11 Not again!

He did it to her again. This damn fucker did it to her again, fumed Fan Bao inwardly. Feng Gan's methods were always unscrupulous and underhanded. The first time he did it, she was presiding over a lively sports tournament that had lasted for three days. On the last day of the tournament, during a lull in the festivities, she had found herself literally dragged to a room inside her palace and loved to an inch of her life by this crazy idiot Feng Gan.

The scandal that followed made her shudder in remembrance. Lin Chang, one of her top advisers, cried buckets, saying that since the Duke of Wang Lei had violated the purity of her majesty, the emperor must now marry him or else the entire kingdom will declare war on the enemy.

"War over the loss of my virginity?" she had asked, surprised. "Isn't that rather too much?"

"Your majesty!" Lin Chang cried, shocked. "We can't let him get away with seducing you, can we? He must marry you!"

"Well, since I've already rejected him one million times before this happened...still, no. I don't want to marry him. I don't want to marry anybody."

Of course, it didn't stop with her blunt refusal. Lin Chang, that hypocritical ascetic, actually called a summit of the elders to force Fan Bao to accept Feng Gan's proposal of marriage. Fan Bao was livid because they forced her to listen to their arguments like it was a state emergency or something. The loss of an ordinary girl's virginity didn't mean a thing to these old pompous fools but since it was her virginity, they pretended to be as outraged as any concerned father whose actual motive was purely monetary.

After all, Wang Lei was one of the most prosperous kingdoms that shared a border with Yuming. The two kingdoms had been more or less civil to each other during Fan Bao's father's reign but the relationship developed into something more friendlier when Fan Bao ascended to the throne. Fan Bao's teacher, Odo Marshall, made sure of that when he invited the Crown Prince, the Duke of Wang Lei, to her coronation.

Feng Gan had been fifteen at that time, a strapping young lad with a vivacious smile and a pair of merry eyes. Those pair of eyes literally bulged out of their sockets when they first caught sight of the twelve-year old emperor sitting like a divine goddess on her golden throne. Fan Bao was not a normal twelve year old, however. She had already led a 500,000 strong army on a military expedition to the south of the border. She had fought bandits and captured political enemies that had been caught conspiring against the kingdom. She had also killed people and ordered the execution of thousands.

Fan Bao seldom had any contact with Feng Gan before so when he was introduced to her, she had been polite but not enthusiastic. But Feng Gan had conceived a very passionate yet bizarre tendre for her at that first meeting and had in fact sent an ambassador to negotiate marriage with her six months later.

Fan Bao had been very surprised yet amused.

"He wants me to marry him?" she asked Odo. "Doesn't that fool realize I'm only twelve and haven't had my monthlies yet? Even in this age, this is still child abuse, yes?"

The matter of her age Feng Gan never even considered. He wanted Fan Bao. At the young age of fifteen, Feng Gan can be considered a moderate profligate since he already enjoyed the sexual company of five or so concubines at his beck and call. He was not overly licentious, however, like his father's brother who had, at the last count, over two thousand women languishing in his back courtyard. His uncle, moreover, was unmarried which could be considered a plus in his favor. He loved women, just not enough to marry anyone in his harem.

As for Feng Gan, his passion for Fan Bao grew to such an extent that it became a sickness, an obsession, which mutated into a quiet longing with Fan Bao's constant rejection. His father surmised that it could be the reason why Feng Gan liked Fan Bao so much: because he cannot forget what he cannot and didn't have and Fan Bao's rejection had been firm and blunt. His concerned parents became worried about his health so they decided to send him away to an ally's kingdom thousands of miles away so he would get better and forget Fan Bao.

But fate had an odd way of bringing these two young people together. It turns out, the thousand miles away was not enough distance to make Fan Bao vanish from Feng Gan's mind. The two of them met again three years later during a hunting event which a friend of Feng Gan's had organized for him. Fan Bao and her army had gatecrashed the party soon after in pursuit of a band of brigands that had been waylaying and killing travelers on their way to the border.

Fan Bao barely recognized Feng Gan until his companions introduced him to her. Fan Bao had matured a lot in the three years since her crowning as Yuming's new emperor. She was taller, her face thinner and more mature, her figure had more or less developed, and she looked so grandly beautiful that his body's immediate reaction to her was instantaneous.

Since she broke up the hunting party, Fan Bao made up for it by inviting them to see Yuming's sports competition in three month's time. Feng Gan, who couldn't help but stare at her like a lovesick cow, immediately agreed. He didn't have any idea how to persuade Fan Bao to accept his proposal this time around but it came to him during an unexpected meeting that last day of the competition.

He saw her enter the castle and followed her. She went to a room alone and he was right behind her. When he opened the door, he saw her lying on the bed with her eyes closed. He tiptoed forward and immediately possessed himself of her red and pouty lips. When her eyes opened in alarm and she saw him, her mouth opened in a scream which he blocked with another kiss and another until he had touched and caressed her entire body and she ended up crying angry tears. He felt somewhat guilty and ashamed but he was also resolved and determined so he loved her, loved her all night until Lin Chang and the others found them early morning of the following day.

Fan Bao finally bowed down to imperial pressure when Lin Chang pointed out that an heir could be on the way as a result of what Feng Gan did. Fan Bao was shocked because she honestly hadn't thought of anything other than smashing Feng Gan's pretty face to bits. But a child.... When she asked Odo for his opinion, Odo merely laughed. He said that Feng Gan must be either out of his mind or he truly likes the emperor to be so bold as to...ahem. So, that was that. Feng Gan won the right to call Fan Bao his intended because he was so bold as to...ahem... the fifteen year old warrior emperor of Yuming.

"What's the big deal about me marrying my stepsister?" this modern version of the impetuous and unscrupulous Feng Gan was saying. "We're not biologically related. And we didn't grow up as brother and sister either."

"As her guardian, you should have asked me for her hand in marriage first before....," Feng Xiao Ping explained patiently. "She lives under my roof and under my protection yet you broke all protocols and did as you want as usual."

"I don't want to marry him," Fan Bao interrupted but nobody paid any attention to her.

"I like her, dad. I felt an instant attraction the moment I saw her. It's as if we were somewhat separated and I found her again."

"So you slept with her," Xiao Ping said dryly. "That sounds to me like a young man in heat than a young man in love."

"I don't care. I will marry Bao Bao with or without your permission."

"I don't want to marry you," Fan Bao gritted but was again ignored.

"And I say you can't marry her because she's still under my care. I don't approve of what you did, even if you're my son. And how do I know you're really serious about her? It's easy to say you'll marry her but where's the sincerity in that?"

"Hello, I don't want to marry anyone."

"I'll have my lawyer call on you as soon as possible so he can tell you of my character as a future husband. I've not wasted my time just playing around, you know. I have good investments. I own several properties and my last pay check is enough to ensure that Bao Bao will have anything she wants when she marries me."

"Talk is cheap," Xiao Ping snorted. "Bao Bao is worth billions and she still can have everything she wants even if she doesn't marry you."

"That's right," Fan Bao nodded in agreement. "So let's not talk of marriage anymore. I don't want to marry him anyway."

"What if there's already a child?" Feng Gan asked. "I didn't use any precautions last night or this morning," he said, slyly smiling. "What then? Don't say abortion because you and I both know that's out of the question."

Fan Bao looked at him stunned. Her gaze moved to Feng Xiao Ping in silent appeal.

"I must admit, either my son is truly out of his mind or he really likes you to...ahem," Feng Xiao Ping said delicately with a faint blush.

"Ahem? Ahem?!" Fan Bao yelled, stung by the memory of the word. "Argghhhh!!!" she screamed then buried her head under the covers, muttering the words Lin Chang, the elders, and Odo. Father and son looked at her bemused.

The door suddenly opened and Li Jun walked in.

"Your majesty, I...," he stopped when he saw the two men. His calm yet sharp eyes settled on Fan Bao who was huddled on the bed pouting. His gaze then roved down her smooth and white back which was turned towards him. His penetrating gaze stopped at what looked to be a bruise on her right shoulder. No, it was not a bruise but a bite, a red love bite that extended from her shoulder to her right arm. Li Jun's eyes darkened with rage then finally settled on the man sitting beside her on the bed, his hand lazily twirling a lock of black hair on his finger.

Li Jun's boiling eyes and Feng Gan's equally suspicious orbs met.

Suddenly uncomfortable by the silence, Fan Bao lifted her head and saw Li Jun watching her by the door. Her eyes narrowed at the expression on his face.

"You found him?" she asked.

"Yes, your majesty. He's waiting for you downstairs."

"He's here?" Unmindful of the three men's earth-shaking shock, Fan Bao jumped off the bed naked and walked towards Li Jun. Li Jun, who was familiar by now with Fan Bao's unconventional ideas about nudity, calmly took off his jacket and helped Fan Bao into it. He looked calm but his eyes were slightly shut and his cheekbones were a little red. Feng Gan stared at that tell tale sign with murderous eyes, his hands balling into fists.

"How did he know I live here?" she asked curiously, totally ignoring Feng Gan's jealous wrath and his father's shocked amusement.

"He called me up. He said he wanted to see the original because he copied it from a photograph he saw in a magazine when he was a child."

"The original? Hmnn…." Fan Bao smiled, tapping her chin with a finger. She started when Feng Gan suddenly grab hold of the jacket she was wearing and pulled both ends tightly around her. His eyes dropped to her legs, which the jacket barely covered. He groaned and pulled the blanket from the bed and wrapped it tightly around her.

"What are you doing?" Fan Bao asked, mildly amused.

"Do you have a habit of greeting strange men in your bedroom wearing nothing but your birthday suit?" he growled jealously, his eyes shooting daggers at her unconcerned face.

"Huh? It's Li Jun. He's not a stranger."

"Damn it, Fan Bao! That's not what I meant and you know it. What is he doing here? How come you're so blasé about walking around naked in front of him? Has this happened before?"

"Yes," Fan Bao answered truthfully, puzzled by Feng Gan's behavior. "This is my bedroom so of course he sees me naked once in a while. What's the big deal? You saw me naked last night, didn't you? And this morning?"

Feng Gan's eyes were almost singed by a haze of red.

"Get out!" he barked at Li Jun. "And don't ever come in here again. Just get out!"

"What is wrong with you?" Fan Bao was totally puzzled by Feng Gan's anger. "Li Jun is my right hand man. I need him when I need him. And that means entering my bedroom whether I'm asleep, naked, or in the bathroom."

"Stop saying it like that," Feng Gan ordered angrily. "If you need him then call him using your phone. If you want to exchange messages with him, then text him. But do not...do not let him inside your bedroom ever again. Is that clear?"

Fan Bao looked at him without speaking then at Li Jun.

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute. I have to shower and get dressed. Ask someone to give him breakfast," she added, then turned around and walked in the direction of the bathroom.

"Goddamnit! Are you even listening to me? You're my fiancée and I forbid you to have this man in your bedroom ever again!"

The door to the bathroom closed with a slight click.

Feng Gan stared at the closed door like he wanted to rip it to shreds with his bare hands. When he turned around, Li Jun had already left and his father was looking at him like he was a child who just had his childish tantrum exposed and ignored.

"Still want to marry her?" his father asked. "She'll lead you a merry chase, you know."

"Don't I know it," Feng Gan grumbled. "I need to change, dad. My woman is having strange men going and coming here and there and she's not even my wife yet. I have to see who this next idiot is. That Li Jun. I don't trust him. He looks really suspicious."

Feng Xiao Ping followed after him shaking his head and laughing merrily.