Without further hesitation, Hongli stepped into the steaming hot spring water, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, and whispered softly in her ear.

"So you refused to take off your clothes because you wanted to seduce me by hiding your face behind a pipa."

Su Yushan was so focused on enjoying the comfort of the hot spring water that it didn't think much of anything. But when he reminded her, she looked down and realized that her thin undergarment had become almost transparent after being soaked by the hot spring water.

Embarrassed, she immediately sank deeper into the water, trying to cover her private parts. "I didn't mean that at all. You're the one who's having wild thoughts. How dare you blame me?"

"I'm not Liu Xiahui, do you expect me to remain unmoved by a woman in my lap?"

Glancing at the spacious pool, Su Yushan kindly reminded her, "The hot spring pool is so big, you can stay away from me!"

If we're too far apart, what's the point of soaking in this hot spring? "I want to be closer to you, to be intertwined with you."

His voice grew lower and hoarse, like some kind of magical spell that could easily sway people's hearts. Su Yushan had to admit that she had indeed been successfully bewitched by him. Her head tilted back unconsciously, and she leaned against his shoulder, letting his palm transmit its burning heat to her heart.

The gentle hot spring water rippled around her, and Su Yushan was captivated, forgetting to resist. She cooperated with his intentions and turned to face him.

Heart and body intertwined, the pleasure was indescribable. In the throes of passion, Su Yushan unconsciously parted her lips, leaving a tooth mark on his shoulder.

Hongli didn't feel any pain, but he didn't restrain himself either; instead, he became even more unrestrained...

Su Yushan couldn't remember how much longer it took. His vigor and the warmth of the hot spring made her extremely tired. She vaguely remembered that he carried her out, dried her off, changed her into clean clothes, and then put her in the brocade quilt.

She was too weak to speak, so she turned over and fell into a deep sleep.

Looking at her sleeping face, her little hands curled up on the pillow, her red lips slightly pursed, Hongli's heart softened completely. He really wanted to tease her again, but as soon as he approached, she instinctively pushed him away with her little hands.

"No, I'm so sleepy!"

Her small, rosy lips were slightly pouting. Even though he had just tasted her sweetness, Hongli couldn't help but kiss her. Then he turned around and lay down, smoothing the hair at her temples before leaving her alone.

With a slight smile, Hongli looked at her. At this moment, he couldn't help but wonder if she had ever peeked at him while he was asleep, and what she was thinking. She was always the one who went to bed first.

When such a thought came to mind, Hongli was slightly taken aback. He thought to himself, "How ridiculous that a grown man like me would now be thinking about such trivial matters of love and romance!"

As his thoughts drifted, exhaustion overcame him, and Hongli gradually closed his eyes...

Nothing was said that night. The next morning, before dawn, the two brothers happened to meet as they entered the palace. In Hongzhou's memory, his elder brother was always self-disciplined and paid great attention to his appearance, but today he couldn't help but yawn. Hongzhou couldn't help but let his imagination run wild and sighed repeatedly.

"Fourth Brother, you look exhausted. It seems the battle last night was intense!"

"Nonsense!" Hongli, walking with his hands behind his back, immediately denied it. "I was reading last night and didn't pay attention, which is why I was delayed."

"Really?" Hongzhou wanted to believe him, but there were obvious red marks on his neck, which made it hard not to speculate. "Fourth Brother, what's with these red marks? You're not going to say they're mosquito bites, are you?"

Only after his reminder did Hongli realize that she had seemed unusually unrestrained last night, and had even left marks on his shoulder and neck when she couldn't control herself.

He hadn't paid any attention at the time, but now, being teased by the fifth prince, he suddenly realized what was going on. Hongli neither confirmed nor denied it, just smiled to himself and didn't argue further.

Hongzhou loved listening to gossip, and with a smile, he followed the fourth brother and asked, "No need to guess, it must have been left to you by your sister-in-law, right?"

Mentioning Su Yushan, Hongli's smile deepened. "Besides her, who else would dare to be so presumptuous?"

The fourth brother's tone was filled with undisguised doting, making Hongzhou's teeth ache. "Isn't that because you spoiled him?"

"I'm willing, do you have a problem with that?"

Caught off guard, Hongzhou immediately smiled apologetically, "How dare I? She's your woman, you can spoil her however you want."

Although it wasn't a big deal, Hongli still had to be careful. He raised his hand to straighten his mink collar, because he was going to court to meet the emperor later and couldn't let his father see the red mark on his neck, lest his father think he was infatuated with beautiful women.

After tidying themselves up, the two brothers continued on their way to the Qianqing Palace to attend court.

After finishing his official duties, Hongli returned to his residence as usual. Su Yushan had already changed her clothes and dressed, and then took a carriage from Qiongyuan back to the residence.

She could see it most clearly during the day, and only then did she realize that the scenery in this Jade Garden was quite beautiful, with several winter plum trees planted there, which had not yet bloomed and would probably not be in full bloom until near the end of the year.

Although this place is nice, it is still a villa, and she cannot stay here long; she must return to the manor as soon as possible.

She had only been home a short while when Hongli returned from the palace.

Yesterday, Hongli took her out for a trip, and not wanting to spoil her fun, he didn't mention Xin'er. It was only today that he brought it up with her.

“Xin’er has left the capital, and my men are still tracking her. Anyway, Su Jiafeng doesn’t know where she is, so you can do whatever you want with her.”

Fortunately, Su Yushan had heard about it beforehand, so she was not affected when she heard about it again. Her expression was very calm. "The person I want to deal with the most has always been Jin Minjing, not Xin'er."

Upon hearing this, Hongli felt guilty towards her. "Jin Minjing has luckily avoided all the evidence, so I can't touch her yet. After all, that matter concerns your reputation. If it blows up, even Father and Mother will know about your engagement. Although you are the victim, it will still be very disadvantageous for you. I'm sorry that I couldn't do what you wanted. I promise you, it won't happen again."

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