The screams from outside continued unabated, filling the room with dread for everyone present.
Ye Wensong desperately tried to catch Ye Luan's eye, but she seemed oblivious, standing still as a statue. He cursed her inwardly.
"That disobedient daughter."
"The wet nurses and maids in Lord Ye's manor are truly well-trained. Look at this floor, one can't even step on it."
Ye Wensong's face flushed red. He lowered his gaze and chided, "This is Young Miss's room, and it's also where you lot come to run wild. All of you, get out and accept your punishment."
The servants and wet nurses, terrified, retreated.
Xiao Chi Zhan smiled lazily, "This room is so cold. Is Lord Ye lacking funds? I recall the King of Jingnan visiting Lord Ye in the capital not long ago. He brought three large chests, didn't he?"
Ye Wensong was shocked, feeling as if he had plunged into an ice cellar. His lips trembled, "Your subordinate was momentarily foolish and will never dare again. Your Highness, spare me—"
Unexpectedly, Xiao Chi Zhan showed him no mercy. He stood up directly, kicked him to the ground, and spoke with chilling coldness.
"You disturbed me in the middle of the night, do you know that?"
Arrogant, indifferent, sinister.
The man before him, unpredictable in his moods, was truly terrifying.
Ye Luan's heart clenched. She quietly retreated a few steps, remembering her usual attitude towards Xiao Chi Zhan, and felt a pang of apprehension.
Looking at it this way, he had been quite lenient with her.
She didn't know what was happening outside, but Ye Xue's painful cries gradually subsided.
A chilling wind swept through the hall and into the inner chambers. Ye Wensong's pleas grew louder.
"Damn it, I was implicated by all of you. I hid in that broken cabinet for so long. Tell me, what are we going to do about this?"
A knife was slammed onto Ye Wensong's face.
He swallowed in terror.
Could he really be blamed for this?
What terrible luck.
But the eccentric and brutal nature of the King of Dingbei was already common knowledge.
He remembered the fate of those in the imperial court. With a desperate look, he rolled up his plump body like a ball.
Madam Gao also knelt on the ground, backing away step by step, almost crawling out.
The man's low, eerie laughter was particularly piercing in the quiet room, sending shivers down one's spine.
"Do it yourself."
With a clang, the knife fell into Ye Wensong's hand.
His face turned ashen with fear, but he dared not resist. Trembling, he drew the knife and shakily plunged it into his own hand.
A terrifying, leopard-like aura permeated the air.
"Do you need help?"
A figure suddenly flashed over, startling Ye Wensong, who was pale and terrified. The knife pierced his hand, drawing blood and causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.
The surrounding aura felt as if it were shrouded in death, making breathing difficult.
Before he could beg for mercy, his body was kicked away like a rag.
"Long Wu."
The hidden guard appeared.
Xiao Chi Zhan raised his chin coldly, his voice like an infernal demon, chilling to the bone, "Take him back to the Imperial Prison for service."
The Imperial Prison!
A living hell!
Ye Wensong was scared out of his mind.
"A'luan, save your father, save your father—"
He had never provoked the King of Dingbei. For him to be so enraged, it must be to vent his anger for his disobedient daughter.
He must resent that slap and want to torment him!
"A'luan, beg the King of Dingbei for mercy, quickly save your father."
Ye Luan dared not speak. She was also scared and wanted to be invisible, not wanting to be dragged down and killed.
The people were taken away.
Fu Dai and the others also quietly withdrew, closing the door.
Inside the room, peace was restored.
Moonlight streamed through the window, and a cold wind blew.
Xiao Chi Zhan tossed the hand warmer over, sneering, "With such little ability, if you marry into the Duke of Zhenguo's manor, you'll be torn apart alive."
Ye Luan hugged the hand warmer, lowered her head, and remained silent.
He held immense power, and no one dared to question his actions in front of him.
But he had broken into her boudoir in the middle of the night and caused such a commotion. She was afraid she would be gossiped about every time she went out from now on.
Married by imperial decree and then caught in an affair with the King of Dingbei; the spittle would drown her.
Alas.
Power—it was no wonder everyone coveted the imperial throne.
"Come here."
Xiao Chi Zhan lay languidly on the soft couch by the window, beckoning her dismissively.
His tall, strong body almost filled the entire couch, his aura so powerful that it seemed his presence permeated the entire room.
Ye Luan said faintly, "It's late, Your Highness should return."
"Come here."
His voice deepened, becoming terrifyingly cold.
Ye Luan took a deep breath and walked over.
Xiao Chi Zhan gently pulled her, and she tumbled onto him.
Her waist was held so tightly by him that it felt like it would embed itself into his chest. His fiery embrace was like a furnace.
Lying against his chest, Ye Luan felt her cold limbs gradually warm up.
"Your hands are so cold."
He held her icy hand, his fingers well-defined.
She glanced at it inadvertently. Even the faint light could not hide the paleness of those hands. They were slender and distinct, as white as jade bamboo shoots, with rounded nails.
These were the most beautiful hands she had ever seen.
It was a pity that she didn't know how much of other people's blood these hands had stained.
"Instead of living a good life, you come here to suffer. Ye Luan, do you have no brain, or is your brain waterlogged?"
Suddenly, he flipped over and pressed her down beneath him.
Ye Luan looked at the man above her and turned her head away, saying indifferently, "It is precisely because this commoner has a brain that she wishes to leave."
Without title or status, would she be cast out once he grew tired of her?
By then, she would truly be at a dead end.
Her chin was gripped and painfully yanked, forcing her to look at him.
Xiao Chi Zhan's heart was also filled with frustration, "So spirited. I want to see how long this new game can last."
With that, he leaned down and kissed her fiercely.
A scorching breath washed over her. His tongue gnawed relentlessly at her delicate lips, the soul-stirring sensation causing Xiao Chi Zhan's body and soul to tremble.
Ye Luan pushed him and gritted her teeth, "Your Highness, don't forget, I am currently fiancé to Young Master Lu. Are you trying to seize another's wife?"
"Beg me. As long as you yield, I will immediately annul this marriage."
Arrogant and childish fool!
"Your Highness is joking. His Majesty decreed this marriage as a match made in heaven. This commoner is overjoyed."
Xiao Chi Zhan was furious, "You—"
Good.
Very good.
He had never lost before. He would wait for her to be unable to bear it and come begging him.
The woman beneath him had fox-like eyes filled with stubborn distance. Xiao Chi Zhan did not want to look at her any longer.
He forcefully tore off her clothes.
Ye Luan was cold and in pain, biting her lip in anger.
Even if she left the Prince's manor, if he wanted her, she couldn't escape.
Anger, humiliation, and mockery surged into her heart, like an invisible hand constricting her heart, tearing it painfully.
"Stop biting. No one is here, just call out if you want to."
Beast.
Ye Luan suppressed the hatred in her heart and looked up at him, "Aren't you cold?"
Knowing she was sensitive to cold, Xiao Chi Zhan pulled his robe and placed it beneath her.
Forced to hide in his embrace, feeling the warmth emanating from him, she couldn't help but half-close her eyes and sigh.
"Go to bed. We'll freeze to death here."
"Who told you to insist on coming to such a broken place? At the Prince's manor, do you need to choose a location?"
Ye Luan ignored him and secretly glared at him.
Xiao Chi Zhan picked her up and carried her towards the bed. Ye Luan felt both shame and anger.