"Sit down." A deep, cold voice broke the silence. Qin Yuzheng still didn't look up, but casually raised his chin and pointed at the chair opposite Fang Ji.
Ning Yunmeng moved her stiff legs as if she had been pardoned, and walked to the chair. She sat down carefully, daring to sit only one-third of the chair.
She took off her sunglasses and mask, revealing a pale and haggard face, her fingers tightly twisted together, her fingertips cold.
Qin Yuzheng finally raised his eyes.
Those eyes, as deep as a cold pond, appeared even colder and sharper, without any warmth under the dark blue starlight.
His gaze was like a physical ice cone, slowly sweeping across Ning Yunmeng's face without any scrutiny, more like scanning the parameters of an object.
That look made Ning Yunmeng feel that all her disguises and thoughts were exposed.
"Ning Yunmeng." He pronounced her name in a flat voice, without any emotion. "I received your email."
Ning Yunmeng's heart almost jumped out of her chest. She opened her mouth and wanted to speak, but found that her throat was too dry and no sound came out.
Qin Yuzheng didn't seem to need her response. He swirled the wine glass in his hand slightly, and the sound of the ice hitting the wall was particularly clear in the silent room.
"Care about the Qin family's reputation?" He repeated the words in the email, his lips curled up in a very faint, very cold arc, with undisguised mockery, "Tell me, how do you want to 'care'?"
His directness and oppression made Ning Yunmeng feel at a loss.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Her voice trembled slightly, but she tried to remain strong. "Qin...Boss Qin! I...I have no ill intentions!"
"I just don't want to see Brother Yuheng... and you, ruined by that disgusting photo! That bitch Ning Xiwan has such vicious intentions! She..."
"Ning Xiwan?" Qin Yuzheng interrupted her, his cold gaze falling on her face with a hint of amusement, "Do you think she did it?"
Ning Yunmeng felt uneasy when he looked at her, but she still said, "Who else could it be besides her?! She hates me to the core, and knowing that Brother Yuheng is helping me, she wants to destroy Brother Yuheng as well!"
"Boss Qin! You must believe me! That photo is absolutely fabricated! It's slander!"
Qin Yuzheng listened quietly, with no expression on his face, but his eyes became colder and colder, so cold that Ning Yunmeng's next words were stuck in her throat.
"Synthesized?" He repeated softly, leaning forward slightly. His bottomless eyes were like black holes, locking Ning Yunmeng tightly and bringing tremendous mental oppression.
"Ning Yunmeng, do you think it's funny to play such a clumsy trick in front of me?"
His voice was still not loud, but it was like a heavy hammer hitting Ning Yunmeng's heart, and her face turned as pale as paper in an instant.
"I...I didn't..." She argued in vain.
"Whether it is or not, you know it in your heart." Qin Yuzheng leaned back in his chair, his posture became lazy again, but the coldness and sense of control did not diminish at all.
"When you sent that email, you were simply trying to tell me two things. First, you had the photo. Second, you knew what it meant."
He paused, his eyes like ice knives scraping across Ning Yunmeng, "What do you want to exchange it for?"
Having his thoughts completely exposed, Ning Yunmeng instead felt like a desperate madman.
She suddenly raised her head, her eyes burning with desperate hatred and greed: "Boss Qin! I just want justice! I want Ning Xiwan to be ruined! I want her to lose everything she has now!"
"As long as you help me do this! I promise! This photo will disappear forever! I will take this secret with me to my grave! Otherwise..."
She gritted her teeth and said threateningly, "Otherwise, I don't know what I would do if provoked! The Qin family's reputation... your status, Mr. Qin... I'm afraid..."
She didn't finish her words, but her meaning was clear.
The box fell into silence again. Only the stars in the sky above were silently moving.
Qin Yuzheng looked at her quietly, at her face twisted in fear and greed, at the pitiful yet ridiculous threat in her eyes.
There was no trace of intimidated anger on his face. Instead, it was as if he had just witnessed an extremely poorly staged farce. Deep in his eyes, there was even a barely perceptible trace of...pity? Pity for stupidity.
He gently shook the almost melted ice in the cup, making the last tiny sound.
Then he slowly stood up.
The tall figure instantly brought a stronger sense of oppression. He walked in front of Ning Yunmeng and looked down at her.
The faint blue starlight fell on his stern face, half light and half dark, as if a god and a demon were one.
"Ning Yunmeng," he said, his voice low and cold, as if it came from the depths of the underworld. "Do you know? In this world, those who dare to threaten me usually have only two outcomes."
He leaned over slightly, approaching Ning Yunmeng's face, which was frozen with extreme fear, and his cold breath almost sprayed on her forehead.
In those deep eyes was pure, undisguised, soul-freezing murderous intent.
"The first," he said, his voice almost whispering, but every word cutting through, "is a quick death."
"The second," he paused, his lips curled up in a cruel yet perfect arc, "is a life worse than death."
Ning Yunmeng's pupils suddenly shrank to the extreme, and the blood in her body seemed to freeze instantly. The huge fear was like a cold giant hand, strangling her throat tightly.
She wanted to scream, but no sound came out. The man before her wasn't the performative tyranny of Qin Yuheng. He was truly an emperor, one who controlled life and death...
He didn't need to be angry or threatening, he was just calmly stating a fact.
"And you," Qin Yuzheng stood up, returning to his cold and distant demeanor, his eyes as indifferent as if he were looking at dust, "you don't even have the qualifications to let me choose how you die."
He no longer looked at Ning Yunmeng, who was slumped in the chair as if her bones had been pulled out. He turned around and walked with steady steps towards the secret door leading to the exclusive elevator deep in the box.
"Ji Yan." He gave a faint order into the air.
The door of the box slid open silently, and the chief special assistant Ji Yan, who had been guarding outside, walked in. He stood with his hands hanging down respectfully, like an emotionless shadow.
"Send Miss Ning back." Qin Yuzheng's voice was calm. "Also, inform Yuheng that his toys... should be put away."
"Yes, Mr. Qin." Ji Yan's voice was equally cold and calm.
Qin Yuzheng's figure disappeared through the secret door, as if he had never appeared. Only Ning Yunmeng, slumped in the chair like an abandoned rag doll, was left behind, and this cold, silent "Observatory" with its shimmering stars.
The immense fear and despair, like a overwhelming tide, finally swallowed her completely.
She knew she was finished. She had lost the bet. And she had lost… miserably. Even her right to be a chess piece had been taken away by that man himself.
Outside the window, the city's neon lights flickered in the wind and snow, like an epitaph mocking her arrogance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
