The Crazy Emperor's Pampered Cousin

It wasn't the usual aloofness and arrogance, but rather a naked, burning yet icy possessiveness stripped of all pretense, so intense it was suffocating.

"Brother, please don't bully me..."

Her voice trembled, carrying her usual pleading and soft tone, just as she had done countless times to defuse his emotions.

But this time, it completely failed.

Xie Yanzhao's eyes showed no sign of softening.

He leaned down and slipped his hand under her already disheveled skirt.

His fingertips, calloused, slid relentlessly upwards along her calf, sending shivers down her spine wherever they went.

"It's my brother's fault."

He stared into her terrified eyes, his voice low and menacing, with an odd tenderness, like a sigh.

"It's because your brother has spoiled Yuan Yuan too much, raising you in the palm of his hand and sheltering you from the wind and rain, which has made you so bold..."

So much so that she dared to show that kind of expression to other men.

She dared to fabricate a lie about being an "old friend" for someone she had just met!

What Song Huaijing?

He watched her grow from a child into a young woman, and his shadow was present in every moment of her life. How could he not know who her "old friends" were?

In Xie Yanzhao's view, this clumsy excuse only confirms one point.

She developed an inappropriate interest in that man surnamed Song.

This realization gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake, and jealousy and anger churned into a raging torrent that breached the last dam called "restraint."

"Sizzle—"

The crisp sound of the fabric tearing was particularly jarring in the room.

Shen Tinghe felt a chill in front of her as his clothes were torn apart by his bare hands.

However, the expected harsher treatment did not come immediately.

She saw Xie Yanzhao pause slightly, and a deep, almost painful helplessness flashed across the turbulent black storm in his eyes.

It was as if they were examining a precious treasure that they had carefully protected but was about to go astray.

He leaned down, his burning lips close to her ear, speaking slowly and clearly, each word carrying a chilling stubbornness:

"It's my brother's fault for not teaching me well. From now on... it will never happen again."

Before she could finish speaking, the temporarily calmed storm swept over her with even greater ferocity.

Xie Yanzhao urgently needs to have closer contact with Shen Tinghe to confirm that she is his.

He no longer needed to beat around the bush, no longer cared about hurting her, and desperately wanted to confirm her existence in an almost cruel way.

To re-imprint her with my mark in the most primitive way.

Shen Tinghe trembled beneath him, enduring his completely out-of-control possession.

The Xie Yanzhao at this moment was so unfamiliar to her that it terrified her. The facade had completely shattered, revealing his true face of obsessive gloom and possessiveness that ran deep in his bones.

He saw no one else but her.

The only one he was determined to keep by any means necessary was Shen Tinghe, whom he kept locked in his arms.

Outside the window, the distant sound of the temple bell drifted in, deep and resonant, yet it could not penetrate the scorching yet icy prison within, a place intertwined with love, desire, and destruction.

……

……

As she floated and sank, Shen Tinghe felt as if she had died several times.

One moment I'm in the clouds, the next it feels like I'm in hell.

When she was conscious, she was curled up naked in Xie Yanzhao's arms.

Xie Yanzhao's kisses continued to rub against her skin inch by inch.

He was even more excited when he felt the person in his arms wake up.

His lingering lips and teeth on her neck and chest were filled with an increasingly uncontrollable lust.

He looked up, his eyes swirling with an unfathomable obsession, even the corners of his lips curled into a distorted smile.

"Yuan Yuan, who am I?"

Shen Tinghe was annoyed by his domineering behavior from last night until now. She gave a spoiled snort and turned her face away, refusing to answer.

Xie Yanzhao's eyes darkened, his teeth grinding lightly against her soft flesh, his hand dangerously reaching downwards, his voice low and hoarse as he repeated the message.

"Tell me, who is next to you right now?"

Noticing his actions, Shen Tinghe hurriedly begged for mercy.

"Brother...it's my brother!"

Xie Yanzhao chuckled softly, but was still not satisfied.

He scooped her up in his arms, wrapped them both in a brocade quilt, grasped her slender wrists, and kissed her along the inside of her delicate skin, leaving burning marks.

"Call again."

Shen Tinghe's eyes were red and her body was so weak that she could only cling to him and tremble.

She struggled to pull her hand away, but he held her tightly in his arms, and she could only call out in a tearful voice.

"My husband... my husband..."

During their intimate moments last night, he kept confirming this, as if only in this way could he soothe the unease hidden deep in his heart.

Xie Yanzhao was finally somewhat satisfied. He pressed his hand against her sweaty forehead and his tone returned to its usual gentleness.

"Shall I carry Yuan Yuan to wash up?"

His expression seemed unchanged from before, still the same way he doted on her.

But Shen Tinghe knew him too well.

The lingering darkness in his eyes, the possessiveness and madness that almost devoured him, was something she had never truly witnessed before.

She didn't answer, but slowly raised her hand to cover his eyes.

No matter how jealous he was before, he had never lost control like this.

Only now did she realize that beneath Xie Yanzhao's gentle exterior lay such a sinister and obsessive nature.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind, making Shen Tinghe's heart tighten.

Given Xie Yanzhao's current temperament, could it be...?

"You didn't kill Song Huailing, did you?"

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Yanzhao suddenly opened his eyes, all traces of tenderness from before vanishing.

Shen Tinghe realized he had misunderstood and hurriedly tried to explain:

"I'm not doing this on his behalf—"

But he had already grabbed her cheeks tightly, and a barrage of hot and fierce kisses rained down on her.

His tongue pried open her lips and teeth, wantonly invading every soft spot, sucking and intertwining, stealing all her breath.

Xie Yanzhao only stepped back slightly when she felt dizzy and weakly pounded his shoulder, but his breath was still hot against her swollen lips.

"Jiaojiao can't take it anymore, so be good."

Xie Yanzhao's voice was low and deep, concealing a simmering anger that was about to erupt.

"Don't make your brother angry because of other people."

Shen Tinghe lay panting heavily against his neck, her lips and tongue numb, her waist aching from the iron grip of his arms.

When had she ever been treated so roughly by him?

Feeling wronged and annoyed, she bit him on the side of the neck without any mercy.

Xie Yanzhao grunted, but did not let go. Instead, he chuckled softly, his laughter filled with suppressed darkness.

"Good bite."

He stroked the back of her neck, as if to soothe her or to restrain her.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Shen Tinghe was one of morbid smugness.

"Goodness, bite harder."

Xie Yanzhao let out a satisfied sigh.

Pain is a scale, measuring who loves more deeply and more passionately.

When her fingertips dug into his back, he chuckled and kissed her sweaty temples.

"Yes, that's it... let's make each other inseparable."

Shen Tinghe raised her head, her lips stained crimson with blood, like crushed rose juice applied to trembling petals, gleaming with an eerie luster.

Xie Yanzhao's eyes suddenly darkened.

He loved her just the way she looked.

He loved the blood on her teeth, and the shadow of him in her eyes.

He lowered his head to kiss him again, with an almost naive greed.