Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Kazama was busy with his mouth, but his bright eyes were still fixed on San Chun, admiring her helpless and troubled yet greedy expression.
Zhong Xue, however, did not glance at her again. He cut another piece of meat and put it in his mouth, as if he hadn’t heard what she just said.
Was it a mistake by San Chun?
Partly yes, partly no.
He had long suspected that this girl would not obediently follow the former Crown Prince back to the country. So as soon as he left Fengling Jun's Residence, he immediately ordered people to ambush all the roads leading out of Ying City, closely monitoring the movements of the Crown Prince of Qin's convoy. If they encountered anyone trying to escape, they would capture them at any cost.
He just didn’t expect her to run out so quickly and specifically choose a road guarded by him.
After seeing that her saliva had almost been swallowed, he cut a piece of lamb and placed it in front of her. "Do you want to eat?"
San Chun nodded with some hesitation. Zhong Xue smiled and handed her a piece. She put it in her mouth and chewed, but in her heart, she wondered if he would have poisoned it.
The roasted, oily lamb was delicious and fragrant. Under Yan Ping's strict control over her diet at Fengling Jun's Residence, she hadn’t had such good meat for a long time, so she ate one piece after another.
Zhong Xue kept watching beside her. Every time she finished a piece, he would cut another and hand it over, occasionally offering her a cup of wine.
San Chun loved wine; she drank without restraint and downed two skins of strong liquor. Before long, she was drunk, and the little bit of vigilance she had disappeared without a trace as the alcohol took effect.
She forgot—forgot how cunning Chengyang Jun was. Could a drunken woman run fast?
When one drinks too much, sleep follows. She didn’t know how she fell asleep or where she slept; she just knew that she had fallen asleep. The next morning, she woke up to find herself lying in a carriage, with Zhong Xue beside her, his head resting on her arm, looking sleepy as if still in a dream.
She screamed, shouted loudly, tearing her throat out in panic. Was it possible that in just one night, her innocence was lost?
Zhong Xue drank a few more cups last night and was suddenly awakened by her loud voice. She couldn't help but frown; when did her voice become so high?
San Chun tightly grasped her collar, "Why am I here?"
"You passed out here after drinking," Zhong Xue yawned, leisurely tying her belt, looking at her with an expression as if she had just finished something, which made San Chun feel even more uncertain.
She looked down to carefully check her clothes; there seemed to be no signs of being undone, and she didn't feel violated. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She thought to herself, it’s impressive how Chengyang Jun managed to maintain such a perfect expression. But what was up with the bruise on his chin? She remembered when she saw him last night, it was still smooth and unblemished.
Seeing that everything was fine, she stood up to leave but was caught by Zhong Xue by the belt. He lazily asked, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Home."
"You can't go anywhere. From today on, you are This Lord's Spring Consort."
San Chun didn't believe it. "How is that possible?" She hadn't sold herself to him.
He opened one hand in front of her, "If you want to leave, you can pay back the money."
"What money?"
"The money for yesterday's drinks and food. The fine wine costs Ten Gold, and the goat raised with precious herbs from Fuling Mountain costs another Ten Gold. No need to overpay; just three Ten Gold will do." A smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth as if he had succeeded in a scheme. "If you have no money, then you'll have to stay by This Lord's side as a Concubine."
If it weren't for the situation, San Chun would have really wanted to spit at him. The Crown Prince of Qin would pay a Noble Lady to buy her, yet Chengyang Jun only wanted three Ten Gold. That price was indeed quite cheap. However, his usual roundabout ways suddenly turned into such a straightforward scheme, leaving her feeling quite at a loss.
She rummaged through the bundle given by Qing but found that even the bag had holes in it; all she could find was five coins. It made sense; given Qing's consistent poverty, this was probably all he had.
She sighed lightly, "Your meat and wine are too expensive."
Ten Gold is not a small amount for common people; it can easily sustain a family of three for a year, providing fish, meat, wine, and vegetables. Only the wealthiest of the nobility would disregard sums in the tens or hundreds of Gold.
Zhong Xue chuckled, "Even a single hair from This Lord is precious. Sooner or later, you will strike This Lord once. Even if it’s just five Noble Ladies, last time you kicked This Lord in the face, that’s worth ten thousand Gold. Altogether, that makes fifteen thousand and three Ten Gold."
San Chun then realized that the bruise on her chin was caused by her. When she gets drunk, she either goes wild or starts hitting people; getting her drunk was indeed his misfortune.
With the wealth of the number one person among Lord Jun's ranks, he wouldn't care about such a small amount of money. She also understood that making things difficult for herself today was probably part of his scheme. No wonder others called him a person; those two words were indeed not used lightly.
She sighed again, "Lord Jun has countless beauties; why bother with just one San Chun?"
"But there is only one San Chun." She is the only one who resembles Yan Dan so much.
Last night, while she was asleep, he had thought about unbuttoning her clothes to see if she had that mark—a black mole on her chest, the place he had kissed before. However, she tossed and turned too much last night and even punched him in the chin. If he hadn't dodged quickly, he might have been blinded.
He touched his chin, which was quite painful and marred his handsome features. A dignified Lord Jun had been kicked like this by a woman; in the end, he considered fifteen thousand Noble Ladies to be cheap.
Ultimately, he couldn't confirm whether San Chun was Yan Dan or not, but even so, he wouldn't let her go. Perhaps Heaven heard his prayers and sent someone who resembled that person as compensation. Or maybe she finally realized his infatuation from the underworld? Or did she think that placing someone beside him would make him forget her?
Suddenly filled with resentment, he feared most that she would want to shake him off, even if she were in Yama's hall…
Turning his head away to hide his resentful expression from her, he tossed out a line, "You sit here for now." Then he casually confiscated her bundle and jumped off the carriage.
San Chun knew she couldn't leave for now; even if she truly had that ten thousand Gold, he would find some other reason to keep her. What kind of person was Chengyang Jun? How could he easily let his prey go?
Covering her face with despair, she wondered what he saw in her; couldn’t she change?
The carriage headed towards Wei Kingdom, passing through desolate mountains and vast plains, lonely villages… As they moved forward, she could see time slipping away like sand through her fingers.
Counting the days on her fingers, she calculated the time she was bound to him. These days were filled with eating—eating alone, eating with him—her activities confined to this carriage and a thirty-meter radius outside of it. In just a short time, she had gained some weight, and even the horse pulling her carriage was not spared from her owner's indulgence.
During these days, she tried to appeal to Zhong Xue's emotions and reason. With her ability to bring the dead back to life, make iron men shed tears, and even have two scarecrows fall in love and give birth to a pair of twins, none of it seemed to work on him. She had worn her lips raw trying to persuade him, but he showed no intention of letting her go.
When she asked him why, he only smiled and remained silent, as if fighting against a ball of cotton—soft and utterly ineffective.
After several rounds of this, she finally understood that Yan Ping was not the most difficult to deal with; the real challenge was Chengyang Jun.
He never sent anyone to watch her; instead, he kept his own eyes on her. Every little while, his deep gaze would sweep over her, confirming her presence. Genius knew what he was thinking; he always looked at people with a smile that made one feel increasingly uncertain.
Just like now, moonlight streamed into the carriage, casting spots of light on her. Outside, the sound of insects chirped rhythmically while he sat there leisurely. The glances he threw her way were truly captivating.
His eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips—his handsome face—every lively expression on it was so alluring that she couldn't help but want to reach out and touch that face so close to her.
This was seduction—blatant seduction. She breathed deeply; sweat formed in her palms. It took great resolve not to let her fingers brush against his brow or the corners of his eyes.
Clearing her throat, she said, "Lord Jun, it's getting late; please return."
Zhong Xue responded with a soft "Hmm," his fiery gaze lingering on her face, shoulders, and chest, making her feel like a prime cut of meat ready to be cooked and served to him.
"The night wind is chilly; I've given you my carriage. Can Spring Consort bear to let This Lord suffer in this cold wind?"
San Chun gritted her teeth. "Don't call me Spring Consort."
Had he not rested in her carriage these past few days? Would he freeze to death tonight?
"Fine, I won't call you that anymore." He raised an eyebrow at her and then removed his outer garment, tossing it aside. He leaned back with his hands behind his head, appearing completely at ease.
San Chun was so frightened that she covered her collar, "Is Lord Jun really that desperate?"
Desperate? Zhong Xue looked at her nervous expression and found it somewhat amusing. A beauty like her could be considered quite tender.
He laughed, "Don't worry, This Lord has a good appetite."
She really didn't want to imagine herself as a delicious meal, but couldn't help but say, "I'm not tasty."
"As long as you're easy to digest."
"Will you break your teeth on me?"
"I can get a set of dentures." He winked, then winked again, and ground his teeth as if he wouldn't give up until he had her in his mouth.
At that moment, San Chun felt like a giant stone was pressing down on her heart. She glared at him fiercely, refusing to show any sign of retreat, just like encountering a wolf in the wild; even if she was scared, she had to look it in the eye. The one who looked away first would lose.
Seeing her like this, Zhong Xue smiled even more broadly. He hadn't intended to take her here anyway. Since he couldn't marry that person, he would marry her instead. It had to be a proper marriage with a grand red bridal sedan chair brought to his home and her placed on the wedding bed. He had already waited for so many years; what was a little longer?
Comment 0 Comment Count