Chapter 24 This Damn Menstrual Pain
The night was as dark as ink, but the lights in the main courtyard of the Regent's Palace appeared exceptionally dim.
At this time of day, Jiang Mianmian would usually be either munching on a late-night snack, counting money, or having a mental "rant session." But tonight, the house was quiet, with only the occasional suppressed groan coming from within.
On the bed, a huge silkworm pupa was slowly wriggling.
Jiang Mianmian curled up like a boiled shrimp, her hands pressed tightly against her lower abdomen, cold sweat soaking the stray hairs on her forehead.
[It hurts so much...it hurts like hell!]
[This damn menstrual cramp! Why do I have to suffer like this after transmigrating? And this body is so cold, the pain is ten times worse than before! It feels like a construction crew is drilling a hole in my stomach, and it's the vibrating kind!]
No ibuprofen, no hand warmers, no brown sugar ginger tea... This wicked feudal society! I want to go home! I miss my hot water bottle!
At that moment, the door was gently pushed open.
After taking a bath, Shen Jin walked in, his body still damp with the scent of water. He was in a good mood (after all, he had just drunk the tea that had been "indirectly kissed"), but as soon as he entered the inner room, he keenly sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
On that large canopy bed, Jiang Mianmian didn't sleep sprawled out as usual, but instead huddled in a corner, shivering.
Most importantly, the voice in her heart sounded... weak, irritable, and filled with an unprecedented sense of grievance.
"princess?"
Shen Jin walked quickly to the bedside and lifted the bed curtains.
In the dim candlelight, he saw Jiang Mianmian's pale face. Her lips were bloodless, her brows were furrowed, and she looked so fragile that she seemed ready to break at the slightest touch.
His usually composed heart skipped a beat, and a wave of panic he had never experienced before washed over him.
"What's wrong?" He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to touch her forehead. "Where do you feel unwell? Are you poisoned? Or has your old illness relapsed?"
Jiang Mianmian barely opened one eye and looked at the nervous man in front of her.
[Poisoning my foot! This is Aunt Flo! It's a woman's nemesis! It's a monthly ordeal!]
Don't touch me... Why are your hands so cold... Go away... I need something warm...
She unconsciously slapped Shen Jin's hand away, whimpering, "Cold... my stomach hurts..."
Chen Jin's hand froze in mid-air.
Aunt Flo? Tribulation?
Although he couldn't understand the words, he understood "stomach ache" and "cold".
Watching her writhe in pain on the bed, Shen Jin felt utterly helpless for the first time in his life. He had never flinched in the face of a massive army, nor could he strategize effectively in the face of a treacherous court, but faced with a woman suffering from menstrual cramps…
What should he do?
"Guards!" Shen Jin shouted in a deep voice.
The old woman who was guarding outside rushed in. Seeing the situation and looking at Jiang Mianmian clutching her stomach, she immediately understood.
"Oh dear, Your Highness, the Princess Consort is... having her period and has abdominal pain," the nanny whispered. "This is a common ailment for women. We can only make some brown sugar water, warm it up, and it will pass."
Bear with it?
Shen Jin frowned deeply as he looked at Jiang Mianmian, who was sweating profusely from the pain.
[Endure what?! You try enduring this yourself! This is torture! Shen Jin, you wooden stake, what are you standing there for? Can you get me a hot water bottle? Or... heat the floor heater to thirty degrees!]
Shen Jin waved away the nanny and his gaze fell on Jiang Mianmian's tightly clutched lower abdomen.
Want it hot?
The hot water bottle is too slow, and the underground heating system can't keep up.
Shen Jin hesitated for a moment, then seemed to have made up his mind. He took off his shoes and got into bed, but instead of sleeping on his own side as usual, he moved directly to Jiang Mianmian's side.
"princess."
He called out softly, then stretched out his long, powerful hands, but instead of touching her directly, he channeled his profound inner strength.
A surge of scorching true energy instantly gathered in his palm.
As the regent with the highest level of martial prowess, his internal energy is extremely powerful and yang, which he usually uses to kill people and shatter the heart meridians of his enemies.
But at this moment, he carefully controlled this power, making it gentle and lingering.
"Don't move."
Shen Jin gently placed his large, burning hot hand, through her nightgown, on Jiang Mianmian's cool lower abdomen.
"Hmm!"
Jiang Mianmian gasped in surprise and instinctively tried to dodge.
But she stopped the instant that warm current penetrated her skin and seeped into her cold uterus.
Holy crap...it's so warm!
[What is this? A human body heating patch? This temperature... it's amazing! It's even more comfortable than a hand warmer; it feels like a stream of heat is penetrating directly into my body, driving away all the cramping cold.]
[Chen Jin? It's Chen Jin's hand? Isn't that bastard's hand always ice-cold? How come it's suddenly turned into a little furnace?]
Shen Jin felt the tense muscles under his palms slowly relax and breathed a sigh of relief.
it works.
He maintained the posture of channeling internal energy, and a thin layer of sweat gradually seeped from his forehead. Controlling internal energy in such an extremely precise way was even more mentally taxing than fighting a peerless master.
But amidst Jiang Mianmian's comfortable moans, he actually felt... that the expenditure of his internal energy was quite worthwhile.
[So comfortable...so comfortable...]
[This is a real "warm man"! All those other guys who brought hot water were totally lame! Shen Jin, I declare you my human hand warmer! I'm sticking with you tonight!]
Under the temptation of the heat source, Jiang Mianmian completely abandoned her reserve.
Instead of pushing Shen Jin away, she wrapped herself around him like an octopus seeking a heat source.
She tucked her icy feet between Chen Jin's calves, snuggled into his arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her face against his burning chest.
"Your Highness... make it a little hotter..." she mumbled groggily.
Chen Jin was stiff all over.
This pose... is too dangerous.
He was enveloped in her soft, warm embrace; her delicate fragrance, mixed with the unique scent of a young girl, filled his nostrils. Especially her cool little feet, pressed against his legs, sent shivers down his spine.
“Jiang Mianmian…”
Shen Jin gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse, "I'm treating your illness, not asking you to... assault me."
[Indecent assault my foot! This is just making good use of resources! Since you're the heater, you should be prepared to be one! Don't move, let me rub against you...]
Jiang Mianmian snuggled closer to him, finding the most comfortable spot—right there, her head resting on his arm, pressed against his chest muscles.
[These pectoral muscles... have great elasticity, much more comfortable than a pillow.]
[And...listening to his heartbeat actually makes me feel a little at ease? This jerk's heartbeat is pretty fast, is he bewitched by me? Hehe...]
Shen Jin looked down at the little woman in his arms who was taking advantage of him.
Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and the pain on her face had faded, replaced by a sense of satisfaction and dependence.
The heart that had always been wary of him and wanted to run away seemed to have finally opened a corner to him.
Shen Jin sighed, resignedly adjusted his position to make her more comfortable in his arms, but the internal energy he was channeling into his hands never stopped.
"Go to sleep."
He whispered, gently patting her back with his other hand, clumsily coaxing her.
On this cold winter night, Jiang Mianmian's innermost thoughts gradually became blurred and quiet.
Gone were the noisy complaints and curses; only her steady breathing and the occasional whispered words in her sleep remained.
[So calm... So warm... Don't go...]
The words "Don't go" were like a feather, gently tickling Shen Jin's heart.
He looked at the person in his arms, his eyes gradually becoming gentle and profound.
"I'm not leaving."
He answered silently in his heart.
I will be here whenever you need me, and I will not go anywhere else.
That night, in the main bedroom of the Regent's Palace, the underfloor heating was burning brightly, but the warmest place was the bed curtains where two hearts were drawing closer.
Shen Jin maintained that position until dawn, when he was sure that Jiang Mianmian was completely asleep and no longer had abdominal pain, before he dared to withdraw his slightly numb arm.
But he didn't leave. Instead, he let her hold him and slept soundly in the bed filled with her scent, a sleep he hadn't had in a long time.
...
The next morning.
When Jiang Mianmian woke up, she felt refreshed all over, as if she were fully charged.
My stomachache is gone, and my hands and feet are warm.
She stretched, but her hand touched a warm "wall".
I opened my eyes and looked.
Shen Jin was lying on his side next to her, propping his head up with one hand, looking at her with a half-smile in his phoenix eyes.
"woke up?"
His voice was husky with the urge to wake up, and somewhat sexy. "Did the Princess sleep well last night?"
Jiang Mianmian's mind instantly replayed the scenes from last night.
How did she treat him like a heater? How did she cling to him so shamelessly? And how did she shove her icy feet into his legs...?
boom--!
Jiang Mianmian's face instantly turned as red as a boiled shrimp.
【Aaaaaah! This is infuriating! Was I crazy last night? I actually slept with the Regent as a body pillow all night? And he even... he kept warming my stomach?!】
[This...this service is amazing! Is this the legendary "fully automatic, temperature-controlled, human-shaped air conditioner"?]
Seeing her so ashamed and furious, Shen Jin felt great.
He leaned closer to her, his warm breath brushing against her ear: "Last night, Your Highness said that I was your 'human hand warmer,' and that you were going to 'cling to me.' What, are you going to deny it now that it's dawn?"
Jiang Mianmian covered her face, peeking at him through her fingers: "Then...then wasn't he confused because of the pain...Thank you, Your Highness, for saving my life..."
“Since you want to thank me,” Shen Jin said with a smile, “it’s not enough to just say it.”
"What does Your Highness want?" Jiang Mianmian looked at him warily.
Shen Jin pointed to his slightly numb left arm: "My arm was numb from being used as a pillow by you all night. Shouldn't the Princess... give me a massage?"
[A little rubbing? That's it? That scared me to death! I thought they were going to make me pay with my body!]
Jiang Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief and immediately fawned over Shen Jin, stretching out her two little hands to diligently massage his arm.
"Your Highness, you've worked hard! Your Highness, you've suffered! Is this pressure enough? Should we apply a little more force?"
As she massaged, she thought to herself, "These muscles are really well-developed, so firm. They feel great. Since you let me massage them, I might as well give them a few more touches!"
Shen Jin closed his eyes, enjoying her "massage" (actually, it was just her taking advantage of him), and couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.
Just then, Shadow One's voice came from outside the door:
"Your Highness, someone from the palace has arrived. They say the Emperor is going to hold an autumn hunt and requests that Your Highness and Princess Consort attend."
Autumn hunt?
Jiang Mianmian stopped what she was doing.
[Autumn hunting? That means going into the wild? And riding horses and shooting arrows?]
I'm just feeling better, and now I have to go through all that suffering again? Can't I just stay home and enjoy hot pot...?
Shen Jin opened his eyes and grabbed her hand, which she was trying to pull back.
"I'm going."
He looked at Jiang Mianmian with a meaningful look in his eyes, "Not only do you have to go, but Your Highness also needs to prepare well. I heard that someone... has prepared a 'surprise' especially for you this autumn hunt."
[Surprise? I think it's more like a shock!]
Jiang Mianmian pursed her lips. She knew that this so-called autumn hunt was definitely a trap set by those who disliked her (such as the Empress Dowager's cronies, or the Lin family who hadn't given up yet).
but……
Since Shen Jin is going, it means... he's there.
"I'll go then!" Jiang Mianmian gripped Shen Jin's hand tightly, her face full of fearlessness (actually, she was just bullying him). "As long as Your Highness carries this 'human hand warmer' with you, I dare to brave mountains of knives and seas of fire!"
He chuckled silently.
"good."
He lowered his head and gently kissed the back of her hand. "I'll take you... to see a play."
Witness a real hunt, a true spectacle.
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