Fu Jinglan’s body was scorching hot and hard.
The moment he embraced her, his powerful muscles collided with Shen Lingxi’s soft, yielding body.
Fu Jinglan’s waist and abdomen instantly tensed. It was as though a clingy cream cake had pressed itself against him.
Soft, fluffy, fragrant, sweet, and smooth.
It made him want to lick it, knead it, play with it.
He would have to crush this cake to pieces and melt it completely before he could feel satisfied.
When he spoke again, Fu Jinglan’s voice had already grown low and hoarse.
“Shen Lingxi, let go. Don’t think that just because your knee is injured, I can’t touch you. I have plenty of ways.”
“Where does it hurt? I’ll find a doctor for you. What are you crying for?”
If crying could solve problems, he, Xiaosi, and Mu Suizhou would have left the fighting arena long ago.
Shen Lingxi was somewhat dazed and did not answer.
Her left hand was stroking the double-snake tattoo at Fu Jinglan’s side.
Beneath her soft fingertips were row upon row of raised scars.
Shen Lingxi shifted her fingertips. Judging by their lengths, most of them were probably knife wounds.
Fu Jinglan must have taken many cuts back then.
All at once, some inexplicable distress surged through her, piling on top of her headache. Shen Lingxi lost control and hugged Fu Jinglan tightly around the waist and abdomen.
Her cheek pressed against his chest as she sobbed so hard she could not make a sound.
Like a severely injured little bunny, she whimpered, “Fu Jinglan, sob…”
Fu Jinglan felt a headache coming on.
“Shut up, Eldest Miss Shen.”
Hadn’t she promised not to cry or make a fuss?
Had his words frightened her?
Fu Jinglan simply switched off the hair dryer and tossed it aside irritably.
He gripped Shen Lingxi’s slender, slippery shoulders with both hands.
“Shen Lingxi, I said I had plenty of ways. I didn’t actually use any of them on you. Why can’t you stop crying?”
“If you keep crying, I really will f*** you.”
“You like being f***ed while crying, don’t you?”
Immediately afterward, Fu Jinglan sensed that something was wrong with Shen Lingxi.
“Shen Lingxi?!!”
The wind weakened, and the snow stopped.
Second floor.
A team of doctors in white coats hurried into Shen Lingxi’s room.
In the living room, Fu Jinglan sat upright in the center of the sofa, buttoning up his loungewear one button at a time.
Before he had finished, the attending physician opened the door and came out, looking somewhat uneasy.
“Governor, may I ask whether you and Miss Shen… engaged in sexual activity in the bathroom? Or did you have Miss Shen perform any difficult movements?”
Shen Lingxi had lost consciousness in the bathroom.
The doctor’s preliminary judgment was that this was not an ordinary fainting spell.
Fu Jinglan fastened the last button. His arms rested on his knees, and his ten fingers were anxiously interlaced.
He lifted his eyes toward the doctor and immediately demanded, “What do you mean?”
Was this man in a white coat a doctor or a police officer?
If he was here to treat her, he should get on with it. Why was he asking all these irrelevant questions?
Didn’t he realize how private they were?
Seeing the Governor’s cold, intimidating expression, the doctor hurriedly explained:
“It’s like this, Governor.”
“The bathroom has limited space, and the steam is heavy. If there was strenuous activity, it could have caused Miss Shen to become hypoxic more quickly and lose consciousness.”
What nonsense was this?
Fu Jinglan reached toward the coffee table for a cigar, only to find nothing there.
“I didn’t touch her.”
The doctor did not quite dare to believe him. Why did that statement sound faintly aggrieved?
Then Fu Jinglan remembered something else. “Does verbal stimulation count?”
All he had done was say that he had plenty of ways.
And yet, before he had even kissed her, Shen Lingxi had been frightened unconscious?
What kind of fragile niece had Shen Lanting raised?
He should stop throwing her into Lu Manor. Tomorrow morning, he would send her away, illness and all, packed up together!
“Verbal stimulation wouldn’t be enough to cause that.”
The doctor bowed respectfully to Fu Jinglan.
“Governor, I understand now. Please rest. We’ll continue performing further examinations on Miss Shen.”
The doctor turned to leave. Just as he was about to close the door to Shen Lingxi’s room, Fu Jinglan did not even raise his eyes as he instructed in a deep voice:
“Be thorough.”
“Yes, Governor.”
Two hours later.
Fu Jinglan was still sitting on the sofa in the living room of Shen Lingxi’s room.
He had merely changed his clothes.
His slightly wavy hair had been styled into a sharp, swept-back look.
He wore a black silk shirt beneath a gray, finely textured vest, with a charcoal tie patterned in a subtle design, tied flawlessly.
Below that were crisp, high-quality black suit trousers.
Fu Jinglan’s long legs were casually bent. A laptop sat on the coffee table in front of him, with a video call open.
He was holding a meeting with local officials.
After listening to a report, his expression was cool and faintly severe, and he gave the speaker no consideration whatsoever.
“Rejected. Next.”
“Yes, Governor. I’ll revise the content further.”
In the video windows, every official sat upright, their expressions solemn.
They were all afraid that their own proposal would be the next one rejected.
But one of them was completely unconcerned—Northern Territory Minister Tan Zongxing.
The Northern Territory lay at the northernmost edge of Northern State and had once been the region least willing to submit to control.
Tan Zongxing had even been arrogant enough to swallow Northern State whole and establish a state of his own.
Only after Fu Jinglan took office did Tan Zongxing gradually ease up.
At that moment, Tan Zongxing held tea in one hand and rolled prayer beads between the fingers of the other, his bearing relaxed.
He possessed both the righteous air of a gentleman and the roguishness of a scoundrel, both the charm of a romantic and the principles of a man of integrity.
Tan Zongxing curled his lips lazily.
“Governor Fu, Minister Shang’s proposal being rejected doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Focusing only on politics while neglecting military affairs—what use is strategizing on paper?”
Fu Jinglan crossed his legs, his bearing imposing.
Yet his gaze swept inadvertently past the doorway to Shen Lingxi’s room.
Again and again.
“Minister Tan, what are your views on Northern State’s upcoming military reforms?” Fu Jinglan asked.
Tan Zongxing slipped the prayer beads around his wrist.
He smiled and said, “I’ll follow the Governor’s instructions in everything, and I can also provide a substantial amount of financial support.”
Why did Tan Zongxing submit to Fu Jinglan?
Because of his innate aristocratic bearing and his demeanor as a leader.
At eighteen, he had been publicly acknowledged by his father, after which he went abroad to study.
At twenty-two, he returned home and took over Northern State, where the military and political situations were both wavering and unstable.
At twenty-five, he stabilized Northern State through his own ability and officially succeeded his father, becoming the youngest governor in history.
Thus, Tan Zongxing was sincerely convinced.
Besides, Fu Jinglan’s looks had also won him over.
Tan Zongxing liked beautiful people.
When he married in the future, he was determined to marry an incomparable beauty.
The meeting continued. Every sentence Fu Jinglan spoke was important. The stenographers behind the video screens were worked to the bone, rapidly typing out every word without missing a single one.
Once again, Fu Jinglan finished speaking, and the door to Shen Lingxi’s room was quietly pushed open.
Fu Jinglan lifted his eyelids slightly.
The attending physician stopped at the doorway, hesitating to speak.
The Governor was busy, and he did not dare interrupt him, so he could only wait quietly.
Fu Jinglan raised a hand and tugged lightly at his tie.
He spoke to the screen. “Let’s stop here for now. Turn the remaining matters over to my Secretary-General, Mu Suizhou.”
Fu Jinglan immediately ended the video call and asked the doctor:
“How are Shen Lingxi’s examination results?”
Having received permission, the doctor hurried over.
“Governor, Miss Shen’s condition is somewhat complicated.”
Fu Jinglan suddenly felt that the room was stifling. He simply pulled off his tie and tossed it aside.
“Sit down and tell me. How is it complicated?”
“Is she not going to live long?”
The doctor lowered his eyes and glanced at Fu Jinglan. The cold air surrounding him was murderous.
Even before getting close, one could feel a chill of fear.
No wonder Miss Shen had been unable to endure it on her very first day.
The doctor sat down on the sofa, deliberately leaving some distance between himself and Fu Jinglan.
“Governor, Miss Shen has caught a chill and suffered an acute viral infection.”
Fu Jinglan felt that the doctor still had not reached the main point.
“Continue. Say everything at once. Don’t wait for me to ask one question at a time.”
“All right.” The doctor cleared his throat.
“Miss Shen underwent craniotomy surgery. It must have been nearly ten years ago. The incision was treated with great precision, and there are no visible traces left.”
Fu Jinglan rubbed the silver matchbox in his hand.
He listened to every sentence, weighing each one.
“That surgery caused all of Miss Shen’s memories from before the age of ten to become a blank. She also developed secondary headaches and dizziness as a result.”
“When her emotions fluctuate intensely, it can trigger an attack and even cause her to faint.”
Like today.
After the doctor left, Fu Jinglan remained silent for a moment. He picked up his tie and intended to leave.
He had already turned around, but then changed direction and walked straight toward Shen Lingxi’s room.