Chapter 74: Who fishes whom, hard to say

The weather is just warm, beauty is right before us.

Whether intentional or not, Chinu's trailing tone is especially drawn out.

A wisp of warm air escaped from his slightly parted lips, with nowhere to go, drifting straight into her nose and mouth.

That is, an extremely light wisp between heaven and earth.

Carrying the scorching heat and faint sweet-bloodiness unique to illness, it brushes over the softest mucous membrane inside her lips—like an extremely fine feather—then slowly sweeps past her upper palate.

A fine, dense itch spreads from between her lips and teeth, tingling and numb as it crawls up the nasal root, then sinks down into her chest, as if something lightly scratched her atrium.

Du Shanü paused almost imperceptibly for a moment.

She then subconsciously pressed her lips together, tongue tip against her upper palate, trying to lessen the feeling.

However, the facts prove——

All this resistance is merely futile.

His breath relentless, another wisp of warm air escapes his lips and drifts into her nose.

This time it is longer and deeper, like a snake slipping in silently and coiling around.

Itch.

Still itch.

It spreads from the tip of her tongue to her throat, then sinks from her throat to her chest.

Fine and dense, tingling and numb, like countless extremely fine threads drawn from there, each tied to his and her bodies.

Du Shanü finally succumbed, her breath losing rhythm and growing heavy.

Chinu heard it.

His eyelids drooped slightly, gathering the inner darkness, then slowly lifted.

As he lifted them, the corner of his eyes arched slightly, like a cat stretching lazily—nonchalant, languid, yet somehow full of satisfaction and success.

He is seducing.

He is indeed seducing.

He knows what his recent words mean, and what Du Shanü's reaction means, yet he still throws out a bait named 【Do as One Pleases】.

The answer has always been right on the surface of the riddle, and quite clear.

Chinu wants all her affection.

If Du Shanü agrees, Chinu becomes something she can easily obtain.

She could cover his lips, press down his waist......

To do as she pleases with him.

Straight hook, salty bait.

But this bait is too alluring, too gorgeous, too absolute.

Any normal person cannot resist it.

"Really......"

The two words hovered between her lips and teeth, light as a dream murmur, yet she heard them crystal clear.

Chinu's trailing tone rose, carrying a faint almost-nonexistent smile, like a hook that snags and won't let go:

"Really, anything can be done."

"I can tell, master is also very...... lustful."

Lustful.

That's right, lustful.

They were meant to be a natural pair.

Whether as ruler and subject, or......

So, if she could abandon everyone for him, that would be good.

Just as he hoped inside, only he can be used, only he can be heavily used......

No.

Or rather, not exactly.

Even, other people don't matter much.

Actually, if she can forsake Yu Hen for him, then his half-life can be considered fulfilled.

Hatred.

He thinks it over, still feeling he hates that person the most.

Compared to him having nothing, everything requires hard work just to barely get a bit.

Yu Hen had everything from the start.

Yu Hen's starting point is what everyone dreams of as an endpoint.

Of course, of course.

Some might think, 'The Young Emperor is not stingy with people,' 'The Young Emperor hasn't provoked you,'......

But this has nothing to do with whether the Young Emperor is good or not.

If the Young Emperor is good enough, does he deserve to share everything with him?

In a lifetime, who doesn't crave to be firmly chosen, selfishly favored?

Who doesn't crave that, even knowing they lack such good circumstances, someone could still love them a bit more?

One cannot always have some people have everything while others painstakingly scheme to get only the scraps that fall from the former's fingertips, right?

The world's great principles have been heard enough, said enough.

But there are times when there is no reason.

Spare him this time.

I beg heaven and earth, spare him this time.

Let him, even for a lifetime, obtain a favor that is uniquely his.

Thus he can, like Yu Hen, proudly lift his head once and show off what is uniquely his.

The one who can give him something different, who can use him, drain him, and discard him......

No matter the suspicions, whether the clever rabbit is dead and the hunting dog cooked, he doesn't care.

As long as before the end comes, let him also once display his might and prestige; even if mistaken, someone will love him, he won't be beaten or scolded, need not tremble as if walking on thin ice.

Best of all, he could each night simply hold him as he falls asleep, then tell him: 'You need not be too rational; a lifetime need not be spent doing only what is right'......

Then this lifetime would also count as not having been lived in vain.

【Chirp—】

Sickly qi surged, the sparrows let out a soft chirp, disturbing the anticipation here.

The secret in the woods finally got a response.

Du Shanü is ultimately not an ordinary person.

She pursed her lips, gripped Chinu's shoulder, gradually pulling distance between them, and spoke word by word:

"...... You're addled by illness."

He neither agreed nor refused.

He simply gave him an answer in a seemingly proper manner, with ease.

Just a breath earlier, their lips had clearly almost touched; but a breath later, they parted ways.

His lips remained slightly open, maintaining that upward pleading arc.

But now, his thin lips slowly closed, pressing into a line.

His jaw tightened slightly, his Adam's apple rolled once—

Very slowly.

As if he had swallowed something, yet as if he had swallowed nothing.

Just that bone in his throat pointlessly rolled once.

That hint of a soul‑capturing smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth, extremely faint, extremely light.

But at this moment, it abruptly appeared like a fresh wound.

Chinu seemed to have finally regained some sanity from his illness, leaning back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes, as if talking to himself, he sneered:

"I say...... if Heaven had pity for people, it wouldn't fall to someone like me, a low‑born son of a prostitute."

"Don't bother with me; go back and accompany the 'dear husband' you've chosen."

A few words, fully exploiting mockery, completely the sort of thing Chinu used to say.

Intense, icy, killing intent rose......

But now, in the mind of someone who cares, inexplicably a hint of grievance has mixed in.

Du Shanü was stirred into a tumult of emotions, and having failed to obtain that easily gotten kiss, she was already annoyed to the point of exasperation.

Now hearing him say such harsh words, Du Shanü for a moment couldn't suppress her temper, she lowered her voice and said:

"Nonsense, I had already thought it all through; if you changed any request I would agree......"

After all, after all, truly having been provoked to the point of having no temper left.

Du Shanü couldn't muster anger, could only stare and try to reason:

"What you say now is refreshingly blunt; just a snap of your lips and you want me to abandon others, even naming that I must discard Yu Baobao......"

"But how to discard? How to discard?"

"Is she lacking?"

"She is not lacking!"

"In these times, where could Yu Baobao go if she left this place? Isn't that like throwing a sheep into a tiger's mouth?!"

"In terms of temperament and looks, Yu Baobao is not only pleasing to the eye, makes one feel like basking in a spring breeze; where has anyone ever quarreled with her temper?"

"Moreover, today Chinu has her discard Yu Baobao; if she agreed......"

"Then wouldn't he fear that someday someone else might make her discard him!?"

Chinu remained silent, still tightly shut his eyes, leaning against the tree to breathe; the blood seeping from the wound under his ribs seemed to have increased a little.

Du Shanü couldn't reason it out, and tried to re‑treat the wound, but the result was that her handkerchief was knocked from her hand in a single strike:

"Don't touch me!"

The fire in Du Shanü's heart finally ignited.

She sprang to her feet, but in just a breath she suddenly squatted down, laying the tree‑leaning Chinu flat on his back.

Chinu instinctively struggled, but the rustling sounds in the dense woods finally brought him back to his senses——

The two had previously been indulging in beauty, and at first didn't notice; that sudden bird‑call just now actually signaled someone's arrival.

It was two heavy, dragging footsteps, one after another, coming from far to near.

Shortly after, a 【bang】 sounded, as if something heavy had been dropped, followed by a rustling of dry branches and leaves being stirred.

A man's voice came from behind the thicket, faintly asking:

"...... We'll bury the corpse here where no one can find it, right?"

The other man's vague response came:

"It should be fine; in this desolate wilderness, who else would come besides adulterous couples?"

"Just muddle through; as long as no one knows that Cang Cheng's grain stores are what we stole, it's fine."

"?? Who hasn't left the novice village and yet encountered a top‑tier succubus?"

? It turns out to be Shasha!