The Obsessive Crown Prince Can't Let Me Go-Chapter 18 I Just Want to Serve Brother Lu Ying

Lu Ying was entering Shen Yinning’s room for the first time.

In the past, before the Shen Family fell from grace, though he and Shen Yinning were engaged, they had always maintained proper decorum. He had never set foot in her boudoir.

Shen Yinning’s sleeping quarters were styled differently compared to Shen Yunxi’s. Shen Yunxi liked to fill her chamber with expensive gold and silver ornaments, jade antiques, and the like. In the past, there had been two six-foot-tall red coral trees in his storeroom, and she had taken an enormous liking to them, stubbornly moving them into her sleeping quarters despite how garish and out of place they appeared.

Shen Yinning’s chamber, on the other hand, resembled a man’s study.

It had an unexpectedly solemn air.

His gaze fell upon Shen Yinning.

The young woman had just bathed and dressed. As she knelt to greet him under the lamplight, a faint, misty glow seemed to envelop her, like the soft radiance of a bright pearl.

He sat down. "Kneel."

Meeting his cold and severe gaze, Shen Yinning had no choice but to kneel.

She shuffled forward on her knees to his feet, her small hands grasping the hem of his robe. Tilting her head, she spoke in a soft voice, "Your Highness, it’s been such a long time since you’ve sought me out. Why are you being this harsh the moment we meet? You’re going to frighten me."

Like a little fox, the woman played coy and affected weakness, exuding an air of delicate charm.

Lu Ying ignored her antics and pulled a booklet from his sleeve. "This—does it have anything to do with you?"

It was the book written by Yin Shanshan.

Shen Yinning laughed so hard she swayed like a flower in the wind. "This is the most popular storytelling book among common folk right now. I never imagined Your Highness would read it. Do you know? You’re portrayed so well in it—ten times in a single night! I nearly fainted while reading it. I’m eagerly waiting for the next volume from the publishing house."

The next volume?

Lu Ying’s expression darkened further. "Does this book have anything to do with you?"

"Of course it doesn’t! I’m not foolish enough to expose my identity and upset my dear sister." Shen Yinning flipped through the book and suddenly pointed to a particular page with her slender, jade-like fingers. "This position is rather innovative—it’s a shame Your Highness and I have never tried it."

Lu Ying glanced at the page’s content. "Shameless."

"Your Highness doesn’t like it?" Shen Yinning countered, her tone suggestive as she climbed onto his knee.

Lu Ying pushed her away.

Although he didn’t exert much strength, Shen Yinning fell weakly to the ground like a boneless creature.

Her already loosely draped attire slid down, revealing a soft, fragrant shoulder. In a plaintive voice, she murmured, "Your Highness, you’ve hurt me."

Seductress.

How could this woman be such a consummate actress?

Lu Ying tossed the booklet onto the ground in front of her. "I investigated; the book was written by Yin Shanshan. Shen Yinning, was it you who encouraged her to write it? Because I’ve ignored you, you decided to stir up trouble with this nonsense to force me to see you. Do you realize that defaming the Crown Prince is a grave crime? Must you seek to turn the entire Capital upside down, exposing whatever there is between you and me to everyone?"

Even when her scheme was uncovered, Shen Yinning didn’t seem to care. She calmly adjusted her clothing and said crisply, "I simply thought it would be amusing."

"Amusing? Do you have any idea how those officials have been looking at me these past few days? The Crown Princess Consort may not have said anything, but she’s nearly lost her mind in the Eastern Palace."

At this, Shen Yinning burst into a fit of laughter, as she imagined Shen Yunxi’s reaction upon reading about Lu Ying’s tenfold prowess in the book.

Lu Ying raised an eyebrow. "You still dare to laugh?"

Shen Yinning coughed lightly, feigning seriousness to restrain her mirth. "Brother Lu Ying, I’ve been all alone at the Gao Family’s residence. Old Madam Gao doesn’t like me, Yin Shanshan doesn’t like me, and I don’t even have someone to talk to. With nothing to occupy my time, don’t I need to find a bit of amusement?"

"People don’t dislike you without reason. If you have no business to attend to, why not spend time practicing proper etiquette before Old Madam Gao and showing filial piety? Why wouldn’t they then start to like you?"

"Why should I bother with that old woman?" Shen Yinning gingerly perched herself in his lap and said, "I only want to serve Brother Lu Ying—"

"Kneel properly."

Lu Ying lifted her off and set her back down onto the ground.

"The floor is cold, and kneeling hurts my knees," Shen Yinning clung to his arm and said coquettishly, "Brother Lu Ying, won’t you pity me..."

Lu Ying remained unmoved. His earlier ire about the book, however, had lessened considerably.

He casually opened the book again. "Didn’t you used to be quite good at kneeling?"

What he had in mind was how, in the past six months, Shen Yinning had often been summoned to serve him at Shen Garden, frequently kneeling for hours at a time.

However, as those words hung in the air, the two of them were inevitably reminded of the time the Shen Guogong Mansion was raided.

Back then, Shen Yinning’s father and elder brother had been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, and the family’s relatives and friends had distanced themselves out of fear, refusing to lend any aid.

Cornered, she had no choice but to seek out Lu Ying for help.

At the gates of the Eastern Palace, she removed the golden bracelet from her wrist and handed it to the Palace Attendant, pleading, "Please, kind sir, convey to the Crown Prince that Shen Yinning has an urgent matter and begs for an audience!"

The attendant weighed the bracelet in his hand, his smile insincere. "It’s not that I am unwilling to pass along the message, but the Crown Prince has already made plans with another lady today and has no time to see you."

"Another lady?" Shen Yinning’s lips turned pale. "Who is it that he’s meeting?"

"Why, isn’t this Elder Sister?" Shen Yunxi, surrounded by her maids, strolled over daintily. "Are you here to share tea and appreciate the flowers with the Crown Prince as well? Elder Sister, if I may be blunt, your father and elder brother are still in the Heavenly Prison. How could you still have the leisure to seek a man for romantic liaisons?"

Shen Yinning’s hands and feet grew cold.

So, the woman Lu Ying was meeting... was her younger cousin Shen Yunxi.

The Palace Attendant fawned over Shen Yunxi with a bow. "Second Miss, you’ve finally arrived! His Highness has been waiting for you for some time now!"

At the time, Shen Yinning hadn’t slept in two days due to the predicament involving her father and brother.

Her mind was spinning in a daze as she clung to Shen Yunxi’s hand like a drowning woman clutching at straws. "Sister, could you please tell His Highness that I wish to see him? My father and brother are not guilty of treason. I want to beg His Highness to reinvestigate the case!"

Shen Yunxi observed her debased, pleading form with satisfaction. "Sister, have you gone mad? The crimes your father committed are severe—how could they be reexamined so easily? Moreover... let me remind you, Sister, when asking for someone’s help, don’t you think you should present yourself properly?"

After a moment’s silence, Shen Yinning obediently knelt before the gates of the Eastern Palace. "Please tell the Crown Prince that I will kneel here until he agrees to see me."

By the afternoon, the skies grew overcast, and a light drizzle began to fall, eventually swelling into a torrential downpour.

Shen Yunxi accompanied Lu Ying as he sat by the window, sipping tea and watching the rain. She remarked deliberately, "I hear my sister is still kneeling at the palace gates, drenched in this deluge. How pitiful."

Lu Ying simply continued playing chess with indifference.

He knew Shen Yinning had come to beg him for help.

But just days before the Shen family’s downfall, he had personally witnessed her embracing another man. He had also overheard her speaking disdainfully about him, claiming Lu Ying was taciturn and dull, and every moment spent with him made her nauseous.

Now that disaster had struck her family, she sought him out instead of that lover of hers.

Did she think he was a tool for her to use?

He wasn’t that pathetic.

His face hardened. "Let her kneel as she likes."

By dusk, the rain had cleared slightly.

As Shen Yunxi left the Eastern Palace in her sedan chair, she lifted a corner of the curtain and saw Shen Yinning still kneeling alone at the palace gates, her entire body soaked. Passing servants pointed and whispered about her as they walked by.

Yet Lu Ying still showed no inclination to meet her.

She continued to kneel throughout the entire night, but Lu Ying never came out to see her.

That day, the entire Capital came to know: Lu Ying could never marry Shen Yinning.

Back in the Gao residence.

Lu Ying changed the subject. "Regarding the matter of the book, you still deserve punishment."

Hearing his familiar tone, Shen Yinning knew she had successfully appeased him.

She said, "Your servant’s body has been feeling unwell lately—I fear I cannot withstand any punishment."

Lu Ying loosened the ties of her dress to inspect. "What’s wrong with your body?"