“You dare lay a hand on me!”
Lu Jiaojiao shouted fiercely, though she was putting on a brave front. She tried to overpower him with sheer force of presence, but her wrist remained firmly trapped in his grasp, and the strength of his hold made her heart skip a beat.
Hearing this, Huo Shiran not only failed to get angry, but instead let out a low chuckle. A faint vibration traveled through his chest.
He bent closer, his nose nearly touching hers. Their heated breaths mingled as he spoke with a matter-of-fact roguishness, his tone carrying the unmistakable weight of a declaration.
“You are Lu Jiaojiao my Huo Shiran’s wife. Our marriage was bestowed by the Emperor, arranged through proper matchmakers and formal rites, and you were carried into my household in an eight-man bridal sedan chair as my lawful principal wife. Why wouldn’t I dare lay a hand on you?”
He pronounced every word with absolute clarity, as though stating an indisputable fact. His burning gaze remained fixed on her.
“Hmm?”
“Huo Shiran, you shameless bastard!”
Lu Jiaojiao was both embarrassed and furious. His words left her face burning red. Instinctively, her free hand slipped toward her sleeve
There was still one final “insurance policy” hidden inside.
But the moment her hand moved, Huo Shiran, as though he had anticipated it long ago, moved even faster.
The hand holding the silver hairpin lifted casually.
Between them, the sharp, blade-tipped end of the hairpin flashed coldly.
“Looking for this?”
He raised an eyebrow, his tone filled with unconcealed smugness and the knowing satisfaction of someone who had seen through everything—as if to say, I figured out all your little tricks a long time ago.
Lu Jiaojiao froze instantly.
The silver hairpin she had intended to use for “self-defense”—or perhaps even to fight back—was now securely in his hand, serving as evidence for him to tease her.
Every backup plan she had prepared seemed to have been effortlessly dismantled. A crushing sense of frustration washed over her, along with the humiliation and anger of realizing that he had completely outmaneuvered her.
“You!…”
Fuming, her chest rose and fell sharply. She glared at the handsome face before her, with its infuriating smile, but she couldn’t manage to form a complete sentence.
There was only disbelief—
—and a deep sense of indignation.
He had even noticed that!
When had he seen it?
Huo Shiran admired her vivid expression, a mixture of shock and fury, like an angry cat with all its fur standing on end. To him, it was far more interesting than any of the stiff, lifeless portraits of court ladies hanging in the palace.
He casually twirled the dangerous silver hairpin between his fingers with practiced ease.
“My lady,”
he drawled, amusement gleaming in his eyes, along with the satisfaction of a hunter who had caught his prey,
“On your wedding night, you brought such a ‘weapon’ with you. Were you planning to give your husband a little show of strength? Or were you intending to imitate those virtuous heroines of ancient times and defend your ‘purity’ unto death?”
With every sentence, he stepped closer.
Lu Jiaojiao was forced to lean farther and farther back, her slender waist bending into a breathtaking curve as her back nearly touched the cold wall.
“What a pity…”
he sighed.
His gaze slowly traveled from her face, flushed with embarrassment and indignation, to the slightly open collar of her robe, before returning to her eyelashes, which trembled faintly with nervousness.
His voice dropped even lower, carrying a deep, magnetic quality.
“But His Majesty bestowed this marriage upon us. You and I are already husband and wife. There’s no need for this little ‘show of strength’ anymore. And as for your ‘purity’…”
He deliberately paused.
Watching her body suddenly tense and panic flash through her eyes, the smile at the corner of his lips deepened.
“It’s lawful and proper. Perfectly justified.”
Before the last echoes of his words had faded, the arm around her waist suddenly tightened, pulling her sharply toward him.
Lu Jiaojiao felt an irresistible force seize her.
She lost her balance beneath her feet and cried out in surprise, her entire body falling uncontrollably into his solid embrace.
So thin…
That was the first thought that crossed Huo Shiran’s mind.
Her waist was slender and soft beneath his palm, as though the slightest pressure might break it. She was completely different from the “wild little girl” he remembered—the girl with slightly chubby cheeks who used to fight him with boundless energy.
The sudden realization, combined with the soft warmth of her body against his and her faint, delicate fragrance, was like a stone falling into a still lake.
Ripples spread through his heart.
For some inexplicable reason, his breath became uneven.
“Huo Shiran! You bastard! Let me go!”
Lu Jiaojiao was shocked and furious. Held tightly against him, their bodies pressed closely together. Through the thin layers of fabric, she could clearly feel his warmth and heartbeat—and he, hers.
The intimacy of being trapped in his embrace made her panic.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment and anger, she began struggling fiercely, pushing and kicking like a small animal caught in a trap.
In the chaos, overwhelmed by his powerful masculine presence and the undeniable strength of his hold, she became desperate.
Almost instinctively, as though making one last, reckless attempt, she suddenly turned her head toward the hard line of his neck, which was so close
and opened her mouth and bit him!
“Ugh!”
Caught completely off guard, Huo Shiran felt a sharp pain shoot through the side of his neck and let out a muffled grunt.
He had never expected her to resort to such a move.
Like a little fox driven into a corner.
But the instant Lu Jiaojiao bit down, the force of her movement and the momentum of her struggle caused her forehead to slam directly into his jaw.
“Mm!”
She cried out as well.
Her soft lips accidentally struck her own teeth, and a sharp, stinging pain immediately spread from the corner of her mouth. She had probably broken the skin; a faint metallic taste slowly spread across her tongue.
For a moment, both of them froze.
Huo Shiran could feel the small, warm, damp imprint on the side of his neck.
He didn’t even need to look to know that she had definitely left a mark.
Lowering his gaze, he looked at the slight frown between her brows as she winced in pain. Then he noticed her unconsciously stick out her tongue to gently lick the corner of her injured mouth.
Strangely, whatever annoyance he had felt at being bitten vanished.
In its place arose a far more complicated emotion
a mixture of helplessness, amusement, and something else…
Something he couldn’t quite put into words.
Lu Jiaojiao was stunned as well.
The faint taste of blood in her mouth and the sting at the corner of her lips reminded her of exactly what had just happened.
She looked at the clear bite mark on the side of his neck, then into his deep eyes, where emotions she couldn’t understand seemed to churn beneath the surface.
Panic rose in her heart.
Without realizing it, the force of her struggling gradually weakened.
Inside the bridal chamber, only their slightly uneven breathing remained, accompanied by the faint, continuous crackling of the red candles as they burned.
Huo Shiran raised a hand and gently touched the bite mark on his neck with his fingertips. Then he glanced at the slightly swollen corner of her lips.
Suddenly, he let out a low laugh.
His voice carried a hint of resigned indulgence
and a trace of dangerous intimacy.
“What are you, a puppy? Hmm?”