Chapter 64: Tell Me, Have You Kissed Him?

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Tell Me, Have You Kissed Him?

Xie Jinbai took a deep breath, forcing down the wicked impulse. He smiled and asked, "Tell me, if I wanted to take you away right now, do you think I could do it?"

Cui Lingyao was horrified. "I am a respectable young woman, you can’t..."

"There’s nothing I can’t do!"

No longer able to restrain himself, Xie Jinbai shot to his feet and strode over to her. He reached out, grabbing her chin and tilting her head up. "Cui Lingyao," he said coldly, "you remember this. There is nothing I cannot do."

They were very close, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at her. His gaze was ruthless, utterly ferocious.

With her chin held fast, Cui Lingyao couldn’t even turn her face away. She was so frightened that her breathing grew shallow.

She was terrified.

Xie Jinbai’s heart suddenly softened.

"Don’t be afraid..."

He released her chin. With one hand cupping the nape of her neck and the other wrapped tightly around her waist, he pulled her forcefully into his arms. He lowered his head, burying his face in the crook of her neck and deeply inhaling her scent.

Like an addict.

"Prince!"

Cui Lingyao pressed her hands against his shoulders, pushing with all her might. "Prince, you have the wrong person! My name is Pei Shuyao, not..."

"Stop denying it, Yaoyao. I would never be mistaken about you."

The man’s muffled voice sounded against her neck.

Xie Jinbai’s lips were pressed against the pulse of her neck, his warm breath fanning out with every word and staining that side of her neck red.

’How did it come to this?’

’This must be his way of testing me.’

’I can’t admit it.’

Cui Lingyao’s scalp tingled with dread, but she forced herself to state, "I am a young woman from the Pei family of Pingzhou. My father, Pei Shu, was a scholar personally selected by His Majesty in the twenty-first year of the Jingtai era. Thirteen years ago, he was appointed governor of Yunzhou and died in office from an illness brought on by overwork. My surname is Pei, not Cui. Prince, you have the wrong person!"

The more she spoke, the tighter the arm around her waist became. Even the head that had been resting rather docilely against her neck began to move as she spoke.

He was kissing her neck.

His warm lips pressed against the artery in her neck, licking, bit by bit.

"Prince!!!"

Cui Lingyao was truly frantic now. Her hands struggled against his shoulders, and her voice was a mixture of panic and fury. "Though I may not have a father or brother to protect me, I am still a young woman from a good family! My father was an official, a governor! I will not allow you to humiliate me like this!"

She played the part of a young lady being accosted by a powerful stranger, and she was quite convincing.

She had an air of integrity, an unyielding spirit that would rather break than bend. It showed great strength of character.

If Xie Jinbai hadn’t already confirmed her identity, he might have actually been fooled.

He tilted his head, leaning close to her crimson ear, and whispered, "A few kisses count as humiliation?"

Before she could answer, he chuckled. "Then why don’t you do the math? How many times have you ’humiliated’ me?"

’Before they were even married, she would pull him in and kiss him wildly.’

’It was a struggle for him to endure, but he could never bear to refuse her passion. He always let her be the one to kiss him.’

’Now, when it’s his turn to kiss her neck just once, it’s considered humiliation?’

At some unknown thought, Xie Jinbai’s breath caught.

He slowly lifted his head from the crook of her neck to find her eyes.

Soon, their eyes met.

Her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes were filled with a mixture of panic and rage—a genuine revulsion for his intimacy.

A familiar, dull ache spread through his chest. Xie Jinbai’s eyes narrowed, and he stared fixedly at the woman before him. "Have you ’humiliated’ him?" he asked.

"..." For a moment, Cui Lingyao didn’t understand.

"I’m asking you." The hand on the nape of her neck tightened slightly as Xie Jinbai lowered his head, pressing his forehead against hers. "Have you ’humiliated’ Shen Tingyu like this?"

’She was so bold, completely different from the prim and proper noble ladies of the Capital City.’

’Back then, when their feelings were mutual but before they were even engaged, she had dared to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him.’

’Now, she was betrothed to Shen Tingyu. He’d even seen them having a romantic, moonlit rendezvous.’

’So...’

Images of the woman in his arms being intimate with another man flashed through his mind. Xie Jinbai’s expression changed instantly, and the hand clutching her nape tightened again and again. "Tell me! Have you kissed him?"

"What does that have to do with you, Prince!"

The back of her neck was held in a death grip, the arm around her waist was unmoving, and her struggling was utterly useless. He completely ignored her explanations, blindly persisting with his nonsensical questions...

Cui Lingyao was furious. "I told you, my surname is Pei!" she shouted. "I’m not the Cui Lingyao you’re talking about!"

’She still won’t admit who she is!’

’Fury shot straight to his head. He wanted nothing more than to drag her back to his residence and personally teach her how to speak to him properly.’

’But as he looked into her stubborn eyes, his love still won out.’

’She had died once. It was a miracle she was alive again.’

’I should treat her better.’

’Don’t be harsh with her.’

’I can’t scare her.’

Xie Jinbai tried desperately to calm himself, but the image of her being intimate with another man refused to fade from his mind.

A sharp, sour ache made him hug her even tighter. "I won, didn’t I? You have to tell me. Have you kissed him?"

Cui Lingyao, hand still pressed against his shoulder, frowned. "This is your question?"

When he nodded, Cui Lingyao let out an inexplicable laugh.

It was unclear if she was laughing at him or at herself.

"No," she said faintly. "I haven’t kissed him."

Xie Jinbai stared at her, his gaze intense and unwavering. He held it for a long time.

Finally, his expression slowly relaxed.

"I believe you."

He lifted her chin and pressed his forehead against hers again. "I know you’re angry with me," he whispered, "and I can explain everything. But Yaoyao, you cannot fall for another man. That is the one thing I won’t allow."

’That’s the one thing I can’t accept!’

’He couldn’t bear the thought of it at all.’

Her struggles futile, Cui Lingyao wore a wooden expression. "Prince, you really do have the wrong person."

"We both know perfectly well whether I’m mistaken or not. You’re angry with me, and you don’t want to acknowledge our connection. I don’t blame you... There’s something I’ve never told you."

Xie Jinbai looked at her expressionless face and smiled. "The first time we met, at your brother’s coming-of-age banquet, my eyes were already on you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so successful at cornering me later."

’He was heavily guarded. If he hadn’t tacitly allowed it, how could she have ever gotten close to him?’

’It was because he was just as smitten.’

’Seeing her beautiful almond eyes filled with nothing but his own reflection brought him immense joy.’

’He loved it when she racked her brains trying to pursue him.’

’He enjoyed the chase but couldn’t bear to let her pursue him for too long.’

’Unable to hold back, he began to respond, little by little.’

’Then came the time she mistook strong liquor for tea and broke out in a rash all over her body.’

’For the first time in his life, he panicked. The intense fear made him finally recognize his true feelings for her.’

’Later, she fell ill with a plague.’

’He had no official standing in her life, so he couldn’t even visit her openly.’

’Worried sick, his only recourse was to climb the wall in the middle of the night to see her.’

’She was always bold, but even more so when she was sick.’

’She dared to burrow into his arms, dared to initiate their kisses, and even dared to invite him to her bed.’

’After she recovered, he went to her home to propose marriage.’

’At the time, he thought she was the one who was deeply in love with him.’

’That her love, at least, far surpassed his for her.’

’As it turned out, he was wrong.’

’She didn’t love him.’

’When he took a concubine, she didn’t care; she even agreed cheerfully.’

’And now that she’s been reborn, not only did she not seek him out, she started chasing another man. And to top it all off, she was even trying to help other women ’land’ him.’