CHAPTER 362: CHAPTER 360: LU YING, I REALLY LIKE YOU

A tall shadow loomed from behind, a calloused hand pressing against the butterfly bone of the young girl’s shoulder blade. Lu Ying looked down at her from above.

His narrowed eyes were deep and dark, brimming with blatant mockery.

He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. "Besides, Luoyang, being the unavoidable passage southward, is Wen Family’s territory. And now that the Wen Family has chosen to align through marriage with Lu Zhengliu—if my uncle moves south, would the Wen Family not inform Lu Zhengliu? You’re far too clever, Commandery Princess, not to grasp this logic. Cui Ji, jealous as always, must have fabricated those tales out of envy. You shouldn’t fall for his trickery..."

The young man’s hand steadied her slender waist while his other hand coiled around her long hair. Though his manner was that of an invader, each word he addressed her with was eerily courteous, "Commandery Princess."

Their shadows, cast on the wall, radiated a forbidden sense of defiance, dripping with unspeakable intimacy and desire.

Shen Yinning, under his relentless conquest, was melting like spring water.

Her curled lashes were heavy with teardrops as her very skin seemed to blossom in shades of pink, resembling countless peach blossoms blooming all at once.

Overwhelming elation surged from her toes to her heart and her head, leaving her lost in the heated trap Lu Ying had spun. Her consciousness blurred as ripples of white radiated out. Her delicate hands clutched at the sheets, struggling to maintain composure.

"Lu... don’t... ah..."

Words dissolved, breaking apart between her lips and teeth.

Lu Ying tugged her hair, forcing her head to turn, arrogantly silencing all her protests with a demanding kiss.

Shen Yinning was left with no choice in their tangled embrace, her cheeks flushing red as flowers, her lashes drooping like butterfly wings folding down in surrender.

Plotting, scheming, border armies—all of it faded to distant irrelevance.

She had come to extract secrets from Lu Ying, yet it was she who first discarded her defenses, routed, unable to hold her ground.

The poet once said, "Drunk within dreams where sky kisses water, one boat’s fleeting fantasy subdues a galaxy."

The night deepened, leaving no trace of time.

"Lu Ying..."

The bed curtains hung low, candles burned down to nothing.

Shen Yinning nestled against Lu Ying’s broad chest, too exhausted to lift her lids, speaking faintly as if half-dreaming.

"Lu Ying, I... I really like you..."

The moon had set.

The bedchamber was swallowed into a pitch-black silence.

Lu Ying, hands around the warmth soft against him, twirled a lock of her hair, the hunger in his eyes gradually subsiding.

He murmured, "You’re lying."

Elsewhere.

Cui Ji rode away from Shen Garden in a carriage, the streets deserted under the curfew, the only sound the pitter-patter of unending rain.

This summer’s rain seemed heavier than the last.

He thought of this, yet his mind drifted to Lu Ying.

Lu Ying...

The man who never let his emotions betray him was more shrewd and unfathomable than anyone he’d ever met in the Capital.

He didn’t believe for a moment Lu Ying would voluntarily relinquish the position of Crown Prince.

Nervous uncertainty simmered in his chest, his innate wariness hanging above him like a sword poised to strike, urging him into immediate action.

He brushed his lips, where the faint scent of Shen Yinning still lingered, before abruptly commanding, "To the palace."

The Emperor had not yet retired to rest.

Military dispatches from the borders left him vexed and harried. Though in his forties and at the peak of his prime, it was only after he deposed Lu Ying that he realized just how many years he’d avoided truly managing state affairs. Those irksome memorials of the past had all been handled by Lu Ying.

It was in the Imperial Study that Cui Ji came to see him.

The youth, poised like a jade tree and carrying an air of cultured refinement, always had a way of lifting the mood.

Not to mention that this youngest jinshi laureate since the founding of the dynasty was also, undeniably, a descendant of Lu Yu’s bloodline.

Fixing his gaze on Cui Ji, the Emperor’s earlier tension softened, "You rarely seek me out on your own accord. The last time was to plead for Volcanic Ganoderma for the Shen Family Girl. This time, what is it you want?"

Cui Ji knelt, spreading his robes: "Your humble servant beseeches Your Majesty for two additional favors."

The following morning.

Haitang and Wei Yu led the younger maids inside to attend, not daring to look at the young man on the bed.

After all, he had once been their master. Even now, having fallen to the status of a prisoner, they couldn’t help but feel dread in his presence.

As Haitang combed Shen Yinning’s hair, she whispered cautiously, "Last night, Nanny Chen heard that His Highness had been brought into Shen Garden at your command. She was so angry that she fell ill and didn’t get up this morning, claiming sickness. It seems she won’t show up for some time."

Nanny Chen had also been assigned by Lu Ying to Shen Yinning’s quarters.

She was tasked not only with teaching the maids strict discipline but also with keeping an eye on Shen Yinning.

Unfazed, Shen Yinning fastened on a pair of jade earrings. "Old women clinging to old rules—they’ve only ever seen men take multiple wives. They’ve no idea a woman can keep a stable of lovers too. Let her think it over at her own pace before coming back to serve me again."

Haitang and Wei Yu exchanged stunned glances.

It wasn’t just Nanny Chen who was flabbergasted; even they found it utterly unbelievable.

Their mistress, so dignified and authoritative—how in such a short span of days had she fallen to keeping the former Crown Prince as a captive plaything in her residence?

It felt like a fever dream!

Wei Yu, braver than her comrades, dared a quick glance toward the canopy bed. Beneath it, she caught sight of several thick iron chains, heavy and unmistakable, clearly designed to secure none other than their former master.

No wonder Nanny Chen had fallen ill with rage.

The Commandery Princess truly was...

Formidable!

Shen Yinning paid no mind to their gawking stares.

She had suffered countless humiliations under Lu Ying before; the indignity he now endured was nowhere near a tenth of what she bore. Why should she pity him?

He deserved every ounce of it!

She curved her lips into a sly smile, deliberately calling out toward the bed: "Brother Lu Ying, what would you like for breakfast? I’ll have the kitchen make it for you."

When no answer came from behind the bed curtains, Shen Yinning chuckled lightly, "Why are you acting like a shy bride, too embarrassed to show your face? Everyone here is loyal to me, so there’s no harm in them seeing you. You belong to me now; someday you’ll have to come out and meet guests. What, do you plan to hide behind the curtains for the rest of your life?"

Lu Ying sat within the canopy.

His face was icy, cold as water.

Indeed, he had been far too lenient with Shen Yinning the previous night.

This damned woman had no sense of restraint in her actions!

The veins on his forehead throbbed violently as he shut his eyes, attempting to suppress his swelling anger.

He reasoned with himself: ten days, perhaps two weeks, and she’d be done. Only then did he reluctantly swallow his pride.

Drawing aside the bed curtains, his expression stone-cold, he stated flatly, "I need a bath."

The room was filled with seven or eight maids.

At the sight of the man emerging from the canopy, indeed Lu Ying himself, their eyes widened in disbelief as they stole curious glances his way.

This was a man renowned as the honorable Crown Prince, famed for his composed dignity and integrity. And yet, here he was, truly deposed, genuinely gifted to their Commandery Princess—nothing more than a Forbidden Fruit kept within Shen Garden’s confines!

Such a twist of fate would scarcely appear even in the wildest, most illogical tales spun in market pulp fiction!

Fighting a smirk, Shen Yinning instructed Haitang, "Unlock his chains and escort him to the adjacent bathhouse."

During the bath, Lu Ying did not allow Haitang to remain in the room to attend him.

Shen Yinning drew back the door curtain, catching sight of steam curling upward from the wooden tub where Lu Ying reclined. Fresh bite marks, left by her from the previous night, adorned his chest and shoulders.

She approached, her gaze drifting toward his left arm.

Curiosity piqued, she asked, "I’ve been meaning to ask—those countless scars on your arm, what are they from? Did you feed yourself some kind of venomous creature?"