The Double
Chapter 334 - 122 Prince Consort_2

Chapter 334: Chapter 122 Prince Consort_2

The homes of the wealthy were much better; the floor heating kept everything warm, and even the delicate young ladies could sit inside, cradling a hand-warmer provided by their maids, admiring the snowy landscape outside the window, reciting poetry, painting, playing the zither, or reading.

In the Princess’s Mansion, it was even warmer, as if it were spring.

Long woolen carpets embroidered with intricate patterns covered the floors; even bare feet would not feel cold stepping on them. Thus, the young woman on the dais, even in the winter, could wear a thin silk dress, a corner of her bellyband embroidered with a lotus with twin flowers peeking out, as vibrant as the lotus flowers about to bloom in summer.

She lay across a person’s knees.

The man was handsome and gentle, smiling down at the charming figure on his lap.

Her rosy lips breathed out an affectionate line of poetry, "Last night I did not comb my hair, my silk locks draped over my shoulders, my wrist rests upon Mr. Shen’s knee, where could I not appear pitiable..." As she came to the last word, her voice dropped teasingly while her neck lifted, pressing her soft lips lightly against the man’s thin lips.

The servants in the hall all cast their eyes down, daring not to watch; when Princess Yongning and her lover were affectionate, no one dared to take an extra glance.

"Yongning..." he let out a sigh through his lips and teeth.

But that very sigh drove the woman to madness; she looked into his eyes, nearly losing herself in their gentle depths, then suddenly asked, "Mr. Shen, when will we get married?"

The man—now the Assistant Head Writer, a favorite of Emperor Hongxiao, Mr. Shen Yurong—was taken aback, as if abruptly awakened from his desires, he slightly leaned back to avoid Princess Yongning’s intimate embrace.

Princess Yongning too felt his withdrawal, jolting back to reality from her previous trance. But in the next moment, she clung to him again, her tone coquettish and petulant, "Mr. Shen, why won’t you speak?"

"Princess," Mr. Shen Yurong no longer called her ’Yongning’, his brows furrowed: "My wife has been dead for less than a year..."

It was Xue Fangfei again! Princess Yongning’s heart burned with hatred; he was always talking about mourning for Xue Fangfei, wanting the whole world to see his fidelity. But Yongning knew very well that this was just an excuse.

The reason he refused to marry her was because he still harbored feelings for that wretch! Even in death, Xue Fangfei haunted his mind! That he showed her any affection was only because she had a brother who was Prince Cheng, and because she was a princess; he was with her for the sake of power and status!

Princess Yongning wasn’t ignorant of this, but understanding it made no difference, for she loved him. The more Mr. Shen Yurong restrained himself and maintained his courtesy, the more she found it unbearable. His push-and-pull, now distant, now close, was like a fatal poison to her. Since Fangfei was in his heart, Yongning was determined to scrape off every trace of her presence, to obliterate her completely.

What one can’t have is always the most desirable; the harder Mr. Shen Yurong was to obtain, the more she wanted him. Regardless of whether his affection for her was genuine or feigned, she intended to tie him to her side. He could only look at one woman for the rest of his life—her. If she could not have his heart, she would have his person. Now it seemed acquiring his heart might take some time, and her patience was ebbing away; she wanted him urgently.

She wanted Mr. Shen Yurong to become her Prince Consort.

"Mr. Shen," Princess Yongning’s voice was tender: "I’ve come of age, and just yesterday my royal mother was discussing with me, seeking a suitable match... Within the Imperial Family, one doesn’t have control over their own marriage. If not for my heart being set on you, constantly prevaricating, I’d likely be another’s wife by now."

Mr. Shen Yurong looked at her tenderly, sometimes showing indifference to Yongning, sometimes entangled with her, leaving Yongning in a state of restless yearning and irresistible desire, just like this moment.

And so her voice softened once more, as if melting into water, and her body, too, became pliant, tightly enveloping Mr. Shen Yurong.

"Tell me, if my royal mother were to marry me off to another one day, would you be sad? Would you regret it?"

Mr. Shen Yurong whispered softly, "Of course I would be sad, and regretful."

Princess Yongning’s smile bloomed like flowers: "Then what are you waiting for? Once I notify my royal mother, this matter could be settled."

"But..."

"Are you going to talk about mourning Xue Fangfei again?" Princess Yongning’s patience finally reached its limit. She still smiled, but a touch of coldness crept into her tone, her bright red nails lightly grazing Mr. Shen Yurong’s cheek, "Mr. Shen, everyone knows how Xue Fangfei died, from a scandalous affair, dying of shame and melancholia. Everyone sympathizes with you, and even if you didn’t observe mourning, even if on the very next day you married someone else, none would fault you."

"Xue Fangfei is dead, but I am very much alive. Would you choose to mourn for a dead person instead of seizing the living one before you? My brother has already met with you several times and thinks highly of you; if you make me sad, my brother would be upset too... I wouldn’t want a misunderstanding to arise between you two because of me," she hinted darkly.