Xiao Chi Zhan narrowed his eyes, like a wolf king on the prairie spotting delicious prey, his gaze filled with bloodthirsty cruelty.
He cupped Ye Luan's face and said meaningfully, "For the noble daughter of the Ministry of Personnel to willingly debase herself and become this king's servant, if this were to get out, Old Master Ye wouldn't be able to show his face in the capital anymore."
What did the Ye family's reputation have to do with her?
Once she escaped, she wouldn't return to that cannibalistic mansion of the Ye family. She wanted to take Fu Dai and leave for Jiangnan, to live an ordinary life.
Seeing her eyes lowered, silent.
Xiao Chi Zhan's red eyes were sinister and terrifying. He suddenly pulled her from the covers, a sinister smile hooking his lips. "Ye Luan, let's go see how your good maid is being tortured."
"Does Your Highness want me to go out naked for those men to see?"
Her voice was remarkably calm.
Xiao Chi Zhan's displeasure deepened.
"If you wish, this king can have the men at the door come in to serve you."
Ye Luan said nothing, directly prying his hands away and walking towards the door naked.
Xiao Chi Zhan's expression turned even more terrifying.
He grabbed clothes from the display shelf and threw them at her, his voice terrifying. "Put these on for me."
The scoundrel.
Ye Luan immediately picked up the clothes and put them on. Her alluring figure swayed enticingly in the faint firelight. Xiao Chi Zhan said coldly,
"Come here."
Ye Luan ignored him and walked outside.
Xiao Chi Zhan watched her stubborn back, a smile appearing in his red eyes.
"Ye Luan, do you know the way?"
A faint voice came from behind.
Ye Luan stopped, turning back to look at him coldly, "Is Your Highness deficient? Walking so slowly."
"Hahaha."
Xiao Chi Zhan strode up, embraced her waist, and leaned in, laughing intimately, "Why don't you try and find out?"
Ye Luan looked at his face and sneered, "Your Highness truly possesses a beauty that lacks a brainstem."
The change from before to now was truly like meeting two different people.
Xiao Chi Zhan's red eyes emanated a strange coldness, with an indefinable expression.
There was a forbidden place in the prince's mansion for torture, called the Corpse Burial Cave.
This place was frigid, cold, and terrifying.
As the evening breeze blew bleakly, under the moonlight, the silent Corpse Burial Cave echoed with miserable, mournful cries. White bones were everywhere, and corpses lay strewn across the ground.
Ye Luan was shocked when she was brought in.
The ground was covered in blood pits for burying bones.
In the firelight, she could clearly see the scene.
As she walked, there were wolf pits, snake pits, insect pits, fox pits, fire pits, water pits, and so on.
The sounds of begging for mercy and curses mixed with the roars of wild beasts, making it exceptionally terrifying within the bleak and sinister Corpse Burial Cave.
Ye Luan looked down into a blood pit where a fierce tiger was caged, tearing at human flesh, ferocious and fearsome.
The entire Corpse Burial Cave was filled with howling, and a wind carrying a foul odor blew in her face.
Ye Luan couldn't help but feel like vomiting.
"Miss Ye, do you perhaps also wish to taste the thrill of being corroded and torn apart by snakes and insects?"
Fear, terror.
This man was more cruel than described in the books.
Those bloodthirsty red eyes became even more peculiar in the bleak night.
He was laughing at her, mocking her dishevelment, her fear.
Ye Luan concealed the disgust in her eyes and followed behind him.
He was not satisfied with her slow pace, so he grabbed her and strode forward. The speed was so great that Ye Luan, already injured, stumbled along.
Not far away, on the Clear Fire Giant Pagoda, there was an observation altar. Standing on the high platform, one could clearly see the scenes within each blood pit, a dense and chilling sight.
As soon as Xiao Chi Zhan reached the platform, he sat on a pear wood chair carved with golden dragon patterns, appearing indolent, his white robe accentuating his aloofness.
"Come here."
Ye Luan looked at him calmly, "Where is Fu Dai?"
"This king told you to come here."
He exuded a powerful aura of danger, his gaze seeming to strip her clothes layer by layer, hot and unrestrained.
Before she could think of a countermeasure, Ye Ying, guarding the Corpse Burial Cave, dragged her directly under Xiao Chi Zhan's long robe and forced her to kneel.
"Miss Ye, disobeying the prince's orders is a dead end."
Ye Luan gasped in pain, a sharp ache emanating from her arm. Her wound must have reopened.
Xiao Chi Zhan cast a cold glance at Ye Ying, revealing a devilish, malicious smile.
Ye Ying immediately reacted, respectfully kneeling on the ground, took out a knife, and viciously stabbed it into his left hand that had pulled Ye Luan. The small knife was barbed, and blood gushed out.
Warm blood splashed onto Ye Luan's hand, sending a chill down her spine.
The sounds of wild beasts and screams from all directions were incessant.
"Go down."
"Yes."
Xiao Chi Zhan looked at the pale-faced Ye Luan and chuckled, which sounded particularly terrifying in the chilling Corpse Burial Cave.
"Do you want to see Fu Dai?"
Ye Luan remained still.
Xiao Chi Zhan suddenly reached out, lifted her chin, his red eyes terrifyingly alluring, "Do you want this king to throw you into the wolf pit?"
Ye Luan sneered, "Your Highness wouldn't."
Xiao Chi Zhan laughed even more wildly, his eyes filled with flippancy, and when he looked down at her, he exuded a condescending regal demeanor.
"You can try."
This person was unpredictable, moody, and seemed to love it when people defied him.
A typical masochist.
He definitely liked a challenge.
Ye Luan thought for a moment, then stood up directly and spoke calmly.
"Did Your Highness not have women before?"
She deliberately spoke to divert his attention, slowly taking out a knife.
Xiao Chi Zhan's pair of alluring red eyes were stunningly beautiful under the moonlight. He sneered, pulled her to the fire pit, and forced her to look at the horror within.
"No, these things have accompanied me. Are you afraid?"
Ye Luan averted her gaze, holding the knife against Xiao Chi Zhan's abdomen.
"That's a real shame. Your Highness probably won't be able to enjoy it anymore."
The cold blade approached numbly. Xiao Chi Zhan narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the woman smiling with ill intent, and he also smiled.
"I didn't expect you liked this sort of thing."
Ye Luan dared not go too far. She patted him with the knife, raised an eyebrow, and smiled, "As long as Your Highness respects me, we can mind our own business."
"Judging by your words, the initiative is in your hands?" Xiao Chi Zhan said, reaching out to touch her lips. "Your little mouth is quite sharp."
Ye Luan said calmly, "I just want to live."
Xiao Chi Zhan laughed heartily, "If I wanted to, the Ye family could disappear from the capital in an instant."
"As Your Highness pleases."
"It seems you don't care about the Ye Mansion, but what about the Duke's Mansion?"
Ye Luan froze. The person who treated the original owner best was her maternal family. This scoundrel intended to use the Duke's Mansion to control her.
Her heart couldn't help but turn cold. This was an era where imperial power reigned supreme, and the hierarchy was strict.
Xiao Chi Zhan held immense power and status. She couldn't gamble with the lives of hundreds of people.
She chuckled lightly, loosening her grip on the knife.
"Does Your Highness like to force people?"
Xiao Chi Zhan smiled thinly, "You can think of it that way."
"Where is Fu Dai?"
"What, do you want her to watch you die?"