The Regent Keeps Flirting With Me - Chapter 37

The Princess Escapes

“Zhou Jin! What are you doing!” Shen Lingyan snapped out of the pervasive mist, struggling against the wrists Zhou Jin had bound. Her eyes were filled with alarm.

“Sister… Ah Jin is only teaching you how to use the whip. This is just the first method…” Zhou Jin said, slowly starting to untie Shen Lingyan. The restraint on her wrists gradually faded, but Shen Lingyan remained highly alert, stepping back a few paces.

“I hope the Regent will show some self-respect.” Shen Lingyan was already nearing the edge of the pool. She turned, saw there was no retreat, and could only offer a firm retort.

Yet, this seemingly firm retort, in Zhou Jin’s eyes, was merely a soft blow against cotton—ineffective and harmless. She held the whip and walked forward step by step. With nowhere to retreat, Shen Lingyan grabbed the whip Zhou Jin swung. The force of the swing wasn’t great, and Shen Lingyan knew Zhou Jin didn’t intend to strike her, but the sheer pressure was incredibly uncomfortable.

This annoyance made Shen Lingyan impulsive. She pulled the other end of the whip backward. Zhou Jin, who had been standing firmly, suddenly felt weightless and was yanked directly into her arms. Due to the inertia, as Zhou Jin tumbled into Shen Lingyan’s embrace, both of them fell into the pool together.

This time they fell straight in, standing up then lying down. Shen Lingyan, terrified, clutched Zhou Jin’s clothes tightly, splashing a large amount of water amidst a scream. Even after they were in the pool, Zhou Jin ended up on top of Shen Lingyan, in a very ambiguous position.

“Get off!” Shen Lingyan managed to prop herself up halfway, her face abnormally flushed upon seeing Zhou Jin still sprawled on her. She pushed and shoved, urging her to get up. Zhou Jin, however, refused to comply, shamelessly pressing close to Shen Lingyan’s skin again, murmuring softly: “Just now, Sister was holding onto me, and now you’re turning against me?”

Exposed, Shen Lingyan simply stopped struggling and could only try to reason with her nicely. Only then did Zhou Jin agree to get up. Both of them were now sitting in the pool, their clothes and hair soaking wet. Especially Shen Lingyan, who was still wearing her undressed Empress’s robes. Now in the water, the clothes were fully saturated, making movement even more inconvenient.

Zhou Jin propped her chin up and scrutinized her for a long while. She moved next to Shen Lingyan, reaching out to untie Shen Lingyan’s clothes.

“You, you, you!! What are you doing!!” Shen Lingyan protected her chest with both hands, startled like a frightened deer. Her apricot-shaped eyes watched her nervously, tinged with shyness.

Zhou Jin ignored her words and reached out again, continuing to take off Shen Lingyan’s clothes. The wide, exquisite Empress’s robes were already half-removed by Zhou Jin, hanging loosely around her waist. The simple white undergarment offered Zhou Jin ample room for imagination. Her eyes were now filled with a tempting light.

“Sister is truly alluring… will you ever use a honey trap on others?” Before Shen Lingyan could answer, Zhou Jin fiercely stepped forward with the whip: “You are never allowed to use a honey trap on anyone but me.”

Shen Lingyan was so startled by Zhou Jin’s abnormal behavior that she dared not speak. She retreated step by step, afraid to resist, until Zhou Jin finally ripped off the Empress’s robes. Shen Lingyan instantly felt a chill. She hugged her arms, trying her best to sink her body into the warm water, but Zhou Jin abruptly pulled her up. Zhou Jin finally returned to normal, saying earnestly: “I truly only wanted to teach you how to use the whip. Come.”

Just when Shen Lingyan thought Zhou Jin would play some trick, she didn’t expect Zhou Jin to genuinely and methodically hand the whip to Shen Lingyan. Then, she taught Shen Lingyan hand-over-hand the force and direction for whipping, and even how to use the whip to directly coil around an opponent’s body.

Because they were standing in the pool, the whip striking the water’s surface splashed countless drops. Often, before one splash settled, another was created. Water droplets unavoidably hit Shen Lingyan’s hair, body, and their tightly clasped hands…

Shen Lingyan, for all her efforts, showed no sign of getting the hang of it after a long time. Zhou Jin was not surprised: “It’s alright. We still have seven days.”

The two were still practicing when Yun Zhu, worried, wanted to look inside but dared not. Just then, a palace maid stumbled in, rushing towards Chaohui Hall. Her face was pale, and her features were unfamiliar. Yun Zhu immediately asked, “Stop! Which palace are you from, acting so out of line?”

The palace maid wiped her tears, anxiously clutching Yun Zhu’s skirt: “Sister Yun Zhu, I… I am Zi Jia, the palace maid guarding the Cold Palace. Just now, when I went to deliver the meal to the person in the Cold Palace, I found the Princess had run away…”

Yun Zhu was stunned. She scrambled to her feet: “What!? No, I must tell His Majesty!” With that, Yun Zhu turned and pushed open the door of Shen Lingyan’s side hall, rushing in. She had prepared herself for the worst, expecting to see something she shouldn’t, but found the two revered figures diligently practicing the use of the whip.

Seeing Yun Zhu’s sudden intrusion, Zhou Jin and Shen Lingyan both stopped their movements. Shen Lingyan frowned with her beautiful eyebrows: “What is so urgent that you burst in without even saying a word?”

Yun Zhu immediately collected herself and knelt before Shen Lingyan: “This servant was inconsiderate, but a person from the Cold Palace just came to say…”

The Cold Palace? Shen Lingyan felt like she had seen that word in the book. A moment later, her mind’s alarm bells rang. The person in the Cold Palace—wasn’t that the biggest source of lingering regret and plot hole in the entire book?

She wasn’t just the source of lingering regret; she was the book’s biggest bug. This person, named Ji Xi, was said to be a princess, but not the Emperor’s biological daughter. It was merely a title bestowed upon her years ago to send her off for a marriage alliance.

However, before she could be sent, the small nation was destroyed by the Emperor. Thus, this princess became the most awkward presence in the palace. The conflicts among the palace concubines often began by targeting her. The side that failed after the scheming and backstabbing would invariably manage to shift the blame perfectly onto this princess. Even if the Emperor saw clearly, he didn’t know how to protect this person with whom he shared no blood relation.

Thus, between the concubines and this princess with no blood ties, the Late Emperor still made his calculations.

Ji Xi was thus locked in the Cold Palace. The Emperor felt some guilt, so the palace maids were normal, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner were made according to standard. She had been safe for many years without causing any trouble, until the original host inherited the throne. After the Regent, Zhou Jin, step-by-step emptied the original host, this princess fell in love with her personal guard.

Threatened by this, Ji Xi did many things for Zhou Jin. In the ending, the author left a hook: Ji Xi had ties to another powerful nation…

All matters concerning Ji Xi ended there, concluding with an imperfect closure, successfully becoming the collective “what if” for everyone. Some envious peers pointed out that Ji Xi was the biggest plot hole in the book, while readers speculated she was the setup for the author’s next installment…

Originally, after Shen Lingyan transmigrated, she hadn’t heard anyone mention Ji Xi or the Cold Palace. The events she experienced were also quite different from the book’s description. Thus, Shen Lingyan naturally assumed that perhaps this character didn’t exist.

It was only today that Shen Lingyan realized things weren’t as simple as she thought.

She truly had transmigrated into the book and was following all the main plot points. It was only due to her different choices and Zhou Jin’s varying emotions that a series of changes were triggered, but the overall major storyline and key characters were all still present.

Zhou Jin also had an impression of this person. So, both of them stopped their movements, not continuing to practice the whip, and quickly changed their clothes.

Although their hair was still dripping wet, neither of them cared. They rushed out of the side hall one after the other, beginning to search the entire palace for the escaped princess. Immediately, the palace maids and eunuchs fell into chaos, starting to search for traces of Ji Xi in the three palaces and six courtyards. Since Zi Jia had just discovered her absence, not much time had passed since she delivered breakfast, so everyone was certain the princess hadn’t fled the palace and was hiding somewhere within.

It had only been about two hours since Shen Lingyan finished her morning court session. The sun was hanging high in the sky, casting warm light, so it didn’t matter that Shen Lingyan’s and Zhou Jin’s hair hadn’t dried.

Their otherwise flowing long hair now clung tightly to their backs. As the two walked forward side-by-side, the sunlight hitting their dark hair made them look, from a distance, like mermaids who had just emerged from the water.

Panting from the frantic search, Shen Lingyan finally couldn’t run anymore. She pulled Zhou Jin to a halt, signaling Yun Zhu and Zi Jia to continue the search while she slowly caught her breath.

“What’s wrong? You seemed so anxious just now,” Zhou Jin showed no sign of fatigue. She looked at Shen Lingyan with interest, clicking her tongue and shaking her head: “It seems our Empress must not only learn how to use the whip but also needs to train her body.”

Shen Lingyan’s face darkened at the remark. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and just took a few deep breaths: “Of course, I am not comparable to the Regent, who has been trained in various martial arts since childhood. Such physical fitness is naturally something someone like me does not possess.”

There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. Zhou Jin was momentarily stunned and couldn’t utter a single word, as a fleeting memory of those dark times in her childhood flashed through her mind.

Shen Lingyan breathed for a long time and still hadn’t heard Zhou Jin speak. She subtly lifted her head, meeting Zhou Jin’s searching phoenix eyes. Feeling a bit guilty, she quickly tried to soothe her: “I’m sorry, I spoke inappropriately just now…”

“Did I just hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ from Empress Sister?” Zhou Jin raised an eyebrow at Shen Lingyan, as if Shen Lingyan uttering those words was wrong.

“In my eyes, I always thought the Empress should forever be high and mighty.” Zhou Jin, for some reason, tried to climb onto Shen Lingyan’s shoulder.

Shen Lingyan couldn’t decipher the emotion in her words. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by the sound of Yun Zhu’s footsteps.

Following that was Yun Zhu’s startled voice.

“Your Majesty!! The Princess has been found!”