Chapter 73: "I Will Force You, What Can You Do About It?

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: "I Will Force You, What Can You Do About It?

Aside from the Emperor, he never had to worry about pleasing anyone. Not even the Empress could force him to do anything.

A wife and her husband are equals.

He was a man of immense power and influence, second to none. As his wife, her status should be just as exalted.

She should be received with the highest honors wherever she went.

People should have adored her, pampered her, catered to her every whim, and done everything in their power to win her favor.

Who would have dared to show her any disrespect?

And yet, what did she just say?

She said that just to attend a banquet, she had to be on constant alert, terrified of making a single mistake in her words or actions, lest someone use it as leverage against him.

How utterly bizarre.

Only the powerless and insignificant—the kind of trash that a superior could dispose of with a single word—had to be so cautious, their reputations so easily tarnished by a few stray comments.

Was he one of them?

Xie Jinbai’s expression was complicated. "Three years ago," he said, "the only person qualified to admonish you was the Empress. But she values her reputation for being virtuous and wouldn’t have reprimanded you without reason. Besides her, if anyone had dared to say a single bad word about you, I would have torn them limb from limb."

He would never have allowed her to suffer even the slightest bit of unfairness.

"..." Cui Lingyao remained silent, not saying a word.

With her head lowered, she looked so docile.

Xie Jinbai’s gaze softened. He reached out to smooth a stray lock of hair at her temple and coaxed softly, "The Empress has been poisoned. She’s so ill she can’t get out of bed, so she’s in no position to cause trouble. Come back with me. I promise you’ll never suffer another moment of grievance from now on, alright?"

His voice was gentle enough to drip honey. If any outsider had seen him now, they would have thought he was possessed. But upon hearing his words, Cui Lingyao still shook her head.

"No."

She said no.

Her voice was quiet but firm.

Xie Jinbai’s movements faltered, and the light in his eyes dimmed, inch by inch.

Cui Lingyao didn’t look up, oblivious to how dangerous his gaze had become.

She said, "I can’t see this future you’re promising. But the humiliation and pain of the past were very real. In the three years I was married to you, the greatest grievances I suffered came from you. It had nothing to do with the Empress."

"It’s true you had your reasons for marrying Li Wanrong, but it’s also true that you deliberately kept the truth from me because you thought I didn’t care about you, and you wanted to make me jealous..."

’He was right. The Empress valued her virtuous reputation and had always prided herself on being fair in her rewards and punishments. She never rebuked anyone without cause.’

’Even though she didn’t like her as a daughter-in-law, she would only occasionally remind her to be more magnanimous, not to monopolize her husband. And since she couldn’t bear a child, she should persuade her husband to take a concubine to carry on the family line.’

’Other than that, the Empress never openly tormented her or caused her any real grievance.’

’In her three years of marriage, the greatest humiliation she had ever endured came from the man beside her in bed, the one who constantly professed his love for her.’

The day the concubine entered the household.

At his wedding banquet with another woman, he sent someone to summon her to offer her congratulations.

When she tried to refuse the celebratory toast, he forcefully commanded her to drink it, all to save Li Wanrong’s pride.

Although he had switched the wine in her cup with water beforehand, in the eyes of the many guests, her own dignity had been utterly trampled.

And he stood by coldly, watching as Li Wanrong mocked her relentlessly.

These were all facts.

"Pain is pain. It’s not something I can just erase because you’ve explained it all away, telling me it was all a misunderstanding and that you had your reasons. I can’t just let bygones be bygones and reconcile with you,"

Cui Lingyao took a deep breath and looked up at him. "Xie Jinbai, a life stands between us—my life. As long as I remember the past, I can’t let it go. To be honest with you, the first time I saw you after my rebirth, I felt none of the complete trust and joy I once had..."

’She didn’t know if she had ever truly loved him.’

’And if she had, how much had she given?’

’But even if there had been real feelings, they had long since soured. They soured the moment he proposed taking a concubine without explaining why. The moment Li Wanrong entered the household and he forced her to drink their wedding wine. The moment he came to bully and relentlessly question her on his wedding night with another woman. By then, it had already turned rotten.’

’In those last six months, she couldn’t feel his so-called love. All she saw was his unpredictable moods, his hot-and-cold behavior, and the effort he put into other women.’

’So very attentive.’

’A courtyard full of red silk, a wedding that far exceeded the appropriate scale.’

’A concubine wearing the bright red wedding gown of a principal wife, the two of them hosting guests together.’

’He made her witness it all with her own eyes.’

’She had even drunk the celebratory wine for his marriage to another woman.’

’And all because he thought she didn’t care about him, that her heart wasn’t truly his.’

’So he bullied her like this.’

’What could he have been thinking?’

’Was he really just angry that she didn’t seem to love him enough?’

’No!’

’He wanted to tame her.’

’To make her bow her head and submit.’

’To make her grovel and compete for his favor.’

’To make her like all the other women of this era: to see her husband as her whole world and put him first in everything.’

’That was his so-called love.’

’But in the end, he took it too far and lost control.’

’Her death was so sudden.’

’And so, he regretted it.’

’If... if she hadn’t escaped by faking her death, if the system hadn’t brought her home...’

’How much longer would she have had to endure that living hell?’

’If he never got the ’care’ he wanted from her, would he have, in a fit of anger, married several more women?’

’And then, would he still have insisted on not touching them?’

’Even if he didn’t plan to, accidents could always happen.’

Having seen countless prime-time soap operas, Cui Lingyao’s mind filled with a series of dramatic follow-up scenarios. Her brow furrowed tightly, and looking at the still-handsome, cold-faced man before her, she found it hard to bear.

She composed herself and said earnestly, "I’m just so tired of being with you. I was lucky enough to get a second chance, and I don’t want to be with you anymore, to be your Princess Consort. I just want to live a peaceful, simple life. Xie Jinbai, please don’t force me, can you?"

...Force.

Xie Jinbai lowered his gaze, mulling over the word. For a moment, he almost felt like laughing.

"And what if I insist on forcing you?"

He tilted his head back, taking a deep breath to suppress the aching pain surging in his chest. He ground out the words, "I’m going to force this. What are you going to do about it?"

Cui Lingyao was utterly dumbfounded.

She knew he wasn’t a reasonable man, but she never imagined he could be such a scoundrel.

’What happened to his pride?’

’He was the man who never bowed to anyone, so how had he learned to force himself on a woman who rejected him?’

Xie Jinbai leaned in, his deep, ink-black eyes locking onto hers. He said slowly, "Then I’ll be honest with you, too. From the day you married me, you could only ever be mine. It doesn’t matter if you change your appearance, become a whole new person, or are reborn from death completely unrecognizable. You can only be mine."

"..." Cui Lingyao’s heart pounded in her chest. She swallowed nervously but still forced herself to say, "But I don’t want to."

"That’s not important," Xie Jinbai said with a small smile. "Although I don’t want to force you, on this matter, your wishes aren’t that important either."

’If this were a battlefield,’

’then possessing her would be the highest-level command.’

’And on this matter, not even her own will could shake his resolve.’