"Your Highness, this is my daughter, Yu Hua Rou. I apologize for the intrusion."
The Governor of Jizhou bowed, his voice deferential.
He had long heard that the King of Dingbei was brutal and bloodthirsty, wielding absolute power in the capital, and never indulging in the company of women. No one dared to harbor any designs on him.
Yet this time, the King of Dingbei had caused such a stir for a single woman. It seemed the King was quite fond of women.
If he could send his daughter into the royal manor, his promotion and entry into the capital would be within reach.
Xiao Chi Zhan stared at those eyes, his mind consumed by the delicate figure with whom he had shared intimate moments.
Her softness, her allure, her gentle whispers – all flooded his mind. The malice and rage suppressed within him surged uncontrollably.
She had run!
She dared to escape him!
Wanting to leave him so badly that she abandoned her homeland.
Ye Luan!
Very well! Excellent!
He would capture her, personally bring her back.
Pain.
The pain emanating from her chin made Yu Hua Rou want to cry, but from her position, she could clearly see his deep crimson eyes growing more terrifying, filling her with dread.
He stared fixedly into her eyes, as if a blade were slicing at them.
She was frightened.
Tears welled up and spilled from her eyes.
The others around them were also terrified by his overwhelming aura and knelt to the ground.
"Your Highness, please calm your anger."
Unexpectedly.
Xiao Chi Zhan's demeanor suddenly shifted. He softened his tone, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Don't—don't cry—"
Yu Hua Rou was stunned.
Such a high-ranking and powerful man was gently coaxing her. Joy and smugness spread uncontrollably through her heart, dispelling her fear.
The King was also just an ordinary man, surely unable to resist her beauty, that he had taken a liking to her.
Hmph.
Once she entered the royal manor, she would make her elder sister look terrible.
Ideally, she would have the King bestow her elder sister to the son of a common merchant, humiliating her for all her life.
The others were also astonished. They had never seen such a gentle side to the King of Dingbei.
"If Your Highness is willing, Rou'er would be honored to serve by your side," the Governor of Jizhou fawned obsequiously.
Xiao Chi Zhan gazed at her eyes with satisfaction, bewitching and seductive.
"From now on, don't cry like this."
"Yes."
Xiao Chi Zhan took Yu Hua Rou with him, setting sail on a warship towards Youzhou.
Yu Hua Rou stood in the cabin, her brow furrowing slightly as she looked at the clothes and tools the maids brought in.
"Young lady, please change into these clothes, and your maid will do your hair and makeup."
The bleak moonlight cast upon the sea, and the vast warship was filled with music and dancing.
Xiao Chi Zhan lay lazily on the soft couch in the hall, drinking in silence.
Yu Hua Rou entered from outside the cabin, dressed in a red dancing gown.
She was furious, the maids had spent half the day painting her face based on a portrait, rendering her originally plain features into something clumsy and unappealing.
No matter how much they embellished, they couldn't make her look alluring.
Especially since her face was a little round, making it entirely unsuitable for such makeup. They had forced it onto her, making her unrecognizable.
She usually wore a delicate, demure makeup that perfectly concealed her flaws.
But this makeup was too seductive and flamboyant. On her face, it was completely unsuitable.
However, the maids said it was at the King's command, that he liked her this way.
Despite her myriad grievances, she dared not speak out.
"My humble daughter greets Your Highness."
The man above stared at her, his excessively seductive red eyes showing disappointment. He muttered something incomprehensible.
His voice was extremely low, and Yu Hua Rou couldn't make out his words clearly.
She shifted her body, step by step approaching the unattainable man, prostrating herself at his feet, smiling as she served him wine.
Xiao Chi Zhan lost the mood for drinking.
He stood up and took out another portrait from his embrace.
"Paint her according to this."
Dian Niang, who knelt on the ground, received the portrait, her eyes flashing with astonishment.
The woman in the portrait wore white, sitting aloofly beneath a crabapple tree, playing a zither. Her downcast eyes were astonishingly beautiful, especially her foxy eyes, which were truly captivating.
She was a woman who combined both allure and coldness.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Yu Hua Rou gritted her teeth in anger. She wasn't so foolish as to not realize what was happening; the King of Dingbei was making her imitate the woman in the portrait.
Damn it, truly damnable.
Watching the man's departing figure, she was furious. She stubbornly refused to change and smashed everything in the hall to pieces, cursing incessantly.
But soon, secret guards appeared, subdued her, and handed her over to the maids and nannies.
For several days, she was forced to imitate the woman in the portrait in various ways, compelled to kneel and be scrutinized by the man seated high above.
"Not right, why is it still not right?"
Xiao Chi Zhan pinched her chin, examining her eyes. His deep crimson pupils slowly darkened.
Terrifying, sinister.
Yu Hua Rou was thoroughly frightened.
She deeply regretted her past desire to curry favor with the King of Dingbei.
He was an out-and-out madman. He had never touched her.
He would only stare at her eyes every day, a terror as if she were being stared at by the fiercest beast on the prairie. She hated the woman in the portrait.
Hate.
She hated her to death.
If not for her, she would never have fallen into this state.
Never have attracted the attention of this madman.
Xiao Chi Zhan watched as those foxy eyes slowly changed, becoming increasingly filled with jealousy and hatred.
His deep crimson pupils were tinged with a hint of anger.
"You are not worthy of having these eyes."
Yu Hua Rou trembled in fear, forcing a smile, and shakily began to shed her clothes, wanting to seduce him.
"Your Highness—"
Xiao Chi Zhan, however, smiled, his gaze cold and terrifying.
Yu Hua Rou was startled. Before she could speak, her jaw was grabbed by the devil, causing intense pain.
"A fake is still a fake."
The sinister, fierce words made Yu Hua Rou tremble uncontrollably.
A cold glint flashed, and bright red blood, accompanied by a scream, echoed miserably within the cabin, piercing and dreadful.
The gouged-out eyeballs were terrifyingly ghastly.
Xiao Chi Zhan, however, seemed to be appreciating a beautiful scene, his deep crimson eyes smiling eerily.
"What an unpleasant sound."
Everyone watched the scene in fearful silence.
Yu Hua Rou fainted from the pain, her body drenched in blood.
Xue Ren cupped his fists. "Your Highness, how shall we dispose of her?"
"Discard her."
"Yes."
Before long, everyone in the cabin had withdrawn.
The nannies cleaned the blood from the floor and respectfully retreated.
Xiao Chi Zhan lazily tossed aside the knife and leaned back against the cushions, drinking.
Xue Sha lay quietly beside him, consuming two black pearls.
Jar after jar of wine rolled down from the high seat, the potent aroma of alcohol spreading.
The sea breeze blew in through the window, and the man shrouded in dark mist suddenly erupted in fury, hurling the wine jar in his hand down fiercely and kicking over the table before him.
He became enraged and sinister, his entire being radiating terror.
"Chi Zhan Ge Ge—"
Suddenly, a sweet, gentle voice echoed all around.