Ning Jinyu pursed her lips and turned to Juan’er, asking doubtfully, “And this is?”
Juan’er said gently, “This is the Right Protector, Fan Qian.”
Ning Jinyu’s pupils shrank. Thinking of a particularly terrifying person, she asked faintly, “Then is there also a Left Guardian?”
Juan’er glanced at the dashing man in the tree, and the thought of that other person made her tremble with fear. “Yes, the Left Guardian, Lord Yu Xiao.”
Ning Jinyu’s face paled. This Yu Xiao was the man with spiders crawling on him, who also enjoyed capturing people to refine into medicine.
“Why does the beauty look so sorrowful? How about this Protector warms your hands for you?”
Just as Ning Jinyu’s gaze fell upon Fan Qian in the tree, a gloomy voice, tinged with cold interest, sounded from behind her. “The Right Protector is quite idle. You were nowhere to be seen at court, yet you’re here teasing Our empress. Could it be you wish to visit the Left Guardian for tea again?”
“Greetings, Your Majesty.” The maids curtsied respectfully. Only at times like this could Yan Sheng sneak a peek at Song Qingyan.
Ning Jinyu turned around, an impulse surging within her, clamoring for her to get closer to him.
Confused, she let herself walk toward him, allowing him to pull her into his arms in a daze.
Seeing this, Fan Qian raised an eyebrow and flipped down from the tree with a sigh. “Your Majesty exaggerates. I am not familiar with the Left Guardian. But what’s wrong with this beauty?”
It was as if she was under some kind of illusion.
He winked at Ning Jinyu several times, a rather lewd smile on his face. “How kinky, haha, how kinky.”
Carrying his wine pot, he departed with a carefree air.
Song Qingyan watched Fan Qian’s retreating back, feeling rather speechless. He looked down at the docile Ning Jinyu in his arms, dismissed the palace attendants beside them, and led her by the hand from the garden to the study.
“Song Qingyan, I like Song Qingyan,” Ning Jinyu murmured, her expression dazed.
Seeing her obedient and bewildered look, Song Qingyan leaned down and kissed her cheek, his voice low and husky as he coaxed her, “Jinyu is right. Once the Phoenix Robe is ready in a couple of days, you and I will become husband and wife, and we will be together for all of eternity.”
Ning Jinyu blushed. A trace of confusion in her eyes, she reached out to tug on his sleeve and tilted her head, asking, “Husband and wife?”
“Once we are husband and wife, Jinyu will be mine alone.”
Ning Jinyu subconsciously wanted to say more, but she was once again encircled in his arms, her lips captured in a deep kiss.
Ning Jinyu spent several days in the Demon Palace in a constant daze. During the day, the maids would take her to see Song Qingyan, and she would obediently and sweetly accompany him. At night, she would return to her own quarters.
Within a month, she was meticulously cared for and dressed by the maids, and she married Song Qingyan in a flash.
She vaguely remembered that on their wedding day, Yan Sheng had cried and screamed with rage, even trying to frame her. She had sat before the mirror, watching indifferently as Yan Sheng was dragged away and expelled from the Demon Clan.
It seemed her memory was deteriorating; she was having trouble remembering people.
After the wedding, she and Song Qingyan shared a bed. They were respectful to each other, like honored guests, and their life was harmonious enough, but something always felt strange.
Until she saw Su Qingyue again.
She was taking a nap on the chaise lounge in the Phoenix Palace when a young woman who bore an eighty-percent resemblance to her suddenly burst in through the window, proclaiming she was here to save her.
Ning Jinyu found her unfamiliar and said softly, “Miss, Song Qingyan and I are a loving couple. I am not being held here by force. You should go.”
Su Qingyue was stunned at first, but the Divine Artifact in her hand informed her that the woman’s memories were in disarray.
She said coldly, “Ning Daoyou, don’t you remember me?”
Ning Jinyu blinked, her face flushing slightly. It seemed she really couldn’t remember.
Su Qingyue walked toward her, holding the folding fan, Floating Life Memory. She channeled her Spiritual Power through it, breaking all the bewildering restrictions placed upon her.
The moment she regained her clarity, the past month’s events flooded her mind. Ning Jinyu felt a sense of suffocation.
Looking at Su Qingyue, she said hoarsely, “Su Daoyou.”
Su Qingyue looked at her with some surprise. So she really had been under someone’s control. She comforted her, “This is the Memory Altering Technique, unique to the Dragon Clan. You were indeed forced. Luo Chuan came with me; he’s waiting outside the hall to assist you. Coincidentally, the Demon Lord hasn’t been seen for the past two days. You should go with him.”
Ning Jinyu clutched the corner of her skirt, her clear eyes fixed on her. “What about you?”
“I’ll stay behind in your place to deal with them, to prevent them from discovering your absence and coming after you.”
She said it so lightly. Ning Jinyu sighed. “No. Although we look alike, you can’t fool Song Qingyan. Since he cast a spell on me, he will surely come to check on me now that it’s been broken. You should be the one to go.”
Su Qingyue frowned and said coldly, “Don’t tell me you truly wish to submit to the Demon Clan? Luo Chuan has been begging me to come find you.”
“…This is my business. I will resolve it myself. You should go.”
Su Qingyue gave her one last look, her eyes filled with scorn, and left.
Ning Jinyu felt it was all rather baffling. She sat on the chaise lounge, staring blankly at the damage to the door and window.
Although Song Qingyan had married her, he had not touched her.
Though they had done plenty of other intimate things.
But speaking of which, she really hadn’t seen much of Song Qingyan for the past two days.
A blush crept onto her face. Just then, the already damaged door and window were once again burst open.
A black dragon swept in like a great gust of wind, its arrogant and unbridled presence laced with fury. But upon seeing the delicate and docile young woman on the chaise lounge, its fire was instantly extinguished.
He was somewhat apprehensive, but he saw that Ning Jinyu’s expression was still soft and pliant.
His mind began to wander. The dragon’s body shrank several times over, and he coiled himself in the woman’s lap, ingratiatingly nuzzling, kissing, and licking her face.
Ning Jinyu found this scene a bit bizarre and said helplessly, “Song Qingyan, you should change back into your human form.”
The black dragon’s body stiffened. He didn’t struggle with it for long before transforming into his human shape.
He was strange today. His movements were frivolous and dawdling, and his eyes were filled with longing.
His ink-black eyes held an irresolvable mix of desire and stillness.
“Jinyu, you are already my wife.”
“Mm, I know.”
“Then… I want…” Song Qingyan panted softly in her ear, his hand reaching for the sash at her waist, his gaze clinging to her.
Ning Jinyu pushed him away, her face red. “No, you can’t. I haven’t thought it through yet.”
He was somewhat disappointed. After his breath hitched for a moment, he transformed back into a dragon and fled as if escaping.
His aura today was exceptionally heavy and agitated, and his features were unusually stunning.
Ning Jinyu’s palms tightened. He seemed to be in heat. When she had first arrived, the black dragon had relentlessly pestered her, as if courting her. During that month, whenever she had her period, the black dragon would act just as he was now, teasing, harassing, and trying to mate with her in all sorts of ways.
It was too humiliating.
Ning Jinyu straightened her clothes and went out for a walk to clear her head. The damage to the palace had already been repaired by the attendants who had been summoned upon its discovery.
A few more days passed, and she still hadn’t seen Song Qingyan. Instead, she saw Yu Xiao, who never entered the palace except to attend court.
He was leading two guards, who were escorting a beautifully dressed and pretty young woman.
Ning Jinyu’s heart leaped in alarm. Why had he captured Su Qingyue?
“Lord Yu, I order you to release her.”
Yu Xiao knew the weight this woman held in His Majesty’s heart, so he didn’t dare to be presumptuous. However, he said with dissatisfaction, “His Majesty’s body is of utmost importance, yet because of you, he must endure the pain of his mating season alone. Since Your Ladyship is unwilling, this Protector must naturally help His Majesty share his burden.”