Chapter 338: Chapter 338: Do You Want Me to Wash Your Back?
Cui Yun fell silent.
Shen Hua: "What would you like for dinner?"
Cui Yun continued to be silent.
Seeing this, Shen Hua became even more eager, listing several dish names.
"They are all simple home-cooked dishes. They are not difficult to make and can be quickly prepared."
Cui Yun casually said, "You’re cooking?"
Shen Hua lifted her delicate jade hands: "Of course, the kitchen maid will cook. Marquis, do you know how much I paid for the ointment on my hands?"
Without waiting for a response, she gave the answer: "One hundred taels."
"What if it gets splattered with oil and I get a blister, what then?"
"The kitchen is full of greasy smoke, if I get smoked, what am I to do?"
Shen Hua took out some melon seeds from her little pocket and started leisurely shelling them.
If you looked carefully, you’d see her hands were slightly shaking.
But she kept a calm demeanor!
She even asked in a coquettish manner, "Do you want help with your back scrubbing?"
Shen Hua paused, then retorted with a counterattack: "Although, you doing this—"
"Is rather corrupting to public morals."
Cui Yun was meant to be bathing quietly, yet he had to listen to her accusation of being morally corrupt. His Adam’s apple bobbed, unsure whether to be angry or to laugh.
That murky mood, however, seemed to vanish as the girl entered.
In the dark room, a luminescent light flowed.
Despite the distance, the man’s low sigh seemed to graze by her ear.
It tickled.
Shen Hua lifted her hand, unable to resist rubbing her ear.
Cui Yun’s diagonally long eyes lifted slightly, filled with bewitching charm. He displayed the seduction she had spoken of earlier to the fullest extent. His lips moved.
"Then I shall trouble Miss Shen."
Shen Hua’s breath hitched. She could hardly believe what she heard.
"No, I just—"
Cui Yun’s eyes glimmered, brimming with emotion: "But I took you seriously."
He showed no sign of awkwardness, and when serious, Shen Hua was no match for him.
"Could it be that Miss Shen merely spoke in jest to deceive me?"
Shen Hua almost couldn’t hold it in.
She was indeed just being polite.
The girl frowned, biting hard on the melon seed. Yet she kept her body still in one position: "When I bathe, I never let anyone come close to serve me. You should learn this too."
Cui Yun raised his hand, causing the water to stir, splashing ripples: "Give and take, next time I’ll help you."
For a moment, Shen Hua felt that what he said made sense. The courage she had mustered was slowly being drained by the thin air.
She struggled to open her mouth.
But the words that reached her lips turned into a sentence.
"Your hair is nice, so dark and thick. Last spring hunt I saw several officials, and many of them were losing hair."
It made them look utterly old.
"You’re busy with your official duties all day, you should be careful."
Cui Yun’s expression softened.
"If you care, you might as well worry about Heir Xie. He’s even more of an overthinker than I am."
Shen Hua’s eyes widened: "Really... really?"
She couldn’t help but feel anxious.
"Ever since he was young, it’s been like this. When it’s time to study, he’s always multitasking, not only supervising me but also dealing with examinations and not forgetting to court other girls."
Shen Hua narrowed her eyes, recalling Xie Xun’s current status. He probably was busier than Cui Yun, at least Cui Yun has established a foothold in the official circles, while Xie Xun has to climb step by step up that ladder to heaven.
But she was very double-standard: "Even if my brother goes bald, he would still be handsome."
After saying this, Shen Hua realized that Cui Yun being bald might not look too bad either.
Cui Yun chuckled softly.
Shen Hua ran out of small talk.
"How many Luminous Pearls are there in this dark room?"
Cui Yun lowered his gaze, tugging at the corner of his mouth: "Twenty-seven."
Shen Hua: ??
She stopped eating the melon seeds and, without hesitation, turned to pry off the nearest Luminous Pearl.
She tried very hard, and it was strenuous. She simply dared not exert too much force. After all, a girl’s nails are neatly trimmed and even painted with begonia-colored rouge.
She muttered to herself, but indeed it was for Cui Yun to hear.
"Then I must take one with me."
The girl even took a hairpin from her hair to pry with. She was so serious, as if she was doing something that could save the entire world.
Cui Yun’s gaze inexplicably softened.
"Shen Hua."
His smile was forced, and his words came with difficulty: "If I were not the Second Young Master of Marquis Yangling Mansion—"
Shen Hua immediately turned her head, the step shake in her hair swaying, and the bell making a clear, tinkling sound. She quickly became anxious: "Has there been a disturbance in court?"
She had personally witnessed the downfall of Cui Mansion six years ago.
So sudden, so brutal.
With each change of the Emperor, the courtiers change, the whole world is his chessboard.
Cui Yun looked at her, then said indifferently: "I was just speaking off the cuff."
Shen Hua also seriously contemplated: "If you were not Marquis Cui, once the embroidery workshop is up and running, I’d be willing to let you marry into the family."
Having said that, she turned her head back and continued to scratch at the Luminous Pearl.
"..."
So, have I completely met your standards for choosing a husband?
Suddenly, there was a ’whoosh’ from behind.
Shen Hua was startled, she slowly repositioned the hairpin in her hair, then covered her face with her hands, moving in small steps towards the mechanism’s location in a challenging pose.
Indeed, the sense of embarrassment was belatedly seeping in.
She had been so certain that Cui Yun wouldn’t do anything in the tub! But she hadn’t expected Cui Yun to stand up so shamelessly!
Wasn’t he afraid of her seeing him?
Although he has what Shen Hua has, it’s not her own body after all.
There were rustling noises behind her.
Cui Yun wiped the water off his body deliberately and unhurriedly.
His eyes, however, unwaveringly followed the girl whose back was arched.
He donned a loose robe, with broad, powerful shoulders and a slim waist. A bit more would seem excessive, a bit less would seem thin. Not wearing any footwear, each step he took on the ground left a wet patch.
Just as Shen Hua touched the mechanism button, she was caught in Cui Yun’s embrace the next instant.
From behind, he wrapped his arms tightly around the girl’s waist and buried his head in her neck.
The hand clasping her waist was well-defined with knuckles and even veins showing, but he was careful not to exert too much pressure, afraid of hurting her.
Over the years, Cui Yun has weathered many hardships. He rarely shows his emotions or panics. Why then does he have such a low moment?
The girl asked in a very soft voice: "Have you encountered something unpleasant?"
Cui Yun’s eyes flickered.
"Not at all."
He... would always manage things properly.
Shen Hua slowly let out an ’oh’.
"Then can you let go of me first?"
Shen Hua reminded him: "You’re only wearing a robe."
She glanced and said: "It’s not tied tightly! What if it slips down?"
Her reaction was utterly different from how calm she was when sitting down to chatter before.
"Now you know fear? Weren’t you quite proud just a moment ago?"
"You only know that men and women must be differentiated, but don’t you know their anatomies are vastly different too?"
His hand moved slightly upward, eventually stopping at a raised area, not touching, just a fist’s distance away.
"Like here."
His voice was low and seductive, his fingertip grazing the spot as he spoke.
Shen Hua was stunned; half her body felt numb.
But he was gone after just a touch. His hand glided over her lower abdomen, clearly tending to slide further down.
"And also..."
Shen Hua involuntarily shivered, but was she someone to beg for mercy?
No!
Besides, she genuinely didn’t know!
"Where else?"
The girl’s eyes, full of curiosity, were clear to the bottom, like a pure and transparent glazed bead: "Hurry, tell me about it."
Cui Yun’s fingertip burned, and he quickly withdrew it.