Chapter 274 - 272: He Can’t Rest Easy Without Locking Her Up

Words : 1614 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

Shen Yinning gently shook her head. Lu Ying continued to gaze at her. "Do you know that was embezzled money?" Shen Yinning raised her eyes and enunciated each word clearly. "I have never heard him mention it." The room fell into a heavy silence. No one knew how much time had passed before Xue Ling suddenly barged in. "Didn’t you say the twenty million taels of patterned silver might be with Shen Yinning? I personally searched every corner of Zhaoyue Tower, and I found not a single clue—" His words abruptly stopped when he saw that Shen Yinning was also present. He sneered. "Oh, I was wondering why I couldn’t find you at Zhaoyue Tower despite all the commotion. Turns out, you had already slipped away. What’s this—seeing that Luo Xibai has fallen from power, you now want to cling to the Crown Prince? Miss Shen, if you ask me, you’re too fickle-minded." Lu Ying ordered coldly, "Get out." "Fine, I’ll go." Xue Ling swept his wide sleeves around, giving Shen Yinning a meaningful glance before leaving with a smirk of satisfaction. Lu Ying sat back in the round chair, his wide hand pressing over the account books. The stormy weather outside cast an oppressive gloom, yet the two green glass lamps by the desk emitted a warm, gentle light, illuminating Lu Ying’s strikingly handsome features with shifting contrasts of brightness and shadow. His extraordinarily refined bone structure remained captivating regardless of the atmosphere. He rubbed his temples. The sudden collapse of the Luo Family had been a whirlwind. That enormous sum of money was both too substantial and too incriminating for Luo Xibai to have entrusted to the Luo sisters, even if he’d had the time. The only person who might know its whereabouts was Shen Yinning. His gaze returned to Shen Yinning. After a long pause, he called, "Guards." Two maids entered the room. Lu Ying instructed, "Search her." The doors and windows were closed. Shen Yinning was pulled behind the folding screen by the two maids. She didn’t resist; it seemed she understood that any struggle would be futile. Layer by layer, her garments were undone. The maids meticulously examined each article of clothing, ensuring that even hidden inner pockets sewn into the fabric were not overlooked. They even cut open the soles of her embroidered shoes with a dagger to check their interiors. Her voluminous updo was taken apart for inspection as well. After an indeterminate period of time, the two maids finally emerged holding a single item—an amulet. "Your Highness, the only suspicious item on Miss Shen is this." Lu Ying took it. It was an amulet made of yellow talisman paper, folded neatly and strung with a red cord meant for hanging around the neck. Shen Yinning stepped barefoot from behind the screen, draped in Lu Ying’s outer robe. She looked straight at Lu Ying, her phoenix-shaped eyes reddened. "This is the amulet Your Highness personally requested for me at the Buddhist Hall of Shengguo Temple two months ago." She continued, her voice trembling slightly, "I’ve worn it every single day since then." Lu Ying was silent. He remembered the amulet—he had placed it around her neck himself. He returned the amulet to her. "I’ll permit you to collect Luo Xibai’s body, but you must tell me where the money is. After that, I won’t trouble you further regarding the matters in Jiangnan." Shen Yinning held the amulet tightly. She turned away and pressed the talisman between her fingers, confirming that the beast-tooth token hidden within was still intact, before slipping the cord back around her neck. "You say you’ll let me retrieve his body, but by now, the corpse has already been chewed beyond recognition by wolves." Shen Yinning wrapped Luo Xibai’s remains in fine silk, along with the everyday robes and boots he had favored, and buried them in the grass by the banks of Qianyou Lake. Once she had completed this, Lu Ying’s Imperial Guard appeared behind her. "His Highness requests Miss Shen to accompany us to Ciyin Temple." Shen Yinning knew that Lu Ying wouldn’t let her go. Before he figured out the whereabouts of the money, there was no way he would stop interrogating her. She followed the guards to Ciyin Temple. It was being used as a temporary prison; not just Luo Magistrate and the male members of the Luo Family, but also several bureaucrats who had been close to Luo Xibai were confined there. The temple echoed with cries and desperate pleas for mercy. Shen Yinning was locked in the ninth level of Ciyin Temple. The mystic iron chains, once used to restrain Lu Ying himself, now securely bound her hands and feet, limiting her movements to the confines of the small room. She sat by the window, letting the damp night breeze wash over her, before breaking into a mocking laugh. In just a few short days, her and Lu Ying’s roles had been reversed entirely. She had become his prisoner. At midnight, Lu Ying appeared silently on the ninth level of Ciyin Temple. Shen Yinning hadn’t fallen asleep. She wore a flowing pearly-white silk gown with wide sleeves, her hair styled in an intricate coiffure. She sat properly at the desk, leafing through a Buddhist Scripture, holding a brush and scribbling in the margins as though she were taking scholarly notes. Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, she didn’t look up. "Your Highness comes uninvited in the dead of night. Are you afraid of being seen during the day and giving rise to scandalous gossip?" Though imprisoned in Ciyin Temple, she could easily guess that malicious rumors were already circulating outside. Just days ago, while she was hiding in Zhaoyue Tower, many had accused her of being a femme fatale who had seduced and turned Luo Xibai and Lu Shiyan against each other, ultimately leading to the Luo Family’s downfall. They had conveniently forgotten the countless crimes committed by the Luo Family, instead comparing her to the disastrous beauty of history’s Daji and Bao Si, blaming her for everything. They even claimed all of Luo Xibai’s misdeeds were instigated by her behind the scenes, cursing her as a scourge who deserved death—despite her having been in Jiangnan for only two months. Interacting with her at this point was clearly detrimental to Lu Ying’s reputation. Lu Ying did not respond to her provocation, his gaze falling on the Buddhist Scripture. "Didn’t you say you don’t believe in the divine?" "Is it forbidden to read Buddhist Scriptures just because I don’t believe in gods or Buddhas?" Lu Ying picked up the text, curious to see what reflections she had gained or notes she had written while reading. But when he lowered his eyes, he realized her scribblings were anything but scholarly insights. She had added mustaches and beards to the illustrations of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, and filled the blank spaces with small sketches—elegant maidens with flowered hairpins, old fishermen with drooping lines, and playful children at leisure. Flipping further, he even found a few indecent sketches of men and women entangled in illicit Wushan cloud-and-rain scenes. Lu Ying returned the Buddhist Scripture to her. "You waste the entire day on frivolity." Shen Yinning laughed in exasperation. She shook the iron chains. "I’m imprisoned here. What honest work do you expect me to do? Honestly, Your Highness, I’m just a helpless young lady. Was it necessary to bind me with these mystic iron chains?" Lu Ying raised an eyebrow. The girl before him, though not skilled in martial arts, exuded an innate sense of danger. Leaving her unrestrained left him uneasy. He massaged his temples, his tone turning serious. "I have many matters that need my attention. I don’t have time to spar words with you. Let me ask you once more—where is the money Luo Xibai hid? If you tell me quickly, I can send you back to the capital sooner. Wouldn’t that be better for you?" Shen Yinning twirled the brush in her hand, tilting her head mischievously. The five-colored silk thread tied to the small braids framing her temples swayed as she moved. She smiled. "I’ve said it before. I don’t know." The girl’s bright, lively eyes glittered with defiance and cunning, like an unruly fox that refused to be tamed. Lu Ying knew that even if the Buddha and Bodhisattvas themselves descended tonight, there would be no prying the truth from her lips. He found his gaze drawn to the little braid on the side of her face, bobbing as she turned away. For some inexplicable reason, it felt as if the tip of the braid grazed against his heart, sending a peculiar itch and tremor coursing through him. When they were young, she often wore her hair in braids. As she grew older, she seldom did so. Back when he had been imprisoned in Ciyin Temple, he’d often entertained the notion of tugging on one of her braids. Lost in the thought, he acted on an impulse and reached out to pinch the small braid. Shen Yinning furrowed her brows and defensively pulled the braid out of his grasp. "What are you doing?!" The five-colored silk thread was loosely tied. Her sudden tug caused the smooth strands to slip free of the thread, unraveling the neatly plaited braid in an instant. Lu Ying, as the Crown Prince, had weathered countless challenges with composure. Even in life-and-death confrontations with Luo Xibai at the Beast Fighting Arena, he hadn’t been at a disadvantage. Yet now, faced with Shen Yinning’s sharp glare, he felt an unexpected pang of guilt. Instinctively, he said, "I’ll braid it for you again."

Chapter 274 - 272: He Can’t Rest Easy Without Locking Her Up

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