Zhang Lanhe pleaded for a proper status, but his movements were forceful and intimate. He swore he would not stop until he got what he wanted.
"Zhouzhou. You've utterly ruined my innocence. I can no longer face anyone. If you won't take responsibility, I'll grow old all alone. What am I supposed to do then?"
Zhang Lanhe made it sound as though he had been the one used and discarded all along.
"A proper status?"
Unable to stand it any longer, Xie Huizhou raised a hand to block Zhang Lanhe's relentlessly advancing lips. His warm fingertips pressed against them, keeping that mouth from saying anything else that might give people the wrong idea.
"Imperial Preceptor, you aren't asking for a proper status. This is a roundabout way of forcing me into marriage. I'm clearly the one whose innocence was ruined, yet now it sounds as though I abused my power to forcibly claim the beautiful Imperial Preceptor."
Only then did Xie Huizhou remember what the ninth prince was originally supposed to be like: lusting after any beauty he saw, using his power to force himself on them, and ultimately meeting a miserable end.
Apart from lusting after beauty, none of it applied.
Zhang Lanhe flicked out his tongue and nipped at the prey that had delivered itself right to his mouth. "Zhouzhou, if you wanted to forcibly claim me, I'd gladly cooperate."
"Let's discuss something serious. No getting frisky." Xie Huizhou pulled his hand away and swatted the lustful snake aside to let him cool down. He asked about the blood Zhang Lanhe had coughed up before their last parting. "What happened to you in the Capital City? You coughed up so much blood that I worried about you day and night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep."
Right now,