Chapter 67 The Price
As it turned out, this armor required much more effort than she had imagined.
The gold shop owner said that this style is very popular with high-ranking officials and nobles. Even the goldsmiths have learned from it. The items she receives are extremely exquisite, full of ingenuity. No matter where you look, they are breathtaking and you can't take your eyes off them.
The three gemstones correspond to three key points, perfectly fitting the vital areas. A thin chain adorned with pearls runs down the groove between the pectoral muscles. After passing each row of abdominal muscles, two thin chains extend from the left and right to the lower back. Delicate tassels hang from the waist, not dense, but just right to outline a smooth and firm waistline.
I never even imagined that the little prince had his own necklace. The necklace moved down little by little with the constant pushing, until it could move no further. In a place that was neither visible nor intangible, it scratched like cat claws, deep and shallow.
Yun Kui was completely dazed, like someone suffering from a severe cold and covered in sweat; the slightest touch would cause her to tremble and break out in a cold sweat.
She even felt that he was angry, that he had reluctantly worn the clothes for her sake, but couldn't swallow his anger and felt humiliated, so he used this method to teach her a lesson.
The commotion was so great that Yun Kui even worried whether the canopy bed could withstand it. But then she thought she should worry about herself first... The bed could be repaired if it collapsed, but she was really going to die on his bed with her intestines ruptured.
She finally understood why there were no guards standing in the corridor and courtyard when she returned from the purification room. It turned out that His Highness the Crown Prince also knew to protect her dignity; otherwise, those uncontrollable screams would have made her unable to hold her head up for the rest of her life.
Yun Kui is not someone who sweats easily, but tonight the bedding beneath her was almost completely soaked, and the brocade mattress was almost torn to shreds by her fingernails.
Because he had nowhere to put his hands and was only wearing this armor, she scratched two bloody marks on his back. She deserved to die.
As for this gold chain, it cost 300 taels of silver. The gold itself isn't heavy; what's valuable is the design and craftsmanship. It would be a real shame to tear it all at once, so I can only make do with this Shu brocade underneath.
Her face was covered in tears. After it was over, it took her a long time to calm down. She didn't even have the energy to clean up the dirt on her body. She just lay there for a long time before her soul returned to its place.
She looked up at her nails and was surprised to see how long they had grown. Thinking back, she realized that she hadn't had any tasks in the past two months that required her to trim her nails short and neat.
The prince held her hand, and the jade thumb ring ran through each of her fingers. He could still feel the lingering sensation, as if her soft fingers were still holding him.
"Keep these nails as they are," he said.
She muttered to herself, "I'm not going to be an empress, why bother growing my nails?"
The prince's brow furrowed immediately.
Yun Kui paused, then remembered that he could read minds and seemed unwilling to listen to her talk, so she quickly changed her mind.
"I'm afraid I'll scratch Your Highness's back, so I'd better just cut it short. Otherwise, you might settle old scores with me later and accuse me of disrespect."
This tendency to be prepared for danger in times of peace is probably something she developed from a young age. The Crown Prince couldn't immediately correct her thinking, so he could only guide her slowly in the future, making her believe that she wouldn't easily lose anything she had—not only wealth and honor, but also him.
Yun Kui's hands felt itchy from his pinching, and her fingertips inadvertently touched the smooth, cool jade thumb ring.
She asked curiously, "Why does Your Highness always wear the thumb ring I bought for you?"
Crown Prince: "You mean, I can only wear it when I'm serving you in bed?"
Yun Kui looked embarrassed and whispered, "I was just asking."
Thumb rings are symbols of status and power; aren't they used in folk tales to command heroes? The meaning of that black jade thumb ring is naturally extraordinary and cannot be compared to thumb rings bought from ordinary people.
Yun Kui: "Is Your Highness tired of wearing it and wants to try something different?"
Crown Prince: "More or less."
Yun Kui's almond-shaped eyes lit up slightly. "Does Your Highness really like this jade thumb ring?"
The crown prince glanced at her casually. "I'm fairly satisfied."
Yun Kui smiled, not having held out much hope, thinking he was arrogant and looked down on worldly things. But she never expected to hear him say "satisfied" himself.
The crown prince looked down at her, remained silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. He took something from a hidden compartment by the bed, and the next moment, a dark object was slipped onto Yun Kui's thumb.
Yun Kui stared in disbelief at the black jade ring on her finger. "Your Highness?"
The crown prince raised an eyebrow with composure: "It's only fair to reciprocate."
Yun Kui almost stammered, "Your Highness wouldn't be thinking of giving it to me, would you?"
Although she was of low status, short-sighted, and ignorant of court affairs, she knew that this thumb ring was of great importance, symbolizing supreme power, and could not be given away easily.
The Crown Prince, however, remained indifferent, saying, "It's just a thumb ring. It can't mobilize thousands of troops, and I don't need it to achieve the power I desire. But it's enough for you to act like a bully outside."
Yun Kui swallowed hard, her surprise mixed with unease and fear. "Please don't let it happen. What if one day someone finds out and accuses me of stealing royal property..."
Crown Prince: "..."
"It's just an object," he said, his tone turning serious, brooking no argument. "What I give you is yours, and who in the world dares to say no?"
Yun Kui was about to refuse again when the Crown Prince coldly sneered, "You dare not kill, and you are afraid of being falsely accused of theft, but you dare to repeatedly disobey my orders. Do you really think I am easy to talk to?"
Yun Kui whispered, "But His Highness said that the ring is engraved with Buddhist scriptures to ward off evil spirits and specifically to ward off bad luck for me..."
The crown prince was so angry that the veins on his forehead throbbed.
Seeing his gloomy face, Yun Kui was afraid that he would get so angry that he would have a headache again, just like last time. She quickly and kindly hugged his arm and coaxed him, "Your Highness, don't be angry. I'll accept it."
The prince's brows slowly relaxed, and he pressed her down, saying in a hoarse voice, "Just this one sentence?"
Yun Kui: "..."
What else? She's too tired to keep up!
She tried to hide under the bed, but the Crown Prince grabbed her thigh and said, "Say it again, do you like me or not?"
"Boss, you've asked this ten times already..."
She really didn't understand why men always liked to ask this question when dealing with important matters. The heir of the Marquis of Ningde was like this, as was that Minister of the Court of State Affairs, Lord Shen, and now even His Highness the Crown Prince had learned to do it.
As she was thinking this, someone suddenly pinched her waist, making her wince in pain. Tears welled up in her eyes as she met the man's deep gaze.
"Dare you think of other men in front of me?"
Yun Kui: "..."
"Was I thinking about other people? I was just mentioning them!"
She was too exhausted to speak, so she simply communicated with him using her inner thoughts.
The Crown Prince: "It's not allowed to mention it either."
"You're really domineering!"
The Crown Prince said, "This is the price you pay for making me wear this gold chain."
"You're the one enjoying it, but I'm the one suffering."
The Crown Prince disagreed: "Weren't you very excited at the beginning? I saw you with stars in your eyes and drooling."
"Boss, it's not good to talk about something so embarrassing... Besides, who can handle almost two hours every time?"
The Crown Prince said, "You spent my money, and you asked me to wear these clothes. I'm the one who paid for them and put in the effort. You just lay there enjoying yourself, and you dare to blame me?"
Yun Kui pulled back the covers and covered her face, letting out a long sigh.
"I can't argue with you! It's a total of three thousand taels, and half of it was spent on you. You paid the money, but you're the one wearing the gold chain..."
The Crown Prince said quietly, "You can wear it too."
Yun Kui: !!!
Suddenly, she felt as if her skull had been opened, and a cold wind rushed into her head, making her sneeze. She immediately wrapped herself tightly in her small blanket.
"If you exhaust me to death, you'll never have Little Sunflower again, waaaaah..."
"Alright, I'll let you go for now."
The prince chuckled and patted her on the belly. "What did you just say? Say it again."
Yun Kui buried her head in the blankets and wearily replied in her heart:
"I love Your Highness the most, I only love Your Highness, I will never leave Your Highness again... Are you satisfied now?"
The Crown Prince was not satisfied with her indifferent attitude, but he couldn't do anything about it. He could only force her to make repeated promises when she was in a limbo, so that she would remember these lessons and never dare to think of leaving the palace again.
Seeing him get up to clean himself, Yun Kui peeked out from under the covers and gently tugged at the tassel at his waist. "Your Highness... don't take it off yet, let me take another look..."
She hadn't had a chance to observe it properly before this person started, and the image of the gold chain swaying violently was still in her mind's eye, hurting her eyes so much that she couldn't see it clearly at all.
The crown prince's eyes were dark and deep: "Do you really want to see it again? Or do you want to wear it yourself?"
Yun Kui shuddered at his words.
"No...you just said you'd let it go! A promise is a promise! Are you going to go back on your word?"
She was certain he wouldn't want it again tonight, which is why she was itching to admire it one more time. After all, once this opportunity was gone, it might not come again.
The prince sighed deeply, took a handkerchief and cleaned her body briefly, then pulled up a clean blanket and lay down beside her.
The lecherous girl sneered closer, silently reciting "a king's word is law," and then gave his chest muscles a hard squeeze.
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