Chapter 49: Dispute

Yan Xi’s beautiful eyes flashed with anger as she glared fiercely at Lu Zhi.

The man’s gaze was profound, revealing an unprecedented tenderness. Yet, while it might have looked like deep affection to outsiders, to Yan Xi, it was a blatant provocation and threat.

Just as she was about to speak again and struggle anew, she distinctly felt the arm Lu Zhi had wrapped around her waist tighten.

Immediately afterward, she saw the inner side of his other hand holding up a hairpin.

The hairpin was pale blue, shaped like a plum blossom—the very one Qinglian had been wearing today.

A surge of fury welled up from the bottom of her heart, and the words poised on the tip of her tongue were forcefully swallowed back.

Everything happened in a flash. The next moment, the scoundrel was already holding her close as he walked away from Marquis Xie.

The two of them walked forward—he looking straight ahead, while she still lifted her small face, staring at him with unblinking hatred.

Hidden beneath her veil, no one could see her expression.

The young girl had already bitten her lip hard and clenched her delicate hands. To use a common phrase, she hated him so much her teeth itched.

Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled back one side of his large cloak, and enveloped her entirely within his embrace.

The early spring night was still quite chilly, especially close to the water on the boat. A gust of night wind made those wearing fewer layers shiver.

Yan Xi’s hands and feet were both quite cold, but she needed no care from him.

She struggled, yet it was entirely useless.

The scoundrel’s brows were laced with a smile, his gaze dark and gloomy as he looked straight ahead.

He said nothing, yet every single action, and even every expression, spoke volumes.

Provocation, threat, warning, suppression—everything was there.

Before long, having passed through the long corridor, she was forcibly led by him to the other end of the cabin.

That side was quiet, with the doors of all the guest rooms tightly shut.

As they approached, Yan Xi saw four guards standing guard in front of a guest room not far away.

At this, Yan Xi opened her mouth, her soft voice demanding sharply, "Where are Qinglian and Taohong?! What have you done to the two of them?"

With that, she began to struggle again, raising her slender, delicate hands to strike his body.

"You bad person!"

Yet she had barely struck him a few times before Lu Zhi scooped her up horizontally, hoisting her over his shoulder in one swift motion.

"Ah!"

Yan Xi gasped in shock. Neither her hands nor her jade-like feet remained still; she continued to writhe and struggle, her tender little voice constantly crying out and scolding:

"You utterly vile creature, you will come to a bad end sooner or later! Let go of me!"

Lu Zhi raised his foot and kicked open the door of the guest room guarded by the soldiers.

With a loud bang, the door slammed shut. Immediately afterward, Yan Xi’s body landed on the bed.

The young girl let out another soft gasp, then turned around to look back, her lovely eyes brimming with tears.

Candles were lit in the room, casting a bright glow. It was neither too small nor too large, clear at a glance with two beds and a table. There was no sign of Qinglian or Taohong. Shifting her gaze back to the tall man standing before her, she heard him leisurely open his mouth.

"Shen Yan Xi, you are testing my patience..."

"How dare you deceive me, humph..."

He half-removed the thumb ring from his hand, twirled it, and put it back on. Saying this, he turned his head slightly before turning his gaze back again. At the same time, he took a step forward, his towering figure looming downward closer to Yan Xi. Reaching out a large hand, he ripped the veil from her face and pinched her small chin.

"You've grown tired of living!"

***

Yan Xi’s heart beat wildly; it was no exaggeration to say it felt as though it were about to leap out of her throat. The tears in her eyes were about to fall, yet she refused to show the slightest sign of weakness.

Things had come to this; she was already completely exposed before him. How could she possibly show weakness now? Did he expect her to beg him?

In his dreams!

She had no idea what had happened to Qinglian and Taohong, nor how Qinglian’s hairpin had ended up in his hands.

Thinking and pondering thus, her little voice choked with sobs as she immediately retorted:

"Yes, I am tired of living! Just kill me! Where are Qinglian and Taohong? What have you done to the two of them? Why is Qinglian’s hairpin in your hand? Where are the two of them? Tell me!"

Lu Zhi did not answer. He pulled the hairpin out from his robes again and, without even glancing at it, tossed it casually onto the floor.

Yan Xi did not understand what he meant by this, but she could also see that the fire in his heart was blazing fiercely, and she naturally knew he was bound to fly into a rage.

So what if he did?

Things had reached this point; there was nothing she was afraid to say anymore.

Yan Xi raised her hands, pushing and beating him with all her might. Then she grabbed the lapels of his robe, weeping as she poured out a torrent of words:

"Bastard! If you dare to touch them, I will never let you go! Not a single hair on their heads can be harmed, not a single one! Why don't you just kill me along with them? Go ahead and kill me!"

"Now that it’s come to this, there is nothing I refuse to admit."

"For this past month or more, I have been coaxing and deceiving you, simply to make you lower your guard so I could find a chance to run away and leave you forever! What qualifications do you have, what ability do you have to make me resign myself to my fate and follow you wholeheartedly without even a title? What do you have besides a pretty face?"

"Lu Wuyang, you underestimated me! I am the daughter of Grand General Shen Xun, and my father is a peerless hero who defended the people of Da Yong! It is true that I am a delicate woman unable to go to the battlefields, but that does not mean I have no backbone! With good food, fine wine, and rich clothes, do you expect me to follow you for the rest of my life? Keep dreaming! My father, my uncle, my Prince Sheng uncle—they are all men as flawless as white jade. I have seen the finest men in this world; how could I ever take a fancy to scum like you? Just because of your face?"

Her voice was not loud, and her tone remained exceedingly tender, but every word was resolute and struck straight to the heart. Her delicate hands tightly gripped the lapels of his robe.

The man unexpectedly did not block or resist her. First, he let her beat him, then let her grab him, and allowed her to say every single word to the end.

Until she finished speaking, Lu Zhi let out a cold "humph" of laughter, wrapped his large hand around one of her wrists, and glared at her with burning eyes. His handsome face leaned in closer, staring straight into her face.

"What a wonderful speech! But so what? Haven't you fallen back into the palm of my hand? I simply refuse to let you go. I will keep you by my side—what can you do about it?"

Yan Xi glared at him even more fiercely, scolding, "You are utterly shameless! Have you no shame? What gives you the right?!"

As she spoke, she raised her hand to strike his face, but Lu Zhi intercepted it with a single grasp.

Being delicate, the young girl was not only caught by the wrist, but also pressed down by the shoulders onto the bed. In the blink of an inch, both her hands, her arms, and her entire body were tightly restrained.

The man leaned over, pinning her beneath him, his face moving even closer to hers.

The distance between them was now negligible—so close that their noses seemed to brush and their breaths intertwined.

Yan Xi struggled continuously, yet it was completely useless. He had drawn so close that she could no longer see his facial features clearly, sensing only that his eyes seemed stained with a wash of crimson.

Then, a fierce voice issued from his mouth, piercing straight into her ears.

"Because you are mine."

Yan Xi struggled. "I am not yours!"

"You are mine!"

"I am not anyone's!"

"I say you are mine, and you are mine! Shen Yan Xi, I do not wish to humiliate you here, so do not provoke me!"

His voice grew deeper and increasingly fierce.

Yan Xi understood the meaning behind his latter words.

She was afraid—she was terrifyingly afraid of him going mad in this place and doing something inhuman!

Yet she was not his!

She belonged to herself! She was not anyone's property!

"You are not!"

Her eyes blurred with tears, and the person before her became a hazy blur. If she had exercised caution earlier, keeping her voice down for fear of being overheard by outsiders, she now threw all restraint to the winds.

Yan Xi practically screamed it out.

Then she saw Lu Zhi’s gaze grow even gloomier. He gradually straightened up, moving slightly further away from her.

Tears streamed from Yan Xi’s eyes. As her blurred vision cleared once more, she finally saw his face and his eyes clearly.

It was no illusion; the whites of his eyes were indeed stained an angry crimson.

The sight was terrifying and ghastly.

The air congealed, and the room fell into a dead silence, without a single sound.

Only the two of them remained, staring directly into each other's eyes.

Her chest heaved up and down. The next moment, she felt him retrieve something from his robes, and before she knew what it was, a puff of smoke-like substance drifted toward her.

The young girl coughed twice, and then, watching his cold expression, she lost consciousness.

***

From this location, it was roughly a three-hour boat ride to Yangzhou.

Night finally descended into tranquility, leaving only the sound of the water waves.

In the guest room, the candlelight flickered weakly, the flame trembling as if about to die.

The two of them lay and sat—one with eyes closed, the other with eyes open.

He faced her, motionless.

For a long, long time, the candle flame finally flickered out completely.

The sky began to pale with the dawn of fish-belly white.

Inside the passenger boat, various rooms began to show signs of movement.

Two guards had stood watch outside all night.

As day gradually broke, the guest room door was opened.

The two guards bowed slightly as Lu Zhi lowered his head and stepped out of the private room, giving instructions to each of them.

The guards acknowledged the orders and headed in opposite directions.

Another half-hour or so passed as the morning sun slowly emerged over the distant river.

The passenger boat docked.

Over a hundred soldiers boarded the vessel first to clear a path for Lu Zhi.

The boatmen stood with bowed backs as the man walked down holding a young girl in his arms. The girl’s face was covered by a veil, and she was wrapped in his cloak, sleeping obediently in his arms...

After he disembarked, the boatmen called for the remaining passengers to leave their cabins and go ashore.

The window of the first private room was lowered by a man, who turned back to look at the woman behind him.

The woman happened to look up at him as well.

He nodded slightly to her and stepped out of the room first.

Following closely behind, a maid supported the woman, carrying their bundles as they emerged.

Along with them, disembarking from the three rear private rooms, were a total of six maids and four pages.

The man walked on the deck with his hands clasped behind his back, then stepped ashore, his gaze once again fixing upon Lu Zhi not far away...

He watched as Lu Zhi carried the young girl into a carriage without looking back.

The carriage soon rolled into motion, followed by a throng of guards, and before long, they departed from the ferry pier...