Chapter 95: A Kiss
The light boat swayed slightly, ripples spreading out in circles on the water.
Points of starlight were reflected in the water, revealing a patch of shimmering waves. As the ripples spread toward the surroundings, that ethereal light swayed gently along with them.
Zhao Yiyi looked up abruptly. When her gaze met his, it was like crashing into a bottomless abyss; body and mind fell downwards together, unable to climb back up no matter what.
She stared blankly like this, leaning back slightly, forgetting to speak for a moment.
Gu Zhen’s expression was covered with a layer of softness. His warm, large palm wrapped around her hand, tightening bit by bit, and he repeated softly, “Starting from today, it is a new year. Shall we start over as well?”
Warm breath brushed past the tip of her ear. Zhao Yiyi’s eyelashes trembled slightly. A desire to escape rose in her heart. She turned her head, wanting to dodge, but was held in place by a hand reaching out to press her shoulder.
It looked effortless, as if he hadn’t used any strength at all, yet she was firmly pinned there.
In that instant, Zhao Yiyi couldn’t even distinguish whether he was using too much force or if her own body had stiffened, making her unable to escape.
She looked down at the green gauze skirt with twining grape patterns she was wearing, holding the copper-gilt hand warmer with a reclining deer pattern in her hands. Her voice was trembling too. “You…”
She said one word, but couldn’t continue the rest.
Under the brilliant stars, Gu Zhen lowered his eyes to gaze at her cheek. His gaze swept over her dewy almond eyes, perky nose tip, and crimson ears one by one, finally stopping on those vermilion lips painted with rich lipstick.
A trace of wine stain remained at the corner of her lips, and the sweet, cloying scent of grape wine wafted over.
Beside them was the sound of the light boat breaking the water; above was the boundless, brilliant Milky Way. Hearing her breathing go from steady to barely audible, then turning intermittent, Gu Zhen held his breath and leaned down slightly, capturing that softness.
At first, it was a tentative touch like a dragonfly skimming the water. Once tasting the sweetness, he began to carefully trace the shape of her vermilion lips, touching and kissing back and forth, his movements gradually becoming unrestrained.
When he sucked on her lip bead, Zhao Yiyi’s body stiffened abruptly. The hand pressed against his chest lost its strength, almost dropping down.
Such entanglement of lips and teeth was too numbing, too much for one to bear. Sensing him becoming bolder, she pushed him lightly, moving aside slightly, holding onto the gunwale to calm her mind.
“Yiyi.”
The deep voice from the side contained a meaning that was hard to explain—seemingly lingering, seemingly enticing. Hot breath sprayed behind her ear, rousing waves of tremors.
She looked back, seeing a smear of lipstick on the corner of his mouth. A patch of rich, erotic color bloomed, revealing endless charm.
Zhao Yiyi’s breath hitched first, then she frowned. “What are you doing?”
Although the Taiye Pool was vast, there were quite a few boats sailing from Kunlun Island toward the shore. Looking out, one could see boats passing hurriedly in the distance. Lights were lit at the gunwales of every vessel. Those lamps scattered a faint glow, making this pool of water seem to have birthed stars.
There were still so many people; how could he… how could he be like this!
Two carefully drawn, graceful eyebrows knitted into a knot. She tried hard to control her temper, suppressing the slight trembling in her heart. Her lips felt a bit numb and ticklish; she didn’t know what was going on.
Gu Zhen smiled. He leaned closer, smelling the clear fragrance on her hair. His index finger pressed on her soft lips as he laughed low, “Yiyi forgot so soon? Then shall we do it again, to let you see clearly?” Seeming to sense what she was thinking, Gu Zhen extended his arm to block her, whispering, “The lamp on the boat is not lit. Relax, no one can see.”
The light boat was still swaying, sailing across the cold winter water surface, rippling out circles of waves. Zhao Yiyi pushed him once, her face flushed red, and said with slight annoyance, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
One hand was wrapped by his. Just as she was about to pull it back, with a soft thud of collision, the boat docked, lying across the ferry crossing.
“It is getting late. Although there is a five-day break for the New Year, there might be urgent matters to deal with. You should go back and rest early.”
Gazing at the weeping willows nearby, Zhao Yiyi felt her breathing become fresh again. Her tightly wound heart relaxed. Supporting herself on the gunwale, she stood up, carefully stepped onto the shore, lifted the corner of her gauze skirt with both hands, and ran away quickly.
Her heart thumped wildly, her cheeks burning hot like fire. She couldn’t care about anything else; her heart only thought of getting away from here first.
Gu Zhen pulled the corners of his lips into a smile. Staring at the slender and graceful figure in the distance, he followed unhurriedly behind. After passing through a small peach grove, they reached the Yangchun Gate in front of Yande Palace.
Zhao Yiyi walked extremely fast. Before the palace servants could even react, she stepped into Yande Palace alone.
Looking around, she frowned slightly and asked, “Has Duan-Duan not returned yet?”
The little palace maid at the side hesitated for a moment, intending to reply.
“She has already moved to Qinglu Palace,” Gu Zhen said softly, entering closely behind her.
Zhao Yiyi turned her head abruptly to look at him, speechless with anger for a moment. “You really made her move?”
Gu Zhen stepped forward two paces, tidied her cloak for her, and retied the clothing ribbon. His voice was warm. “Yande Palace wasn’t big to begin with. If I didn’t tell her to move out, were you going to keep her forever?”
Seeing her expression wasn’t very good, Gu Zhen softened his tone to coax her, “The palace servants in Yande Palace are meant to serve you. Adding her, the servants aren’t enough to go around. If we add more servants, there is no empty space. Qinglu Palace has been all tidied up; didn’t you send someone to check during the day? The servants assigned there were also carefully selected by Wu Mao; there won’t be any mistakes.”
He finally got the chance today; if he didn’t make her move out now, who knew how long he’d have to wait?
Zhao Yiyi turned and went back to the bedchamber, leaning by the window to look at the withered branches in the courtyard. After being blown by the cold wind for a while, the warmth on her face from the alcohol dropped a little, and her expression cleared up a lot.
Only, having sat for a long time, she was still a bit dizzy.
Gu Zhen reached out and closed half the window, looking down at her. “Don’t sit in the draft; be careful of catching a cold.”
When the few lamps in the bedchamber shone, they made the entire space mostly bright. The numbness from before faded, and her lips now carried a stinging pain.
Burning hot, as if scraped ruthlessly by something.
Zhao Yiyi didn’t speak. She just changed places, running to sit in front of the dressing table, intending to remove her jewelry.
Although the flower hairpins and other ornaments from the morning had been removed after her afternoon nap and replaced with some light and lively pearl hairpins, wearing them for most of the day was still tiring.
Her fingertips touched a pearl butterfly hairpin. Just as she was about to pinch the corner of the hairpin handle to remove it, she realized her lips were slightly red, appearing somewhat swollen.
She turned her head in annoyance, glared fiercely at the person behind her, and asked in a deep voice, “Does Your Majesty have nothing to say?”
Gu Zhen was stunned at first. He lowered his eyes in thought for a long while before saying softly, “It was Zhen’s fault today.” Just as Zhao Yiyi hummed lightly and was about to turn back, she heard him say, “Zhen kissed too hard. Next time, I will definitely be gentler. Don’t be angry.”
Watching him say these words with a straight face, Zhao Yiyi’s face changed instantly. Annoyed, she reached out and pushed him backward.
He clearly knew that wasn’t what she meant!
“Why are you twisting my words like this?” she said angrily.
Gu Zhen chuckled. He reached out a finger to gently touch her soft lips and asked in a low voice, “Does it still hurt?”
Zhao Yiyi didn’t answer; she just glared at him huffily.
“Zhen will go ask someone to bring some ointment.” Saying this, he turned to leave.
How could one ask about such a thing? Zhao Yiyi was so anxious she grabbed him back, saying gravely, “Come back!”
“Hm?”
Gu Zhen turned back, looking at her with some concern.
“If you don’t apply medicine, how can it heal?” He lowered his voice to comfort her, thinking she was worried about the bitterness of taking medicine or the sting of the ointment. “It’s just some cooling ointment; it won’t hurt. Wait a moment for Zhen.”
Zhao Yiyi blushed and bit her lip, pointing to the antique shelf not far away. “In the third compartment on the left, there is a small medicine box containing medicine specifically for applying to redness and broken skin.”
Gu Zhen went over as told. After rummaging through the antique shelf for a while, he found the lacquer wood painted gold medicine box she mentioned and searched for a small white jade bottle among the piled-up jars and pots.
He turned to ask the beauty at the dressing table, “Is it this one?”
Zhao Yiyi looked away and nodded absently.
After he brought the medicine over, just as Zhao Yiyi was about to take it, she saw Gu Zhen open the bottle first. He took a little ointment and melted it in his palm, dipped his fingertip in the white ointment, and gently applied it to her vermilion lips.
The coolness of the ointment mixed with the heat of his fingertips—the two temperatures intertwining caused her to shrink back subconsciously.
Gu Zhen’s expression was indifferent. Because his other palm held the ointment, he could only use the back of his hand to press against her shoulder, scolding helplessly, “Don’t move. If you move again, I’ll smear it on your chin.”
Held by him, even though it didn’t look like he used much strength, she truly couldn’t move.
Zhao Yiyi was forced to look up at him, urging impatiently, “Are you done yet?”
Scolded by her despite her lack of real confidence, Gu Zhen found it somewhat amusing. He gently pinched Zhao Yiyi’s chin and laughed, “Zhen is taking pains to apply medicine for you; why are you fierce to Zhen?”
“Isn’t it all your fault?” Zhao Yiyi looked at him in annoyance, dissatisfaction in her almond eyes.
He still had the nerve to say it.
If not for him, she would be fine tonight; how would it be like this?
Gu Zhen didn’t seem annoyed. He just nodded slightly, going along with her words. “Alright, it is all Zhen’s fault. Don’t be angry with Zhen, okay?”
The ointment was eventually all smeared on her lips, and Gu Zhen’s fingertips were inevitably stained with quite a bit. He casually took a handkerchief from the table, wiped the excess ointment clean, and recapped the medicine bottle.
With a cold sensation on her lips, Zhao Yiyi turned back to the water chestnut mirror to remove her hairpins and rings. Just as she reached the last gold hairpin, the sound of slow footsteps came from behind.
It was Gu Zhen putting the ointment away and coming over.
Zhao Yiyi didn’t turn back. She gathered her hair; having been bound all day, her hair fell loose, and her body felt much more relaxed.
Just as she was about to take off her earrings, she was trapped by two arms in the next instant.
Those two arms propped strongly and powerfully on the dressing table. Even through the clothes, one could faintly see the bulging muscles.
“You’re blocking the light,” Zhao Yiyi frowned.
Gu Zhen just lowered his head. A pair of deep phoenix eyes crashed into hers. He leaned in a few inches closer and said hoarsely, “Zhen will take them off for you.”
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