“It was merely a trivial effort, hardly worth mentioning. Could it be that the Crown Prince even bothers with such trifling matters?”
Having had her mood spoiled during the meal earlier and now caught in the rain, Lin Zhaoyue was in a foul temper, her words laced with barbs.
“It hasn’t been long since we last met, yet your temper seems to have grown.”
“My temper has grown? Everyone in the capital knows that the second young lady of the Guogong Mansion is the most arrogant and willful.”
It was only in front of him that she had sheathed her thorns, devoting herself wholeheartedly to him. Yet in her past life, he had made her a laughingstock.
Her eyes turning cold, Lin Zhaoyue glanced around and noticed the Crown Prince’s exclusive carriage parked not far away, with no sign of Liu Yiyi in sight.
As if reading her thoughts, Xiao Yan said:
“I had someone escort her back. Come, this humble one will see you home.”
Leaving his beloved aside to escort her?
She didn’t believe Xiao Yan could be so kind-hearted and wondered what sinister scheme he was plotting now.
With her feet soaked, all she wanted was to return to the mansion quickly, wash up, and sleep, having no patience to deal with him:
“Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but it’s unnecessary.”
With that, Lin Zhaoyue lifted the hem of her skirt and dashed into the rain. The Guogong Mansion wasn’t far from here; it had only taken her the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to walk here.
She hadn’t run more than a few steps when her wrist was suddenly seized, and a smooth bamboo handle was forcibly pressed into her palm.
Just as Lin Zhaoyue was about to throw it away, the man’s calm yet threatening voice reached her ears:
“If this humble one’s umbrella falls to the ground, this humble one will pay Duke Lin a visit for tea tonight. I imagine he hasn’t retired for the night at this hour.”
Lin Zhaoyue gritted her teeth. Before she could speak, her waist was encircled, and she was lifted horizontally into his arms.
Instantly, Lin Zhaoyue bristled like a cat, struggling fiercely in his embrace.
Kicking, pulling, rolling, and hitting—she employed every tactic.
“Xiao Yan, put me down.”
Since she had begun practicing swordsmanship, her strength had increased significantly.
However, compared to Xiao Yan, who had trained in martial arts since childhood, her struggles were nothing more than an itch.
His large hands held her steadily.
While Xiao Yan could largely restrain her from thrashing about, he couldn’t control her head and feet.
Thus, the person in his arms wriggled like an eel, her head and feet constantly squirming beyond the umbrella’s shelter, getting drenched by the rain.
Her exquisite embroidered shoes were completely soaked, and half of her beautiful hair was drenched as well.
Xiao Yan’s eyes darkened slightly as he said coldly:
“If you keep moving, this humble one will have you carried to the Eastern Palace tonight.”
At these words, the person in his arms ceased all struggle.
Lin Zhaoyue stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide with shock.
Spending the night unmarried at a man’s residence—by morning, she would be drowned in scornful gossip, and it would tarnish the reputations of her sisters and the women of her clan.
This madman…
“Xiao Yan, what else can you do besides threaten me? Didn’t you say that what doesn’t belong to me shouldn’t be coveted? Then what are you doing now?”
She glared at him, her eyes blazing with a fury that seemed capable of stripping him to the bone.
Xiao Yan lowered his gaze, indifferent to her anger, and said lightly:
“When Miss Lin used to pester this humble one, these words were repeated countless times. Why didn’t you listen then, yet now you’re so obedient?”
Back then, she had been foolish, believing that with enough effort, she could warm his heart. But a person’s heart is so small; with someone else already occupying his, how could there be room for her?
Lin Zhaoyue pressed her lips tightly together, remaining silent. Only the constant rise and fall of her chest revealed the immense anger she was suppressing.
Her pale face flushed crimson from the effort.
Xiao Yan found her appearance quite amusing, his dark eyes unconsciously tinged with a hint of laughter, the corners of his eyes lifting upward.
All the unease that had plagued him throughout the day dissipated at this moment.
She remained quietly in his embrace, light as a kitten.
Inside the carriage, two lanterns cast a dim glow of three feet.
Placing her on the soft cushion, he looked at the girl who had turned her head away from him, her half-damp hair accentuating her slight dishevelment.
This pearl raised with pampering by Duke Lin—Xiao Yan knew just how delicate her constitution truly was.
If her hair wasn’t dried, she would surely catch a chill by tomorrow morning.
Xiao Yan took out a clean handkerchief, intending to dry her hair, but forgot that an enraged kitten cannot be touched.
Just as he wrapped the handkerchief around her damp hair, Lin Zhaoyue abruptly turned her head, opened her mouth, and fiercely bit his hand.
She used all her strength, her sharp canine teeth piercing skin and flesh, crimson blood flowing from his jade-white hand.
Lin Zhaoyue tasted the full mouthful of salty blood.
Xiao Yan had encountered various assassinations and schemes since childhood, suffering injuries of all sizes. Lin Zhaoyue’s bite, while somewhat painful to him, felt more like itching.
That itch Xiao Yan couldn’t quite describe.
He only felt his skin enveloped by the warm, moist softness inside her mouth, both itchy and tingling, unbearably tempting him to do more.
Xiao Yan stared at Lin Zhaoyue’s dark hair, his black eyes swirling with undercurrents, discreetly pushing his index finger deeper into her mouth, accidentally touching her moist, slippery, pink tongue.
A tingling sensation spread from his fingertip to his heart, his entire body’s blood beginning to boil and burn, something threatening to burst uncontrollably from within.
The man’s Adam’s apple visibly slid, his phoenix eyes deep and profound.
He knew his desire had been stirred by her once again.
Feeling that index finger slide over her tongue tip, Lin Zhaoyue instantly stiffened all over.
She had been his wife in her previous life, so she knew about matters between men and women.
Lin Zhaoyue angrily spat out the hand she had bitten bloody, furiously cursing:
“Madman, pervert.”
She was so furious she gasped for breath, grabbing the bamboo scroll on the table and hurling it at him.
Xiao Yan caught it with his hand, eyebrows slightly raised:
“Do you know that for this behavior, this humble one could charge you with grave disrespect?”
“Charge me then! You madman, pervert…”
He’d best charge her to death, otherwise she would repay today’s humiliation manifold in the future.
Even cursing she couldn’t do properly, just repeating those few phrases over and over.
How had he never noticed before that her angry appearance was so vivid?
Xiao Yan grew interested, deliberately teasing her.
He intentionally lifted the hand she had bitten, skin broken and bleeding:
“You bit this humble one, yet this humble one isn’t angry. Why are you upset?”
Lin Zhaoyue had truly bitten hard; aside from the canine teeth marks, the other bitten areas were bleeding.
That blood gathered into a stream, flowing from his jade-white, slender hand to his fingertips, dripping onto the expensive Persian carpet.
The man paid little heed, seemingly oblivious to the pain.
“Clearly it was you…”
“Hmm? How was this humble one?”
Lin Zhaoyue couldn’t say it out loud, only angrily cursing:
“Madman, pervert…”
The carriage stopped before the Guogong Mansion. Lin Zhaoyue directly lifted her skirt hem, descended from the carriage, and rushed into the rain, not even glancing at him.
Without a bow or thanks, Xiao Yan watched her retreating figure.
Whether it was Xiao Yan’s lingering desire from the carriage or something else, he dreamt that same night.
In the dream, he pinned her against the window, on a rainy night just like this.
He dismissed all the servants, enveloping her delicate frame in his embrace, withdrawing his hand and bringing it to her lips, his fingertips glistening faintly:
She naturally refused, tears streaming down her face, pitiful and vulnerable:
“Darling, I don’t want to eat…”
“Zhaozhao, be good…”
The dream was utterly absurd. When Xiao Yan awoke, he found the silk quilt in his arms crumpled into a ball, tinged with a faint, pungent scent.
His eyes bloodshot, those dark pupils involuntarily darkened.
Truly bewitched!
Xiao Yan had someone replace the quilt, washed up, and then lay down again.
In the latter half of the night, Xiao Yan still dreamt of Lin Zhaoyue, but the scene had changed.
Wu Men Jie.
She wore the Empress’s regalia, a phoenix crown upon her head, standing amidst a sea of blood, severed heads rolling to her feet.
Lin Zhaoyue’s beautiful eyes were shrouded in a crimson haze, gazing at him with despair and hatred, her words dripping like blood:
“Xiao Yan, Liu Yiyi, are you satisfied now! The Lin Residence’s one hundred and ten lives, all slaughtered by you—I, Lin Zhaoyue, even as a ghost, will never let you go…”
The dream was too vivid. Xiao Yan awoke sweating profusely, his head throbbing painfully, momentarily unable to discern whether it was something that had truly happened or merely a dream.