She wore no Daoist crown, merely using a white jade hairpin to gather her raven hair into a loose cloudlike bun. A few stray locks hung beside her long, fair neck, adding a touch of languid charm and sensuality.
At the sound of the door closing and locking, Dao Baifeng's body trembled slightly, and her chanting came to an abrupt stop.
She slowly rose to her feet and turned around.
She had a face like a hibiscus, lovely in either smile or anger, with willow-leaf brows that seemed faintly furrowed yet not quite.
Set against her snow-white Daoist robe, she looked like a sacred jade Guanyin.
Yet as Dao Baifeng looked at Lin Xuan, her gaze was filled with complicated emotions: shame, indignation, fear, and... a trace of anticipation she herself refused to admit.
"Has Your Highness been well these past few days?"
Lin Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze clear and tranquil, his smile carefree and poised, like an enlightened master paying a visit to an old friend.
There was not the slightest sign of the devil he had been just days ago, when he had drunk with Duan Zhengchun and wantonly toyed with, humiliated, and ravished this noble princess consort.
Seeing his hypocritical "gentlemanly" façade, Dao Baifeng felt both furious and ashamed.
She bit her lower lip, an unnatural flush spreading across her cheeks. Forcing down her racing heart, she said softly, "Thanks to Young Master Lin, all is well. But... there is something I wish to ask you."
"Please, Your Highness." Lin Xuan casually found a chair and sat down, his eyes roaming over her body without restraint.
Dao Baifeng drew a deep breath and gathered the courage to meet his eyes. "Last time... when you were drinking with Prince Duan, why... why