Chapter 75: I’ll Sleep With Whoever You Tell Me To

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: I’ll Sleep With Whoever You Tell Me To

’Such a cold, heartless woman. And he’d been foolish enough to think she ever had real feelings for him.’

The sun blazed overhead, but Xie Jinbai felt a chill.

He tightened his arms, pulling the woman in his embrace closer. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his lips pressing against her skin as he inhaled her uniquely pleasant, fresh scent.

His breathing was heavy and ragged.

His hot breath ghosted over the side of her neck, turning the fair, delicate skin red.

Still not satisfied, he took a soft patch of her skin between his lips and began to suck gently.

"Don’t do that..."

Cui Lingyao could no longer bear it and turned her head away.

Xie Jinbai hummed in a low voice and obediently let go, only to press his lips to the red mark he’d left. He pecked it lovingly and asked, "Do you really need me to have a child with another woman before you’ll marry me again?"

His voice was gentle and husky.

It was as if her words had actually tempted him.

Cui Lingyao froze for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Perhaps because he had been disappointed by her so many times, Xie Jinbai didn’t even feel much pain.

He reached out and stopped her head mid-nod. "Since you’re so magnanimous," he said lightly, "why don’t you just marry me and help me take a few concubines? Then you can tell me who to have a child with. How about that?"

Cui Lingyao: "..."

Her brow furrowed tightly.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine the scene he was describing.

"Not possible?"

Seeing her silence, Xie Jinbai smiled. "In any case, you don’t care how many women I have, nor do you care who I have children with. So why not just marry me sooner? That way, you can manage all the women in the back courtyard."

’How very considerate of him.’

’He’s even concerned about her managing his concubines.’

A strange feeling rose in Cui Lingyao’s heart.

She mulled over the feeling for a moment before pressing her lips together. "No. I’ll still wait until after you have a child to marry you."

"What’s the difference?" Xie Jinbai asked.

Cui Lingyao fell silent. ’Of course, I can’t tell him I never planned on marrying him again and only want him to have a child.’

She thought for a moment and said, "I don’t want to share a husband."

’Doesn’t want to share a husband...’

’What an utterly contradictory reason.’

Xie Jinbai’s eyes turned cold. "If that’s the case, then why are you telling me to go sleep with someone else?"

A smirk played on his lips. "...Or is it that Yaoyao wants to keep the child and get rid of the mother? You’re waiting for me to take a few concubines and have children, and then once you marry into the family, you’ll dismiss them all to clear the way for yourself?"

A woman who bore an heir for the Royal Family had to be given a proper title and be provided for by them.

Besides, Xie Jinbai’s status was unlike any other.

How could the mother of a royal descendant be dismissed so casually?

Cui Lingyao was momentarily speechless, unable to answer.

Xie Jinbai chuckled. "Marry me first, and we can discuss the rest slowly. I’ll listen to you. I’ll sleep with whomever you tell me to. And if you don’t want to share a husband, then I promise you, I will only have you for the rest of my life. No matter what happens in the future, I will never take a concubine."

When it came to strategic games, Cui Lingyao realized she was truly no match for him.

In just a few sentences, he had twisted the conversation right back to where he wanted it.

And she... she was actually a little tempted.

’...If she could tell him who to sleep with, would she still have to worry about him not having a child?’

For this mission, the System Energy was low, so time was flowing at the same rate in both worlds. For every day Cui Lingyao spent in Great Yue, she would be asleep for a day in the real world.

She couldn’t afford to take her time like she did before.

She had to complete the mission and go back as soon as possible.

She needed to get back to her university studies. That was her world, where her soul belonged.

Noticing her hesitation, Xie Jinbai’s expression faltered slightly, and he inconspicuously lowered his gaze.

’She was clearly still holding a grudge about what happened three years ago and had no real feelings for him.’

’She wasn’t willing to marry him.’

’So... what was it that had tempted her?’

’Which of his words had just made her waver?’

Xie Jinbai replayed their conversation in his mind. Something clicked, and his deep-set eyes suddenly hardened.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from outside the courtyard.

"Master," Li Yong’s hushed voice came from outside. "Eldest Young Master Shen is here. He says he’s looking for his cousin."

As the words reached her ears, Cui Lingyao froze and immediately tried to turn her head to look.

But a pair of long, slender fingers tightened on her chin, stopping her from moving.

Xie Jinbai wouldn’t let her look.

He wouldn’t allow her to get so agitated over another man’s arrival.

Even with a courtyard gate between them, even if she couldn’t actually see Shen Tingyu standing outside, he still wouldn’t allow it.

The corner of his mouth curved into a smirk, but his eyes held a contradictory, deep chill. "Didn’t you say you don’t like him? What’s this, then?"

’Look at that. Hearing that Shen Tingyu had arrived, her reaction made it very hard to believe she didn’t care about him at all.’

His passive-aggressive tone, each word dripping with jealousy, left Cui Lingyao speechless.

Unwilling to start another argument with him, she patiently pulled his hand away and said in a low voice, "You can’t always be so handsy. It’s true we were once husband and wife, but right now, I am Pei Shuyao. We are not in a position to be hugging and holding each other."

That much was true.

Xie Jinbai smiled and nodded. "Fair enough. But if you just marry me again, it’ll be fine. It’s not like I won’t take responsibility."

’It always came back to making their relationship official.’

The mere thought that she had a verbal marriage agreement with another man made it impossible for him to stay calm.

The courtyard gate was knocked on again.

"Master, Eldest Young Master Shen is here, he..."

"Yaoyao!"

Li Yong’s words were cut off by an anxious voice. "Yaoyao, are you in there?"

In their few days of interaction, Cui Lingyao had come to see Shen Tingyu as a gentle and refined man. He spoke in an unhurried manner, his voice always clear and pleasant. This was the first time she had ever heard him sound so anxious and agitated.

She hurriedly opened her mouth to answer, but a large hand clamped over it. Cui Lingyao’s eyes flew wide, and she instinctively tried to pull his hand away.

Her lips moved against his palm.

Her warm breath ghosted over his fingertips.

Xie Jinbai’s eyes darkened slightly. He let go of her and said, "We haven’t resolved our issue yet. Don’t get distracted, Yaoyao..."

As he spoke, he arched an eyebrow. "Is that what he calls you?"

Cui Lingyao was furious. She lowered her voice and said, "Don’t forget the name of this body."

’She wanted to say that his "Yaoyao" wasn’t the same as *his* "Yaoyao".’

But in Xie Jinbai’s eyes, they were one and the same person.

Both were his Yaoyao.

"Let go of me!" Cui Lingyao struggled out of his grasp. "It’s getting late. The Zhao Family will be seeing their guests out soon."

The implication was that she needed to go back.

Xie Jinbai smiled. "You should at least make things clear before you leave."

He bent down and kissed the anger in her eyes. "Will you marry me or not? Give me an answer, Yaoyao."

"Hm?" His lips brushed against her eyelashes with each peck as he murmured, "How about I go to the Shen Mansion tomorrow to propose?"

"Don’t!" Cui Lingyao refused instantly. Seeing his expression darken, she quickly added, "You’re being too hasty. You have to give me time to think. This is a lifelong commitment. I need to think about it seriously and consider it carefully."

Her words were faultless.

Xie Jinbai’s expression softened. "Fine."

He hadn’t expected to coax her into letting go of all their past grievances and easily agreeing to marry him in a single meeting anyway.

The fact that she was now willing to even consider it was already a pleasant surprise.