Gu Changze swallowed Xie Yao’s muffled whimpers, his cool fingertips brushing over the faint bite mark on her neck. He looked down in the dim night light, as if he were truly, earnestly “inspecting” it.
Forced to tilt her head back, her jet-black hair spilled out behind her, contrasting sharply with her snow-white skin. His touch swept across her warm, soft body like a sudden breeze.
From the heat and unbearable desire, Xie Yao’s skin was flushed a pale, delicate pink. Her fair fingertips dug into his broad back, her voice tinged with a slight rasp. “Your Highness… Your Highness…”
“Mm…” His responses came wrapped in kisses that fell both lightly and heavily against her body. Even though he could clearly feel the dazed blur in her eyes and see how completely soft and helpless she had turned, he deliberately tormented her by taking his time.
The heat spreading through her body began to consume her consciousness, rendering even his kisses increasingly scorching; only by clinging to him could she draw a trace of coolness to soothe her burning desire.
And so, wrapping her arms around Gu Changze’s neck, she arched her body and pressed herself into his chest. Her gentle, clear eyes were now clouded with passion as she softly called out his name.
A flush of red tinged the corners of Gu Changze’s eyes from his self-restraint, and a light sheen of sweat dripped from his brow. Feeling the warm, soft girl clinging to his chest, his entire frame tightened, his voice turning completely raspy. “What is it?”
Xie Yao bit her lip, her face entirely crimson. “You can… be heavier.”
“What counts as heavier?” Holding her slender waist in his hands, he moved with frustrating lightness.
The heat burning in Xie Yao’s chest intensified with his actions, her face flushing crimson as she remained silent.
Gu Changze clamped his hand around her waist and leaned over her.
“Is this considered heavy? Or… this?”
The bed curtains swayed violently with his movements. Flecks of tears from pleasure gathered at the corners of Xie Yao’s eyes, and she heard him laugh softly.
“A-Yao always loves to hold back the truth. Now I truly don’t know what counts as heavy.”
As the last word fell, Xie Yao let out a whimpering gasp, her body going completely limp like water in his embrace.
On the morning of the fourth day, Xie Yao finally managed to drag herself out of bed.
Today was the day to visit her maiden home. After breakfast, she sat before the bronze mirror to do her hair and makeup, and the red marks scattered across her snow-white neck caught her eye immediately.
Under the guise of “inspecting” her last night, he had tormented her for half the night. In the end, new hickeys were added right over the bite mark that had only just begun to heal after applying medicine—making them stand out as remarkably conspicuous today.
Xie Yao looked back over her shoulder at Gu Changze, who sat nearby neatly and impeccably dressed, waiting for her. He had clearly promised last night that he would pick a different spot.
“What is it?” The moment she looked over, Gu Changze raised his head, a faint, subtle trace of amusement flickering in his eyes.
Xie Yao pressed her lips together and remained silent. How on earth had she ever thought Gu Changze was gentle, refined, and possessed the chivalrous air of a true gentleman? This man was black-hearted to the core.
Seeing the faint flush on her cheeks, Gu Changze could guess what was on her mind. With a soft chuckle, he rose. “Come. It’s time for the return visit.”
By the time they returned from the Eastern Palace to Prince Xie’s Manor, the hour of Chen had already passed.
Steward Hong had been waiting outside the gates for some time. The moment he spotted Xie Yao, he hurried forward to greet them. “This servant respectfully welcomes the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.”
Although no elder family members remained in the manor, they still had to observe the customary rites. After entering the residence, Xie Yao and Gu Changze first paid their respects before the spirit tablets of Prince Xie and his consort. They then met several clan elders who had come on behalf of the family branch, spending some time exchanging pleasantries and laughter.
Not many people had come for her return visit. Strictly speaking, her only close senior relatives were her uncle and Xie Yan. Most of the other clan uncles were there because Xie Yan now held status and influence, and they were eager to curry favor with her.
Xie Yao courteously saw them off. Just as she turned to instruct Steward Hong to prepare lunch, she noticed him approaching with a tense expression. Lowering his voice, he said, “Young Master Xiao has come. He wishes to see you.”
Xie Yao paused for a moment, then shook her head. “No. Send him away.”
“He insists on seeing you. Says there are some things he’d like to explain. This servant didn’t mean to trouble you, but Young Master Xiao has been standing outside the gate the entire time. Today is the day of your return visit, and everyone outside knows it. If he stays there any longer…”
Once word got out, who knew what kind of rumors and gossip would start spreading.
Knowing Xiao Min’s temperament all too well, Xie Yao frowned and glanced toward the courtyard.
Gu Changze was still standing in the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back, waiting for her to return. After weighing her options for a moment, Xie Yao lowered her voice and said to Steward Hong, “Go inform His Highness that I’ll be back shortly.”
She left the courtyard, and by the time she reached the front hall, Xiao Min was already waiting there.
Stopping at the entrance, Xie Yao kept a deliberate distance between them and asked softly, “What is it?”
“You don’t have to be so wary of me, A-Yao. I came today to apologize.”
Dressed in black, Xiao Min appeared far calmer than he had during their previous encounter. Yet when his gaze fell on Xie Yao’s bright bridal attire and the coiffure of a married woman, a flicker of pain crossed his eyes.
“On the day of your wedding, I was drunk and spoke out of turn. I caused you no small amount of trouble.”
Xie Yao quickly shook her head. “Just be more careful in the future. Our circumstances are different now, and some things should and shouldn’t be said. You understand that better than I do.”
The Empress Dowager’s probing and the Noble Consort’s mockery had been disasters she suffered through no fault of her own. But Xie Yao had no desire to continue entangling herself with Xiao Min over such matters. Having said her piece, she turned to leave.
“A-Yao.” Xiao Min called after her at once. “I came today because I want to explain what happened with the broken engagement.”
Xie Yao halted in her tracks.
“You should know that I was unconscious for many days. I didn’t wake up until the day before your wedding. I knew nothing about the dissolution of our engagement. My father sent the annulment letter, and my mother helped push the matter along. Knowing how stubborn you are, I knew you would never have endured such humiliation from them. The broken engagement was my fault. Because of it, you became the subject of public gossip, and now you’ve been married off to a man you don’t even love. For all of that, I owe you an apology.”
Xiao Min had always been proud and unyielding. Even when they grew up together as childhood sweethearts, Xie Yao had never seen him speak so humbly to anyone. Looking at his subdued expression, she let out a quiet sigh.
“What’s the point of saying these things now?”
The truth was that the broken engagement had not been caused entirely by the humiliation inflicted by Chancellor Xiao and Madam Xiao. Unfortunately, Xiao Min did not understand that.
Xie Yao knew that Xiao Min had been unconscious for a long time. Although no one had ever told her the full story, she had pieced together a rough idea of what had happened. Seeing that he had only recently recovered from a serious illness and had come all this way, stubbornly seeking an answer, she pressed her lips together slightly and softened her tone.
“You should go back. As for the broken engagement… perhaps it was destined from the start.
“When our marriage was arranged after my coming-of-age ceremony, it was merely an offhand remark made by my father and your father over drinks. Perhaps we simply lacked the fate for it. If it hadn’t fallen apart this time, it would have happened another time.”
At her words, Xiao Min’s eyes reddened. For a moment, he seemed to want to step forward and say something. With effort, he suppressed the emotions surging in his heart and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“No matter what, the fault lies with me, A-Yao. I know that ever since Uncle passed away, you’ve been carrying a heavy burden and haven’t been sleeping well. So I went to the temple myself and got some of the finest sleep-inducing incense. The medicinal ingredients were infused into these beads. Please accept it as a small token of my sincerity. After all, even if we’re no longer betrothed, we’ve known each other since childhood. I can still be considered an elder brother to you.”
As he spoke, Xiao Min stepped forward. Before Xie Yao could react, he placed a strand of prayer beads into her palm. Lowering her gaze, she realized it was the matching bead bracelet they had woven together the previous year when their engagement had been formalized.
She immediately held it back out to him. “I can’t accept this.”
Xiao Min let out a bitter laugh at her response. “Back then, it was a token of our engagement. Now you’ve married someone else. I thought it inappropriate for me to keep it. It’s better to leave it with you instead. Whether you keep it or throw it away, you may do as you wish.”
Xie Yao still shook her head and offered it back. But Xiao Min refused to take it. After a moment’s hesitation, he lowered his voice and said, “A-Yao, we’ve known each other for years. Whatever twists and turns there have been regarding our marriage, you should at least believe that I would never harm you.”
Not understanding why he was suddenly saying such things, Xie Yao looked up at him.
“Stay away from the Crown Prince. He is by no means a good match.” Xiao Min’s expression was utterly serious.
Xie Yao’s brows immediately knit together. “If this is what you came to tell me…”
“You know that after my mother returned from Huguo Temple, she developed a severe fever. When the physician examined her, he said she would scarcely be able to speak again for the rest of her life. My mother wrote it down on paper and told me that day she had gone to the lotus pond and that someone pushed her in.”
Xie Yao lifted her head instantly, staring at him in disbelief.
Pain and hatred flashed through Xiao Min’s eyes. “And my cousin as well. That night, after you returned from the temple, he tried to make things difficult for you atop the city wall. Later, he was found pierced through the collarbones and suspended from the wall.”
“There weren’t many people who knew that night he was making things difficult for you. Besides, he commanded the City Defense Army. Who do you think would dare lay a hand on him? And who else was at the temple with you that day and knew my mother would go to the lotus pond?”
The more Xiao Min spoke, the more agitated he became. By the end, he could barely control himself and had seized Xie Yao by the shoulders.
“And on the day your engagement was broken off, when the Empress summoned you to Fengyi Palace, she was clearly asking about the Third Prince and the Sixth Prince. Do you know why, less than an hour later, the imperial decree delivered to Prince Xie’s Manor bestowed a marriage to the Crown Prince?
“Because from the very beginning, it was Gu Changze…”
“A-Yao.” A gentle voice interrupted Xiao Min.
Xie Yao stiffened. Turning around, she saw Gu Changze walk in from outside at an unhurried pace until he stood beside her. Looking at Xiao Min, he smiled faintly and slipped an arm around Xie Yao’s slender waist, guiding her half a step back.
“If you wish to talk, then talk. Why is Young Master Xiao laying hands on my Crown Princess?”
The moment Gu Changze appeared, Xiao Min fixed him with a wary stare. Ever since awakening and learning what had happened to his mother and cousin, he had ordered an investigation.
The men under his command were quite capable, yet they had uncovered not the slightest clue. Xiao Min was intelligent. The Xiao family had not offended anyone, yet in both incidents, the same person’s shadow seemed to appear.
Madam Xiao and his cousin had indeed tried to make things difficult for Xie Yao, but Xiao Min did not believe she could be so ruthless. If it was not her, then it had to be someone else.
Xie Yao had already begun distancing herself from him because of what had happened before. Having known her for years, Xiao Min understood better than anyone that she responded to gentleness, not force. That was why he had deliberately taken a softer approach today. He first sought to win her sympathy, then intended to point out all the suspicious details and inconsistencies he had uncovered. He was not going to let A-Yao go. But first, he had to make her leave another man’s side.
“Young Master Xiao has been out for quite some time. You should head back early. Today, I accompanied the Crown Princess on her return visit. I’m afraid I don’t have the leisure to entertain you.”
Xie Yao kept her head lowered and said nothing.
Unable to read the expression in her eyes, Xiao Min let out a cold laugh and turned to Gu Changze. “I merely came to see A-Yao.”
“A-Yao is my Crown Princess. There is no need for Young Master Xiao to concern himself with her.”
“I’ve known A-Yao for many years. I daresay I understand her better than Your Highness does.”
“No matter how well you once knew her, you’re a stranger to her now. That can hardly compare to being her husband, able to care for her in every aspect of her daily life.” A trace of satisfaction colored Gu Changze’s voice.
As soon as the words fell, Xiao Min’s calm composure vanished. His hand clenched tightly inside his sleeve.
It was easy to imagine how deeply her husband’s words struck him.
Gu Changze smiled faintly. “Young Master Xiao, please see yourself out.”
Xie Yao still kept her head lowered.
With a sweep of his sleeve, Xiao Min turned and left.
Once only the two of them remained in the hall, a shadow of darkness flashed through Gu Changze’s eyes. The arm around Xie Yao’s waist tightened slightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me Xiao Min had come?”
“I thought it would only take a few words.” Xie Yao shook her head.
Seeing that she seemed preoccupied, Gu Changze smoothly changed the subject without drawing attention to it.
“Young Master Xiao doesn’t seem to have been in the best of spirits these past few days. Yesterday afternoon, I happened to see him at court. He left without even greeting me. I wonder whether he’s still resentful over our marriage and blames me for it.”
Xie Yao immediately snapped back to attention.
Xiao Min had always been stubborn and forceful. The fact that he had blocked their path on the day of the wedding was proof enough of how deeply he still obsessed over the matter. If he’d deliberately said those things merely to make her leave Gu Changze’s side, wasn’t that entirely possible as well? A seed of doubt remained in her heart, but she shook her head and said.
“That’s simply how he is. Please don’t take it to heart, Your Highness.”
“With A-Yao here, naturally I wouldn’t concern myself with such things. Still, after all this activity since our return, I began feeling a little dizzy while waiting for you in the corridor. It seems my health is truly too poor. Even now, I don’t think I’ve quite recovered.” As he spoke, Gu Changze raised a hand to massage his brow.
Hearing that he had waited so long for her in the midday sun, Xie Yao’s concern immediately surfaced. “The sun is strongest at noon. Your Highness should get some proper rest.”
“Then stay with me, A-Yao. Let’s go to the room that used to be yours.”
Worried about his health, Xie Yao quickly supported him and accompanied him to her old courtyard.
Gu Changze lay down on a daybed while Xie Yao remained by his side. His ink-black hair spread across her lap as he leaned against her legs, and she gently massaged his forehead.
After a while, Gu Changze spoke in a somewhat weakened voice. “A-Yao smells very fragrant. Are you wearing some kind of incense? The scent is making my head ache.”
Xie Yao glanced around, then took out the matching bracelet Xiao Min had given her earlier.
Without a change in expression, Gu Changze accepted it and coughed weakly twice. “The scent seems rather overpowering. Perhaps you should have a servant put it away for now?”
Concerned for his health, Xie Yao immediately nodded and set the bracelet aside.
Not long afterward, Gu Changze spoke again. “Won’t it tire you out, sitting like that? Why not lie down and rest with me?”
Xie Yao was still thinking about everything Xiao Min had said before leaving and instinctively tried to refuse.
“I’m fine sitting here…”
“But I miss you.” With a slight force, Gu Changze wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her onto the daybed beside him.
Xie Yao could only laugh helplessly. “I’m already sitting right beside Your Highness.”
“But I want you to stay with me.” He insisted.
Seeing his pale, frail complexion, Xie Yao’s heart softened. She gave up trying to refuse and lay down beside him on the daybed. She had only intended to keep him company while he rested, but after a busy half day, she ended up falling asleep first.
The room was quiet throughout the afternoon.
Having skipped lunch, neither of them ate. Steward Hong came once to call them for the meal, but seeing them asleep, he chose not to disturb them.
At a quarter past noon, listening to the steady rhythm of the person sleeping beside him, Gu Changze, who by all appearances should have been fast asleep himself, slowly opened his eyes. The weakness vanished from his gaze. His eyes were clear and utterly alert. Quietly, he pressed a kiss to Xie Yao’s forehead, then slipped off the daybed and took the matching bracelet she had set aside.
The Prince Xie Manor was calm and silent in the afternoon.
As Xiao Min stood outside, repeatedly glancing toward the manor, a sudden chilly gust swept past him. An icy blade shot through the air from afar, grazing his cheek by a hair’s breadth before embedding itself in the wall behind him.
Raising a hand to his face, Xiao Min wiped at the spot and found blood on his fingers.
A figure emerged from the manor opposite him. Refined as jade, elegant and noble, he looked every bit the cultivated young gentleman as he walked forward at an unhurried pace, a strand of beads dangling from his hand.
Xiao Min was not the least bit surprised to see Gu Changze. With a cold laugh, he wiped the blood from his cheek. “Your Highness has impressive skills. So you’ve finally stopped pretending?”
Gu Changze walked up to him. Holding the bracelet in his pale hand, he crushed the beads one by one before Xiao Min’s eyes, letting the fragments fall to the ground.
The blazing sun hung overhead.
He was still smiling, yet all the darkness and killing intent in his eyes spilled forth without restraint. “Xiao Min, if you utter even one more word of slander before my Crown Princess, today’s fate of these beads can just as easily become yours.”
Xiao Min let out a cold laugh, provoked by the warning. “Do you really dare kill me?”
“You can try me.” Casually, Gu Changze pulled the dagger from the wall. The blood staining its blade reflected the sinister, ruthless smile at the corner of his lips. “If my Crown Princess ever leaves my side, I will kill you first. And then every member of the Xiao family.”