Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Wen Yu did not hear Shen Yu's reply. His face was burning from the rising steam in the bath. He turned his head and glanced to the side.

Shen Yu remained standing in place, lost in thought. After a moment, he knelt down behind Wen Yu and said, "Your Majesty, our statuses are different, so we cannot be together."

“It’s just the two of us here, who would know?” Wen Yu was quick to apply what she had just learned, and she asked back what Shen Yu had said before. “I wouldn’t tell anyone else. As for His Majesty… he wouldn’t know either.”

Shen Yu's vision blurred for a moment. He looked at Wen Yu, who had put on the golden mask again after returning. Only half of her beautiful face was visible through the mist.

He stared intently at Shen Yu.

"Get down, come with me." Wen Yu's face darkened when he saw Shen Yu squatting behind him without responding. "Hurry up."

Shen Yu stared at Wen Yu silently for a few seconds. Wen Yu was beautiful and looked a little younger than Shen Yu, but she had not yet reached the mature age that Shen Yu was now.

Shen Yu lowered his eyes. Without much hesitation, he took off his maid's robe with one hand and stepped into the warm water of the bathtub below.

Several splashing sounds were heard on the water's surface, and shadowy figures moved about, indicating the activity inside and the ripples on the water's surface.

Wen Yu leaned against the jade stone. He had never seen Shen Yu's completely naked body before, and he narrowed his eyes slightly after Shen Yu entered the bath.

"Come here, come over here." Wen Yu rested one arm on the stone wall above the water, tilting his head slightly back, the white light outlining the curve of his chin extending to his neck.

He looked at Shen Yu's body, a hint of something unspeakable rising in his voice: "You're so far away from me, how can you serve me? Come this way."

Shen Yu: "..."

Shen Yu can now easily sense Wen Yu's motives. This person, who is exactly like him, carries his unbearable past.

Shen Yu changed direction. The water temperature in the bath was still too high. He walked forward along the gap cut out of the jade at the bottom and saw Wen Yu leaning against the edge.

Wen Yu's pupils were pitch black as he stared intently at Shen Yu, his finger gesturing meaningfully to the side. Shen Yu understood the meaning of Wen Yu's gesture; he moved to Wen Yu's side and grasped his thigh with his hand.

"Your Majesty, how can I serve you like this?" Shen Yu couldn't move freely, so he casually pinched the muscles on Wen Yu's thigh in the water and said, "Find another place."

Wen Yu half-closed his eyes, seemingly oblivious to anything amiss, and pressed his thigh to the side, almost burying Shen Yu's entire hand inside.

"What's wrong? My legs are weak and I can't move. Can you massage them for me?" Wen Yu pinched Shen Yu's chin with his fingers, studying Shen Yu's gradually changing expression, his eyes slowly rising.

Shen Yu stood still. If Wen Yu's previous actions were somewhat unclear in their intentions, now they were clearly revealed.

“Shen Yu, I’m not forcing you right now. Mu Yuyuan would treat you like that, but I won’t.” Wen Yu’s hand embraced Shen Yu beneath the water’s surface. His index finger traced down Shen Yu’s spine and stopped at a sensitive area on his lower back. “You have to trust me.”

Shen Yu: "..."

He didn't know why Wen Yu would suddenly bring up Mu Yuyuan; Shen Yu hadn't even seen Mu Yuyuan's figure clearly in the forest.

Wen Yu's fingers wanted to go further down, but Shen Yu's muscles tensed. He reached back and grabbed Wen Yu's wrist with one hand, his tone ambiguous: "Your Majesty, what do I believe in you?"

As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Wen Yu's face: "What do you mean by acting like this now?"

Wen Yu smiled, his lips curving upwards. Ripples spread across the water's surface as he leaned forward, his nose almost touching Shen Yu's. "Shen Yu," he said, "there are so many spies in Kunning Palace. Every step I take is fraught with difficulty. But I still went out during the half-day you were missing."

Shen Yu opened his eyes, his eyelashes lowered, and saw Wen Yu's round and dark pupils looking up, piercing straight through the mist and falling into his field of vision.

“I don’t care that you work for the photography studio. I don’t care about your relationship with Mu Yuyuan either. Now that you’re staying in Kunning Palace, you’re mine.”

A vague melancholy flashed in Wen Yu's eyes. His nose touched Shen Yu's, and his breath mingled between them as he spoke.

“I will cure you of the poison and take you away from this hellish place in the future.” Wen Yu’s voice was low and deep. “There was a small courtyard on the mountain where I used to cultivate. I will take you back to see my master, and he will definitely take us in. At that time, I will hide you away, and no one will be able to cause us any more trouble.”

He looked closely at Shen Yu's features and whispered, "Will you stay with me?"

Surrounded by mist, the steam from the bath rose continuously, hitting Shen Yu's face with a burning, scalding heat, accompanied by an unknown, slight pain.

Shen Yu listened silently, then lowered his gaze to look at Wen Yu, a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.

Go back? There's a small courtyard there? Will Master take them in?

A fool's dream.

They will only die at the foot of Chengyuan Mountain.

Wen Yu was unaware of what was to come. He simply pressed himself close to Shen Yu's body, wanting to use the touch of their skin to transmit warmth and give each other some support.

He's in a bad situation now, a cripple in Kunning Palace. Wen Yu knew that what she was saying was somewhat unrealistic.

But he refused to believe that he could be stuck in this quagmire forever, unable to climb out.

His injured leg is healing, and he can walk slowly like a normal person. In the future... he will have martial arts skills, be able to leave Kunning Palace, and even kill Xuan Lin and leave Yue Kingdom...

Wen Yu's fingers curled, a suppressed ruthlessness appearing in his eyes. Before Shen Yu could speak, Wen Yu stared at him, drawing even closer in the deathly silence between them.

"Shen Yu, do you dare to make this bet with me?"

His voice was soft, and his lips had already touched Shen Yu's lips. Shen Yu felt as if he had been pierced by several needles for no reason. His pupils trembled, and just as Wen Yu was about to stick out his tongue, he suddenly turned his head to the other side.

Wen Yu stood frozen in place.

"...Your Majesty, I'll go get you your clothes." Shen Yu stood up, his head throbbing, his Adam's apple bobbing as he quickly walked up the steps of the bath and headed towards the outer side.

Wen Yu stopped in the bathwater, watching Shen Yu walk away, feeling a dryness and pain in his eyes. He blinked, and after a long while, he could finally see his own face reflected in the water. The ferocious beast totem on the golden mask outlined a hideous face.

Wen Yu's eyes reddened, and he tilted his head back, swallowing all the soreness in his throat.