Chapter 42 “Guess How I’ll Punish You Later”

Chapter 42: "Guess How I’ll Punish You Then"

My steps halted abruptly, and a thin layer of cold sweat instantly seeped across my back. Xie Yan’s eyes, like the pale pupils of a wolf, seemed to bore into me with their fixed gaze, chilling me to the bone.

I had finally found a breakthrough, pinpointing Xie Yan’s vulnerability—was it all for naught now?

Since Xie Yan insisted on playing the devoted lover, he had to keep up appearances of unwavering loyalty to the deceased. As long as he hadn't confirmed I was Feng Jiuyue, he wouldn’t risk touching me. In his mind, doing so would be a betrayal of "Xiao Qiu." It was precisely this psychology of his that I exploited, daring to provoke him repeatedly, poking the bear time and again.

I could never match Xie Yan in intellect; all I was betting on was his false devotion for Feng Jiuyue. He yearned for that lost love to be faithful and untarnished, so as long as I remained Chou Yunqing, he wouldn’t humiliate me. My provocations would only anger him, not make him snap as he had in the past.

But Xie Yan’s words now put me on edge. Why did he want to see Huai Xin? What did he want to ask him? A wave of dread washed over me, and I went over the chess match in my mind, looking for anything I missed, yet I still couldn’t find any answers.

The loophole I had found seemed flawless—could there still be a flaw? Even if there was, I could easily talk my way out of it. But now Xie Yan was calling for Huai Xin to confront me. If our accounts didn’t match, wouldn’t I be exposed?

As these thoughts raced through my mind, anxiety began to gnaw at me.

The night descended silently, and the room fell still. No candles had been lit yet, and only faint moonlight crept in through the window. Xie Yan’s figure was lost in the shadows, his expression menacing and unnerving, like a ghost lurking in the darkness.

He suddenly stood up and began walking slowly toward me under my anxious gaze. Each step felt like it was pounding on my heart, sending shivers down my spine.

In the absence of light, his face was as dark as a nightmare, and his shadow loomed over me like an invisible cage. I kept backing away, but he pressed forward relentlessly, cornering me until I was trapped in a confined space.

The cicadas of the summer night suddenly fell silent, leaving only the gentle murmur of flowing water. The oppressive darkness enveloped me, and I suddenly felt afraid, turning my face away to look at the palace lanterns outside.

Unlike the dimness inside, the long corridor was adorned with bright red palace lanterns swaying gently in the summer breeze, like the last hurrah of a party.

I was momentarily zoned out when the person before me let out an impatient "tsk." His cool fingertips gripped my chin, pinching the flesh on both sides of my face, manhandling me as he had in the past.

Xie Yan’s grip was firm, meant to punish. The pain brought tears to my eyes, and I scrabbled at his slender fingers, mumbling protests.

"Your Highness, let me go."

Instead of releasing me, he leaned even closer. He was much taller than me; my head barely reaching his chest. Looming over me like this, I felt like a butterfly trapped in a cage, unable to even flutter my wings.

His gray eyes scrutinized me coldly, remnants of anger cutting like knives. His warm breath brushed against my lips, and his fingers pressed down on them, watching coldly as they turned a faint pink.

"I should call you Chou Yunqing," his voice was a low, teasing drawl, yet dripping with sarcasm. "Tell me, does your attendant remember your little habits when playing chess?"

Xie Yan’s gaze was terrifying, like that of a wild beast freed from its cage, brimming with raw, vicious anger after being toyed with. He knew I had been deceiving him under the guise of Chou Yunqing all this time, and now he sought revenge.

But what habit was he referring to? I didn’t even know myself. Was Xie Yan trying to trick me? Suspicious, I quickly glanced at him, my face filled with confusion and incomprehension. Only then did he mercifully release me.

I was a mess. After his rough handling, my collar had come slightly undone. Xie Yan’s gaze fell precisely there, his deep eyes suddenly filled with an intense, hungry look, making my hands tremble as I tried to adjust my clothing.

"W-what habit?" This was the first time I had been at a disadvantage in front of Xie Yan, stumbling over my words like a fool.

Xie Yan slowly withdrew his gaze from my collar and coldly looked at his moist fingertips. He had gripped my face earlier, teasing me until I was left in a disheveled state, drool trickling down my neck and onto his slender fingers. I thought he would take out a handkerchief to wipe it away, but he didn’t.

Right in front of me, he extended his crimson tongue and calmly licked his fingers clean!

Shameless, vulgar, despicable, filthy!

His actions now must mean he was certain of his evidence, convinced I was Feng Jiuyue, daring to take such liberties with me.

I shook with anger, my ears burning hot. Having grown accustomed to Xie Yan’s submissive and accommodating demeanor lately, I had mistaken him for a harmless lamb. But now, this was the real him—shedding his gentle facade to reveal the aggression of a predator.

"W-what habit?!"

I straightened my clothes, pressing my back firmly against the wall, avoiding any physical contact with Xie Yan, still stubbornly pressing for an answer.

Xie Yan didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he took out a white chess piece from his sleeve. The piece, made of high-quality white jade, looked translucent and expensive, but it had a small chip on its smooth surface, ruining its flawless appearance.

Holding it between his cold, pale fingers, he lightly tapped it twice in the air. My face turned as pale as paper in an instant—I immediately understood the habit he was referring to.

I had always been a terrible chess player, with poor sportsmanship and a habit of throwing tantrums and demanding takebacks. Every time we played, it was only because Xie Yan went easy on me that I could barely find any enjoyment in the game.

To spark my interest in chess, Xie Yan often played like he was teasing a cat, never letting me lose too quickly, always leaving room for me to think and giving me a chance to narrowly win.

But I was impatient and slow-witted, so each move took me forever to decide. Often, Xie Yan would leisurely sip his tea several times while I was still stewing over it, unable to come up with a move.

When I couldn’t think, I’d grow irritable, with nothing else to vent my frustration on. I’d unconsciously grip a chess piece between my index and ring fingers, tapping it incessantly on the table—a terribly uncouth habit.

Xie Yan’s chess pieces were always expensive, made of white jade, agate, or rare gemstones, and none of them escaped my bad habit.

Sometimes, Xie Yan, feeling sorry for those pieces, would forbid me from mistreating them, but I’d stubbornly refuse, spouting nonsense about how tapping helped me think. Eventually, he gave up, and not a single set of his chess pieces remained unscathed.

Remembering this, my fingers clenched involuntarily, but I still mustered the courage to retort, "How do you know I don’t have such a habit normally?"

But I was nowhere near as good at acting as Xie Yan. I couldn’t even meet his gaze, and my lips trembled slightly.

Instead of immediately calling me out, Xie Yan let out a soft laugh. His cool palm settled on my neck, lingering there, its icy touch wrapping around me like a snake.

"Whether you do or not, we’ll find out when Chou Yunqing’s attendant arrives."

He said "Chou Yunqing’s attendant," not "your attendant"—clearly, he had already confirmed my identity, leaving no room for doubt.

The corners of his lips curled slightly, his phoenix eyes gleaming with cunning and triumph. His fingers slowly traveled upward, settling on my flushed earlobe, gently twisting it. His voice was husky, heavy with desire, as he leaned in slightly, breathing against my ear, "If he says no, guess how I’ll punish you then?"

"Remember how much you cried on our wedding night?"

"Even if you beg me in tears tonight, I won’t go easy on you."

[Author's Note]

Perish in silence, or become twisted in silence~