Waaah, I'm being forced into loving my yandere wife's brain.

『A fallen noblewoman x a vicious and ruthless eunuch (not castrated)』

"Yaoyao, do you like the plum blossom net I prepared for you?"

Shen Jin wore an overstepping imperial robe with five-clawed golden dragons and a nine-beam crown with a jade belt. He was dignified and noble, with an extraordinary aura. Only when he raised his fox-like eyes, which had a slightly feminine quality, did he reveal a bit of his sinister and ruthless nature.

Lin Zhiyao was tied to the dragon throne.

Her almond-shaped eyes were red and tearful, her gaze filled with fear as she looked at Shen Jin. She shook her head repeatedly, "Lord Shen, please, please let me go..."

"Let you go?"

Shen Jin tightened the rope binding Lin Zhiyao in his hand, a half-smile on his face.

"Hmm!"

Lin Zhiyao was instantly forced to sit up, revealing an even more stunningly beautiful curve to her already graceful body.

Because she was crying, her skin glowed with a lovely pinkish hue, and she trembled in the cool air, making her appear even more pitiful.

Shen Jin's fox-like eyes were deep and intense. His Adam's apple bobbed heavily as he leaned forward, kneeling on the cold dragon throne. He stroked her soft, tear-streaked cheek and chuckled, "Yao Yao, you'd better control yourself. The morning court session is less than an hour away. You don't want... others to find out what kind of fun we've been doing here, do you? Hmm?"

*

today.

That was the day of death for Shen Jin, the powerful and influential official.

Lin Zhiyao couldn't help but adjust the silver hairpin in her hair.

There was poison that her father and brothers had prepared for her.

Lin Zhiyao's eyelashes trembled with nervousness, and her palms were covered in fine sweat. Even though she was just walking, her breathing was unsteady.

Although she was terrified, she had to endure it as much as possible so that the eunuch leading the way could not see it at all.

How did it happen?

It all started three days ago.

The last valuable Jun ware vase in the Lin family mansion was loaded onto the pawnshop's cart.

The once bustling place is now deserted. The servants have all left, leaving only an old gatekeeper guarding the empty vermilion gate. Those former colleagues who used to call each other brothers now detour when passing by the alley.

Lin's father stood in the empty main hall, his back hunched and his face desolate.

But when Lin Zhiyao's brother returned from court, he brought even worse news.

"Father." Lin Zhiheng placed a letter on the table, his face pale. "Today, the Ministry of Personnel's Performance Evaluation Department publicly denounced me as incompetent and ordered me to return the official seal within three days."

"You bastard!" Lin's father cursed.

Six years have passed since that incident, and their family has fallen to the lowest possible level, completely destitute. Now, they are even going to directly dismiss their family from their official positions!

"They're all that eunuch's lackeys!" Lin's father opened his eyes, his eyes bloodshot. "He's leaving the palace in three days to spend the summer at his private residence in the east of the city. I heard there's a garden there where he loves to feed the fish."

Lin Zhiheng frowned: "Father means...?"

"Kill him."

Lin's father gritted his teeth, "With Shen Jin dead, the forces in the court that want to overthrow Shen will surely rise up. If we offer his head, that will be the greatest achievement."

Lin's father looked at Lin Zhiyao, who had just brought him medicine from outside the door and had only listened to a few words.

"Yao Yao".

Lin Zhiyao looked up.

Her father looked at her with a very complicated expression, then looked away as if he couldn't bear it. "In the dressing case your mother left you, there was a silver hairpin with a hollow head that could hold medicine powder."

Lin Zhiyao felt as if something was stuck in her throat, and after a long while, she asked, "...Will he fall for it?"

"He's so beautiful."

As Lin's father spoke, his fingers traced the grain of the wood on the edge of the table. "Back then in the imperial court, he praised you in public... saying that the Lin family had no other daughters, but they had given birth to a fine one. I heard about that."

Lin Zhiyao didn't say anything more.

She looked down at the tightly wrung handkerchief in her hand and suddenly remembered that four years ago, when she had just come of age, the streets in front of her door were packed with carriages and matchmakers were constantly knocking down her door.

At that time, her father even joked that he would pick the best husband for her.

……

It was really a case of grasping at straws in desperation, but to my surprise, Shen Jin actually agreed.

Lin Zhiyao's thoughts returned to normal.

"Miss Lin, please. His Highness is waiting for you at the mansion ahead."

The father-in-law who was leading the way for Lin Zhiyao waved his whisk and gestured for her to follow. He couldn't help but take another look at her.

Lin Zhiyao stood in the sunlight, her appearance elegant and graceful. Even though he had seen countless beauties, he was amazed by her appearance.

She thought to herself that her appearance and figure were probably only comparable to that of the Ninth Prince, but each was beautiful in their own way.

Lin Zhiyao didn't notice that she was trembling with fear as she thought about how terrifying Shen Jin was in the rumors.

She forced a smile, thanked her father-in-law, and stepped over the threshold.

The corridor was deep and secluded, with carved wooden windows on both sides decorated with lotus patterns, but the paint was dark and somber. Lin Zhiyao felt a sense of oppression and suffocation as she stepped on the bluestone floor with her embroidered shoes.

After turning through three winding corridors, the eunuch stopped in front of a black lacquered door, bowed, and stepped aside.

The door was ajar.

Lin Zhiyao took a deep breath.

He was controlling his rapidly beating heartbeat.

It's no wonder she was nervous. As the Ninth Prince, Shen Jin held immense power and influence in the court. He was ruthless and merciless, showing no mercy to his political enemies. It was said that he once had a remonstrating official who vehemently opposed him cut into pieces, then gave the raw pieces of meat to other ministers who opposed him. He even had his eunuchs watch over the meat and not leave until it was all eaten. This terrified all the court officials, and from then on, no one dared to openly oppose Shen Jin.

This also made his power more secure.

Her father was one of those who were forced to swallow raw meat slices.

Lin Zhiyao was young at the time, but she saw it from behind the curtain. The slices of meat that the eunuch brought were cut so thin that light could pass through them.

After that, his father fell seriously ill and did not recover for a long time. He could only let his elder brother, who was not yet fully established, hastily take over his mantle. However, their family was gradually marginalized in the court and among the people.

In just six short years, things have changed drastically. He has fallen into complete ruin and is on the verge of losing his official position and returning to his commoner status.

"Miss Lin, what are you daydreaming about?"

Reminded by her father-in-law, Lin Zhiyao quickly reached out to push the door open, her fingertips touching the cold copper ring as she pushed it inside.

The true face of the powerful and influential official, who could even stop a child from crying, was revealed to her.

Lin Zhiyao was stunned when she saw it.

She had assumed that Shen Jin, while not exactly a monster, would at least be a mean, sharp-tongued, lewd, and vicious person. However, the reality was quite the opposite.

The room was much darker than the outside, and the light filtered through the gauze curtains of the west window, turning into a thin layer of golden gray.

Shen Jin sat in that layer of light gray, his figure slender, with narrow shoulders and a thin waist, wearing a red robe with a gold python pattern, leaning against a rosewood armchair.

He sat languidly, the hem of his robe trailing on the ground, the golden python pattern embroidered on it flickering in the shadows, baring its fangs and claws, yet its imposing presence was not as overwhelming as his own.

Lin Zhiyao stood by the door, backlit, and felt a tightness in her throat.

Shen Jin raised his eyelids.

Those fox-like eyes went from half-closed to fully open in a very short instant. The color of the eyes was deep and dark, like thick ink dripping into clear water, slowly spreading but never dissipating.

His gaze fell on Lin Zhiyao's face, sliding from her eyebrows to the corners of her lips, then slowly moving down to stop at the plum blossom pendant at her waist, where he curled his lips into a smile.