Crown Prince’s Private Wing – That Same Night

The corridors were silent as Shen Lianhua returned from the Hall of Heavenly Rites. Her steps were slow. Not from weariness, but anticipation.

She had made her statement in public.

Now, she would make him remember it in private.

When she entered their bedchamber, Li Shenzhao was already there, seated by the lantern with his robe loosened, reading the report on Lady Xu’s withdrawal from court circles.

He looked up the moment she stepped inside—and stilled.

She had changed.

No imperial silk. No ceremonial hairpins.

Just a soft, sheer crimson robe, tied loosely at the waist, slipping off one shoulder like a secret waiting to be told.

“What is this?” he asked, voice quiet, eyes narrowing.

She stepped forward, unhurried, every motion deliberate.

“You’ve had to hear enough whispers today,” she said, circling him like a flame drawn to oil. “Let me give you something louder.”

“Something true.”

She sat in his lap without waiting for permission.

He exhaled slowly, his hands instinctively finding her waist. “Lianhua…”

“You didn’t stop me when I walked into that hall,” she murmured, lips brushing his ear. “Don’t stop me now.”

She kissed his throat. His jaw. Then his mouth—not sweet, not shy.

She devoured him like she had something to prove.

Because she did.

She would erase Lady Xu from his thoughts. From the court. From history—if necessary.

They made it to the bed by feel, not by sight—his fingers tangled in her robe, her mouth hot and demanding.

She straddled him, guiding him with a wicked grin.

“Tonight,” she whispered against his lips, “I want to be the only name you remember.”

“You already are,” he growled.

She teased him—rolling her hips, pausing just long enough to drive him mad, then kissing him again until neither of them could breathe.

And when he finally moved beneath her, there was no restraint.

Only heat. Only tension. Only two people claiming each other again and again, until names blurred and time dissolved.

Afterward, their bodies slick and tangled, Shenzhao held her tightly—his lips pressed against her damp shoulder, her heartbeat echoing through his chest.

“Tell me,” she whispered into the dark, “that you want no one else.”

He pulled back just enough to look her in the eyes.

“There’s only one woman in this empire with the fire to rule beside me,” he said.

“And she’s already mine.”