Chapter 10 Just ignore me like I'm nothing...

If Yun Kui hadn't been blinded by fear, if she were a person who thought things through carefully, she certainly wouldn't have acted so impulsively at this moment.

If she were a proper enchantress, she should call out "Your Highness" with tender, seductive voices, and writhe her hips like a water snake beneath him in pleasure—

Instead of such a rude attitude.

By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late.

She could clearly hear the man's increasingly heavy and disordered breathing, and after a moment, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

The quieter the surroundings, the clearer and stronger the tactile sensation in my chest becomes.

Yun Kui no longer felt cold; it was as if a fire had sprung up from behind her, making her dizzy and disoriented.

She did consider casually removing the hand, as if it had been placed in the wrong place by mistake, but... she tried twice, to no avail.

The man's hands were large and heavy, and the veins on his strong, hard forearms bulged. She gently poked at one of them, but couldn't budge it. Instead, she was held even tighter, and the soft spot he was pressing against her ached slightly.

Yun Kui bit her lip and pleaded softly, "Your Highness, I know I was wrong. Please just let me go..."

She was met with a cold laugh.

When the Crown Prince was forced to touch her chest, he was indeed stunned for a moment. No woman had ever dared to be so bold before! Considering her previous shameless words, it was hard not to suspect that this behavior was to satisfy her own selfish desires.

After all, in her mind, his body should be considered quite robust.

He sometimes wondered whether this girl was simply foolish or had a deep mind and was taking a different approach.

Undeniably, for a moment when she grabbed his hand, he genuinely considered killing her.

But when his hand completely covered that soft, warm silk garment, and the rounded, full curve filled his palm, he felt that she didn't necessarily have to die.

The prince had suffered from headaches for many years and had been in a state of mental instability for a long time. He was unable to think and communicate like a normal person, and he was even unable to maintain stable emotions. Perhaps it was due to congenital deficiencies caused by premature birth, or perhaps it was due to other reasons. Even the most skilled doctors could not figure out the cause.

But because of this, he possesses more ferocious strength than ordinary people and a keen sense of danger like a wild beast.

Once he senses danger, he will deal with it immediately, leaving no room for compromise.

She is the only one who, despite having considered killing her multiple times, has managed to stay alive until now.

The softness of his palm calmed his perpetually agitated and furious heart, as if a gentle spring breeze had soothed it.

Reason told him that it was not because of beauty that he was tempted, after all, other beauties in front of him could not even touch him.

Perhaps it was the soft, smooth texture, or perhaps it was the warm, pure aura emanating from her.

His hands seemed to have their own thoughts, slowly kneading and rubbing, his thin lips brushing against the snow-white skin behind his ear, as delicate as pearls, while the man's gaze grew even darker.

He finally understood why she was kicked out of the needlework bureau despite looking very thin, because she ate too much.

I wasn't actually thin; the fat just went to where it should have gone.

The aphrodisiac in his body slowly eroded his will with each movement, but he wouldn't let the aphrodisiac control his entire mind, so he wasn't in a hurry to take the next step.

Yun Kui was so nervous that her whole body went limp. His slow and deliberate touch should make it easy for him to feel her frantic heartbeat.

For some reason, she still felt that she was going to die.

It's the kind of death caused by lack of air and sudden respiratory arrest.

Although she had never experienced it, she was certain that being caressed by the Crown Prince and being caressed by her husband, whose heart and eyes were full of love for her, were definitely not the same feeling.

He was like a wolf that could erupt in fury at any moment, trying to appease the prey about to be devoured, because a person who is too tense will have tough flesh.

"Serving someone in bed is no human thing to do, Aoi is scared."

"So how long are we going to keep this up? Are we even going to eat it or not? If it's really not working out, we can't just keep picking at this one! Boss, you should at least try somewhere else!"

While I was inwardly complaining, the hand actually stopped. A moment later, it switched to the other hand.

Yun Kui: ...

"He probably has no idea what I'm thinking, does he?"

"Probably not, she just got tired of massaging and changed positions."

"To be honest, men are really gifted in this area. Everyone says the Crown Prince is lustful, and they're right. He must have done a lot of kneading... hiss."

The crown prince's face darkened. Over the years, he had truly been notorious, with even the fabricated story of his womanizing.

"It's over...it's all over, it's all over!"

Yun Kui was still dizzy and disoriented when she suddenly felt something strange beneath her, which startled her so much that she opened her eyes wide.

The crown prince frowned, his voice slightly hoarse: "What is it now?"

Yun Kui subconsciously closed her legs, her mind a jumbled mess. "This servant might... might need to go to the restroom. Please grant me permission, Your Highness..."

The prince released the snowball in his hand, closed his eyes in annoyance, and said, "Get out of here."

Yun Kui glanced quickly at the bedding, and only felt slightly relieved when she saw that it was clean. She then hurriedly got out of bed to put on her clothes. When she stepped between the prince's legs, she accidentally tripped and fell on the footrest, her knee hurting and she gasped for breath. But she couldn't care less. She took her dress from the clothes rack, quickly put it on, and ran to the back room.

Even if she wasn't a palace maid, she wouldn't be qualified to use the latrine in Chengguang Palace. The wind was biting cold, and she was panting as she ran. Afraid of being noticed, she didn't dare to run fast.

Cao Yuanlu had never seen a palace maid leave midway through her night of service. Seeing her strange behavior, he assumed she had stolen something from the palace or offended the prince and ran away in the chaos.

He was worried and hurried into the hall to check.

Seeing his prince sitting on the edge of the bed with a gloomy face, Cao Yuanlu was also quite frightened: "Your Highness, just now Yun Kui..."

The prince rubbed his fingertips together, and the lingering warmth gradually disappeared, his expression turning completely cold.

Cao Yuanlu was a eunuch and couldn't tell whether the aphrodisiac had dissipated or not. He only noticed that his master's expression was very unpleasant. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Was that girl not serving well? Or should I go and invite a few other palace maids to serve you in bed?"

The crown prince raised his eyes and said coldly, "You've been bribed too? Why are you in such a hurry to push those women onto me?"

Cao Yuanlu's face turned pale, and he hurriedly denied it, saying, "This servant is utterly loyal to Your Highness. Your Highness can't possibly suspect this servant! This servant was only thinking of your health. This aphrodisiac... is harmful to your body."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of hurried footsteps were heard.

Yun Kui is back.

Just now, she felt a strange warmth surging from between her legs and thought it was her period. Afraid of soiling the prince's bed, she practically crawled and rolled to the privy.

My underwear was indeed slightly wet, but it wasn't menstrual blood.

She had also seen wet bedding in her dreams, but strangely, she and the Crown Prince hadn't even shared a room yet, so why did it happen...?

She had no time to think about these things, fearing that the Crown Prince would be impatient, so she simply wiped it clean with soft paper and hurriedly returned to continue her duties.

Sigh, I wonder what the consequences will be if the Crown Prince's interest is dampened.

Yun Kui adjusted her clothes and carefully entered the hall. Seeing the person sitting on the canopy bed, she felt inexplicably thirsty: "Your Highness, please forgive me, do you... still wish to continue?"

The crown prince, his interest waning and his face full of impatience, said, "Get out."

Yun Kui felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and suppressed the upward curve of her lips as she said, "This servant will take her leave now."

As soon as the person left, Cao Yuanlu became worried again: "Has Your Highness recovered from the aphrodisiac?"

The crown prince didn't answer, but gave him a cold look: "You get out too."

Cao Yuanlu had no choice but to retreat.

The night was long, and the prince kept his eyes tightly closed, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did.

There was no one beside me on the pillow. The potent effects of the aphrodisiac surged up, clashing with my headache, as if two ferocious beasts were tearing and fighting inside my body.

When the pain became unbearable, the only option was to use a knife to cut open cuts on the forearm, using the pain to alleviate the unbearable sensation of being torn between ice and fire.

Since his master had not summoned him all night, Cao Yuanlu dared not disturb him rashly.

Early in the morning, they led their men into the palace, preparing to help the Crown Prince wash up. But they were shocked to find the Crown Prince lying by the bed, his forearms covered with conspicuous bloodstains, hanging limply by the bedside. Blood dripped from his fingertips onto the footrest and then spread to the velvet carpet with auspicious cloud patterns under the bed, some of which had already dried.

"Your Highness!"

Cao Yuanlu's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly sent someone to fetch Physician Zheng. He stumbled to the bedside, his fingers trembling as he reached out. Before he could even feel the breath under the nose, a hand suddenly raised and blocked his way.

The crown prince didn't even open his eyes, his voice tinged with weariness: "What, have you come to see if I'm dead yet?"

Cao Yuanlu's face lit up with joy, but his voice trembled uncontrollably: "Your Highness, it's so good that you're not dead! Is it... that your headache has flared up again? Or is it that you can't bear the aphrodisiac?"

The crown prince closed his eyes, his fingertips resting on his forehead, his expression indifferent, and did not answer.

These bloodstains also evoked memories of Cao Yuanlu from many years ago.

The Crown Prince suffered from headaches since childhood, and the nights were unbearable. At that time, Cao Yuanlu often saw him hurting himself to relieve the pain. Later, as the Crown Prince grew up, his headaches never improved. He even went insane and needed to kill and shed blood to relieve the pain. So the Crown Prince simply went to the battlefield.

He became famous after that battle, and the crown prince defeated the Northern Wei soldiers one after another. His actions were extremely ruthless, which earned him the reputation of "Jade-faced Asura".

Cao Yuanlu sighed, pulled himself out of his thoughts, and looked back at the Crown Prince's scarred forearm, where tears were streaming down his face.

The maidservant who followed behind was too frightened to step forward. Cao Yuanlu could only wipe away his tears, take the bronze basin from her hand, and order, "Go and get gauze, scissors, and some wound medicine!"

The emcee stammered in agreement, and Cao Yuanlu personally applied the medicine while she stood by, barely daring to breathe.

It's not that she's stupid or dull; these were all people personally selected by the Empress, including the gatekeepers and accountants, who were by no means cowardly or afraid of trouble. But there was no way around it; no matter how well they learned the rules, no one could remain calm and composed in front of the gloomy and terrifying Crown Prince.

The wound from last night, plus the previous arrow wound being treated again, has taken up half a day.

At lunchtime, Yun Kui was assigned to serve the Crown Prince his food.

The Crown Prince's condition fluctuated, but he was no longer mostly unconscious as before, so the kitchen began preparing his meals in the last two days.

Each meal consisted of sixteen dishes and four soups as a base. Palace servants entered the hall one after another, and in a short time, a whole table was set up.

Yun Kui heard about what happened in Chengguang Palace. The imperial physicians were busy for half a day before leaving. It seems the Crown Prince fell ill again last night.

She stood by his side with her head down, not daring to look the crown prince in the eye.

Once the Crown Prince sat down at the table, she secretly raised her eyes, wanting to peek at the dishes on the table, but suddenly met the Crown Prince's bloodshot eyes, which startled her.

"Boss! You were the one who told me to get lost last night!"

"You've touched me, you've rubbed me, you can't just turn your back on me like that!"