The Crazy Emperor's Pampered Cousin

She struck a pose he found most appealing, her small hands clutching his shirt collar: "Brother~"

Xie Yanzhao looked down at her: "What's wrong?"

Shen Tinghe steeled herself, hugged his waist, and buried her face in his shoulder: "Brother, please have someone release Lord Chen, okay? He didn't really have any bad intentions. He just... just thought that taking me away was for my own good, that he wanted to help me..."

Xie Yanzhao's smile froze, and a surge of emotions instantly overwhelmed him.

"I have already killed him."

Shen Tinghe suddenly raised her head.

She stared wide-eyed at the face so close to hers, thinking she had misheard.

Xie Yanzhao had a smile on his lips, as gentle as a spring breeze in March, but it didn't reach his eyes at all.

"My brother has already had him killed."

He looked at her, his tone even tinged with regret: "What can we do? Yuan Yuan's plea came too late."

Xie Yanzhao said, shifting his gaze from her face back to the painting on the table, his tone as usual: "Yuanyuan, what do you think of painting a crabapple blossom here?"

Shen Tinghe looked at him, utterly incredulous.

Chen Ziye wasn't anyone important; he was just an ordinary friend.

But in the end, he ended up in this situation because he was trying to help her.

And now, he is dead.

"What gives you the right to do this? He's just..."

Before she could finish speaking, her chin was suddenly grabbed by a hand.

Xie Yanzhao's fingers tightened, forcing her to look up and meet his eyes.

The feigned gentleness on his face finally shattered, revealing the turbulent undercurrent beneath.

He looked at his wife as if she were an ignorant child.

Xie Yanzhao was already trying his best to restrain himself.

He restrained himself from hurting her in the slightest.

"Because I am the emperor! If I want him dead, he cannot live."

Shen Tinghe looked at him, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes, whether from feeling wronged and angry or from the pain of her cheek being pinched.

She yanked his hand away and raised it.

"Smack."

Xie Yanzhao turned his face slightly to the side, and a faint red mark appeared on his face.

"Don't try to act like an emperor in front of me!"

Shen Tinghe continued to look at him, refusing to look away, as if she refused to admit defeat.

She watched Xie Yanzhao turn his face away, waiting for him to lose his temper, waiting for him to be even more violent towards her.

But Xie Yanzhao simply raised her hand.

"Does it hurt?"

Shen Tinghe's eyes turned even redder.

She bit her lip and remained silent, but she didn't pull her hand back either.

Xie Yanzhao lowered his head and gently blew on her outstretched palm.

His Yuan Yuan was weak and had delicate skin. The slap he had just delivered, though delivered with full force, left a faint red mark on her palm.

Xie Yanzhao looked up at her, a faint smile playing on his lips: "You've learned to hit people, that's quite an improvement. This slap was much stronger than the previous ones."

Shen Tinghe retorted, her face stiff, "Weren't you going to yell at me? Weren't you going to pinch my cheeks? Your Majesty is so majestic, why are you trying to coax me!"

Xie Yanzhao looked at her.

Seeing her with red eyes trying to put on a brave face, seeing her glaring at him with her neck stiff even though she was about to cry,

The gloomy aura around him dissipated somewhat.

Xie Yanzhao touched the red finger mark on her face: "Who bullied whom between us?"

Shen Tinghe had two faint red finger marks on her face, while Xie Yanzhao had a bright handprint on his face.

Shen Tinghe sniffed: "You deserve it."

Xie Yanzhao chuckled, his eyes seemingly sparkling with excitement: "Yes, I deserve it. Even if Yuan Yuan hit me harder, I'd still take it."

The next instant, before Shen Tinghe could react, Xie Yanzhao's hand gripped the back of her neck.

He kissed me forcefully.

He held her lips, rubbing and grinding them little by little, his tongue probing and ramming into her mouth.

Shen Tinghe's body went limp from his kisses, and she slowly slumped down.

She suddenly had a thought of giving up.

Forget it, let's just forget about everything.

I don't want to think about rules, or what I should and shouldn't do anymore.

The two of them, living a life of revelry day and night, were entangled together until death.

When Xie Yanzhao released her lips, both of them were panting.

"Between me and Chen Ziye, who is more important?"

Shen Tinghe's eyes were hazy, tears still clinging to her eyelashes. Hearing this, she paused for a moment, then frowned, saying with a mixture of confusion and annoyance, "What are you comparing yourself to him for?"

It didn't say he was important, nor did it say Chen Ziye wasn't.

But Xie Yanzhao's eyes curved slightly.

Because he understood what she meant.

She was saying: What's there to compare? What's there to compare between him and him?

Xie Yanzhao lowered his head, buried it in her neck, and gently rubbed a small piece of tender flesh between his teeth.

"I'm not that easy to coax."

Shen Tinghe felt a little ticklish from his teasing and turned her head away, but he chased after her and came closer.

She wondered in confusion: What is he trying to coax?

What did she say?

She's still angry.

Xie Yanzhao carried Shen Tinghe straight to the bed, having already fully experienced the wonderful feeling of this large bed.

I must find some time in the future to make the beds in Yangxin Hall and Kunhua Palace even bigger.

The bigger the better, so big that his darling has nowhere to escape.

Shen Tinghe was forced to retreat step by step by the kiss. For every inch she retreated, Xie Yanzhao would advance a little, their lips and teeth remaining tightly pressed together.

Her back finally touched the soft brocade quilt, and she collapsed onto the bed, her black hair cascading down, her clothes loose, and her chest rising and falling with her breath.

Xie Yanzhao looked down at her, a dark light surging in his eyes.

He raised his hand and tore open the fabric of her dress, his palm completely enveloping her, warm and strong.

Shen Tinghe couldn't help but flinch, a slight shiver running down her spine.

She instinctively raised her foot to kick him, but he grabbed her ankle.

Xie Yanzhao leaned down, but his hands didn't stop moving. They moved with a gentle yet dangerous rhythm, as if he was tempting her to sink deeper and deeper into depravity.

"Jiaojiao, he's dead. He was just an insignificant person."

He paused, his tone becoming even gentler, yet still tinged with obsession.

"Is Jiaojiao really going to blame me because of him?"

Shen Tinghe stared at the face so close to hers. The features were still familiar, but there was something burning in those eyes that made her heart skip a beat.

Human hearts are made of flesh and blood.

She wouldn't blame the person she loved so deeply for Chen Ziye at all.

But she was angry, angry that he had indiscriminately killed innocent people, angry that he had made her hands stained with the blood of guilt.

She turned her head away, her voice trembling with a hint of bitterness:

"You must...make sure his funeral arrangements are handled properly..."

After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down her cheeks.

Xie Yanzhao laughed, his whole being radiating an almost manic excitement.

He gently kissed away the tears from the corners of her eyes, tasting a slightly salty flavor on his tongue, which made his heart burn.

"it is good."

The candlelight flickered, and the bed curtains hung low.

The two became increasingly entangled, and this intimacy dispelled their previous arguments and estrangement.