That night, the moon shone brightly.
Shen Zhiyi was exhausted from being tossed around and was sleeping soundly, but as dawn broke, someone started to get restless again. She was wrapped in a brocade quilt, but he pulled her out of bed.
"Zhou Xuance, that's enough, I'm tired..."
Her voice was hoarse, revealing her exhaustion.
"We've been married for over a month, and you're still calling me by my name?" His hand had already slipped under the hem of her undergarment.
Hot scalding,
Touching the skin,
This caused her body to tremble involuntarily.
“Zhou Xuance!” She frowned slightly.
"Call me something else," he said, his voice close to her ear.
Shen Zhiyi took a deep breath and called out in a trembling voice, "Sanlang—"
Delicate,
It's so captivating that it makes your heart flutter.
"Good girl." Zhou Xuance kissed the corner of her lips and stopped teasing her. Seeing that she was sleeping soundly again, he got up, took a cold shower, changed into his court clothes, and told the maid not to disturb her rest before leaving.
So when Chen Zhi woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
While doing my hair in front of the mirror, I was startled to notice the scattered bite marks all over my neck.
It was blindingly red.
All the events of last night resurfaced, and the spot where he bit me suddenly felt like it was on fire, suddenly becoming hot and burning.
"Sister—" Shen Qi'an skipped in as soon as she heard that she was awake. "My brother-in-law, the Prince, gave me a rare military book. It's so good!"
"Really?" Shen Zhiyi hurriedly pulled her collar up half an inch.
Her attempt to cover it up only made things worse, drawing Shen Qi'an's attention to the red marks on her neck. "Sister, what happened to your neck?"
"Nothing's wrong?"
"What bit you?"
Shen Zhiyi coughed twice, "It's probably from mosquito bites."
"These little beasts dared to bite my sister. I'll have the housekeeper bring some insecticide and mosquito repellent powder later."
Little...beast?
Shen Zhiyi was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.
At this time of year, the weather was still hot and dry. In order to cover herself up, Shen Zhiyi deliberately wore a dress with a high collar, which inevitably attracted the attention of the Shen family members. Only Shen Qi'an was young and naive, and Shen Muzhi was simple-minded, so they did not think in that direction.
Everyone else knew what was going on, after all...
Asking for hot water in the middle of the night, it's obvious what they're up to.
Zhou Xuance was a thoughtful man. He said that he was too busy with official duties to take care of Shen Zhiyi, and asked her to stay at the Duke's mansion for a few more days.
He was indeed very busy with official duties, and by the time he finished and went to the Duke's mansion, it was already late at night. When he wanted to return to his room, Hongrui stopped him: "Your Highness, I'm so sorry, my young lady said that tonight..."
"You'll be staying in the guest room."
Hongrui also looked troubled.
Although she already knew that the regent was Xiao Zhongxuan, he was wearing a mask and black brocade robes at the time, and his aura was so imposing that no one dared to look him in the eye.
"Why?" Zhou Xuance raised an eyebrow.
She said you know the truth, so please don't make things difficult for me.
"knew."
As Zhou Xuance spoke, he turned and headed towards the guest room.
Shen Zhiyi was still awake. Hearing the noise in the courtyard, she was overjoyed, thinking she could finally get a good night's sleep, but...
Someone climbed in through the window!
A dignified regent, always liking to break into people's homes through windows? What kind of quirk is that?
"Don't worry, I won't touch you tonight."
"Really?" Shen Zhiyi asked with a doubtful look.
"Of course, go to bed early."
That night, Zhou Xuance did not touch her. Shen Zhiyi breathed a sigh of relief. This scoundrel had finally behaved himself. Tomorrow, her second brother was to set off back to the Northern Territory, and she couldn't oversleep.
Zhou Xuance didn't want to be a human being either, but he knew in his heart:
The difference between having a full meal at one meal and having a full meal at every meal.
We cannot exhaust the resources of a pond to catch all the fish; we must take a long-term approach.
——
The next morning, Shen Muzhi set off back to the northern border.
He was a bit dim-witted, so Shen Chongde gave him a few more instructions: "Listen more and ask more questions. There are many people in the army who are more senior than you, especially the few I mentioned. You can associate with them more."
"Dad, you've said this so many times. Aren't you tired of it? I'm getting tired of listening to it."
"You brat..."
If it weren't for the fact that Zhou Xuance was still around, and to save face for his son, Shen Chongde, with his temper, would have definitely gone up and kicked him a couple of times.
"I've prepared all the food and provisions for you. The journey is long, so please take good care of yourself." Xu Yunyi couldn't help but worry about her son traveling so far.
“Mom, I’m not young anymore, please don’t always treat me like a child.”
"Alright, I won't nag anymore. When you return to Beijing next time, I'll go and propose marriage to the Zheng family for you."
This time, Shen Muzhi didn't say anything.
Everyone gave him a few more words of advice. Before setting off, Shen Muzhi looked at his younger sister, "Zhiyi, take good care of yourself..."
Shen Zhi nodded.
Watching the convoy drive away into the distance, I felt a little uneasy.
My family spends most of their time away from Beijing, and we rarely get together. I don't know when we'll be able to reunite again.
Shen Zhiyi stayed at the Duke's Mansion for several more days. When she returned to the Prince's Mansion, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was getting closer and closer. This year's weather was strange; although it was autumn, the weather was still hot and dry.
"I heard that some places in the north are experiencing drought. What kind of weather is this? It hasn't rained for over a month," Green Lotus muttered.
"Don't worry, it will rain soon."
Shen Zhiyi remembers that it started raining around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival that year, and it rained for seven or eight days in a row.
The drought did not cause significant damage.
"The Empress Dowager has invited you to the palace for tea again. Would you like to go?" Hongrui asked.
“I just went there a few days ago and told her that I haven’t been feeling well lately and that I would visit her at the palace another day.”
When Zhou Xuance was arrested last time, Shen Zhiyi went to the palace to plead with her, but the Empress Dowager did not see her.
This matter...
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