The Prisoner of Beauty - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Wei Shao initially walked side-by-side with Xiao Qiao, but gradually, his strides grew faster and faster, leaving her behind. By the time the two of them returned to the inner courtyard of the western chambers, even though Xiao Qiao consciously tried to catch up to him, she was still left more than ten feet behind.

Xiao Qiao finally slowed her own steps, watching him ascend the stairs in a few strides before his silhouette disappeared into that door.

Nanny Chun and the maids in the corridor saw the two of them return and came over to welcome them. Xiao Qiao asked about the kitten and, upon learning that it had already been brought back, she nodded. She told them to keep a tighter watch on it from now on and not let it run off alone again. Otherwise, with the Wei manor being so large, searching for it would be quite a chore.

The maid complied. Nanny Chun asked if dinner could be served.

The twilight was growing thick, and Xiao Qiao had not yet eaten dinner. She guessed that Wei Shao probably had not eaten either. She instructed them to prepare it, then went toward the bedroom door herself. Pushing open the half-closed door, she stepped inside.

The lamps had not been lit in the room yet at this moment, and the light was somewhat dim. Only a wisp of smoke-gray twilight filtered in through the closed western window, casting a faint, hazy glimmer over the vessels and furniture in the room.

At first glance, she did not see Wei Shao. Walking inward a few steps, she stopped by the side of the screen and called out tentatively, "Husband, it is time for dinner." Suddenly, with absolutely no warning, an arm reached over from behind and clamped around her slender waist. Before she could even react, she was lifted off her feet backward by Wei Shao, slung over his shoulder, and carried straight over to be dumped onto the bed.

Xiao Qiao was tossed from his shoulder onto the bed almost like a sack of flour.

Although the bed was lined with soft quilts and she was not hurt from the fall, the way she landed face-down was somewhat disheveled, and she was a little startled. When she climbed up and turned her head, she saw Wei Shao standing before the bed with his legs apart. He suddenly raised a hand and began to unfasten his waistbelt.

As he unfastened his belt, his eyes were fixed on her on the bed. At first, his movements were slow and deliberate, but suddenly he seemed to grow agitated, ripping it off with a yank, and subsequently tearing open his own collar.

This came far too inexplicably. Furthermore, Xiao Qiao also perceived that his aura was wrong.

She immediately attempted to get off the bed. However, Wei Shao had already flung away the clothes he had just stripped off, shoving her back with a forceful push. Following this, one of his knees knelt onto the bed while his other leg pressed down upon her lower abdomen, rendering her unable to move.

Xiao Qiao immediately shook her head: "Dinner is prepared—"

Wei Shao reached a hand over, spreading his five fingers to pinch her cheeks, stopping her from shaking her head.

With her cheeks pinched by him, Xiao Qiao ceased speaking.

She widened her eyes, looking with a trace of fear at Wei Shao as he pinned her down, staring at her completely motionless.

He seemed to be scrutinizing her. It was as if he had never known her before this.

"Husband—"

Xiao Qiao gazed at him with her two eyes, managing to call out to him indistinctly.

Xiao Qiao truly felt afraid. That feeling of bone-chilling dread—like the one that had assailed her on their wedding night when she accidentally woke him and he drew a longsword from beneath his pillow to point at her face—assailed her once again.

Wei Shao's Adam's apple bobbed. He released her cheeks, and subsequently, his heavy torso pressed down, pinning her beneath his body.

In the past, there had also been times when he wanted her very urgently, and he had even hurt her because his movements were rough. But it was absolutely never like this. He showed her not the slightest bit of tenderness. Xiao Qiao saw that his face was taut almost to the point of distortion, and his expression changed accordingly, revealing a hint of ferocity.

The twilight was dim in the room, and within the half-shrouded bed curtains, the light was even more dismal. Yet within the two eyes with which he looked down upon her, the gaze flared intensely. It was a faint, dark gleam—a mixture of excitement, raw desire, and something else that Xiao Qiao could not understand.

Xiao Qiao instinctively began to struggle, using both hands to push and pummel his shoulders. He then bit down on Xiao Qiao's lips, biting her until it was incredibly painful.

Xiao Qiao tightly gritted her teeth. Wei Shao then left her lips, his hand following to rip open her collar. He lowered his head, his mouth and hands working together to inflict abuse upon her warm chest that resembled congealed lard. The snow-white skin of her chest quickly developed conspicuous red marks, and Xiao Qiao let out a whimpering cry of pain: "What did I do wrong..."

The light of desire in Wei Shao's eyes grew even more rampant. Without uttering a single word, his large hand clamped one of her thighs and bent it up.

Suffering such savage treatment, she thought of his volatility during these past two days; the previous tenderness they shared when affection was thick felt all the more like a mockery.

The room carried some of the stifling heat of an Indian summer, and after that bout of activity just now, hot sweat also seeped out over her body. Yet that sliver of chill in the depths of Xiao Qiao's heart was expanding, and a faint anger was also slowly climbing.

As he panted with scalding, turbid breaths, about to forcefully enter her, she raised her hands to wrench his face right in front of her own, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"I want you to speak clearly. Why treat me like this?" she said word by word, staring into his eyes.

Wei Shao was already drenched in sweat, his face flushed like a drunkard, and his eyes faintly surged with what seemed to be a blood-red color.

"Every man under heaven thinks of possessing you just as I do; only then is your heart fully satisfied, is it not? Let other people be, but even the men of my Wei family must entirely become ministers under your skirt?"

He paused for a brief moment, speaking through gritted teeth.

In that single, electric instant, Xiao Qiao suddenly understood, and her heart was horrified to the extreme.

"You unexpectedly suspect that I have an entanglement with your cousin?"

Wei Shao's eyelids twitched. He remained silent, appearing as though he did not wish to speak to her any further either. His crimson eyes fell upon her lips once again, and lowering his head to press down, he sucked and bit hard.

"Let go!"

Xiao Qiao forcefully pushed his face away.

Uttering not a single word, his expression grew increasingly sinister as he turned back to fiercely clamp down again.

Her lips had already been made somewhat swollen by him.

Xiao Qiao forcefully pushed him away once more.

When he was about to bite down for the third time, Xiao Qiao raised her hand and fiercely grabbed his hair. Wei Shao let out a low hiss, yet unexpectedly disregarding the pain of having his hair roots yanked, he turned his face back again to bite and suck her mouth.

The pain and the anger coming from the depths of her heart made Xiao Qiao unable to endure it any longer. She released his hair and delivered a slap.

There was a crisp, loud smack.

As if struck by an immobilization spell, Wei Shao suddenly stopped, his entire person freezing in place.

Slowly, he turned his face back, touched his left cheek, and subsequently stared at her, a hint of exasperated disbelief revealing itself in his eyes.

From the struggle with him just now, Xiao Qiao had long since been tired to the point of panting, and her hair at the temples was also incredibly disheveled. Seeing him staring at her like this, she took a breath and said in anger, "Anything else, I can tolerate. Only this single point—I absolutely will not tolerate you being narrow-minded to such an extent, actually forcing it upon my body!"

She paused, mocking, "No matter how fickle I might be, the men of your Wei family might not necessarily be able to enter my eyes!"

Wei Shao's expression stiffened.

Xiao Qiao spoke no further, also completely ceasing her struggles. She closed her eyes, her expression becoming incomparably peaceful.

Wei Shao stared fixedly at her peaceful, closed-eyed appearance, his panting growing even heavier.

A drop of hot sweat rolled down along his forehead, landing with a splash right in the center of her brow, rippling outward. A moment later, it gradually blended into one with the moisture seeping from her forehead.

Xiao Qiao suddenly felt the weight on her body lighten. Opening her eyes, she saw Wei Shao rising from her body, lifting the curtains with a hard yank as he went down to the floor.

Carried by the force of his arm, the curtains produced a sharp sound of tearing silk.

With his back facing her, Wei Shao swiftly put back on the garments he had flung onto the floor earlier, striding away with large steps.

Xiao Qiao's heart pounded like a beating drum. She listened as a clutter of footsteps arose on the corridor outside the door, with Nanny Chun inquiring if he would eat dinner, followed by the sound cutting off and turning quiet.

Xiao Qiao slowly sat up from the pillow, her hands still trembling slightly. Settling her mind, she lowered her head to arrange her clothes, which had been torn into complete disarray by him just now.

Nanny Chun came in. Her steps initially carried hesitation. Seeing the way Xiao Qiao sat on the bed, she was startled, subsequently running up swiftly.

"He and I had a minor dispute just now. The Marquis could not wrap his mind around it for a moment and merely went out to walk around."

Xiao Qiao stopped Nanny Chun's already opened mouth. Going down to the floor herself, she came before the mirror, fixing her disheveled hair at the temples facing the mirror.

Nanny Chun followed behind her, looking at her back with a worried expression.

"Nanny Chun, my belly is hungry. Let us go eat dinner."

A moment later, Xiao Qiao finished fixing her hair and turned around to speak to her.

...

Wei Shao did not return to the room that night. He only returned the following morning.

When he returned to the room, Xiao Qiao had already risen and had just finished her grooming.

Wei Shao was expressionless, appearing as if he did not see her. Having finished washing up, he changed his clothes and headed to the northern chambers. Xiao Qiao silently followed him. The two arrived before Madame Xu. Madame Xu said that Wei Yan had just left, practically a step ahead of them. Tomorrow would be the Luli Grand Assembly, which used to be managed entirely by his hand; this time he went to Dai County and only returned yesterday, so matters sought him out today. He must be exceptionally busy for the entire day today.

While Madame Xu spoke, Wei Shao's expression remained normal throughout, and Xiao Qiao even wore a smile on her face the entire time. The two of them came out together. Walking to that junction, Wei Shao's steps did not linger, leaving her behind as he continued straight toward the direction of the front main gate. Xiao Qiao called out to stop him.

He stopped seemingly with great reluctance, turning back half his face to cast a glance at her.

Xiao Qiao walked before him, opening her mouth to speak: "There is also no other matter. It is merely regarding that cat from the Western Regions. It was originally you who gifted it to me. Since you cannot touch it, and I see that you seem to detest it, it is inconvenient for me to raise it either. It would be best for you to take it back. Or if you find it troublesome, I shall seek another household willing to adopt it and send it away. Because it is your item, before disposing of it, I am informing you first."

She actually quite liked it and also wanted to continue raising it. It was merely that she truly felt this cat appeared to clash with both individuals surnamed Wei in this household, and for her to continue raising it seemed inappropriate.

"Merely a beast! Since I have gifted it to you, if you want to raise it, then raise it. Although I am narrow-minded, I would not go so far as to be unable to get along with a beast!"

Wei Shao said coldly, turning around to depart.

Xiao Qiao paused for a moment, watching his back disappear, then turned around to return to her room. After returning to her room, she thought it over back and forth, finally still feeling that she could not raise it.

This cat was precious; its daily staple food was naturally meat. An ordinary household would certainly be unable to afford to raise it, and Xiao Qiao could not bear to let it drift and suffer either. Thus, she passed down instructions to inquire after a suitable household to send it to. Nanny Lin and the others were all incredibly surprised, thinking to themselves that it was clearly a plaything gifted by the Marquis to the Lady to court her favor, so why had the Lady wanted to send it away after only a few days? Although they all liked its plump, fluffy appearance, they knew that even if they took it back to their own homes, they could not afford to raise it, and they feared it would be hard to give an account if it happened to die from improper raising. They had not expected it to be so coincidental; by evening, a servant woman came over from the northern chambers, saying that Madame Xu learned of it and told them to bring the cat over for her to raise.

Xiao Qiao hastily carried the cat over in person. Upon seeing the cat, Madame Xu liked it immensely. That cat also appeared to be quite compatible with her; held by Madame Xu, its head stroked a few times, it let out a few purring sounds in its throat and subsequently curled up on her lap, completely motionless.

"It was said that Second Lad specially gifted it for you to raise. It has only been a few days, so why do you want to send it away again?" Madame Xu asked, having held the cat for a while.

Xiao Qiao said: "Originally I was also reluctant to part with it. Only after Husband sent it over did I learn it triggered his discomfort." She then mentioned the matter of him stepping into the cat quarters and sneezing that day, and later having red spots break out on his body and itching.

Madame Xu came to a realization and nodded: "So that is how it is. No wonder! It cannot be raised on your side anymore. From now on, just leave it here with me. I see that it seems compatible with me. It can just right keep me company too."

Xiao Qiao smiled and said, "Originally this granddaughter-in-law was worried about being unable to find a good place to accommodate it. Now that Grandmother has taken it to raise, that is its good fortune. It is much better than me raising it, and I am at ease as well."

Madame Xu smiled, lowering her head to stroke the cat, and said as if casually, "Did Zhonglin provoke you to anger?"

Xiao Qiao froze slightly, lifting her eyes to see Madame Xu's single eye looking at herself. Though it contained a warm smile, it was exceptionally bright. She then guessed that Madame must have seen through something.

Sure enough, Madame Xu smiled again: "When you two came early this morning, I felt something was wrong the moment I saw you. Ordinarily when you two come to see me, before exchanging two words with me, I see the two of you glancing back and forth at each other. This morning, however, only that grandson of mine was looking at you, and I saw that you did not even sweep a glance at him from the corner of your eye. I thought to myself, if it is not that he offended you, what else could it be.”