"Of course not!" Ye Qianmei waved her hand to deny Dongfang Zhan's words. She would never fall for any of Qingyan's men: "I had a conflict with Shen Lixue at the banquet just to test her. She is very smart and capable."
Dongfang Zhan's gaze darkened slightly. He had long known that Shen Lixue was formidable; they had sparred many times, and he had almost never won.
Ye Qianmei, with her skirt tied, walked gracefully to the bronze mirror and looked at Dongfang Zhan's gloomy face in the mirror: "Dongfang Heng, Shen Lixue and I have a deep affection for each other, trust each other, and are united against outsiders. Even a beauty like me can't get in. Prince Zhan, you should stop thinking about sending beauties to break them up."
Dongfang Zhan looked out the dark window. Dongfang Heng had taken what he cared about most, how could he not separate them? "Those two are my mortal enemies, I must eliminate them!"
"Then try to avoid direct confrontation with them!" Ye Qianmei's charming voice was filled with solemnity: "The two of them are meticulous and have strong defenses. If we confront them head-on, we won't gain any advantage."
Dongfang Zhan frowned. When he clashed with Shen Lixue, he was always the loser. He had thought of many perfect ways to deal with Dongfang Heng and Shen Lixue, but without exception, they all failed: "Do you have a good way to deal with them?"
Ye Qianmei smiled slightly, her charming eyes filled with coldness: "To deal with the two of them, we must do the opposite and strike them hard from the side!"
"I'm asking for specific methods!" Dongfang Zhan frowned as he looked at Ye Qianmei. He had asked her many questions, but she hadn't given any clear answers, speaking vaguely and playing games with him.
"I've already thought of a specific method!" Ye Qianmei smiled mysteriously, a sharp glint flashing in her alluring eyes. "However, this method is a bit roundabout, and I'll need Prince Zhan's help!"
"What method?" Dongfang Zhan's gaze sharpened. He was willing to try anything that could strike at Dongfang Heng.
As night deepened, Shen Lixue returned to the Maple Pine Garden of the Holy King's Mansion, bathed and changed, and lay down in Dongfang Heng's arms: "Ye Qianmei's marriage to Dongfang Zhan has both advantages and disadvantages. If the two of them join forces, they should not be underestimated!"
Ye Qianmei appeared before Dongfang Heng's eyes, along with Dongfang Zhan's gloomy face: "They are two people, and we are also two people. Two against two, we might not necessarily lose!" He would not lose to Dongfang Zhan, and he absolutely could not lose.
"It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. We don't need to panic in a direct confrontation, but we must be more vigilant if they resort to underhanded tricks!" Ye Qianmei and Dongfang Zhan are both cunning people, so we must be careful.
"If you're worried about losing in a two-on-two situation, let's go three-on-two!" Dongfang Heng's gentle voice rang in my ears.
Shen Lixue was taken aback. Three against two, who was that other person?
With a slight tilt of his body, Shen Lixue was pinned to the bed by Dongfang Heng. His sensual thin lips gently pressed against hers, his jade-like fingers reached down to her waist and untied the ribbon. A mischievous smile flickered in his dark eyes, and Shen Lixue suddenly realized who the third person he was referring to was.
"It's getting late. If we... we'll definitely have to get up very late tomorrow!" A faint blush rose to Shen Lixue's face. Newlyweds, getting up later and later each day, everyone knows why.
Dongfang Heng gently kissed Shen Lixue's forehead: "We don't need to attend court for the first three days of our marriage, and we don't need to serve tea to Grandpa tomorrow either. It doesn't matter when you wake up!"
Her undergarments and bodice fluttered gently to the ground. Shen Lixue's beautiful body pressed tightly against Dongfang Heng's strong frame. His large, jade-like hands ignited a fire within her, gradually making her body hot. The lingering kisses made her breathless, and a hint of panic flickered in her beautiful, infatuated eyes.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt this time!" Dongfang Heng gently bit Shen Lixue's earlobe, comforting her softly.
Shen Lixue nodded. She had also heard that a woman only experiences pain the first time and will not feel it again.
In a daze, the two had become one. Although there was a little discomfort, the tearing pain of the previous night was gone.
Dongfang Heng's strong arms tightly embraced her fragrant, soft, and boneless body, his strength so great that it seemed he wanted to embed her into his very bones. Her beauty and softness seemed to have come solely for him, and he could never love her enough. His burning kisses landed on every inch of her skin, gradually pulling her into a deeper and deeper hazy dream.
The crimson curtains fell, obscuring the spring light from the bed. The candlelight on the high table burned quietly, its soft crackling sound seeming to shatter the ambiguous intimacy.
Under the bright sunshine and amidst the birdsong and fragrant flowers, Shen Lixue opened her tired eyes, looked at the cold bed beside her, rubbed her aching lower back, and her beautiful eyes were filled with anger. Before their marriage, Dongfang Heng was chaste and had never touched a woman. After their marriage, he had tasted the pleasures of love and became uncontrollably infatuated with her, wanting to be intimate with her almost every night.
The next morning, Dongfang Heng went to do his work feeling refreshed. She would be so tired that she would sleep until noon. Looking at the bright sunshine outside, Shen Lixue leaned on the bed and slowly sat up. The silk quilt slipped off, revealing that her alabaster skin was almost entirely covered with hickeys, with hardly any normal spots.
After putting on a bodice and undergarments to cover the marks of their lovemaking, Shen Lixue called Qiuhe and Yanyue to come in and serve her.
Sitting upright in front of the dressing table, Shen Lixue saw Yan Yue combing her hair while secretly smiling at her: "Yan Yue, what are you laughing at?"
"The Prince and Princess are a loving couple, and I am so happy for the Princess!" Yan Yue said, her smile growing even brighter, her ambiguous gaze frequently glancing at the mirror when Yan Yue wasn't looking.
The weather wasn't very cold yet, and Shen Lixue was wearing a high-necked dress. Underneath the collar, tiny pink hickeys were faintly visible, which was what Yan Yue had been laughing at earlier.
She grabbed her collar and pulled it up, but it still couldn't hide the hickey. She picked up the powder box from the dressing table, dabbed some powder on her neck, and finally covered the ambiguous hickey: "When will the Prince return?"
Dongfang Heng handles military affairs, some of which are classified and cannot be told to anyone. However, before leaving each day, he would tell Qiu He the approximate time when Yan Yue would return, so that Shen Lixue could rest assured.
Yan Yue's smile deepened: "The Prince said he'll come back to have dinner with you as usual!" The Prince and Princess are truly loving; they miss each other so much after being apart for only a short while.
The sun was high in the sky, it was already noon. Shen Lixue had worked hard all night and hadn't eaten breakfast, so she was starving. Just as she was about to order the meal to be served, a guard hurried over: "Reporting to the Princess Consort, there is a Miss named Chu Youran outside who wants to see you!"
"Chu Youran." Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened. "Please let her in!"
A moment later, Chu Youran entered Fengsong Courtyard led by a guard. Her pale yellow gauze dress fluttered in the breeze, making her look incomparably beautiful. However, she looked anxious and her face was slightly pale. Upon seeing Shen Lixue, she quickened her pace and walked over: "Princess Consort!"
Shen Lixue smiled slightly: "We can be considered friends now, just call me Lixue!" After she came to ancient times, most of the people around her were enemies, both overt and covert, and she had very few friends. Chu Youran was a nice girl and very suitable to be a friend.
"Then I'll take the liberty of calling you Lixue!" Chu Youran had long wanted to be friends with Shen Lixue, but since Shen Lixue was a princess, she was afraid that Shen Lixue would misunderstand, so she had never said it.
"How is your condition?" Shen Lixue pulled Chu Youran to sit down, and Yan Yue quickly served two cups of tea.
Steam rose gently, dappling Chu Youran's eyelashes with a drop of moisture: "I'm almost fully recovered, Li Xue. I've come to you because I need your help with something!" After much deliberation, Chu Youran revealed her purpose.
"What's wrong?" Chu Youran was always calm and gentle, but when she entered Fengsong Courtyard, her eyes were filled with anxiety, and Shen Lixue had already guessed that she had encountered a problem.
Chu Youran's beautiful eyes flickered, and she gritted her teeth: "My father wants me to get married!"
Shen Lixue was taken aback, then realized: "You don't like that person?"
"Mmm!" Chu Youran nodded, her beautiful face flushed with a blush.
"Did your father ask for your opinion?" Parents who truly care about their children will generally ask for their opinion before arranging an engagement.
"No!" Chu Youran shook her head, her eyes dim. Since ancient times, marriage has been arranged by parents and matchmakers. If her parents wanted her to marry, she had to marry. In the past, she would never have disobeyed her parents, but now... she wanted to fight for her own happiness.
"Have you seen that man?" Shen Lixue had heard that in ancient times, the way men and women went on blind dates was to hold a banquet, where the man's mother, aunts and other female elders would personally see their future daughter-in-law, while the man would use the excuse of paying respects to his mother and aunts to let the woman's elders also take a look.
"Not yet!" Chu Youran shook her head, her face flushing red again, and her voice lowered: "He invited me to go boating on the lake this afternoon!"
"If you don't like him, your parents probably won't force you to marry him!" There were many parents in ancient times who truly cared for their children; not everyone was as despicable as Shen Minghui.
Chu Youran shook her head, her eyes filled with sorrow: "That young master was introduced by my father's good friend. He is very outstanding, and my father has already decided that he is my future husband. He wants us to go boating on the lake together, just to get to know each other beforehand and develop a relationship!"