Outside, the rain poured down in torrents. Between heaven and earth, only the sound of rain remained.
Shen Changyin entered the room. Water dripped from her clothes, pooling into a small puddle on the carpet.
Xie Yu closed the door. The wind and rain sounds were instantly cut off, leaving only the quiet crackle of the incense burner.
Shen Changyin's breathing was clearly audible.
"Go take a shower first."
Xie Yu had Shen Changyin use her room to bathe. "I'll get you some clothes."
She arranged everything naturally, speaking lightly, as if it were only right.
Shen Changyin lowered her eyes. "Alright."
She walked toward Xie Yu's bedroom and looked around before entering the bathing room.
A large canopy bed stood inside, layers of fragrant white gauze curtains hanging from above. The bedsheets were smooth, the quilt neatly folded into a square at the foot of the bed.
A dressing table had been repurposed as a desk, cluttered with various papers and notebooks.
Aside from that, there was nothing else. Even the incense burner that had once sat in the corner had been moved out. Xie Yu had said she preferred natural air and didn't like sleeping with incense at night.
She had been in this room many times before—but only this time had she entered at the owner's invitation.
Her toes slid across the floor as she measured the distance, stopping at the place where she had once knelt in her previous life.
She smiled.
Returning to an old place often brought humiliation to others—but not to her.
Like a scar: not proof of injury, but proof of healing.
Just as she had told herself—what she once couldn't control was now firmly in her hands, whether things or people.
Little Fish, I knew long ago that today would bring rain. But if you can't even bear to let me get soaked, how will you ever claim your victory?
She went to bathe. Halfway through, someone knocked on the door.
"When you're done, tell me. I'll pass your clothes inside."
Shen Changyin answered.
After finishing her bath, she softly said, "I'm done."
Moments later, the door opened a crack. A hand passed in a set of white silk undergarments.
Shen Changyin changed into them in a good mood and stepped out.
Today, she would be an even better teacher. Even if her student resisted a little, it wouldn't matter.
But she hadn't expected that the moment she stepped out, she would be pressed down to sit in front of the dressing table, her hair gently dried.
The warm, soft towel absorbed the moisture from her hair. The sensation of Xie Yu drying her hair was unexpectedly comfortable, yet Shen Changyin shifted uneasily.
This wasn't how Xie Yu should be acting. She shouldn't be this proactive.
"Don't move."
Xie Yu cupped both sides of Shen Changyin's head, fixing it in place without room for refusal.
She was extremely patient, methodical as she dried Shen Changyin's hair. Then she tugged her by the hand and had her sit on the bed.
She was wearing only her undergarments. She gathered her loose hair behind her head with a silk ribbon, revealing clean brows and eyes. Then she handed a freshly washed and dried white sash to Shen Changyin.
"Put this on me," she said.
Shen Changyin covered her eyes. After letting go, her gaze lingered on the bridge of Xie Yu's high nose.
"Stop looking."
As if the sash were useless, Xie Yu accurately placed her hand on Shen Changyin's shoulder and gently pushed her back.
Shen Changyin lay down on the bed, the back of her neck resting perfectly against the pillow.
Xie Yu pressed one hand against Shen Changyin's shoulder to keep her from rising, while the other slipped beneath her top.
"The rule is: this piece of clothing is not allowed to come off."
With her eyes covered, she sat at the edge of the bed, calm and composed.
The fabric of the top began to tremble. Shen Changyin's breathing grew faster. "Alright."
The cloth rose and fell with the movement of Xie Yu's hand.
Shen Changyin closed her eyes, lips pressed tightly together in restraint.
After dozens of breaths, she couldn't help but bend one knee for the first time.
Xie Yu used her other hand to press the knee back down. Then she climbed onto the bed, kneeling astride Shen Changyin's thighs, firmly pinning her beneath her.
"Do you want to rest, or continue?" she asked.
Shen Changyin opened her eyes and stared at the slightly trembling gauze canopy above the bed. She didn't answer—only breathed rapidly.
"Then we continue."
Both of Xie Yu's hands went to work, one above and one below.
She tapped lightly with her index finger, waited several dozen seconds, and restrained Shen Changyin when she moved.
"Don't move your hands."
Her movements were clean and decisive, allowing no resistance. Highly efficient—yet she always withdrew suddenly just before the climax arrived.
Shen Changyin stared up at the gauze canopy above her, feeling a little lost and unsure.
"Little Xie… Little Fish…"
She always called her Little Fish at times like this.
"Too much of anything is as bad as too little," Xie Yu said, wiping her hand clean on the hem of her top. "If this keeps up, you'll end up suffering."
She waited quietly for nearly a full minute before continuing again.
She repeated this three or four times, pulling her hand away each time just before Shen Changyin reached the point of unbearable soreness.
Finally, just before she could withdraw again, Shen Changyin grabbed her wrist and pressed her hand firmly beneath the fabric.
Shen Changyin ground her teeth. "I want that kind of suffering."
Xie Yu, who had been completely in control all night, paused for a moment—then satisfied Shen Changyin's demand.
Debts that had never been repaid surged up all at once, and the world spun violently before her eyes.
Shen Changyin clenched her teeth, but her voice was no longer something she could control.
Xie Yu kindly withdrew the hand that had been restraining her.
But the night was far from over.
Only when dawn began to break did Xie Yu straighten up. With her eyes still covered, she precisely adjusted Shen Changyin's clothing, then reached up and untied the blindfold from her own eyes.
Shen Changyin's hair was damp with sweat, clinging to her forehead.
Xie Yu touched the bedsheets, then pulled her up. "Both the clothes and the sheets need to be changed."
Fortunately, the maids had long prepared many clean sets of bedding in her wardrobe, ready for use at any time.
Xie Yu changed the sheets, bundled up the damp old ones, and casually tossed them into the corner of the bathing room.
She poured two cups of water and returned to the bedroom. Looking at Shen Changyin, who had changed into fresh inner garments, she set the water on the dressing table and gestured for her to drink.
"Since I was blindfolded, I didn't truly see anything, and I didn't kiss you."
"This time, we'll treat it as simply understanding your drug reaction. Nothing more. Drink the water, and pretend this never happened."
Shen Changyin looked at her deeply, picked up the cup, and suddenly smiled in a provocative way, her brows and eyes full of life.
She produced a small paper packet from somewhere, poured the powder into the water, drank it in one gulp, then opened her mouth to show that she had swallowed everything.
"The medicine I took from the Tea Smoke House is said to be much stronger than the one from the Golden House."
She smiled gently. "Little Fish, don't you want to try it?"
Xie Yu showed no surprise, only said coldly, "You insist on this?"
Shen Changyin replied, "If forcing it brings a result, then it isn't really forcing."
Xie Yu actually laughed. "Then do you still want breakfast?"
Shen Changyin said, "I can skip it."
—
The freshly changed sheets were put to use again.
Xie Yu knelt on the bed and picked up the plain white sash.
Shen Changyin raised a hand to stop her. "No need."
—
Xie Yu lifted her head and wiped the sweat from Shen Changyin's hair. "Take off your top."
A deep pink sheen shimmered with moisture.
—
The two of them bathed quickly, got dressed, ate and drank to restore their strength, and then shut the door on the Ministry of Rites official who had rushed over to discuss wedding details.
"You decide. I trust your aesthetic, Attendant Zhang."
They lay on the rocking chairs for a while, breathing fresh air, watching the sky fade from light blue to deep blue.
"Little Fish, shall we go back inside and continue?" Shen Changyin asked, smiling with curved eyes.
Xie Yu walked back toward the room.
This "continuing," with waking and sleeping in turns, lasted until the sun rose the next day.
—
At noon the next day, during lunch.
Shen Changyin still had to take her medicine as usual.
Xie Yu watched her swallow it mouthful by mouthful. After each sip, she paused for a long time, staring at the iron tree in the corner.
Unable to hold back, Xie Yu said, "Have you considered just drinking it all in one go? This way is more painful."
Shen Changyin looked at her lazily and, unusually, showed weakness. "I can't do that, Third Highness. There are things I can't do too."
Xie Yu looked at the lingering sheen of moisture on her lips and suddenly leaned forward, kissing away the bitterness of the medicine.
Shen Changyin's eyes widened.
Xie Yu sat back down calmly. "What is it?"
"I said you weren't allowed to kiss me. I never said I couldn't kiss you."
—
The long kiss nearly exhausted all the air in their lungs.
Xie Yu lay on the bed, pointing at her own glistening knees and said to Shen Changyin, "This is all your fault."
Shen Changyin picked up the water by the bed and drank it in one gulp.
—
Sunlight and moonlight alternated, time crawling across the windowsill like a grid.
The large tree in the courtyard had grown lush and green, casting broad shadows.
Xie Yu's bedroom doors and windows were tightly shut. She and Shen Changyin didn't know whether they were competing or cooperating.
They were not being indulgent every moment, but they often held each other and slept for long stretches of time.
Outside, one was an unwilling crown princess, bearing responsibilities she didn't want yet couldn't abandon. The other was a regent who needed revenge, power, factional purges, and a heart of stone.
But when they closed their eyes together and fell into deep, sweet sleep, they stole a small hibernation from the world—no different from two bears curled up together.
Everyone in the residence knew that Third Highness and Minister Shen rarely left their room, as long as necessary food was delivered.
But with the wedding approaching, preparations became unavoidable. The entire residence had to be decorated with the proper look of a new marriage.
When the two bears finally woke beneath the thin quilt, bleary-eyed, and calculated the date—only to realize the wedding was tomorrow—they were both startled.
No matter what, they had to go confirm the wedding process today.
They changed clothes and pushed open the door together.
What greeted them was a courtyard filled with red.
—
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