The Mystery of the Scent

The very second Liu Ziye came pouncing over, Chu Yu shrieked out loud. However, the only thing she could do was remain standing on the same spot and receive his hug obediently. 

Her body turned stiff instantaneously when his arm wrapped tightly around her body. Her body was bathed in cold sweat. 

'You're not going to do that to me at once, are you?'

However, to Chu Yu's surprise, Liu Ziye did not progress to the next step of action. He hugged her quietly and leaned his head on her shoulder. Then, he remained deathly still as if he had fallen asleep. 

Chu Yu was anxious. She had no idea what he was about to do, yet she dared not act rashly either. She waited for his reaction quietly in a similar manner. Earlier, she made up a myriad of excuses in her mind. However, she found that she was incapable of uttering even a word at this very moment. 

She lost count of time as well. It was only when her stiffened body was almost getting numb when Li Ziye finally spoke, "Sister, are you getting sick of me? Is that why you haven't come over to visit me these past few days?"

Chu Yu weighed his tone of speech in an attempt to figure out his intention. She felt as if he was not trying to exhort or criticize her. Therefore she chose her words slowly and carefully. "Why would I do that? I wasn't feeling well for the past few days. I've only gotten better in this two days after resting for a couple of days."

"How did this happen?" Liu Ziye was startled upon listening to her explanation. He loosened his grip on Chu Yu in a haste. Then, he studied her face closely for a long moment before advising in a concerned manner, "Your face looks quite pale indeed. You should feed yourself with more nourishing tonic."

Chu Yu wanted to tell him that she was pale out of fear of him. Moreover, consuming nourishing tonic was not the only way of keeping in good health. However, she did not elaborate anymore but allowed Liu Ziye to pull her to a seat by the console table. He then summoned the eunuch guarding the outside of the hall. He dictated his order to grant the princess with a large amount of precious nourishing tonics, jewelry, and silk. 

His words got on Chu Yu's nerves. 'So, is this how the siblings gift each other so lavishly at a casual event? How lavish will a formal reward be then?'

After the eunuch took his leave, Liu Ziye's hand made its way up Chu Yu's waist once again. He leaned his body and lay down on her folded thighs. 

Chu Yu clenched her teeth in secret. She thought to herself about how this little ghost was so skilled at finding a spot to lie on. However, it felt as if there was not an ounce of indecency in Liu Ziye's action. He was only lying quietly on her thighs. With the passing of each breath, time passed slowly. The air of foulness and evil-foreboding on his face gradually faded and turned into calmness and peace in the end. 

He looked rather pale. There was a wisp of serenity in his expression after he became relaxed from his prior stressed-out appearance. Compared to his appearance earlier, it felt as if he was now an entirely different person. Chu Yu found that she was almost suspecting that someone had swapped the young emperor lying on her thighs for another person in the blink of an eye. The person before herself now was merely another man who looked just the same as before. 

Liu Ziye exhaled a breath of relief softly. "Sister, you must come and visit me often from now on. I'm always agitated when you're not around. It makes me want to kill someone badly all the time."

Chu Yu felt her heart sink upon listening to his words. She understood that her thoughts from earlier were not just an illusion. This young man with a calm expression was still the vicious, savage, and ruthless young emperor from before. 

She pondered the point of her visit if all he wanted to do was to kill someone. Even though it seemed like the siblings had a harmonious relationship on the surface, the fear in Chu Yu's heart was ineffable. How many people had this young man lying on her thighs killed in the past? Judging by his tone of speech, he treated the act of killing to be as simple as having a meal. Had he been angered now, would he pass the order to have her killed as well?

Even though her expression remained calm as before, the alertness of her mind peaked at its highest point. She tried her best not to speak in order to prevent herself from saying something unwanted. 

A moment later, she heard Liu Ziye began vocalizing with a dash of doubt in his voice, "Hmm, it feels like something isn't right about your scent today. You smell quite different from before."

Chu Yu was stunned for a moment. She recalled the perfume pouch Rong Zhi had given her earlier. She considered her choice of words for a long while before she spoke softly, "I took a bath coincidentally before I left the house today. I used a new spice for my bath. That's why I smell quite different." The scent of the perfume pouch smelled quite similar to the incense in the room when she first woke up there. While she had yet to notice the minute difference in the scent, Liu Ziye managed to pick up on that. 

"Ah." Li Ziye did not inquire anymore. He squinted his eyes and rubbed his head against Chu Yu's thighs as if he was trying to search for a comfortable position. "Sister, you always smell so good. I feel much better after smelling your body scent every time I have a headache."

Chu Yu answered casually, but her eyes were fixated upon the young man lying on her thighs. She looked at him with a gaze as if she was confronting a formidable enemy or a terrifying creature. 

The ruthless, tyrannical, and useless Emperor Liu Ziye with uncontrolled lust in the legends and history was actually akin to a kitten that retracted its sharp claws at that moment. He napped on her thighs lazily. 

The sun in the late afternoon was pleasantly warm. The rays of sunlight shone through the window and reflected upon their bodies. It was not an unusual sight if this situation were to take place in an ordinary person's home. Yet, how could this happen in the imperial household?

Chu Yu was perplexed. 

Liu Ziye turned over in a not-so naive manner after he lay her on thighs for a moment. His eyes were narrowed as he tugged at Chu Yu's sleeve. He spoke in a coquettish voice, "Sister, please give me a head massage. I've been having frequent headaches for the past two years. Please massage me. It'll make me feel better."

Chu Yu was confused at first but became enlightened soon after. She stretched her fingers out and pressed Liu Ziye's temples in a gentle yet determined manner. Slowly, she began exerting more strength into her rubbing motion. Simultaneously, some of the skepticism that began gathering in her mind earlier and slowly formed into an answer that shocked her. 

It was already close to dusk by the time she bade farewell to Liu Ziye and left the palace. She stopped walking when she got closer to the palace entrance. Retrieving the perfume pouch that Rong Zhi gave her before she left her chest pocket, she placed it under her nose and took a deep breath. The soothing scent flowed into her lungs and made her calm and relaxed. 

The perfume scent seemed to have a tranquilizing effect. 

On the other hand, it seemed like Liu Ziye was suffering from an unknown ailment that caused his frequent headaches and resulted in his ruthless and tyrannical temperament on the usual days. It caused him to kill people at will. Perhaps, this should be known as intermittent mania. On the other hand, the incense was constantly burning in Princess Shanyin's room, so with the passing of time, the scent was transferred to Princess Shanyin's body. Liu Ziye was under the assumption that it was especially comforting to be with his sister due to the scent's function in relaxing his nerves. He treated her generously as a result. 

On the other hand, Chu Yu resented the notion of burning incense ever since she became Princess Shanyin. Thus, she ordered someone to remove the incense. Over time, the scent of her body faded gradually. Had it not been for the perfume pouch Rong Zhi gave her that day, perhaps she would have been utterly ineffective in relaxing the young emperor's nerves. Liu Ziye noticed the difference only because the scent diffused from the spices was quite different from the scent that tainted her body after all. 

Chu Yu pondered about every minute detail that happened. If the spices alone were enough to calm Liu Ziye's emotions, why had Princess Shanyin not supplied the spices to Liu Ziye straightforwardly? Then, there would be no need for her to pay visits to the palace frequently anymore. Or…perhaps she chose not to reveal this to him intentionally!

Could she have been hiding the truth intentionally or was she the cause of Liu Ziye's ailment?!

Even though it was gradually turning into summer with the weather becoming warmer and warmer, Chu Yu was so startled that she was bathed in cold sweat. 

Her hands and feet felt frozen as if she was soaking in melted ice.