Chapter 49 Interrogation Willing or not?

Chapter 49: Pressing for an Answer – Willing or Not?

This place isn't safe, hardly any outsiders come through, and the inn was pretty much empty. Besides the innkeeper and one waiter, only Xie Chi and his group were there.

The guards were all stationed outside, on high alert at the noise. A few quickly shielded Zhong Yao, while others quickly entered the room to check the situation, then quickly backed out.

“Ahem.” A guard coughed awkwardly, “Miss, the young lord's not crazy. He wants you to go in.”

Zhong Yao flat-out refused, terrified. “No, he's lost it, he really has!”

Her voice carried into the room, and Xie Chi heard it. His face darkened as he said, “Say the word 'crazy' one more time, and you're sleeping with the dogs tonight!”

Hit right where it hurt, Zhong Yao clamped her mouth shut in fear.

“Get in here now!” Xie Chi added.

Still shaken from the scare, Zhong Yao didn't dare be in the same room as him. She hesitated, not budging an inch.

“Sleep with the dogs…”

“No, no, no!” Zhong Yao caved quickly.

Still scared, she inched toward the room, looking back reluctantly. When she finally got to the doorway, she whispered nervously to the guards, “Get some black dog blood, sticky rice, mugwort, a peachwood sword, and cinnabar…”

“…”

Xie Chi had never been this humiliated in his life and could've eaten Zhong Yao alive.

But when Zhong Yao finally came in and stood warily by the door, waiting for him to say something, Xie Chi realized he couldn't find an excuse to punish her.

He couldn't stoop that low again. Annoyed, he picked up his teacup, took a sip, then glanced at Zhong Yao.

Every time he looked at her, she flinched.

After downing two cups of tea, Xie Chi slammed the cup down and asked point-blank, “Marry me—yes or no?”

Zhong Yao looked up, shocked, and flinched, then tried to bolt again.

But Xie Chi had learned his lesson. The second the door cracked open, he was behind her in a stride, reached out an arm, and slammed the door shut.

He ended up crashing into Zhong Yao's back.

A heavy, hot body pressed against her from behind, and a shadow fell over her, forming an invisible cage that trapped her tight.

She tried to sidestep out of it, but Xie Chi's other hand came around and clamped onto her shoulder, holding her still.

“I asked if you'll marry me—what are you running for?” Xie Chi demanded.

He was so close his breath hit her ear, warm and tickly.

For some reason, she felt like if she reached up to scratch it, Xie Chi would bite her fingers. So she tilted her head, trying to rub the itch against her shoulder, but as she moved, her earlobe brushed against something warm and soft.

It was too brief for her to identify, and as she pondered, Xie Chi suddenly stepped forward, his body like a mountain, pressing her firmly against the door panel.

“Ah!” Zhong Yao cried out, pushing against the door with both hands, but Xie Chi grabbed her wrists, lifted them, and pinned them against the door.

“Answer me,” he said again, pausing slightly before lowering his voice. “Just answer—don't move.”

Trapped with no escape, Zhong Yao whimpered, “I'm afraid… afraid you'll bite me…”

Xie Chi wanted to say he wasn't a dog, but recalling how her earlobe had brushed his lips and he'd instinctively wanted to chase it, he found the words stuck in his throat.

Coincidentally, Zhong Yao was dressed as a man, her long black hair tied high, her slender, delicate neck exposed without cover, still damp and fragrant from a recent bath. It drew his gaze and tempted him to lower his head and take a bite.

Xie Chi was deeply dissatisfied. Why was it always Zhong Yao stirring unnatural impulses in him, instead of him making her restless?

Didn't she like handsome, flirtatious men?

Was he not handsome enough?

Impossible.

Xie Chi couldn't figure it out, but regardless, he couldn't refute her words.

“I won't bite you,” he said.

He could hold back.

He repeated the question, “Will you marry me or not?”

Zhong Yao stammered, muttering something weakly.

This reminded him of when they first met—he hadn't seen her this scared of him in a long time. It was almost novel.

But he hadn't caught what she said. He leaned down to her ear and said, “Louder.”

Zhong Yao hesitated, then finally shook her head and spoke clearly.

“No.”

He'd pursued her to take responsibility, and she'd refused?

Given that she'd tried to flee at the mere mention of it, Xie Chi had expected this outcome.

But knowing it in advance didn't make it easier to accept.

His voice turned colder. “I'll ask you one more time: will you marry me or not?”

Just as Zhong Yao was about to shake her head, Xie Chi suddenly pinned both her hands together with one hand, freeing the other to grip her chin. He squeezed her cheeks to stop her from shaking her head, forcing her to nod instead.

Zhong Yao let out a muffled protest from her throat.

“What are you grumbling about? I, the heir of the Yong'an Marquis manor, aside from not being able to…”

Unable to utter the word after his failed seduction attempt, Xie Chi skipped over it and continued, “Am I not good enough for you?”

Zhong Yao moved her mouth, and when he loosened his grip, she said sorrowfully, “Your grandmother is too awful. If I marry you, she'll find fault with me every day—say I don't know the rules, that my parents are no good, and she might even make me kneel in the ancestral hall without giving me a bite to eat…”

Xie Chi: “…”

So she was afraid of not being fed.

But the root of this fear was that his grandmother worried Xie Chi would become Zhong Yao's puppet after marriage—something he absolutely couldn't reveal.

He said, “I won't let her bully you.”

“You can't watch all the time… And she's so mean, she'll definitely take many concubines for you. You'll spend your days eating with one, sleeping with another, and the mix of rouge scents on you will be stinking and dirty…”

"You think I'm some kind of toy for your entertainment?" Xie Chi pinched Zhong Yao's soft cheek a few more times, shutting her up before she could say something she'd regret, and said, "She wouldn't dare mess with you, and she won't stick her nose in my business."

Zhong Yao still shook her head.

After a moment's thought, Xie Chi said, "Xue Fang wouldn't dare mess with you either... I'll make you the little boss of the whole manor. Will that do?"

Zhong Yao shook her head again and said, "It won't work. Even if your grandmother and Xue Fang don't make trouble for me, the rest of the household won't accept me."

"Are you talking about my father?" Xie Chi could only think of that reason. "He hasn't bothered with family stuff for almost ten years. Just pretend he's dead."

Zhong Yao turned her face to look at him, her eyes still watery from being scared, looking all small and pitiful, but her words were anything but.

She said in a gentle voice, "Heir Xie, you're such a good son."

Xie Chi: "..."

What 'good son'? That was originally said by his grandmother. Besides, since his dad became a monk, he really hadn't cared about family stuff—might as well be dead.

Xie Chi, irritated, pinched Zhong Yao's cheek again and said, "Enough with the crap. Say you're in."

"Not in," Zhong Yao said stubbornly. "Even if your family won't make things hard for me, your guards won't listen to me. I'll still get the short end of the stick."

At this, Xie Chi frowned, getting serious, and asked, "Who's not listening to you?"

The guards with them were all top-notch, loyal and skilled. Xie Chi hadn't seen anyone disrespect her, and she'd never complained.

This was about the guards' loyalty—he had to figure it out.

"Who didn't listen? When? What happened?" he asked.

Zhong Yao said pitifully, "Just now. I told them to get black dog blood and sticky rice to throw at you, and they've been gone forever..."

Xie Chi: "..."

Unless it involved military secrets or matters of state, Xie Chi never hit women, but Zhong Yao broke that rule.

Sooner or later, he'd have to whoop her ass.

"If you don't want to get smacked right now, behave," Xie Chi said. "Quit talking crap."

Zhong Yao had been rambling about nothing. She glanced at Xie Chi, then looked down and whispered the real reason.

"Still not in... You don't even like me..."

That made Xie Chi go quiet for a second.

Xie Chi found Zhong Yao annoying and cute, infuriating and charming. He often wanted to touch her, hold her, push her down and kiss her, and he'd get carried away over the smallest thing. But all this started after what happened in Changping County.

And that happened because he was weak-willed and, under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug, gave in to his worst instincts.

Now, forcing her to agree was just to make himself feel better about taking responsibility.

As for his feelings for Zhong Yao...

"You hate chatty, scaredy-cat, crybaby, annoying girls the most. Back then, if you hadn't been stuck, you wouldn't have said a word to me," Zhong Yao said gloomily.

This was true, and Xie Chi couldn't deny it.

"Later, when you repaid the favor, you did it grudgingly. After you found your brother, you wanted to ditch me without a word," Zhong Yao complained further. "So today, acting all weird—either you're messing with me, possessed, or just plain crazy. Heir Xie, take your pick!"

Xie Chi was almost starting to second-guess himself, but Zhong Yao's last remark made him want to teach her a lesson again.

He said, "That was at the start. When have I treated you like that on this trip?"

Zhong Yao turned her face to look at him, her eyes like little daggers, and said mournfully, "You were just annoyed and had no other option."

"...?"

Xie Chi didn't agree at first, but after thinking, he saw her point.

Just as he was pondering, footsteps sounded outside the door. He looked up at the door, and Zhong Yao turned her head back, exclaiming happily, "The stuff to get rid of the ghost must be here!"

"..." Xie Chi lowered his head, bumped her head with his chin, then stepped back and pulled Zhong Yao away as well.

The person outside was a guard. Seeing Xie Chi, he said, "Prefect Wang was eating dinner. As soon as he heard you were here, he didn't even wipe his mouth and came running, insisting on seeing you immediately."

At the word "Wang," Zhong Yao shuddered and quietly edged closer to Xie Chi.

Xie Chi glanced at her and said, "Invite the prefect over."

The guard interrupted them, and it was hard to get back on track. The room fell silent.

Xie Chi thought about Zhong Yao's reaction. She'd turned him down over and over, logically and without even a blush, showing she truly had no intention of marrying him.

But her words had awakened him. This whole 'taking responsibility' thing was all in his head. Zhong Yao had no idea about that day, nor had she ever entertained such thoughts.

As long as he kept his mouth shut, even Zhong Yao wouldn't know what happened that day. It seemed he really didn't need to insist on marrying her.

"Last time in the cave, when you said you'd marry me, you were full of it..." Zhong Yao muttered beside him, casting resentful glances at Xie Chi.

As soon as he looked at her, she immediately lowered her head, pretending nothing had happened.

"Let's set aside matters of love and affection. I can guarantee that the concerns you mentioned won't happen. Are you truly unwilling to marry me?" Xie Chi asked one last time, making one final attempt to take responsibility for his mistake.

"Unwilling," Zhong Yao said, still shaking her head. "No matter what madness has taken you today, Heir Xie, I'm not willing."

"Fine," Xie Chi said.

He had done everything he should and could do. It was Zhong Yao who kept refusing him.

This matter was settled. From now on, he would have no improper words or actions with Zhong Yao.

Having made his decision, Xie Chi sat down at the table, picked up a teacup, and drained it in one gulp.

But the tea did nothing to quell the restlessness in his heart—it only made him feel more stifled. He instinctively wanted to look at Zhong Yao, but after turning his gaze, he forced himself to stop.

Yet, while he could control his own actions, he couldn't control Zhong Yao's.

"I hate you..." Zhong Yao's voice drifted over like willow catkins dancing in the spring breeze, clinging to Xie Chi.

The fire in Xie Chi's heart flared up instantly.

He stood up abruptly, strode two steps to Zhong Yao, and under her tearful, aggrieved gaze, raised his hand to his collar and said, "Setting everything else aside, you still need to answer the questions I asked earlier. At least tell me if you like this body of mine or not."

Without waiting for Zhong Yao's reply, he yanked hard, tearing open his collar—

"Ah—" Zhong Yao covered her face in shock.

She thought Xie Chi had truly gone mad!

She was inexplicably scared and toyed with over marriage, yet she didn't lose her mind—so why should Xie Chi get to go mad?

Zhong Yao was both sad and pissed off.

After covering her face for a bit and not hearing Xie Chi say or do anything, she didn't know what he was up to. She hesitated, wanting to peek, but was afraid of seeing something she shouldn't...

But hey, it wouldn't hurt to look—consider it payback for Xie Chi tricking her about marriage a second time.

After all, he was the one putting on the show.

It's not like she hadn't seen it before.

Zhong Yao talked herself into it and quietly parted the fingers covering her face, only to meet Xie Chi's dark eyes, so close they were practically touching.

She immediately tried to cover up again, but he grabbed her wrist, pried her hands apart, and cupped her face.

Xie Chi's hands were big, holding her soft, smooth cheeks like he was cradling a shiny pearl. Ignoring her struggles, he rubbed her face roughly with both hands a few times, only letting go when footsteps sounded outside again.

When he let go, Zhong Yao sobbed and covered her face, feeling sorry for herself.

Xie Chi watched her little act and thought, "So much for no more improper contact with Zhong Yao?"

Grandma said the most important thing for a man is to step up and take responsibility.

Zhong Yao agreed with that point too.

So, the effort that needed to be made still had to be made.

—As for the decisions made earlier... people change all the time, and it's only natural to make different choices in different circumstances.