Chapter 47
"Liu Heng, watch your words."
Wei Luo sat up abruptly, his eyes filled with warning, and loudly ordered him, "Get out."
His tone was not only full of hostility, but also seemed to suggest that Liu Heng would try to persuade him further and punish him.
Liu Heng knelt on the ground, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled completely, feeling utterly cold.
It's over. His Highness has been blinded by lust and is completely mired in the quagmire of love, unable to extricate himself. What about moral principles, Confucianism, and nineteen years of Confucian education? All of that has been thrown to the winds.
Liu Heng felt a deep sorrow. He had been with Wei Luo for over a decade and knew his temperament all too well. He knew that although Wei Luo appeared innocent and weak on the outside, he was actually very strong-willed, and once he made up his mind, no one could sway him.
Even though he knew it was impossible, Liu Heng still tried to stop her, simply because the person was Shen Yao, a member of their political enemy's family. In the face of cruel political struggles, the delicate flower of love was far too fragile.
He can't take the risk, and he can't afford to gamble.
“Your Highness, Shen Yao is already married. You are the emperor, and Xu Xuan is the subject. What you are doing is disregarding the proper relationship between ruler and subject. If your act of forcibly taking a subject's wife is exposed and reaches the emperor's ears, how will the emperor view you? How will the other ministers view you?”
"Your Highness, please reconsider!"
Liu Heng burst into tears, kowtowed deeply, and lay prostrate on the ground, refusing to get up.
"Shut up." Wei Luo's expression changed drastically. He yanked open the bed curtains and glared at Liu Heng. "Are you deliberately trying to provoke me? Let me tell you, Shen Yao doesn't love Xu Xuan. She will divorce him in the future. She will divorce him... I'm not saying we should force her. We are in love and truly love each other."
"Get out of here right now. I don't want to hear what you have to say."
After Wei Luo finished speaking, she put her hands on her hips, turned her back, and tried to calm the anger in her heart.
Liu Heng raised his head slightly, still relentlessly insisting, "His Highness said that Shen Yao would divorce him, but they haven't divorced yet. What you are doing now is adultery. According to the laws of the dynasty, if a husband and wife commit adultery, both parties will be punished with ninety strokes of the cane. If the husband catches the adulterers in the act and kills them, he can be exempted from punishment."
Wei Luo turned around and sneered, "Are you trying to educate me about the law?"
"This servant dares not, but merely reminds Your Highness to act with caution. As the Crown Prince, your every word and deed is a model for others. If you yourself are not upright, how can you be the ruler of a country and a role model for all people?"
"Heh." Wei Luo scoffed, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. He walked over and squatted down in front of Liu Heng, looking him in the eye. He gritted his teeth and said, "She will divorce me in the future, and we will be a legal couple. Since she will become my wife in the future, what's wrong with me exercising my husband's rights sooner?"
"Your Highness, this is sophistry. You are merely finding a high-sounding excuse for your own selfish desires. In fact, you know better than anyone how ridiculous this excuse is."
Liu Heng tried to dissuade him repeatedly, but Wei Luo ignored him. As he said, men and women who are caught in the quagmire of love are all covered in mud, and it is impossible for them to become lotus flowers that "emerge from the mud unsullied".
The lotus symbolizes nobility and purity, and Wei Luo is the lotus symbol in the eyes of the world. He must be noble and elegant, selfless and without desire. He must be a prominent role model, a cold and indifferent object, so that he can be a qualified crown prince and future king.
The king is the lotus flower, the officials are the lotus stems, and the common people are the lotus roots. This is order.
Wei Luo actually knew what he was doing. He knew that Shen Yao was married, that her surname was Shen, and that she was originally his enemy, but he was still indulging in her, enjoying the nourishment of her love and the pleasure of her body.
This happiness is unique, something even his beloved mother couldn't give him, which is why he couldn't bear to give it up.
It's not that Shen Yao can't live without him, it's that he can't live without Shen Yao.
The thought of her goodness being given to another man immediately ignites a surge of anger within him, burning away all reason... This is probably what vulgar people are like!
*
When Shen Yao came in, Wei Luo was lying on the bed with his arm as a pillow, lost in thought, and didn't even notice when Shen Yao came close.
"Your Highness, what are you looking at?"
Shen Yao followed his gaze and saw the pale purple bed curtains, which were completely bare. She then smiled and asked, "Did Your Highness notice the flowers?"
Wei Luo smiled, pulled him into her arms, pinched his cheek, and said, "Although there are no flowers on the bed, there is a delicate flower beside you."
The delicate flower was kissed and caressed by him. The soft silk could not stop the man's passion. The rule that Shen Yao had set earlier - no kissing below the neck - was torn up by him in an instant.
He was like a hungry wolf, waiting for a long time, becoming increasingly thirsty and restless.
"Ah Yao, you are so beautiful!"
He removed her top, leaving her only in a thin bodice. The view beneath the bodice was alluring, like a pipa player half-concealing her face, captivating him completely.
He desperately wanted to take her tonight.
Wei Luo swallowed hard.
His little actions did not escape Shen Yao's notice at all. In just a moment, Shen Yao got up, put her top back on, and her head was still heavy from Wei Luo's kiss. His big hands had been touching her all over, so she took advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, loosened her skirt, and began to conquer her territory.
Now, Shen Yao straddled him, ready to teach him a lesson: "Your Highness has broken your promise, I will punish you."
Wei Luo put his arm around her waist and chuckled softly, "How should I punish you?"
He acted as if he was ready to be punished at will, not fighting back or arguing back, which put Shen Yao in a difficult position. How should she punish this man whose skin was thicker than a city wall?
Shen Yao couldn't think of a good idea for a moment, and finally, under his smug gaze, she snorted, "Put it on the tab this time, and I'll punish you when I've thought of a better way."
Shen Yao was very strict. She immediately got out of bed, found a notebook, wrote down one of Wei Luo's "mistakes," and then made him sign it. Wei Luo treated this as a kind of fun and was happy to cooperate, so he got out of bed, picked up a pen, and signed it.
What kind of writing is this?
Wei Luo gave her a strange look. "I don't recognize you."
Shen Yao was taken aback. She looked over and suddenly realized that it was written in simplified Chinese characters. She scratched her head and said, "This is simplified Chinese characters used in the marketplace for bookkeeping. You don't need to recognize them. Just sign it."
Shen Yao urged him on.
"Really? You're not trying to trick me, are you?" Wei Luo put down his pen and looked at Shen Yao with suspicion. "Also, how come your regular script is so bad?"
Shen Yao: "...My hands are shaking."
In her past life, she was an excellent penmanship artist, but she had never learned calligraphy. Now, when Shen Yao secretly glanced at her writing, it was indeed scribbles, which she found ugly, let alone Wei Luo's.
So, she was unlucky.
Wei Luo started having her practice calligraphy, and he personally taught her.
"No need... as long as they can recognize them, that's fine."
“No.” Wei Luo refused firmly. “My wife, while not necessarily an expert in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, must have excellent handwriting.”
Without further ado, Wei Luo asked her to grind the ink, then found some Xuan paper, and personally held her hand, teaching Shen Yao stroke by stroke.
As night deepened and the starlight dimmed, a cool breeze blew through the gauze window.
Before you know it, the rice paper is covered with strokes, straight and powerful, a sight to behold.
He held Shen Yao in his arms, the scent of his plum blossoms filling her nostrils. His warm breath brushed against her neck, and Shen Yao felt weak all over. Unable to resist, she turned her head and kissed his lips.
Wei Luo's lips were cool and soft. She first gave him a light peck, but it wasn't enough, so she kissed him more passionately. Just as she was about to make love to him, Wei Luo turned his head, and her kiss landed on his cheek.
Wei Luo laughed and said, "Don't try to use your beauty to slack off. From now on, you'll practice one page of calligraphy every day, and I'll check it myself."
Shen Yao: "..."
Does it really have to be this way?
"It has to be this way. But it's late tonight, so let's stop here and continue tomorrow."
They put down their pens, stacked the papers, and prepared to go to bed.
Wei Luo never turns off the light when he sleeps, so Shen Yao adds some oil to the candlestick so that it can continue to burn until dawn.
When he turned around, he saw Wei Luo staring intently at him. He asked, "When did you realize my feelings for you?"
Shen Yao's voice was low and deep, "I don't know, so when did you fall in love with me?"
"Hmm... I don't know, maybe when I was little."
As if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, Shen Yao's heart turned ice-cold, and she could hardly breathe. She needed to confirm, "Does Your Highness prefer the old me or the current me?"
Wei Luo was also looking at her, not expecting her to ask such a question, so he smiled and said, "Isn't it you both then and now?"
"No, they are different, so which one does Your Highness prefer?"
Shen Yao asked seriously, and Wei Luo answered seriously as well. He frowned and thought for a while, then took Shen Yao's hand and held it tightly before saying, "I like you now, and I also like you when you were a child, gentle and kind."
“I remember the first time you came to the palace, you were such a little thing, so cute, and you even called me brother. I was so happy that I couldn’t help but pinch your cheeks… and then you cried. After that, Father scolded me, and I cried too.”
“I thought you would hold a grudge against me, but I didn’t expect that the second time I entered the palace, you would give me a string of candied hawthorns and say, ‘Brother, don’t cry.’ We were so close back then. As soon as you entered the palace, you would come to play with me and treat me even better than my third brother.”
“If it weren’t for the Consort’s instigation, we would have been childhood sweethearts.” Wei Luo’s eyelashes trembled slightly, her tone filled with hatred for the Consort.
However, when facing Shen Yao, his voice instantly softened, "So why were you nice to me again later?"
She was so good to him that he forgave his past grievances and gradually fell for her, unable to extricate himself from her.
Wei Luo asked seriously, but Shen Yao didn't answer seriously. She turned her face away and tried to brush it off, "Your Highness is handsome and learned, of course I like you."
"What about Xu Xuan?"
Wei Luo lifted her chin and pressed on, "Just because he doesn't love you, you became disheartened and fell in love with me? So am I his substitute?"
"Of course not."
Shen Yao was startled, not expecting Wei Luo's thoughts to jump so quickly. She hurriedly said, "Your Highness is Your Highness, and Xu Xuan is Xu Xuan. You two are completely unrelated, so how can you talk about a stand-in?"
"But……"
Shen Yao didn't want to continue this topic, so she quickly covered his lips with her own, her voice soft: "Your Highness, it's late, shall we go to sleep?"
Her initiative in kissing him today completely softened his heart. With a beauty by his side, Wei Luo was too lazy to delve into the past. So he picked her up and placed her on the bed, pulled over the blankets, and they slept together.
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