amusement.

His long dark hair was bound high with a lavish jade crown, his skin fair, his features sharp and noble. Phoenix eyes narrowed, cold and arrogant, his tall figure clad in a golden robe woven with intricate patterns, its high collar concealing his neck.

His voice was deep and androgynous, clear and commanding.

“Mo Xuan, you already have a pass. Why sneak in like a thief?”

Caught red-handed, Mo Xuan still didn’t flinch.

He carefully shifted Ruan Tang in his arms, then inclined his head slightly.

“Your Majesty.”

They had grown up together as childhood friends, and Mo Xuan alone knew Ruan Xiang’s greatest secret—

—That the Phoenix Monarch was actually a man.

His mother had disguised him as a woman to seize the throne as Crown Princess, ultimately succeeding in pushing him onto the throne.

In those struggles, Mo Xuan had been indispensable, helping him countless times.

Though the ruler had grown suspicious and distant over the years, their past bond remained.

That was why Mo Xuan dared treat him more naturally, less bound by strict etiquette.

Ruan Xiang narrowed his eyes, suspicion flickering.

“And who is it you’re carrying?”

Mo Xuan’s arm tightened slightly around Ruan Tang’s waist.

“The Phoenix Princess.”

After a pause, he added quietly:

“She’s drunk.”

And even as he spoke, his gaze stayed fixed on her face, unwilling to look away for even an instant.

Ruan Xiang looked at him as if seeing a ghost.

He knew Mo Xuan too well. The man was a martial arts fanatic, obsessed with the blade.

Romance, beauty—none of it ever touched him.

And hadn’t he always disliked Ruan Tang? Her cruelty and capriciousness went against his upright nature.

So what was this?

A change of heart? A sudden awakening? Had the sun risen in the west?

Ruan Xiang’s interest was piqued.

(t/n: In this matriarchal world, men are usually weak, fair-skinned, and treated as dependents. Mo Xuan defies this with his dark skin, tall build, and martial prowess, which makes him “unattractive” by local standards but dangerously magnetic to Ruan Tang—and terrifyingly possessive.)