A middle-aged emperor, childless, was blessed with a beautiful and pregnant concubine who entered th

Thinking of the young Mingyi, Shen Kuo felt a faint ripple in his heart.

She was there for me during the most difficult times of my youth.

But he never saw contempt or disdain in her eyes.

She always had a smile on her face, carefree, and even the way she rested her chin on her hand was incredibly adorable.

Shen Kuo thought to himself at the time, "Such a pure and beautiful woman, I wonder who will benefit from her in the future."

He definitely won't get a turn.

He doesn't deserve it.

Later, he followed General Xue to the border region and never saw her again.

He never expected that their reunion would be like this.

Why was she in Qingzhou? Had she encountered some danger?

After recovering from his injuries, Shen Kuo spent several days figuring out Zhou Mingyi's current situation.

Shen Kuo's feelings were very complicated.

He had planned to formally propose to her once he had accumulated enough military merits, but unexpectedly... now that there was a difference between the ruler and his subject, it was impossible to do so.

Shen Kuo knew perfectly well that this would kill her.

But he just couldn't resist.

"Shen Kuo".

She called his name softly, barely making a sound.

But he could tell just by the shape of her lips.

She wasn't calling anyone else; she was calling him by his name.

A surge of heat suddenly welled up in Shen Kuo's chest, his breathing became much heavier, and the sound of his clothes rubbing together was amplified dramatically.

Shen Kuo's gaze was intense, and he could barely hear anything else.

He was willing to fall for her!

At this moment, inside the wooden cabinet.

Xie Jing's nails dug deeply into his palm, the stinging pain palpable, but it was nothing compared to the shock of the scene before him.

This is exactly the scene he imagined.

A woman of unparalleled beauty was pinned down by the tall and strong Emperor Qianwu...

The initial overwhelming fear has somehow changed its nature.

A darker, more intense emotion, like a poisonous vine, grew wildly from the dirtiest corner of his heart, coiling around it and tightening its grip.

His nominal father was the emperor.

And the woman he had just tried to possess.

That woman is really bold!

They were just a door away, doing...the most intimate thing.

And he, the crown prince, like the lowest of voyeurs, huddled in a filthy wardrobe, witnessing all of this.

Humiliation, fear, jealousy, anger... in the end, strangely, they were forged into a kind of almost terrifying ecstasy and pleasure, which surged through my spine like an electric current.

His body trembled slightly uncontrollably, not from fear, but from excitement.

A certain hidden desire, one that even he himself had not clearly perceived, was laid bare before him at this moment.

He found it incredibly exciting.

The noise by the wall stopped.

"Father" seemed to say something in a low voice, which was deep and unclear.

Consort Zhen gave a soft "hmm," her voice thick with nasal tone.

Then, the faint sound of the two adjusting their clothes could be heard.

The tall figure put his arm around her, then turned and walked towards the door without lingering.

The door opened, then closed again.

The meditation room fell silent again, with only his frantic heartbeat and the stuffy air inside the wardrobe remaining.

After an unknown amount of time, Xie Jing stiffly and extremely slowly crawled out of the wardrobe.

All parts of the body felt sore and numb from being curled up for so long.

He stood in the center of the empty meditation room. Sunlight streamed through the windowpanes, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air, as well as the unnatural flush on his pale face and the lingering bloodshot in his eyes.

He walked to the spot where the two men had stood. There were no marks on the wall, but he could still feel the scorching, sticky heat.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.

wrong.

He suddenly opened his eyes, a chilling clarity piercing through his previous confusion and madness.

If Father really came, how could it be such a coincidence?

What about the ceremonial guard?

What about the attending eunuchs?

The person from the beginning did not utter a single word.

Although his figure and outline were similar, his walking posture seemed more upright than that of his father, lacking the casualness of someone who had long held a position of power.

And that scent... it wasn't the ambergris my father often used, but rather a very faint scent, masked by the incense smoke from the Buddhist temple... the scent of battlefield blood and dust.

Consort Zhen... how dare she!

How dare he have an affair inside Hanshan Temple?!

They were even so audacious as to use him, staging this substitution act to provoke the crown prince?

This time, it was pure, unadulterated rage from being fooled, a surge that erupted from within.

But then, an even more intense emotion stubbornly overwhelmed the anger.

She knew she might be discovered, yet she still dared to do it.

What did she take him for?

Playing chess pieces? Scolding dogs?

"Good... very good!" Xie Jing chuckled softly, the sound echoing eerily in the empty meditation room.

He raised his hand and vigorously rubbed his lower lip with his fingertips, where the cool touch of her fingertips seemed to still linger.

This is, of course, a huge weakness.

A concubine who secretly met with a foreign official was guilty of a crime punishable by death.

That's enough for him to crush her, along with that adulterer, to death.

but……

He made a point of concealing himself today in order to see her; how can he explain that?

Most importantly, that poisonous vine-like excitement in his heart entwined around him again, suffocating him.

What lingered in his mind's eye was the flame that burned deep within her cold pupils when she manipulated everyone, a flame that both terrified and captivated him.

Crush her?

No.

That's so boring.

He wanted to expose her, control her, torment her, and even more so... completely conquer her.

She wanted the icy flame in her eyes to burn only for him!

He wanted to bring her audacious soul to its knees in the end.

This leverage is not the end, but only the beginning.

Xie Jing lingered for a while, savoring the moment, before licking his dry lips and turning to leave.

When he left, his face still had its usual gentle and refined expression.

Like a dignified gentleman...

Once she was certain Xie Jing had left, Zhou Mingyi immediately released her grip on Shen Kuo.

Shen Kuo: ...

"Why is General Shen here?"

Shen Kuo's Adam's apple bobbed as he slowly concealed the hint of darkness in his eyes before bowing and saying, "Reporting to Consort Zhen, this humble servant has offered longevity tablets for my deceased parents at Hanshan Temple."

Zhou Mingyi nodded, her expression indifferent.

"I see. General Shen is a filial son."

Shen Kuo's gaze fell on Zhou Mingyi's beautiful face, and his expression was extremely complicated.

He dared not look any longer, "I have not yet paid my respects to Consort Zhen; I wonder if Her Majesty is in good health?"

Zhou Mingyi glanced at him. "I am naturally well."

"Fortunately, the Japanese princess acted decisively and pulled General Shen down the cliff with her; otherwise, she would have become a victim of General Shen's blade."

Shen Kuo was suddenly taken aback by those words.

"cough!"

"Your Majesty is so beautiful, this humble servant cannot bear to see you fall into the hands of the barbarians. Please forgive me!"

"Oh?"

Zhou Mingyi glanced at him.

"General Shen also thinks I'm beautiful?"

Shen Kuo was speechless for a moment; he had long known that she was beautiful.

I've known this for a long time.

"Your Majesty..."

Zhou Mingyi found it boring; Shen Kuo was still the same blockhead he was when he was a child.

Well, since she had already achieved her goal for the day, she lost interest in teasing Shen Kuo.

The reason she dared to use Shen Kuo to fool Xie Jing was that she knew Xie Jing was a deep and cunning man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Moreover, with such filthy thoughts in mind, he must have arranged everything before heading straight to Hanshan Temple.