The collision of lips brought a faint pain, reminding the kissed one to focus entirely on the gentle warmth arriving.
Humans have lips, and one of the most beautiful things they can do is kiss.
Just pressing together, one could feel the springiness of the lips and the contours of teeth beneath the skin.
Shen Changyin's eyelids drooped slightly, making her long eyes appear half-dreamy, half-awake.
Xie Yu's mind, still in shock, was soon overwhelmed by sensory stimulation, and she froze for a full three seconds before stepping back in disbelief.
She pushed Shen Changyin gently, pointing at her with wide eyes. "You're lusting after your swimming instructor! You're shameless!"
Shen Changyin looked at her semi-transparent, wet white clothing, at the increasingly visible outline of her abs and core beneath the fabric, and let out a faint, ambiguous hum.
"That's only natural."
Xie Yu stared. "I don't care about natural feelings. I want to know what feelings you have."
Shen Changyin looked at her.
Xie Yu was serious now, her face frozen in her beautiful features. A bead of water rolled from her forehead to her brow, across her eye, down her cheek, disappearing into her shirt at her chest.
Like water trapped in desert sand, Shen Changyin couldn't help reaching out a hand, stepping forward—but still knew to answer her: "I don't know either."
Her hand passed through the misty air, grasping nothing.
Xie Yu stepped back, lightly laughing. "And you kiss just because you don't know?"
Her brows and eyes carried an indescribable sharpness. Even after slicing through the milky steam, it left one startled. "Goodbye, Shen Changyin."
The next second, she slipped into the water like a graceful fish, disappearing from Shen Changyin's sight.
Shen Changyin instinctively wanted to follow, took two steps forward, but could find nothing.
Then she heard water splash on the shore, and when she looked up, saw Xie Yu had climbed out, walking toward the exit without turning back, leaving only a back dotted with water drops.
Shen Changyin swallowed hard.
A feeling of sudden emptiness passed like a deer through the forest.
She also got out, changed, and went to the carriage, finding Xie Yu already neatly dressed and waiting.
Leaving the misty, humid hot spring, the air in the carriage felt fresh and brisk, mingled with the scent of grass and trees from the mountains near the palace—almost invigorating.
The two, with reason fully restored, exchanged a glance, silently agreeing not to speak of what had just happened.
Even a faint unfamiliar silence lingered in the carriage.
They looked out separate windows, keeping a neither-too-close nor-too-distant space.
Inside, the carriage was quiet, but Shen Changyin's heart raced uneasily.
Leaving the humid, reason-melting hot spring, she forced herself to examine her actions.
As Xie Yu said, natural feelings are natural feelings… but what about her own feelings?
A dull ache weighed on her chest.
She admitted her desire.
But was there something else beyond that?
She couldn't tell at the moment.
Beside her, Xie Yu's heart was also racing—not from romance, but from a feeling similar to surviving a calamity.
Terrifying.
As the carriage wheels rolled, their hearts gradually calmed.
They glanced at each other at the same time.
Both hearts skipped a beat.
One's eyes looked up; the other's eyes cast down.
Xie Yu: "What's for dinner?"
Shen Changyin: "Early spring, perfect for river fish. Steamed, braised, in soup, paired with the fine tofu from the north."
Xie Yu still didn't look at her, giving a thumbs-up. "I want rice."
Perhaps the scent of the fish soup—fried first in lard, then simmered in boiling water until milky—calmed their minds. After dinner, they returned to normal.
After eating, the housekeeper knocked: "Mistress Shen, a carpenter shop in the capital says they delivered something for you. Fearing trouble, I came to ask."
Shen Changyin put down her tea. "It's what I ordered. Bring it in directly."
A while later, four maids carried in two rocking chairs.
Redwood, spacious design, just-right headrests.
Xie Yu's eyes lit up.
Shen Changyin: "Here are the rocking chairs you wanted."
Xie Yu immediately carried her milk tea in a bamboo cup to lie down in one.
A gentle breeze blew, wafting the scent of milk and leaves above.
She leaned back, casually humming a tune she had heard before.
Shen Changyin watched from the doorway, smiled, and returned to her study to handle official business.
Her ethereal humming floated through the window, barely distracting, just softly surrounding her.
Every so often, when she finished a document and looked up, she could see Xie Yu lying on the rocking chair, gazing at the moon.
She followed her gaze to the moon.
Tonight, the moonlight was beautiful.
Several days passed in this quiet life.
During this time, Shen Changyin's subordinates continued gathering evidence about the Fifth Princess, but progress was slow. Often they would suspect evidence existed somewhere, only to find the building destroyed upon arrival.
Shen Changyin proposed in court that the Fifth Princess's original residence be converted to hold members of the royal family. With the empress's approval, the Fifth Princess was transferred from the Dali Temple to one of these courtyards, heavily guarded.
Xie Yu observed the events, thinking it no longer concerned her.
She even discussed it with Shen Changyin.
Xie Yu: "Theoretically, we both exposed the Fifth Princess. Why did the empress give you the authority over her, not me?"
"Was he afraid the Fifth Princess wouldn't die quickly enough under my hands?"
Shen Changyin paused, stopping her ink grinding, looking at her.
"Third Princess, although the Xie family has seized succession for generations, their reputation for harming siblings isn't good."
"Our empress wanted to avoid you getting involved."
This made things even more puzzling. How could the empress act so far-sighted for the sake of a beloved child?
They had no answer.
Xie Yu stopped thinking, enjoying her daily life.
Until one day, after leaving court, Shen Changyin went to her residence for official work, while Xie Yu returned from an outing.
Suddenly, an official rushed to her door.
"Third Princess, the Fifth Princess… no, the criminal Xie Jia wants to see you."
The Fifth Princess wants to see her?
What connection could they have?
Xie Yu was puzzled but followed.
Once-grand and elegant, the Fifth Princess's estate now had no servants—only guards and officials.
The Fifth Princess wasn't held in her main residence but in a small courtyard, allowed only brief outdoor time twice a day.
As Xie Yu entered, the quietness was almost frightening—only guards' breaths and occasional footsteps.
Opening the door, sunlight streamed in, illuminating dust in the air.
In a shadowed corner, the Fifth Princess looked up.
"Third Sister," she greeted politely.
Seeing the official behind Xie Yu, she said, "Can we speak privately?"
"You may step out," Xie Yu said, dismissing the official but leaving the door open.
The room had normal furnishings; the Fifth Princess led her to sit on a soft couch, a small table separating them.
"Speak. Don't think you're clever enough to fight back and kill me."
The Fifth Princess smiled. "Third Sister, I saw you lock Second Sister's throat twice. I wouldn't be so presumptuous."
"What exactly do you want to say?"
The Fifth Princess became serious. "I didn't do it."
"I take responsibility for the assassins and guards. I wanted to be empress; I'm not ashamed. But Third Sister, I didn't make the Blood Pill."
Xie Yu leaned back. "You mean you didn't take it? You didn't eat when captured unless you had pills."
"The Blood Pill is made from the blood of young people. It preserves youth and extends life."
The Fifth Princess raised her eyelids. "Third Sister, I'm only seventeen."
"I don't need the Blood Pill."
Xie Yu: "That doesn't mean you don't need the money the pill brings. You can sell it."
The Fifth Princess smiled faintly. "The Blood Pill doesn't make money at all."
"Refining pills costs far more than you imagine. Over the past couple of days, I managed to gather some intelligence, which finally let me understand what exactly you discovered, Third Sister."
"Although I don't take the Blood Pill, I know something about pill-making. I can tell you, at current prices, selling it can barely maintain the operation of this place—it doesn't actually make any profit."
"I neither use the Blood Pill nor profit from it, so I wouldn't go through all the trouble of establishing such a cruel, immoral place."
Xie Yu: "But this place is indeed registered under your name."
The Fifth Princess took a deep breath. "Yes, it's under my name."
Her gaze wandered. "Third Sister, do you know the saying 'ignorance is no crime'?"
Xie Yu: "I do. But I think your understanding differs from mine."
"In contemporary Daoism, 'ignorance is no crime' means if someone doesn't know they are committing evil, or what kind of evil they are doing, then they are not truly committing evil—their merit remains intact."
Xie Yu frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You mean you were just someone else's pawn? That person placed everything under your name so it could appear they weren't the one committing evil?"
"Who is this person?"
Could this be why the Fifth Princess summoned her—to name the mastermind?
But after asking, the Fifth Princess suddenly fell silent.
She seemed regretful, yet also frightened, refusing to answer whatever Xie Yu asked.
With no other choice, Xie Yu changed the topic, attempting to skirt the trap, asking if she had anything she wished to do.
"Do you mean my last wish?" the Fifth Princess smiled. "I'm not eager to die yet."
The two fell silent. Xie Yu lingered another quarter-hour, but seeing the Fifth Princess was determined not to reveal the truth today, she got up to leave.
The Fifth Princess walked her to the door and suddenly said, "Third Sister, you are truly a good person, unlike the sisters I have."
"Watch out for the Empress, watch out for Second Sister, watch out for Shen Changyin."
She named three people in succession.
Then she closed the door herself.
No matter how Xie Yu knocked, she didn't open it.
Even if officials came to force it, Xie Yu knew that if the Fifth Princess didn't want to speak, she wouldn't, no matter what.
It had been a strange meeting.
Shaking her head, Xie Yu left.
The Fifth Princess, in the dim room, heard the retreating footsteps. The gentle, polite, even smiling persona she had put on just now gradually faded.
She poured herself a cup of water, sipping slowly. As dusk deepened, the evening wind rustled the trees in the courtyard.
Hungry, she knocked on the door frame: "When will dinner be served today?"
No answer.
She knocked again.
Still no answer.
Even as a princess of noble lineage, she had never been treated so coldly.
Growing impatient, she pounded the door loudly.
Still no answer.
It was as if she were speaking to the endless universe, hearing no echo.
Not only did no one respond, there wasn't even a footstep in the courtyard.
Even the evening wind seemed to stop; the leaves no longer rustled.
A long, dead silence lasted about half an hour, until—creak—the great courtyard door made a piercing sound.
But at this moment, it wasn't comforting; it felt like an arrow poised above her head, striking terror.
She instinctively stepped back from the door.
Then, a shuffling footstep sounded in the courtyard.
Like a snake, crawling across the desert.
The footsteps were regular, approaching like a harbinger of death.
She stepped back instinctively, staring at the door, wanting to flee the sound.
Another creak—the door opened.
Moonlight poured in, casting a huge, distorted shadow over her.
The Fifth Princess's legs went weak; she collapsed into a chair.
Shen Changyin stood at the doorway, holding an exquisite wooden box in one hand and a slender, precise dagger in the other.
"Fifth Princess, I hear you spoke with my wife this afternoon?"
She lightly toyed with the dagger, its long blade gleaming menacingly in the moonlight.
"Do you wish to continue talking now?"
She entered the room, closed the door behind her as if it were her own territory, lit the lamp, set the wooden box on the table, and opened it.
Countless precise instruments of torture were neatly arranged on black velvet.
The Fifth Princess's heart pounded violently. Sweat poured down her neck and soaked her clothes. She swallowed repeatedly.
Shen Changyin, like a surgeon about to operate, carefully arranged her tools, then turned to her:
"This will be an interesting conversation."
—
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