Chapter 132: The Night Before the Exchange
The corners of Long Heng’s mouth twitched. With just a simple wave of his hands, the old grannies dragged Lin Qianzi back into the room. They treated her like she was nothing more than a dead hound.
“How can you treat her like that? Isn’t she your betrothed!?” Luo Yunzheng was a man from the jianghu, and couldn’t stand being openly provoked like that. His previous composure vanished, and he nearly lunged forward to start a battle to the death with the prince.
“Hahaha! Now that’s the funniest joke this prince has heard in a long while. Luo Yunzheng, you better treat Bai Xiangxiu well. Or else… I’m sure you’ve heard of the extent of my temper. I’ll have you know why the word Li was bestowed to me.” He flourished his sleeves coldly and went back inside. The servants closed the door behind him, cleanly separating the two men.
Inside, Long Heng could finally breath a sigh of relief when he was certain the other person could no longer see him. He slumped into his chair with a thud and clenched his fists so tightly that his nails drew blood, which soon trickled down his sleeves.
It’s such a relief that she’s not hurt. I was so… worried that something might have happened to her when we suddenly lost contact. He hadn’t even realized how panicked and worried he had become in the past two days that she had been missing. He had barely slept, and had only eaten a sliver of a meal. On the battlefield, he tried to catch a nap as often as he could. But now, he couldn’t even catch a wink of sleep no matter how hard he tried.
Kneading his forehead with his hands, he told himself that he absolutely had to make it through the next two days. Actually, he could have insisted on making the hostage swap tomorrow, but had been afraid that the other party might pick up on his desperation. If they’d caught wind of it and upped the ante with even more ludicrous demands, he would’ve been in a bad situation. In reality, if any outsiders found out that he was trading his betrothed for his concubine, they would decry it as overturning the natural order. He wouldn’t be afraid of that fallout, but he was sure that it would put Bai Xiangxiu in a difficult position.
However, he wasn’t a weak person either. Although he was disgusted by her act, Duan Yunying still smiled at her elegantly.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already had someone contact the prince. There’s no need for you to be in a such a hurry.”
“Oh? But wouldn’t it be easier for us to go to him instead of sending another person to notify him? I don’t think we have to worry that anyone will recognize me in my current predicament.”
What she said was true. Duan Yunying wholeheartedly believed that even Long Heng likely wouldn’t recognize Bai Xiangxiu even if she was placed right in front of him at this moment. A thought suddenly came to his mind. Would Long Heng still be fond of her if he saw Bai Xiangxiu in her current state? If the prince was to lose interest in Bai Xiangxiu, then what was the point of sleeping with her?
Despite her initial joy, Bai Xiangxiu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. Her heart trembled for a second as a bad feeling crept into her heart. It felt like things were about to take a turn for the worse. She gritted her teeth. It seems that it’s not so easy to deal with this man after all. She couldn’t predict what he was planning to do, which caused a cold wind to blow through her heart.
“Madame Xiu. You mustn’t act on your impulses. We have to plan before we act.” His little white rabbit image put up a valiant appearance again as he tried to calmly talk things over with her.
However, Bai Xiangxiu was sure that he was actually planning something on the inside. If that is the case, then what should my next step be? Should I try to escape again and find my own way back to the prince’s side? He’ll probably notice my actions this time though. Hmm… Maybe I should try being reckless? Since I can no longer care less about maintaining my image anymore, why should I continue to act like some innocent girl in front of him?
“No! I must see the prince! I want to see him! Now! If you don’t agree to it then I will find my way back to him myself!!” She was trotting out the act of crying and throwing tantrums now. If things don’t work out even with this, then she’d threaten to take her own life. It was a childish move she’d never once used in her life, and she wasn’t sure if it would actually work on him.
One had to understand that men hated her actions right now the most, particularly her shamelessly insistent attitude. This further deepened his disdain of the idea of using her for his plans. Based on how ugly her appearance was right now, Long Heng would probably want to toss her away too!
Since it has come to this, I might as well just swap her out for the other hostage. Then, Luo Yunzheng will owe me a favor. There will come a day where we can deal with Long Heng together because we both want something.
Drifting Leaves Tavern was only five miles or thereabouts away from Red Maple Mountain Villa, and was coincidentally on their way to the Villa. However, he still had to find a way to delay their journey by a day, because Luo Yunzheng had sent him a letter to notify him that the time of the exchange had only been brought up by a day, and told him to make his move on Bai Xiangxiu quickly.
Even the thought of putting his hands on her disgusted him to no end. So, he decided that it would be enough to just delay the journey by a day.
Duan Yunying had always been a calculating man. So, halfway through their journey, he started to cough violently. He actually coughed up quite a large amount of blood too!
The curious being that she was, Bai Xiangxiu naturally had to poke her head out to see what the ruckus was all about. When she saw the state Duan Yunying was in, she lost all colour from her face and exclaimed, “Are you feeling alright?” She was extremely curious as to how he managed to cough up so much blood.
Meaning powerful, strong, and strict
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