“Puchi~”
Nan Shiying tilted her head, spitting the grape skin onto the low, soft table. Qin Qiancheng’s flustered and anxious demeanor made her unable to help but laugh.
The laughter that reached his ears made Qin Qiancheng clench his fists and grit his teeth, suppressing the urge to look up at her. He channeled all his killing intent and rage into his taut muscles and bulging veins.
“Is General Qin here to demand an explanation?”
Qin Qiancheng endured it, but Nan Shiying had no intention of letting him off the hook. She toyed with a grape in her slender hand, not putting it into her ruby lips. Her eyes, not quite lifted, watched Qin Qiancheng, a smile playing at the corners of her eyes, but her words were sharp enough to pierce a person’s heart.
Qin Qiancheng suddenly turned his head, his gaze like a knife, each thrust seemingly wanting to slice her into a thousand pieces.
Nan Shiying dramatically covered her chest, her eyes swimming with a provocative yet innocent allure. She turned to look at Ji Jinmo, her voice laced with a coo, “Your Highness, he’s glaring at me!”
She looked the very picture of a vixen.
Jia Huan’s eyes widened in astonishment, and Xuan Yi almost dropped his sword.
*Your Highness, please have some dignity!*
*Why are you acting so effeminate today?*
Ji Jinmo’s hand, which had been fiddling with prayer beads, paused slightly. His usually strong heart felt incredibly flustered. A trace of red crept onto his earlobes, and his face visibly flushed. The man who was usually as cold as ice, seemingly impervious to anything, was now melting and boiling over from a single sentence and Nan Shiying’s feigned fragility.
If he hadn’t seen it today, Qin Qiancheng would never have imagined that this proud, noble man, who looked down on everything in the world with disdain, possessed such a side.
Qin Qiancheng’s expression darkened, but a strange sense of relief washed over him. The former Ji Jinmo had no weaknesses, no vulnerabilities. Now, he did!
Ji Jinmo beckoned to Nan Shiying, smiling at her.
Nan Shiying stood up and walked to Ji Jinmo’s side. As she turned her back to Qin Qiancheng and the others, she shot Ji Jinmo a fierce glare and mouthed, *Bastard!*
Ji Jinmo curled his lips, grabbed Nan Shiying’s arm, and with a strong pull, drew her into his embrace.
Nan Shiying: “……”
*This opportunistic dog of a man!*
Ji Jinmo wrapped his arm around Nan Shiying’s waist, feeling her warmth and softness, breathing in the iris scent emanating from her. He suddenly regretted his actions. Wasn’t this just torturing himself?
Feeling the stirring of Ji Jinmo’s awakened and erect weapon against her, Nan Shiying’s face flushed slightly. She couldn’t help but turn her head and silently spit at him. However, since she was already playing the vixen, she had to continue. She raised her arm, her slender jade arm encircling Ji Jinmo’s neck, and buried her face in his neck, acting coquettishly, “My Lord, General Qin is glaring at your concubine, and your concubine is frightened!”
Jia Huan and Xuan Yi shivered all over, almost falling to their knees for Nan Shiying.
Thirteen, squatting on the roof, rubbed his arms together, trying to smooth down his bristling hair and goosebumps.
*Your Highness, please stop this!*
Nan Shiying’s demeanor, so vastly different from her usual self, made Jia Huan, Xuan Yi, and Thirteen wish they could disappear from the study immediately.
It wasn't that their Highness was not beautiful, but her ferociously savage image was too deeply imprinted in their minds.
It was like suddenly discovering that a normally serene and elegant noble young man was actually a cross-dresser in private, and he was now batting his eyes at you and striking a pose with his little finger.
The momentary shock and despair were exactly how they felt at that moment.
Ji Jinmo had never seen Nan Shiying like this before. He lowered his head, and from his angle, he could only see her slightly upturned red lips. Ji Jinmo’s heart pounded violently. His throat bobbed, his mind filled with Nan Shiying’s every glance and smile from the past. He used all his strength to suppress the rising tide of desire.
He slowly raised his head. His phoenix eyes, which a moment ago had been filled with tender affection, instantly became icy and frozen. The gaze that fell upon Qin Qiancheng was sharp and sinister.
Qin Qiancheng trembled all over, the blood in his body instantly freezing inch by inch.
“You blame this king?” Ji Jinmo’s lips parted and closed, his voice, rough as if filled with gravel, was not loud, but to Qin Qiancheng’s ears, it sounded like the clash of weapons on a battlefield. Killing intent surged into his heart from every part of Ji Jinmo’s body. Qin Qiancheng suddenly knelt, his knees hitting the ground with a loud thud.
“Your… your subordinate dares not!”
“Dares not?”
“A fine ‘dares not’!”
Ji Jinmo’s eyes were like drawn swords, or hunting eagles, fixed on Qin Qiancheng as if wanting to dissect him, to pry out his liver and heart.
This sharp gaze seemed to pierce through a person’s soul, and every cell in Qin Qiancheng’s body trembled with fear.
“Then you, breaking in with your sword, are you merely here to show this king your martial arts?”
“Your… subordinate…”
Qin Qiancheng was speechless. The anger surging in his heart at this moment turned into deep fear.
He had originally intended to storm into the prince’s mansion and question Ji Jinmo, but now, facing him, he couldn’t utter a single word.
“This king heard you clearly just now. Didn’t you have many things you wanted to ask this king? What is it, after only crossing the threshold, General Qin has become a mute upon entering this study?”
As soon as the words “General Qin” were uttered, a cold sweat instantly drenched Qin Qiancheng’s clothes.
The hand he was propping himself up with on the ground seemed unable to support his body weight and trembled violently.
“Your subordinate, your subordinate was merely overcome with grief at the death of my younger daughter and lost his senses. Your subordinate absolutely dares not have any dissatisfaction with Your Highness, your subordinate…”
“My Lord, General Qin’s words imply dissatisfaction with me, your concubine!”
Nan Shiying seized the opportunity to interject, seeming determined not to let Qin Qiancheng off the hook.
Qin Qiancheng seethed with hatred, but he no longer dared to glare at her as he had before. Instead, he said in a voice laced with fear, “No, Your Highness, your subordinate absolutely did not mean that.”
Jia Huan and Xuan Yi clicked their tongues. This was not what the general had said outside. The way he had carried himself, they thought he was prepared to die to prove his point. Turns out, he wasn’t planning on dying!
Nan Shiying let out a soft laugh, deliberately drawing out her tone, “Oh, is that so? Does General Qin not blame this consort for killing your two daughters?”
Qin Qiancheng’s fingers pressed into the ground where his hands rested, and Xuan Yi feared he would gouge ten finger-grooves into the floor.
He was silent for a second, his voice seeming to drip with blood, “Your subordinate does not blame you. It was they who… got what they deserved!”
His voice sounded as if it were mixed with the crunching of bones. His clenched molars made the veins bulge on his lowered face. All his anger, hatred, unwillingness, and questions became thorns piercing his heart with the words “got what they deserved.”
A pain shot through his chest, and a mouthful of blood welled up. He forcefully swallowed it, only a small amount trickling down the corner of his mouth.
He was so angry he had vomited blood!