Chi Ying felt a dense, tingling itch like an electric current surge into her flesh, racing along her veins straight to her heart. She wanted to pull her foot back, but he was persistent and refused to let go. His fingertips, slightly calloused, swept over the injury, forcing her to hold her breath as her body instinctively shivered.

“Your Highness, it truly stopped hurting long ago.”

She bit her lip, her voice as low as a mosquito’s hum.

Beneath his fingers, the girl’s skin was delicate and supple. The injured area was slightly swollen feeling hotter than the surrounding skin.

Yan Xuecuī asked, “Has it turned blue?”

Chi Ying was burning with discomfort from the touch. She replied softly, “A little, but it doesn’t hurt.”

Yan Xuecuī gave a soft “Mm” and finally withdrew his hand.

Chi Ying felt as if she had been granted a reprieve. She gripped the edge of the quilt and inconspicuously moved inward, trying to open up some distance between them.

The man, dressed in a black robe with dark patterns and wide sleeves, sat leisurely by the bedside. He seemed to have no intention of leaving.

Chi Ying pursed her lips and asked tentatively, “Has Your Highness washed and bathed? Coming so late… do you intend to settle here for the night?”

Yan Xuecuī seemed to be able to see her face, full of embarrassment yet forcing composure. A ghost of a smile flickered on his lips before he rose. “Mm, I am going to bathe.”

Chi Ying stared in shock at his retreating back, her mind a chaotic mess.

So he is here to… consummate the marriage?

Had he taken her explanation that she wasn’t a spy to heart? Did he no longer suspect her? Or was it that finding the clue to Consort Zhuang’s poisoning had earned her his trust?

Yet Chi Ying still didn’t dare to be certain. The shadow of their previous shared night still lingered. A man as extremely cautious as he would certainly have his hidden guards investigate everything. However, since he was willing to share a room today, he had likely confirmed her identity was correct.

The deep night was deathly silent. The sound of water from the bathroom grew clearer. Chi Ying gripped the bedsheets, and her cheeks began to heat up uncontrollably.

Looking down, her blood surged even more. She hadn’t known he would come today, so she was still wearing that thin, form-fitting rouge-red sleep skirt.

Just as she thought about getting out of bed to change, the sound of water stopped.

Chi Ying’s heart instantly began to hammer against her ribs like a drum.

Thinking that he had likely felt the fabric of her clothes while rubbing her ankle earlier, changing now would seem too deliberate. She pulled the quilt tight, moved closer to the inner side of the bed, and focused her senses on the movements next door.

The bamboo cane tapped the floor. Footsteps rang out. Chi Ying held her breath.

Soon, there was movement at the door. The man’s steps, accompanied by the da-da of the blind cane, slowly entered the room.

Chi Ying resigned herself to fate and sat up. As she lifted the bed curtains, she saw him approaching in plain white sleepwear with dark cloud patterns. The scent of Galan incense, mixed with the damp moisture unique to a fresh bath, enveloped her with a gentle yet powerful force.

In all fairness, he possessed an extremely handsome and refined appearance. His features were clear, his nose high, and his lips thin. His silhouette was sharply defined. In his white sleepwear, he looked like snow falling on a mountain pine, carrying a natural air of noble detachment despite the casual attire.

While she was dazed from looking at him, the man let out a leisurely sigh. “Speaking of which, the Princess has looked at me many times, yet I have no fortune to see the Princess’s face. It is truly a regret.”

Chi Ying was instantly mortified.

Sometimes she really doubted if he was actually blind. How did he manage to catch her staring every single time?

She tried her best to stay calm, but she truly didn’t know how to respond. The topic was sensitive; he could mock his own blindness, but she could not casually discuss his disability.

After thinking for a moment, she offered a compliment. “Your Highness has the grace of a dragon and the elegance of a phoenix. This concubine has admired you for a long time. I lost myself for a moment just now; I hope Your Highness does not mind.”

Yan Xuecuī smiled. “Is that so? Actually, the sons of the Great Jin imperial family are all superior in appearance. My brothers… especially Brother Xuan, he is like a tree of jade and pearls, suave and elegant. You will know I speak no lies when we enter the palace in the future.”

Chi Ying didn’t care about the looks of the other princes, but the mention of entering the palace made her instinctively nervous.

Yan Xuecuī heard her slightly erratic breathing, and the smile on his lips deepened.

Seeing him smiling without speaking, Chi Ying felt a bit of an unexplainable chill. She bit her lip and followed his lead with some humility. “Compared to the noble ladies of the capital who are as beautiful as a garden of flowers, my appearance is not particularly outstanding. I am but an ordinary woman. Your Highness needn’t…”

Before she could finish, the man’s fingers slowly climbed her cheek.

White and long, with distinct knuckles and a texture like cold jade. The moment they landed between her eyebrows, Chi Ying’s spine went rigid.

Yan Xuecuī asked, “Do you mind if I feel for myself?”

Chi Ying: “…”

He’s already touched me. What can I even say?

“Your Highness… as you wish.”

Yan Xuecuī accepted quite happily.

Thus, those fingers covered in light calluses began to trace the arch of her brow with the same slow deliberation he used when reading bamboo slips.

Chi Ying held her breath and instinctively closed her eyes. She felt the warm fingertips brush over her eyelids, carefully outlining the shape of her eyes before stroking down toward the outer corners.

The green jade thumb ring on his hand grazed her already bright red earlobe. The contrast between cold and heat felt like ice and fire meeting. Her eyelashes trembled, and her breathing nearly stopped.

Yan Xuecuī gave her earlobe a little squeeze. It was a wonderful sensation, like freshly served pink rice balls—soft and slightly hot.

He seemed to ask quite seriously, “Is it red?”

Chi Ying really wanted to roll her eyes.

She actually did it, since he couldn’t see anyway, but her voice remained soft and gentle. “Probably.”

She couldn’t see her own earlobes either, but they were definitely red.

Yan Xuecuī laughed and rubbed them twice with moderate pressure.

Though he seemed nonchalant, he chose exactly her most sensitive spots. Chi Ying’s ears were flushed through, and the unbearable itch he provoked sent clear shivers down her neck.

Yan Xuecuī’s fingertips slid across her jawline, his voice deep and pleasant. “Since ancient times, when discussing beauties, they speak of hair like misty clouds and brows like a moth’s wings, of bright lips and teeth like arranged pearls…”

As he spoke, his fingertips reached the corner of her mouth. He paused for a moment before his warm thumb pressed against her lips.

Chi Ying jerked in surprise. She knew he wanted to trace her features with his fingers, but she hadn’t expected him to touch her lips as well.

Yan Xuecuī rubbed the soft petals of her lips and couldn’t help but smile. “The Princess is very nervous? Why are you shaking so much?”

Chi Ying’s face was covered in a blush. Her hot, trembling breath fell entirely onto his fingertips. “Your Highness…”

The moment she opened her mouth, that warm fingertip slipped inside. Caught off guard, Chi Ying hadn’t even had time to close her teeth when the tip of her tongue brushed against his finger.

Yan Xuecuī himself froze.

His finger remained between those warm, soft lips and tongue, and for a moment, he actually forgot to pull away.

It was a sensation he had never experienced before, like a spark that ignited upon contact, racing through his fingertips into his entire body.

So a woman’s mouth can be this soft, like a fresh petal in the spring rain that can be crushed with just a bit of force.

Yan Xuecuī’s Adam’s apple rolled. A dark desire surged in his heart, making him inexplicably want to intrude further, to stir up the fresh juices of her throat and force a difficult moan from her.

Chi Ying was also terrified by this sudden movement, freezing in place and forgetting to react.

It wasn’t until those fingertips moved slightly between her teeth, drawing out wet saliva, and then traced over her lips again as if lingering in addiction, that she snapped back to reality.

A translucent droplet fell uncontrollably. She suddenly recovered her senses, her face turning crimson with extreme embarrassment. She hurriedly grabbed a silk handkerchief to wipe the moisture from her lips.

She felt a faint hurt in her heart. He had clearly teased her on purpose, yet he had made her lose her composure like this…

Forget it, don’t argue with a blind man.

She also couldn’t let him see her resentment. Otherwise, wouldn’t that just confirm Chi Yingyue’s “rather die than marry” and make him feel she loathed him?

She let out a silent sigh, composed herself, and proactively reached out to carefully wipe the moisture from his fingers.

But at that moment, the back of her hand felt a sudden heat. The man’s large hand covered hers, slowly gathering her fingers into his warm palm.

Chi Ying felt a sudden palpitation. She wanted to say something, but her throat was so dry that no sound would come out.

She had been married in for over a month. Although she had dressed his wounds and they had been close during the last shared night, they had never held hands like this.

The fingers are connected to the heart. Half her arm felt numb and tingly. The warmth of his fingertips stirred a tide in her heart, and the blood in her body seemed to stall.

Finally, he gave a fair and objective evaluation: “The Princess has a pure spirit and elegant bones, skin like cream, almond eyes beneath fine brows, a jade-like nose and soft lips, and hands like tender shoots. You truly deserve to be called a celestial beauty.”

Chi Ying’s restless heart slowly cooled down.

It turned out Prince Zhao had no other intention. He was merely using his fingers as eyes, wanting to clearly understand what she looked like. It was just like inspecting any exquisite vessel or tracing every carved mark on a bamboo slip word by word.

That was all.

NOTES

Pink rice balls (粉元子 – Fen Yuanzi): A sweet dessert.

Tree of jade and pearls (玉树琼枝 – Yushu Qiongzhi): An idiom for an exceptionally handsome and noble man.

Tender shoots (柔荑 – Routei): A classical literary metaphor for a woman’s soft, white hands.

Celestial beauty (仙姿绝色 – Xianzi Juese): A high compliment for someone with divine, peerless beauty.

“Fingers as eyes”: This highlights the ML’s reliance on touch. He appraises the MC with the same clinical detachment he uses for his official intelligence reports, yet the physical reaction suggests he isn’t as indifferent as he claims.

“Pink rice balls”: Often served in syrup, these are soft, warm, and sweet—a very domestic and sensory metaphor for the ML to use.

Hands like tender shoots (手若柔荑): This is a very traditional Chinese poetic description of a woman’s hands, originating from the “Classic of Poetry” (Shijing).

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