Chapter 47: The First Kiss Was Her Initiative

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: The First Kiss Was Her Initiative

"Don’t stare at me like that. It’s rude!"

"...I’m sorry."

Shen Tingyu’s eyelashes fluttered as he quickly lowered his gaze.

He looked abashed.

Cui Lingyao felt a headache coming on, but she was also a little curious.

She set down her teacup, propped her chin on her hand, and asked the man across from her, "Are you genuinely embarrassed, or are you just pretending to be?"

Her words were so direct, it was hardly a question one would expect from a young lady.

Shen Tingyu was at a loss for words. He lifted his downcast eyes and simply looked at her, saying nothing.

His gaze was clear and bright, and paired with his handsome features, it was truly...

Cui Lingyao’s heart began to pound. She averted her eyes, thinking she should change the subject, but then she heard him say, "I rarely spend time with young ladies... so yes, I am a bit embarrassed."

"..." Cui Lingyao stared at him, speechless.

"You don’t believe me?"

Shen Tingyu’s expression turned serious. "I have never been as close to any young lady as I have been with you," he said earnestly.

And the closest they had ever been was simply holding hands.

Cui Lingyao was a little surprised. "If I recall correctly, you’re twenty-one."

Twenty-one.

Not eleven.

At his age... Never mind the sons of noble families who were given serving maids at fifteen or sixteen.

Even in modern society, people would have already started dating by now.

In the original owner’s memories, although she had never seen this cousin of hers philandering or womanizing, that didn’t mean he had never been with a woman at his age.

After all, this was ancient times.

The powerful and wealthy classes didn’t practice sexual repression.

There were more than enough ways for a man to satisfy his desires.

Shen Tingyu understood her implication, and this time, he was genuinely abashed.

’What kind of young lady is so bold as to discuss such topics with a man?’

The tips of his ears burned. His fingers tightened around the porcelain cup, but he still explained seriously, "I haven’t been with anyone, and that’s the truth. I wouldn’t lie to you."

That was incredibly direct.

Cui Lingyao belatedly realized it.

She blinked and said no more.

But Shen Tingyu wouldn’t let it go, pressing her, "Do you believe me?"

"..." Cui Lingyao murmured an assent.

A smile bloomed in Shen Tingyu’s eyes. He continued their earlier topic, "Zhao Shijie is one of Xie Jinbai’s men. His family suddenly sending out invitations for a ’joy-warding’ marriage was likely at Xie Jinbai’s instruction."

At his words, Cui Lingyao looked up in surprise. "Zhao Shijie is one of Xie Jinbai’s men?"

She only knew that Zhao Shijie had entered officialdom through the imperial examinations, while Xie Jinbai held military power and his subordinates were all military generals.

’Zhao Shijie is the dignified Heir of the Duke Zhao Mansion, not some commoner with no background. How could he be one of his men?’

Shen Tingyu explained it to her in detail.

She had been dead for three years, and in that time, the court of the Great Yue Dynasty had been thrown into turmoil.

The old Emperor’s health was declining by the day, making the struggle for the throne inevitable.

Among the four adult Princes, Xie Jinbai was the youngest.

But he was the legitimate son of the Empress.

This alone gave him a more legitimate claim than his three older brothers.

Moreover, he had military achievements and had been granted the title of Prince early on.

He was far ahead of the others.

The merit of supporting a new emperor was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for countless officials.

Although choosing a side early was risky...

...siding with Xie Jinbai wasn’t a huge risk.

For those who wanted to be the first to show loyalty to the future emperor, the sooner they pledged their allegiance, the better.

His faction was no longer what it once was.

However, the Duke Zhao Mansion held a hereditary title, so they had no need to take such a risk to fight for the merit of aiding a future emperor.

Shen Tingyu said, "With Chen Minrou gravely ill, not only has the Imperial Hospital been mobilized, but its director is also constantly at the Zhao Family’s beck and call. Three imperial edicts have been issued, seeking Divine Doctors from all over the land to treat her. All of this was done through Xie Jinbai’s influence."

Therefore, Zhao Shijie is Xie Jinbai’s man.

Not the entire Duke Zhao Mansion.

Zhao Shijie, in order to find a Divine Doctor to save his wife, went against his family’s political stance.

He did not remain neutral, but instead pledged his allegiance to Xie Jinbai.

This was the real reason everyone at court and beyond believed he was so deeply devoted to his wife.

Hearing this, Cui Lingyao finally felt that this matched the image she had in her memory of the young man who was so gentle and doting toward his fiancée.

Yet she still found it hard to understand. "If that’s the case, why would he decide to marry his wife’s younger sister as his second wife while his current one is still gravely ill?"

Shen Tingyu didn’t know the specific details of another family’s internal affairs.

He speculated, "Perhaps it’s for the sake of their two children."

Cui Lingyao scoffed.

Her laugh made Shen Tingyu’s back inexplicably stiffen. He quickly whispered, "I wouldn’t do something like that."

Cui Lingyao: "..."

She looked at the man opposite her. Seeing his handsome, gentle face, she was suddenly filled with an urge to vent, and the floodgates of her words opened.

"I met Chen Minrou when I was ten. By then, she was already engaged to Zhao Shijie. They were childhood sweethearts who grew up together. Do you have any idea how good they were to each other?"

Before he could answer, Cui Lingyao continued:

"At the end of the year I turned fifteen, there was a smallpox outbreak in the Capital City. Chen Minrou and I both caught it. She had an older brother, a younger brother, and a little sister who was only a few years old. Her mother couldn’t spare a moment to care for her personally, and she couldn’t keep her at home in the capital for fear of the other children catching the dreadful disease. So she just sent a few servants with her to a villa in the suburb of the capital to recover."

"When Zhao Shijie heard the news, he didn’t hesitate for a second. He ran out to the suburb of the capital in a blizzard to be with her. For fifteen whole days, he tended to her day and night, not resting until she recovered."

"Later, Chen Minrou told me that she had a close brush with death. She said she only woke up because she heard Zhao Shijie’s anguished cries and her heart ached for him."

Such devotion.

And now Zhao Shijie was choosing a second wife while his first was gravely ill.

And that person was his own sister-in-law, a girl he’d watched grow up.

Cui Lingyao didn’t just find it disgusting; she found it horrifying.

How could a person change so much?

She had said so much, and Shen Tingyu listened quietly the entire time.

When she finished, he was silent for a moment. The first thing he said was, "You had smallpox, too. At the time... who was with you?"

Surprised that he was curious about this, Cui Lingyao said, "I was treated at home. My father, mother, and older brother came by from time to time, and..."

...there was also Xie Jinbai.

At that time, his Love Value was at fifty.

When he heard she had smallpox, he came directly to visit her.

However, for an unrelated man like him to brazenly enter her chambers in front of her parents and brother—that was just a dream.

He could only sneak into her room at night, avoiding prying eyes and ears.

Back then, he didn’t have the audacity he showed after their marriage. He was very well-behaved, not doing anything improper, just sitting by her bedside and occasionally wiping the sweat from her brow.

Several times, she groggily opened her eyes to find herself looking into his dark, deep ones.

When he saw she was awake, he would coax her.

He tempted her with all sorts of things to get her to recover quickly.

Even while gravely ill, Cui Lingyao remembered her ’conquest’ mission.

She told him to leave so he wouldn’t get infected.

Only after learning that he’d already had smallpox as a child did she dare to act spoiled with him, burrowing right into his arms.

Their first kiss was initiated by her.

She was sick and very weak. Even though her kisses stirred his desire, Xie Jinbai didn’t dare do anything. He was afraid of losing control and didn’t even dare to respond.

He just sat there, his body rigid, letting her kiss him.