Chapter 426: Realization

Chapter 426: Realization

This was not the first time Xiao Shu had been with Zha Tai, but it was the first time she had been treated so roughly.

The maids were horrified and didn't know what to do.

Xiao Shu gritted her teeth and weakly said, "First, dress me and take me back."

The haunting memories of last night caused Xiao Shu to feel fear and unease whenever she saw Zha Tai. She was desperate to escape.

Having been nurtured in a greenhouse, the delicate flower had never been so brutally treated.

Her fierce resistance last night had been futile, making Xiao Shu realize that this was the northern desert, not Nanyan. Zha Tai could do as he wished, heedless of her feelings.

After the ordeal, Xiao Shu suddenly saw things clearly.

The maids carefully dressed Xiao Shu and helped her leave.

Zha Tai continued eating nearby, as if enjoying a rare delicacy.

As Xiao Shu passed him, she gave him a resentful look.

Zha Tai looked up and met her gaze, his predatory eyes roamed over her body freely. He smirked and said, "Princess, if you miss me, just come. My tent is always open to you."

"My bed awaits," Zha Tai said with a frivolous tone.

He treated her not as a princess, but as a mere sex slave.

She, a noble princess of Nanyan, was being degraded like this!

Xiao Shu shook with rage, her lips trembling as she said, "Zha Tai, don't push it!"

She had endured enough and could no longer contain her anger.

When she left Nanyan, her mother had repeatedly told her to be submissive and obedient to her husband in the northern desert.

Zha Tai would one day rule the northern desert and the grasslands, with many women at his side. She needed to be tolerant and magnanimous to avoid being despised and to live honorably.

However, Xiao Shu, who saw herself as noble and precious, looked down on the northern desert and dismissed Zha Tai.

Zha Tai's repeated indulgence made Xiao Shu more arrogant and willful, making her think her mother's advice was wrong.

It was only last night, through a harsh lesson, that Xiao Shu realized the truth.

The drastic change was too much for Xiao Shu to accept at once. She wanted to go back, calm down, and think things through.

But Zha Tai, now unmasked, did not want to let her go. After brutally violating her, he crushed her dignity.

Though afraid, Xiao Shu's pride wouldn't let her suffer in silence.

Moreover, she knew that tolerating this today would only make Zha Tai more unrestrained in the future.

"Intimate and entwined, where is the excess? Isn't this what the princess has always wanted?" Zha Tai sneered, his words laced with sarcasm.

Xiao Shu clenched her fists, unable to retort.

The most regrettable thing she had ever done in her life was coming to find Zha Tai last night.

Having seen Zha Tai's true nature and knowing that staying would only bring more humiliation, Xiao Shu gritted her teeth and said, "Let's go." The two maids quickly supported Xiao Shu and left.

Zha Tai watched Xiao Shu flee with great satisfaction.

Women are just like horses—they need to be broken in.

He’d broken the wildest horses on the grasslands—what was one woman to him? Zha Tai didn’t take Xiao Shu seriously at all. Last night’s lesson would stick with her for a long time.

Even after coming to the northern desert and becoming his wife, she still acted like the Nanyan princess she was. How ridiculous.

Once he’d eaten and drunk his fill, Zha Tai got up and left the tent. He had his horse brought over and rode out with a squad of guards.

Back in her tent, Xiao Shu’s first priority was to have hot water brought in for a thorough wash, then she had her maids apply medicine.

Xiao Shu had brought four maids with her when she married, one of whom knew medicine and tended to her wounds herself.

"Princess... the Crown Prince was too cruel. He didn’t even treat you like a human being..."

The four maids had served Xiao Shu for years and had never seen her suffer like this.

Another maid, her eyes red, said, "You didn’t hear the awful things the Crown Prince said."

Having served her for so long, they all cared for Xiao Shu and were heartbroken to see her humiliated and mistreated.

"Is the Crown Prince bullying the princess because she’s alone in the northern desert? How can the princess endure this?" The four maids were indignant on Xiao Shu's behalf.

After finishing a bowl of porridge, Xiao Shu regained some strength. "What else can I do? Argue with him? Fight him? Would it even help?"

With Zha Tai’s foul mouth, he could say anything, and Xiao Shu couldn’t compete. As for fighting him, that was out of the question. Her injuries were proof enough of that.

"What will the princess do in the future?" the maids asked worriedly.

Xiao Shu had only been married into the northern desert for half a year, and her life stretched ahead of her.

After drinking a cup of warm water, Xiao Shu made up her mind. "I’m going back to Nanyan."

The northern desert was as bleak as the rumors said, and the men were even more barbaric than she’d imagined. She never wanted to set foot in this wretched place again.

She wanted to go back to Nanyan, to live as a princess, and escape the torment and humiliation of the northern desert.

"Bring me paper and a brush. I need to write to my brother and mother," Xiao Shu said, her voice choked.

Xiao Shu knew Zha Tai wouldn’t let her go easily, so she had to write for help, asking Xiao Lin to come get her.

Only now did Xiao Shu realize that her brother, Xiao Lin, was the only man who truly cared for her.

The maid brought the paper and brush. The moment Xiao Shu wrote ‘Dear Brother,’ tears filled her eyes.

"Plop—" A teardrop fell onto the letter, soaking a small spot.

Thinking of her brother’s kindness, Xiao Shu sobbed as she wrote, tears falling, hoping Xiao Lin would come for her soon.

After finishing the letter to Xiao Lin, Xiao Shu wrote another to her mother, pouring out her pain.

Once both letters were sealed, the maid took them to be sent. Just as she was about to leave, Xiao Shu suddenly called her back.

"Wait."

"What is it, Princess?" the maid asked, puzzled.

"If I send a letter home right after this, the Crown Prince will suspect something and might intercept it."

Although the letters were entrusted to her own guards for delivery, they were still within Mobei territory. If Zha Tai wanted to intercept them, it would be a piece of cake.

The interception of the letters was a minor issue; the exposure of her intentions was the real concern. Once Zha Tai became aware of her plans, he would undoubtedly keep a closer eye on her, and she would no longer be able to send letters home at will.

Thus, she had only one chance.

"What should we do then?" the maid asked anxiously, clutching the letters.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Shu said, "Hold onto them for now. We'll find an opportunity to send them in a few days."

"Yes," the maid replied, carefully storing the letters away.

In the following days, Xiao Shu stayed in her tent to rest and did not seek out Zha Tai again.

Zha Tai, too, was too busy to deal with her, as he was busy every day discussing military affairs with his commanders.

That morning, a scout came back and reported that he had seen Daizhao's Crown Prince personally inspecting the city walls, which were heavily guarded.

Upon hearing this, Zha Tai said with a smirk, "Let him live a few more days. Keep watching."

However well-guarded, the city walls were made of mud and stone, not impenetrable iron. Once reinforcements arrived, a fierce assault would surely capture the border city.

The people of Daizhao were no match for the warriors of the north, and with twice the number of troops, the outcome was obvious and beyond doubt.

The reason for calling in reinforcements was to seize the border city and then press the advantage to attack other cities.

A single border city was not nearly enough for the north; it was only the beginning.