Although Ji Mu was blind, he had not lost the physical strength from his days in the military. He picked up Shen Lizhuang and carried her toward the washroom to fetch water and clean up.
He walked unhurriedly along the way, without even a single bump. At first, Shen Lizhuang was terrified of being held by a blind man, but seeing his steady footsteps and how he indeed possessed an extremely precise sense of direction in the bedchamber, she let down her guard a little.
However, she had let down her guard far too soon.
Inside the washroom, he insisted on pressing her back, engaging in another bout of reckless nonsense.
He could not see, yet his memory was sharp and his methods were ruthless.
Leaving no leeway whatsoever, water flooded over the bathtub and splashed everywhere. Shen Lizhuang clung to the tub, kneeling in the water. The wet corners of her eyes were traced with a flyaway flush, and a drop of dew hung precariously at her brow and eye, resembling a pure white camellia blooming with morning dew—exceedingly pure, yet intensely alluring.
Yet she still endured in silence, not daring to let out a word, keeping her lips tightly sealed.
Ji Mu did not know why she was still so bashful; this was no longer the first time.
Thus, he grasped that slender waist, supple as a willow, and drew close to her. His pitch-black vision could not catch the candlelight atop the lamp stand; he could not see her, nor could he hear her. The extreme darkness caused an indescribable restlessness to rise within the man, who was currently in a state of tight, suppressed desire.
Seeing that she remained suppressed and silent every time it reached this point, Ji Mu leaned down and said, “Make some sounds.”
The tone of his voice sounded like a military order.
Before Shen Lizhuang could even react in astonishment, his words entered her ears once more: “There is no need to endure.”
But Shen Lizhuang did not want to make a sound. Beyond her natural bashfulness, there was a far greater reason.
Simply put, she did not want Prince Jing to discern her true thoughts and feelings.
Having heard no sound after a long moment, Ji Mu lowered his voice. Though displeased, he did not force the matter.
More than half the water in the tub was gone, and it had cooled down considerably. Taking this hot bath was no different from not taking one at all; dripping wet, both of them were covered in sweat once again, so Ji Mu called for servants to bring in more hot water.
This time, he pulled a bathrobe hanging from a nearby wooden rack, tightly covering the person in his arms, and enfolding himself along with her.
However, he did not let the servant women enter. He merely instructed them to leave the delivered hot water outside the washroom.
After the servant women withdrew once more, Ji Mu exhaled a long, turbid breath. As if satiated, he leaned back against the rim, his long arms stretching out and dropping low. Beneath his raised chin, an exceptionally defined Adam’s apple protruded with a sharp outline.
He said, “Go bring the hot water inside.”
For a moment, Shen Lizhuang could not tell whom he was speaking to. Only after a long silence did she finally realize that the servant women had already departed, leaving no one else here besides him and her. The person he was speaking to, if not himself, could naturally only be her.
Yet Shen Lizhuang was stunned: “Me?”
Her clear, delicate voice was coated in a dark hue, slightly hoarse like a zither string on the verge of snapping.
Ji Mu’s expression was indifferent: “Is there anyone else here?”
At this moment, even though two trickles of water were still sliding down the side of his forehead, the suppression, wildness, passion, and ferocity in his expression had completely vanished. He was so cold and detached, as if it had nothing to do with her, and as if he were no longer together with her.
Shen Lizhuang felt somewhat annoyed, biting her lip. In her heart, she constantly cautioned herself that the other party was an imperial prince—endure it, and do not clash head-on.
Had it not been for the worries weighing on her mind and being held in a tight spot, Shen Lizhuang would have turned around and left immediately; no matter how handsome this man was, it would be useless.
“Fine,” she bit her silver teeth slightly, composing her breath. “Your Highness wait a moment, this servant shall go fetch the water.”
Having said that, she rose without any hesitation.
As she stood up and slid out, her knees seemed to give way for a moment. An indescribable, icy void caused her to almost emit a sound beyond her control. But fortunately, Prince Jing was truly somewhat annoying, so she swallowed that strange sensation down, furrowing her brows and lowering her head to climb out of the bath.
She carried the hot water inside, mixed it with the remaining cold water, and stirred it until the temperature was suitable before pouring it into the tub.
She could not pour too much, either; earlier, her skin had already been soaked until wrinkled.
She did not want to step into the tub again, opting instead to simply wipe herself down with a towel.
Having finished wiping herself, just as she was about to leave, the voice that had been silent for a long time reached her ears once more: “Come over and wipe down this Prince’s body.”
Holding the bath towel, Shen Lizhuang turned her head in shock, looking at the man who was leaning back against the rim—his muscles soaked until wrinkled, yet still maintaining a calm and authoritative aura. Her heart was filled with an anger she dared not voice.
What a truly insufferable person. To be annoying to such a degree was genuinely rare to behold.
She clutched the towel tightly between her fingers, refusing to move over.
Ji Mu waited for a few moments, yet did not feel her fingers bringing the towel to wipe his body. His long brows knitted together, “This Prince cannot see. Shen, since you have married this Prince, you ought to fulfill your duty as a wife. Come over and wipe down this Prince’s body.”
Shen Lizhuang was so furious she wished she could scoop up a water ladle and hit the back of his head.
At this moment, she thought of Shen Meizhuang again. She gained a bit more understanding of Shen Meizhuang.
At least when her older sister was with that zither player named Liu, if she told him to go east, he would not dare go west. Where would she ever need to stand before Prince Jing, forced to choose between being angry and feeling aggrieved, only able to swallow her silent rage?
Shen Lizhuang’s heart swelled with anger. Holding the towel in her hand, she took advantage of his blindness to drop all polite expressions, scrubbing him vigorously and ruthlessly.
Although Ji Mu could not see, he could feel his skin being scrubbed red and burning hot by her. He did not realize her spirit of revenge: “In the Shen family, did no one teach you how to attend to your husband?”
Judging by his tone, he seemed to be looking down on her Shen family’s upbringing.
Fine, look down on it then. At any rate, the Shen family’s upbringing had hardly been bestowed upon her, burdening the high and mighty Prince to suffer for it.
Shen Lizhuang endured the sense of grievance, scrubbing his skin briskly as she said, “I have learned needlework, calligraphy, and painting, but I have never learned how to attend to a man.”
Ji Mu said, “The Shen family is a scholarly and refined household. That you did not know before is excusable. But as you are to be the Princess Consort in the future, you must learn a bit.”
His eyes had been blind for too long, gradually becoming no different from a blind person’s. Previously, he could manage to take care of himself to some extent, but now it was becoming increasingly difficult. By nature, he preferred cleanliness and was unwilling to let unrelated maids or servant women draw near his person. Only she, as the Princess Consort, was someone close to him, requiring no guard and no need to be formal.
Shen Lizhuang did not wish to learn. Closing her eyes, she scrubbed his back forcefully, replying in a hoarse voice, “This servant understands.”
Her current conviction was firmer than ever before: she must find Shen Meizhuang, she must take the exam to enter the academy, and she must establish herself to become her own pillar of support.
Yet she also understood that the deeper this desire was, the more she had to yield to suit the circumstances and pretend compliance for now. Before finding her older sister, she could not reveal any flaws or cause any disastrous mistakes.
After daybreak, Ji Mu left Xunchun Pavilion.
Strangely enough, as a blind man with empty eyes, he still had his own affairs to attend to on normal days.
However, Shen Lizhuang did not care in the slightest where he went. Early in the morning, she dispatched Yingluo back to the Shen Estate.
Shen Shushi and Lin Ruoxi had not expected Yingluo to return home alone without their daughter. Seeing the unusual expression on Yingluo’s face—as if she had something difficult to speak of—the two were surprised, and with mutual understanding, they called Yingluo into the inner hall alone.
“What! Aiai ran away!”
“Then who is the person currently in the Prince Jing Estate?”
The words Yingluo had rehearsed countless times in her head almost failed to escape her mouth at this moment. Her face turned red with anxiety, and after Madam grabbed her arms tightly to question her, her mind panicked even further. She hurriedly fell to her knees, wiping her tearful eyes as she answered, “Inside the Prince’s estate right now, Second Miss is taking her place as a substitute, pretending to be Miss and holding up the front…”
Lin Ruoxi’s vision turned black, and she nearly fainted.
She had thought that since Aiai had been married over for several days without returning to her maiden home, perhaps something had gone wrong. But then she recalled that Prince Jing son-in-law, who had not even come to receive the bride in person on the wedding day—it was clear he did not hold their Shen family in his eyes at all, and certainly had no mind to accompany their daughter back to her maiden home.
Yet how could she have ever expected that Aiai was no longer in the estate, and the one currently residing in the Prince Jing Estate enjoying the fruits of success was that little wench, Shen Lizhuang!
Shen Shushi held his wife, whose body was leaning back in panic while beating her chest. At this moment, although he felt anxious in his heart, he remained somewhat rational: “Where did Aiai go?”
Lin Ruoxi stamped her feet and leaned into her husband’s embrace, her tears pouring uncontrollably from her eyes in rage, “It must be that zither player named Liu. Aiai must have gone with him, eloping! Good Heavens, my Good Heavens, how could Aiai be so muddleheaded and disappointing!”
Giving up the status of a Princess Consort with abundant luxury, only to elope with a lowly zither player!
Shen Shushi furrowed his brows and warned in a low voice, “Madam, the word ‘elope’ is far too serious; it must not be spoken casually! If outsiders hear of it, Aiai’s reputation will be ruined, and the Shen family’s reputation will suffer as well. Since we know it was Liu Xu who abducted our daughter, the pressing matter right now is to quickly find her and bring her back. A day’s delay brings a day’s uncertainty.”
Lin Ruoxi also knew the gravity of the situation and no longer brought up “elopement,” yet the resentment in her heart could not be dispelled no matter what.
Clutching her trembling chest, her face pale with panic, she murmured, “Had I known earlier, I should have beaten that zither player to death back then, so as to prevent him from ruining my Aiai today!”
The crease between Shen Shushi’s brows drew deeper. Now that things had reached this point, uttering these regretful words was useless.
He had simply not expected that after catching Aiai meeting the zither player in secret that day, when Madam was furious and wanted to beat that low-status zither player to death, it was Aiai who prostrated herself weeping bitterly to beg for mercy. She said she knew she was wrong, that it was only for a moment’s novelty, and swore never to contact Liu Xu again. Madam, who had eaten vegetarian meals and prayed to Buddha for many years, did not wish to carry a human life on her hands, which was why she let Liu Xu go.
That Liu Xu’s treacherous heart remained active was no surprise. What truly disappointed and chilled his heart was his daughter, who had sworn to heaven that day that she would not remain entangled with Liu Xu, only to deceive her parents and foolishly elope with the zither player.
Before the wedding, Lin had been worried about mistakes, keeping a tight watch on her and giving her no opportunity whatsoever. She originally thought that as long as a young woman married, her heart would naturally be set on her husband. What was more, her son-in-law was the noble Prince Jing—it was as if smoke were rising from the Shen family’s ancestral graves to land such a fine marriage.
No one understood. The title of Princess Consort of Prince Jing was such a grand honor, and Prince Jing had been such an exceptionally brilliant prince back then. How could their daughter Aiai be so short-sighted, obsessing over a zither player who had nothing to offer besides a good face, to the point of committing such an outrageous and scandalous act?
Right now, he had to clear his chaotic thoughts. Realizing that Yingluo, as his daughter’s personal maid, had come in a rush today, she must be following Shen Lizhuang’s orders.
“Is Jiaojiao doing well in the Prince’s estate? It is truly thanks to her—to fill the hole for her older sister, she got herself dragged into this.”
Lin Ruoxi bit her lip, wanting to refute: where was that little wench Shen Lizhuang suffering a loss? Her older sister vanished, and she just happened to catch this sudden windfall to become the Princess Consort, soaring into the clouds!
Yet thinking that all of this was personally delivered by her own disappointing daughter, her heart held only regret and anger at her daughter’s lack of ambition.
To speak ill of Shen Lizhuang at this moment would do nothing but arouse her husband’s disgust. Lin Ruoxi endured and said nothing, merely choked with wordless tears.
Yingluo knelt and replied, “Yesterday, Second Miss consummated the marriage with His Highness, and no flaws were revealed.”
They even consummated the marriage! Lin Ruoxi’s vision went black and dizzy again, her body losing even more strength as she collapsed into Shen Shushi’s arms.
Shen Shushi held his wife’s delicate waist. The physique of an aging civil official was ultimately insufficient to support her for too long. With no alternative, he could only first help his wife into an armchair, showing attentive care, handing her hot water to comfort her, before returning to question Yingluo further.
“Did Second Miss send you here?”
Yingluo nodded her head softly, “His Highness said he would accompany Second Miss back to her maiden home tomorrow, using the excuse of having this servant return to the Shen Estate to retrieve an item for her.”
Shen Shushi understood. Jiaojiao was a scheming child. She must have been concerned that if she did not inform them in advance to let him and Madam know about Aiai eloping with the zither player to escape, an accident would surely happen during the return visit.
Jiaojiao had done well in this regard, possessing a great sense of the big picture. She understood that the scandal of her older sister eloping could not be reported, so she substituted herself to stabilize the Prince’s estate for her sister. After all, the name “Shen Meizhuang” was clearly written on the imperial decree for marriage, and it could not be trifled with.
“Then what are Jiaojiao’s plans? She cannot remain in the Prince’s estate as the Princess Consort for a lifetime, either.”
This wall might keep out the wind for a moment and hide the truth, but if it were to be hidden for a lifetime… that Prince Jing was merely blind, not a fool.
Yingluo was precisely about to report this: “Second Miss originally planned that after Miss is found, she would find a way to change her appearance and swap their identities back.”
Lin Ruoxi was stunned listening to this. Really? This was the honor of being a Princess Consort—was Shen Lizhuang truly willing to swap back?
Shen Shushi, however, furrowed his brows, pacing with his hands behind his back. After a few restless moments, he also sat down in an armchair.
Yingluo lowered her face in fear, pressing her forehead against the floor, trembling as she offered the response that Shen Shushi had already expected: “However, Master, Madam… it is feared that even if Miss is found, Miss will be unwilling. Miss’s heart belongs entirely to Young Master Liu. She said that even if she dies, she will die together with Young Master Liu…”
Lin Ruoxi’s sounds of beating her chest and gasping for air grew even more urgent, her entire body hanging on the armchair almost fainting.
Hearing this, Shen Shushi was furious, slapping the table as he stood up: “Shameless! How dare she let these disgraceful words reach my ears! If she is found and brought back, I will break her legs!”
Lin Ruoxi was so frightened her head no longer felt dizzy, nor did her body feel weak; she rushed forward to offer gentle persuasion.
Shen Shushi was merely venting in anger; she was his most cherished, beloved daughter. Driven to fury, he could only spout harsh words, but in truth, he felt even more pity for her being deceived by the zither player, his heart currently filled with worry.
“Do as Jiaojiao says: first conceal it from Prince Jing for this return visit. Tell her to rest her mind; as her father, I will naturally send people to capture her older sister back. As for the Prince’s estate…”
Swapping identities and then swapping back again? For a short period of two or three days, it was fine, but once Jiaojiao stayed in the Prince’s estate for a long time and met everyone in the estate, it would be impossible to deceive them indefinitely.
This marriage could not last long; they also had to find a way to make Prince Jing divorce Jiaojiao as soon as possible.