Nan Yanxiu had just returned to the prince’s manor when, before he could even step into his study, the steward hurriedly handed him a gilded, flower-patterned letter.
His slender fingers took it. The stationery was faintly scented with the delicate fragrance of orchids, and the seal bore an exquisite crescent moon pattern.
His brow lifted slightly as he deftly opened the letter with his fingertips. Inside was a line of elegant, graceful handwriting:
“Having long admired Your Highness, I invite you today to Fuyun Lou for a meeting.”
Signed: Yue Linyan
Nan Yanxiu’s eyes darkened slightly. He gently rubbed the edge of the letter with his thumb, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling at the corner of his lips.
“Yue Linyan.”
He hadn’t sought her out yet, and she had already delivered herself to his doorstep.
He murmured the name, tucked the letter into his sleeve, and turned to the attendant beside him. “Prepare a horse. We’re going to Fuyun Lou.”
Fuyun Lou, Second-Floor Room
Yue Linyan’s door was slightly ajar. Inside, incense smoke curled upward, sheer curtains hung softly, creating an atmosphere of alluring secrecy.
Shen Shuangren had changed into a water-blue gauze gown today. The flowing sleeves fluttered gracefully, accentuating her elegant figure and snow-white skin.
She stood by the window, her fingertips lightly plucking the guqin on the table. The sound of the zither was clear and cold, like pearls falling onto a jade plate.
“If he comes, are you sure you can retreat unscathed?”
A low male voice sounded from behind the screen.
Shen Shuangren’s fingers did not stop, and the corner of her lips curved slightly. “When have you ever seen this lady fail?”
Li Chenxi emerged from the shadows, dressed in a dark robe, his expression playful.
He handed her a slender silver incense tube and said quietly, “The knockout incense is ready. Just light it, and within half a moment, he will fall into a deep sleep.”
Shen Shuangren took it, her fingers giving it a slight twist before hiding it in her sleeve. A flash of coldness passed through her eyes. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him leave here alive.”
Li Chenxi glanced at her, then finally turned and disappeared back into the shadows.
The sound of the zither gradually ceased. Shen Shuangren looked up toward the window. In the distance, the sound of hoofbeats grew closer.
—He was here.
The music from Shen Shuangren’s fingertips flowed like water but stopped abruptly the moment Nan Yanxiu pushed the door open.
Through the screen, thin as a cicada’s wing, she saw his tall, straight figure standing at the door. The golden-threaded coiling dragon embroidered on his black brocade robe flickered faintly in the candlelight.
“I wonder what important matter Miss Lin Yan has summoned this prince for today?”
Nan Yanxiu’s voice carried its usual laziness, yet it held a hidden sharpness.
His slender fingers lightly brushed the doorframe as his gaze swept over the room’s furnishings like a hawk’s. On the red sandalwood fragrance table, a gilded incense burner emitted a wisp of blue smoke, and the graceful silhouette behind the screen was faintly visible.
Hearing his voice, Shen Shuangren chuckled softly. Her fingertips brushed the zither strings, producing a clear, resonant sound. “Since meeting Your Highness that day, Lin Yan has been filled with admiration and longing, and so I specially invited you here.”
She deliberately infused the words “admiration and longing” with a lingering, sentimental tone while secretly calculating the time.
This knockout incense was the most effective she had ever used on missions. By all logic, it should have taken effect by now.
The unusual fragrance wafting from the incense burner grew stronger, yet Nan Yanxiu seemed completely unaffected.
He walked leisurely around the screen, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes. This face bore a striking seventy percent resemblance to the woman from his memory three months ago.
“Your Highness, please have a seat.”
As Shen Shuangren rose, she deliberately stumbled, causing her gauze outer garment to slip, revealing a shoulder as white and smooth as jade.
She picked up the gilded wine pot, her fingertips trembling imperceptibly—why was this knockout incense having no effect at all?
Nan Yanxiu suddenly reached out and grasped her slender waist, his grip astonishingly strong.
Caught off guard, Shen Shuangren fell into his embrace, her nose bumping against the cold jade pendant on his chest.
The scent of magnolia mingled with the aroma of wine washed over her. She lifted her gaze to meet those unfathomable phoenix eyes.
"Lady Lin Yan, such enthusiasm…"
Nan Yanxiu's low voice carried a dangerous undertone, his thumb stroking the soft flesh at her waist. "Then this prince won't stand on ceremony either."
As he leaned in closer, Shen Shuangren tilted her head to dodge, the golden buyao in her hair clinking crisply against his jaw.
While inwardly cursing Li Chenxi for his unreliability, she keenly noticed the bulging veins on Nan Yanxiu's neck—a clear sign the drug was taking effect!
"Your Highness is drunk."
Shen Shuangren was firmly pinned to the bed by Nan Yanxiu, her wrist aching from his tight grip.
His breath was scorching, laced with a hint of danger.
"You used the same method to assassinate the Vice Minister of Revenue the other day, didn't you?!"
Her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly regained her composure.
Her fingertip traced circles on Nan Yanxiu's chest, her voice dripping with sweetness: "Your Highness jests. Minister Zhao merely admired Lin Yan and often came to listen to my songs."
She deliberately let her collar slip a little lower. "Lin Yan is but a weak woman, with no strength to even tie up a chicken. How could she kill anyone?"
Nan Yanxiu pressed his thumb heavily against her lips, his voice low: "Is that so? Then on the night Minister Zhao was murdered, the last person he saw was you…"
"Your Highness wrongs me~"
She tilted her head and gently bit his finger, her eyes flickering as she felt for the dagger under the pillow. "That night, Lin Yan only went to deliver a sachet to thank Minister Zhao. After delivering it, I returned to the building. All my sisters can testify."
Nan Yanxiu suddenly gripped her chin, his force so great it reddened the corners of her eyes: "Oh? Then this scar…"
His finger slid down her neck, stopping at a small, faint scar on her collarbone. "Minister Zhao's fingernails were found with traces of your flesh and blood."
Shen Shuangren's breath hitched.
She had carefully concealed this scar with Western Regions concealer for so long, yet it still…
"That was because Minister Zhao tried to take liberties with me…"
Her eyes welled with tears, but she secretly exerted force in her hand. "I was scratched while struggling against him."
Nan Yanxiu chuckled softly, then suddenly flipped over, pressing her down.
His scorching body pressed tightly against hers—this was nothing like the effects of a knockout drug! It was clearly…
"Li Chenxi! What on earth did you give me?!"
She roared inwardly. He had actually given her an aphrodisiac incense instead of a knockout drug!
Meanwhile: In the secret chamber of the Chenghuang Temple
Li Chenxi rummaged through his medicine chest and finally confirmed a horrifying truth—
He had given her the wrong incense!
Instead of the "Drunken Dream Incense" meant to render someone instantly unconscious, he had mistakenly given Shen Shuangren the aphrodisiac "Yilan Incense"!
"Done for, done for, done for…"
He clutched his hair, pacing back and forth in the secret chamber, muttering: "Xiao Shuang'er, please, please don't let anything happen to you…"
He suddenly slammed the table, filled with regret: "It's all because that Qiuyue from Fuyun Lou insisted I prepare 'Spring Breeze Once' for her a few days ago, messing up my entire medicine chest!"
But it was too late for regrets now. He could only pray that Shen Shuangren was clever enough not to fall victim to Nan Yanxiu…
"Tsk—" Li Chenxi sucked in a sharp breath, not daring to think further.
Inside Fuyun Lou, incense smoke curled upward.
Nan Yanxiu's finger pressed against the back of Shen Shuangren's ear, his thumb rubbing the edge of the human skin mask. With just a gentle flick, he could peel away the carefully crafted facade she had constructed.
Shen Shuangren's heart pounded like a drum, yet she suddenly broke into a smile. Her fingertip lightly traced his chest, her voice soft and seductive as water:
"Since Your Highness already knows, then Lin Yan… need not pretend any longer."
Nan Yanxiu's eyes darkened abruptly, the force in his hand not diminishing in the slightest, his voice low and dangerous: "Oh? Then tell me, who exactly are you?"
Her red lips curved slightly as she breathed orchid-scented air into his ear, enunciating each word deliberately: "I am, of course… someone who admires Your Highness."
Before her words had fully faded, Nan Yanxiu suddenly seized her wrist, pinning both her hands forcefully above her head, while his other hand unhesitatingly tore off her human skin mask—
"Rip—"
As the mask peeled away, an even more exquisitely cold and stunning face was completely exposed before his eyes.
Skin like snow, brows and eyes like a painting, lips as if touched with vermilion, a pair of phoenix eyes sharp as frost, yet now tinged with a trace of annoyance due to the situation.
Nan Yanxiu's breath hitched, his pupils contracting slightly—
It was her!
Three months ago, on the night of the Blood Moon, the woman he had saved and then let go!
Afterwards, she had vanished without a trace, leaving only a silver hairpin behind.
He had searched for her for three whole months.
"So it really is you."
His thumb brushed over the tear mole beneath her eye, his voice hoarse, "I've been looking for you for three months."
Shen Shuangren's breath caught.
Fragments of that night's memories flooded back: the cold moonlight, the scorching body heat, and the wound on his shoulder where she had bitten him.
Instinctively, she glanced at his left shoulder, where a faint bulge was visible beneath the dark fabric.
"After that night," Nan Yanxiu suddenly leaned closer, his nose almost touching hers, "why did you run away?"
Inside Fuyun Lou, the candlelight flickered on the verge of extinguishing, casting swaying shadows on the gauze curtains.
"Since the poison was neutralized, there was no need for me to remain entangled with Your Highness, was there?"
Shen Shuangren turned her head aside, avoiding his scorching breath, "Why are you looking for me?"
Nan Yanxiu chuckled softly, his fingertips tracing the faint purple poison mark on the side of her neck that had yet to fade: "Miss, your words wound this prince."
His lips drew closer still, warm breath carrying the scent of magnolia wafting over the corner of her mouth.
Shen Shuangren abruptly turned her face away, her dark hair spilling across the brocade pillow like fine black satin: "What exactly do you want?"
Her voice carried a deliberately suppressed tremor, but her fingertips had already quietly pressed against the silver needles hidden in her sleeve.
"Tell me who you are."
Nan Yanxiu's palm suddenly tightened, his knuckles digging into her slender shoulders, firmly pinning her beneath him.
The golden-thread embroidered chi patterns on his dark robe pressed painfully against her, "Why were you poisoned three months ago, and why have you become the Huakui Yue Linyan three months later?"
With each word he spoke, his breath grew heavier, the oppressive scent of ambergris washing over her.
The temperature inside the gauze curtains suddenly rose, the ylang-ylang fragrance drifting from the gilded incense burner mingling with the cold sweat seeping from Shen Shuangren's temples, weaving a sticky web between them.
Forcing herself to stay clear-headed, she spoke rapidly, like pearls falling onto a jade plate: "Since childhood, after my family fell into ruin, I fled to Shengjing and was taken in by Madam Hua Yu of Fuyun Lou, which allowed me to find shelter."
A faint red tinged the corners of her eyes, "As for that poison… it was forced upon me by ruffians I encountered while traveling in Yingzhou, who intended to assault me."
"Is that all?"
Nan Yanxiu narrowed his phoenix eyes, his thumb suddenly pressing heavily over the three-inch-long old scar on her collarbone—its edges neat and wedge-shaped, unmistakably a wound inflicted by a wolf's rake specially crafted by the Armory.
Shen Shuangren's breath caught, sensing his other hand sliding down along her lower back, searching for something.
"Your Highness has asked enough…"
She suddenly drove her knee toward his abdomen, while a cold glint flashed from her sleeve, "May you release me now?"
"But just moments ago, the lady claimed to admire this prince?"
Nan Yanxiu easily restrained her movements, suddenly noticing her skin was alarmingly hot.
His eyes darkened, finally sensing something amiss—this was no ordinary fever.
Shen Shuangren bit her tongue to stay conscious, yet was horrified to find her hands beginning to climb his shoulders uncontrollably.
That damned incense! In her heart, she cursed Li Chenxi a thousand times over.
Nan Yanxiu was faring no better.
Fine sweat beaded at his temples as he stared down at the woman beneath him, her cheeks flushed with an unnatural hue, and suddenly understood: "So the lady admires this prince so deeply that she even prepared an aphrodisiac incense?"
"It wasn't me…"
Before Shen Shuangren could finish, her lips were sealed by a kiss filled with anger.
The kiss was fierce and urgent. She struggled to push him away, but he cupped the back of her neck, deepening the kiss.
Under the influence of the incense, Nan Yanxiu's hands slid down her waistline, tugging loose the silk sash that cinched her robe.
The last shreds of Shen Shuangren's rationality allowed her to feel for the Silver Needles beneath the pillow, but as she pressed them against the back of his neck, she froze—she couldn't bring herself to strike.
"You…"
In the flickering candlelight, Nan Yanxiu sensed her hesitation. Breathing heavily, he released her lips. "After that night, the lady proved quite elusive to find."
Shen Shuangren's breath caught as he suddenly lifted her and flipped her over.
Just as she was about to struggle, she watched him leisurely unfasten his own lapels. His black brocade robe slipped away, revealing a clear bite mark on his left shoulder—the very wound she had left in desperation three months prior.
"Now, it's time we settled this debt."
His low voice carried a dangerous edge.
"Mmph!"
Only then did Shen Shuangren realize that mere layers of thin gauze separated them.
Outside the window, thunder cracked, a flash of lightning illuminating the turbulent darkness in his eyes. Panicked, she braced her hands against his chest. "You… Ah!"
Before she could finish, he suddenly took her sensitive earlobe between his lips, his slender fingers tracing her spine and slipping into her loosened robe.
Shen Shuangren trembled all over; that damned ylang-ylang incense rendered her resistance weak and pliant.
Her fingertips dug into the muscles of his shoulders, unsure whether to push him away or pull him closer.
Her voice trembled as she attempted one last struggle. "The incense you're under… Mmph…"
Nan Yanxiu silenced her with another kiss, this one even fiercer than before, laced with anger and desire.
Shen Shuangren felt her waist soften into a pool of spring water beneath his palm, her rationality crushed inch by inch.
As his lips trailed down her neck, she arched her back with a whimper, her nails leaving red marks on his back.
The heavy rain beat against the window lattice, yet could not drown out the increasingly ragged breaths within the room.
A sliver of clarity flashed through Shen Shuangren's muddled mind, only to shatter the next instant.
The gauze curtains swayed violently, the gilded incense burner toppled over, scattering unburned ylang-ylang ash across the floor.
At the moment she reached her peak, she faintly heard him murmur in her ear, "This time… you won't escape again."