Chapter 379: Chapter 377: Shen Zhaozhao, What Should I Do with You
Shen Yinning tilted her head, looking toward him at the sound.
A few loose strands of hair swept across her delicate, porcelain-like face. Though Lu Ying hadn’t approached, he knew for certain that her autumn-like eyes, as limpid as rippling water, must be reflecting him. She had a way of looking at people—intently and profoundly.
"Lu Ying-ge, why are you keeping so far away from me?"
Shen Yinning sat up on the bed. One slender leg crossed beneath her, while her fingers casually tousled her voluminous, slightly wavy hair.
Her vermilion lips curved in a smile, her voice as tender and warm as a gentle stream: "Lu Ying-ge, I’m not going to eat you."
Enchantress.
The word flashed through Lu Ying’s mind.
Sending her to a convent—it truly was the wisest decision he had ever made in his life.
He still kept a distance from her, calmly saying, "The Plum Blossom Temple is serene and elegant, a perfect place for you to cultivate yourself."
His refusal to come closer only made Shen Yinning swing her legs off the bed and approach him step by step.
She wore no shoes or stockings, her ivory-white and delicately slender legs hidden and revealed beneath the layered folds of her dress.
The soft chime of golden bells swayed with each step she took.
She said, "It’s when one cannot control the body’s desires that self-cultivation is needed. When one cannot suppress the soul’s longing, that’s when refinement is required."
Her youthful voice was honeyed and beguiling, each note tinged with an innate coquettishness, like the sweet wine brewed from red beans.
With a delicate finger, she softly hooked the leather belt around Lu Ying’s waist.
Shen Yinning leaned closer to him.
Outside the window, the full moon hung high, casting a heavy silence over the bedroom.
The faint fragrance emanating from the girl’s body was like an invisible shackle, more menacing than a thousand armies in daylight. It wrapped around Lu Ying, leaving him stiff and immobile.
Regret suddenly surged in his chest.
He had known from the start that the moment he set eyes on this woman, unpredictable complications were bound to arise. He never should have come to see her in person.
And yet...
Lowering his gaze, his deep, dark pupils reflected the girl’s lotus-like face with startling clarity.
His Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily.
In the pin-drop silence, a faint heartbeat began to grow louder and louder.
Thump, thump, thump...
The steady, powerful rhythm quickened, like a drumbeat growing more urgent.
It was Lu Ying’s heartbeat.
Shen Yinning rose on tiptoe, her breath brushing against his ear.
She tilted her head up, her lips—full, red, and as soft as peony petals—grazing his ear and neck. "Zhaozhao thinks that the one who truly needs self-cultivation is you, Lu Ying-ge."
She lifted her thick, curled lashes, and in the instant their eyes met, a mischievous spark flared. She lightly kissed his thin lips.
Breaths entangled.
The woody bitterness of cedar mingled with the sweet tang of orange blossom, an intoxicating blend in the depths of the endless night that made one crave more—more of each other’s essence.
They locked gazes for what felt like an eternity. Just as their lips and teeth seemed fated to meet, Lu Ying abruptly pushed Shen Yinning away.
He coldly stated, "You don’t seriously think that seducing me like this will make me forget your betrayal, do you?"
"Lu Ying-ge, how am I seducing you?" Shen Yinning’s voice was coy. "Clearly, you weren’t dodging or resisting, letting me kiss you as I pleased. You put on such a lofty, uptight air, but deep down, you must enjoy being kissed by me, don’t you? Admit it; stop pretending."
Lu Ying realized he could never stay alone with Shen Yinning in the same room.
This vixen was shameless, daring to utter the most provocative words with not an ounce of maidenly embarrassment.
His brows knitted tightly as he reiterated, "You’ll leave for the Plum Blossom Temple tomorrow."
"I don’t want to go."
"This isn’t up for negotiation."
A pair of soft, boneless hands suddenly clung to his arm.
Shen Yinning swayed him lightly, her voice syrupy and pleading: "The life of prayers and meditation is so lonely. How could a young girl like me endure that? Please, Lu Ying-ge, have some compassion for me... Besides, wasn’t it only a few lashes I gave you and a little time spent kneeling in the courtyard? If you’re still upset, you can punish me in return; I promise I won’t complain. Lu Ying-ge, please..."
Lu Ying appeared composed, but in reality, his scalp tingled uncomfortably.
The way she kept swaying him made his heart lurch uncontrollably.
He knew full well she was a dangerous woman.
He knew full well her mind was cunning and calculating.
He knew full well her relationship with Cui Ji was ambiguous.
He knew full well her thirst for revenge and her mastery of deception.
And yet...
Her voice, sweet and soft, called to him over and over. Her demeanor, meek and submissive, was utterly disarming.
Lu Ying restrained himself again and again, only to find it entirely futile.
It seemed he had truly fallen into her grasp.
"Lu—"
"Shut up."
His eyes darkened as he cut her off. Grabbing her wrists, he pinned them above her head and pressed her against the wall.
The wide sleeve of her dress slid down her arm.
With one hand, he held her by the curve of her lower back, his broad chest flush against her slender frame. Leaning down, he claimed her lips from behind.
Shen Yinning let out a soft whimper, her long lashes glistening with unshed tears. She endured and yielded to his forceful affection.
The moon climbed higher, casting its light through the veiled canopy as the air within the chamber thickened with desire.
The guards within Shen Garden were stationed near the outer pavilions.
Dark silhouettes emerged silently within the bamboo grove. After some searching, they finally located the ancestral hall where Shen Zhi, Cheng Hui, and Shen Xingye were honored.
"Young master, look!"
One of the attendants pointed at the offering table inside the hall, his voice subdued but urgent.
Shen Xinghan pulled down his hood.
His gaze fell on the table, where offerings of fruits, pastries, and candles accompanied something far more sinister—a severed head.
Though the skin and flesh had been stripped from the head, rendering its features unrecognizable, beside it lay a seal.
Shen Xinghan’s expression remained impassive as he stepped forward to pick up the seal.
It was a bloodstone seal, smooth and cool to the touch, its crimson hue vibrant.
He lowered his eyes, turning the seal over slowly.
On the bottom were engraved two characters: "Shen Yan."
It was his father’s personal seal.
The attendant was horrified. "Then... the owner of this head..."
Shen Xinghan closed his eyes briefly, his grip on the seal tightening until his knuckles turned white.
After his father’s death, his head had been severed and his body hung before the gates of the Duke Mansion.
In these recent days, he had been searching for his father’s missing head, suspecting all along that this might somehow be linked to Shen Yinning.
He had thought she might have disposed of the head in some remote wilderness, but he had never imagined her audacity—to place his father’s head here in Shen Garden, before Shen Zhi’s memorial tablet!
A surge of rage and sorrow churned in Shen Xinghan’s chest, turning his face an ashen shade of green.
His eyes snapped open, bloodshot and blazing with fury. "Shen Yinning has gone too far! If I, Shen Xinghan, do not avenge my father, I am unworthy to call myself his son!"
Meanwhile...
The moon sank westward, the bed curtains hung low, and the room was steeped in a sultry warmth.
After several rounds in the water, Shen Yinning lay slumped in Lu Ying’s arms, too exhausted to lift her eyelids.
Her voice was hoarse as she murmured, "Lu Ying-ge, whether you believe it or not, Cui Ji and I are completely innocent."
Lu Ying held her slender waist, his body still pressed against hers, although he refrained from further movements out of concern for her limits.
He didn’t want to discuss Cui Ji, so he remained silent.
"By the way," Shen Yinning suddenly looked up at him, "congratulations to Lu Ying-ge for soon ascending the throne."
Lu Ying dipped his head to kiss her crimson-plump lips.
Meeting her bewitching, watery Dan Feng eyes, he brushed aside the disheveled hair from her forehead and said solemnly, "When the time comes, Huo Mingyan will become the new Empress. Shen Zhaozhao, what am I to do with you?"