The young woman was warm and soft, her fragrance intoxicating.
Lu Ying closed the book in his hand, his demeanor unmoved like a mountain: "The physician said you've caught a cold. I've already instructed people to prepare medicine. You needn't return to the Gao Family tonight—rest here in the Shen Garden."
Shen Yinning clung tightly to his waist, her delicate face pressed against his back.
Her voice carried a hint of hoarse nasal tone: "And you? Will you stay and keep me company?"
Lu Ying tried to pry her hands off: "I've promised the Crown Princess Consort to spend the festival with her tonight at the Eastern Palace."
The girl behind him fell into silence.
Soon, Lu Ying felt a warm, wet sensation soaking his robes—it was likely Shen Yinning's tears.
She choked out: "Lu Ying, you locked me, bare and naked, on a black-roofed boat and went off to drink and make merry with your sister and the others. I even overheard the Third Princess asking your sister to let her kiss you. Lu Ying, you know I love you to my very bones, and yet you force me to watch you display your affection for others. Have you ever considered how it cuts me like a knife?"
Lu Ying remained silent.
He did not believe Shen Yinning loved him to her core.
Yet, a woman's tears were undeniable proof.
He grasped Shen Yinning's hands, gently rubbing them, and stopped trying to push her away.
"Lu Ying, I want you to stay and spend the festival with me," Shen Yinning whimpered as she timidly climbed onto his shoulders. "You've celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival with your sister for three years—just this once, spend it with me? Lu Ying, you know I can't live without you…"
Lu Ying looked at her.
The girl's brows and eyes were filled with pure innocence.
Those moist, slightly upturned phoenix eyes brimmed with deep affection for him, as if between heaven and earth, she could see no one else but him and could hold no one else in her heart but him.
Indeed, with her father and brothers gone, he was now the only person she could rely on.
He glanced at the water clock in the corner and said, "I can stay to have dinner with you. But I must still return to the Eastern Palace tonight; the Crown Princess Consort is waiting for me."
Shen Yinning instantly broke into a tearful smile, planting a satisfied kiss on his cheek: "Lu Ying, you're so good to me!"
Lu Ying had originally intended to simply eat and leave, believing it would take no more than half an hour.
Unexpectedly, Shen Yinning insisted on personally wrapping rice dumplings for him.
Lu Ying flipped through a few pages of his book, casually saying, "I'm in a hurry. Three or five will suffice."
"Rest assured, Your Highness, it'll be quick."
The sound of the water clock echoed.
Outside, the sky had long turned completely dark.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Ying looked up from his book, only to find the bamboo basket still devoid of a single rice dumpling.
He turned his eyes toward Shen Yinning, who was busily working. The girl was earnestly stuffing glutinous rice into bamboo leaves, but the rice kept slipping through the gaps in the leaves. She had been toiling for quite some time, yet not a single dumpling was successfully wrapped!
He exposed her: "Shen Yinning, are you stalling for time?"
Shen Yinning's eyes reddened as she looked at him, aggrieved and helpless: "Lu Ying, I wasn't intentionally delaying. I just realized I don't know how to wrap dumplings. My mother never had the chance to teach me before, before she…"
She lowered her head and sobbed once.
Lu Ying was momentarily at a loss for words.
Shen Yinning lifted her tear-streaked face, tinged with a mix of flattery and humility: "Perhaps, Your Highness, you should return to the Eastern Palace? Surely sister has already prepared Dragon Boat Festival dumplings for you. With your aunt's skillful hands, sister must excel at wrapping them too. Unlike me, who is useless at everything and only manages to frustrate Your Highness."
As she spoke, her sorrow swelled, and she began to cry again.
The night rain drizzled on.
Her cries sounded so heart-wrenchingly mournful.
Lu Ying rubbed his temples.
Even though he knew Shen Yinning's emotions were three parts genuine and seven parts feigned, recalling how he had humiliated her by locking her naked on the boat earlier that day, he couldn't find it in himself to scold her now.
He said, "Come here."
Shen Yinning sniffled as she slowly approached him: "Your Highness…"
Lu Ying grasped her hand and pulled her into his embrace, speaking lowly yet earnestly: "You are no longer who you once were—you are a daughter of a disgraced official with no family to rely on. Shen Yunxi, on the other hand, has her father and brothers holding military power. She is the Crown Princess Consort, equal in status to me. Not only are we bound as husband and wife, but out of respect for her family, I must show her deference. What do you have to contend with her?"
Shen Yinning lay curled up against his chest like a young beast, her long, curled lashes shielding the rebellion hidden in her gaze.
Her father had never rebelled.
Her father had been falsely accused!
Her uncle had betrayed her father, causing the death of her entire family. How could she swallow this bitterness?!
Seeing her silent, Lu Ying tightened his grip: "Shen Yinning?"
Shen Yinning whimpered softly, raising her watery phoenix eyes: "Your Highness, you're hurting me."
"Did you listen to what I said?"
Shen Yinning coquettishly wrapped her arms around his neck: "I wasn't trying to compete with her. I just can't bear to see you leave…"
Before her words were finished, a thunderclap suddenly boomed outside the window.
Shen Yinning jumped in fright, burrowing into Lu Ying's arms: "Your Highness, I'm scared! Don't go, please don't go…"
The girl was soft and pliant like spring water.
Like a seductive little demon, she clung tightly to him, rubbing incessantly against his chest.
The nightwear she was dressed in belonged to him and was far too large for her frame. As she squirmed, the buttons and ties loosened, her ivory skin starkly radiant beneath the lamplight. Her slim waist, sunken deep, juxtaposed against the trembling fullness that strained taut against her bodice.
Lu Ying's gaze darkened, his throat parched.
When Shen Yinning had returned to the Capital from Gan State, her figure had been delicate and almost frail like a maiden's.
After her return, under his orders, the maids had given her a secret concoction. In just six months' time, her figure had blossomed with abundance, now perfectly concealed but achingly conspicuous.
He reminded her, "You should call for a seamstress to tailor a few new outfits."
Shen Yinning raised her hand to conceal her chest. Even with her usual boldness, she couldn't help but blush at this moment.
She was well-aware that Lu Ying had ordered the medicine for her.
Because she wasn't his Crown Princess Consort and didn't need to accompany him to high-society feasts and gatherings, there was no need for her to appear virtuous or demure.
If her mother were still alive to see her in such a state…
Shen Yinning's pupils turned icy cold, yet her outward demeanor became all the more alluring. She intentionally guided Lu Ying's hand to her, pressing it against that forbidden place.
She murmured coyly, "Would Your Highness mind taking a measurement for me? To see just how much fabric I'll need?"
Lu Ying's entire body tensed, his jaw tightening. Even with his extraordinary self-control, he found himself losing his resolve at this moment.
His hand circled her slim waist, involuntarily tightening.
Outside, the rain poured relentlessly. Summer's thunderstorms raged on.
Seeing his reaction, Shen Yinning's lips curled in a sly smile.
She lifted her neck, brushing her red lips against his earlobe and exhaled softly: "With the rain this heavy, does Your Highness truly intend to return to the palace? Isn't it terribly inconvenient? What if you catch a cold—wouldn't that be worse? Staying here at the Shen Garden tonight is merely a circumstance beyond your control. I'm sure my sister will understand."
Her face was the picture of docility, every word seemingly in consideration for Lu Ying.
Lu Ying's gaze grew darker, the depths unreadable. Though he knew she was deceiving him again, he still couldn't resist scooping her up and carrying her to the canopy bed.
He tossed Shen Yinning onto the bed and, in one fluid motion, landed a smack against her backside: "Tonight, you're not allowed to beg for mercy."
"Your Highness, you're hurting me…" Shen Yinning pouted, yet her phoenix eyes sparkled with victorious mischief.
Meanwhile, at the Eastern Palace.
Shen Yunxi, accompanied by numerous concubines, waited patiently in the grand hall for Lu Ying to return and celebrate the festival.