C5 Chapter 5

In a teahouse not far from the city gate, two striking men sat in a private room, taking in everything happening at the entrance below.

One wore black, his bearing cold and commanding. The other was dressed in white, easygoing and effortlessly charming. Their temperaments were complete opposites, yet seated at the same table, they looked perfectly natural together.

“Your future princess really is... something else. So she likes the Xiao Jing'an type? Pretty boys?” The man in white lifted a flask and drank straight from it, not bothering with a cup. His manner was carefree and unrestrained, yet somehow never crude. He was the kind of handsome that drew the eye.

“She isn’t.” The man in black was none other than the North Duke, Bei Tianjiao. By all rights, he should have been stationed in North County, nowhere near the capital. And yet here he was, arriving just in time to witness Chu Jiuge’s scandalous attempted elopement.

“Isn’t what? Not into Xiao Jing'an? Or not your future princess?” The man in white grinned, his eyes flicking now and then toward Chu Jiuge at the gate.

Don’t get the wrong idea. He did enjoy a good spectacle, but he didn’t chase just anyone’s drama. The only reason he kept watching the gate was to see whether the person he was waiting for had arrived.

“You talk too much.” Bei Tianjiao shot him a sideways glance, clearly unwilling to say more.

“I’m just telling the truth. The imperial decree has already been issued. Whether you like it or not, you have to marry her.” The man in white wasn’t the least bit intimidated and kept poking the tiger.

“I’ve already had eight fiancées die on me. One more won’t make a difference.” Bei Tianjiao was no one’s garbage collector. Women rejected by the royal family were all shoved his way, as if the title of North Princess meant nothing, as if just any woman could marry into his household.

“The Yuan and Xiao families are notoriously unreasonable. After offending both of them, there’s no way she’ll live long enough to marry you. What a shame, though—a beautiful young girl like that.” Though the man in white spoke as if he pitied her, there wasn’t a trace of warmth in his eyes.

When he spotted a gray-haired old man in the crowd, the man in white no longer spared Chu Jiuge a single glance. He shot to his feet. “Danqing really did come to the royal city. Duke, your life is saved!”

The moment he finished speaking, the man in white vanished from the private room like a gust of wind. Bei Tianjiao, however, did not move. His gaze remained fixed on the city gate...

The Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao families were the four great houses of East Forest, their power rivaling the royal family itself. Chu Jiuge had crossed paths with the eldest miss of the Yuan family. Unless the North Duke personally stepped in to protect her, she had no chance of making it out alive.

The great aristocratic houses had never cared much for reason. It was true that Yuen Yunhua had struck first, but Chu Jiuge was unharmed, while Yuen Yunhua was the one left injured and disfigured.

Xiao Jing'an did not waste a single word on Chu Jiuge before giving the order. “Men, take her back.”

As soon as he spoke, three lean men in gray appeared from nowhere and boxed Chu Jiuge in. “Miss Chu, please.”

“And if I refuse?” From the original owner’s memories, Chu Jiuge knew exactly how overbearing the Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao families were. She knew even better what happened to people who fell into their hands.

Even so, she did not regret striking back.

Chu Jiuge had never been the type to let people walk all over her, and she was no punching bag either. If Yuen Yunhua wanted to hit her, was she supposed to just stand there and take it?

Did she look like someone begging to be abused?

“If you don’t want to die here and now, come with us. Otherwise, don’t blame us for getting rough.” The three men in gray stepped closer, leaving Chu Jiuge no chance to escape...

“A woman’s heart is the cruelest thing of all. And someone like you dares to claim you admire me? You make me sick.” Without the slightest concern for the bearing expected of an aristocratic heir, Xiao Jing'an branded Chu Jiuge with the cruelest accusation, intent on ruining her...