C8 Chapter 8

People from old-money families care about appearances and reputation. No matter how much pain he was in, no matter that he could barely breathe, Xiao Jing'an would never do something as undignified as sticking out his tongue.

He was suffocating, his face so flushed it looked ready to burst, red enough to be frightening. Even so, not a trace of panic showed on his face. He only gasped in pain. “Chu... Chu Jiuge... what... what do you want?”

“An apology, obviously,” Chu Jiuge said matter-of-factly.

She had the original owner’s memories, but she wasn’t the original owner. When it came to powerful families... she didn’t fear them the way the original owner had.

“The Xiao family... does not apologize!” Xiao Jing'an struggled to speak, but every word came out clear.

That was the pride of people like him.

Chu Jiuge might not feel that deep, instinctive awe toward old aristocratic families, but she understood their unbending pride.

She knew that much from the stories she grew up with.

Xiao Jing'an would never apologize under her threat, but he wasn’t the only one here. Yuan Yunhua was here too.

If Xiao Jing'an died at her hands, the Xiao family would naturally come after her as the killer, but they wouldn’t spare Yuan Yunhua either, the man indirectly responsible for his death.

People with power and influence usually like having someone to blame.

Chu Jiuge glanced at Yuan Yunhua and smiled. “Since you won’t apologize, then I guess you can die.”

“Ugh...” Chu Jiuge increased the pressure. Xiao Jing'an let out a low, pained groan, and his eyes started to roll back.

“Stop!” Yuan Yunhua and the three men in gray shouted at the same time, rushing forward to stop Chu Jiuge, though none of them dared actually make a move against her.

Chu Jiuge didn’t move, but her knee pressed against Xiao Jing'an’s tailbone as she leaned close to his ear. Her red lips parted slightly. “Young master, tell me... what do you think would happen if you wet yourself right here in public?”

Chu Jiuge and Xiao Jing’an were standing so close they almost looked wrapped around each other, their posture unmistakably intimate. She spoke in such a low voice that no one but Xiao Jing’an could hear what she said. To everyone else, it just looked like she had suddenly leaned in to take advantage of him.

“Shameless! Slut!” Yuan Yunhua was trembling with rage, hurling one ugly insult after another. “Chu Jiuge, let me tell you something... you’re just a pathetic toad with no sense of shame. Whether it’s Jing’an or the North Duke, neither of them is someone you could ever dream of having. Stop fantasizing. Jing’an will never like you. That love letter you wrote him? He never even read it.”

Yuan Yunhua did not like Xiao Jing’an. The one she wanted was the North Duke. But she did not dare marry him—she was afraid of dying.

The North Duke had already gone through eight dead fiancées in a row. Who knew whether the ninth would die too? Even though Yuan Yunhua did not dare marry him herself, she could not stand the thought of anyone else marrying him either.

By chance, she had seen the letter on Xiao Jing’an’s desk and learned that Chu Jiuge had begged him in it to take her away from East Forest that very morning. So she had dragged Xiao Jing’an over by force to watch Chu Jiuge make a fool of herself.

Of course, Yuan Yunhua’s real goal was to blow up the story that Chu Jiuge was in love with Xiao Jing’an and wanted to elope with him—ideally badly enough that Chu Jiuge would lose any chance of marrying the North Duke.

Yuan Yunhua had planned everything out, but she had not expected to stumble right out of the gate. Not only had she failed to slap Chu Jiuge across the face, she had ended up ruining her own.

With the situation slipping out of control, Yuan Yunhua could only try to threaten Chu Jiuge with the letter she had written to Xiao Jing’an. But Chu Jiuge did not care in the slightest. She did not even spare Yuan Yunhua a glance. Lowering her head, she leaned close to Xiao Jing’an’s ear and softly urged, “Young master,”

“You...” Warm breath brushed against his ear, leaving it tingling and numb. A jolt seemed to race down his spine. Before Xiao Jing’an could make sense of what he was feeling, realization struck...