Caught off guard, Jingyi was kicked off his seat and fell with a loud thud.
Hearing the commotion outside, the coachman stopped the carriage. "Sir, has something happened?"
Jing Yi rubbed his backside and sat back down, his face dark as he said, "It's nothing, keep driving..."
Qu Surou cursed him inwardly, thinking he deserved it, and wanted to kick him again. He moved away a little, gritting his teeth as he said, "His Majesty has decreed this marriage and ordered me to bring you back to the manor to settle you in properly! Don't cause me any trouble!"
Qu Surou was furious. "A marriage decree? Marry whoever you want, it's none of my business! Why are you arresting me!"
"You're so vulgar!" Jing Yi, a scholar, couldn't stand Qu Surou's words. "His Majesty has decreed our marriage; he wants us to get married!"
"Is he crazy? Who would want to marry you?!"
"I don't want to marry you yet!" Jing Yi flung his sleeve. "Anyway, you'd better stay obediently in the Prime Minister's residence for the time being and don't cause any trouble. I'll find a way to get His Majesty to rescind this decree!"
"Is there even a question? Is Huan Changming out of his mind? Why does he insist on me marrying you? What good does it do him?"
Jingyi did not answer Qu Surou's question. He could roughly guess what the emperor was thinking. Qu Surou's identity was different from Huan Juntian's. If the emperor wanted to restrain Huan Juntian, he could openly place her under house arrest.
However, Qu Surou is a woman and poses no threat to His Majesty's throne. His Majesty betrothed Qu Surou to him for two reasons: first, to have him keep an eye on Qu Surou and prevent her from causing trouble, thus keeping Lu Pianpian in check; and second, simply to extinguish any thoughts in his heart and to warn him what thoughts he can and cannot have.
Even without Qu Surou, His Majesty would have chosen other women for him.
The so-called imperial decree of marriage is nothing more than His Majesty using this as an excuse to kill two birds with one stone.
Seeing that Jing Yi remained silent, Qu Surou warned, "You'd better make Huan Changming give up on the idea of us getting married, or I'll drag you down with me even if I die!"
Jing Yi snorted coldly, "Miss Qu, don't worry. There are many women in the entire Li Kingdom who want to become the Prime Minister's wife, and I certainly won't force you to stay."
"That would be great!" Qu Surou's temper flared up quickly but subsided just as fast. "By the way, do you know how my two junior brothers are doing?"
She was unaware that Huan Juntian had been rescued by Lu Pianpian.
"They're all lucky; they won't die."
Qu Surou was somewhat skeptical. "Are they really alright?"
"If they die, will you still be alive?"
Qu Surou buried her head in thought for a moment and realized that Jingyi was right.
Jing Yi straightened the wrinkles in his clothes. "Instead of worrying about them, you should worry about me and you first."
Once His Majesty has made a decision, it is difficult to get him to retract it.
Jing Xiang was a favorite of His Majesty. As soon as the morning court session ended, the news that His Majesty had bestowed a marriage upon Jing Xiang spread like wildfire and became a hot topic in the harem.
Two maids came to His Majesty's palace to arrange the meal. Seeing that no one was around, the two whispered to each other.
"Have you heard? Lord Jingyi was betrothed by His Majesty during the morning court session just now!"
"Such a momentous event has occurred? Tell me quickly, which family's daughter is so fortunate to be betrothed to Lord Jing..."
"Shh, keep your voice down..." The maid lowered her voice even further, "I wouldn't believe it if you told me, but the woman who was betrothed is the same saintess we had before."
"The one His Highness the Crown Prince brought back? But wasn't she with the Crown Prince—" She carefully uttered the word "treason" before continuing, "His Majesty didn't behead her, so why did he have to bestow a marriage upon her?"
"I heard that Lord Jing has fallen deeply in love with this saintess, which is why..."
The door to the inner palace was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and the maids immediately knelt down when they saw who appeared behind the door.
"Please forgive me, young master!"
Lu Pianpian had her hair down and was only wearing a thin nightgown. She was barefoot and disheveled. The maids lowered their heads immediately after taking one look.
"What... were you talking about just now?" Huan Changming had kept him up until dawn last night, and his voice was still hoarse. "Who was the Holy Maiden betrothed to?"
Discussing their masters' affairs in private was a sin, so they dared not answer now. They could only plead, "Young master, spare our lives!" and "Young master, forgive us!" hoping that Lu Pianpian would forgive them this time.
Lu Pianpian pressed on, refusing to budge, "I'll ask you one last time... who was the Holy Maiden betrothed to!"
"It's Lord Jing, it's Prime Minister Jing Yi..." The maids trembled with fear at Lu Pianpian's words and had no choice but to answer, "Young Master, we've told you the truth, can you forgive us this time?"
Lu Pianpian swayed uncontrollably for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the wall beside him to steady himself.
Jingyi and his senior sister are engaged and they are going to get married... He spent ten years and did so many changes, so why did things still turn out the way they are today?
"Who bestowed this marriage upon me..." Lu Pianpian's fingers turned white as she gripped the wall. "Who was it?!"
"This is a marriage bestowed by me!" Huan Changming strode in, and upon seeing Lu Pianpian's attire and appearance, he frowned in displeasure. "All of you, leave!"
The maids quickly withdrew, leaving only Huan Changming and Lu Pianpian in the hall.
"What kind of decorum is this, dressing like this?"
Lu Pianpian's clothes were wide open, and there were still ambiguous red marks left by him last night on her chest.
Huan Changming could ignore her before, but after last night's lovemaking, Lu Pianpian had completely become his, and only he could see her body.
He stepped forward, intending to close Lu Pianpian's clothes, but Lu Pianpian slapped his hand away, saying, "Why are you doing this?!"
"Why!"
Huan Changming felt sorry for his body, which had been forced to endure a lot from him the night before, and still felt some tenderness towards him. Even when Lu Pianpian questioned him, he did not get angry.
He brought out the answer he had thought of long ago: "The late emperor had arranged their marriage long ago. Besides, Jingyi and your senior sister are in love. And for your sake, I can forgive Qu Surou's past. I even generously granted them a marriage. What's wrong with that?"
"Mutual affection? Huan Changming, how could you say such a thing!" Lu Pianpian thought angrily. "Jingyi clearly likes you, why are you dragging my senior sister into this? If the two of them really get married, where will you put my senior sister!"
Upon hearing this, half of the tenderness in Huan Changming's eyes vanished. "When did you find out Jingyi's feelings?"
Every time Jing Yi looked at Huan Changming, the affection in his eyes was impossible to hide. Anyone with eyes could see it. Moreover, Lu Pianpian had once had those feelings for Huan Changming, so how could Lu Pianpian not understand?
Even so, Huan Changming still wanted to marry his senior sister to Jing Yi, which was pushing his senior sister into a fire pit!
The natal sword appeared in Lu Pianpian's hand. He clenched his fist, gripped the hilt tightly, raised it, pointed the sword at Huan Changming, and said in a cold voice, "Let my senior sister go."
Huan Changming glanced down at the gleaming blade of the sword and chuckled, "Lu Pianpian, last night I forced myself on you, and you couldn't bring yourself to turn your sword against me. Now, for the sake of Qu Surou, you want to kill me?"
When Lu Pianpian woke up and saw the marks on her body, she thought about dying together with Huan Changming. However, the three people who were most important to her were firmly in Huan Changming's hands. If she died, the three of them would not have a good ending.
For their sake, Lu Pianpian even gritted her teeth and endured the fact that she had lost her virginity to Huan Changming.
But now Huan Changming is going to push Qu Surou into a fire pit and marry her off to Jingyi. He knows very well what the final fate of his senior sister will be. It will be that he is forcing his senior sister to her death. He absolutely cannot tolerate Huan Changming doing this.
Huan Changming stared at Lu Pianpian's unyielding sword, knowing that she truly intended to kill him. His expression darkened. "Lu Pianpian, if you dare to kill me, you know what will happen to you."
Lu Pianpian naturally knew what the consequences would be, but if he didn't resist, was he just going to watch his senior sister go to her death?
Without further hesitation, he quickly approached Huan Changming, intending to plunge his sword into Huan Changming's chest.
Huan Changming didn't expect Lu Pianpian to make a move so quickly. He was a step too slow when he tried to dodge. Just as the sharp blade was about to pierce his chest, the tip of the sword stopped only half an inch away from his flesh.
Lu Pianpian's eyes flashed with surprise. He used all his strength to try to make the sword pierce Huan Changming, but the sword seemed to have developed its own will and did not move at all.
During the stalemate, the sword suddenly burst out with a blue light, as if to protect Huan Changming from being injured by it, thus deflecting the restriction and returning the attack to Lu Pianpian.
Lu Pianpian took the blow head-on, immediately spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her hand holding the sword trembled, and her natal sword clattered to the ground.
Lu Pianpian stared at her natal sword on the ground, her eyes filled with a deathly stillness.
A note from the author:
Lu Pianpian: Even Jian won't help me;
Huan Changming: You still have me
Chapter 45
Huan Changming picked up Lu Pianpian's sword from the ground. "Lu Pianpian, your sword is no longer effective against me."
He thought it was his own cultivation that saved him, but little did he know that it was because he possessed Lu Pianpian's spiritual bone.
Lu Pianpian's natal sword resonated with her spiritual bone. The sword mistook Huan Changming, who possessed Lu Pianpian's spiritual bone, for Lu Pianpian. Since the natal sword was connected to Lu Pianpian's lifeline, it could not harm Lu Pianpian. Instead, it triggered a restriction, reflecting the damage back onto Lu Pianpian, who had lost her spiritual bone.
Lu Pianpian knew this all too well. He had actually given the spirit bone to someone like Huan Changming; his foolishness had ruined his senior sister and everyone else…
"I hate you..." Lu Pianpian bent her knees, hugging herself tightly, helpless like a child who had lost everything. "Huan Changming, why did you do this to me? I hate you so much..."
The word "hate" sounded particularly grating to Huan Changming's ears.
"You hate me?" Huan Changming grabbed Lu Pianpian's hand, pulled her up from the ground, and said maliciously, "Then I really want to ask you, what does it feel like to be pleasured by someone you hate?"
He deliberately evoked Lu Pianpian's memories of the previous night; those lewd images flashed through Lu Pianpian's mind repeatedly. He closed his eyes in pain, "You forced me to do all that!"
Huan Changming, however, refused to let him go. "I forced you... I admit I did use force on you at first, but your reaction afterwards didn't seem like you were forced at all!"
“Lu Pianpian, is it so hard to admit that I fucked you well?” Huan Changming deliberately whispered in Lu Pianpian’s ear, “I remember very clearly the way you begged for mercy and acted horny at the end…”
Lu Pianpian's chest heaved with blood and qi, and blood once again uncontrollably gushed from his mouth, staining his thin clothes wet and red.
He covered his ears, and when he opened his eyes, a tear rolled down his cheek. He murmured, "Kill me, or I'll kill you one day..."
When Huan Changming saw him spitting blood, most of his resentment subsided, but the other party's words made him furious.
"Lu Pianpian, you'd better remember what you said today, lest you come begging for mercy from me again in a couple of days. I'd be ashamed of you!"
After he finished speaking, he threw Lu Pianpian's sword to the ground, stormed out of the hall, and ordered, "Lock up this hall for me. Anyone who dares to let him out, I will cut off his head!"
The palace servants hurriedly locked all the doors and windows, dimming the light inside and casting shadows over Lu Pianpian's figure.
As he crouched down, intending to touch his natal sword, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Jingyi had his servants settle Qu Surou in. His Majesty's words were law, and everyone in his household treated Qu Surou as the future mistress. However, no one could help but be surprised to see that the mistress's hands and feet were bound.
The butler came to ask Jingyi, "Young Master, what do you think of the ropes on Miss Qu's body..."
The rope was tied to Qu Surou to prevent her from using her spiritual power. If it were untied now, his Prime Minister's mansion would probably be torn down by this woman.
"Ignore her, just let her stay tied up." Jingyi paused, then added, "Have the maids deliver her three meals a day on time, just make sure she doesn't starve to death."
The steward answered "yes" to his face, but was even more puzzled in his heart. Wasn't it said that his young master would marry no one but this holy maiden? Why was he acting like this after bringing her home? It was truly baffling to them, the servants.
Jing Yi was actually more anxious than he appeared. He knew Huan Changming; getting Huan Changming to take back what he had said was harder than climbing to heaven.
Jingyi had been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood. Although he entered officialdom and became tainted by its corrupt atmosphere, he still considered himself a scholar and was unwilling to tarnish his literary integrity.
In this marriage, emotionally, he already had someone else in his heart and was truly unwilling to compromise himself by marrying someone else; rationally, although Qu Surou was crude and eccentric, she was indeed innocent in this matter, so why should this woman become a sacrifice between them?
Jingyi tossed and turned in his study, unable to sleep. Right now, Huan Changming had only issued a verbal decree to grant the marriage. In a few days, when the imperial edict arrived at his residence, there would probably be no room for maneuver in his marriage to Qu Surou.
Thinking of this, Jingyi threw off the covers and sat up in bed. He hurriedly changed into his official robes, summoned his servants, and rushed to the Li Palace.
Huan Changming treated him differently from others. Even during the palace curfew, he could enter the palace without an imperial edict, and the palace guards dared not stop him in the slightest.