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

Lin Zhiyao took the teacup with trembling hands.

The tea had a slightly astringent taste when it went down my throat; I wonder if it was because of the added medicine.

Afterwards, only the aroma of tea remained; it was Biluochun tea, truly an excellent tea.

Lin Zhiyao handed the remaining half cup back, her lips glistening with moisture, her face pale.

"Your Excellency, I'll drink this tea."

Shen Jin took the cup slowly, his gaze lingering on her trembling lips for a moment. Then, he lifted the cup and slowly drank the remaining half-cup from the spot where her lips had touched.

"Good tea."

Shen Jin put down his cup, his fingertips slowly tracing his lower lip, as if savoring the memory, or perhaps trying to appreciate the expression on her face just now. "The Lin family's gift is indeed quite unique."

Seeing that he had drunk it, Lin Zhiyao felt a huge weight lifted from her heart, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

Shen Jin looked at her suddenly relaxed expression, propped his chin on his hand, and tilted his head.

"What are you laughing at?"

His voice lowered, slightly tinged with the warmth of freshly drunk tea, and his laughter was light and mocking. "Are you happy to die alongside me, or happy... to finally poison me?"

Lin Zhiyao's smile froze, her almond-shaped eyes widening suddenly, filled with panic.

He knew all that, so why would he drink it?

Lin Zhiyao looked up and examined Shen Jin closely. His complexion was normal, and his lips were still bright red, showing no signs of poisoning whatsoever.

Lin Zhiyao panicked completely.

Shen Jin still rested his chin on his hand, looking at her with a half-smile. His black hair was loosely tied up, with a few strands falling on his cheeks, making his effeminate face even more androgynous.

"This humble servant...this humble servant does not understand what Your Majesty is saying..."

Lin Zhiyao didn't dare to look at him, her eyelids drooping, but her thick, trembling eyelashes betrayed her inner turmoil.

Shen Jin chuckled softly, a laugh like a snake's tongue licking her earlobe, sending a chill down Lin Zhiyao's spine.

Shen Jin didn't respond to her question, but continued, "Isn't it strange? Your family is so careful with its affairs, how come I, the Thousand-Year-Old, know everything?"

Lin Zhiyao's throat was dry and tight. Looking at his effeminate, smiling eyes, her mind was completely blank. She had no idea how to argue, nor did she understand how he seemed to know everything.

"When your father contacted his old subordinates, the private room he chose in the East Market teahouse had my men sitting behind the wall."

Shen Jin leaned back lazily in his chair, lowering his eyelashes, a faint smile always playing on his lips. "Before you even started, secret letters were already arriving on my desk one after another. The first one said you wanted to kill me, the second said you bought the medicine, and the third—"

He raised his eyelids, his smile deepening. "He even arranged for me to figure out which gate you'd be using."

Lin Zhiyao's hands began to tremble, her fingertips went numb, and her knees were so weak that she could barely stand.

She tried to back away, but before she could move her heel even half an inch, Shen Jin grabbed her wrist. His palm was large and hot, and he held her like an iron hoop, pulling her forward abruptly.

Lin Zhiyao stumbled and fell into his arms.

The moment her face collided with his chest, she smelled the agarwood scent on his clothes, cold and intense.

It was so strong that it almost suffocated her.

Lin Zhiyao's face completely lost its color, and she twisted her body, trying to break free and escape.

Shen Jin didn't let her break free, and tightened his grip on her waist even more.

With his other hand, he lifted Lin Zhiyao's chin with a very light touch, yet it was irresistible.

"Why are you running?" Shen Jin tilted his head, his voice low. "Didn't you just say you were going to serve this Thousand Years Old Man well?"

Lin Zhiyao's body stiffened, her eyes reddened, and she clenched her teeth to keep the tears from falling.

"The tea you just drank was poisoned." Lin Zhiyao's voice trembled so much she could barely speak. "Since you knew that, how could you..."

Shen Jin was stunned for a moment.

As if laughing at her naivety, he held her slender waist, buried his head in her neck and laughed for a while, then suddenly stopped laughing and abruptly released his hand from her chin.

His fingertips didn't rush to withdraw, but slowly slid down the blue vein on her slender white neck.

Lin Zhiyao froze in Shen Jin's arms, completely bewildered by his unpredictable mood swings, and even her breathing slowed down.

"Miss Lin, are you perhaps wondering why I, Your Highness, dared to drink it if it was poisonous?"

Just when Lin Zhiyao thought Shen Jin wouldn't answer, he suddenly returned to the end of his previous sentence.

The cold fingertips gently caressed the throbbing pulse on her neck, slowly moving to the corner of her lips.

"Since it was someone I had sold to your family, how could that medicine be poison?"

He paused, looking at Lin Zhiyao's suddenly narrowed pupils, then chuckled, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, and leaned closer to whisper in her ear:

"Heh, Miss Lin, why don't you guess what I've replaced that poison with?"

Shen Jin cupped Lin Zhiyao's pale face in his hands, leaned closer, and gently breathed on her face.

He had an androgynous face, but upon closer inspection, his brow bone was slightly higher than that of an average man, and his jawline was sharp and strong, though it was all hidden by his overly refined features.

After a long while, Lin Zhiyao, who had been terrified out of her wits, finally came to her senses. Her lips trembled as she stammered, "...What did it change to?"

But soon.

Shen Jin didn't need to answer.

Lin Zhiyao then sensed that something was wrong with the medicine in her body.

At first, she didn't realize it.

Lin Zhiyao remained in the position where Shen Jin held her face, her almond-shaped eyes staring blankly at his face so close to hers.

But in no time, a strange warmth arose from deep within her lower abdomen. Soon, the heat spread, climbing up her spine, passing over her waist and abdomen, surging up her back, and finally rushing to the top of her head.

Lin Zhiyao's breathing suddenly became erratic.

My body is also feeling weak.

Lin Zhiyao abruptly turned her face away, trying to break free from his hand, but found that her strength was slipping away.

The heat intensified, making it feel as if every part of my body was immersed in warm water, and a tingling sensation spread through my bones.

"Well……"

Lin Zhiyao bit her lower lip, but the heat was not suppressed; instead, it was aroused even more, and soft moans escaped from between her lips.

Shen Jin released her face, his hand sliding down slowly to the back of her neck.

The palm pressed down lightly.

Lin Zhiyao went limp, her waist collapsing into his arms, unable to support herself any longer.

She tilted her head back, her throat filled with shallow, labored breaths, only to realize that her voice had changed without her noticing, each utterance carrying a sticky, soft ending that sounded unlike her own.

Lin Zhiyao's expression changed drastically.

When she came of age, although her family had suffered a setback, they were still quite prosperous, so her father and brothers specially invited an instructor to guide her.

Because there are many private matters in the inner quarters, and the teaching aunt had given her special advice, Lin Zhiyao, though she had never experienced them herself, vaguely knew what was going on.

"you……"

Lin Zhiyao glared at him intently, but her almond-shaped eyes were shimmering with tears, and even her glare lacked strength. "You changed... changed what..."

Her pale complexion gradually developed a beautiful, healthy rosy glow, and her angry glare seemed more like a coquettish act than a genuine expression of annoyance. Her voice was soft and sweet, as if you could squeeze honey out of it.