Transmigrated as My Best Friend's Ex

111. Let’s Play the Game

Translator: Guy Gone Bad

Frise sat in the hall with a gentle, decent smile on her face. However, Nancheng Lie and Li Qinghao knew very well that she was as vicious as a viper. When she saw them, Frise immediately stood up and said to Nancheng Lie, “Mr. Nancheng, I’m very happy that you’ve come to Leiluo Kingdom again.” She was looking fixedly at Li Qinghao instead of Nancheng Lie while saying that.

Nancheng Lie’s arrival was only to be expected, but Frise hadn’t expected Li Qinghao to come with Nancheng Lie. Li Qinghao was Nancheng Lie’s ex. She couldn’t think of any reason why they showed up together.

“Thank you. Your Highness, you seem to have taken a fancy to me. Am I right?” Nancheng Lie sat down on the sofa opposite Frise. He crossed his legs and slowly twisted his lips into a sexy, evil smile, looking very charming.

Li Qinghao felt deeply ashamed of Nancheng Lie. How could he flirt with a middle-aged woman? What a disgrace!

Nancheng Lie perceived that Li Qinghao was staring at him. He turned his head and gave Li Qinghao a smile.

“What if I say yes, Mr. Nancheng?” Frise asked, observing Nancheng Lie and Li Qinghao closely. They two were more like old friends than old flames. There was a kind of unspoken agreement between them. The atmosphere was full of warmth and ambiguities when they looked at each other.

Nancheng Lie took his eyes off Li Qinghao and crossed his arms over his chest. “If so, I will have nightmares at night,” he said, with a cynical smile on his lips. Hearing this, Frise’s face dropped to the floor almost immediately.

“Mr. Nancheng, you must be joking!” Frise told herself that there was no need to be angry with such a young man. As the noblest woman in Leiluo Kingdom, she had to behave with grace and ease.

“Joking? I’m interested in a romantic relationship, but I never tell jokes. I’m   at the height of my youth and vigor, and I really hate being pestered by a woman who is nearly fifty.”

Li Qinghao couldn’t hold back convulsive laughter.

What a brazen guy!

What Nancheng Lie said offended Frise, and Li Qinghao’s laughter successfully made her angry.

Frise’s face clouded over with anger, but she managed to keep smiling. “It seems that you don’t want to see Keqi,” she said in a threatening tone of voice.

“Where is Keqi?” Li Qinghao regretted having laughed at such an awkward moment. He thought that Nancheng was very much to blame. So, Li Qinghao slipped his arm around Nancheng Lie’s waist and pinched him hard.

Nancheng Lie frowned with pain. He turned around and gave Li Qinghao a meaningful look. Li Qinghao got a bad feeling.

“He’s now in this house.” Frise regained the initiative. She recovered her good humour. “Are you interested in searching the villa for him?”

Li Qinghao narrowed his eyes and asked, “What are the rules?”

“Hahaha…” Frise chuckled, “Mr. Li, you are a very clever man. I have to admit that I underestimated you. This is my game, so you have to obey my rules. If you can find Keqi within 24 hours, I will not interfere with any of your actions in Leiluo Kingdom.”

“It doesn’t seem to be a fair deal.” Li Qinghao raised his head and looked at Frise sarcastically. He was a fair-skinned type and had a good set of features. He was a good example of a gender-neutral beauty. The sharpness in his eyes seemed to enhance his manly charms.

Frise’s heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t take her eyes off Li Qinghao. Nancheng Lie and Li Qinghao were totally different types. Nancheng Lie was a haughty, domineering sort of fellow. He had an elegant and unconventional temperament, and exuded sexual magnetism. As for Li Qinghao, he had an air of a nobleman. He always spoke in a flat, dispassionate tone, and his face was usually expressionless. Although he often kept silent, people around him felt it hard to ignore him.

Frise remembered the day when she had first seen him in the hotel. At that time, she had felt that Li Qinghao was not an ordinary man. It had been only two months, but now he gave her a strong sense of danger.

How could he change so much in just two months?

Or, he had been pretending at that time, and now she was seeing him in his true colours for the first time?

Seeing that Frise stared at him without speaking, Li Qinghao gave a meaningful smile and asked, “How do you prove to me that Keqi is here, Your Highness?”

Nancheng Lie put an arm around Li Qinghao’s neck, pulled him close and then whispered in his ear, “Is that old woman fantasizing about having a romance with you?”

Li Qinghao stamped on Nancheng Lie’s foot.

Nancheng Lie gasped a lungful of air. He felt a sharp pain in his foot.

“Don’t fill your head with nonsense.” Li Qinghao gave Nancheng Lie a stern look.

“It’s clear that she is seducing you. Is she still a virgin?” A question suddenly struck him.

Although they tried their best to lower their voices, their conversation was still heard by Frise. She got angry.

“Maybe you don’t believe me, but if you give up this game, you’ll never see Keqi again,” Frise said in a cold voice.  “I know Nancheng Group is a large enterprise of high position in the world. But anyway, Nancheng family has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of another country. Am I right, Mr. Nancheng?”

Nancheng Lie opened and shut his mouth, unspeaking.

He had come to Leiluo Kingdom for personal reasons. If Nancheng Group and Leiluo Kingdom fell out and became enemies because of him, it would tarnish the reputation of Nancheng Group.

Nancheng Group sat up high in a leading position, but ran the risk of being attacked by various predators. Nancheng Lie knew very well that there were numerous international enterprises casting covetous eyes on Nancheng Group.

Furthermore, there were a complex relationship between LD organization and the government. Outwardly they were taking advantage of each other, but actually the government saw LD organization as a threat. If an economic war broke out between Nancheng Group and other international enterprises, the government would probably take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate LD organization.

“Your Highness, you are really a clever woman,” Nancheng Lie replied. He hated smart and malicious women.

“Okay, let’s play the game.” Li Qinghao was pretty sure that Keqi was not here. So why did Frise ask them to play the game of finding Keqi within 24 hours? There could be only one explanation: something important would happen in Lieluo Kingdom tomorrow.

Frise was satisfied with this answer. She turned to Li Qinghao and asked, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” Li Qinghao recovered his habitual gentleness.

“You have been injected with TRKS. You need the final third of antidote. But as a matter of fact, you are a completely outsider. Why did you get involved?”

Li Qinghao threw her a faint smile and answered, “No matter whether we can find Keqi or not, I’ll tell you the answer this time tomorrow, okay?”

Frise was stunned for a moment. Then she left, her heels clicking. She was looking forward to what would happen this time tomorrow.

Li Qinghao looked at Frise’s retreating figure. For an instant his heart softened. Every time he saw Frise, he thought of his father, who looked exactly like Frise. That man gave up his country for his love. Li Qinghao couldn’t tell whether that kind of love was selfish or selfless. It was none of his business. He only knew that his father and Frise were twins, so they looked exactly the same.

“Hey, she’s already out of sight.” Nancheng Lie threw his arms around Li Qinghao’s waist and pulled Li closer to him. “Don’t tell me you like that old maid.”

Li Qinghao pushed him away and said, “Are you crazy? I just… I think of my father every time I see her face.”

Nancheng Lie took Li Qinghao back into his arms and comforted, “I think dad doesn’t want you to think of him often.”

Li Qinghao raised his eyebrows and warned, “Nancheng Lie!”

“Okay, I know he’s not my dad; he’s my father-in-law.”

Li Qinghao clenched his fists and resisted the impulse to punch Nancheng Lie. “Why?” he asked. Why didn’t his father want him to think of him often?

“You silly boy. There’s no point in thinking about a dead person.”

“Humph!” Li Qinghao snorted in a cold tone, “You used to…” He bit back the words he would like to have said as he met Nancheng Lie’s deep eyes. Nancheng had a pair of eyes as black as obsidian. At the moment, he was looking earnestly at Li Qinghao with loving eyes. Li Qinghao’s heart slowly melted.

‘This guy always manages to placate me. I don’t even have the heart to scold him,’ Li Qinghao thought helplessly.

Seeing that Li Qinghao’s face softened, Nancheng Lie grinned. “Let’s go and look around.” He took Li Qinghao by the hand and walked forward. He instinctively held Li’s hand tightly, but soon came back to his senses. He relaxed his grip on Li for fear of crushing the bones of Li’s palm.

Li Qinghao followed Nancheng Lie obediently. He looked at Nancheng’s back and then stole a glance of Nancheng’s handsome face. There was a flash of affection in his eyes.

In the Royal Palace of Leiluo Kingdom.

Li Qinghao and Nancheng Lie guessed right. Keqi was not in the villa. He was actually in the Royal Palace. Frise had her men seal off the whole Royal Palace. Even the members of the royal clan of Leiluo Kingdom couldn’t enter the Royal Palace, let alone Nancheng Lie and Li Qinghao.

Frise spent 22 years devising a plan to seize the throne. Taking control of the Royal Palace was a piece of cake for her.

Keqi was lying in bed watching TV. The TV channel was broadcasting the news conference at which he had admitted that he was gay. Keqi couldn’t help admiring himself for his acting talent.

“Your Majesty.” The door was pushed open from the outside, and Mr. Ao came in. He was the only one in the Royal Palace who really cared about Keqi and was not controlled by Frise.

Keqi turned off the television and looked at Mr. Ao. This old man seemed to have aged ten years almost overnight. Keqi sighed, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t worry about me, Your Majesty. They have body-searched me and confirmed that I don’t have any communication tools with me. I’m just an old man. They don’t take me seriously.” Mr. Ao looked into Keqi’s eyes and beheld calmness. He couldn’t help querying, “Your Majesty, after that incident, you didn’t explain yourself; instead, you readily admitted that you were gay. Can you tell me what’s really on your mind?”