Chapter 99

Chapter 99

The malicious provocation in Xie Yuan's eyes vanished.

At the brink of confrontation, he had deliberately crossed the line, wanting to make Shen Lian taste the price of toying with and humiliating him.

He had never restrained the frail young imperial physician with such force before.

He had expected to scare Shen Lian into admitting his mistakes and begging for mercy, but instead received a nearly gentle "Dian Xia, can you put me down first?"

As if this were something Shen Lian was willing to negotiate, rather than caving in out of guilt.

The provocation in Xie Yuan's eyes gave way to confusion.

Why hadn't Shen Lian cried out in fear and pushed him away?

Was this something you could haggle over?

Could chastity be freely given to a man who had turned against him?

Even at this point, Shen Lian still didn't reject his overstepping demands.

Was this kind of thing not a big deal to this imperial physician?

Had the physician truly been with other men before?

The speculation flashed by.

Xie Yuan's gaze darkened and clouded over, his hand unconsciously gripping tighter.

"Ah!" Shen Lian's body arched forward from the soreness, his leg muscles contracting as he instinctively clamped around the young male concubine's waist and hips. His eyes welled up as he pushed resentfully against his firm shoulders: "You're hurting me with your grip!"

Xie Yuan's eyes roamed over Shen Lian's flushed face, finding not a trace of rejection or anger.

"What was it you said you didn't bring?" His voice was low and displeased.

Shen Lian's cheeks grew even hotter, his hands resting helplessly on his shoulders: "It's... it's something couples use when they get intimate. You're big and tall, so I figured... without prep, it'd be hard to take you in."

Xie Yuan narrowed his eyes in shock and anger, tilting his head to scrutinize him. After a moment, he let out a cold laugh: "Figures the miracle doctor who made a name in Gusu in three months. Lord Shen knows his stuff—you can tell if you can take me just by looking at my frame?"

Shen Lian could tell the young male concubine was even more pissed off, and replied with confusion: "Of course."

Although he had no personal "marital experience" himself, having served in the Imperial Medical Academy, he naturally needed to be knowledgeable in this area.

However, the size was entirely based on his physical perception, unrelated to height.

That answer seemed to kill whatever hope the young male concubine had left.

After a beat, Xie Yuan asked, his voice low: "So it's just because you didn't bring those? If you had, would you be willing?"

Shen Lian lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze. He swallowed hard, breath quickening as he whispered: "If we do this... what are we, exactly? I mean, you're still pissed... You sure you still want this?"

"What else would it be?" Xie Yuan said. "Let you play me and betray me with no consequences? Not a damn chance. You'll use that body of yours to put out the fire. From now on, you're mine alone, like a wife to her husband, until I cool off."

Shen Lian was crushed.

The sudden heat had made him think the young male concubine was drunk on lust, but turns out he just wanted to "fuck out of spite."

If this had been before he ran away, Shen Lian would have flown into a rage. But now, with the darkening value he'd personally racked up needing to be paid off, and the fact that he had wanted this for a long time too...

Screw it. Go big or go home.

"I understand." He hung his head, defeated, but kept his arms and legs wrapped around Xie Yuan.

A revenge that met zero resistance.

Xie Yuan's pupils contracted. After a long pause, he leaned in close to the young physician's face: "We start now. Open your mouth, Shen Lian. Your husband's about to kiss you."

Shen Lian: "..."

Shouldn't this kind of thing be more gradual?

"But I didn't bring any of that stuff today!"

"What the hell do you need for a kiss?"

Shen Lian was adamant about protection: "What if you get carried away and wanna take it further? I'm totally unprepared right now."

Xie Yuan stared at Imperial Physician Shen, silent for a good five or six breaths. "You wanna go further? Right now?"

"Just in case, you know?" Shen Lian said. "I was thinking... I could go home, soak in a bath, and grab the stuff."

"What kinda treasure you got at home that I don't have here?" Xie Yuan stepped back and set Shen Lian down, then turned and strode out of the courtyard, summoning a eunuch to see to Shen Lian's bath in the hot spring.

This was unexpected—Shen Lian actually wanted to go further.

Xie Yuan called in the household's sex tutor and asked exactly what special gear was needed for the deed, so he wouldn't look like a fool in front of the experienced Imperial Physician Shen.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian followed a head eunuch named Li Shu down the corridor, already planning to duck somewhere private before the bathwater was ready to pull up his system interface and trade for some condoms.

He stepped through the moon gate into a courtyard on the west side of the estate, and the bright lanterns got swallowed up by the swirling steam.

The head eunuch called out softly, "See to the honored guest's bath," and the back wooden doors of the Quege Pavilion slid open.

A wave of hot steam rushed out, cutting through the muggy summer air and wrapping around Shen Lian.

The bowing servants shuffled aside, revealing the steam-shrouded white marble bath in all its glory.

No wonder Granny Liu's exaggerated reaction upon entering the Grand View Garden was so theatrical—the poor are easily overwhelmed.

Shen Lian had expected that opening the door would reveal a fancy bathing barrel much larger than his own...

He'd seen people with swimming pools at home, but never someone with a private hot spring spa complete with sauna room.

Wait a minute.

Wasn't it said in the novel that after Chu and Wei severed ties, Mu Rongyao and her son lost imperial favor and were treated coldly?

Shouldn't a fallen consort only get leftover scraps? Why was the dragon-pride prince's residence even more luxurious than Prince Xi's?

Wait!

Shen Lian suddenly became alert, his gaze sharpening...

Damn it. When he first met the young male concubine, he used to tell him all sorts of fabricated stories about how miserable His Highness Prince Qi's life was.

He had even confidently speculated that Prince Qi never summoned imperial physicians because he couldn't afford to tip them.

Shen Lian closed his eyes in despair, his toes beginning to curl into the ground.

Damn it, that little male concubine barely put up a fight before just accepting it!

Afterward, when I took him to a "Michelin-starred restaurant," he'd joke around, "A broke loser like Prince Qi never ate like this. I treat you pretty well, don't I, Lord Shen?"

Ughhh, that little concubine is so damn wicked!!!

Snapping back to reality, Shen Lian felt kind of dazed.

He now wished Dian Xia would go back to being his old, annoying self.

If satisfying his needs could actually lower his darkening value, that'd be great.

Even if, once the anger faded, they had no more ties, he still hoped Dian Xia would go back to how he used to be.

He slipped off his shoes and socks, stepping barefoot onto the damp, cool bluish-white stone of Que Tang Pavilion, stopping by the pool.

Two attendants, one in front and one behind, quickly undid his outer robe and belt.

Not used to standing naked in front of strangers, he hurried to find the pool entrance the moment his clothes were off.

His flushed toes made their way down the steps into the water.

The water was on the hot side; as his ankles sank in, a faint blush crept up his smooth calves.

Once he got used to the temperature, he slowly sat down, the hot water rising past his collarbones, carrying a faint herbal scent like Acorus gramineus into his nose.

Leaning back against the white marble, his feet slid over the pebbles at the bottom, sending gentle ripples through the water.

The warm yellow lantern light from the ceiling refracted through the droplets, casting shimmering, dappled patterns that trembled on the rippling surface.

It felt like being in a celestial pool, but Shen Lian's mind was only on where the attendants were, desperately looking for a chance to exchange for condoms from the system.

But the lube only came as a freebie with a purchase of ten condoms at once.

The system's exchanges couldn't be delivered to a specific spot; they'd just drop randomly around Shen Lian. Ten condoms plus lube suddenly appearing would be impossible to explain if anyone saw.

What the hell do I do?

Going without condoms might be fine, but would skipping lube risk injury?

He soaked in the pool for a long time, the attendants behind him standing silently, holding clay jars of soap solution, waiting for his instructions.

After this standoff, Shen Lian gave up on the chance, deciding to get dressed and head to the bedchamber, where he could exchange for condoms and lube while waiting for Dian Xia to show up.

He cleared his throat and slowly rose from the water: "Um... I'm just about done washing, so I..."

Before he could finish, he heard the thick wooden door slide open.

Shen Lian trembled slightly, quickly sinking back into the pool, sensing trouble.

Behind him came the rustling of attendants unfastening belts and clothes.

Guessing it was the little male concubine coming in, Shen Lian didn't dare turn around, his already burning cheeks about to catch fire.

Were they really going to bathe together?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a long, toned leg step into the water, and he instinctively looked sideways.

He gulped.

His heart was racing so fast his head spun, but not from the sight of broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and eight-pack abs.

It was something else, even more exaggerated than his vague earlier impression.

Even with lube, would that even work?

This could kill someone.

And why was it already standing at attention before anything even happened?

The little male concubine was so handsome, so why did his dick look so fierce and savage?

Was it too late to bail now?

He'd thought the little male concubine's revenge methods were gentle, but now he realized this was murder!

In despair, ripples pushed toward him from the right, and Xie Yuan stood beside him. After a moment's hesitation, he bent down, scooped Shen Lian out of the water, turned, sat down, and set him on his lap like a ragdoll.

Shen Lian slowly looked up, his gaze sliding over Xie Yuan's broad chest, collarbone, Adam's apple, jaw, and nose, but he didn't dare meet his eyes any higher.

Xie Yuan observed for a while, seemingly unsatisfied with this position. With one hand underwater, he hooked Shen Lian's left leg, grabbed his ankle, and moved it to the other side.

"Dian Xia..." Shen Lian panted, nervous. "What are you doing?"

"Turn around and face me."

Shen Lian hesitated, then obediently bent one leg and turned around to straddle him.

"Look at me."

The little male concubine's tone was so cold now. Shen Lian reluctantly tilted his head up to look at him.

Xie Yuan declared, "Don't pout. You're paying off a debt now, so no sulking with me, got it?"

Shen Lian blinked and nodded glumly.

Only then did Xie Yuan reach out, pull him close by the small of his back, press him against his stomach, and add further pre-battle instructions: "If I make you uncomfortable later, speak up properly. No matter what, don't throw a tantrum, got it?"