In the seventh year of Jingnan, the first chill of winter arrived, and the imperial palace was covered by the first snow.
The clamor of the day had faded. Moonlight enveloped the grand hall, red lanterns burned brightly, and the faint sound of hurried footsteps crunched on the snow.
Several eunuchs, carrying a person, cautiously made their way forward.
“We’re almost there. There are fewer people at His Majesty’s bedchamber today. We’ll put her down and leave quickly. We absolutely cannot be discovered by His Majesty,” the eunuch Xiao Huazi said, fraught with worry.
The figure on his back was slender and petite. On this cold night, she was dressed only in a light black gauze robe. Her dangling wrist, illuminated by the moonlight, appeared fair and lustrous. The coarse hemp rope left a striking red mark on it, creating a sense of decadent, beautiful cruelty.
No one noticed the slight tremble of her dangling fingertips.
Wen Qitian frowned, feeling an unbearable cold all over her body, accompanied by sharp, stabbing pains from her wrist.
The moment she opened her eyes, a flash of panic crossed her almond-shaped eyes.
Flickering lights were embedded in the vermilion walls, illuminating the stone path beneath her feet. The scenery in the distance was hazy, with towering walls and roofs adorned with coiling dragons and perching phoenixes, all exuding a majestic aura.
The Wen family was one of the most prominent and influential families in B City, and they had never fallen behind in business. The old master of the family had a particular fondness for ancient-style architecture and had specially built their ancestral home in the style of a traditional courtyard house. However, she was certain that not even her grandfather’s estate was this magnificent.
Before she could collect her thoughts, a sharp reprimand came from a distance:
“You over there! What are you doing, skulking about?”
She clearly felt the person beneath her jolt and hurriedly say:
“Ah, Commander Wei, we were just…”
The eunuch Xiao Huazi tried to find an excuse, but he was facing Wei Chang. A single glance from Wei Chang nearly made him wet himself in fear.
Wei Chang was one of the commanders of the Imperial Guard, usually at His Majesty’s side, awaiting orders. If His Majesty told him to execute someone by a thousand cuts, he would absolutely add a few extra slices without a second thought.
He was, quite simply, a living nightmare.
Xiao Huazi and the others were only doing this because they had been threatened. They were cowards at heart. The moment they were discovered, his mouth moved faster than his brain. Ignoring the warning looks from the other eunuchs, he spilled everything.
“His Majesty is usually busy with state affairs and has recently been worried about Su Daren. Yongwen Hou wished to share His Majesty’s burden, so he entrusted us servants to deliver a gift to Nanli Palace. If… if His Majesty will not see her, we will take her back right away.”
It was common knowledge that the emperor of their Jingnan Kingdom was tyrannical and unpredictable, liable to draw his blade and slit someone’s throat at any moment. In this world, the only person who had offended His Majesty and was still alive was probably the Imperial Tutor, Su Daren.
Su Daren had tutored three generations of emperors and was highly respected in the court. Ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, he had been quite critical of His Majesty’s cruel methods.
After years of forbearance, His Majesty finally cast aside all scruples. Yesterday morning, he had punished the Imperial Tutor by sending him to Jiangnan, forbidding him from returning to the capital without a decree.
The person on Xiao Huazi’s back was the legitimate daughter of the Yongwen Hou Manor, Wen Qitian, who was also the Imperial Tutor’s maternal granddaughter.
His Majesty had a bizarre temperament. Yongwen Hou worried that His Majesty would vent his anger over the Su Daren affair on the Yongwen Hou Manor. With the determination of a final, desperate gamble, he had ordered them to send Miss Wen into the palace.
Of course, the Emperor had not taken a consort in all these years. The women sent to him either ended up as maids or as living targets. If Miss Wen could catch His Majesty’s eye and His Majesty was pleased with killing her, the Wen Manor might live a few more days.
There were a few days each month when His Majesty’s bedchamber was left unguarded. Xiao Huazi never expected to be caught red-handed by Wei Chang. In an instant, he was drenched in a cold sweat despite the winter chill.
Wei Chang’s face was stern, his rigid eyes mechanically falling on the person behind Xiao Huazi. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before slowly speaking, “Go in.”
His Majesty was in a bad mood today. Sending a head in was better than His Majesty taking it out on him.
Wei Chang’s gaze fell on the person behind Xiao Huazi.
Rumor had it that the Wen family’s young lady was arrogant and domineering, but her looks were said to be impeccable. She had a palm-sized face with delicate and charming features. Her eyes, in particular, were like sparkling starlight—bright and beautiful. His Majesty would surely like them.
Feeling his gaze on her as if he were looking at a dead person, Wen Qitian hid the astonishment in her heart and put on a panicked expression. As the pampered young lady of the Wen family, she knew that even if she were kidnapped, someone would come to rescue her.
But now, things seemed different.
She bit her lip, her hands behind her back secretly straining to untie the ropes.
She didn’t know how this rope was tied; it seemed to be a dead knot. It would take some time to undo.
But time waited for no one. Xiao Huazi brought her to a palace hall.
The bedchamber was resplendent and magnificent, exuding an air of luxury everywhere. Pale green night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the walls. Incense smoke curled up from a censer on the desk, and the faint scent of ambergris permeated the air.
Wen Qitian’s body suddenly felt light as her perspective shifted. Xiao Huazi had tossed her onto a large, soft bed.
“Miss Wen, for the sake of the Wen Manor, you’d best not think of struggling. This servant was also forced. As for you… as long as you can catch His Majesty’s eye, your life will be spared.”
Though he said that, everyone knew that being sent to His Majesty meant you were doomed to not see the next day.
The Emperor was a tyrant, and ordinary people wouldn’t dare to pull any tricks under his nose. Xiao Huazi had no parents and had depended on his younger sister since childhood. He later entered the palace as a eunuch to support her. Now, his sister was in someone else’s hands, and he had no choice but to aid the evil.
Speaking of which, this Miss Wen was also a pitiful person. As the legitimate daughter of the Wen family, she should have married a prince or a young nobleman and had a bright future, yet she was to be ruined here.
But so what? Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost. For his sister’s sake, he could only sacrifice others.
After Xiao Huazi left, the surroundings fell into a terrifying silence…
Wen Qitian curled up on the bed, not daring to move. Her dark eyes were misty as she frantically scanned her surroundings, trying to find anything familiar.
Unfortunately, there was nothing.
In the dead of winter, even the heating had been replaced by a dilong. Wen Qitian belatedly realized she might have arrived in some strange, ancient era.
Several lamps made of some unknown material hung on the walls, casting a ghastly white light. The bed beneath her was soft, large enough for seven or eight people. The golden pattern embroidered on the quilt depicted a majestic body with five sharp claws and deer-like antlers on its head.
It was a dragon…
Clank, clank, clank…
Just as she was thinking, a strange mechanical sound came from behind the screen at the head of the bed, followed by the sense of something approaching.
Someone was here?
Wen Qitian’s hair stood on end in fright. Her hands fumbled frantically, trying to untie the rope. Even if she managed to free herself, she might not be a match for anyone here, but at least it would give her a small sense of security.
The towering figure behind the screen drew closer and closer. He seemed to be in a bad state; his steps were messy and agitated, and he stumbled along the way. His breathing was heavy, as if he were enduring something.
Finally, he stepped past the screen. His beast-like gaze fell upon the bed, which was empty.
Under the bed, Wen Qitian silently puffed out her cheeks to blow away the dust, her clear, beautiful eyes filled with lingering fear.
The fiery pain in her knee made her curl up into a ball under the bed in grievance, but she couldn’t be bothered with that. She quietly perked up her ears, trying to listen to the movements outside.
The sound of footsteps in the room had ceased at some point, and the air grew strangely silent.
Wen Qitian immediately sensed that something was wrong, but it was too late.
Through the bed planks, a pair of well-defined hands reached in. Like a ghost’s hand ambushing in the dark, it dragged her out.
Her skin scraped against the floor, a searing pain. As her vision filled with light, the air was thick with moisture. In a daze, her neck was seized in a death grip. A bloodcurdling, cold laugh, filled with endless killing intent, echoed in the room. “So, you’re here.”
The man’s voice was clearly pleasant, yet his tone was gloomy and grim, like a demon crawling out of hell. A face with an extremely powerful impact came into view.
This man was so fierce. It wasn’t that he was ugly; his features were utterly perfect. His brows were like sharp swords, his eyes like a hawk’s, and the bridge of his nose was like a distant mountain. There was almost no flaw. But when combined, along with his aura, they created the very picture of an abusive face.
He was tall and seemed to have just bathed. A black sleeping robe enveloped his robust and vigorous physique. His long, inky hair was unbound, cascading down his back and dripping with water. A few drops trickled down his neck and into the hollow of his collarbone…
It should have been a heart-fluttering scene, but Wen Qitian wished she could burrow into the ground, because this man looked like he could take on ten of her.
His temper must be explosive.
What’s more, he was gripping her neck and could snap it at any moment.
“Don’t kill me.”
Wen Qitian’s eyes instantly turned red, and tears streamed down her face as if they were free.
The soft sobs replaced the clamor in the man’s mind. His ferocious aura paused. His beast-like eyes narrowed as he carefully sized up the audacious little thing who dared to sneak into his bedchamber.
The young girl was about sixteen, fair and tender as if kneaded from a small dough ball. Her large eyes were starkly black and white, but their corners were red and brimming with tears, like a frightened rabbit.
She looked very easy to bully.
The man’s tongue pressed against his canine tooth, malice overflowing from his eyes. Just as he was about to make a move, the rope fell to the floor, and a pair of soft, small hands climbed onto his firm, powerful wrist.
It turned out she had untied the rope behind her back at some point.
His movements paused, and his killing intent surged.
He had almost been deceived by this little thing. She was actually trying to seduce him?
Over the years, even his brutal methods couldn’t stop these women from their wishful thinking.
Their tactics were all the same, just like what he had witnessed in his childhood. They liked to use their bodies to trade for things that didn’t belong to them. On the surface, they were pitiful and helpless, but behind the scenes, they framed each other. Anything could become their murder weapon—it could be a dry well in the cold palace, a pile of pure white snow, or… beauty.
The soft, warm touch on his sturdy forearm made a vein throb on the man’s forehead. He tensed his hand, about to snap her neck, but unexpectedly, a gust of wind came from in front of him.
Smack—
A palm swept across his cheek. The sudden attack directly stunned Nan Leli.
His fierce expression froze, and his hand restraining her also loosened.
Nan Leli’s originally tyrannical eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.
He had just been slapped by a little thing?
Courting death!
After hitting him, Wen Qitian’s arm tingled from the impact. At the same time, she sensed the killing intent erupting from the man. She quickly dodged to the side, trembling. Her large eyes were full of innocence, as if she wasn’t the one who had just thrown the slap.
Wen Qitian stared unblinkingly at the man’s increasingly ferocious expression and said in a small voice, “Don’t come over here. I didn’t mean it.”
Sob, she really didn’t mean to do it unintentionally. She did it on purpose. Who told him to choke her?
In this strange world, Wen Qitian was scared, but having been pampered her whole life, she naturally wouldn’t let anyone bully her.
In other words, even if she hadn’t hit him, he wouldn’t have treated her well anyway.
If she was to die here one day, she would have to bite off a piece of his flesh before she died.
Therefore, Wen Qitian tensed her back and curled up, her tear-filled eyes bright and spirited, making Nan Leli’s teeth itch with anger.
She was the one who hit him, so what was she feeling aggrieved about?
Nan Leli had been suffering from splitting headaches and was not in a good state of mind for the past few days. Now, with his anger flaring up, he had forgotten all about that. His tall figure loomed before the bed like a high mountain.
His aura was savage. His devastatingly handsome face was slightly red from the slap, the lines of his features taut. He clenched his jaw, his sharp, hawk-like eyes staring at her fixedly.
The illusion of being stared at by a demon from hell arose spontaneously. Wen Qitian bit her lip, her small hands behind her back itching to move.
The Wen family’s domain was vast, and many people had once dreamed of kidnapping her to threaten the family. Her father, worried she would be bullied, had also made her practice anti-pervert techniques. If he dared to come at her, she would…
Kick him to bits!
Her eyelashes lowered, concealing the strange glint in her eyes.
However, the expected demonic claw did not grab her. The tall, dark figure slid down beside the bed with a thud.
The man’s sleeping robe spread on the floor like splashed ink. He propped himself up with one hand, while the other stubbornly clutched her gauze skirt, the veins on the back of his hand taut. His gaze, fixed on Wen Qitian, was about to spit fire.
【Went… went limp.】
Wen Qitian’s eyes suddenly widened.
Who went limp?
[Author’s Note]
Tyrant: “My first meeting with my wife was just so… sour and limp.”
Please add to your collection! The male lead in this new novel is the type who is super fierce to outsiders but a whiny, fierce puppy to his love interest. The female lead is a black-sesame-filled tangyuan. If you like sweet stories where they bicker and flirt, don’t miss out~