Help?
How was she supposed to help?
Even the wooden door behind her seemed soaked with cool, damp steam, seeping through the collar at the back of Xie Yu's neck and onto her skin.
She stubbornly refused to turn her head, staring straight ahead, as though what lay behind her was a mountain spirit that could steal her soul with a single glance. "I don't know how either."
But the next second, the door suddenly opened from the inside. A slightly cool finger slipped into the back of her collar and drew her into the room.
Xie Yu turned around instinctively.
Shen Changyin was drenched from head to toe. Her hair, soaked through, looked even darker, plastered to her skin as droplets ran down.
She wore only a milky, semi-transparent outer robe, barefoot on the carpet, revealing long, slender calves.
Xie Yu reflexively reached back and shut the open door. "I… I was afraid someone might pass by and see."
Shen Changyin lifted her eyes and smiled at her—like a lotus spirit that had just taken form and stepped out of the water in the mountains. Her beauty was overwhelming, yet untouched by heavy adornment, making her all the more devastating.
Xie Yu did not dare look at her for even a moment. She turned her head away. "I can't help you."
"You can." Shen Changyin stepped closer. Cool, damp air brushed against Xie Yu's lashes. Though Xie Yu still faced away, she knew Shen Changyin must be leaning close to her ear.
The lotus spirit whispered softly, her voice carrying a trace of tears. "Little Xie, I feel terrible."
"I can't do it. Help me."
Shen Changyin's hand, still beaded with water, took Xie Yu's hand and pulled her all the way into the bathing room.
And Xie Yu, as if bewitched, found herself unable to resist at all, stumbling after her step by step.
It was not until she stood beside the tub, staring at the clear, rippling water, that she suddenly came back to her senses.
She tried to leave again—only to catch a flash of pale pink in her vision.
She finally noticed that beneath the semi-transparent sleeve on Shen Changyin's left arm, her wrist was wrapped in layer upon layer of cloth. On the white fabric bloomed a very faint red.
Only then did Xie Yu catch the subtle scent of blood in the air.
Had Shen Changyin cut herself?
"Shen Changyin…" she called her name softly.
Shen Changyin seemed unaware that her wound had been discovered. Her hand rested on the back of Xie Yu's neck. "Little Xie, into the water. All right?"
Xie Yu hesitated. Shen Changyin pressed again, "Help me, Little Xie. Help me."
The faint scent of blood lingered at her nose. Xie Yu closed her eyes and lowered her head, as though surrendering.
She followed Shen Changyin's wishes and stepped into the water, sitting in the tub fully clothed.
Soon, the bewitching spirit joined her, sitting across from her.
Shen Changyin was left wearing only an overly loose, thin outer robe. Once in the water, the fabric floated on the surface, leaving the body completely bare under the waterline.
Xie Yu turned her head to stare at the wall.
She did not know what kind of help Shen Changyin wanted. She only thought that staring at the wall might distract her.
But the lotus spirit was not satisfied.
Shen Changyin leaned forward in the water and used her pale white waist sash to blindfold Xie Yu, tying a knot behind her head.
The belt was made of gauze. Xie Yu's vision immediately became blurred, and everything before her eyes was reduced to nothing but vague outlines.
"Would this be a little better? If you don't look, will it be easier?" Shen Changyin seemed to be suppressing her own feelings as she asked.
Not at all.
Xie Yu thought to herself that there was no way to divert her attention—if anything, it made her sensations even worse.
But Shen Changyin seemed to be acting out of consideration for her, so she didn't say anything.
Forget it. If Shen Changyin wanted to kiss her, then let her. It wasn't as if they hadn't done it before.
It was just a kiss. She could still accept that.
She calmed herself slightly, but in the very next second, Shen Changyin pulled up her right hand.
"Lend me a hand."
What?
She hadn't even had time to react.
In the next instant, her right hand landed on Shen Changyin's body. The thin layer of fabric was almost nonexistent, and beneath her palm was warm, heated skin.
Under the gauze covering her face, her eyes widened.
Xie Yu could clearly tell where her hand was—Shen Changyin's heart was burning hot, the crook of her arm was extremely sensitive, and her waist and abdomen were trembling faintly the whole time.
Each time she touched a new place through the fabric, her heart would start racing.
Her fingers were stiff, as if they had lost the ability to bend.
Shen Changyin said to her, "Relax."
Xie Yu stayed rigid, not knowing what "relax" even meant—until the next second, when she felt her fingertips being gently bitten.
Her fingers curled instinctively.
After giving her that little bite, Shen Changyin laughed softly. "Have you learned now? Relax."
Her hand was taken again. This time, Xie Yu really did relax. Just as she thought that today's boundary would end there, her index finger suddenly brushed against the edge of the fabric.
This is… the collar?
She followed the folds of the cloth inward and downward, until the outer robe floated free like a petal drifting on the surface of water.
Just the back of her hand touching skin was enough to send an electric shock through Xie Yu.
In the next moment, Shen Changyin directly pressed Xie Yu's palm against the left side of her chest.
Xie Yu's mind went completely blank. So even when Shen Changyin ordered her to slide her finger or press down, she obeyed instinctively.
After a moment, she heard a muffled sound escape from Shen Changyin's throat, only to be hastily swallowed back.
Xie Yu didn't know whether it could be called pleasant—she only knew that the sound made her own heart swell painfully.
"Little Xie, Little Xie, Little Xie…" Shen Changyin said softly. "Continue."
She guided her, telling her how to do it.
The once pale face of Shen Changyin was now flushed all over. She sat in the water, her white outer robe floating on the surface.
Across the water sat her neatly dressed, young fiancée—six years her junior, someone who could be called her little sister—now blindfolded by a gauze belt, her straight nose exposed.
Xie Yu's face was red as well. She lightly bit her lower lip, looking extremely shy, yet she didn't run away.
Her hands were so obedient, so gentle, following every instruction, carrying out everything she was told—like a student, a toy, belonging to her alone, utterly compliant.
Guiding her student like this…
That fact only made her more excited.
After an unknown amount of time, the world before Xie Yu's eyes was washed in white light. A sharp sensation swept through her, and she felt as if she were floating among the clouds.
After a brief silence, Xie Yu suddenly heard Shen Changyin chuckle softly.
"Ha…" There was no strength left in her voice, the final note fading into nothing.
"Third Highness, Little Xie, Little Yu, Little Fish… Little Fish."
She seemed to find immense amusement in the name "Little Fish," calling it again and again.
"Little Fish, such a good Little Fish, Little Xie—help me a bit more, and I'll be very grateful."
She pulled Xie Yu's hand beneath the surface of the bathwater.
Cool water wrapped around Xie Yu's fingers, while Shen Changyin's voice coaxed her gently from above the surface.
Xie Yu perfectly carried out every word Shen Changyin said. She even began to grasp things intuitively, predicting what Shen Changyin wanted before she said it. Once she became familiar with the basics, she could relieve the itch Shen Changyin urgently needed addressed before any instruction was spoken.
The Crown Princess is wise! Resolute! Virtuous and all-embracing!
Cool water flowed over her fingertips, mixed now with another slick sensation.
The lotus flower trembled. Teacher Shen was no longer able to guide her, her words breaking apart.
Little Xie, little sister, Little Fish, Third Highness…
It was always these names.
She kept calling her.
From intermittent calls, to rapid ones, to finally crying out one last time.
Shen Changyin seemed utterly exhausted, breathing out slowly.
It was as if she had been lifted into the heavens by layers upon layers of clouds, only for those gentle clouds to suddenly vanish, sending her plummeting endlessly.
And as Xie Yu listened to Shen Changyin's voice, her own mind also went completely blank.
She felt almost lost.
Was Shen Changyin's reaction something she had caused?
Was this really something she was supposed to do? Did this align with the agreement between her and Shen Changyin?
Blindfolded, she could no longer rely on anything else to distract herself. In this world veiled by a white gauze belt, there was only one thing she could think about—the task beneath her hands.
Her thoughts were chaotic and tangled as she sat in the water, stunned.
Until the sound of clear water broke the silence. Through the blur, she saw Shen Changyin's figure approaching her.
A shadow fell over her face, and Shen Changyin's distinctive fragrance washed over her again.
She didn't know what to do. Her mind could only recall the agreement they had made in the fabric shop days ago, and she murmured instinctively, "We can't kiss."
"We agreed. We can't kiss."
A soft laugh sounded before her eyes, but it didn't seem purely joyful. Shen Changyin knelt astride Xie Yu's uninjured thigh.
"We can," she said.
"If we can't kiss, we can still do other things."
Shen Changyin took Xie Yu's hand again.
After a long time, the effects of Shen Changyin's medicine seemed to fade considerably, and her mind became much clearer. Xie Yu gradually regained her own reason and awareness as well.
She washed her hands clean and prepared to stand up—only to be pressed back down into the water by her shoulders once more.
This time, it was a kiss. Just a kiss.
Shen Changyin kissed Xie Yu.
Even blindfolded, the shock on Xie Yu's face was unmistakable.
During a brief pause for breath, Shen Changyin touched her face, smiling with delight, like a lotus spirit newly formed and saturated with mist and rain.
"Sorry about that, Little Fish," she said happily. "I broke our agreement."\
—
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