Lin Yanxi’s small body trembled in his embrace, her hands tightly hooked around his neck.
The young man was lean and strong. When their noses met, she could smell the ambergris on him, a unique fragrance of royalty.
Her face was flushed, and her heart was pounding so fast. Could she really have palpitations?
Fortunately, Shen Muzhou had no intention of taking her anywhere. He gently placed her on the inner side of the bed, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
She pouted, looking up and glaring at him, suspecting he was making fun of her, but she had no proof.
“Asleep? It’s your father.” Lin Ze’s voice came from outside, lightly knocking on the door.
She was startled and sat up abruptly, hastily replying, “S-sleepy.”
If anyone were to discover Shen Muzhou in her room, she’d truly be finished.
She shot a resentful and fearful glance at the culprit. He smirked indifferently, then provocatively and leisurely lay down on the outer side of her bed.
He lay down? He actually lay down?!
What did he want to do? He was going crazy!
“Oh, then Father won’t come in.”
Her tense little face relaxed slightly.
Lin Ze continued from outside, “It’s just that the spies in the palace reported that you accepted Shen Muzhou’s hairpin today…”
Spies… Father, please say less. You’re practically giving away all our secrets.
This was really serious.
Her brows furrowed again with anxiety. She quickly stammered, interrupting him, “Father, you, you mustn’t say more. It’s too late, I’m tired. We can talk about anything another day.”
Lin Ze was silent for a moment, then sighed, “Zhao… my daughter, this Ninth Prince is cunning and cruel, definitely not a good match for you…”
She broke out in a cold sweat and looked down at the man on the bed. His long hair was tied up, his brows stern, and his pale skin emphasized sharp jawlines, making his emotions unreadable.
But she had to admit, her father’s assessment of Shen Muzhou was quite objective. However, Father, if you say one more word, your daughter might die at the hands of this devil.
Seeing his daughter’s prolonged silence, Lin Ze said, “Alright, Father won’t nag. You rest now.”
Lin Yanxi’s hanging heart finally relaxed. Just as she was about to sigh in relief, she heard her father muttering outside the door, “Hmph, tomorrow in court, I will impeach him.”
Lin Ze’s footsteps grew fainter and fainter, gradually disappearing into the night.
Shen Muzhou’s expression was calm, the corners of his lips curling into an upward arc that held a chilling intensity. He spoke leisurely, “Impeach this King?”
His voice was extremely cold. She instinctively shrank further inside, then said with a fawning smile, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. Ninth Prince, coming to my humble room so late at night, may I ask your purpose?”
She didn’t believe this Ninth Prince would seek her out for no reason, or simply to keep her by his side.
Shen Muzhou closed his eyes, lying on the bed. He said, “Have you figured out how to cure me?” m..oΓg
Under the faint moonlight, his skin appeared even paler, devoid of color. The cold illness was constantly eroding his body.
Her delicate brows furrowed. She looked as if she had something to say but hesitated, as if she had been bullied.
He opened his eyes and couldn’t stand seeing her like that. He threatened her, “If you can’t cure my illness, you and this wretched ring will disappear from Nan Min.”
Lin Yanxi’s face looked like she was about to cry. This terrifying, ferocious appearance, asking others what they were afraid of.
She quickly shook her head and raised three fingers in an oath, “I am willing to give my all to cure the Prince’s stubborn illness, to the death.”
Seeing Shen Muzhou’s expression soften slightly, she quickly lowered her fingers, silently praying to heaven, *Please don’t listen to this, it’s all fake, fake!*
She needed to stabilize Shen Muzhou first, to gain more time and opportunities to deal with him and retrieve the ring.
In her previous life, it wasn’t until Lin Yanxi was terribly tormented in the Eastern Palace, then framed as Nan Min’s bringer of disaster and executed on the platform, that her maternal grandfather appeared and saved her.
In short, he wouldn’t appear now.
As for the person who cast the curse, as a descendant of a talisman master, even without the innate talent to cultivate magic, she could sense the spiritual energy of talismans. She had sensed it on the hairpin that Shen Muzhou and the Crown Prince had prepared.
She couldn’t be sure who this person was. Was the curse attached to the hairpin an act by the Crown Prince directed at her, or at the Crown Prince?
Either way, the person who secretly practiced forbidden arts was not someone she could contend with.
In fact, everything about Shen Muzhou was strange. In her past life, she had never encountered him, and he had no curse on him, only a simple weakness. Why had he become so complicated in this life?
“Very good. As a reward for your loyalty, I permit you to accompany me every night.”
???
Lin Yanxi was shocked and angry, momentarily speechless.
Was he crazy? Did he want to sneak into the Grand Tutor’s mansion every night? What did he mean by accompanying him every night?
Shen Muzhou pinched her cheek and said, “Look at you, so happy you can’t speak. Sleep.”
Sleep? Sleep! With whom?
And where did he see that she was happy?
After speaking, Shen Muzhou pulled her into his arms. Her small frame fit perfectly in his arm, a special fragrance entered her nostrils, and her body, as cold as being in an ice cave, gradually warmed up.
“Until you cure my cold illness, you need to accompany me every night. This is your punishment.”
She struggled for a moment but couldn’t break free. Seeing her restlessness, Shen Muzhou impatiently asked, “Don’t you want the Soul Ring anymore?”
Lin Yanxi immediately calmed down, then became alert, sensing something was amiss. She asked, “How do you know it’s the Soul Ring?”
He didn’t answer her question, his eyes closed, his breathing even, his long lashes casting shadows, cool and noble.
She exuded a cloying sweet fragrance, soft and delicate in his embrace. The long-lost warmth filled his body, making him feel cozy. His complexion also regained some color.
“Do you have a courtesy name?”
In the darkness, his voice, cold and ethereal, came from above her. She was stunned for a moment, then replied straightforwardly, “No.”
She didn’t know who the girl named ‘Zhao Zhao’ was to him. She didn’t want any further involvement with this devil. Once she retrieved the Soul Ring, she would have nothing more to do with him.
After a period of silence, Shen Muzhou’s arm loosened its grip, no longer holding her as tightly as before.
He had been having a dream for years. In his dream, he wore a silver mask and followed a woman wearing a veil, as if protecting her.
He only heard an elder accompanying them call her ‘Zhao Zhao’.
The woman never spoke to him. She was very quiet, often looking down while reading.
He had never seen the woman’s full face, but when she looked back at him, the veil fluttered in the wind. Through the gaps in the veil, he saw her eyes, filled with infinite sorrow, as if there were countless words she couldn’t express.
Lin Yanxi…
Shen Muzhou suddenly opened his eyes, startled awake from his dream. He had dreamt it again, and for the first time, he had seen the face of the woman in his dream clearly. It was Lin Yanxi.
***
The next morning, Tang Chao and Lizhi came to help her get up. After waking up, she realized Shen Muzhou had already left.
It seemed he didn’t want the Grand Tutor’s household to know he had been in her room.
She put on her clothes and ordered, “Tang Chao, accompany me to inventory Mother’s dowry. Lizhi, be very careful in everything you do when you go out.”
Jiang Wan’s dowry was kept in a side room in the back courtyard. The wooden door had a padlock, and dozens of boxes of gold and silver treasures were inside.
Jiang Qi was Lin Yanxi’s maternal grandfather. The Jiang clan was the sole descendant of talisman masters in the entire Yueyou. However, not everyone in the Jiang clan could awaken their bloodline. Jiang Qi had two children. His son, Jiang Haochu, was a talisman master but was drained of his vital essence and died ten years ago.
Cursers were a forbidden art that defied fate. Those who forcibly practiced curses would suffer backlash, requiring the vital essence of a talisman master’s lineage to alleviate the suffering.
With Jiang Haochu’s death, the Jiang clan also declined. Before this, the yellow talismans for warding off evil spirits, wielded by talisman masters, were priceless. The Jiang clan was also the wealthiest noble family in all of Yueyou.
Lin Yanxi looked at the room full of boxes containing silver and white items, as well as many containing various rare treasures, exotic medicinal herbs. In her previous life, all these things were taken by Concubine Xu. People’s hearts had changed.
Tang Chao was checking the quantity of each box and said doubtfully, “Miss, why is there a small box here that is locked? Ah, hiss—”
The moment Tang Chao reached out to touch the small box, his fingertip was burned.
Lin Yanxi responded and walked over. Indeed, there was a small wooden box with a lock. The box itself was unremarkable, but the lock was intricate, and a yellow talisman was attached to it.
“Be careful!” Tang Chao quickly warned as Lin Yanxi reached for the box.
To her surprise, Lin Yanxi was not burned by the talisman’s magic. Instead, the moment she picked up the box, the yellow talisman burned away with a ‘hiss—’.
The lock on the box clicked open.
Inside lay a book. She delicately picked up a page. It recorded the hand seals for various talismans, as well as information about yellow talismans and… curses.
Lin Yanxi didn’t know why, but the first thought in her mind upon seeing this book was Shen Muzhou. The book contained methods for curing illnesses caused by curses.
It required yellow talismans to perform the magic, using… vital essence as a guide.
What? What vital essence? This page was incomplete. It said that the Twin Hearts Flower could be used to resolve it.
Could it be the vital essence of a talisman master?
Just as she was about to study the section on curses in the book, Lizhi suddenly ran in and whispered, “Eldest Miss has gone to the restaurant.”
The corners of Lin Yanxi’s lips curved upwards. She closed the ancient book and raised her eyebrows. It seemed someone couldn’t wait.
In her previous life, after being captured while trying to escape, Lin Yuan had boastfully told her, “Do you know, after he vented his anger on you every time, when you were curled up in a corner, on the verge of death, he was with me at the largest restaurant in the capital, being intimate.”
This was exactly when Father returned from court. This meant the Crown Prince went to meet Lin Yuan in secret as soon as he finished his court duties.
Truly impatient.
Lin Yanxi went to the study and pestered Lin Ze to accompany her to the restaurant. Coincidentally, Jiang Wan saw them, and so they ended up going together, all three of them.
The restaurant was not far, only a ten-minute walk away. Lin Yanxi walked with Lin Ze and Jiang Wan on the bustling street.
The marketplace was vibrant, and the people were prosperous. The stalls on both sides of the street were filled with vendors calling out their wares. Occasionally, carriages or camels carrying goods traded by merchants from north and south passed by.
Unfortunately, such days would soon end.
Nan Min would eventually decline, becoming an empty city within ten years.
“Let’s go, let’s go see.”
The common people gathered under the execution platform, forming a circle. Lin Yanxi also curiously joined them.
On the execution platform stood Shen Muzhou, wrapped in a dark blue cloak, holding a hand warmer. He stood tall, his expression cold and stern.
Before him, three people knelt on the platform, the executioner’s long刀 held at their necks.