Chapter 442: Chapter 440: She Belongs to Him
Shen Yinning lowered her long lashes.
Although Zhuoyu had entered the palace with her, she was arranged to stay in another palace on Penglai Island.
Now, even to see her own child, she needed Lu Ying’s permission...
The corners of her eyes tinged with red again as she silently allowed the palace maids to attend to her dressing and grooming.
It was springtime, and the flowers and trees outside the hall flourished like a celestial realm.
Shen Yinning played with a cloth tiger to amuse Zhuoyu while Wei Yu toyed with a rattle drum by her side, speaking in a crisp voice, "The servants in the palace say that the Empress is preparing a spring banquet to celebrate the great victory at the border! Oh, and the imperial examination results were just announced a few days ago—I heard the Empress has invited many newly appointed scholars to the banquet too. They’re saying it’s the most grandiose banquet since His Majesty’s ascension to the throne. It’ll surely be lively. I wonder if the Commandery Princess will have a chance to attend..."
Haitang came out carrying tea and snacks. Hearing this, she quickly cast a cautionary glance at Wei Yu.
Realizing her mistake, Wei Yu abruptly bit her lip and looked anxiously at Shen Yinning.
Shen Yinning’s expression remained indifferent.
Given her current ghostlike existence, even if Lu Ying allowed her to attend the banquet, she had no mood for such festivities.
"Commandery Princess..." Wei Yu whispered with concern, "Don’t be too heartbroken. Everything will get better."
As she spoke, Nanny Chen arrived with two wet nurses in tow. Though her eyes revealed a trace of compassion, she still kept a firm face and said, "Commandery Princess, the hour has come. The Princely Heir must be returned to the hall. If the time is delayed, His Majesty will punish us servants."
Before Shen Yinning could speak, they moved to take Jian’an away from her arms.
The infant, unwilling to be away from his mother, began to wail in his swaddling clothes.
Shen Yinning instinctively clutched his tiny hand, only to have Nanny Chen seize her wrist.
The old servant murmured a reminder, "Commandery Princess, do not anger His Majesty again. For now, you must think about how to secure a footing in the palace!"
In the harem, including Huo Mingyan, the concubines’ eyes were all fixed on the commotion here.
Shen Yinning, without title or favor, was kept here like a caged bird. The court and harem were already buzzing with rumors.
The spring day was bright and clear.
Shen Yinning stood under the tree, sunlight filtering through the lush branches and falling upon her face. The light illuminated her pale, almost translucent complexion, with just two spots of vivid rouge extending into her dark temples. Though it was a color of striking beauty, in this lively spring moment, she exuded an inexplicable desolation, like a peony blooming in the wrong season.
Nanny Chen pried open her hand.
She could only stand there alone, watching as they carried Jian’an away.
A reading room was prepared within the palace. In addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, it also contained popular folk novellas.
Shen Yinning, however, lacked the leisure to browse. She merely sat by the high ornate window, gazing down at the distant Imperial Palace.
Across the vast expanse of Wu’an Lake, she couldn’t see clearly.
All she could make out were the outlines of the yellow glazed rooftops, rising and falling in layered waves, like the wings of a bird about to take flight, escaping the depths of this inscrutable palace.
She touched her arm.
But alas, she was not a bird—she had no wings to escape.
She was trapped in this palace, unable to have her way in anything.
...
By twilight, the Poisonous Insects began to stir again.
They gnawed at her consciousness, leaving her parched and insatiable. Alone, she endured on the bed, each episode more excruciating than the last.
Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, Lu Ying arrived only late into the night.
He entered the chamber, carrying the chill of a spring evening. There he saw Shen Yinning, her hair disheveled and spilling over her shoulders. Propped against the carved bedpost, her alluring face was flushed a deep red, and her labored breaths echoed clearly in the quiet room, as if she was about to be consumed by the tide of spring fever.
Lu Ying’s presence disturbed the faint fragrance warming the room.
He turned and removed his thin cloak, draping it over the wooden hanger.
Shen Yinning raised her crimson phoenix eyes and watched him stride step by step to her bedside.
Standing over her, Lu Ying gazed down. His shadow seemed to engulf her entirely. "Zhaozhao," he called.
His coarse hand stroked her cheek, as though to soothe her.
Tears glistened in Shen Yinning’s eyes as she abruptly slapped away his hand, as though loathing his touch with every fiber of her being.
Lu Ying remained unfazed. Instead, he seated himself on the newly placed couch near the window and spoke as if to himself: "There’s more news of victory from the border. Pei Yan and his men have slain the Supreme General of Yan Country on the battlefield and seized two of their major cities. Eighty miles further north lies their capital."
He poured himself a cup of wine. "Zhaozhao, I wish to press forward and conquer Bei Yan in one fell swoop."
The young Emperor brimmed with ambition.
Though he had ascended to the throne barely a year ago, the prospect of vanquishing the northern tribes that had menaced the realm for centuries was an achievement worthy of monumental acclaim—a prideful achievement, indeed.
The wine went down smoothly—sweet yet potent.
He glanced at Shen Yinning. "Zhaozhao, aren’t you happy for me?"
The night grew still.
On the bed, the woman bore the torment of the Poisonous Insects. The veins on the hand clutching the bedpost bulged with desperation.
Several times, she longed to reach out to Lu Ying but reined herself with an iron will, suppressing emotions that were never truly hers to begin with.
Lu Ying averted his gaze from her, lowering his thick lashes as he poured another cup of wine.
He drank it in one gulp, his narrowed eyes gleaming faintly red. "I’m in high spirits tonight. I don’t want to celebrate with the court or the concubines of the harem. I only wanted to share this joy with Zhaozhao. Yet Zhaozhao spares me only cold indifference."
His long lashes veiled the turmoil deep within his eyes.
Suddenly, he let out a soft laugh—a laugh that seemed lonely, like a sheathed blade without a scabbard, casting a solitary shadow across the wall.
The laughter turned wild, unchecked, brimming with resentment and bitter irony.
"When I was young, Zhaozhao never celebrated my birthday. When I seized power, Zhaozhao didn’t witness my ascension to the throne. Now, with news of triumph after triumph at the border, with young scholars I personally raised achieving great military feats, and with my lifelong dream of reclaiming lost lands finally within reach—Zhaozhao still refuses to share in my joy."
The night breeze wafted in, twisting the shadows on the walls into grotesque shapes.
"All these years, Zhaozhao and I have shared the title of betrothed, the intimacy of sleeping side by side. Though we are together, I’ve often felt like I was always alone.
"Why?"
Lu Ying’s voice trailed off.
The aroma of wine lingered in the chamber. Though he had only consumed two cups, he seemed already tipsy.
Shen Yinning closed her eyes tightly, waves of intense emotion surging violently within, her body drenched in sweat from the torment.
She stumbled off the bed, oblivious to her bare feet, and crashed clumsily into Lu Ying’s embrace.
Lu Ying did not reach for her. His eyes lowered as he watched her feverish lips desperately seeking his.
Garments fell away.
She was burning hot, fiery to the touch.
Lu Ying’s body grew taut, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he struggled to swallow, his eyes bloodshot.
With cold detachment, he watched Shen Yinning fall apart in his arms, her actions frantic and clumsy, as though consumed by an insatiable hunger.
As though only in this unbridled closeness could she prove she could not live without him.
As though only in this vulnerability could she prove she belonged to him.