CHAPTER 133: CHAPTER 131: WANTING TO PAMPER HER, BUT FEARING IT’S TOO INDULGENT

Shen Yinning sat behind the zither desk, her slender fingers dancing across the strings.

The snow’s reflection on the bamboo shadows painted the window lattice, while the green lamp cast a warm, golden glow around her. She wore an ivory-colored cross-collared top with a pale yellow gauze skirt, her long, curved lashes throwing fan-shaped shadows on her makeup-free face. Just like her zither’s melody, her hibiscus-like face was suffused with uncontrollable longing and melancholy.

Shen Zhaozhao...

Was she thinking of him?

Lu Ying’s Adam’s apple moved slightly. After watching for a moment, he finally spoke, "I heard from Lu Jiazhe that you wished to see me?"

As if she had just noticed Lu Ying’s presence, Shen Yinning stilled her hands on the zither strings and looked up with delight: "Brother Lu Ying?"

She lifted her gauze skirt and briskly stepped forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his narrow waist. Her soft face pressed against his chest.

With her eyes closed, she choked back her sobs. "I thought Brother Lu Ying would spend tonight with the Crown Princess Consort and wouldn’t have time to see me... Brother Lu Ying, I’m so scared to be here alone at my uncle’s estate!"

The delicate girl, soft and fragile, called him "Brother Lu Ying" again and again, as if he were her hero, her sanctuary against storms and chaos.

Lu Ying’s expression was inscrutable, his emotions unreadable.

He sat at the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms. "Lu Jiazhe also said you were suffering from chest pains?"

"Perhaps I was too frightened by the Crown Princess Consort and Her Highness the Princess today. My heart has been aching terribly. Brother Lu Ying, please rub it for me..."

Shen Yinning said coquettishly, guiding Lu Ying’s hand to her heart.

The bed curtains were half drawn, the dim light casting an ambiguous atmosphere.

Through her clothing, Lu Ying kneaded her soft chest, listening to Shen Yinning’s kitten-like hums. He mused silently that Shen Zhaozhao wasn’t frightened into chest pains at all—this was clearly one of her deliberate ploys to vie for affection.

He didn’t bother to expose her. After a few moments, he withdrew his hand and instead grasped her slender ankle. "Have you applied medicine to your sprained ankle yet?"

Shen Yinning obediently replied, "Even though this estate once belonged to my father, the master of the house is now my uncle. I was afraid the maids and older servants would think I was making a fuss, so I dared not trouble them for medicine. I can wait until tomorrow when I return to the Gao Family residence to apply some."

Lu Ying lifted her skirt, removed her embroidered shoe and silk stocking.

By the candlelight, he examined her ankle—it was still bruised and beginning to swell.

His brows furrowed as he pulled a small bottle of medicinal oil from his sleeve and poured some cool liquid onto the injured area.

Shen Yinning winced and hissed. "It hurts..."

"When you were jumping out of the window, did it occur to you that it would hurt?" Lu Ying put away the medicine bottle. "And now you’re playing delicate."

He massaged her injured ankle with deliberate slowness, trying to work the medicine into the surrounding skin.

He knew well that his fingertips were calloused, so his movements were instinctively restrained and gentle.

Shen Yinning wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. "When I was jumping out of the window, I was only thinking about how to shield Brother Lu Ying and avoid tarnishing your reputation. I didn’t have time to think about whether it hurt or not."

Her voice was syrupy and tender, and the scent of her skin lingered thickly in the air.

Her alluring Dan Feng eyes overflowed with soft affection, as if they held only him—Lu Ying—in their depths.

Lu Ying encircled her slim waist, pleased both with how she handled Cui Ji earlier in the day and how docile she was now.

His gaze darkened, settling on her plump, cherry-colored lips.

Lowering his head, he captured her lips in his own.

Shen Yinning pressed a hand against his firm chest, her breath chaotic and mind muddled. She murmured, her words almost indistinguishable, "The Crown Princess Consort is still in the main courtyard next door. If Brother Lu Ying stays here to secretly enjoy yourself with me, I fear Her Highness might get angry. How about... How about Brother Lu Ying returns to accompany Her Highness? I might feel a little wronged, but as long as Brother Lu Ying and Her Highness are happy, I’ll do anything willingly."

The little seductress played the game of "feigned reluctance" and "saying one thing but meaning another" to perfection.

Lu Ying couldn’t help but let out a quiet scoff. Deliberately, he quipped, "You do raise a fair point."

He pretended to rise, and as expected, Shen Yinning hugged him from behind, her voice soft and pleading. "Brother Lu Ying, don’t leave..."

"Didn’t you just ask me to accompany the Crown Princess Consort?"

Shen Yinning tugged at the corner of his sleeve. "I was only saying that! Why did you take it seriously?"

Lu Ying skillfully undid her sash. His tall, broad figure loomed over her, and as he looked down, he saw Shen Yinning lying on the azure patterned velvet mat like a lamb awaiting him.

Their gazes met. She blinked, looking every bit the sly fox who had achieved her goal.

Lu Ying raised a brow.

He wanted to pamper her but worried it might make her too spoiled.

So, he reached out to pinch her sharp, snow-white chin. "Great Zhou Dynasty has its rules—when visiting Yue Family estates, one mustn’t engage in intimacy with one’s wife. My staying overnight in your chambers tonight is to show respect to the Crown Princess Consort and the Yue Family."

Shen Yinning bit her lip.

Somehow, she felt disappointed.

She merely let out a quiet "Mm."

The room was warmed by a lone brazier, yet it should have been cold and wintry. But as the two pressed close, the heat between them burned blisteringly hot, the flame of desire threatening to consume them to ashes.

The fragrance of sweat dampened Shen Yinning’s temples, the strands clinging to her flushed, impassioned face.

The watery echoes of motion swirled endlessly, the golden bell fastened to her ankle jingled melodically.

In the stillness of the snow-bound night, it became a decadent song.

At the peak of passion, the melody came to a crashing finale.

Shen Yinning arched her neck high, the final, ambiguous, and enticing sound she made reminiscent of an animal pushed to its breaking point.

Lu Ying held her in his arms.

Shen Yinning panted softly and turned to shower Lu Ying’s lips and cheeks with kisses after the throes of passion subsided.

Lu Ying clasped her slender, pale fingers in his own. His prominent nose brushed against hers, and his long, dark lashes shaded his jet-black irises.

His voice was hoarse, still dripping with lingering desire. "Shen Zhaozhao, you and Cui Ji—are you innocent?"

Shen Yinning tilted her head lightly like a cunning fox, the faintest trace of derision flashing through her Dan Feng eyes.

Lu Ying himself wasn’t innocent, yet he fixated on her purity.

He loved his Crown Princess Consort but wouldn’t tolerate her falling for another man.

The girl’s captivatingly beautiful face displayed a veneer of innocence. Her rosy lips skillfully spun the words Lu Ying most wanted to hear: "Your servant-wife has no regard for other men. Any closeness with them is nothing but pretense. My heart belongs only to Your Highness. If Your Highness doesn’t believe me, you may cut it open and see for yourself."