NOVPUB
Chapter 40: Chapter 40: That Year, He Truly Wanted to Marry Shen Yinning
Shen Yinning showed him the wish she had written on the flower lantern:
——Year after year, season after season, flowers bloom under full moons, Yinning and Ying shine brightly.
Her handwriting was as clumsy as it had been upon her return to the capital, seemingly unchanged in the slightest.
Yet under the candlelight of the flower lantern, it held a peculiar charm, innocent and endearing.
Shen Yinning said softly, "I have no name or title for my relationship with Brother Lu Ying. It wouldn’t be appropriate to write our names directly; I fear others would misunderstand if they saw it, and I am afraid my younger sister would become upset. This is the only roundabout way I could ask the old moon god to keep Brother Lu Ying by my side forever, flowers blooming under full moons, for an eternity."
The garden was filled with flower lanterns.
On the stairs, pomegranate blossoms had fallen, scattering across the ground.
The young girl’s beauty was unparalleled, her eyes filled with longing. Her pale cheeks carried a faint blush, surpassing the finest rouge in the world.
Lu Ying didn’t know how much of Shen Yinning’s words were true and how much were false.
But the fact that she was willing to do this for him showed her sincerity.
He seriously intertwined his fingers with hers. "It will last forever."
The night was as cold as water.
After the bath, the spring curtain fell, a faint fragrance lingered, and in its shadow, two figures intertwined and undulated.
With a pillow embroidered with silk under her waist, Shen Yinning didn’t know if it was her imagination, but tonight Lu Ying seemed gentler than usual.
However, his desire was still far greater than that of an ordinary man. No matter how gentle he was, he kept her busy for half the night. Unable to keep up, Shen Yinning gradually succumbed to sleep beneath him.
Lu Ying remained wide awake.
He looked at the woman in his arms and recalled their youth. On a Qixi Festival long ago, he had proactively invited her to go out and see the lanterns.
He and Shen Yinning were like any ordinary young couple by the river. Walking beneath the brightly lit ancient streets, he watched her bouncing ahead of him, saw the gentle green ribbon flying beside her hairpin, and imagined the scene years from then when they would wed. He pictured how one of the countless lights in the distant pavilions would belong to them.
That year, he was not yet the Crown Prince.
That year, he sincerely wanted to marry Shen Yinning.
With a calloused hand, he stroked the brows and temple of the woman in his arms.
Lu Ying thought, if only Shen Yinning remained as obedient as she was tonight, if only she continued to love him like she did tonight, how wonderful it would be.
There should be someone in this world who truly cared for him.
Stars dissolved into morning dew before dawn, and pomegranate petals fell layer upon layer outside the boudoir’s window.
That night, Shen Yinning had a distant, ancient dream.
She dreamt of when she was twelve, walking the streets to see lanterns with Lu Ying.
The streets were brimming with dazzling lanterns. She held a multicolored fish lantern, hopping and skipping through the bustling crowd. She looked at the lanterns, the people, the various shops along the street, and the lively performances threading through alleys. Every now and then, she’d turn back to glance at that cold and solemn young man.
He seemed to always be behind her.
But in the dream, the last time she turned back, he was suddenly gone.
A raging fire had erupted in the distance, and the faces of the townspeople seemed to have vanished. Pale and numbed, they passed her by. Her fish lantern went out quietly, and she wandered helplessly, searching for Lu Ying, but he was nowhere to be found.
Her heart clenched suddenly with pain.
Two streams of tears rolled down Shen Yinning’s cheeks.
From deep within the spring curtain, she sobbed softly and instinctively nestled closer into Lu Ying’s embrace, "Brother Lu Ying..."
"I’ve always been here."
Lu Ying kissed her brow.
Tonight, he didn’t plan to return to the Eastern Palace.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Palace, Shen Yunxi had thrown an enormous tantrum. She had replaced almost everything in her bedroom.
After making a scene half the night, Lu Ying still hadn’t come to spend Qixi Festival with her.
Lianxin sought out a Palace Attendant to inquire, only to learn that Lu Ying’s carriage had left the palace earlier.
"What?!?"
Shen Yunxi’s face twisted with rage as she screamed, smashing a tea cup. The golden hairpin in her hair almost struck Lianxin’s face.
She had waited so long for the beloved Qixi Festival, meticulously preparing tea delicacies, incense, and sleepwear, hopeful for a harmonious celebration with the Crown Prince. But the Crown Prince had left the palace!
"It must be that vixen outside the palace seducing His Highness! That shameless little harlot! It’s bad enough she does it regularly, but to deliberately choose Qixi Festival to lure His Highness out of the palace — isn’t she outright challenging me?! If I find out who she is, I swear I’ll strip off her skin and destroy her entire clan!"
Her face was livid as her chest heaved violently, yet she had no clue who the woman was.
She had nowhere to vent her fury!
She collapsed back into her seat, slamming her hand on the table as she pointed at the palace attendants trembling on the ground. "Useless vermin, all of you! Months have passed, and you still haven’t found out who that little harlot is! What’s the point of keeping you around? Get out, all of you, get out!" n𝚘vp𝚞𝚋.com
Terrified, the palace attendants kowtowed and scurried away.
As Shen Yunxi stared at the empty bedroom, she finally broke down in tears.
An old maid, Zhang Mammy, appeared at the entrance and let out a long sigh as she saw Shen Yunxi’s desolate state.
She stepped inside. "Your Grace."
Shen Yunxi, eyes red with rage, snapped sharply, "I told everyone to leave. Mammy, didn’t you hear? Or do you think that just because I fed on your milk as a child, you’re somehow different from the others?!"
"Your Grace’s temper is too impatient; in the future, it will lead to suffering."
"My temper is too impatient?! I’ve been tolerating that little harlot for nearly half a year—how is that impatient?! What, even Mammy looks down on me now?!"
Zhang Mammy shook her head, her face still wearing its usual expression of affectionate resignation.
She’d been Shen Yunxi’s wet nurse and had watched her grow from a wailing infant into a young lady over the years, always treating her as if she were her own daughter.
In Zhang Mammy’s eyes, Shen Yunxi only had a sharp tongue but wasn’t inherently malicious.
With a flick of her wrist, she revealed a piece of paper and smiled, "Your Grace, look — what’s this?"
Shen Yunxi glanced over, her face instantly darkened further. "Zhang Mammy, are you senile?! I already ripped up the writing left by that little harlot, and now you went and pieced it back together?! What, are you deliberately trying to provoke me?! Take it out and destroy it immediately, or I’ll have someone punish you!"
"Your Grace, don’t be hasty." The candlelight cast an eerie glow on Zhang Mammy’s aged face. "That little harlot could have left other things behind, but she chose to leave writing. No matter how much someone disguises themselves, they can never change their handwriting. We can absolutely trace her back based on what’s written on this paper!"
