Chapter 29: Exposed

Shen Jin’s entire body was almost pressed against Lu Qingqing, his shadow enveloping the woman in his arms.

The cramped space left Lu Qingqing with nowhere to escape; even if she wanted to hide, there was nowhere to go.

Shen Jin deliberately drew close, so near that he could catch that faint fragrance with each breath.

Her eyes couldn’t help but redden.

“Trembling so much—what are you afraid of? Or does hearing your husband’s voice excite you even more?” he whispered softly, biting her earlobe.

“You… Shen Jin, what are you doing?”

He let out a low laugh, the sound laced with countless hidden emotions. What was he doing? Naturally, he wanted to humiliate her, to punish her for giving herself to another man so willingly.

Three years of longing had nearly driven Shen Jin to madness, the memory of Lu Qingqing etched into his very bones. It was only by clinging to that thin sliver of hope that he’d managed to return to Northern Qi.

“Cry out for me—I’ve always loved hearing your voice, Qingqing.”

Beyond a single screen, the sounds of Xie Zhiyun flirting and indulging with a courtesan could be heard.

“You’re so soft,” Xie Zhiyun praised without restraint, “Not at all like Lu Qingqing. How could someone like her even be called a woman?”

Listening to such insults, Shen Jin wanted nothing more than to kill that man, who had tarnished the woman Shen Jin once cherished above all else, and now dismissed her so carelessly.

His voice was nearly hoarse as he murmured by Lu Qingqing’s ear, “You schemed so hard to marry that man, only to find he’s a worthless coward who despises you. Why not beg me instead? Beg me to make you mine?”

Shen Jin coaxed her, his hand gripping her slender waist.

Lu Qingqing’s rationality was dissolving; her body instinctively offered no resistance to Shen Jin. She was on the brink of madness.

“You truly disgust me, Shen Jin.”

“Tsk. You can swallow all the humiliation others give you. What have I done, really?”

With every word, Shen Jin pulled Lu Qingqing’s heart deeper into the abyss. A reckless, half-formed idea flickered in her mind.

Madness clamored within her.

If worst came to worst, she’d drag Shen Jin down into the abyss with her.

But in a single instant, memories of a smiling face flashed through her mind. She abruptly seized Shen Jin’s restless hand, fierceness flashing in her eyes.

“That’s enough, Shen Jin.”

At that moment, the screen crashed to the ground.

Lu Qingqing’s cheeks blazed red—their posture was far too intimate. If anyone saw them like this, it would be a disaster.

Instinctively, she glanced at Xie Zhiyun. But at that moment, the man’s body was rigid, trembling uncontrollably.

Xie Zhiyun looked utterly shocked at the sight of Lu Qingqing and Shen Jin. He staggered toward them. “Lu Qingqing, what are you doing here?”

A haze of intimacy surrounded the two; no one in their right mind would believe there was nothing between them.

Just as Lu Qingqing was about to explain, she caught sight of a torrent of blood spilling off the bed. She screamed, “Ah—!”

She pointed behind Xie Zhiyun. The woman who, just moments before, had been lively and entangled with him, now lay pale and lifeless. She had been speaking only a breath ago, yet in this instant—

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it! Lu Qingqing, Lord Shen, you both saw it—you can testify for me! I didn’t kill anyone, I swear…” Xie Zhiyun’s legs gave out and he collapsed before them in terror.

Lu Qingqing, too, was startled, but a hand steadied her at the waist. Shen Jin stepped forward immediately, his voice low and reassuring: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Lu Qingqing’s mind was a muddled haze, old, buried memories stirring in the depths.

Inside the House of Blossoms, chaos broke out.