"Your Highness! No! Let go of me!"
Ye Yunxi's voice quavered with tears. Her peach-blossom eyes brimmed with mist, tears circling in them, yet she stubbornly refused to let them fall. She shook her head frantically, her slender waist twisting incessantly.
"Yunxi knows she was wrong! She really does! Your Highness, please forgive me. Don't, don't tease Yunxi like this..."
She was genuinely afraid Qian Renxue might do something else, something she couldn't withstand.
Qian Renxue leaned down, drawing close. Her warm breath brushed Ye Yunxi's flushed ear, her nose nearly touching Ye Yunxi's cheek. She could clearly smell the faint fragrance in her hair, along with the sweet scent of the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox's essence.
Her voice was low and hoarse, tinged with teasing irritation. "You know you were wrong? Who was it just now, boasting that once she reached Titled Douluo, she'd hang me from a tree and whip me?"
Her fingertips pressed a little harder, then lightly traced the sole of Ye Yunxi's foot.
"Ah!"
Ye Yunxi shuddered all over. The ticklish sensation in her sole shot up her spine to the crown of her head. At last, she couldn't hold back her tears. They spilled onto the silk pillow, leaving a small, damp patch.
"I was wrong! I'll never dare again! Your Highness, I was wrong. Please, don't touch there... It's so ticklish, really ticklish..."
She wept like a rain-drenched pear blossom, her peach-blossom eyes swollen and her cheeks flushed scarlet. That pitiful look made most of the anger in Qian Renxue's heart vanish at once, leaving only surging tenderness and heartache.
But she wouldn't give an inch in what she said.
She held Ye Yunxi's jade-like foot, gently kneading her slender ankle with her fingertips. Her touch was feather-light, as though she were fondling a rare treasure.
"Ye Yunxi, remember this: from the day I brought you to the Crown Prince's Mansion, you became mine. If you run once, I'll punish you once. If you run ten times, I'll punish you ten times. You'll never escape my grasp in this lifetime."
"I won't dare again... I really won't run away again..." Ye Yunxi sobbed, her voice breaking off again and again. She was nothing like the arrogant girl who'd just threatened to whip her. All that remained was shame and hurt.
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I'll be good from now on. I won't make trouble again..."
Just you wait. When I reach Titled Douluo, I'll wreck your secret chamber. Otherwise, I'll have wasted my whole life.
At that moment, her hands and feet were restrained, and her entire body was limp and weak.
Qian Renxue looked at Ye Yunxi, who was so pitiful. She had meant to punish the disobedient little vixen, but seeing her cry somehow hurt more than being punished herself.
"Be good." Qian Renxue softened her voice. Her hoarse tone held a tenderness she hadn't even noticed herself. "If you don't run away, I won't punish you."
As soon as she finished speaking, she finally released Ye Yunxi's wrists, then slowly let go of her foot as well.
The moment she was free, Ye Yunxi curled up and shrank toward the far side of the bed. She hugged her knees tightly and buried her face between them, showing only a reddened ear and a spill of black hair.
Her nine fox tails drew in at once, winding tightly around her waist as if to protect her.
For now, her escape plan would have to be put on hold. Qian Renxue glanced at her, then turned and left.
After the door closed, Ye Yunxi opened the system panel.
"System, distribute all two thousand years of Soul Ring age to the First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring."
[ Ding! Distribution complete! ]
Hehe, four thousand-year Soul Rings. Whatever else could be said, having a thousand-year First Soul Ring already put her ahead of plenty of people on the continent.
"Is Qian Renxue some kind of creep?"
She'd kept touching her feet the whole time.
Instead of letting her mind run wild, she might as well keep lying down and resting. There'd definitely be a chance to escape eventually.
By evening, only one warm yellow palace lantern was lit in the Crown Prince's Mansion. Its gentle glow outlined the curled-up figure on the bed, soft and hazy.
Ye Yunxi slept fitfully.
The door was pushed open softly, without making the slightest sound.
Qian Renxue walked in slowly, still wearing her plain-colored brocade robe. The sharpness of the Crown Prince she'd shown during the day had fallen away, leaving her with an almost impossibly gentle air.
She moved with such care that even the sound of her soles brushing the floor was stifled, for fear of disturbing the person on the bed.
She simply stood beside it, her gaze fixed on Ye Yunxi's face, not looking away for a long time.
She looked at Ye Yunxi's reddened eyes, at the small hands clutching the quilt, at the guarded way she curled up even in sleep. Dense guilt welled in Qian Renxue's heart, needling her until it hurt.
From abducting Ye Yunxi from her village, to sealing her Soul Power and confining her within the walls of the estate, to the forceful punishment she'd inflicted that day, she had kept this lively little fox locked inside a gilded cage.
Ye Yunxi's eyes were full of the wild hills and their winds.
Qian Renxue wanted to keep her by her side, not turn her into a caged bird stripped of her spirit.
Was this possessiveness of hers, this fixation, truly going too far?
Qian Renxue's fingertips hovered above Ye Yunxi's cheek. They had already felt the warmth of her breath, but in the end, she forced herself to draw her hand back.
She hesitated for a long time before reaching out. "Yunxi, wake up."
Ye Yunxi opened her dazed peach-blossom eyes. When she saw Qian Renxue in front of her, her whole body tensed at once. "Y-Your Highness? What do you want now?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to say something to you."
She paused, as if mustering all her resolve, then spoke each word clearly so it reached Ye Yunxi's ears. "You can leave the Crown Prince's Mansion and go out for a walk. Go have some fun."
The words struck like a thunderclap, jolting Ye Yunxi fully awake.
Running away was all she'd been thinking about. She'd thought Qian Renxue would keep her locked in the Crown Prince's Mansion for the rest of her life. She'd never imagined Qian Renxue would be the one to offer to let her out.
Had her conscience finally stirred?
Had she realized that a relationship between two women was impossible?
"Y-You... what did you say?" Ye Yunxi asked, stunned. "You'll let me go out?"
"Mm. I'll let you go out. You can visit the streets, markets, or restaurants in Heaven Dou City. You can go wherever you want."
She turned around. At some point, a Moon-White Glazed Veil had appeared in her palm.
The veil was as thin as a cicada's wing, embroidered with fine silver-thread clouds. It let light through but wasn't transparent, covering just enough of the face above the bridge of the nose. It concealed most of her beauty without looking out of place, lending her a hazy charm instead.
Qian Renxue held the veil out to Ye Yunxi.
"There's only one condition. You have to wear the veil when you go out."
"Your looks and your Nine-Tailed Sky Fox Martial Soul are both among the greatest sources of trouble in the world. If you don't cover your face, your bewitching power will leak out without you realizing it. Heaven Dou City is full of all sorts of people, and plenty of them have ulterior motives."
"Your Highness, it seems your conscience has finally shown up," Ye Yunxi said, blinking.
"What are you talking about? I've always been a good person. Besides, I'm the Crown Prince. What's wrong with being a little willful?"
Qian Renxue gave a soft snort and tossed the veil to Ye Yunxi.
"Be good, and I won't lay a hand on you!"