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

"Waaah..."

Lin Zhiyao couldn't stop crying, her nose was all red, and her body was getting weaker and weaker, but she still had several letters left to read.

Shen Jin still didn't speak, and the palm on her waist suddenly tightened a little.

"ah--"

Lin Zhiyao let out a short scream, her waist suddenly went weak.

Shen Jin chuckled, "Yao Yao, I've already given you plenty of time. Now, it's time to increase the difficulty..."

Lin Zhiyao bit her lip and shook her head, her almond-shaped eyes brimming with tears, "No, no..."

But Shen Jin ignored it.

Lin Zhiyao looked down with teary eyes, her face filled with shame.

Ugh, how am I supposed to read this?

It didn't last long.

"Um--"

Lin Zhiyao let out a short sob, the letter slipped from her hand and fell onto Shen Jin's lap, where it was dampened with sweat and stained with a few ink marks.

Lin Zhiyao gasped for breath, and it took her a moment to come to her senses.

With blurred vision, seeing that the ink stains were almost invisible, he hurriedly reached out to grab them, but his shoulders shrugged and the pen holder on his head finally tipped over.

The deer rolled down and landed between Shen Jin's legs.

The location is somewhat awkward.

It also happened to weigh down the letter.

Lin Zhiyao sat stiffly on Shen Jin's lap, barely daring to breathe.

Shen Jin looked down at the smooth, warm jade lying on his brocade robe. He didn't rush to pick it up, but slowly raised his eyes.

The water in Lin Zhiyao's almond-shaped eyes trembled.

Shen Jin picked up the reclining deer with two fingers and held it up in front of her.

The jade surface shimmered with moisture, and even the gaps in the carvings were stained with a little water.

Lin Zhiyao was so embarrassed that her whole body felt hot, and she turned her face away, not daring to look.

"One letter is missing." Shen Jin glanced at the letter, his voice still lazy. "Which one were you reading just now?"

Lin Zhiyao bit her lip, her eyelashes trembling, "...The first letter."

I haven't finished reading it yet.

"Hmm." Shen Jin leaned back in his chair, his fox-like eyes half-closed, his fingertips tapping on the armrest. "Then I'll just give your father and brother ninety strokes each."

"No—!" Lin Zhiyao suddenly looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Lord Shen, please, please don't..."

Shen Jin did not respond.

After a long pause, he suddenly smiled and said, "Yaoyao, since that's the case, then you shall take the blame for your father and brothers. Hmm... nine lashes will do."

Lin Zhiyao looked up abruptly, seemingly in disbelief, but soon she realized that Shen Jin really couldn't be that kind.

……

"Well……"

Lin Zhiyao bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes, her whole body burning with shame.

……

However, he only took two hits.

Lin Zhiyao was starting to feel the strain.

Her eyes were red and swollen as she reached for the letter, her voice trembling with sobs: "I...I can read it, please, Your Excellency, give me another chance...please don't beat me like this..."

Ugh... This time she didn't even have the strength to pick up the letter; her fingertips barely touched the edge before slipping away weakly.

She fell straight into Shen Jin's arms.

Shen Jin naturally put his arm around her, and with his other hand picked up the letter. The ink was wet with sweat, and the handwriting was blurred. His smile did not diminish. He held the letter in front of Lin Zhiyao and slowly waved it.

"Yaoyao, how can you be so useless? You can't even hold a piece of paper."

Shen Jin's voice held a hint of amusement, as if he were coaxing a child who had done something wrong, "Tell me, how should I punish you?"

It's unclear whether this refers to her not being able to finish reading a letter, or to her being unable to withstand only two blows.

Lin Zhiyao was so ashamed that she couldn't lift her head.

Shen Jin didn't seem to expect her reply. He held the letter further away and examined it against the candlelight. "Hmm, it's really hard to see now."

He pressed Lin Zhiyao down to sit, pulling her into his arms. But at least he returned the letter to her, which meant he was giving her another chance. "Look, Yaoyao, this is all thanks to what you did just now."

Lin Zhiyao bit her lower lip, forcing herself to look at the words again.

But Shen Jin clearly wasn't going to let her off easily; he'd only read two sentences...

They then arbitrarily increased the difficulty.

……

"Yaoyao is having so much trouble reading, why don't I read it for you?"

Lin Zhiyao was breathing heavily and couldn't answer. Shen Jin raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, it seems that Yaoyao has agreed to my suggestion."

Shen Jin paused for a moment, then continued, "I want to see Yao Yao play with the little deer."

Lin Zhiyao suddenly opened her almond-shaped eyes wide.

Shen Jin simply looked at her with a smile, as if to encourage her.

But Lin Zhiyao knew she couldn't say no.

……

Lin Zhiyao leaned back, supporting herself on the edge of the table with one hand.

Biting her lower lip, she had no choice but to do as she was told.

Shen Jin also read it aloud, though he didn't deliberately slow down his speech, but it still made Lin Zhiyao feel almost ashamed.

……

I don't know how much time passed.

Lin Zhiyao gradually relaxed a bit and became rather perfunctory.

"Yaoyao, concentrate."

Shen Jin stopped reading and looked at her with a smile.

But that smile, seen by Lin Zhiyao, was even more terrifying than the threat she had just received.

"Or does Yao Yao think I'm someone who's easily fooled?"

……

Shen Jin then continued reading.

……

I don't know how much time has passed, or how many letters I've read.

……

Lin Zhiyao vaguely regained consciousness and lowered her eyes, only to realize that the deer had already been placed in Shen Jin's hands.

He had already stopped reading the letter.

……

Shen Jin's gaze fell on Lin Zhiyao's flushed cheeks and wet eyelashes, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"Yaoyao, you're so cute."

……

Lin Zhiyao tried her best, but she still failed.

……

Prosperity, Democracy, Civility, and Harmony

……

Shen Jin reached out and tucked the stray, sweat-dampened hairs that had fallen across her cheek behind her ear, his movement almost gentle.

Like coaxing a child.

Lin Zhiyao appeared completely unconscious, slumped in Shen Jin's arms.

Shen Jin looked down at her, resting his chin on her shoulder, his breath brushing against the soft, pinkish skin on the side of her neck.

"This is the last one."

Shen Jin whispered in Lin Zhiyao's ear, "But, Yaoyao, you couldn't hold on after only reading the beginning of this letter. So, how many lashes will your brother have to take?"

Lin Zhiyao came to her senses a little, her lips moved, and tears rolled down her cheeks to her chin, landing on the back of his hand and leaving a small wet patch.

She choked up and couldn't answer.

Shen Jin turned his head, his lips brushing against the edge of her earlobe, and finished her sentence with a half-smile: "Well, if you don't finish reading one letter, you get twenty lashes. Your brother is in good health, so he should be able to handle it."

Lin Zhiyao bit her lip, her fingertips gripping his clothes so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Shen Jin let her hold his hand, his palm sliding from her waist to her back, his palm slowly stroking down, then lifting up to pat her gently.

The cycle repeats itself, like soothing a frightened, trembling cat.

Shen Jin rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Of course, Yao Yao can also accept a similar method of debt repayment as we just discussed."

Lin Zhiyao's body trembled.

He didn't say anything.

She simply gripped Shen Jin's shirt collar tightly.

Shen Jin smiled with satisfaction, stood up, and carried Lin Zhiyao toward the bed in the inner room.