Don't You Hate Her?

"Are you courting death?"

Qiao Shuqin gave a soft laugh, tinged with madness.

"So what if I am?"

She advanced toward the couch, one step at a time.

"Who told Qiao Shuyi to say-" She tilted her head and mimicked Qiao Shuyi's tone. "Now, in this household, you're the only person she cares about."

A madness much like Qiao Shuyi's welled up in her eyes.

"She has hidden guards protecting her, so I can't do anything to her."

She paused, then bent down and brought her face close to Zongzheng Heng's, which was faintly flushed from the drugs.

"So I can only hurt you and make her suffer."

I'm the only person she cares about.

In Zongzheng Heng's muddled mind, those were the only words he grasped clearly.

The drugs surged through him like a tide, battering his consciousness in waves.

Everything before him began to blur. Only Qiao Shuqin's face drew closer and closer.

In his daze, Qiao Shuqin had stripped until she wore only a dudou.

The thin silk outlined her graceful figure. She sat down on the edge of the couch and reached for the sash at his waist.

Zongzheng Heng's whole body jolted.

He was afraid.

He had not been afraid when a hundred men surrounded him on the battlefield.

He had not been afraid when the ministers pressured him at court.

Even when Qiao Shuyi locked him in a water dungeon, whipped him, and trampled him underfoot, he had not been afraid.

But now, he was.

What he feared was-

If something really happened between him and Qiao Shuqin, what would that madwoman do?

She had said it herself.

They would give each other their first time.

When she said it, her beautiful eyes, clear as colored glass, had shone as though they held stars.

She was so proud, so domineering, so unable to tolerate even a single grain of sand in her eye.

If she found out...

His sash came undone, and his outer robe slipped away.

Qiao Shuqin's fingers continued downward, stripping off his clothes one piece at a time.

The faint daylight filtering through the window revealed his lean, strong upper body. Old whip scars still marked his skin, shocking to behold.

"No wonder that younger sister of mine likes you so much. Zhigui, your body is as beautiful as your face."

Qiao Shuqin laid a hand on his chest, her fingertips tracing his scars.

Zongzheng Heng's entire body trembled.

Not from the drugs, nor from fear.

It was humiliation.

He was the majestic emperor of Great Zhang. First, he had been forced to kneel before Qiao Shuyi and recite the rules, and now even a daughter born of a concubine dared to do this to him!

No.

He could not sit and wait for death.

Zongzheng Heng clenched his teeth and tried to circulate the energy in his dantian.

His inner force, sealed away for days, was as still as stagnant water.

He forced it into motion, driving every remnant of his strength toward his dantian, but a sudden pain struck his chest, and a metallic sweetness rose in his throat.

The effects of the Power-Dissolving Powder and the Bone-Softening Powder intertwined, piercing his meridians like countless needles and tearing what little strength he had left to shreds.

A trace of blood slowly seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Qiao Shuqin's hand paused, and she suddenly laughed.

"Young Master Zhigui, why bother? Wouldn't it be better to behave?"

She bent down and spoke unhurriedly.

"Together, the Meridian-Softening Powder and this aphrodisiac incense are more than any man in this world can resist. Today, you might as well give yourself to me."

When Zongzheng Heng kept his teeth clenched and said nothing, she did not take offense. She bent over him, bringing her mouth close to his ear.

"Young Master Zhigui, I know you're a respectable man, and that Qiao Shuyi forcibly brought you into the household. When you refused to submit, she locked you in a water dungeon and had you whipped-I know all about it."

"We're both Qiao Shuyi's victims, both forced by her. We're plainly in the same miserable plight, so why put yourself through this to remain chaste for her?"

"Don't you hate her?"

"Wouldn't it be nice for you and me to spend a night of passion together and take revenge on her?"

Zongzheng Heng still said nothing. Only the veins at his temples throbbed.

Qiao Shuqin waited a moment. Seeing no response from him, the composure in her eyes finally shattered.

She gritted her teeth, and her voice turned shrill.

"Zhigui! Could you have fallen for that madwoman in just over ten days?!"

"Have you forgotten the pain she caused you? Forgotten the cold of the water dungeon, the sting of the whip? You're only her male favorite-a plaything! Since she was little, has Qiao Shuyi ever liked anything for more than three months? How long do you really think she can like you?!"

Her voice echoed through the empty room, carrying jealousy, hatred, and madness suppressed for years.

Zongzheng Heng still did not look at her.

Like her?

How could I possibly like a madwoman?

But even if he did not like Qiao Shuyi, he could not accept Qiao Shuqin, still less being forced!

The last trace of patience in Qiao Shuqin's eyes ran out.

She looked down, seized his chin, and moved to kiss him-

Zongzheng Heng jerked his head away.

Her lips brushed his cheek and landed on his neck.

Just then-

"Bang!"

With a tremendous crash, someone kicked the door open from outside.

Qiao Shuqin went rigid and whipped her head around.

A figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the light.

Qiao Shuyi stood there.

Sunlight poured in behind her, outlining her figure but leaving her expression in shadow.

Qiao Shuqin's pupils contracted sharply.

In Qiao Shuyi's line of sight, Zongzheng Heng lay on the couch, bare from the waist up, with only a pair of underpants covering his lower body.

Qiao Shuqin, too, wore only a dudou. She was sprawled over him, her lips still pressed to the side of his neck.

The air froze for an instant.

When Zongzheng Heng saw her, he felt a baffling surge of relief.

I'd rather be with her... than with Qiao Shuqin...

The moment the thought surfaced, he himself froze.

But when he saw Qiao Shuyi's expressionless face and the undisguised chill in her eyes, his heart, which had just begun to settle, sank heavily again.

He strained to push Qiao Shuqin off him.

But Qiao Shuqin was determined, clinging tightly to his waist.

She even raised her head and looked provocatively at Qiao Shuyi in the doorway.

"Qiao Shuyi, your man tastes quite good."

Qiao Shuyi said nothing.

She simply walked in at an unhurried pace.

Fuzhi followed her, hurried to the table, and pinched out a piece of incense that was still burning. Then she pushed open the window.

Zongzheng Heng gasped for breath. The drugs made his voice come in broken bursts, carrying a note of urgency.

"Shushu... don't listen to her nonsense... She and I..."

He clenched his teeth and spoke word by word.

"Nothing happened between us."

Qiao Shuqin gave a laugh, full of triumph.

"Qiao Shuyi, just now Young Master Zhigui was telling me that we were both your victims. And now he's changing his tune."

"I might as well tell you: he and I are of one heart, kindred spirits who understand each other. You should congratulate your elder sister and him on bringing our love to fruition!"

Zongzheng Heng glared fiercely at Qiao Shuqin.

This woman, this woman-I'll tear her limb from limb!

Qiao Shuyi moved again.

She stepped forward, seized Qiao Shuqin by the arm, yanked her off Zongzheng Heng, and casually tossed her to the floor.

"Since you're so shameless, elder sister, how about I find you a few more men?"

Qiao Shuqin's face went deathly pale.

She knew Qiao Shuyi was capable of it.

The fleeting pleasure of having gotten her way was instantly swallowed by fear.

She could cast aside her modesty and do something like drugging a man because of hatred.

Her hatred for Qiao Shuyi had overridden her deeply rooted belief in chastity.

She had thought that, just once, as long as she could make Qiao Shuyi taste that bone-piercing, heart-stabbing pain, she could sacrifice anything.

But if she were to be with several men...

The image flashed through her mind, and that alone was enough to shatter her courage.

Qiao Shuqin's lips quivered, and her voice trembled.

"You... you dare! Qiao Shuyi, I'm your elder sister! Even if Father dotes on you, he won't let you do such a thing to me!"

Qiao Shuyi looked down at her, her gaze cold and clear as moonlight, her face showing neither sorrow nor joy.

"Qiao Shuqin, you should be glad that, in this world, what I despise most is using a man to violate a woman's body."

"I, Qiao Shuyi, may be ruthless and merciless, and I may turn against others without a shred of feeling, but I never do such vile things. Killing takes no more than a nod of the head; what kind of skill does it take to defile someone's chastity?"

She looked at the woman trembling on the floor, and her gaze darkened.

"But you really have displeased me."