Shen Yinning opened her phoenix-like eyes.
The corners of her eyes were flushed, as red as flower petals, and her pupils were misty, making her appear unbearably pitiful and sorrowful.
"Speak."
Lu Ying's tone carried a trace of irritable menace.
With a hint of a sob in her voice, Shen Yinning complained hoarsely and with grievance: "Your Highness bullies me."
"In what way have I bullied you?"
Shen Yinning just cried: "Your Highness, please have mercy on this humble woman."
Her evasive attitude made the hostility around Lu Ying grow even thicker, stripped entirely of the composed aloofness he'd displayed when they first met.
His face darkened. "I'm asking you—how far have you gotten with Gao Zheng?!"
"I…I haven't," Shen Yinning trembled, her tears streaking her face like pear blossoms in rain. "I wouldn't dare…"
Lu Ying cast his gaze downward, looking at her.
This bewitching woman, for the first time, was sobbing beneath him like this. She seemed genuinely terrified of him.
Only then did his attitude soften. "It's best if you haven't."
Just as Shen Yinning breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly pressed her delicate, supple back down.
The small wooden boat began to rock violently once more, more fiercely than before, as though a tempest was reaching its peak.
Not until a quarter of an hour later did the boat finally come to a stop amidst the dense lotus leaves.
The ripples on the water spread out in widening circles.
Inside the cabin, Shen Yinning curled up in the corner of a quilt, breathing softly, her cheeks flushed like pomegranate petals soaked with dew, her gaze dazed and unfocused.
Lu Ying sat at the bow of the boat.
He was still impeccably dressed, exuding the same refined and aloof demeanor, like the moon hanging serenely in a clouded sky.
He asked coldly: "Do you know your mistake now?"
Shen Yinning's voice was rough. "This humble woman admits her wrongs."
"What did you do wrong?"
"It is this humble woman's blessing that Your Highness chooses to show favor. I should not have harbored resentment toward you, much less spoken of severing ties with you. Whenever Your Highness needs me, I should promptly attend to Shen Garden."
The woman was gentle and deferential.
Lu Ying's expression was unreadable. "Come closer."
He pinched her chin and pinned a lotus flower ornament into her hair by her temple.
Shen Yinning leaned into his embrace, her tear-streaked eyes still glistening. "But Your Highness, this humble woman is so afraid."
Lu Ying toyed with a strand of her dark hair. "Afraid? You, Shen Yinning, have someone you're afraid of beneath heaven's sky?"
Feigning grievance and apprehension, Shen Yinning replied, "This humble woman is afraid of my younger sister. If she were to find out about what's happening between me and Your Highness, she'd surely kill me."
Lu Ying was fully aware that Shen Yinning wasn't truly afraid of Shen Yunxi.
Otherwise, why would she intentionally leave a kiss mark on his cheek? Why would she deliberately leave her golden hairpin in the Buddhist Hall for Shen Yunxi to discover?
She was acting coquettish.
"Your Highness," Shen Yinning murmured with an alluring mixture of bashfulness and petulance. "From now on, this humble woman will be obedient and keep to her place. I dare not covet your favor, nor will I dare yearn for something that doesn't belong to me. I only beg Your Highness to remember my compliance and not let my younger sister harm me…"
For once, she lowered herself and feigned humility.
Today, she was indeed unusually docile.
Even though Lu Ying knew full well she was putting on this performance to compete for his favor, he still found his heart softening just a little.
Shen Yinning was his woman.
Even if she hadn't said so, he would never allow her to stay at the Gao Family estate for long.
When the time was right, he intended to bring her to the Eastern Palace.
His tone eased. "It's not that you can't harbor such desires."
"Really?" Shen Yinning's phoenix-like eyes lit up instantly, gleaming with the sly satisfaction of a fox that had succeeded.
She rested in his arms, tilted her head up, and kissed his chin. "Lu Ying…my dear Lu Ying, you're so good to me."
But after the kiss, she suddenly pouted with playful vexation. "Look at me, calling you 'Lu Ying' again. With my current status, how could I presume to call you so casually anymore? Such an intimate title—'Lu Ying'—is perhaps only fitting for my sister, the honored Crown Princess Consort. Rest assured, Your Highness, this humble woman is well aware of her lowly position and will never compete with my sister again."
Her long lashes lowered, giving her an air of remorse and self-reproach.
Tears hung delicately in her lashes, about to fall, making her utterly heart-wrenching to behold.
Lu Ying stared at her coldly. "Shen Yunxi may be somewhat dull-witted, but she is the primary wife whom I married through a proper matchmaker's arrangement. You speaking such words—do you mean to overstep your bounds? Shen Yinning, you know full well that I hold rules in the highest regard. I don't want to see this kind of behavior again."
Lightning streaked across the ominously overcast sky.
Early summer thunder rumbled, and gusts of wind stirred across the lake.
Shen Yinning bowed her head. "Your Highness is right."
Her long lashes lowered, concealing the calculation and malice that flickered deep in her eyes.
She had deliberately left Lu Ying alone for two months.
Today, she had come, intending to close the net.
But she had overestimated her place in Lu Ying's heart.
And underestimated Shen Yunxi's standing in the Eastern Palace.
At least at this moment, Crown Prince Lu Ying could not yet be turned into a dog obedient to her whims.
It was a miscalculation on her part.
Shen Yinning's thoughts drifted back to the past.
In those days, when she was still the young lady of the Duke Mansion, the nobles and sons of the Capital had all adored her—everyone except Lu Ying, to whom she had been betrothed.
He had always remained aloof and dignified, treating her with impeccable courtesy yet showing no particular warmth.
Even now, she couldn't fully see through this man.
Whenever she thought she had him under control, reality would slap her cruelly in the face.
Lu Ying. Lu Ying…
"Your Highness!"
From afar, a voice suddenly called out faintly.
Both Lu Ying and Shen Yinning turned their gazes in the direction of the sound. A brightly painted pleasure boat was heading toward them.
Shen Yunxi, Lu Qianqian, and others stood at the railing, flanked by a throng of young lords and ladies. Finding this small boat hidden among the lotus leaves was only a matter of time.
Understanding the situation, Shen Yinning said sensibly, "I'll hide in the cabin."
Lu Ying stopped her. "It's useless."
Given Shen Yunxi's suspicious nature, she was bound to search the cabin thoroughly.
Shen Yinning was puzzled. "Then what should we do?"
Lu Ying lifted the wooden board covering the bow of the boat, revealing a narrow space barely large enough to contain a single person.
He commanded, "Get in."
Biting her lip, Shen Yinning hesitated. "Your Highness…"
Lu Ying's face was as cold as a mountain in winter.
Left with no choice, she unwillingly climbed inside, and Lu Ying locked the space from the outside with a brass lock.
Trapped in the cramped hideaway, she could only glimpse a tiny sliver of sky through the cracks in the wood.
She heard Shen Yunxi's anxious voice approaching. "Your Highness, why are you here all by yourself?!"