After the Alluring Beauty Was Forced into a Political Marriage - Chapter 30

Cold sweat trickled down his spine. That single sentence sobered Shen Lianzhi instantly. His mind buzzed with a sudden ring and his limbs went stone-cold. He stammered in response, “What, what scent?”

“Where, where is there a scent?” Lianzhi felt as if his internal organs were bound by silk strings, cut deep into the flesh and then jerked upward. He offered Shiqin Bari a fawning smile. “The King is drunk.”

Shiqin Bari narrowed his eyes slightly. He brushed away Shen Lianzhi’s hand that was trying to embrace his forearm and pressed closer, inch by inch, until he was looming entirely over him.

Shen Lianzhi was so scared he had lost his wits, forgetting even to resist. Shiqin Bari leaned into his neck again to sniff, then pulled back with a heavy frown. He pinched his nose, rubbing it as if he could not stand the sensation. “How is there nothing?”

After saying this, he let out a choked sneeze. Shiqin Bari grew more irritated. “It is absolutely abominable!”

Gansong incense was light and elegant, meant for calming the spirit; there was no foul odor to speak of. Shiqin Bari was talking nonsense. Yet, for some reason, he harbored a primal dislike for this scent, finding it stifling and hateful. “Where did you pick up this strange smell?”

Shen Lianzhi did not dare tell the truth, thinking only of how to gloss over the matter quickly. “I likely caught it by accident during the banquet. The King should stop asking.”

Shiqin Bari felt vaguely that something was wrong. The Yanzhi had been right beside him during the banquet, and he had not smelled this on Shen Lianzhi then. This fragrance clearly clung to him only after he had left the table.

However, Shiqin Bari had also drunk heavily and was quite intoxicated. At that moment, his head throbbed painfully, and he did not think too deeply on it. He let Shen Lianzhi fool him with a few words. Grumbling unpleasantly that it “smelled awful,” he wrapped his arms around Lianzhi and slumped onto the low couch.

His arms held Lianzhi with great force. They were so close that Lianzhi could clearly feel the heartbeat within Shiqin Bari’s chest.

The heartbeat was steady and powerful, thumping against Lianzhi’s back through the chest wall. Shiqin Bari nuzzled the top of his head affectionately. “Sleep, Yanzhi.”

Having said this, he fell into a deep slumber.

An attendant entered the Royal Tent with a lowered head to extinguish the candles. The bright tent turned pitch black. In Shiqin Bari’s tight embrace and the lightless gloom, Shen Lianzhi remained awake for a long time, staring into the darkness until dawn.

Shiqin Bari held his Yanzhi and enjoyed a night of good sleep. He woke just as Lianzhi finally drifted off. Shiqin Bari propped himself up on his elbow and gazed down at him for a while. For some reason, even in his dreams, Shen Lianzhi’s brow was tightly furrowed, and his body was curled up in an uneasy posture.

Shiqin Bari clicked his tongue, smoothed out the Yanzhi’s brow, and called for water to wash himself. He changed into new clothes and, with his chest out and head high, strode out of the tent in high spirits.

The golden eagle circling in the air needed no summons; it dived obediently and landed on his outstretched forearm. The hawk was like its master, a creature of high profile. It held its head tilted back, its feathers black as ink, looking truly domineering.

“The King’s eagle is quite majestic.” Just then, a clear male voice rang out nearby. Shiqin Bari turned and saw a handsome man walking toward him from a distance. It was none other than Lu Jingce, the Prince of Chu from the Great Zhou.

Shiqin Bari was an arrogant man, much like his sister; both walked with their eyes on the ceiling. To ask him to look someone in the eye was like asking for his life.

In seventeen years, the only person he had ever been willing to serve with a lowered head was Shen Lianzhi.

As for the Prince of Chu from Zhou, he looked down on him as well. Yet, the Prince was the Yanzhi’s cousin. Shiqin Bari still remembered Shen Lianzhi’s cheap look yesterday, dressed in wedding robes and a gold crown. He was just a cousin; was it worth all that?

Thinking of this, he glanced at the newcomer. The sight surprised him slightly. The Prince of Chu was very tall, his stature nearly equal to his own.

The Xia people were brave and warlike, all tall and strong, while the Zhou people preferred literature and art, making them generally slighter than the Xia. Even someone like Lianzhi was considered tall among the Zhou.

Lu Jingce stopped before him, placed a fist over his chest, and bowed. His manners were so perfect that even Shiqin Bari could find no fault. The Prince looked up with a smile on his lips, but his eyes were as deep as a stagnant pond, devoid of any warmth.

The gaze felt like two hidden arrows. Shiqin Bari felt a chill in his heart, but when he tried to trace it, the feeling vanished. Lu Jingce lowered his eyelids, masking the sharpness in his eyes with an air of complete respect.

“Pfft.” Shiqin Bari reached out to stroke the eagle’s smooth back. The golden eagle turned its head and nuzzled his hand affectionately. “No matter how majestic, it still bows its head and obeys this King.”

“I have heard a bit about the Great Xia’s eagle taming art,” Lu Jingce said. “The more valiant the eagle, the fiercer its temperament and the harder it is to break. I imagine the King went to great lengths to tame this one.”

Shiqin Bari raised his arm, and the golden eagle used the momentum to soar into the blue sky. “Suffering for a few days to gain such an eagle is not a losing bargain. However,”

“If I had to endure the bitterness of eagle taming again, I could not stand it. It is better to have a gentle temperament; a little scare makes them obedient. They are truly piteous and endearing.”

Lu Jingce’s smile gradually faded. His voice became as cold as ice shards. “Obedient. Is it true obedience, or is it an act? The King should look a bit closer.”

Shiqin Bari’s gaze darkened. “Prince of Chu, what do you mean by that?”

Lu Jingce kept his head lowered, most of his face hidden in shadow so Shiqin Bari could not see him clearly. He chuckled softly. “Just a bit of humble opinion. I have made the King laugh.”

“Humph.” Shiqin Bari, having been slighted, naturally gave him no kind face. “It was not very clever.”

With that, he turned and returned to the Royal Tent. Lianzhi had woken up, but his head still ached. As soon as he looked up, he saw Shiqin Bari standing beside him with a dark, handsome face. Lianzhi blinked, then tentatively called to him, “Great King?”

Shiqin Bari did not answer. He merely rested his chin on his hand, looking at him thoughtfully. He gazed at Lianzhi’s handsome face and suddenly remembered the events of yesterday.

When the Prince of Chu arrived, Lianzhi had actually shed tears. Shiqin Bari had never seen cousins shed tears upon meeting; was it necessary?

Speaking of which, Princess Nuomin was technically his cousin, yet he had barely seen her a few times. Su Rina even wanted him to take Nuomin as a concubine. Wait!

Shiqin Bari’s eyes snapped open as if a giant axe had split his mind. Wait, cousins, concubines, they were just cousins, not siblings.

Once he crossed that threshold of thought, Shiqin Bari could no longer view the two of them simply. Lianzhi’s deliberate dressing up, his tears, and Lu Jingce’s cold, piercing gaze all weighed on him.

Suspicions grew in Shiqin Bari’s heart. Just as he was about to think further, his thoughts were interrupted by Lianzhi. “Great King.”

A slender, pale hand caught his sleeve. Shen Lianzhi’s hair was loose, the ink-black tresses making his neck look exceptionally white.

He had stayed awake all night and only managed a short nap before getting up. He was currently exhausted and instinctively leaned against Shiqin Bari to steady himself. “What, cough, are you thinking about?”

That light cough made Shiqin Bari stop his train of thought. He leaned down, grabbed the quilt, and draped it over Shen Lianzhi. “I was just dazing. Why did you crawl up again? Be careful not to catch a cold.”

Lianzhi still held his sleeve, looking up at him cautiously. Seeing no change in Shiqin Bari’s expression, he breathed a secret sigh of relief and lay back down, holding his head.

Lakchen and Shiqin Bari shared a deep brotherly bond. Furthermore, the Left Tuqi King had resolved a great trouble for him. Thus, Lakchen’s wedding day could not be neglected; its scale almost rivaled the Chanyu’s own wedding.

Shiqin Bari led Shen Lianzhi to the banquet. As soon as they were seated, he was filled with rage; some blind fool had arranged for his Yanzhi to sit next to the Prince of Chu. The two sat closely together, making Shiqin Bari’s eyes spit fire.

Shiqin Bari rudely chased away Saren, who had intended to sit on the other side of Lianzhi, and took the seat himself.

With a dark face, Shiqin Bari sat on one side, and Lu Jingce’s expression was not much brighter. Shen Lianzhi, sandwiched between them, felt his jaw trembling and his skin crawling. To say he felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles was an understatement.

An attendant brought out delicious meat. As Lianzhi reached for his dagger to carve it, Shiqin Bari habitually took the lacquered tray from before him. Then came the harsh sound of the dagger scraping against the tray.

Shen Lianzhi’s body stiffened, and he quickly glanced at Lu Jingce on the other side. In the past, at the Zhou Palace, these tasks were always handled by Lu Jingce.

When Shiqin Bari finished carving, he pushed the tray back. Lianzhi, his mind full of worries, ate two pieces that tasted like wax and then stopped. Shiqin Bari caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and said unhappily, “Eating like a bird again.”

Lianzhi was about to snap back when he heard a scraping sound from his right. He turned his head and saw that beside the meat-filled tray, a bowl of millet porridge had appeared.

Lu Jingce said calmly, “If you find it greasy, drink some porridge. Do not starve yourself.”

The scent of millet drifted into his nose, carrying a hint of sweetness. Lianzhi’s mouth watered, and he drained the bowl in a few gulps.

Shiqin Bari stared unblinkingly at the empty bowl, then looked at the neglected meat. Feeling outdone and very unhappy, he said sarcastically, “The Prince of Chu is truly as attentive as can be.”

This was a roundabout way of telling him to mind his own business, even interfering with what his Yanzhi ate.

Lu Jingce lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, saying nothing.

Shen Lianzhi felt his scalp go numb. He secretly pinched Shiqin Bari under the table and leaned in to whisper, “Great King, what are you doing? Stop talking.”

“…” Shiqin Bari fell silent reluctantly, venting his frustration by pinching the tips of Shen Lianzhi’s fingers. Lianzhi hissed in pain, and Shiqin Bari immediately took his fingers and blew on them with great concern. “Did I hurt you?”

Lianzhi smiled faintly and brushed him off. “I am not made of jade; how could I be so fragile?”

“With how you are, you are no different from someone made of jade.” Shiqin Bari did not let go, holding his hand and rubbing it. The two shared a moment of intimacy, for a moment forgetting Lu Jingce sitting beside them.

Lu Jingce stopped pouring his wine and turned slightly. Shiqin Bari whispered something into Shen Lianzhi’s ear that made him laugh. A smile blossomed on that beautiful face, and those shimmering eyes watched his husband with a lingering, captivating gaze.

He was very familiar with this smile; he had seen it thousands of times in Chang’an. The smile had not changed, and neither had the person.

Only the person in front of him had been replaced.

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