The Guide to Rising to Power: The Ultimate Schemes of a Green Tea Beauty

Xie Yunzhou's fingers were long and slender, with distinct knuckles, and pale blue veins showing through his pale skin. The ankle in his palm was even paler than his hands, so delicate that it seemed as if it could break with the slightest force.

This excessive delicacy and gentleness exuded an almost eerie fragility, completely different from everything Xie Yunzhou was familiar with, causing a strange feeling to inexplicably pass through his heart.

"Don't move." His voice was low and hoarse, forced into a husky tone. "...I'll do it."

Shen Yao paused, looked up at him hesitantly, her eyes showing a hint of timidity and embarrassment at having to trouble him again.

She hesitated for a moment, then slowly handed him the cotton swab, deliberately keeping her fingers a distance from him as if afraid of any inappropriate contact.

Xie Yunzhou didn't say anything more, took the cotton swab, and knelt down on one knee in front of her.

He used a cotton swab dipped in iodine to gently wipe the tiny wound.

The slight stinging sensation during disinfection made Shen Yao tremble.

Xie Yunzhou paused for a moment, subconsciously raising his head to see her reaction, and at the same time, he wanted to say, "Just bear with it."

Because he was crouching low on the carpet, while Shen Yao leaned against the sofa, slightly turned to one side, the soft hem of her bathrobe slipped open a narrow gap as he lifted her ankles.

Just as he looked up, his gaze unexpectedly entered...

Her delicate, snow-white skin swayed gently with her subtle movements, its outline blurring in the dim light—enough to make any man's heart flutter.

A surge of scalding heat rushed straight to the top of my head without warning.

Xie Yunzhou stood frozen in place.

He was always aloof and self-possessed, with a heart as cold as a deep pool, but at this moment it was as if a red-hot iron had been thrown into the frozen lake, causing countless cracks to appear.

It felt like the most devout saint, after a long period of asceticism, unexpectedly glimpsing, in the shadows where no one could see, an abyss of extreme purity and extreme temptation set up just for him.

The tower of his beliefs, which he had held fast to for many years, began to shake violently at this moment, its foundation loosening and loose stones falling down.

Xie Yunzhou lowered his head abruptly with a sense of self-destructive fear, his gaze fixed on the tiny red mark on her ankle.

Scalding blood rushed wildly to his earlobe, burning the thin skin there until it turned bright red and almost dripped blood.

The fingers gripping the cotton swab so tightly that the knuckles were bluish-white from excessive force, as if they were about to snap the thin wooden stick in two.

Shen Yao, however, seemed oblivious to his momentary loss of composure and the turmoil churning within him.

She simply lowered her head slightly, and from this angle, Xie Yunzhou could vaguely see her long eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings, her cheeks flushed like spring peaches in full bloom in April, and her eyes shimmering with a layer of watery light caused by pain and shame.

The girl gently bit her lower lip, her voice carrying a subconscious sense of grievance and dependence on him:

"It hurts so much, Xie Yunzhou..."

That soft call, tinged with tears, completely disrupted his wildly beating heart.

Xie Yunzhou abruptly closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. He quickened his pace, almost roughly tearing off the band-aid and haphazardly applying it to her wound. Then, he quickly loosened her ankle, abruptly stood up, and turned his back to her.

"It's all taken care of. Get some rest."

After saying that, he turned around and strode back to his room.

In the corridor, only Shen Yao remained, sitting alone on the sofa.

She looked at the crookedly pasted band-aid on her ankle, then glanced at the closed door.

……

In the guest room, Shen Yao had already fallen into a deep sleep.

She lay on her side in the soft bedding, her breathing even and deep, her face serene and content, as if the "unexpected" and "awkward" interlude had never happened.

The band-aid that someone clumsily applied to my ankle became a blurry mark in the hazy night.

She slept soundly, as if unaware of the wildfire that her casually sowed in another's heart.

Xie Yunzhou, in the master bedroom, was plunged into unprecedented torment.

The man lay in bed, tossing and turning.

In the darkness, he closed his eyes tightly, trying to dispel the images that kept surfacing uncontrollably in his mind—her watery eyes, the warmth of their fingertips touching, the arc of water droplets sliding down her collarbone, and that fleeting, blurry outline... all of which swirled repeatedly in his mind.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, then abruptly rolled over, burying his face deep in the pillow, trying to suppress the surging heat within him with the feeling of suffocation.

Xie Yunzhou forced himself to calm down, repeatedly condemning his own filth and delusions in his mind.

She's Yuanzhu's friend, and Xiang Yuchuan's ex-girlfriend. How could you have such thoughts about her? Xie Yunzhou, you're worse than an animal!

However, those images did not disappear; instead, they became clearer and more vivid in the silence and darkness, eventually weaving together into a bizarre, sensual, and enchanting dream.

The texture of dreams is thin and moist.

He is the cloud and mist that swirl around the mountaintop, and he is the snow lotus rooted in the frozen soil, accustomed to solitude and cold.

Until a burst of lush warmth swept over, the fragrance of peach blossoms blooming all over the mountains, carrying a scorching heat that pierced through the icy mist.

A petal gently landed on his frosty petals, its warmth stubbornly seeping in, trying to melt away the chill around him.

……

He tried to avoid it, but was enveloped by that supple warmth. The entire plant trembled with an unfamiliar chill, as if the frozen soil had loosened. The usually solitary branches involuntarily tilted slightly toward the warmth.

……

"Xie Yunzhou..."

In the darkness, Xie Yunzhou's body heat rose uncontrollably, every inch of his skin radiating a scorching temperature, and his heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest.

He closed his eyes in anguish, placing his hand on his forehead. Shen Yao's image lingered in his mind, becoming a flame that burned away his reason.

That restless energy, mixed with shame and guilt, kept him tossing and turning at night.

He's gone mad! He's absolutely gone mad! How could he have such a dream? And the subject of it all is... Shen Yao!

He tried to suppress the urge to take a cold shower, but Shen Yao's face kept reappearing in his mind uncontrollably...

Xie Yunzhou ultimately couldn't resist that unprecedented instinct.

……

Sweat soaked through the stray hairs on his forehead. He bit his lower lip so hard that it almost drew blood, trying to stifle the sound that was about to burst from his throat.

That face, which was always aloof and composed, seemingly untouched by worldly dust, was now witnessing a shocking rebellion.

His brow furrowed in pain, yet a wild crimson tinged the corners of his eyes; reason struggled within him to maintain his composure, while the surging tide dragged him inch by inch into the abyss of sensuality.

Breathing became rapid and difficult, as if an invisible hand was choking me. The familiar feeling of suffocation spread through my trachea, and asthma attacked fiercely with the violent rise and fall of my chest.

Each labored breath caused the small, dark mole below her collarbone to tremble slightly.

The extreme pleasure and sharp pain intertwined at this moment, creating the most cruel punishment, tearing Xie Yunzhou's taut nerves to their limit.

Just as his consciousness was about to be swallowed by chaos, his fingertips finally touched the cool potion.

Like a dying person grabbing a piece of driftwood and embracing salvation, the tumultuous pain and overwhelming joy seem to suddenly find a dangerous balance, achieving a messy yet effective win-win situation.

In this extreme chaos, that name, along with her image, penetrated his heart with even greater precision than the suffocation he felt during a seizure—Shen Yao.

The bracelet he gave her, a thin band, always hung loosely on her slender wrist, swaying gently with her every move in his dreams, reflecting a light like scattered silver, dazzling him.

And her hands, her fingertips always slightly cool, had once brushed against his skin...

These images, like the most persistent ghosts, appeared clearly before his eyes in his most vulnerable and defenseless moments, refusing to leave...