Xie Fangzhu forced himself to turn his face away, gritting his teeth as he said:
“Shen Yingying, have some shame! Don’t use such vulgar tactics!”
“You’re my man, how is this vulgar?!”
Shen Yingying retorted through clenched teeth, holding tightly to his waist, refusing to let him shake her off.
“I’ve already stooped to such shameless levels, yet you won’t even look at me. Is it my problem or yours?!”
Her face buried in his chest, her questioning voice was filled with despair and bitterness, as if she had been deeply hurt by him.
But in reality, Shen Yingying was on the verge of exploding!
The intense acting she had just performed had drained her energy. Just as she thought Xie Gouzi was wavering and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly went crazy again. It was infuriating.
She had never encountered a man so difficult to coax!
She, a pure and innocent young woman, didn’t even mind sleeping with him, yet he was still making a fuss!
Was he even a man?!
She gritted her teeth inwardly, thinking, I’ll give it my all, one last push.
She raised her face, stood on her tiptoes, hooked her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and pressed her lips against his—the entire movement executed in one fluid motion.
Xie Fangzhu was startled once again. The soft, cool sensation on his lips felt like an electric current, tingling and numbing, instantly spreading throughout his body. His blood surged in response, as if something inside him was about to explode.
His last shred of reason forced him to push Shen Yingying away, but the places his hands touched were delicate and soft, burning him so intensely that he immediately withdrew them.
Glancing down in confusion, he felt as if struck by lightning.
He grabbed Shen Yingying’s shoulders fiercely, forcibly pushing her away, and stared intently at her flushed, radiant face.
The tightly strung string in his mind snapped with a sharp “crack.” His eyes turned bloodshot, and the last trace of his rationality was completely swallowed.
He abruptly seized her waist, pulling her into his embrace with such force that it seemed he wanted to embed her into his very body.
“Shen Yingying, you’re really something…”
His voice was low, each word carrying unwillingness and a helpless anger akin to defeat.
“This is your own choice. If you dare leave me, if you dare deceive me in the future, I’ll…”
“First, I’ll break your legs, then your arms, making you stay by my side forever to suffer, making you endure a hundred, a thousand times more pain than this choice! You’ll never be able to escape!”
“Shen Yingying, do you understand?”
Shen Yingying couldn’t help but shiver.
In the original book, he had only broken the original female lead’s legs.
But now, his threat wasn’t limited to her legs—he even mentioned breaking her arms. He was simply inhuman!
Moreover, she had clearly said earlier: “If my body is pure, then we’ll divorce.” How did it turn into not allowing her to leave him?
Taking advantage of her weakness and inability to resist, he had subtly shifted the focus.
Truly worthy of being the cunning and treacherous villain in the book—so deceitful!
But now, with the arrow already on the bowstring, Shen Yingying, who had finally secured a slim chance of survival for her legs, didn’t dare utter a single word of refusal.
She could only nestle meekly in his embrace, enduring his domineering force that seemed almost strong enough to crush her bones.
With tears welling in her eyes, she spoke the insincere answer:
“I understand. You’re my man. Even if I die, I’ll die by your side.”
As she finished speaking, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
In matters of love, she had never been so humbled before. Never had she imagined she would fall into the hands of a mere fictional character from a book.Fortunately, although Xie Fangzhu was crazy, his looks were still top-notch, so it wasn’t a loss.
At the same time, she calculated in her heart that given this man’s madness, if she ever had the chance to escape in the future, she’d have to run far, far away. Otherwise, if she were caught, her fate as someone who played with feelings would likely be even worse than the original owner’s.
Where should she escape to?
Somewhere far away.
The westernmost X Province?
Or the northernmost H Province?
Nowhere felt safe. Maybe she should just flee the country altogether.
Lost in her wild thoughts, Xie Fangzhu suddenly scooped her up in his arms and pulled down the mosquito net by the bed with his other hand.
The next moment, a storm of kisses rained down on her.
Shen Yingying couldn’t resist, and soon she was dazed and disoriented.
Suddenly, she remembered the enthusiastic crowd outside the door.
In the original book, those enthusiastic onlookers had waited until the original owner’s legs were broken before leaving satisfied.
Today, her legs hadn’t been broken yet—did that mean those people were still lurking outside?
Shen Yingying: “…”
Oh no, was the soundproofing in this house any good…?
Meanwhile, outside the door.
A large crowd had gathered, listening to the commotion inside. They exchanged glances, their expressions too complicated to describe.
When they first pressed their ears to the door, the sounds inside were still normal.
That woman had clearly crossed Xiao Xie’s bottom line, and Xiao Xie had erupted. Shen Yingying was crying and begging for mercy.
But as time went on, things took a strange turn.
From Shen Yingying’s words, it seemed that even after nearly two years of marriage, they still hadn’t slept together.
Hearing this, the people outside couldn’t help but feel even more sympathy for Xie Fangzhu.
Xiao Xie, that honest man, had truly been bullied to the extreme by Shen Yingying.
He married her, provided for her, gave her good food and drink, and yet he hadn’t even slept with her.
Then they heard Shen Yingying claim she was pure, that she hadn’t slept with anyone, and that she hadn’t eloped with that outsider.
Everyone thought to themselves, this woman really had no shame, making up such lies.
With the way she flirted around, how could she possibly be pure?
As for eloping, everyone in the mining area had seen it clearly.
She and that outsider were sneaking around all the time. What decent woman would act like that? Even if the emperor himself came, she was still eloping!
Everyone understood this clearly—surely Xiao Xie wouldn’t be fooled, right?
Then, their voices suddenly grew softer. Unable to hear clearly, the crowd outside scratched their heads in confusion, wondering why Xie Fangzhu hadn’t taken action yet. But then, intermittent and unmistakable sounds began to drift from inside.
Instantly, everyone froze, looking at each other, their faces flushing red in unison.
One mother who had brought her child to watch the excitement quickly covered her child’s ears and hurriedly pulled them away, afraid the child might hear something inappropriate.
Some of the older folks, their weathered faces full of embarrassment, tapped their canons on the ground in frustration. “That foolish Xiao Xie!”
There were too many people. Although some still wanted to keep listening, they felt too embarrassed and stepped back a few paces, standing awkwardly by the door and whispering among themselves.
“Xiao Xie usually seems quite clever and efficient. How does he become so foolish in front of Shen Yingying?”
“Look at Shen Yingying’s face, her figure, and the way she cries and whimpers. What man wouldn’t turn foolish in front of her?”
One man couldn’t help but speak his mind—he had heard Shen Yingying’s heart-wrenching sobs earlier.Although reason urged him to support Xie Fangzhu in striking quickly.
Hearing Shen Yingying’s voice and imagining her crying like that in front of him, he couldn’t bear it either.
Forget about hitting her—even if she asked him to offer his heart, he would be willing.