236: Chapter 236 I'll give you ten breaths.

"Pah… you rogue."

Ouyang Wanqing felt itchy all over from his scorching breath, and she playfully pinched his shoulder with a coquettish huff.

Yet, her body melted into his embrace even more submissively.

With that, the sacred ritual of "bathing and burning incense" before discussing poetry was successfully and perfectly completed with the active cooperation of both.

"The ritual is done; now, we must get down to business."

The rogue smile on Chen Shanzhi's face suddenly vanished in an eerie way, and his expression turned unusually serious, even carrying a hint of sternness.

He looked just like one of those pedantic old masters at the academy who would strike people with a ruler at the slightest provocation.

The True Qi within his Dantian pulsed slightly, and he formed his right hand into a claw, making a gentle pulling motion through the air towards the towering bookshelf behind him!

"Whoosh—"

An incredibly rare, unique book, bound with fine rhinoceros horn and yellowed with age, instantly turned into a blur and landed with pinpoint precision in his palm.

Chen Shanzhi stretched out his long arm and slowly spread the heavy, unique book open in front of Ouyang Wanqing, who was sitting on his lap.

He looked down at the body in his arms—skin as white as frost and snow, yet incredibly alluring and completely bare—and with a straight face, he spoke in a righteous tone:

"Madam, I haven't seen you for some time, so I must properly check if you have been studying diligently at the Prime Minister's Mansion."

"Now, I will give you ten breaths of time."

"After ten breaths, I shall thoroughly test you on the true meaning within this unique book."

As he said this, Chen Shanzhi's gaze slid down with ill intent, landing on Ouyang Wanqing's firm, rounded breasts.

A wicked, slightly vulgar smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, and his voice, accompanied by a soft breath, drifted into the sensitive ear of the beauty in his arms:

"If you can't answer later… Madam, don't blame me for using the 'rod' to serve you on the spot."

Ouyang Wanqing's long eyelashes trembled, and when she saw the dense, obscure, and difficult-to-understand ancient characters on the unique book,

she finally understood what kind of absurd scheme this rogue, who was rotten to the core, was plotting.

"You…"

Ouyang Wanqing blushed, bit her teeth, and looked at him with shy annoyance, yet she could only nervously stare at the unique book.

Inside the study, Chen Shanzhi held the unique book steadily with both hands while pulling the delicate body on his lap extremely close.

"One breath."

Chen Shanzhi breathed hot air into Ouyang Wanqing's ear, his voice full of laughter.

Ouyang Wanqing bit her red lips, her beautiful eyes scanning the pages in a panic, trying to force herself to memorize the obscure ancient text within ten breaths.

But at this moment, the continuous wave of scorching heat, along with Chen Shanzhi's large hands constantly rubbing against her waist and abdomen,

had long since made her body feel waves of heat, and her mind was almost a complete mush.

"Two breaths…"

As time passed, the distance between the two was pulled to its limit in that instant, leaving not even a sliver of space.

"One breath, two breaths… ten breaths."

"Negative one, negative two… negative eighteen."

"Mmm…"

Ouyang Wanqing had only managed to see the first line of content in that unique book.

She hadn't even had time to piece together the pronunciation of the characters in her mind.

Her whole body suddenly, with a mix of pain and pleasure, stretched out her neck, which was as white and jade-like as a swan's.

From the depths of her throat, she couldn't help but let out a cry, delicate and soft enough to melt one's bones.

This sound carried endless lingering affection.

And within this cry, Ouyang Wanqing's originally tense body finally relaxed completely, collapsing powerlessly onto Chen Shanzhi's broad chest.

The unique book in Chen Shanzhi's hand also slid down, snapping shut with a thud as it fell onto the carpet.

The sunlight outside the study seemed to brighten for a moment.

It cast the two figures, completely overlapping and entangled in the sunlight, onto the sandalwood bookshelf.

It was the familiar scent, the familiar strength, and the familiar recipe.

In this sudden yet logical, intense storm, Ouyang Wanqing held tightly onto Chen Shanzhi's neck.

She dug her nails deep into his sturdy shoulders, her whole being like a lonely boat drifting in the vast ocean, helpless and alone.

In that long illusion world, how much had Ouyang Wanqing sacrificed for the man before her?

In their reunion across two lifetimes, for Chen Shanzhi, she did not hesitate to personally push the entire Prime Minister's Mansion into an abyss of eternal damnation.

In these two entire lifetimes of unregretful entanglement, her love for Chen Shanzhi had long been carved into her bones and fused into her blood.

This love was so vast that even she could not measure it.

Therefore, when she returned to reality and learned that the illusion world had ended, she simply refused to believe it was just a dream.

After all, how could the vows he made to her within the warm bed curtains be false?

Ouyang Wanqing simply regarded this reality as another Rebirth in her life!

Since it was another Rebirth, then in this new life, absolutely no one and no force could stop her from being with him!

Not Murong Zhaoling, who dared to fight her for her man, not the First Prince, not the Prime Minister's Mansion, and not even that high and mighty Emperor of Great Jiang on the Golden Throne!

However… this Rebirth was different from the illusion world.

She no longer had the memories of being a "Rebirth prophet" from the illusion world.

She did not know the future direction, the shifts in the political situation, or what methods those enemies in the shadows would use.

How difficult the obstacles along the way would be in this reality, without the ability to foresee them, only Ouyang Wanqing herself knew.

Whenever she thought of these things, she would feel helpless and terrified in the dead of night.

But she was not afraid.

She was not afraid of the bumpy road ahead, nor was she afraid of eternal damnation.

The only thing she feared was one thing: she feared that this heartless rogue, Chen Shanzhi,

would think that the decades-long entanglement was truly just an illusion world, and thus lightly discard those deeply unforgettable memories like trash.

Ouyang Wanqing feared that after he woke up, he would simply walk away and contentedly marry Murong Zhaoling, whom His Majesty had betrothed to him.

That was why she, who was so proud, after hearing about the marriage between Chen Shanzhi and Murong Zhaoling,

had, surprisingly and for the first time, not lost her temper with Chen Shanzhi when they met today, and had not even uttered a single sarcastic remark.

Because she knew in her heart that she could no longer live without this man.

In the face of absolute loss, her pathetic bit of pride was not worth mentioning at all.

And at this very moment, all the worry, terror, and grievance that had accumulated in the depths of Ouyang Wanqing's heart,

in these short ten breaths, at the moment when their bodies and Souls completely merged, all disappeared.

They vanished completely, without leaving a single trace.