Chapter 50 Using this to seduce her
With his thoughts in a jumbled mess, Shen You simply stopped thinking about it.
She heard a man approaching from behind, and she looked up to see him in the mirror.
He casually pulled up a stool and sat down next to her. "I heard from Uncle Chen that you sent someone to deliver embroidery patterns to the Duke's mansion?"
“Yes,” Shen You put down the comb. “On the day Ruyi Embroidery Building opened, you had the food delivered, right?”
“Yes,” Chu Xiao did not deny it, but had another idea in mind, “I would like to discuss a business deal with Miss Shen. I wonder if Miss Shen would be willing?”
"No," Shen You refused without hesitation.
She stood up and stared at him intently. "Chu Xiao, who conducts business like this?"
He broke into a woman's boudoir in the middle of the night and was so shameless that he couldn't be driven away.
Chu Xiao's gaze followed her words and landed on her collar, which was tightly fastened, revealing no skin at all.
But it was an inner garment after all, thin and slightly see-through.
The two thin straps were tied in a knot at her waist, and the originally loose inner garment outlined her exquisite figure.
The next moment, Shen You draped a smoky-colored cloak over himself. “If the Duke is sincere, let the steward talk to Miss Yunxiu, the manager of Ruyi Embroidery Pavilion.”
She's figured it out: there's no reason not to take money that's offered to you.
Let the people from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion talk to Yunxiu.
Chu Xiao looked away and replied in agreement, "Okay, whatever you say we should discuss it."
With money to be made, Shen You even started to find him slightly more agreeable.
The window next to the dressing table was wide open. It was early autumn, and the wind was always a bit cool. She stood up and reached out to close the window.
However, the moment she made a move, the man behind her pressed against her back, his long arm reaching out to close the window.
But when Ke Wei raised his eyes, both of them froze on the spot.
Because from this spot, you can see the thriving Osmanthus fragrans in the yard.
The branches were covered with tender yellow flowers, surrounded by the warm yellow candlelight in the courtyard, and some were gently blown by the night breeze and fell onto the soil.
The fragrance of flowers is sweet and refreshing.
Chu Xiao paused, then said in a low voice, "Shen You, that osmanthus tree has already blossomed."
Shen You was taken aback, then realized which tree he was referring to. "How could that be..."
The courtyard in Qingxi Town was bought by Chu Xiao from a local merchant.
He had been living a simple life on his own, but after learning that she was the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Chengde in Lin'an, he still had the courtyard simply renovated before the wedding.
There was a nearly 100-year-old osmanthus tree in the yard, which had long since withered. We originally wanted to dig it up during the renovation, but because its roots were too deep to dig, we had to give up in the end.
Shen You loved osmanthus flowers, and after going to Qingxi, he was eager to save the osmanthus tree every day.
But after two years, she still hadn't gotten what she wanted.
Even when the two finally divorced and she packed her things to leave Qingxi, the osmanthus tree was still withered.
That tree, and now he's telling her it's been saved? It's blooming?
“It’s true,” Chu Xiao paused slightly, but still closed the window.
In my line of sight, the tender yellow flowers on the ground disappeared into the cracks of the window.
The two stood one after the other in front of the dressing table. The man tried to hold back, but finally couldn't resist and took her hand that was hanging by her side.
"After Qi Wulin died, I transplanted the osmanthus tree back to Lin'an City."
When Qi Wulin died...
That was the time when Qi Jincheng ascended the throne.
That was more than a year ago.
However, Qi Wulin's cronies had not yet been purged at that time. Although the dynasty had changed, Chu Xiao was still away and had not returned to the capital.
He had actually made this plan back then.
"Would you like to go take a look?"
He moved closer without making a sound, his tall frame covering her body, and whispered coaxingly, "In the Chenfeng Courtyard of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion."
Shen You liked osmanthus flowers, something he knew from the two years they spent together.
She must have had some lingering thoughts about that osmanthus tree that she wanted to save but could never manage to.
That's why he used this opportunity to seduce her.
Shen You was completely enveloped by him, and the man's cool aura wafted over her, almost deliberately awakening her memories of those intimate encounters from the past.
For some unknown reason, her ears turned a suspicious red, and she instinctively ducked forward.
Her voice sounded awkward, "I don't want to go."
The man behind her slowly tightened the arm that was draped over her side, the warmth of his skin pressing against her waist through her clothes.
As if burned, Shen You turned around abruptly, pushed him away, and started to shoo him away again.
"Chu Xiao, you should leave now."
However, just as she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. "Miss, the calming soup is ready."
It's the sound of the pothos plant.
As soon as she finished speaking, she was about to push the door open and come in.
"Wait a minute!" Shen You stopped her without thinking.
The green ivy outside was about to push open the door, but upon hearing this, she quickly withdrew her hand. "Miss, what's wrong?"
Inside the house—
Chu Xiao, who had been pushed aside by Shen You and was standing to the side, was watching her leisurely and whispered, "I'll leave? Through the main entrance?"
Shen You was both nervous and embarrassed. "Shut up!"
She glanced instinctively toward the door and saw that Green Ivy didn't push it open and enter. She breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then she heard Green Ivy's voice again, "Miss, what's wrong? May I come in?"
"Enter..."
Chu Xiao only managed to utter half a syllable before his lips were covered.
"No need to come in!"
Shen You stared at him with her beautiful eyes, her heart pounding in her chest. She called out to the green ivy outside, "...I'm already in bed. I don't need to drink the calming soup tonight."
“...Oh, okay,” Green Ivy thought it was strange, but she didn’t ask any more questions and left with the calming soup.
Only when he heard the footsteps fading away did Shen You finally relax completely.
Just as she was about to pull her hand back, her wrist was grabbed and pulled forward.
Her soft palm pressed directly against the man's slightly cool lips.
"what you do!"
It was only then that Shen You realized how ambiguous their posture was.
Chu Xiao became the one leaning against the dressing table, one hand resting on the surface, his long, straight legs casually spread out.
She stood between his legs, quickly raising one hand to cover his lips, and using the other hand to brace herself against his chest.
It looked as if Chu Xiao had been tackled to the side of the dressing table by her.
Shen You awkwardly looked away, and the hand supporting his chest tightened slightly, trying to straighten up.
However, this act of using leverage took a different turn.
It was more like... she took the opportunity to touch his chest.
I must say, it actually feels pretty good.
Perhaps bewitched by the man's beauty, Shen You's mind was not so clear for a moment, and she even struggled with whether to secretly touch him a few more times.
The next moment, Chu Xiao seemed to see through her thoughts, and his upright body relaxed even more, but the texture of his muscles under the fabric of his clothes was as hard as a rock.
"Shen You, if you want to touch, then touch freely."
"I am yours. You can touch me whenever you want, however you want."
After saying that, he put on an expression of complete subservience.
Shen You, however, had already come to her senses, quickly stood up straight, and took several steps back.
Her half-dry black hair fell to the girl's lower back, and because of her somewhat hurried movements, she gently brushed away the man's hand that was on her waist.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged out, as if they had been triggered by some inexplicable itch.
Chu Xiao's eyes darkened, but his words were shameless: "Chen You, I am, after all, the Duke of Zhenguo. You touched me, so you have to take responsibility for me."
Shen You looked at him in disbelief.
After a long pause, he uttered three words.
"shameless."
“Hmm,” but when he heard her scold him, he wasn’t angry at all; instead, a hint of pleasure appeared in his sharp eyes. “I am shameless.”
If being shameless can win her back, then so be it.
Shen You went to the back window of the room and opened it. "You should leave now."
“Shen You,” he said, his gaze fixed on her as he walked beside her, “Yao Yiqian is gone. If you still want to look at other potential partners, could you let me cut in line?”
Shen You was almost amused by his words, "Why should I?"
"Because you touched me just now," he looked at her expectantly, his dark eyes filled with anticipation, as if he was afraid of being rejected by her.
But what he said was incredibly shameless.
"you..."
Shen You now regrets touching him just now, feeling that he will be stuck with this for a while.
"You are a dignified Duke of Zhenguo, why bother with such trivial matters?"
“Men also have their own morals to uphold,” he said, spouting nonsense she had never heard before. “If you touched me, you should at least give me a chance.”
"Or, tell me, what kind of man do you like?"
Yao Yiqian became a monk, and now he's certain that she doesn't like someone like him.
But he really didn't know what kind of girl she liked.
Chu Xiao paused for a moment, then tried to take her hand, saying bluntly, "I can learn anything you like."
Shen You found his persistent question quite amusing.
She looked up, her gaze meeting his, and deliberately said, "I like people who listen to me and obey my every word."
“Okay,” Chu Xiao replied sincerely, “I will definitely listen to you.”
Shen You suddenly had a bright idea. "Since you said you would listen to me, then I'll let you go back now."
"Okay," this time Chu Xiao didn't try to back out. He opened the window, looked back at her reluctantly, then leaped over and nimbly jumped out of the yard, onto the wall, and disappeared into the night.
Not long after Chu Xiao left, Shen You saw that the guards of the Marquis's mansion had completed their shift change and were patrolling towards the wall of Wen Gui Courtyard.
She suddenly burst into laughter out of anger.
Chu Xiao must have really figured out the patrol schedule of the Chengde Marquis's residence to be able to come and go so freely.
She simply closed the window, turned around and went into the bedroom, and got onto the bed.
Chu Xiao said so much, but one sentence reminded her.
Yao Yiqian was the man Chen Qiurong found for her to be a matchmaker. Now that Yao Yiqian has become a monk, if Chen Qiurong were to follow her usual methods, she would definitely arrange another marriage for him.
However, Shen Linhui's legs were already useless. During this period, Shen Yao and Chen Qiurong consulted many famous doctors for him, but still saw no improvement.
Shen Linhui will likely spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Chen Qiurong spends her days in tears, presumably because she doesn't have time to "worry" about her marriage for the time being.
At the beginning of next month, the Shen family will go to Nian'en Temple to donate incense money and chant sutras for the Shen family's elder ancestors.
Chen Qiurong will likely take this opportunity to draw a fortune stick for Shen Linhui.
But the gods and Buddhas are watching, and they will not allow someone like Shen Linhui, who has such bad character, to have his way.
His injuries will not heal, so Shen Yao will give up on him and instead choose a suitable person from among the Shen family relatives to adopt.
At that time, Shen Linhui's good days will come to an end.
Thinking of this, Shen You's lips curled into a cold smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
Meanwhile, at this very moment, a conspiracy was brewing in Songtao Courtyard, east of the Marquis's residence.
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