Chapter 220: [Khan's Story 12] He had to shave

Nighttime seemed to be the easiest time for one's own desires to manifest.

Hu Luoyan couldn't help but let his mind float back to the time of the day when he had shown such obscene behavior on the grasslands. And the more he thought about this, the hotter he felt his body burn. Having lost all drowsiness, he simply got out of bed with a loud thump.

He felt as though he nearly couldn't restrain himself any longer and was just itching to change back to his original identity.

As he quietly sat in front of the desk, he lifted his pen and started writing a letter.

Upon finishing the letter, he swiftly opened the windows and took out a small bamboo whistle from his lapels, gently blowing into it.

Not long after, the sound of strong flapping wings grew closer, and a big ash-black falcon landed on his arm.

This whistle was custom-made so that when he blew into it, the human ear wouldn't be able to detect a single sound. However, his keen-eared pet would be able to catch it.

"Good Hui Yu(1)," Hu Luoyan stuffed the rolled-up letter in the small bamboo tube tied on the falcon's talon before tenderly stroking its head and taking out a piece of fresh meat from his bag, feeding it to him, "Go."

The big bird pecked the back of his palm affectionately before flapping its lively wings and leaving in a gust of wind, heeding his command.

Hu Luoyan immediately shut his windows and suddenly cast a strange glance at the mirror table beside the window.

He curiously stroked his chin, sitting in front of the mirror.

Even though the little girl had lost previously, since she wanted him to have his beard shaved so badly, should he entertain her wishes?

With this in mind, he stared at himself in the mirror.

However, seeing the appearance that was reflected by the object, Hu Luoyan sucked in a breath of cold air.

Hiss.

Why did he look so fucking ugly?!

Even though the brass mirror reflected a slightly distorted appearance of his due to its crude shape, the general outline of his unbecoming image could still be clearly seen.

Back then, for the sake of seeming more mature and imposing, he had grown his beard and had purposely never maintained it. As men, they never saw the need to look into a mirror every day. He was a busy dealing with politics everyday, so how could he have the time to tidy himself up?

Hu Luoyan always prided himself to not be bad-looking. After all, several girls always flocked to his side in his younger years, so he had always been confident in his looks.

However, upon seeing the face that was almost covered by his beard in the mirror, as well as his unkempt appearance, for the first time in his life, he felt depressed.

D-Did he show this hideous ghost of a face in front of his queen for a whole month!?

Hu Luoyan soon felt dejected.

It was no wonder his queen never cast him a good look.

Motherfucker.

Shave it. Shave it!

He definitely had to shave it.

After rubbing some soap on his chin, Hu Luoyan quickly took out his sharp dagger and began to shave his beard.

That's right. Our Tuoba Khan indeed carried a dagger with him, an extremely bejeweled and gorgeous one at that too!

The surface was embedded with several precious gemstones: jadeites, turquoise, lazurite, and more, every gem representing a meritorious deed. The more magnificent the dagger was, the more it signified how powerful its owner was.

This dagger was bestowed upon him by an elder to the Xianbei man in his adult ceremony as it was also a symbol of the man's prestige.

Hu Luoyan's dagger was conferred to him by his Father Emperor, and even though at that time, the gemstones had gathered him too much attention for comfort, consequently spreading his name throughout the grasslands, he did not care much for it.

If it weren't for the old man telling him that the biggest ruby on it was something Consort Mother had left behind just for him, he wouldn't have even carried it around with him.

Other people would treat the dagger as a treasure, but only Hu Luoyan would use it occasionally to slice up some meat to feed his pet. Now, it was used to shave his unkempt beard. A certainly extravagant use of the dagger.

After struggling in front of the mirror for a long time, Hu Luoyan considered himself to have cleaned up pretty well.

He stroked his clean chin, a little unaccustomed to the feeling.

His thoughts wandered on, wondering if the girl would like it?

But as soon as this came to mind, Hu Luoyan mentally smacked himself.

She was just a girl! Why did he care so much about her opinion!?

Thoughts, begone!

[Completed]