Their bodies shook violently—not only hers, but his as well.
When they had been playing chess earlier, she had deliberately avoided brushing his fingertips, lest she trespass upon his taboo and invite needless trouble. Yet now, at this very moment, her entire person… her whole body was sprawled in the arms of this man rumored to shun women!
Time seemed to have frozen. From the direction in which the black-clad assailant had fled came a muffled groan, and after that, no other sound arose around them.
All was silent.
Man Yao lay in his arms in an extremely ambiguous posture, one hand braced against his lean, firm waist, the other clinging to his elegant neck. His skin felt remarkably fine beneath her touch, but this man—his body was cold. It was actually icy, without the slightest trace of warmth! Her face was pressed against his chest, yet she could not feel his heartbeat at all!
Man Yao froze, her mind blank, forgetting that she ought to get off him at once. She unconsciously lifted her head, and what crashed into her vision was that pair of wickedly enchanting eyes. At this moment, he was looking at her with narrowed eyes, those pupils deep as a dark pool, impossible to see through no matter how one tried.
A faint, delicate fragrance lingered at his nose, like a warm spring breeze carrying the scent of blossoms through a grove of cherry trees, dispersing layer after layer of bloodstained air and bringing an indescribable sense of comfort. Through their clothes, he felt her soft, warm, fragrant body, conveying to him a warmth he had never possessed.
A red gleam flashed through his dark, bewitching eyes; in them, leaping flames suddenly flared, faintly revealing the most primal desire. At this moment, Zongzheng Wuyou was like a beast that had been caged for many years, exuding an extremely dangerous aura. Man Yao started and came back to herself, wanting to scramble off him at once, but before she could leave his body, the world spun around her. He pressed her down onto the ground beside the water channel.
“You violated this prince’s taboo. Do you think you can simply leave like this?” Zongzheng Wuyou’s voice was low and hoarse, his wicked eyes alluring and demonic. The aura that had been icy moments ago was now scorching hot, spilling across her face, burning and enticing, bringing with it a faint, tingling itch.
Her heart suddenly began to pound.
“I didn’t mean to offend you…” Sensing his change, she tried to explain, her heart somewhat flustered. She had imagined countless consequences of violating his taboo, but she had never once imagined it would become a scene like this!
“You, aren’t you… uninterested in women? …Get up.” She turned her head, trying to avoid the handsome face so close at hand. If she did not look, her heart would not be thrown into chaos.
But Zongzheng Wuyou would not allow it. He seized her chin, forcing her to face him directly.
“This prince does not approach women, but you have already approached this prince’s body. Tell me… how should this prince deal with you?” His voice was cold, his crimson, bewitching eyes paired with a smile so pure it could steal the soul.
The moonlight was hazy, the breeze faint and gentle, carelessly extinguishing the candle flame inside the lotus lantern. The garden darkened, and all around them was silent; only the sound of their breathing gradually growing heavier could be heard.
Man Yao gazed at that flawless, handsome face so close to hers, panic rising within her heart. She turned her head again and said, “Your Highness Prince Li, get up first, then we can talk…”
Zongzheng Wuyou did not move. He stared at the face beneath him, its skin smooth as congealed cream. Her bright eyes, faintly evasive, were like rippling water; her vermilion lips were moist and delicate, alluring beyond words when they parted slightly. The strange red light in Zongzheng Wuyou’s eyes intensified. He abruptly lowered his head and fiercely sealed her lips with his.
Man Yao felt a buzzing roar fill her ears, and her entire body softened inch by inch beyond her control. It was not that she had never tasted a kiss in her previous life, but this kind of fervor, as if it would suck away even her soul, left her instantly terrified and at a loss. Her heart could not stop trembling.
She could not breathe; her chest felt suffocated and tight. Yet there was also a strange, irresistible sensation sweeping over her body and mind like a storm. She had never known that a kiss could be so soul-stirring, so bone-melting. But being taken advantage of by him like this was not what she wanted. Man Yao grew frantic. Her chest rose and fell sharply. In her urgency, she reached her hand into the pool, fumbling for the glazed lotus lantern. Without thinking further, she smashed it down toward the head of the man above her.
The sound was neither loud nor soft, but very muffled.
The man atop her suddenly stopped all movement, stunned in place. Seizing the chance, she used all her strength to shove him over into the pool, but forgot that his arm was still around her waist. With a cry of alarm, she inevitably fell into the water with him. Their tightly pressed bodies did not separate in the slightest; the only difference was that now he was below, and she was above.
On an April night, the air was cool. The pool was not deep, but the water was very cold. Zongzheng Wuyou abruptly came back to his senses. The red light in his eyes instantly receded, his gaze clearing and returning to its usual dark, icy chill. He looked at the woman pressing against him, his eyes cold, and suddenly flipped over, pinning her beneath him once more. But this time, it was no heated touch; instead, his icy fingers clamped mercilessly around her slender neck.
Zongzheng Wuyou narrowed his eyes and asked coldly, “You have quite the nerve. Do you know what you’re doing?”
The air in her lungs was slowly being squeezed away, and the suffocating pain in her chest was unbearable. Man Yao spoke with difficulty. “That question… Your Highness should ask yourself! I only… only acted in self-defense because I was being violated.”
Zongzheng Wuyou froze. The scene from moments ago suddenly flashed into his mind. His brows unconsciously knitted together, and the sharp light in his eyes was like two swords about to be unsheathed, cold and forbidding.
Crimson blood flowed from where the glazed lantern had struck him, winding down from his forehead and sliding over his peerlessly handsome cheek. It was rather shocking to behold.
An impulse suddenly surged up in Man Yao’s heart; she wanted to raise her hand and wipe away the blood for him. The moment her hand touched his face, she felt his entire body shudder, his gaze complex and difficult to discern. Zongzheng Wuyou looked at the woman beneath him, whose neck he was strangling, yet who had lifted her head to wipe the blood from his face. A strange feeling welled up in his heart. He slowly released her, propped himself up, and sat half in the water, the expression on his face uncertain, as if no one could tell what he was thinking.
Freed from his restraint, Man Yao gulped down fresh air, coughing for a while. Her fair face flushed bright red.
Zongzheng Wuyou’s thick brows furrowed, and he turned his gaze away unnaturally. Yet no matter where he looked, before his eyes remained that pair of clear, composed eyes shining with intelligence. He could not dispel them no matter what he did. Zongzheng Wuyou turned back to look at her again, a trace of bewilderment appearing in his eyes. Set against the lingering streak of blood at the corner of his eye, his pure face seemed as helpless as a child’s, and Man Yao felt a faint ache in her heart.
He suddenly stretched out his long arm, caught her hand, and yanked hard. Caught off guard, she once again crashed solidly into his chest.
Man Yao instantly grew annoyed and called his full name. “Zongzheng Wuyou…”
Before the words had fully left her mouth, his lips covered hers again. One hand tightly clasped the back of her head, swallowing the rest of her unfinished sentence.
As if struck by lightning, her mind went completely blank. She struggled to maintain her reason, and only with great difficulty did she turn her head aside. Clutching her chest, she gasped, “Zongzheng Wuyou, are you… still not awake?” Her instinct told her that when his eyes turned red, his mind was controlled by something, which was why he had done such extraordinary things to her.
Zongzheng Wuyou’s breathing was ragged. He froze completely. After regaining consciousness, he had still kissed this woman? And the feeling of kissing her had actually been so… wonderful!? Then he had not mistaken the feeling from when he had lost control just now!
For a time, neither of them spoke. The temperature in the air cooled once more. Man Yao truly wanted to flee from this dangerous man, but his arms were so strong that she could not move. Zongzheng Wuyou stared at her with scrutiny. A moment later, a faint glimmer slowly rose from the depths of his wicked eyes, and then he actually smiled slightly!
“Just like that. From now on, call me by my name.” He said this to her, and as he spoke, a bewildering tenderness rippled in his eyes. Tenderness? Man Yao truly suspected that she had seen wrong. How could this man possibly possess tenderness? While she was still dazed, he suddenly called softly again, “A’Man… from now on, I’ll call you that.” His lips were beside her ear, his voice low, hoarse, and enchanting, carrying a deep, beguiling charm.
Man Yao’s heart trembled. A’Man? It had been a very long time since she had heard such an address. Just what game was this man playing? One moment he was cold and ruthless, the next fervent and frenzied, the next wishing he could put her to death—yet now he was treating her with such tenderness, even saying they should call each other by name from now on… Was his name, Zongzheng Wuyou, something just anyone could call at will?
She steadied herself and tried to push him away, but he only held her tighter and tighter. Helpless, she gave up. Lifting her lashes, she looked at him with a hint of mockery and said indifferently, “Your Highness acting like this truly makes one unaccustomed.”
He hooked a finger under her chin, his fingertips lingering by her lips, and said softly, “Then how are you accustomed to me being?” He raised his brows slightly, a cold light flashing through his eyes, yet his voice remained gentle. “You are unwilling? Do you know how many women in this world dream of having this prince touch them even once?”
Man Yao frowned, her voice indifferent and faintly cold. “Those people… do not include me.”
“Oh?” Zongzheng Wuyou chuckled and asked, “Why? Do you think this prince is not good enough, or are you worried this prince will not take responsibility for you?”
Man Yao shook her head. “Neither.”
Zongzheng Wuyou frowned. “Then why?”
Man Yao said, “Because I do not love you, and you do not love me.”
Zongzheng Wuyou was taken aback, seeming very surprised by this answer. He stared at her with a strange gaze, as if a woman saying she did not love him was an extremely abnormal thing. He asked, “Why do you not love this prince?”
Man Yao asked in return, “Why should I love you? Because your appearance is outstanding and you are better-looking than others? Or because your status is noble and you stand above others?”
Zongzheng Wuyou knitted his brows and asked, “Are those not enough to become conditions for loving someone?”
Man Yao found it amusing and said, “If loving someone is merely for those things, then that is not love.”
Zongzheng Wuyou said with a half-smile, “Oh? Then what is love?”
She had never thought about it. She only knew that it was the most unreliable emotion in this world. She did not know why Zongzheng Wuyou had suddenly become like this toward her. Instinct told her that he was dangerous, and only by keeping away would she be safe. But right now, they were so close—so close that they could clearly hear each other’s breathing. His fresh, masculine scent seemed to fill her entire world; no matter how she tried to avoid it, she could not. And the faint fragrance emanating from her had been lingering at his nose all along. It smelled exceedingly pleasant, making him always feel somewhat unable to control the urge to draw just a little closer to her. This feeling was very unfamiliar to him.
“Since you are unwilling, then… forget it.” He said this indifferently, and before Man Yao could react, he had already released her. Resuming his usual noble, aloof bearing, he rose from beside her, turned, and strode away without even looking back at her once.
Prince Li’s residence in the depths of night was quiet in an eerie way.
The Ninth Prince, who had been hauled out of bed by Leng Yan, muttered complaints all the way into Wuyou Pavilion. With his eyes half-closed, he yawned, casually picked up a cup of water, and said in a tone full of grievance, “Seventh Brother, in the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, what did you call me here for?”
Zongzheng Wuyou reclined on a soft chair. Without even lifting his head, he said indifferently, “Go find me a woman.”
“Pfft—cough, cough, cough…” The mouthful of water the Ninth Prince had just drunk sprayed out completely, and he choked until he coughed violently. His drowsiness vanished at once. Eyes bulging, he stared at Zongzheng Wuyou as if looking at a monster, and said with extreme suspicion, “Seventh Brother? Did I hear that right? You—you said you want a woman? Ha… hahaha…”
“Is it funny?” Zongzheng Wuyou glanced at him coldly, his tone chilly to the bone.
“Not funny… not funny at all, haha… I’ll go handle it for you right now.” The Ninth Prince turned to leave, but still could not help laughing aloud. When he reached the doorway, he turned back and said, “Seventh Brother, you’ve finally come around. That’s more like it. Otherwise, relying on the Cold Pool to suppress it every time—sooner or later, you’ll hold it in until something goes wrong with your body. You might even suffer qi deviation. Haha…” Without waiting for any reaction from Zongzheng Wuyou, the Ninth Prince swiftly disappeared from Wuyou Pavilion.
Zongzheng Wuyou frowned, too lazy to bother with him. Recently, whenever he practiced, his body often felt unwell. Not only had his internal strength failed to advance, there were even signs that his meridians might reverse. He had never been able to find the cause, but tonight’s loss of control had alerted him. After returning to the residence, he found that his physical condition seemed to have eased somewhat, and he could not help feeling puzzled.
In cultivating the Yixin Sutra, what mattered was drawing in the natural qi of heaven and earth. One had to follow one’s heart and conform to the laws of nature. But he detested matters between men and women, and all this time, he had relied on the water of the Cold Pool in the underground icy chamber to help suppress the desire within his body. Could it be that precisely because he had done this for so long, violating the natural laws spoken of in the Yixin Sutra, his qi had become obstructed and his meridians blocked? And after accumulating day by day, it had reached a limit, so that when he touched a woman’s body, it caused the temporary qi deviation just now! If that was the case, then no matter how repulsed he was by matters between men and women, he had no choice but to touch one.
The Ninth Prince was indeed efficient. In the time it took for one stick of incense to burn, he brought a woman over.
Willow brows and phoenix eyes, cherry lips and peach-blossom cheeks; as she walked, her waist swayed delicately, her allure seemingly born in her bones. When the woman saw Zongzheng Wuyou, her eyes lit up and her heart beat like a drum. She had never imagined that the man the Ninth Lord wanted her to serve would actually be such a peerless beauty!
Zongzheng Wuyou lazily glanced at the woman, then looked sideways at the Ninth Prince and said with a trace of mockery, “This is the extent of your taste?”
The Ninth Prince froze and asked, “Not satisfied? I didn’t expect Seventh Brother’s standards to be so high. Then what kind of woman do you want?”
A pure, transcendent face unconsciously surfaced before Zongzheng Wuyou’s eyes: clear, composed eyes, a small, straight nose, tender and alluring lips… As he thought and thought, he actually lost himself in a daze.
“Seventh Brother, Seventh Brother…” The Ninth Prince looked in great amazement at the man who rarely lost focus once in a hundred years. Zongzheng Wuyou’s heart shook. He had actually thought of her!
The Ninth Prince raised his brows with great interest and laughed. “What are you thinking about so intently? Ah! Seventh Brother, don’t tell me you’ve really taken a fancy to some woman? Who is she? Tell me. I must go set up a memorial tablet for her, to express the lofty respect I feel for her in my heart!”
Faced with his teasing, Zongzheng Wuyou lowered his eyes and said leisurely, “It seems your household really ought to take someone in! I hear your name is already on the list at Princess Rongle’s residence. If you wish to marry, it is merely a matter of saying the word.”
The Ninth Prince’s smile instantly stiffened. He hurriedly leaned in front of him ingratiatingly and said with utmost sincerity, “Don’t, absolutely don’t! I was wrong, all right? Seventh Brother, I was thinking of you! Look, this is the famous ‘Ecstasy Lady’ of our capital. Seventh Brother, you… it’s your first time, after all. I had to find you someone with experience, didn’t I?”