Amidst the rippling water, a white fish lurked, splashing with a rustle and wetting the floor.
Ji Zhen rested against the rim of the tub, his soaked dark hair plastered to his skin. Lying on his back with his lips slightly parted, he gazed up at the wooden beam above. His thick eyelashes fluttered as he whimpered softly in an aggrieved voice.
Shen Yanqing had thrown him into the tub and was personally washing him, even using a specially made soft brush to meticulously scrub every inch of his domain.
Ji Zhen had consumed Hibiscus Fragrance, and in this treatment, a strange, sleepy comfort arose from the pain.
When the water cooled, Shen Yanqing scooped the soaked white fish out, wrapped it casually in a dry cloth, and tossed it onto the “cutting board.”
After being cleaned, it was time for inspection.
The white fish thrashed violently, so it had to be bound with soft red silk ribbons.
The inside of his thighs hadn’t fully healed. Fortunately, the injury wasn’t severe, but it was still seeping blood. Shen Yanqing sniffed the scent of blood, his fingers tightening more and more as he pressed him, “He touched you here, so you went along with it, didn’t you?”
Ji Zhen’s thoughts were muddled under the torment of the Hibiscus Fragrance. He first shook his head, then gave a faint nod.
Shen Yanqing pinched the pale, delicate fish flesh until it was marked with fingerprints, his gaze fixed on the vibrant spring scenery.
Not only had he seen and tasted it, but others had also moved their chopsticks to sample it.
A loud, noisy breathing throbbed in his ears. Each pant urged him to destroy. The heart in his chest, which was always calm, felt as if it were being squeezed and pulled up and down, forcing the person who had made a mistake to feel the same tearing pain.
Everything that was an eyesore had to be covered, new marks had to be added.
But before that, Ji Zhen had to be made to suffer enough.
Shen Yanqing laid him down on the soft bed and paid him no heed, standing at the bedside as he silently watched him suffer through the searing torment.
The last time Ji Zhen had taken the Hibiscus Fragrance, even just a few drops had been more than he could endure. This time, he had drunk a full porcelain bottle, so one could imagine the torment he was suffering.
He opened his misty eyes, he was unable to move his hands, able only to cry fruitlessly, letting the blazing fire burn him dry from the inside out.
He cried out, repeatedly calling the name that could help him escape the sea of fire, “Shen Yanqing, Shen Yanqing…”
But no matter how he wailed, the other party just watched his pathetic state with a cold eye.
“Save me—”
Ji Zhen suddenly clenched his fists, his eyes wide open. He lifted his head high and then let it drop, falling silent and collapsing into the mud.
He gained a moment of clarity and looked at Shen Yanqing in a hurry, sobbing, “Why are you doing this to me?”
He had been tricked into thinking it was a deadly poison, but it turned out to be something a hundred times more tormenting than poison.
He was unable to live, yet unable to die.
Ji Zhen struggled to reach for Shen Yanqing with the hand that was tied to the headboard, but then he remembered that he had already made up his mind to break clean from him. He trembled and balled his hand into a fist, continuing to endure the suffering under Shen Yanqing’s gaze.
He didn’t want to be looked down on by Shen Yanqing again.
Another wave of fire struck him.
It was as if Ji Zhen’s tears had been evaporated. He thrashed violently, like a fish from the deep sea that had been pulled onto shore.
The entire bed was filled with a strange scent.
Shen Yanqing watched silently as Ji Zhen was tormented by his desires for fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, and half an hour. Ji Zhen cried and wailed until finally he seemed to have no strength left, burying his face and trembling in tiny shakes, only occasionally arching his body into a bridge.
This lesson wasn’t enough to make the forgetful Ji Zhen understand how to write the two words “loyalty” and “chastity.”
Shen Yanqing finally took matters into his own hands.
“Do you know your mistake?”
Ji Zhen was allowed to lower his soft hands and take small, shallow breaths, too aggrieved to make a sound.
Shen Yanqing half-pinched his cheeks, leaning in and saying, “On the battlefield, swords have no eyes. If Jiang Yunyu accidentally dies on the frontier, sacrificing himself for the country, it would be a fine story.”
Ji Zhen’s eyes suddenly widened. He said with difficulty, “Don’t touch him.”
Shen Yanqing caressed Ji Zhen’s lips and sneered, “You and he engaged in such a sordid affair, and you still dare to make demands of me.”
If not for the urgent state of the war and for the sake of the people on the border, Shen Yanqing would have found a way to kill Jiang Yunyu already. He deeply regretted letting Jiang Yunyu leave the capital. Otherwise, even if he didn’t kill him, he would have peeled off a layer of his skin as well.
One day, he would personally avenge the desecration of his wife.
Ji Zhen’s throat was dry. He swallowed hard, then said shakily, “I was wrong, I know I was wrong…”
“Since you know your mistake, you should be punished.” Shen Yanqing lightly squeezed Ji Zhen’s neck. “If you endure these three days, I won’t kill Jiang Yunyu, and I’ll even save Ji Jue for you. How about that?”
Ji Zhen blinked his hazy eyes, slowly reacting to Shen Yanqing’s words. He desperately clutched at the other party’s robes. “You… you’re willing to save my elder brother?”
Shen Yanqing’s grip on his slender white neck tightened slightly, it was a silent affirmation.
In the scorching heat, Ji Zhen shed hot tears. He cried out loud as if he had escaped a great calamity.
He was trembling all over as he cried, his face covered in tears. After a while, he found a trace of clarity and whispered, “Then go now, alright? Go now…”
As he spoke, he used all four limbs to try and climb out of the bed, but Shen Yanqing grabbed him and pressed him back down.
Shen Yanqing gently patted Ji Zhen’s cheek with his palm, and as Ji Zhen looked at him, bewildered, he continued, “Our account isn’t settled yet.”
Ji Zhen was very afraid of this strange Shen Yanqing, but he had to submit. He choked out, “Then… then you can settle it.”
As long as his elder brother was safe, Shen Yanqing could punish him however he wanted. He closed his eyes and obediently lay back down.
“Don’t close your eyes.”
Ji Zhen had no choice but to slowly lift his eyelids, timidly looking at Shen Yanqing, who was only a few inches away.
A wave of heat washed over him. Ji Zhen’s lips parted slightly, and he kicked his legs uncomfortably.
Shen Yanqing looked at the small, soft tip of his tongue between his lips and bent down to find it.
Ji Zhen’s dark pupils glittered as he stared at the approaching thin lips in shock. He had wanted to steal a kiss from Shen Yanqing countless times but never succeeded. But now, he no longer held any hope. Shen Yanqing clearly didn’t like him, so why would he try to provoke him?
Ji Zhen suddenly turned his head away and bit his lip. “I don’t want it.”
Shen Yanqing forcefully grabbed his jaw, gritting his teeth. “Did he kiss you?”
He didn’t mention any names, but Ji Zhen’s expression of contemplation confirmed Shen Yanqing’s suspicion. In an instant, a raging fury swept over him. Shen Yanqing’s hands trembled almost uncontrollably.
Ji Zhen lowered his head, enduring the flames coursing through his body. He said disjointedly, “I… I had a little talk with Lady Guanyin at the temple. I told her I won’t like you anymore. You don’t want me to kiss you, and I… I also don’t want you to kiss me either…”
He had hit too many walls with Shen Yanqing, and now he was finally picking up an axe to chisel through them.
Ji Zhen didn’t dare to deceive the gods. He stared resolutely at Shen Yanqing, crying and repeating, “I’ll never like you again.”
So, he no longer hoped that Shen Yanqing, who had no feelings for him, would kiss and embrace him.
Shen Yanqing felt as if he’d been struck by a boulder. For a moment, his vision was blurred and distant, leaving only Ji Zhen’s bright, watery eyes—filled with timidity, stubbornness, grievance, and sorrow, but with almost none of the overflowing affection that had once been there.
He reached out and covered those eyes. Ignoring Ji Zhen’s struggles, he lowered his head and took the two soft petals of his lips into his own.
A low murmur came from within the shaking bed curtains.
“You were the one who provoked me first.”
“Why are you crying? Didn’t you used to love this?”
“If you truly don’t like it, then why is the water overflowing?”
“The agreement is for three days. This is only the first day.”
“You can’t even stand this, Ji Zhen.”
“Zhen Zhen.”
A guard in black respectfully stood outside the courtyard and reported, “Your Highness the Third Prince, Grand Tutor Zhang has already arrived outside the capital.”
Li Muhui brought the rice paper he had been reading closer to a candle flame.
The letter contained all the details of contacting the deposed Crown Prince and inviting the Grand Tutor back to the capital, with no omissions. At the same time, it also included a personal letter from the deposed Crown Prince. The two taverns that the Crown Prince’s faction had spent a great deal of wealth to establish over the years to collect intelligence, which Li Muhui had sought out many times, were finally pried from the deposed Crown Prince’s mouth.
Two intelligence hubs in exchange for Ji Jue’s life. It was clear that the deposed Crown Prince truly valued Ji Jue. After years of rivalry, his brother was indeed a righteous man. In this regard, Li Muhui felt a bit of shame.
He poured tea on the burning paper, leaving only the word “Qing” at the end of the signature.
Don’t use those you suspect, and don’t suspect those you use. Li Muhui did not doubt that the clear-headed Shen Yanqing would be disloyal. However, was it really worth it for the sake of Ji Zhen to risk causing trouble between them just to save Ji Jue’s life?
Li Muhui mused, casually stroking the jade pendant at his waist.
To dare to give away an item gifted by a prince—how audacious.
Now that the Ji family had fallen, if the aggressive Ji Zhen were to lose Shen Yanqing’s protection, it would become quite entertaining.
It is too easy to distinguish between a resourceful minister and a clever yet foolish young deer only fit for ornamental purposes.
He wondered how charming a frightened Ji Zhen would be.
What a pity, what a pity.
—
The floor was burning with heat.
When Shen Yanqing pushed the door open, Ji Zhen was hiding under the table in the corner. Hearing the sound, his body trembled slightly. He hugged the table leg, shrinking in a futile attempt to hide himself.
Just thinking about the chaos of the previous two days made him blush. Shen Yanqing was a man of his word; he had said three days, and he really meant three days, without the slightest bit of ambiguity. But Ji Zhen was truly terrified by the punishment.
For the past four years, he had always tried his best to win Shen Yanqing’s favor, and the other party would reluctantly go to bed with him. Although there were occasional moments of losing control, most of the time he was considerate.
But now, Shen Yanqing has suddenly become a different person. For two consecutive days, he forced him to drink the Hibiscus Fragrance and even rummaged through the cabinet for the erotic drawings he had hidden, putting them into practice one by one. He had seen many of them, yet he was not so shameless as to be able to make so many indecent poses…
Whenever Ji Zhen closed his eyes, he saw his own disgraceful actions, his ear tips as red as if they had been branded with a hot iron.
“Come out.”
Shen Yanqing had arrived at the table and was looking down at the hiding Ji Zhen.
“I won’t drink it anymore.” Ji Zhen’s hair was disheveled, and his undergarment hung loosely on him. Large patches of fresh marks were exposed from the loose collar. He looked up from the tip of Shen Yanqing’s shoe, staring at the porcelain bottle in his hand, and his mouth tightened as if he were about to cry.
Shen Yanqing was unmoved. He just asked in a low voice, “Are you really not going to drink it?”
Ji Zhen nodded profusely.
“Good.”
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Shen Yanqing uncover the red cloth, tilt his head back, and drink the liquid from the porcelain bottle in one go.
Ji Zhen’s eyes widened in panic, like a beast caught in an iron cage.
Shen Yanqing reached out to grab his ankle, intending to pull him out of his hiding place.
Thinking of what was to come, Ji Zhen collapsed, hugging the table leg and refusing to let go. But in the end, he was no match and was dragged into a warm embrace.
Erotic drawings were still spread out on the table. Shen Yanqing casually flipped one over, and the large, suggestive images entered Ji Zhen’s eyes.
Ji Zhen was pushed onto the table, falling into the pile of drawings.
Shen Yanqing pointed at the vivid, illustrative pictures and said in a cold voice that was out of place with his scorching body, “Today, we’ll learn from this one.”
“If you learn it well, your elder brother can be saved tomorrow.”
Ji Zhen’s legs were so weak he couldn’t stand. He finally took a shaky breath and did as he was told.
“Don’t lie to me again.”
He thought vaguely through the midst of the heat, the Shen Yanqing he liked wasn’t like this.
The elegant and quiet Shen Yanqing would not bully him like this, nor would he humiliate him with such unpleasant words.
Even if Shen Yanqing saved his elder brother, he would never dare to give him his heart again. From this moment on, Ji Zhen had to learn to hate Shen Yanqing.
The author has something to say:
Lu Xun once said, Love is only beautiful when it’s completely disfigured.
