Chapter 73 "Your Highness, do I look good?"...

Yun Kui had always known that His Highness the Crown Prince treated her very well.

Her childhood was unfortunate, filled with the cruelty of the world. Never before had there been anyone who tolerated all her unbridled little thoughts, stood up for her when she was bullied, protected her with his own body in life-or-death situations, and said he would take care of everything. He would take her out of the palace to see the world's splendor, spend lavishly on her, and remember her little preferences, buying her candied hawthorns and rabbit lanterns...

But when he uttered the words "love" and "to spend a lifetime together," her heart still trembled violently.

Her cheeks slowly flushed red, and even the snow-white skin beneath the gold chain visibly glowed with a faint pink.

His gaze was deep, slowly moving down along his collarbone.

Yun Kui's back was covered in sweat. She curled up and hid under the covers, leaving only her dark, watery eyes showing. She was shy and flustered.

The prince pulled the blanket down over her face, his fingertips tracing her moist, rosy lips. "You're already shy? Isn't this what you wanted to hear me say?"

Yun Kui opened her pearly teeth and gently bit his fingertip. Feeling a slight toothache, she realized it wasn't a dream and whispered, "Did I?"

The prince's fingertips probed down the gold chain, finding the location of the ruby ​​gold piece, and slowly caressed it.

Yun Kui's whole body was burning up, and she couldn't escape. Afraid of getting the mattress wet, she could only slowly turn inward and lie on her side, pressing her legs tightly together.

His hand followed, and I could hear his slightly heavy breathing.

She pursed her lips, her cheeks burning. "I'm a little curious, Your Highness has seen countless beauties, why would you like me?"

The crown prince's tone remained relatively calm: "I haven't seen any beauties."

What a convenient, evasive answer!

Yun Kui lowered her eyes and stared at the hand that was groping wildly in front of her chest: "Your Highness has exceptional self-control and is firmly in control of the world. You will not be easily tempted by beauty."

The prince paused slightly at the tip of his finger.

“Of course, it’s not just because I can relieve Your Highness’s headaches,” Yun Kui continued to guess. “Otherwise, Your Highness could just treat me like an ornament in Chengguang Hall, instead of hugging and cuddling me every day and spoiling me like a medicinal ingredient.”

The prince pinched her soft flesh, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Yun Kui clenched her fingers tightly, trying to suppress her emotions. "I was thinking, His Highness can read minds, but no matter how daringly I coveted His Highness's good looks, not only did His Highness not punish me, but he also fell in love with me. Could it be because..."

The Crown Prince stared at her chattering mouth and heard her say with barely concealed smugness, "Everyone else is afraid of Your Highness, or they want to assassinate Your Highness. Only I either praise Your Highness's face or drool over Your Highness's body. Although you pretended to be calm on the surface, you were secretly pleased. When I thought I was about to die from the poison, you took the initiative to seduce Your Highness. You half-heartedly resisted and took the initiative. Am I right?"

The Crown Prince gazed at her intently for a long while before offering his comment: "To make wild guesses about the Emperor's intentions and to speak of me in such a despicable way, what is your punishment?"

Yun Kui was furious: "Your Highness is always like this. You start using your status to intimidate people after only a few words. How can I accept Your Highness's favor with a clear conscience?"

Crown Prince: "..."

"I'm not saying anything more. I'd be committing treason and risk my head! You'd better find a few obedient palace maids to serve you!"

Yun Kui rolled over and tried to crawl into the bed, but he grabbed her waist and pulled her back. "You don't dare? I think you're quite bold."

He knew that once he opened the floodgates, she would take advantage of the situation and become increasingly unscrupulous.

Just as he was about to reprimand her, the girl's soft, rosy lips suddenly pressed against his and kissed his lips.

She raised her hand to wrap around his neck and whispered, "Your Highness, please don't be so fierce to me. Let me be a little smug. I... I'm so happy to hear you say you like it. I'm happier than if I'd eaten honey."

The girl's lips curved slightly upward, revealing shallow dimples. Her almond-shaped eyes shone with a bright and passionate light. Under the warm yellow candlelight, her gently swaying body resembled a sunflower waving in the wind.

The prince lowered his head and gave her a light, fleeting kiss on the eyes.

Yun Kui didn't expect him to kiss her there. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she saw her own small reflection in his deep, dark eyes.

The feeling of lips touching is very different from that of passionate love driven by intense desire. But at this moment, the man's fingertips gently caress her cheek, his thin lips land on the corner of her eye, then follow her cheek, press against her ear, and then move down her neck.

An unprecedented tenderness, like kissing the most precious treasure in the world.

His body, adorned with gold chains and pearls, was like a gift carefully wrapped by heaven, waiting for him to slowly unfold it and savor every inch of its warm, soft texture with his lips and teeth.

She gently stroked his face, her fingertips trembling slightly with a cautious, tentative touch.

She had touched his chest muscles, abs, and even more places, but she had never dared to touch his face like this before.

This face is mostly solemn and dignified, keeping people at a distance, like a cold and sharp sword that can only be admired from afar and not touched.

She smiled and asked softly, "Your Highness, am I pretty?"

He didn't answer immediately, his fingertips brushing across her shoulder where the gold chain had left shallow marks, but then he heard her mutter a low grumble.

"Fine, don't tell me then. Anyway, you have bad eyesight and have never seen a beautiful woman before."

"Sigh, Lord Shen praises Madam Shen's beauty every day. I'm so envious."

She could feel the hot breath spraying on the side of her neck, which made her curl up slightly.

The man gazed at the bright face before him, her eyebrows curved like the moon, her cheeks flushed like the sunset, her lips as red as cherries, and her snow-white skin as delicate and sweet as milk—she was naturally extremely beautiful.

Her appearance was one thing, but he loved her serene and warm aura, her boldness, and her vibrant vitality. Whenever she was there, Chengguang Palace was no longer deserted. It was like a small boat with a warm yellow light moored on a vast, deep sea, or like a sunflower that could bloom in a cold, dark room with just a handful of soil and a ray of light.

He was moved by her emotions, experiencing a mix of joy, anger, and frustration. Yet, he truly began to experience the flavor of life, no longer aloof and wearing a cold mask, no longer needing to be constantly on edge, walking on the edge of a knife.

Yun Kui didn't know what he was thinking, but she felt that his gaze was deep, as if it could draw people into an endless vortex in his eyes.

She sighed softly, "If only I could exchange skills with Your Highness. If I could read minds, I could hear what Your Highness is thinking. Your Highness excels at learning and practice. You should go and enter other people's dreams, observe them firsthand, and then come back to cherish me..."

Before he could finish speaking, his arrogant mouth was silenced. "You don't need to read minds, I'll tell you now."

The man's prominent Adam's apple bobbed slowly, his breath hot, his voice deep and even: "Beautiful, very beautiful."

The girl's lips curved into a smile, her eyes brimming with laughter. "I knew it, Your Highness has good taste."

There was already stirring there, probing and grinding back and forth in the shallows. She gripped the bedding beside her, took a deep breath, and trembled all over.

Suddenly remembering something, she quickly reached out and pushed him, saying, "Wait."

The Crown Prince frowned: "What?"

She reached down and slipped the extra chain around the little prince's neck. The little prince, who was already behaving strangely, became aroused again in her hands.

"Be good to me, baby."

The young prince moved as if he were aware of something, and even patted her palm.

Yun Kui swallowed nervously, "Now Your Highness and I are in the same boat, let's be together forever!"

The man's veins bulged on the back of his hand as he pulled her slender, supple waist, dragging her down into the infernal abyss of pleasure.

After a night of turbulent waves, Yun Kui not only felt sorry for herself, but also for the torn gold chain.

She gained a new understanding of the destructive power of men.

The custom-made item, costing three hundred taels, was clearly very sturdy, yet it was incredibly fragile in his hands. Even the little prince's necklace broke. She didn't know whether it broke due to extreme pressure or because he had stretched it to the point of breaking it. Fortunately, the joints were polished smooth and flat, so neither of them scratched the other's skin.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he stared intently at her wrinkled little face. "What's there to be distressed about? I'll return it to you. Let the Imperial Household Department..."

Before he could finish speaking, she lashed his chest muscles hard with the chain. His body tensed slightly, and although it didn't hurt, a thin red mark appeared.

Before he could speak, she timidly shrank back, "I...Is this a capital offense?"

The crown prince smirked: "Now you know fear?"

Yun Kui said in a muffled voice, "Who told you to break my chain and then make a scene at the Imperial Household Department, making me a laughingstock?"

Crown Prince: "Who dares to laugh?"

"They're secretly laughing, and you don't even know..." Before she could finish speaking, she gave up, thinking about how he could read minds. "Fine, you're the best."

She licked the red marks on his chest, the marks deep and bright, adorning his strong and full pectoral muscles, with an inexplicable astringent taste. She couldn't resist and tasted a few more.

"tasty."

His breathing became heavy, and it seemed he was about to continue. Yun Kui immediately wilted, hugged the blanket, and hid on the inside of the bed, whimpering softly, "I can't take it anymore, Your Highness, please sleep..."

The Crown Prince knew he had gone through a lot today, but when he looked down at Qi Shi, he couldn't help himself and leaned down to hug her from behind. "You go to sleep, don't worry about anything else."

Yun Kui: "..."

Why shouldn't she care! She's using her own feet!

This time, he couldn't get up at all and slept straight until noon.

The afternoon sunlight was dazzling, and Yun Kui didn't open her eyes. In her hazy state, she even had a dream.

She actually dreamed of her mother.

Her mother died shortly after she was born, so she didn't remember what her mother looked like. In her dreams, there was only a blurry figure wearing a light blue coarse cloth dress, with thin calluses on her fingers, but it felt warm.

In her dream, she was still a seven or eight-year-old child, clinging tightly to her mother's sleeve, crying and begging her not to leave.

Her mother knelt down and patted her shoulder. "Ah Kui, be good. Even though your mother is gone, you still have your father. Go find your father, okay?"

She cried so hard she could barely breathe: "I don't want my father, I want my mother to live!"

Mother sighed: "Ah Kui, don't cry. Haven't you always wanted a home and the company of your family? Father will love you and protect you just the same. It's not that he doesn't like you, he just doesn't know that Mother and he are having you."

She kept shaking her head, tears welling up in her eyes: "A-Kui doesn't like Father! A-Kui doesn't want him!"

Mother said, "When you find Father, let him repay all that he owes us over the years, okay?"

...

"Yun Kui, wake up."

Yun Kui's eyes welled up with tears in her dream. She vaguely heard someone calling her name, and then she slowly opened her eyes.