“What do you mean, woman? We’re siblings here,” Shang Hongyu corrected.
Zu An replied impatiently, “Aren’t we pretending to be husband and wife?”
“That’s in front of outsiders. There are no outsiders here, so we know what our real relationship is.” Shang Hongyu grinned.
“You’re making some sense, but...”
“There are no buts. Come here and hug me.”
“Huh? That’s not too good, is it?”
“Why not? This will happen often in the Dragon Palace in the future. Did you already forget so soon?”
“But we’re in bed right now.”
“So what if we’re in bed? It’s fine as long as we both have a clear conscience. Why are you stalling so much? Don’t tell me that...” Shang Hongyu suddenly moved in front of Zu An and sized him up with widen eyes. “Don’t tell me that you have any strange thoughts?”
With how close she was, Zu An could even clearly sense her breathing. He couldn't find a single flaw on her tender and glorious face. She clearly had a face that represented the peace and prosperity of the people, and yet there was always that faint hint of flirtatiousness and allure in her expression.
Zu An’s expression became a bit unnatural. “Who's the one with weird thoughts? You’re not allowed to make bogus accusations against me in the future though.”
“Have you ever suffered a loss with a woman before? What are you acting so careful for?” Shang Hongyu found his slightly nervous behavior a bit amusing.
As he breathed in her beautiful fragrance, Zu An harrumphed and said, “I’ll hug you if you want, but you better not regret it.”
He felt as if he had to teach this woman a lesson, or else she'd continue to be really pleased with herself. Immediately after, his hand moved around her waist and he took her into his arms. The two of them were now sticking close to each other.
Is this woman made of water? Why is her body so soft?
But her waist is pretty firm. I practically couldn't even hold her in place when she reflexively struggled a bit.
Sure enough, Shang Hongyu was now a bit alarmed. She instinctively pressed her hand against Zu An’s chest, trying her best to create a slight bit of space between the two of them. She cried, “We're just practicing, so you’re not allowed to use any dirty tricks!”
She hadn’t felt much when they were still apart, but now that they were pressed up against each other, that sense of touch was especially strong. He was like a blistering sun that was so hot, her entire body felt as if it was going to melt. It was to the point that even her voice was shaking a little bit.
Zu An chuckled and said, “Of course.”
Immediately after, he loosened his hold on her waist a bit. Shang Hongyu then shot backward as if she had been zapped by lightning, making some distance from him. She moved the messy hair around her temples behind her ear to hide her alarm, then did her best to pretend to be calm as she said, “Your performance just now was okay, but there are still some details that need to be fixed. As things are, the palace maids will still be able to tell that something is wrong.”
“Oh? How should I fix it?” Zu An asked with amusement.
“I’ll teach you...” Shang Hongyu suddenly thought of something and immediately went on alert. “You aren’t allowed to move, though!”
“Fine, I won’t move, and will let you move instead.” A strange smile appeared on Zu An’s face.
“Alright, I’ll show you...” Shang Hongyu finally reacted and looked at him with a reddened face. “You were actually such a bad guy!”
“Wasn’t that what you said? I was just playing along.” Zu An cried out in injustice.
“You bad guy, I’m definitely going to tell on you to my little sister.” Shang Hongyu shot him a look. But then, her eyes quickly moved around. Whether or not it was out of anger or something else was impossible to tell.
However, these two were individuals at the top of the world. Jokes were jokes. In the end, neither one of them misunderstood what was most important. One seriously taught, while the other seriously learned. Even though they did joke around from time to time, both of them tacitly upheld a certain boundary. In the end, both sides were really tired, so they involuntarily entered the land of dreams.
The next morning, sunlight spread through the windows. Shang Hongyu suddenly woke up. She didn’t open her eyes, but silently sensed her body’s condition instead. Then, she sighed slightly in relief. It seemed Zu An truly hadn’t taken advantage of the fact that she was sleeping to do something to her.
She silently opened her eyes, but she was suddenly stunned. Her pretty face also turned red. It turned out she was curled up like a kitten in his arms. The two were pressed tightly against each other. That wasn’t the most important part, though; there was a hand around her stomach, while the other hand was around her neck, holding her chest! She hadn’t expected her chest to so perfectly fit in a man’s hand. She could even feel the heat coming from the center of that palm!
She was a mature woman, so she didn’t scream like a little girl. Instead, she began to calmly analyze just what was happening. She couldn't act up right now, because on top of his hand was her own, and she was even tightly holding his fingers. She could even guess what had happened in the middle of the night without even asking. She was definitely the one who had taken the initiative to guide his hand over.
Liuyu had always made fun of her for her sleeping habits. She hadn’t really agreed back then, but now, she finally understood.
What am I supposed to do now?! Just how will he see me from now on?
He must think that I normally act earnest, but then always flirt and play around, and that I’m actually a perverted woman!
I’m finished, I’m done for! My reputation is completely over!
She bit her lip and quietly raised his hand to slowly move it away. As long as she could do so before he woke up, then they could get past this awkwardness.
But that was easier said than done. Her entire body was cuddled in his arms and she was being held tightly. She could only move a single hand slightly, and she didn’t even dare to move too much. After all, the man behind her had unfathomable cultivation. It would be really awkward if she ended up waking him.
She tugged a bit, but a bit of carelessness made it so that she coulddn’t get a firm hold of his finger and dropped it again. Fortunately, her body was extremely soft and made enough cushioning that she didn’t wake him up. She couldn't help but feel a bit proud of herself. But soon after, she rubbed her sore wrist with a pained expression. Her hand was all sore already, and yet all of her efforts were in vain. Still, she had no choice but to continue. She carefully moved again.
Just when she was about to succeed, the guy behind her suddenly groaned. His body moved a bit to change to a more comfortable posture, and then his other hand moved in front of her chest again, leaving her stunned. She couldn't help but turn around to give him a look, but she didn’t see anything strange in his face. She could sense his calm and moderate breathing, so it seemed he was still dreaming. She sighed with relief.
Helpless to do anything else, she began to carefully move away his left hand. The process was really hard, and she couldn't move too much each time. If she moved too much, she would end up waking him up. She could only move him as slowly as an ant, little by little. Whenever she moved a bit, she had to lower his hand again to rest. Only when she sensed that there was no sign of him waking up did she continue.
After tossing and turning for a while, she could feel a layer of fine sweat covering her body. Suddenly, her face turned entirely red. She grabbed his hand and didn’t dare to continue moving. They were tightly pressed up against each other. The room entered a strange silence.
A while later, Shang Hongyu finally couldn't help but say, “You’re already awake, aren’t you?”
There was no reply.
She took a deep breath. She bit her lip to calm herself down, hissing. “You’re prodding against me!”
She wasn’t a little girl who didn’t know anything, but rather the queen of the Ocean races. How could she possibly misunderstand it as him hiding some sword?
Zu An gradually woke up. He naturally stretched out his body and asked, “Hm? You’re already awake? The weather doesn’t seem bad today.”
Shang Hongyu snickered. “Keep acting, why don’t you? Your body reaction already sold you out.”
Zu An was a bit awkward, saying, “You can’t blame me for that. This is just a normal reaction when men wake up in the morning.”
“You’re still going to keep making things up?” Shang Hongyu glared at him.
Zu An could only say, “I had no choice! It’s your fault for jerking back and forth in my arms. If I didn’t have any reaction toward a woman this beautiful, wouldn’t that be the greatest disrespect to you?”
Shang Hongyu was speechless. She laughed out of irritation and retorted, “What, in the end, prodding me like this is actually a sign of respect for me?”