The Crazy Emperor's Pampered Cousin

There will always be a time when the porridge is finished.

Xie Yanzhao put down the bowl, and the porcelain spoon lightly touched the rim of the bowl, making a soft, crisp sound.

He didn't rush her, but carefully wiped the corners of her lips and pulled over the blankets to wrap her up tightly.

Then he pulled her into his arms, body and all.

His movements were slow and deliberate, even elegant, yet Shen Tinghe inexplicably sensed a dangerous aura.

She snuggled closer to him: "If I said... I dreamt about him, would you believe me, brother?"

Xie Yanzhao's eyes were deep and his lips even curled into his usual faint smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes.

"In a dream?"

He repeated in a low voice

"Then my brother will definitely not let him off the hook."

He stroked her face, his tone as casual as if he were talking about the weather, or about something trivial.

"Making him disappear is just a matter of snapping a finger."

Xie Yanzhao looked at Shen Tinghe, not angered by her evasive words, but instead his eyes filled with a deeper, almost overwhelming tenderness.

His Yuan Yuan grew up by his side from childhood, surrounded by magnificent palaces and brocades, and her companions were all people from the clouds.

She had no real idea of ​​how vast the territory called "Da Zhao" beneath her feet truly was, or how easily the power they wielded could be exercised.

Crushing such an insignificant character was indeed no more effort for him than brushing the dust off his sleeves.

Shen Tinghe glared at him coquettishly.

Now he's too lazy to even hide it, his true nature is completely exposed.

Xie Yanzhao was not offended. Instead, he leaned closer because of her lively expression and placed a light kiss on her lips.

As their breaths mingled, Shen Tinghe sighed a few times.

The biggest problem is that they're childhood sweethearts; she's practically defenseless in front of him and can't lie at all.

Shen Tinghe resignedly softened her body and hugged his lean waist back.

"Then... if I tell the truth, will my brother believe me?"

"nature."

Shen Tinghe remained silent for a moment before finally speaking softly, but her words were earth-shattering.

Do you believe that there are people in this world who carry memories of their past lives?

Xie Yanzhao paused for a moment while patting her back, then resumed his rhythmic patting.

He looked down at her, his gaze deep and unfathomable, as if countless thoughts had flashed through his mind in an instant.

"Buddhists say that this person has innate wisdom."

His voice remained deep and steady, without much emotion.

"So, Yuan Yuan is the one with innate wisdom?"

I guess so.

She responded vaguely, burying herself even deeper into his embrace, as if it were a paradise that could shield her from all storms and scrutiny.

Xie Yanzhao tightened his arms, holding her even closer.

Beneath the calm surface of his eyes, however, complex undercurrents were quietly surging.

Shen Tinghe's voice was very soft, as if she were telling a distant story that had nothing to do with her.

She slowly recounted the trajectory of her past life.

How she was abandoned by her family, how she grew up in the hospital, and how she met Song Huaijing.

"At first... he just heard about my situation and thought of his own little sister. He took pity on me and looked after me a bit. I didn't expect that we would gradually become close."

Shen Tinghe's gaze drifted into the distance, but a faint, nostalgic smile played on her lips.

"He celebrated my first birthday, taught me how to smile at others, how to say 'thank you' and 'it's okay,' and introduced me to the nurses at the station. He would occasionally visit me and bring me little trinkets I had never seen before."

She calmly recounted those scattered glimmers of light from those long-forgotten, gloomy years.

Xie Yanzhao listened without saying a word, but the arm around her tightened inch by inch.

His heart felt like it was being squeezed and kneaded repeatedly by an invisible hand, the pain making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

His Yuan Yuan, the treasure he cherished most in his heart, the one he wished he could shower upon her with all the beauty in the world.

He had actually endured such a long period of loneliness and neglect in another time and space where he was completely powerless.

Xie Yanzhao could not express the dull pain, so he could only press his lips to her temples, cheeks, and neck, showering her with delicate and burning kisses.

He was trying to use this method to cover up the desolate past he had never participated in, and to convey his overwhelming and unspeakable heartache and fear at this moment.

Shen Tinghe felt his slight trembling, and suddenly chuckled, hugging him back as if comforting a wronged big child.

"It's alright, brother, it's all over now."

She nuzzled his chin: "Look, I now have loving parents and brothers, and you. The happiness I've received in the past twenty years by my brother's side has long since washed away all the bitterness from before."

During the twenty years that Da Zhao was pampered and re-grown up, the unreserved love from the Shen family and Xie Yanzhao's omnipresent care and indulgence had long since nourished the frozen soil in her heart into a fertile field full of flowers.

Xie Yanzhao buried his face in her shoulder, his voice hoarse: "With me here, in this life and for all eternity, no one will ever be able to bully Yuan Yuan in the slightest."

"Of course I know," Shen Tinghe replied softly.

After a moment of silence flowing in the warm embrace, Xie Yanzhao ultimately couldn't suppress the venomous thorn in his heart.

He raised his head, his Adam's apple bobbing.

In those usually arrogant and composed phoenix eyes, a hint of almost fragile caution was revealed, and her voice was hoarse from tension.

"Did you...like him back then?"

That was the realm he was completely absent from; in the years when his Yuan Yuan needed warmth the most, another man stood beside her, giving her light.

This realization caused the powerful and shrewd Crown Prince to experience near-panic for the first time in his life.

Shen Tinghe was stunned for a moment before realizing that he was asking about Song Huaijing.

She couldn't help but laugh out loud and gently pinched his cheek with her fingertips.

"Xie Yanzhao, you're such a jealous person, you're even jealous about things from a past life."

She sighed, her tone becoming serious.

"What I just told you is pretty much all the interaction between him and me. He only interned in the department where I was staying for two months before being transferred, so we didn't see each other often. Occasionally we would bump into each other, have something to eat together, and chat... To an ordinary person, he would probably just be a... friend with a good impression."

However, this was not the case for little Shen Tinghe, who had never been treated kindly by the world.

That tiny bit of kindness was enough to leave a deep mark on her life, becoming the only starlight she could remember in the long night.

"Is what Yuan Yuan said true?"

Xie Yanzhao pressed her for answers, his gaze fixed on her, not daring to miss a single emotion.

Shen Tinghe looked at his unusually persistent yet somewhat aggrieved expression, and her heart melted completely, yet she also found it rather amusing.

She leaned in and, as if punishing him, bit his lower lip lightly.

"You're the one who insisted on asking, and you're the one who's upset after hearing it. My wise and mighty Crown Prince, why are you so hard to please?" she complained.