The Obsessive Crown Prince Can't Let Me Go
Chapter 94 - 93: I Won’t Eat Anything But Blood Bird’s Nest

Chapter 94: Chapter 93: I Won’t Eat Anything But Blood Bird’s Nest

Gui Quan respectfully smiled and said, "At this hour, Imperial Physician Chen has likely retired for the night. This servant thinks that Madam Shen’s continued inability to conceive may be due to excessive worry. This servant has heard the elderly women in the palace gossiping, saying that women who are overly tense and anxious can have it affect their fertility."

Excessive worry?

Lu Ying looked toward Shen Yinning.

Ever since she returned to the Capital, she had been hiding and avoiding people for most of the past six months.

Though bold, meticulous, and clever, she was still just an eighteen-year-old girl.

He often used Shen Yunxi to suppress her, leaving her gasping for breath.

Add to that the humiliation she suffered from Ruizhu not long ago...

Lu Ying’s gaze softened with a touch of pity, and for a moment, he dismissed the idea of summoning an imperial physician to check her pulse. Instead, he gently pinched Shen Yinning’s cheek. "Shen Zhaozhao, get up and have dinner."

Shen Yinning moaned faintly in her sleep, resting delicately against his chest, evidently unwilling to get up.

"Not eating dinner wouldn’t do." Lu Ying tugged at her small ear again. "Be good, eat first, then you can sleep."

"Lu Ying brother, you’re so annoying..."

Woken from her slumber, Shen Yinning grumbled with a nasal tone, sulking exquisitely like a lazy and pampered Persian cat.

She stretched lazily, and seeing the ink fox fur sliding off her, Lu Ying quickly covered her again and carried her entirely into his arms.

He turned to Gui Quan. "Have the small kitchen bring the supper to the study."

Gui Quan hesitated briefly before giving an affirmative response, quickly leading the maids in with the dishes.

While setting the table, Gui Quan couldn’t help but secretly wonder.

His Highness was a stickler for protocol and had never dined in the study before—not only because he disliked the food smells interfering with the fragrance of ink and paper but also because dining in the study violated palace etiquette.

Yet, he made an exception for Madam Shen.

Lu Ying carefully cooled the bird’s nest on the spoon before bringing it to Shen Yinning’s lips.

Shen Yinning pouted and turned her head away. "I can’t eat."

"If you skip dinner, what will you do if you’re hungry at night? Be good."

Shen Yinning glanced at the bowl of bird’s nest disdainfully and murmured, "Why is it white bird’s nest? If it’s not blood bird’s nest, I won’t eat..."

Her radiant and dazzling face paired with the luxurious ink fox fur made her appear even more noble and elegant, as though she was born to be a blooming flower of fortune, cradled by the most powerful man under the heavens.

Lu Ying turned his gaze to Gui Quan. "Where is the blood bird’s nest?"

Gui Quan wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

Goodness, the National Treasury only collects ten pounds of blood bird’s nest annually—half is presented to the Empress Dowager, Noble Consort Zhang, and the Crown Princess Consort, while the remaining half is all bestowed by His Highness on Madam Shen.

All five pounds had already been consumed by Madam Shen—where was he to find more?

With an awkward smile, he replied, "Reporting to Your Highness, the blood bird’s nest was finished half a month ago, and there’s none left in the storeroom!"

Lu Ying took the shrimp and fish porridge presented by the palace maid. "Take funds from my private treasury and procure ten pounds of blood bird’s nest from all over."

Gui Quan hurriedly responded affirmatively.

He watched as Lu Ying carefully cooled the fish porridge spoon by spoon and fed it to Shen Yinning. His deliberate care and tender attention were almost excessive—far beyond anything he’d seen when His Highness married the Crown Princess Consort back then.

It didn’t feel like he was treating a mere bed warmer. Rather, it was as if he were holding a priceless treasure.

Gui Quan observed and thought to himself that Madam Shen truly wielded skillful techniques.

When it came to the eventual power struggles within the Eastern Palace, the outcome was still uncertain.

Shen Yinning gradually ate her fill and nestled in Lu Ying’s arms, watching him as he ate.

His dining posture was exceptionally refined and elegant; not even the slightest sound was made from the clinking of bowls and chopsticks. He was truly harmonious to behold.

Staying with Lu Ying wasn’t bad.

Not only did he hold great power and hailed from a distinguished lineage, but he was also tall, handsome, and had superb skills in the bedchamber. He was generous, too—buying a Hot Spring Villa worth 100,000 patterned silver without even furrowing his brows.

Apart from his temper being inconsistent, there were no faults to be found.

She couldn’t help but smile softly, her eyes curving.

Lu Ying finished rinsing his hands and mouth and asked coolly, "What are you laughing at?"

Shen Yinning tilted her head up and took the initiative to kiss his thin lips. "Lu Ying brother, why are you so good to me?"

Lu Ying’s face turned cold for a moment. "I instructed the procurement of blood bird’s nest solely to nourish your body for the sake of future childbirth—don’t overthink it."

Shen Yinning unwillingly muttered "Oh," but internally, she thought that after spending the past six months with Lu Ying, she couldn’t believe he had no affection for her whatsoever.

Even if it started as mere lust, after so much intimacy and companionship, feelings had to have developed.

No hurry—she had time to slowly chip away at Lu Ying.

For three consecutive days, Lu Ying summoned Shen Yinning to share his bed.

Bai Shuangshuang, tired from three days of waiting, couldn’t endure anymore and prepared a pot of chicken soup personally to visit him.

Shen Yinning intercepted her outside the study, smiling sweetly. "Sister Bai, you’ve come at a bad time. His Highness is busy handling state matters and likely doesn’t have time to see you."

Bai Shuangshuang gritted her teeth. "Shen, I was personally appointed by the Crown Princess Consort as a maidservant, specifically transferred from the Eastern Palace to Shen Garden to assist His Highness! You’ve been blocking me from meeting with the Crown Prince for three days—what’s your intention?! Even if you were once the Crown Prince’s fiancée, that was in the past! Now you’re nothing but a minor official’s wife—how dare you compete with me for His Highness’s favor?! I didn’t report your presence in the Capital to the Crown Princess Consort, which is already a benevolence on my part. If you dare to act recklessly again, don’t blame me for disregarding old times!"

Shen Yinning immediately adopted a wounded expression. "Sister Bai, I know my status is humble—how could I dare contend with you for favor? Please don’t report my return to the Crown Princess Consort. She would surely have me killed!"

Seeing her trembling, Bai Shuangshuang finally felt satisfied.

She responded impatiently, "If you know what’s good for you, then step aside!"

Shen Yinning moved aside, watching Bai Shuangshuang enter the study, her phoenix eyes shifting from fear to quiet amusement.

She took a pot of flowers from Wei Yu’s hands and followed Bai Shuangshuang into the study.

Bai Shuangshuang was offering chicken soup to Lu Ying but was politely declined.

"Such good chicken soup—it would be a shame to waste it." Shen Yinning spoke softly. "Why not bestow it upon this humble servant?"

Bai Shuangshuang glared at her irritably.

She had spent an entire afternoon simmering the chicken soup, only to have it handed to Shen Yinning, this wretched woman!

But Shen Yinning seemed oblivious to her hostile glare as she elegantly offered the pot of flowers. "Sister Bai, I found these green wax plum blossoms in Shen Garden a few days ago. They were my late mother’s favorite flowers. My mother treated you very kindly in the past—surely you miss her as well? I’m giving you this pot as a keepsake. Moving forward, whenever you see it, it will be as if you’re seeing my mother."

Bai Shuangshuang immediately recognized the uniquely shaped green wax plum blossoms.

When she was younger, she had accidentally shattered this pot in Madam Shen’s quarters, but instead of blaming her, Madam Shen gently comforted her and even gave her many candies.

No one expected that Madam Shen, already deceased for three years, still had this pot of flowers surviving.

Recalling Madam Shen’s tragic hanging in the Heavenly Prison brought chills to Bai Shuangshuang’s skin. Now, just looking at the green wax plum blossoms gave her unease.

To place this pot of flowers in her bedroom? Could she even sleep?

She immediately declined. "This is far too significant a gift. Sister Shen should keep it for herself!"

Shen Yinning pouted, her phoenix eyes brimming with tears. "Your Highness, look at Sister Bai. This humble servant kindly offered her something, yet she refuses to accept it. Your Highness, does Sister Bai dislike this humble servant?"

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