His stare made Shen Lang’s skin crawl.
She composed herself and said, “I don’t hate you.”
Jiang Yu fell silent, his gaze fixed on her, as if trying to etch every contour of her face into his memory.
After a long moment, he said slowly, “I desire you.
It has nothing to do with your appearance.”
Shen Lang’s eyes flickered, a thoughtful expression on her face.
‘It seems Jiang Yu already knows about my conversation with Yu Ge in the dungeon.’
‘But that wouldn’t stop her from using his words as a pretext.’
She scoffed inwardly, but her expression was one of panic as she snatched her hand back.
Looking up at him, she stammered, “You…
you heard everything?”
Her brilliant eyes were now filled with disbelief.
Jiang Yu’s gaze wavered for a moment.
He nodded and said, “It matters not.
Yin’er, I…”
Before he could finish, Shen Lang pushed him away, seemingly unable to bear it.
“…That’s enough!” she whispered.
“Not enough,” Jiang Yu said, his eyes darkening.
He suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace, his voice a low, magnetic whisper in her ear.
“A lifetime wouldn’t be enough.”
“Not enough?
Jiang Yu, search your heart and ask yourself, wasn’t what she said the truth…?”
“Aren’t you only with me for my looks?”
Shen Lang didn’t struggle.
Instead, she caressed her own face, shamelessly and indirectly praising her own beauty.
Jiang Yu said nothing, only staring at her with a profound, dark gaze.
“If this face belonged to someone else, you would dote on her all the same…” She traced the seductive corner of her eye, her lips curling into a smile.
“Your Majesty, why won’t you admit it?
The one you cherish…
is nothing more than this face…
this body.”
Lifting her gaze slightly, she met his dark and burning peach-blossom eyes.
Shen Lang froze for a second, then lowered her gaze, a soft, intoxicating smile playing on her lips.
“She was right.
We were never in love.
Being together is just a way for us to reopen each other’s old wounds.
Rather than grow to despise the sight of one another, it would be better to let me and my family go.
Let’s do each other this favor and not make things difficult.”
The moment Shen Lang had spoken her first sentence, a chilling, terrifying light had appeared in Jiang Yu’s peach-blossom eyes.
Yet her tempting, dewy lips continued to spew daggers that plunged straight into his heart.
The depths of Jiang Yu’s eyes turned pitch-black.
He lunged forward, sealing her lips with his—
‘Shen Lang sighed in her heart with a hint of regret.’ Then, she bit down on his lip without mercy.
The metallic taste of blood began to spread between their lips.
Shen Lang narrowed her eyes.
Her bewitching, fox-like eyes glistened, shimmering with moisture—dark, dewy, and bright.
“…You’re bleeding.”
Jiang Yu paused for a moment, then moved to lean in again.
“It’s nothing.”
“Get lost.” Shen Lang shot him a glance.
“I hate the taste of blood.”
“…” Jiang Yu stiffened, allowing himself to be pushed away.
A trickle of scarlet blood seeped from his crimson lips, which now bore a few small teeth marks.
With his pupils dark and deep, he looked incredibly sensual and alluring.
‘At her level, maxing out Jiang Yu’s love value would be a piece of cake.’
‘The hate value, however, was a bit trickier.’
‘In Shen Lang’s world, there was only one source of hatred between lovers: betrayal.’
‘In an instant, countless melodramatic scenarios involving cuckoldry flashed through her mind.’
‘Maybe…
I should give it a try?’
Jiang Yu had no idea what she was thinking.
Having been pushed away, the pressure emanating from him dropped to an extreme low, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
“…You hate the taste of blood?” He lowered his gaze slightly, lost in thought as a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
Suddenly, Eunuch Zhang came trotting into the hall, saying as he ran, “Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager just sent someone to ask when the Empress will be coming to pay her respects?”
Jiang Yu paused.
He slowly raised a hand and elegantly wiped the blood from his lips.
“Go back and tell the Empress Mother that the Empress is unwell and likely won’t be able to pay her respects for the next six months.”
Shen Lang looked up.
“…Why?”
‘Deceiving his own mother like that…
Doesn’t his conscience ache?’
Jiang Yu’s dark eyes were fixed on her, as if he were afraid she might run away.
His thin lips parted, and a slightly hoarse voice emerged.
“She will make things difficult for you.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Lang pursed her lips into a small smile.
“What a coincidence.
Trouble is the one thing I’m not afraid of.”
“…” Jiang Yu lowered his eyes and said nothing, merely tightening his grip on her hand.
Shen Lang glanced at him, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.
“Did you think that by keeping me in here, I wouldn’t hear the gossip outside?”
Jiang Yu’s gaze was grim.
“I,” he said, enunciating each word, “will not let them harm you.”
This sentence seemed to be for Shen Lang, but also for himself.
“Then what’s to be done?
I don’t believe you, you know.”
Shen Lang’s voice was laced with little hooks, bringing to mind the soul-stealing sirens from storybooks.
At her words, a slight smile touched the corners of Jiang Yu’s narrow eyes.
He toyed with her hand and chuckled softly.
“It matters not.”
‘Shen Lang felt a pang of regret.’
‘This won’t do at all.’
‘If he wouldn’t let her out, where was she supposed to find him a ‘hat’ to wear?’
‘However…’
Suddenly, Shen Lang said with a beaming smile, “I want to go pay my respects to the Empress Dowager.”
Jiang Yu’s brows furrowed.
“Why?”
“Since I’ve become your Empress,” Shen Lang said, covering her smile, “it’s only natural that I follow the proper etiquette for one.”
“…Fine.” Only then did Jiang Yu’s brow relax slightly.
“With me here, you can be as brazen as you wish.
You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
“…Is that so.”
Shen Lang’s long lashes lowered, hiding the strange emotion in her eyes.
She whispered pitifully, “But I just want them to know that I’m not some kind of calamity…”
[System: Host, please stop spewing nonsense.]
Shen Lang: …
Hearing this, Jiang Yu leaned down and pulled the beauty into a tight hug.
“It is my fault,” he said slowly.
“How could Your Majesty be at fault?” Shen Lang shot him a glance before looking away, perfectly embodying the essence of a woman being deliberately difficult.
“…I was inconsiderate and too reckless.”
“And?” Shen Lang didn’t even spare him a glance, looking away with a pout.
But she held out her arm, which was covered in purple hickeys, and even gave it a suggestive little shake.
“…” Jiang Yu’s long lashes drooped.
He said nothing.
“Not going to admit it, are you?” Shen Lang’s face fell instantly.
She pulled the quilt over herself, turned over, and lay down, showing him only the back of her head.
“Then I’ll have to trouble Your Majesty to sleep on the floor tonight,” she said lazily.
“Be careful not to catch a cold.”
Jiang Yu: …
‘How audacious.’
He let out a low chuckle.
‘He had thought his Empress was just making empty threats to scare him, but he never expected…’
That night, just as he tried to climb into bed, he was met with a faceful of pillows and quilts: “…”
This was accompanied by Shen Lang’s gloating apology.
“Oh, my apologies.
Why the long face, Your Majesty?
Come now, the floor is all yours.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
‘She’s actually serious.’
‘For an Emperor, being treated like this was a tremendous loss of face.’
‘But what was an even greater loss of face was that he actually gave in.’
‘Looking at the charming beauty lounging lazily on the phoenix couch with her innocent-looking face, he had no doubt that if he didn’t submit, he, the Emperor, would be permanently blacklisted from Kunning Palace.’