The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 20

Having experienced many such sudden whims from the Empress Dowager, Qin Shu was no longer as hesitant and afraid to approach as he had been at the beginning. However, he stopped just as he approached the rocking chair.

Liu Qingtang remained lying in the rocking chair without getting up, only extending her hand towards him. After waiting a while, seeing Qin Shu still staring at her hand, looking unsure whether he should reach out and hold hers, she couldn't help but chuckle and remind him, "Bend your body a little." She wanted more than just to hold his hand.

Qin Shu then understood what she meant and leaned forward to get closer to her.

Once she got what she wanted from him, Liu Qingtang, who was lounging lazily in the rocking chair, unceremoniously pulled down his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck. Qin Shu was caught off guard by her sudden pull and stumbled, quickly grabbing the armrests of the rocking chair to avoid falling onto the Empress Dowager.

Liu Qingtang glanced at his hand gripping the armrest tightly, felt a slight pang of regret, then looked at the face so close to hers and asked with a smile, "Do you want to kiss me?"

Although she asked the question, she didn't wait for Qin Shu to answer at all before laughing and saying, "I allow you to kiss me. Okay, you can kiss me now."

Qin Shu didn't speak, looking at her hesitantly. Liu Qingtang opened her bright eyes and looked back. As the two of them fell silent, the sounds of the palace maids and eunuchs walking and talking behind the flower wall became clearer.

Liu Qingtang understood Qin Shu's meaning, but she ignored it, lazily and persistently looking into his eyes. He didn't want to be seen here, simply because he was worried about her reputation as the Empress Dowager. But she herself didn't care, yet he was so stubborn.

With great interest, Liu Qingtang stayed with Qin Shu in the stalemate, then slipped her arms around his neck into his collar and ran her fingers along the back of his neck.

"If we don't hurry, Zhuiyi and the others will be here soon~" Liu Qingtang raised her head and leaned closer to Qin Shu, whispering to him. She even mischievously pulled open the collar of his white undershirt and blew a breath inside, saying in a threatening tone, "When they see you, you'll still have to kiss them."

After saying this, Liu Qingtang was satisfied to see that Qin Shu had indeed softened. He paused for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, then pursed his lips and pressed himself against her.

However, it really was just a touch; he simply pressed his lips against hers and didn't move. Liu Qingtang waited and waited, feeling that if this continued, their lips would be stuck together. She couldn't help but blink and say, "Are you just going to stay like this without moving?"

Because their lips were already lightly touching, Liu Qingtang's words caused her to rub against Qin Shu's lips, making them ticklish.

Qin Shu suddenly turned his face away and exhaled a long breath, looking like he had been holding his breath for a long time and couldn't breathe. Liu Qingtang was startled at first, then covered her mouth and burst into laughter. Thinking back, when he was pressed against her lips just now, he really didn't seem to be breathing; it was amazing he had held his breath for so long. It was just a kiss, a simple touch, and he could forget to breathe—he was utterly silly.

The more she thought about it, the funnier it became. Liu Qingtang couldn't help but laugh brightly, mischievously grabbing Qin Shu's shoulder and pulling him down onto her.

Finally catching his breath, Qin Shu, his face blank and unsure of what to do, was suddenly pulled completely onto the Empress Dowager's soft body, which terrified him. His first reaction was worry that the Empress Dowager was so delicate; what if she were crushed? He was much heavier than the Empress Dowager, after all, so he hurriedly tried to sit up, frantically bracing himself against the rocking chair.

Unfortunately, the rocking chair started to shake from the pressure, and not only did he fail to stand up as he wished, he also slipped and fell forward, completely pinning down the Empress Dowager.

The creaking of the rocking chair made Zhuiyi, who was approaching with tea and snacks outside the flower wall, stop in her tracks. Looking at the flower wall and the green vines climbing it, and then at the sky, she wore an expression that was hard to describe as either gratified or conflicted. She then turned around and quietly walked back, standing guard by a cluster of flowers at a distance.

"Will she need to prepare water and... some kind of ointment later?" Zhuiyi wondered.

At that moment, Liu Qingtang, who was being covered by Qin Shu, grabbed Qin Shu's shirt and buried her face in his chest, chuckling softly. Qin Shu was stunned. After calming down, he grabbed the table next to the rocking chair and knelt on one knee on the rocking chair, trying to prop himself up.

Liu Qingtang was still sitting in the rocking chair, laughing hysterically as she watched him, one hand clutching his lapel tightly. Qin Shu didn't dare to pull Liu Qingtang's hand away, but if he didn't, his already slightly loose lapel would definitely be pulled open if he backed away. Just as he was in this dilemma, Liu Qingtang added fuel to the fire, deliberately using more force to pull his clothes.

In this situation, Qin Shu's neatly dressed dark blue outer robe was easily torn open, revealing several layers of inner garments. Liu Qingtang moved closer to Qin Shu, completely ignoring his flustered attempts to cover his clothes, and began to examine them layer by layer.

"Wearing so much, it's hard to take it off, and I can't see anything." Liu Qingtang muttered. Seeing that Qin Shu, who was already uncomfortable and didn't know where to put his hands, became even more uneasy after hearing her words, she put on her serious face that she had maintained for many years and patted his chest reassuringly, saying, "I won't do anything to you. I just want to see what you're wearing underneath. There's no need to be so nervous."

After saying this without batting an eye, Liu Qingtang suddenly felt that the sentence sounded familiar. After thinking for a while, she recalled a scene from a storybook. The male protagonist in that storybook said something very similar to what she had just said. It seemed that after being caught peeping at the female protagonist while she was bathing, he said to her, "I didn't mean to molest you. I just wanted to see what patterned clothes you were wearing underneath."

Indeed, these two sentences are remarkably similar! Liu Qingtang sighed, completely forgetting that when she first saw that scene, she and Tao Yezhuiyi had talked about how the male protagonist was a real rogue.

Qin Shu heard the Empress Dowager blatantly lying, and she said it so matter-of-factly, but he didn't refute her. After a long while, he managed to utter a single word: "...Yes." Judging from his expression, he seemed to believe whatever Liu Qingtang said.

Feeling trusted, Liu Qingtang was in a good mood. She smiled at him and started to straighten his clothes.

"This servant... can do it himself, Your Majesty..." How could Qin Shu let the Empress Dowager help him put on his clothes, even though she was the one who pulled them open and messed them up?

Liu Qingtang carefully helped Qin Shu straighten his clothes, slapped away his hand that was trying to fix them himself, and threatened without even looking up, "Oh? If you say one more word, I'm going to take your clothes off again. Speaking of which, I'm actually quite curious to see what kind of undergarments you're wearing."

Qin Shu's voice vanished in an instant. He knelt on one knee in the rocking chair, his eyes lowered as he watched the Empress Dowager reach out to straighten his clothes. He felt a strange mix of panic and uncontrollable satisfaction. He pursed his thin lips, his eyes involuntarily falling on the lips of the person before him.

The Empress Dowager didn't like to wear lipsticks, but her lips were exceptionally beautiful, truly natural rosy lips. The rosy color, combined with the slight curve at the corners of her lips, made him unable to think straight.

Liu Qingtang straightened Qin Shu's clothes, tidied his loose belt, and tied the tassels into a knot. After doing this, she looked up at Qin Shu and found him staring blankly at her lips, lost in thought.

Liu Qingtang easily saw infatuation in those unguarded eyes. A sudden impulse struck her, and she reached out to cup Qin Shu's face and kiss him.

This time, Qin Shu hesitated for a moment at first, but then became slightly more proactive under her licking and biting. To say he was proactive was an understatement; he still seemed clueless, just subconsciously rubbing his lips against hers as if sucking on something, and he wouldn't move, his head just turned straight up in the air.

Liu Qingtang kept her eyes open, wanting to laugh at his expression. But his clumsy sucking on her lips prevented her from smiling. Unable to smile, her eyes curved into crescent moons.

For some reason, even though neither of them had much experience, Qin Shu always gave her the feeling that he was worse than her. That awkward and panicked Qin Shu made her forget that she wasn't good at these things either, and she subconsciously wanted to tease and manipulate him.

Moreover, he was probably nervous, his breathing was a bit loud, or perhaps he forgot to catch his breath and held it in for too long before he couldn't help but gasp for air. Liu Qingtang felt no romantic thoughts at all from his kisses, only an uncontrollable smile in her heart. But seeing how hard Qin Shu was trying to please her, she had to painstakingly suppress her laughter so as not to discourage him.

"Pfft~" Liu Qingtang finally couldn't hold back, pushed Qin Shu away, then hugged his waist and buried her face in his chest, laughing and shrugging.

She really couldn't help herself. Looking at Qin Shu like that, the more she looked, the more he resembled a little white dog she had when she was a child. That adorable little creature always looked at her with those moist, joyful eyes. Whenever she walked in front of him, it would keep watching her, and it loved to lick her hand, panting and wagging its tail as it did so. Just now, she inexplicably felt that Qin Shu looked a lot like that little guy, and once she started thinking about it, she couldn't resist.

He was being pushed away while they were kissing, and Qin Shu stared blankly as the Empress Dowager nestled in his arms, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Was it because this servant...did not do well just now?"

"No, you did a great job!" Liu Qingtang took a deep breath, straightened up, and praised Qin Shu. Then, she pouted her slightly swollen lips and blinked, saying, "You just sucked too hard. Be careful next time."

"...Yes." Qin Shu swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away from those moist, glossy red lips. Those were the marks he had left behind, and just thinking about them made it impossible for him to calm down.

Seeing his restrained expression, Liu Qingtang felt a surge of desire and leaned over to give him a big kiss on the cheek.

That afternoon, when the Empress Dowager reappeared before the palace maids and eunuchs of Cining Palace, she seemed somewhat uncomfortable, covering her mouth. As for Eunuch Qin, a small red mark on his cheek from an insect sting made his expression even more unreadable than usual.

Author's Note: Here you go, the sweet, mushy, and cuddly stuff you wanted [dead fish eyes, spitting out soul]

Is it easy for me to squeeze out a chapter for "Sweet Honey" from a predetermined plot? _(:3∠)_

[I feel it's necessary to reiterate~ fattening me up will~ kill me~] [Yes, I'm that kind of tormenting little devil, come leave a comment and torment me~]

Fat Cat threw a landmine

Na didn't throw a single landmine.

The Ming Dynasty threw a landmine

The Ming Dynasty threw a landmine

LoveIce threw a landmine

Changzhi threw a landmine

Thank you for your love, little angels~ Mwah~ Come take me home, I'll love you day and night...