Chen Yuanyuan’s mind was in chaos, a flurry of thoughts surging through her:
“Why hasn’t he taken it out?”
“Did he forget?”
“Is he trying to spare my embarrassment?”
“But this is even more embarrassing!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Just as she was agonizing over it, a knock came at the door: “Open up, open up!” She tensed, ears perked.
“Who is it~” Song Qingshu had to admire Li Yuanzhi…the little vixen was a born actress. That lazy, slightly impatient tone was exactly like someone woken from sleep…utterly convincing.
“We’re imperial guards. An assassin has infiltrated the palace…we need to search every corner,” came the guard’s voice from outside.
“But I’ve already gone to bed,” Li Yuanzhi replied with some displeasure.
“Enough talk. Every place must be searched. Open up, or we’ll break in.” The guards grew impatient. They wouldn’t dare act this way with a proper consort, but the women in the Cold Palace were already as good as dead…who cared about them?
Sensing the woman in his arms tense up, Song Qingshu whispered in her ear: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
“Mm~” Chen Yuanyuan thought, *If a crowd of guards saw me like this, I might as well be dead.*
Hearing the knocking grow more urgent, Li Yuanzhi had no choice but to say, “The door’s not locked…come in yourselves.” Since she had to take off her outer robe and hide in bed, she couldn’t get up to open it…so she’d left the latch open.
*Bam!*
The door burst open and a flood of guards poured in. Seeing Li Yuanzhi on the bed, the lead guard looked suspicious: “You sleep with the door unlocked?”
Startled, Li Yuanzhi quickly recovered and said calmly, “No one ever comes to the Cold Palace…what difference does it make whether it’s locked or not?”
Hidden under the covers, Chen Yuanyuan silently admired her. Li Yuanzhi’s tone was identical to those despairing concubines in the Cold Palace. No wonder she and A’ke had been so easily fooled by her acting.
The guard leader frowned at her explanation but said nothing, waving for his men to search.
The guards rummaged through the room, even flying up to check the beams.
“Nothing found,” they reported back quickly.
The guard leader said nothing, his gaze shifting to the bed.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Chen Yuanyuan’s heart was in her throat. She closed her eyes, terrified of being discovered.
“What are you doing?” Even the usually fearless Li Yuanzhi was getting nervous.
The guard leader didn’t answer, instead drawing his blade and lifting the hem of the bed curtain to check underneath.
Seeing he was only checking under the bed, Li Yuanzhi breathed a sigh of relief.
But his next words made her heart race again: “You seem nervous?”
“Wouldn’t you be nervous with so many people barging in?” Li Yuanzhi rolled her eyes and quickly added, “Are you done? If so, leave and remember to close the door.”
The guard leader shook his head: “One place left.”
Li Yuanzhi’s heart sank, though she tried to hide her panic: “Where?”
The guard leader gestured with his chin toward the bulky blanket: “Pull back the covers…I need to check inside.”
“Ah…” Having always lived in comfort, Chen Yuanyuan didn’t have Li Yuanzhi’s mental fortitude. The shock of being asked to reveal the blanket made her cry out instinctively.
But Song Qingshu reacted instantly, pressing his lips against hers to stifle the sound.
“Mmph, mmph…” Chen Yuanyuan’s mind went blank. *This man is ki$sing me?*
Her feminine modesty made her resist instinctively, but then she felt his finger…hard as iron…pressing against a vital spot. She went weak instantly.
“If you want to get us all killed, go ahead and struggle,” came Song Qingshu’s voice through sound transmission. Chen Yuanyuan calmed down, realizing he’d only ki$sed her to muffle her cry.
*Damn him…there are a thousand places he could have used, but he had to pick* that *one.* Though she couldn’t see in the dark, she knew her cheeks were burning.
Now she was in his embrace, her b0dy completely exposed to him in their current position. She felt dazed…*What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I feel any anger? All I feel is my heart pounding.*
Suddenly Chen Yuanyuan’s eyes flew wide open, a mix of shame and fury…*Fine, ki$$ me to stop me from speaking, but did you have to use your tongue!*
She thought about biting down hard with her teeth, but tried several times and couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“This man is truly my nemesis.” Chen Yuanyuan sighed softly, then simply closed her eyes. Her jade-like arms instinctively wrapped around the man’s neck.
Unlike the intimacy under the covers, the atmosphere outside was far more tense. Li Yuanzhi gripped the blanket tightly, staring coldly at the guard leader: “I may be in the Cold Palace, but I’m still an imperial consort…one of the emperor’s women. How dare you be so rude?”
The guard leader replied flatly: “I wouldn’t dare. I’m simply doing my duty searching for assassins.”
Li Yuanzhi snapped: “I’m not wearing any clothes…are you going to look at me too?”
The guard leader chuckled: “Don’t joke…you’re clearly wearing clothes under that blanket.”
Li Yuanzhi realized she’d exposed part of her body, revealing she was dressed. She also knew that, as a Cold Palace woman, a legitimate consort wouldn’t have been questioned so directly.
“Your repeated refusals make me suspect there really is an assassin under that blanket.” The guard leader waved his hand, and more guards crowded around.
“What do I do… Brother Song, what do I do…” Li Yuanzhi had always been confident in Song Qingshu’s martial arts, but now he was in the critical phase of treating Chen Yuanyuan…she feared interruption could cause a qi deviation.
Not just Li Yuanzhi, but Chen Yuanyuan under the covers was also terrified. She pushed at the man beside her, but he didn’t respond, still ki$$ng her greedily.
Chen Yuanyuan felt a pang of disappointment…*I thought he’d be different, but he’s just like all the others, losing himself to my beauty.* Her passionate heart gradually cooled.
“If you don’t lift the covers, I’ll do it myself.”
Li Yuanzhi’s repeated evasions only deepened the guard leader’s suspicion. Seeing her unmoved, he snorted and hooked the corner of the blanket with his blade, flinging it open.