Her gaze was icy, but her cheeks were flushed a delicate crimson.

As she uttered the last three words, a shameful heat crept up to the tips of her ears.

Although Yu Qingwu had experienced marital intimacy with Xie Jin Yan several times, she still felt awkward when explicitly mentioning such things.

But Xie Jin Yan seemed to enjoy these topics.

Seeing her question him, he wasn't displeased at all.

On the contrary, he smiled.

"What's wrong, Shijie? Are you jealous of that Qin woman?"

He watched her with a slight curl of his lips, his tone playful.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and lifted her chin, his eyes burning with desire as he scanned her earlobes, which were so red they seemed about to drip blood. Before she could break free, he chuckled and asked, "Just the words 'go to bed' make you so shy. Shijie, you said you wanted to serve me."

"Shijie, I'm curious. How can you, so restrained, satisfy me and make me comfortable?"

He drew out the last syllable, his voice both sensual and seductive.

In his phoenix eyes, as clear as dark jade, countless layers of wantonness stirred, as if he wanted to engrave her into his gaze, or perhaps hinting at something...

Yu Qingwu's face, already hot, became even hotter.

Looking at Xie Jin Yan's exquisite but frivolous face, her heart raced, and she felt utterly embarrassed.

But more than that, she felt anger.

Anger at being teased by him.

"What are you talking about, Your Highness? When we're in bed, you'll naturally know my skills." She gritted her teeth, avoiding his gaze, and forcefully pushed away his fiery hand. Then, she lifted her head, trying to appear calm as she looked at him, saying with a mixture of shame and resentment, "Anyway, just answer the question. As for other things, I'll satisfy you..."

Satisfy him?

Was placating him enough to satisfy him?

She had been his woman for so long, and every time she either called him by his full name or mockingly addressed him as Your Highness. Yet she dared to say she would satisfy him?

Xie Jin Yan didn't answer. He crossed his arms, looked at the indignant woman before him with a smile that wasn't a smile, and raised an eyebrow. "Shijie, whether you can satisfy me is another matter. But I don't think I need to explain these things to you, do I?"

He tilted his head, looking at her with a mocking gaze. "What right do you have to question me? And in what capacity are you questioning me?"

"I..." Yu Qingwu was instantly choked.

Indeed, Xie Jin Yan was the Crown Prince of a powerful nation. Who he liked and who he secretly dallied with was none of her business.

Yu Qingwu had no interest in Xie Jin Yan's romantic entanglements, but where the Qin woman was concerned, she had to ask clearly.

Her lips pressed together, she hesitated, glancing at him with a struggling expression.

After a moment of silence, she stammered, "Your Highness, officially, I am your Liangdi (Consort of Virtue), and I have been entrusted by Her Majesty the Empress to restrain your actions..."

"Privately, I am your concubine, and you are my..."

"I am your what?" Xie Jin Yan chuckled.

"Hus... husband..."

Yu Qingwu lowered her eyes and spat out the two words with great difficulty.

When she looked up at Xie Jin Yan again, she tried to put on the serious expression of a wife, awkwardly tugging at his sleeve, with a hint of pique, and said, "Anyway, I am already your person, so you must be responsible for me. You can take more concubines or even marry a principal wife if you wish. But you must never have affairs with married women. Otherwise, I won't be able to answer to Her Majesty the Empress."

"Xie Jin Yan, be honest, do you and that Qin woman have..."

"Have I slept with her?" Before Yu Qingwu could finish, Xie Jin Yan spoke the words for her.

Causing Qingwu's previously calm face to instantly blush again.

Fortunately, Xie Jin Yan didn't continue to make things difficult for her.

He sighed softly, reached out and pulled her into his arms, with a hint of indulgence, and said softly, "What are you thinking, Shijie? I'm not so indiscriminate that I would fancy that Qin woman."

"Besides, I've always been chaste and self-disciplined. I'm not as dissolute as you think." As he said this, Xie Jin Yan seemed a little aggrieved.

He had clearly only been with her, yet he didn't know why this woman had the mistaken impression that he would eat any rotten melon.

However, Xie Jin Yan didn't say this.

He took a deep look at the woman in his arms and explained, "Perhaps when I coaxed Qin to give me the white jade earrings, I spoke too sweetly, leading her to believe that I fancied her, which is why she showed that kind of expression today."

???

What was that?

The pair of white jade earrings, Xie Jin Yan had swindled from Qin Yiliu?

That wasn't right, she had only mentioned her dowry that day, but hadn't revealed a single word about the jade earrings.

When he brought them back, she had assumed that Xu had begged them from Qin Yiliu.

How could it be, could it be that…

In an instant, Yu Qingwu's mind was in chaos.

Looking up at Xie Jin Yan's gentle gaze, her mood suddenly became very complicated.

"Xie Jin Yan, how... how did you know that the earrings were also part of my dowry?"

Her eyes reddened, and she asked him with a choked voice, "I never said that the white magnolia earrings were also part of my dowry, how did you know?"

Hearing this, Xie Jin Yan didn't answer.

He just quietly looked at her, and after a long time, he wiped away her tears. The eyes that had been frivolous and seductive were instantly replaced by heartache, and he said with a wry smile, "Shijie, is it really such a big deal? Are you so touched?"

"If you are so easily moved, how will you use me in the future? And how will you avenge the ice lake?"

"Okay, it's just a small matter, why are you crying?"

Saying that, Xie Jin Yan put his arms around Yu Qingwu again, gently stroking her hair, and said softly, "Alright, A-Wu, let's eat."

After saying that, he called out again, instructing the small kitchen to prepare food.

Yu Qingwu gently placed her hands on Xie Jin Yan's chest, her mood unbearably heavy.

She hated Xie Jin Yan, but what he did couldn't help but move her.

If he hadn't been observing so meticulously, he wouldn't have been able to notice the importance of the earrings to her, let alone said sweet words to coax Qin to return the earrings for her.

That night, Qingwu dreamed again.

However, what she dreamed of was no longer her childhood, but something that had happened recently.

In the bathroom, she and Xie Jin Yan were intimately entwined, and he held her, saying he loved her over and over again.

But the next moment, he threw her in the snow and left with A-Yue in his arms.

"Ah!" Qingwu suddenly woke up from her cries.

"Shijie, what's wrong?" She was covered in sweat and sat up in shock. In a daze, she heard a man's gentle voice beside her.

Yu Qingwu turned her head stiffly and saw Xie Jin Yan looking at her sleepily, his pleasing voice with a thick nasal tone, softly asking her, "Did you have a nightmare?"