Chapter 72 - The Three Realms

Jiang Ying Yue first stared at the First Prince who was intently looking back at her before she turned her attention towards his hand. 

"What do you want?" She asked when she failed to decide what to do. She was confused if he wanted her to place her hand in his or if he wanted something else from.

The smile on Qing Shan's face only became bigger at her question. "Come here." He told her before signaling with the fingers of his outstretched hand.

She hesitated for a second or two but then finally moved towards where he was sitting. As she came to stand next to him, she slowly placed her fingers in his palm. But she did not expect the Prince to grab her hand as he pulled her into his arms.

Jiang Ying Yue lost her balance and ended up falling into the familiar embrace of the man who immediately wrapped his arms around her as if he was preventing her from moving away.

"What do you mean by this?" She asked him while raising her eyebrows in question. It was not an easy task to pretend to be unhappy about his action when in reality, her heart and soul were jumping with excitement.

"Didn't you want to know more about me and my brothers? I'll tell you then." Qing Shan answered her as he ran his index finger over her temple and down to her cheek, making her inhale deeply as the soulbond between them started coming to life. 

"Fine! Go on, I'm listening. I'm not expecting you to tell me everything today but as long as you will tell me something important related to your lives, I'll consider it fair." She told him in a calm tone while her attention was totally on his finger that was now playing with a strand of her hair.

"Fair enough!" Qing Shan spoke with a slight nod of his head as he gave her another soft smile. Seeing him smile was something new for Ying Yue. From their very first encounter, they had spent most of their meetings either bickering or trying to outplay each other. 

"I'm not sure if you know this by now or not, but there are three existing realms in this world. The Heaven Realm is where the God and Goddesses live and enjoy their immortal lives. Then, there is the Mortal Realm where humans and Immortal masters live and the last one is the dark and gloomy demon realm where the demons are abolished."

"Heaven Realm is responsible for keeping balance in the mortal realm and making sure that the demons won't create any more trouble for humans. As for those so-called Immortals, they are mostly those deities who either failed to pass Heaven's trial to reach the position of a God, or they are offspring of a God and a mortal... And in some special cases, even demons." 

Qing Shan became silent as he stared at her hands that had been grabbing his robes for some weird reason. Her first instinct was to let go immediately but she ended up doing the opposite.

"What about you then? Silver told me that he heard people talking about the three realms but he did not find out anything specific. He also told me that it's impossible for mortals to reach Immortality. Then..." She trailed off when she saw him nodding his head.

"Indeed, the spiritual energy of the mortal realm disappeared during the last war between the three realms. Now, no mortal can cultivate and reach immortality. As I told you, the only Immortals living in this realm are either those who failed their final trials or those kids of the Gods and Goddesses who are not allowed in the Heaven Realm." He explained once again.

"But then what about you and the other two Princes? The three of you are barely in your twenties but I can clearly tell that you have immense power. Are you three Immortals too? But how is that even possible?" Jiang Ying Yue didn't hold back and bombarded the Prince with her questions.

"The three of us? Well... we are special cases. We are indeed not mortals but for now, we are living as normal humans. No one in the mortal realm knows that the three Princes of the Hyuang Empire poses spiritual energy, except for the Empress Dowager of course." 

Jiang Ying Yue stared at the man for a few seconds in silence. Special cases? Sure! They did look like special cases. But what kind of special case they were? 

"Your mother isn't a mortal either." It wasn't exactly a question but she still looked at him with questioning eyes to confirm her speculation. Watching the Prince silently nodding his head in affirmation, Ying Yue felt like the entire royal family of the Hyuang Empire was anything but normal.

"Will you tell me what is your special case if I ask?" She questioned and looked at him with hopeful eyes. Unfortunately, her hope was short-lived because the Prince immediately gave her a look that told her she won't be getting any more information out of him for the day. 

"Fine! I think I learned quite a lot today. At least, now I know that the three of you brothers and that your mother of yours is really someone I should have avoided at all costs. But what luck I've found for myself, the three of you are now bound to me while the fourth one was keeping me imprisoned in her palace." She complained with a huff as she recalled her conversation with Wu Xie during their first meeting on the night of the banquet.

The Third Prince had been constantly reminding her that the Empress Dowager was dangerous for her and the only way for her, Jiang Ying Yue, to keep herself safe from that woman was to accept the deal of the Princes.

"Good to know that. Let's not waste more time. Here..." The First Prince placed his wrist in front of her, making her recall the main reason for which they were meeting in the first place.

She stared at the milky skin of his wrist for a while, watched his veins that were filled with his sweet blood that was already calling her name like a siren's call.

"What's wrong?" Qing Shan asked when he noticed that she was not moving at all. 

Jiang Ying Yue grabbed his hand as she rolled up his sleeve, making more of his arm visible to her eyes. She let her fingers trace the veins as she felt his pulse that was starting to beat rapidly. 

A small smile appeared on her lips as she turned her face up to look into his eyes that were staring at her in puzzlement. She moved on his lap to straddle him as she sat on his thighs while facing him. The space between their upper bodies was nearly negligible while her face was also so close to his.

Qing Shan was so taken aback by her actions that for several seconds, he failed to react at all. He just sat there in shock as he stared into her eyes that were looking at him mischievously.

"W... W-what are you... trying to do?" He finally found his voice to ask but his stammer made Jiang Ying Yue chuckle softly as she shook her head lightly.

She brushed her fingers through his hair before letting them trail down his temples to his cheek before they moved to cup his face, tilting his head back before she landed a soft kiss on his lips.

The surprise was clearly seen in the First Prince's eyes as he tried his best to stay calm. His heart was pumping at a great speed and all that his mind could think about was that he just lost his first kiss.

As soon as the realization hit him, he saw a huge smile blooming on Ying Yue's lips. For some weird reason, looking into her eyes he felt like she knew exactly what he was thinking. As if she knew that this was his first kiss.

"Let me make your first kiss memorable." She whispered in a soft tone as she smiled warmly at him, making him lose all his remaining ability to think straight.

He watched her face coming closer as she once again moved to close the space between their lips. His lips parted on their own accord as his eyes settled on her pink luscious lips. And as she once again kissed him, he felt his body coming alive.

A sweet sensation started running all over his body as their lips moved against each other. She kissed him deeply and passionately, making it hard for him to keep himself from moaning out loudly. 

He felt his hands moving and soon enough they were wrapped around her as he pulled her body flushed against his, making that little space between their bodies vanish completely this time.