Chapter 76

Chapter 76: I Had Wanted to Give the Heir Apparent a Chance

However, unlike the lingering tenderness Huan Zhu had heard about in storybooks, Qi Shu Xian treated her as nothing more than a tool to vent his desire. He offered no comfort and no foreplay, and he took her right away.

A sharp pain surged through her. On the icy stone table in the courtyard, the food box and the bowls were swept to the ground.

Huan Zhu did not even have time to cry out before she felt a big hand clamp over her mouth. Qi Shu Xian had already guessed that Huan Zhu had drugged him. Since he only saw her as something to use, how could he let what happened here spread outside?

So Huan Zhu could not make a sound. Her face grew paler and paler as she endured his ruthless treatment.

[But it was fine. Everything was worth it… As long as she could become the Heir Apparent’s woman, what did a little pain matter? As long as she got through tonight, she would no longer be a maid in Ping Lan Residence that anyone could bully! She could become a master too!]

Thinking that, Huan Zhu held back her tears and forced herself to follow the man’s movements.

The night grew deeper, and the dew grew heavier. After Qi Shu Xian finally found release, he flung the woman in his arms onto the ground.

Huan Zhu was covered in marks. When she lifted her eyes and tried to look as pitiful as possible at the man who had taken her body, hoping to stir a trace of pity, she only heard a command as cold as ice: “Guards! Deal with her cleanly!”

Huan Zhu’s eyes widened in terror as she begged, “N-no! Heir Apparent! Heir Apparent, please spare this servant… This servant was only confused for a moment!”

A Shadow Guard stuffed a wad of cloth into Huan Zhu’s mouth, and all her words turned into muffled sobs.

Just as she was about to fall into despair and be dragged out, Qi Shu Xian suddenly looked over and said, “Stop.”

The Shadow Guard froze at once.

Qi Shu Xian walked up in a dark, grim silence. He pulled the cloth from her mouth and demanded, “Was it Sheng Zhi Wan? Did she tell you to do this?”

Huan Zhu shook her head hard and stammered, “N-no…”

Qi Shu Xian stared into her eyes, then asked, “Where did you get the drug?”

Huan Zhu trembled as she confessed, “I-it was a thank-you gift Han Residence sent to Princess. This servant… this servant heard Princess say she still hadn’t decided whether to forgive you, so I secretly took one pill.”

She was terrified. She had never imagined Qi Shu Xian would be this ruthless. One moment, he had pinned her down and taken whatever he wanted, as if he could swallow her whole. The next, he had ordered someone to “deal with her” without hesitation. In that crushing fear, she could not even summon the thought to lie.

Qi Shu Xian’s gaze locked on her. When he saw she truly was not hiding anything, he lifted a hand. The Shadow Guard immediately stuffed the cloth back into her mouth.

At that moment, the door to Xiao Lan Courtyard was suddenly shoved open.

Sheng Zhi Wan walked in with mockery in her eyes. Her gaze fell on Huan Zhu, whose clothes were in disarray, and Qi Shu Xian almost instinctively moved as if to block Sheng Zhi Wan’s view.

Qi Shu Xian started, “Zhi Wan, I-”

Sheng Zhi Wan cut in, her voice sharp with ridicule: “Didn’t the Heir Apparent say there was only me in your heart, and that even if the same thing happened again, you’d rather die than betray me? Then what was this in front of me?”

Huan Zhu’s body shook as she hurried to speak through the clothless moment, “Princess, p-please don’t blame the Heir Apparent. It was all this servant’s foolish wishful thinking. It was this servant’s fault…”

[She was not going to live. If the Heir Apparent wanted her dead, she could still pretend to be pitiful, but Princess loved the Heir Apparent so much – how could Princess allow a maid to covet him?]

Huan Zhu’s face turned ashen. At this point, she could only cling to one hope – that the Heir Apparent would spare her life, for the sake of how completely she adored him.

But Huan Zhu was disappointed.

Qi Shu Xian heard her words, and instead of softening, he strode forward. He lifted his foot and kicked her hard.

Huan Zhu flew back and screamed as blood spilled from her mouth.

Sheng Zhi Wan laughed coldly. “So the Heir Apparent planned to pull up your pants and pretend nothing happened? Or were you going to kill her to silence her?”

Qi Shu Xian endured the Cold Poison that was beginning to flare in his body. He looked at Sheng Zhi Wan and asked, “You knew?”

[Otherwise, how could she have barged in the moment he and Huan Zhu were done?]

Sheng Zhi Wan answered without hesitation, “Yes!”

Qi Shu Xian’s eyes reddened at once. He demanded, “Why did you do this?”

Sheng Zhi Wan raised a hand. With fingers that had been rubbed with chili, she dabbed the corner of her eye. In an instant, the outer edge of her eyes turned a pretty, delicate red.

She said, “Wasn’t it the Heir Apparent who said it? That if the same thing happened again, you’d rather die than betray me.”

Then she continued, “I noticed one pill was missing and immediately had people search the courtyard. When we checked Huan Zhu, we learned she had come to your courtyard. I had wanted to give the Heir Apparent a chance…”

Sheng Zhi Wan paused and sneered. “The list said the drug only heightened desire. The effect was a bit fierce, but it did no harm to the body. If your will was firm, you could have refused completely.”

Her lashes lowered, and she looked both disappointed and wounded as she murmured, “But I didn’t expect…”

She lifted her long lashes again. Her eyes looked faintly damp, and standing in the night, she seemed like glass that could shatter with the slightest touch. “I didn’t expect that as soon as I reached the outside, I’d hear the Heir Apparent’s voice sounding that vicious.”

When she finished, a bitter smile touched her lips.

Qi Shu Xian stopped in place. He wanted to explain, but he swallowed his words again and again, and in the end, he could not say anything.

Sheng Zhi Wan did not want to hear his explanation anyway. She glanced at Huan Zhu, who was sprawled on the ground in miserable shape, and said, “Since she is already the Heir Apparent’s woman, then in a few days, have her carried in through the side gate with Miss Meng, and let her become the Heir Apparent’s concubine.”

When Sheng Zhi Wan finished, it was not only Qi Shu Xian who froze. Huan Zhu also went blank.

[Princess was letting her live? Princess was even letting her become the Heir Apparent’s concubine? Why?]

Before she could understand, Sheng Zhi Wan had already turned and left.

Back at Ping Lan Residence, Ting Lan was still shaken. She said, “I never expected the Heir Apparent to be so ruthless. He even wanted to deal with Huan Zhu. Princess, why did you save her?”