Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Just a Joke

“Clatter—”

The moment the sound echoed through the study, three big words flashed in Jiang Taohua’s mind—

I’m finished!

Even without looking down, she could see lively and adorable pearls rolling in from under the tablecloth, stopping right beside her. King Jing’s gaze was undoubtedly fixed on the floor right now. She absolutely couldn’t flick the pearls against their natural direction, or else he would realize something was amiss under the table.

But what if the prince suddenly decides to bend down and pick up the pearls?

Shen Zaiye was also stunned for a moment, staring blankly at the glittering pearls scattered across the floor. It took him a while to snap back to reality. He stepped outside, grabbed King Jing’s arm, and said urgently, “Your Highness, please leave quickly!”

King Jing had been about to bend down and pick them up. Confused by Shen Zaiye’s sudden pull, he was dragged out of the study and looked at him with suspicion. “What’s wrong? The Prime Minister seems rather peculiar today.”

“I was merely worried that Your Highness might slip and fall if you stepped on the pearls,” Shen Zaiye replied with a smile. Turning to Zhan Lu, he instructed, “Go inside and have someone tidy up. Not a single pearl can be missing.”

“Yes!” Zhanlu responded, quickly calling for a maid to go inside. Shen Zaiye pulled Jingwang along as they walked, saying, “Your Highness should return early. There are still matters to attend to.”

Mu Wuyin raised an eyebrow, glanced at Shen Zaiye’s expression, and stopped walking. “I’ve known the Prime Minister for two years, yet I’ve never seen him as flustered as he is today… Is there something you’re hiding from me?”

“No.” Shen Zaiye smiled. “Your Highness is overthinking it.”

“Although I may be slow-witted, I still have some basic intuition.” Squinting at him, Prince Jing gave a light laugh and, to his surprise, turned away to head back to the study.

“Your Highness!” Shen Zaiye clenched his hands. “What is the meaning of this?”

Prince Jing ignored him, his gaze sweeping around the study before finally settling on the area beneath the desk.

Pupils contracting, Shen Zaive reached out to stop him but was slightly slower than Prince Jing. As if he had discovered something, the Prince rushed over directly and yanked the tablecloth away!

The study fell into a brief silence. Spring breeze blew in from the window, passed beneath the now empty desk, and flowed out through the window on the other side.

Shen Zaive felt as if his heart had skipped two beats; his eyes took a moment to focus and see clearly. Only when his mind realized there was no one under the desk did his heart begin to beat rapidly again.

“Lord Jing?”

Mu Wuyin felt somewhat embarrassed, reaching down to pick up a few pearls that had rolled under the desk. He then slowly let the tablecloth fall back into place and smiled, saying, “I just noticed some pearls had rolled under the table. I figured the servants in the Prime Minister’s residence might not be so attentive. It’s better if I pick them up myself.”

Shen Zaive showed a hint of displeasure on his face but seemed to hold it back. He turned sideways and gestured toward the outside, inviting, “Please.”

With a dry laugh, Mu Wuyin followed him out, lowering his voice to say, “I’ve always been a bit suspicious and prone to overthinking, Your Excellency. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“I understand,” Shen Zaive replied, looking up at the sky with an air of worldly weariness. “Even if I were to lay my blood-soaked loyalty before the royal family, they would inevitably harbor doubts, finding this blood too fervent.”

“The Prime Minister speaks too gravely!” Mu Wuyin was startled and quickly cupped his hands in salute, bowing deeply: “Wuyin absolutely does not harbor any doubts about the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has wholeheartedly assisted me, how could Wuyin not know? In my heart, there is only gratitude, how could there be any other thoughts?”

Shen Zaiji sighed, responding with “I understand,” yet the sorrow in his eyes grew even more profound.

Mu Wuyin grew anxious, stepping in front of him and saying, “This prince is willing to promise that as soon as I ascend to the Eastern Palace, I will entrust all matters, great and small, to the Prime Minister for review, as a testament to my trust in you!”

Slightly taken aback, Shen Zaiye lowered his gaze and clasped his hands in salute. “I, Shen, lack both virtue and ability—how could I possibly shoulder such a heavy responsibility?”

“No one in this realm is more suited than the Prime Minister!” exclaimed Mu Wuyin. “As long as the Prime Minister sincerely aids me, on the day I ascend to the throne, I will surely grant the Prime Minister glory and prosperity for a hundred generations, with blessings extending to your descendants!”

With a faint smile, Shen Zaiye returned the salute. “Glory and prosperity are but fleeting clouds; I, Shen, may not place much value on them. However, Your Highness’s trust in me is truly heartening. Your Highness, please take care on your way.”

Seeing that he seemed to have let go, Mu Wuyin breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and bowed, then strode out of the Prime Minister’s residence.

Listening to the sound of the carriage starting, Shen Zaicai then pressed his hand against his chest and turned back to the study.

“Jiang Taohua!” Glancing around and seeing no one, Shen Zaiye roared in anger.

A head popped up outside the window. Peach Blossom grinned with a hint of mischief, looking at him with an expression that clearly begged for praise: “After watching Qing Tai leap over walls and scale roofs for so many years, I’ve still kept my own nimble skills! So, now that we’ve turned danger into safety, do I get a reward?”

After letting out a sigh of pent-up frustration, Shen Zaiye reached out and pulled her inside, his gaze falling on her face as if he were contemplating something.

Feeling a chill run down her spine under his gaze, Taohua quickly raised her hands to cover her face, peeking at him through her fingers. “Please don’t think of ruining my looks, my lord,” she said. “My livelihood depends on this face!”

“Don’t you rely on me to make a living?” Shen Zaiye smiled gently. “Wouldn’t it be fine to give up something? This lord will always provide for you.”

Shaking her head vigorously like a rattle drum, Tao Hua’s face turned pale: “You mustn’t do this, today was just an accident, such coincidences won’t happen again in the future, I assure you that Prince Jing will never find any trace of evidence!”

“I don’t like having uncertain dangers lurking around.” Reaching out to pry her hand away, Shen Zaijia leaned close and gently kissed her cheek: “Your life or your face—which will you choose?”

Her heart felt incredibly heavy. Even though both of them were smiling on the surface, Jiang Taohua knew deep down that Shen Zaoye was not joking. He was genuinely serious about altering her appearance to the point where the King of Jing would fail to recognize her.

Her throat tightened slightly. Peach Blossom thought, indeed, men are the most fickle creatures in the world. Not long ago, he was whispering sweet nothings and tangled intimately with her, but in the blink of an eye, he could so cold-bloodedly think of destroying her.

Such a person, impossible to confide in.

“My lord…” she whispered, “Do you have the heart to do it? With such a beautiful face as mine, you won’t find a second one across all three kingdoms. What you hold in your hands is a rare treasure! Wouldn’t it be a pity to destroy it so easily?”

Still holding her hand with his left, Shen Zaïye raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the radiant smile on her face and gently rubbing the sweat in her palm. Somehow, his heart suddenly softened.

Look at how frightened she was.

With a slight smile, he tightened his grip, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. Leaning down, he whispered by her ear, “Don’t be nervous, I was just joking.”

That joke wasn’t funny at all! Shivering slightly, Peach Blossom wrapped her arms around him, her eyes tinged with a faint redness.

To outsiders, she likely appeared as a delicate young girl frightened by a joke, clinging to someone’s embrace for comfort. Only Peach Blossom herself knew she was trembling from surviving a near-calamity, still shaken by lingering fear.

The figure in his arms trembled slightly, fragile and delicate. Shen Zaiji pursed his lips, let out a soft sigh, then reached out to lift her chin and kissed her.

Tears instantly streamed down her cheeks as Peach Blossom choked, her words slurred, “You always used to find me dirty, so why do you love kissing me so much now…”

“Not dirty.” Shen Zaoye’s eyes softened tenderly as he gently embraced her, soothing her like a child, “Your lips are the softest, like sticky rice cakes—fragrant and sweet.”

Pearl-like tears rolled down in succession. Peach Blossom pouted but still managed a blush, meaning it just for show. Shen Zaoye looked down at her, reaching out to wipe the tears from her face, but somehow they only grew more numerous.

“Don’t cry.”

Peach Blossom’s eye sockets and the tip of her nose were both flushed a rosy pink. Though she nodded in agreement, her tears continued to fall without pause.

An inexplicable restlessness stirred within Shen Zaixue. He scooped her up in one swift motion, pressing her against the bookshelf behind them. “If you keep crying, don’t even think about leaving this courtyard today!”

“Sir, are those words meant to encourage this humble one to cry, or to ask me to stop?” With eyes shimmering like pools of water, Peach Blossom sniffled and asked between sobs.

Shen Zaixue couldn’t help but chuckle. He parted her legs, wrapping them around his waist, and lowered his head to kiss her.

Glancing at the half-open window, Tao Hua’s cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. But considering that a beast like Shen Zaiye was unlikely to have anyone daring to venture within three zhang of him, she focused all her efforts on figuring out how to seduce him instead.

Her robe was loosely draped, their skin intimately close. The eyes of Jiang Taohua, red from crying, looked like ponds after the rain—clear and chilling, drawing one irresistibly to fall into their depths.

Shen Zaiye looked into her eyes and felt that her shameless words earlier might not have been entirely without merit. With a face like hers, truly rare across the three kingdoms, he indeed should be reluctant to let her go.

“My lord, are you truly going to spare me?” Taohua suddenly asked in a gentle, tender voice.

Under normal circumstances, Shen Zaiye would not answer such a question. Yet, inexplicably, as he gazed into her eyes, he found himself speaking: “Truly, as long as you serve me.”

It was his own voice, yet it did not feel like something he would have said.

A pang of anxiety struck him, Shen Zaiye gritted his teeth, drew the dagger hidden on the bookshelf, and sliced his own finger.

His vision cleared instantly. Before him, the woman’s fragrant shoulders were as smooth as jade, her expression pitiful and vulnerable, her eyes brimming with innocence as she gazed at him:

“Master, what’s wrong with you?”

Damn it, she had managed to take advantage of him again!

Narrowing his eyes, Shen Zaiye grabbed her wrist and pinned her firmly against the bookshelf, gritting his teeth as he said, “Why can’t you ever make things easier for me, woman?”

They had agreed she wouldn’t use seduction techniques on him anymore, yet her audacity was truly remarkable!

Pouting, Taohua hummed, “Master Xu can jest, but I’m not allowed a joke of my own?”

“……”

Well, she had a point. Her mouth was sharp enough—though he wondered when she might show the same boldness in bed, instead of always resembling a bullied rabbit, with eyes so pure and innocent that they made him want to crush her!

Gently pressing his lips, Shen Zaiye picked her up and turned directly to close the windows on both sides, then pressed her against the window, indulging in a wild entanglement.

The room was scattered with pearls everywhere, yet to be completely tidied up. The maidservant no longer dared to linger nearby, having already put down the pearls and fled.

As the sun gradually set and the moon hung in the sky, Shen Zaiye opened the window.

The pearls shimmered under the moonlight, looking just like Jiang Taohua’s skin.