Shi Sheng didn’t know how many times they did it, only that she’d completely exhausted herself and fallen asleep at some point.
By the time she woke up, it was already evening of the next day.
She found herself in Ling Yue’s arms, her face pressed against his smooth chest. She could hear his clear and strong heartbeat thumping beside her ear.
Shi Sheng reached out to feel him up. ‘Feels fantastic!’
Her hand gradually headed south but was stopped by Ling Yue.“Hss—”
He had grabbed her hand and took it out from under the blankets. His fingers pressed against the area that had been slammed by the door last night. It was swollen and bruising.
Shi Sheng lifted her head slightly to find Ling Yue frowning, as he examined her hand. Perhaps having noticed her attention, he lowered his eyes, cheeks turning red for some reason. However, he maintained his aloof expression. “You’ll need to apply some ointment.”
“It’s just a minor injury.” Shi Sheng took her hand back as she spoke carelessly.
‘But it’s damn fucking painful! Hm, but I can’t let my waifu worry about me, so...I’ll bear with it!’
Ling Yue released her and got up to look for their clothes. Only now did he discover how wild they’d been last night—everything had become so torn up that they could no longer be worn again...
“There should be new clothes in the wardrobe.” Shi Sheng pointed at the wardrobe nearby. She had gotten Dai Yue to prepare more clothes for him before they left for Mt. Wanyuan.There was only one blanket on the bed.
Ling Yue struggled for a moment but, in the end, he still got out completely naked.
‘She already saw everything anyways. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.’
By the time Ling Yue returned with clothes, his face had turned red and his skin was steadily turning pink.
Shi Sheng was unable to hold back from gulping back a mouthful of drool.
“Ling Yue... It’s still early. We can get up later.” Shi Sheng grabbed the clothes in Ling Yue’s hands.
He glared at her and jerked them back. “It’s evening!”
“Eh?” ‘I thought it was morning.’
The clothes Dai Yue prepared were fit for the Master of the Prime Minister’s household. Although the style was plain, they were much more beautiful than his priest’s garbs.
Ling Yue seemed to have transformed into another person after putting them on. He looked like a noble lord that had been raised in a great clan, filled with elegance and grace.
“My waifu looks great in anything!”
“What’s...a waifu?” Ling Yue asked, face red.
“Waifu means first husband.” Shi Sheng was afraid Ling Yue wouldn’t understand her explanation, so she used an equivalent he would understand.
But Ling Yue’s head shot up, surprise written in his eyes.
“First husband?”
Shi Sheng blinked. ‘Yeah, that’s what I said. So what?’
“You want to make me your first husband?” He continued asking.
“Who else would I marry but you?” Shi Sheng replied with a rhetorical question. “I told you: you’re my one and only.”
Ling Yue lowered his head. “But...my status doesn’t allow me to be a first husband.”
Shi Sheng frowned, and she only understood what he was getting at after a moment’s consideration.
Priests were the undesirables in this world. Only the priests from Mt. Wanyuan received even a modicum of respect—the rest had very low statuses.
But even so, as a priest Ling Yue couldn’t normally become the Master of a noble clan.
Seeing that Shi Sheng’s expression turned unreadable, Ling Yue organised his thoughts and spoke, “Actually—”
Shi Sheng interrupted him, speaking with a firm tone, “No one would dare to oppose my decision to marry you.”
How could she allow the apple of her eye to receive anything but the best?
Ling Yue gave her a look that was even more complicated than before.
After a long while, he gave her a light hug.
Ever since that day, Shi Sheng moved back to her bedroom and they were properly cohabiting this time.
Shi Sheng had ordered the seven men sent by the Empress to be secretly sent away, taking care to not let Ling Yue catch wind of them.
Since then, no male servants were allowed to serve the inner courtyard of the Prime Minister’s residence. They had all been swapped out for females.
From this, the servants knew this Sir Ling Yue was someone their lady cared for greatly. None dared to show him any disrespect.
From the food he ate to the clothes he wore, he received nothing but the best. There were some items that not even the men in the palace would be able to have.
The servants of the Prime Minister’s residence learned first-hand just how much their lady pampered this Sir Ling Yue, who hadn’t even been married into the family yet. The feeling of being fed dog food every day...wasn’t enjoyable.
......
“Missing?” Shi Sheng sat in the study, swiftly twirling a calligraphy brush around in her hand.
“Yes. I heard the Ning Princess is looking for him too...” Shi Sheng had ordered her guards to seize Duan Qingyun, but they still hadn’t managed to find him after searching the streets where he was last seen.
The next day, news came that the Ning Princess was searching for him too.
Shi Sheng stopped twirling the brush and dipped it in ink, before she drew a really strange object.
Dai Yue, “...” ‘Dunno what Her Excellency is drawing...’
“Recognise this insignia?” After Shi Sheng was done, she pointed at the black ball of...something...and asked Dai Yue.
The latter was utterly baffled.
‘A gathering of ink? A mooncake?’
Dai Yue felt her sanity slipping away.
‘Your Excellency, your painting is simply too...unrecognisable, okay?! Are you sure you’re not just playing a joke on me?’
In the end, Dai Yue left the room with the parchment in her hand, wondering what had become of her life.
‘If anyone manages to tell what the hell this is, I’ll call ‘em dad!’
Ling Yue just so happened to be walking down the corridor. Noticing Dai Yue’s downcast expression as she stood at the doorway, he couldn’t help but cast the parchment in her hand a second glance, causing his gaze to darken slightly.
“Sir Ling Yue.” Dai Yue greeted Ling Yue before leaving in distress. It wasn’t too long before Dai Yue had another ‘dad’.
Of course, she didn’t dare to call him that.
‘If I dare to call Sir Ling Yue that, Her Excellency will kill me! And by cutting me up into pieces at that!’
As reality proved, it wasn’t that Shi Sheng was shit at drawing...it was that the original artist was shit, and Shi Sheng just made it worse.
Using this picture to investigate, Dai Yue soon managed to find Duan Qingyun’s whereabouts. He was found with another young man who had already died, and very painfully from the looks of it.
Shi Sheng fell silent for a while upon hearing the report.
‘Duan Qingyun probably got into a conflict with those women after I left.
I wonder where he found them... They seemed to be a bunch of hooligans no matter how you looked at them, and yet he actually dared to come out alone in the middle of the night to try and scam me.
That young man... I heard he’s one of Jiang Zhi’s boytoys. Dunno how he got involved.’
She only woke from her reverie when Ling Yue pinched her. Without regard for Dai Yue’s presence, she gave him a peck on the cheek, weakly explaining in a rather ‘henpecked’ manner, “I wasn’t thinking about him.”
The Dai Yue who had been force-fed dog food, “...”
‘Argh my eyes! Please be mindful of your surroundings, Your Excellency!!!’
“And the body?” Shi Sheng cleared her throat and pretended to sit up properly.
“It hasn’t been brought back yet.”
Shi Sheng ordered, “Send it to Jiang Zhi.”
“Your Excellency...is this appropriate?” ‘What if the Ning Princess claims we were the ones who killed her man?’
‘We won’t be able to explain ourselves by doing that!’
“Do you think I’m scared of her? Send it over!”
Dai Yue, “...”
‘Forget it. Besides, there are plenty of rumours about Her Excellency right now. What’s one more?’
The most recent gossip circulating the rumour mills was that the Prime Minister, Jun Liyou, had somehow inflicted harm upon the Crown Princess, causing her disappearance.
The Empress’ faction was infuriated but had no way to vent their frustrations.
The Prime Minister’s faction remained silent observers, all the while secretly expanding their influence and strengthening the rebel army.
The reaction of the commoners though, was rather intriguing.
They weren’t as nervous as the situation ought to warrant, instead analysing whether the Crown Princess’ disappearance was related to the Prime Minister.
Some people even began betting on it.
Plus, they even dug out the matter of Shi Sheng standing up for the beauty during the Heaven’s Ritual.
Was the Prime Minister going to rebel?
When was the Prime Minister going to rebel?
