For a moment, the Crown Prince even doubted himself.
It couldn’t be his fault.
His mind-reading ability had been tested over a long period, solving numerous major cases. Every schemer had been exposed before him—there was no way it could be wrong.
His father and mother, the Emperor and Empress, were wise and discerning. Though they had misjudged people before, they couldn’t possibly be so blind as to be deceived by a teenage girl.
The Marquis of Wuning was loyal to the nation, upright and honorable—he wouldn’t have raised a daughter so audacious as to bewitch the imperial family.
He had also seen many noble ladies at grand banquets. At most, their hearts harbored feminine ambition or jealousy. Xuan He might be spoiled and willful, but she was nothing like this girl.
After much deliberation, the only explanation he could accept was the whims of a young maiden’s heart.
Admiring youthful beauty was human nature—just as men were drawn to lovely women, she too was filled with curiosity about men, especially handsome ones.
Moreover, she held a secret: she knew what he had dreamed of the previous night. That alone made her worth investigating.
The Crown Prince lifted the quilt and lay down slowly, leaving a measured distance between them. Yet the warmth of the girl seeped through the embroidered bedding, reaching him.
It was deeply unfamiliar.
Though he was nearly twenty, he had never taken a palace maid to his bed. All maidservants attended to him from the outer chambers—no woman had ever been allowed this close.
For the first time, a woman lay beside him. He could hear the rapid thumping of her heart, smell the fresh, delicate fragrance of grass and wood on her.
At the same time, her shy thoughts drifted into his ears.
"Shouldn’t we perform the rites of Zhou now?"
"If he won’t take the lead, is he waiting for me?"
"Then I’ll make the first move!"
The Crown Prince listened quietly to the faint rustling beside him. Then, a small hand crept over, light as a feather, resting tentatively on his waist.
Feeling that barely-there touch, he closed his eyes, his throat bobbing slightly. "Have you learned the proper decorum?"
Yun Kui answered softly, "Yes."
"I’ve studied over thirty techniques!"
The Crown Prince: "..."
Yun Kui gathered her courage. "Shall this humble wife serve Your Highness?"
The Crown Prince fell silent for a moment. Regardless, she was his lawfully wedded Crown Princess. Tonight, the rites had to be fulfilled.
When Yun Kui received no response, she ventured further, her fingertips barely grazing the defined ridges of his abdomen—when suddenly her waist was seized in a firm grip.
In one swift motion, the man flipped her beneath him, his scorching body pinning her down.
His exquisitely carved features loomed over her, magnified in her vision. Yun Kui’s heart raced, her voice trembling. "Your Highness..."
"Close your eyes," he commanded, his voice low.
Yun Kui obediently squeezed her eyes shut.
Only then did the Crown Prince take his time studying the woman beneath him.
The dragon-and-phoenix wedding candles burned bright, casting a warm glow over her flushed cheeks. Sensing his intense gaze, her long lashes fluttered nervously, her breath hitching. Her small hands clutched tightly at her chest.
A cold scoff rose in his heart. So she does know fear?
"I’m so nervous..."
"I wonder where His Highness will start."
"Father and Mother usually begin with kissing the lips..."
The Crown Prince’s brow furrowed. She even knew about the intimate affairs of the Marquis of Wuning and his wife?
Had the Marquis been careless, or was he simply unrestrained, not bothering to shield his daughter from such matters?
When Yun Kui sensed no movement, she couldn’t resist peeking with one eye. "Your Highness, what are you looking at?"
"Why is this taking so long?"
The Crown Prince’s fingers slowly parted her collar, revealing two slender, jade-white collarbones that rose delicately.
"This marriage was a twist of fate. We’ve met only a handful of times—hardly familiar. But now that we’re wed, it’s only right that I take a good look at my Crown Princess and see what she’s truly like."
"A twist of fate..." Yun Kui murmured. "So Your Highness married me only out of necessity?"
After meeting the Crown Prince so many times, even becoming his wife, he still didn’t know what she looked like?
Seeing the dejection in her eyes, the Crown Prince was inexplicably reminded of her expression earlier, during the hair-binding ceremony.
His tone softened slightly. "No one forced me. It was the will of our parents and the needs of the state. You are my lawfully wedded Crown Princess, and from now on, I will honor and respect you."
Yun Kui wanted to ask more, but he cut her off. "And you?"
His gaze darkened as he probed, "Why did you marry me?"
Yun Kui pressed her lips together. "I, too, could not defy the imperial decree."
"Of course, it’s because you’re more handsome than any of the men Father picked for me. At the very least, you’re the Crown Prince—you wouldn’t covet my wealth, and our families are well-matched."
The Crown Prince hadn’t expected pearls of wisdom from her mouth. Hearing her thoughts, he was momentarily taken aback—but then, remembering who she was, it made perfect sense.
"I’m... handsome?" he suddenly asked.
Yun Kui was startled, her hand flying to cover her lips.
How did His Highness know what she was thinking?
She blinked, then boldly studied the man before her—his sword-like brows, the deep, commanding intensity of his phoenix eyes, the proud bridge of his nose... The romance novels all said men like this were exceptionally gifted... ahem... and his lips were beautifully shaped too.
Truthfully, this was the first time she had dared to examine his face so closely. During her occasional visits to the palace, she had only glimpsed him from afar. The divide between their statuses meant she, like everyone else, didn’t dare look directly at his imperial countenance. Even if she mustered the courage for a quick glance, his imposing, frosty aura always made her lower her eyes.
But now, though he was still the Crown Prince, he was also her husband. And what was there to fear in looking at one’s own husband?
Emboldened, her gaze grew even bolder.
The man, however, reminded her again: "Close your eyes."
Yun Kui sulked inwardly, but a prince’s command was not to be disobeyed. She obediently shut her eyes.
The quilt she had clutched was gently pulled from her grasp. Her collar loosened, slipping off her shoulders, and a cool touch trailed from her neck to her collarbone, then slowly descended further.
Though she had seen instructional paintings and read countless romance novels, experiencing it firsthand was entirely different.
Her heart pounded as if it might burst from her chest. His deliberate, unhurried caresses left her hands restless, fingers twisting together. Despite herself, her breathing grew uneven.
"A quarter of an hour... I wonder if the foreplay counts toward that."
The Crown Prince’s gaze darkened. Hearing this, he was determined to teach her a lesson—to see if she was truly audacious or just a paper tiger, all bark and no bite.
Parting her slender legs, his gaze lingered on her flushed lips before he leaned in, covering them with his own.
The moment their lips met, both stiffened.
The world fell silent. No more thoughts reached his ears—only the crackling of the candles and the muffled sounds of their mingling breaths, the faint clinking of teeth, audible only to them.
This, too, was his first time. He explored by instinct.
But his Crown Princess had been raised too delicately. The slightest touch brought tears to her eyes, forcing him to hold back, sweating with restraint. Progress was slow—he had to temper his movements, coaxing and soothing as he went.
Seeing her soft lips bitten red, he cupped her chin, gently wiping the tears at the corners of her eyes with his thumb, speaking with forced patience: "Every bride must endure this first time. Bear with it a little longer."
Yun Kui wept uncontrollably, shaking her head as tears spilled onto his fingertips.
She had practiced at home, yet now it proved utterly useless. Her body was invaded by an unfamiliar, overwhelming presence, her limbs going weak with instinctive fear, leaving her powerless.
The Crown Prince’s gaze lingered on her flushed ears, recalling the careless glance he had stolen during the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet. His throat tightened, and he lowered his head to kiss her.
A deafening roar filled Yun Kui’s mind. Her delicate shoulders tensed, and a fragile whimper escaped her lips.
The Crown Prince captured her earlobe between his teeth, teasing it slowly, unhurriedly. "If you’re afraid, you may hold onto me."
Yun Kui’s clenched fingers paused, then gradually loosened their grip on the embroidered sheets beneath her. Trembling, she raised her arms and wrapped them around the man’s lean waist. A low, controlled exhale escaped him in response.
A sharp nip at her earlobe—his teeth had pressed down harder.
Timidly, she asked, "Is... is this how I should hold you?"
His intention had been for her to embrace his neck, not his waist. Through the thin fabric of his sleeping robe, he could feel the warmth of her slender fingers.
Unfamiliar. And yet, it stirred something strange within him.
Never mind. Let her hold him however she wished.
He lifted her slightly, kissing her neck and collarbone, and after several failed attempts, finally found the right position.
Perhaps it was his years observing prisoners’ micro-expressions in the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review—he had grown accustomed to analyzing their limits, deciding how far to push them.
Now, he watched as Yun Kui’s pained frown gradually eased under his guidance, her body relaxing. And with each passing moment, his movements grew more deliberate, more demanding.
Yun Kui trembled uncontrollably, sobbing against him. Just as a cry threatened to break free from her throat, he sealed her lips with a deep, consuming kiss.
What had begun as distant exploration had now become something far more intoxicating. Her voice, her tears, her soft, snow-like skin, the delicate frame pinned beneath him—all of it scattered countless sparks within him, igniting a long-suppressed, primal hunger.
In his youth, he had ridden into battle, conquering cities without resistance. Now, that same ruthless desire surged in his chest—to claim her completely, to possess her without restraint.
For the first time, he teetered on the edge of losing control. A force even his reason could not conquer.
Yun Kui’s vision blurred. The golden phoenix and dragon embroidered on the canopy above swirled like monstrous whirlpools, dragging her deeper with merciless insistence. She couldn’t endure it, yet escape was impossible. Again and again, she was pulled back, coaxed by his tender words, only to be subjected to even more. It felt endless.
Outside the chamber, the maidservants Cuihuan and Dongyue listened in stunned silence. Who could have imagined that the Crown Prince, always so composed and restrained, had such a side to him? And not just once, but over and over... Who had spread those rumors about his indifference to women?
At first, Yun Kui had tried to keep track of time. But soon, her mind went blank. Only when the fifth watch’s drum sounded did her scattered awareness slowly return.
What rotten books!
They said it would only last fifteen minutes! Wuwuwu...
She opened her eyes, sniffling, taking in her own disheveled state—while the Crown Prince remained impeccably dressed.
A pang of resentment struck her. Glancing at the scattered red marks on her body, she murmured a quiet accusation: "Your Highness has seen all of me... but I haven’t seen you."
The Crown Prince closed his eyes, veiling the lingering desire in his gaze. When he opened them again, his usual cool detachment had returned.
"I observed you only to fulfill the rites of matrimony. Nothing more."
Seeing her red-rimmed eyes, still glistening with tears, something stirred in him. He leaned down to wipe them away. "This was my first time as well. There may have been oversights. It won’t happen again."
The rare loss of control—allowing that fire to spread unchecked—weighed on him. He clenched his fist, forcing his gaze away from her tear-stained face.
Producing an heir was his duty to the empire. He would treat her with respect. Tonight, this one indulgence was enough. From now on... he could never lose himself like this again.
