Hah. So it was all an act?
Shen Qingyao was still pouting and frowning, her eyes filled with laughter—she simply couldn’t cry. She could only use this kind of vulnerable ambiguity to coax a smile from him.
As long as he smiled, things would be easier.
But since he wasn’t smiling yet, she had to keep going.
“Your Highness…”
With a trembling, melodramatic sob in her voice, she tugged at the man’s robe.
Afraid he still wouldn’t smile, she pretended to sniffle a couple more times.
Song Jiuchen looked at her, then pursed his thin lips to suppress a laugh. This woman.
He really wanted to pinch her cheek and scold her through gritted teeth, but his usual composure and self-restraint held him back.
Suppressing the urge to smile, he glanced at the robe she was clutching and said, “Rather than begging for my mercy, why don’t you give me a reason to grant it?”
Shen Qingyao’s expression stiffened, followed by a sense of defeat. This man, really.
Would it kill him to smile?
She knew what he meant—he didn’t want to take the initiative, didn’t want to appear as if he was abusing his power for personal gain!
Fine.
After a moment’s thought, she released his robe and asked, “Your Highness, could you at least give me a hint? How lenient could the punishment be?”
Without knowing whether it was worth it, she wouldn’t offer herself in exchange.
Unexpectedly, Song Jiuchen frowned and turned his face away. “That depends on how convincing your reason is.”
“…” Damn it.
Shen Qingyao gritted her teeth inwardly, then put on a sweet, fake smile. “My reason is naturally what Your Highness desires!”
Surely that would work?
“Oh?”
Song Jiuchen gave a half-smile, then turned to look at her. “What do I desire?”
There was a teasing glint in the man’s eyes, his tone light and playful. He clearly wasn’t accepting her ambiguous answer.
It was obvious he wanted her to say it outright—to offer herself in exchange, making him the one in the superior position to choose.
In other words, he wanted her to understand that he wasn’t forcing her; it was all her own choice. She shouldn’t act coy after getting what she wanted.
Hmph!
Shen Qingyao was so angry she almost laughed.
A deep sense of frustration washed over her, and reflexively, she punched the man’s leg.
“You’re asking on purpose,” she said through gritted teeth, refusing to say it outright.
Becoming his mistress, or even a hidden mistress—wasn’t she just a plaything?
Couldn’t they both understand this without having to say it out loud?
Did it really need to be spoken aloud?
Was she supposed to have no shame at all?
This was too much—he just wouldn’t let it go.
From the moment she entered, he had been playing mind games, and it was really starting to annoy her.
Song Jiuchen was stunned by her punch.
He looked at his leg almost in disbelief.
It didn’t hurt, but how dare she hit him?
Slowly, he raised his eyes, his unreadable gaze fixed on her small face, which seemed both angry and resentful.
Then, with a swift motion, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. The world seemed to spin.
Shen Qingyao only felt a faint, cool fragrance fill her senses. By the time she regained her bearings, she was sitting on the man’s lap, with one of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other gripping her chin.
“Do you want to die?”
The cold, harsh question followed immediately.
She was momentarily stunned, then rolled her tongue in her mouth, gathering saliva as if to spit in his face.
The man noticed, both shocked and bewildered!
This woman!
Seeing that she was about to actually spit, he panicked and, as if possessed, pressed his thin lips against hers in a forceful kiss.
As their lips met, the woman initially wanted to push him away fiercely but held back at the last moment.
And the man couldn’t stop himself.
Song Jiuchen held the woman tightly with one arm while his other hand cupped the back of her head, forcing her to accept his kiss.
He was certain that, from this brief contact and understanding, he was quite interested in this woman.
He admired her sense of gratitude, her bravery, boldness, and adaptability. He liked it when she acted coquettishly toward him and enjoyed the way she bristled with anger.
Shen Qingyao felt her lips were about to swell from the man’s rough kissing—he clearly had no idea how to kiss properly.
But for the sake of her goal, she had no choice but to endure it.
Who would have thought this man liked her when her mind was off guard?
What a peculiar taste!
Still, thinking back, it was a close call. With her reflexive actions just now, not only would she have failed to clear her uncle’s name, but she might have been slapped to death by him.
So next time, she must learn to control her mind and avoid doing anything foolish.
No sooner had she thought this than she felt a wave of suffocation, unable to breathe. She pushed the man’s head away.
“Phew! Are you trying to kill me? Do you even realize you were blocking my nose?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she bit her lip.
Damn it, why did I slip up again?
Song Jiuchen’s cheeks were slightly flushed, still lost in the moment.
Pushed and scolded by her, he was momentarily stunned before bursting into a chuckle.
“Haha!”
For the first time, he smiled genuinely, looking incredibly handsome from every angle.
Shen Qingyao was momentarily dazed, but only for a moment. She waited for him to make a decision.
They had hugged, they had kissed—wasn’t that enough to seal the deal?
Song Jiuchen suppressed his smile, his gaze returning to its cool and detached state. After glancing at the woman’s slightly swollen red lips, he fell silent.
“Are you willing to become this prince’s woman?”
One thing at a time—this was the biggest concession he was willing to make. He would not force her into a transaction by threatening her with guilt.
Shen Qingyao didn’t push her luck and nodded. “Yes.”
Song Jiuchen was satisfied. Looking into her eyes, he said, “In that case, your situation can be different. This prince will consider you willful but tolerable, pardon your offense, and grant you the status of a noble concubine. Do you have any objections?”
Shen Qingyao shook her head. She had no objections.
This was a transaction, not a genuine search for a perfect husband to spend her life with.
She didn’t love him, so whether she was a wife or a concubine made no difference to her in a marriage that wasn’t about lifelong devotion.
Besides, she had no other choice.
Still, to be fair, this time he didn’t humiliate her.
This man was a prince with three special honors and nine ceremonial privileges, his power almost rivaling that of an emperor. Even his concubines had to come from noble families.
However.
“What about General Liu?”
If her uncle couldn’t be pardoned, she wouldn’t care even if he made her his princess consort.
Song Jiuchen fell silent. “He will be stripped of his general rank, demoted five levels, and his family will be removed from the Twelve Surnames of Merit and Nobility.”
“What?”
Shen Qingyao’s expression changed, and she asked him gravely, “How is that any different from being completely dismissed?”
This had completely deviated from her expectations.
Demoted three levels turned into demoted five levels?
And his family removed from the “Twelve Surnames of Merit and Nobility”?
Even after the transaction was agreed upon?
Was he really so heartless?
A five-level demotion meant dropping from the third rank to the fifth rank, lower than a prefect. Could her uncle bear that?
“Yao Yao.”
Song Jiuchen took her hand and patiently reasoned with her, “He is an official, and his situation is different from yours. Don’t try to deceive this prince into believing he truly forced you to confess. At most, he gave you a choice. So, his concealment isn’t about the severity of the matter but his conduct.”
“A general who can deceive his king at any moment for the sake of a weakness cannot be used from a political standpoint, because he may commit even greater mistakes in the future due to that weakness. If I were to show leniency now, it would be a case of infatuation clouding judgment.”
Shen Qingyao shook her head. She understood, but she couldn’t accept it.
If it were her, she would rather be stripped of her position entirely and hide away with her entire family in disgrace than endure ridicule from other officials in the future.
She tried to ask, “What about demoting him by two ranks without removing him from office? Would that work?”
“No.”
“Then I won’t do it.”
She abruptly pushed away the hand he had placed around her waist, smoothly slid off his lap, and knelt directly at his feet.
“I choose flogging, confiscation of property, and exile.”