Chapter 8 "Don't look at me like that..."
Su Muying was still in shock from what she had heard. For a long, long time, she was speechless and could only shake her head repeatedly.
She was afraid that Xie Linyuan would actually do that.
It seems there's nothing he wouldn't dare to do.
He probably wouldn't care about any rules, etiquette, or social norms.
But she cares.
She couldn't take it anymore, she really couldn't take it...
The mourning hall... right in front of Lin'an...
Can't.
Absolutely not...
A stillness seemed to fall between them. Xie Linyuan looked down at her, while the woman he had pressed onto his lap stared wide-eyed in terror, her eyes brimming with tears that threatened to spill over.
Her lips were slightly parted and trembling, but she couldn't make a sound.
Finally, those trembling pools of autumn water poured down, overflowing from the reddened corners of her eyes.
She cried.
The tears were glistening, gleaming coldly under the lamplight.
Xie Linyuan frowned, reached out, and gently rubbed away the tears at the corners of the girl's eyes. He looked down at the water spreading on his fingertips and chuckled softly.
"Didn't I say that if you didn't jump that day, and if my sister-in-law shed another tear for my brother, I would break your legs?"
"Sister-in-law, would you like to give it a try?"
As he spoke, his hand, with its prominent veins, slowly touched the girl's ankle.
Lonely, thin, and with skin as white as snow, smooth as silk to the touch, she was enough to arouse the dirtiest and most filthy desires in people's hearts.
He held it loosely, but could break it with a little force.
She is so fragile.
When Xie Linyuan's hand touched her ankle, it felt as if a venomous snake was coiling around it.
The cold, chilling sensation traveled through me without any obstruction.
Su Muying trembled violently, and her consciousness, which had been overwhelmed by fear, gradually returned.
His voice was laced with laughter, yet chillingly cold. Su Muying had no doubt that he would really break her legs.
Perhaps, killing her would be nothing more than a trivial matter to him.
Su Muying stopped crying.
The girl on his lap didn't even dare to sob or cry. She bit her lip tightly, her eyes filled with tears, but she never let them fall.
This seemed to greatly please him.
"Good girl."
"Sister-in-law is so good."
Xie Linyuan's peach blossom eyes curved upwards, and in the spring night under the lamplight, the shimmering light dispelled the chill. This appearance was indeed enough to make people lose their minds.
He was pleased with her obedience.
"Alright, now we're going to my brother's funeral hall." He said, abandoning his casual demeanor, and gently pinched the girl's slender waist, picking her up horizontally in his arms.
Su Muying tried to break free, but Xie Linyuan's hand was wrapped around her waist, gripping her waist tightly, and she couldn't break free at all.
She couldn't even move.
Although Xie Linyuan was born with an extremely handsome appearance, his beautiful face was indeed captivating, but he had practiced martial arts since childhood and was strictly disciplined by his father. At the age of fourteen, he went to the battlefield with his father.
With each battle and each massacre, his murderous aura grew ever stronger. In this chaotic world, the soldiers he commanded and the military power he held were enough to make everyone wary.
When Su Muying first arrived at the Xie residence, she did not see Xie Linyuan, as he was away fighting and not at home.
After staying at the Xie residence for three months, she met Xie Linyuan for the first time.
That day was after a sudden rainstorm. The rain had knocked down the flowers, and many flower branches had broken in the garden. She picked up a handful of flowers, intending to put them in a vase inside the house.
She walked along the corridor carrying the flowers, but at the corner, she suddenly bumped into something hard.
A chilling, bloody stench assaulted her senses, enveloping her and drowning out the fragrance of flowers.
She realized she might have bumped into someone, steadied herself, and hurriedly stepped back, bowing in apology.
She didn't hear anyone speak.
Su Muying was puzzled, and fearing that she had offended some important person, she looked up and saw Xie Linyuan.
Clad in blood-stained armor, exuding a chilling aura, his long, tied-up hair was slightly disheveled, and his face was also stained with blood.
He seemed to have just come from the battlefield; the bloody and murderous aura he exuded created an oppressive feeling that made it hard to breathe.
After she bumped into him, he just stood silently in front of her.
He looked down at her, his eyes fixed on her with terrifyingly dark pupils.
His eyes were very deep.
She stood there, stunned, unsure of what to say, when Xie Lin'an happened to see them.
He walked over, took Su Muying's hand, comforted her, and told her that this was his twin brother, Xie Linyuan.
He then told Xie Linyuan that this was his fiancée and that he should call her sister-in-law from now on.
Xie Linyuan called out "Brother Xie Lin'an" but didn't say a word to her before walking past her.
He didn't stay at the Xie residence for more than a few days before going back to the battlefield.
Xie Lin'an said that his younger brother went to the battlefield at the age of fourteen. Although he rarely stayed at the Xie residence, he had a very good relationship with his older brother, so she shouldn't be afraid.
He was a civil official, he was a military general; they looked alike, but their personalities were worlds apart.
Su Muying didn't understand Xie Linyuan, but she felt inexplicably afraid. His gaze was too deep. Perhaps it was because years of fighting on the battlefield had filled him with a bloodthirsty aura like a wild beast.
It always made her feel scared, breathless, and had the illusion that he was going to devour her.
She dared not approach him.
In this chaotic world, with war raging everywhere, he often went to war, and Su Muying rarely saw him. Even when they did meet, she kept her distance with respect, and they lived in peace.
But now, at this very moment, she was being held in his arms, his terrifying aura slowly and tormentingly eroding her.
His hand gripped her waist, the scalding heat emanating from his palm. Even through the fabric, it felt like a branding iron, as if it would burn off a layer of her skin. She could feel the terrifying power contained in his hand, as if he could break her in half with just a little force.
She was afraid of him, terrified of him. From the very first moment she saw him, she was terrified of him.
But it was her own choice.
Climbing the ladder of power is nothing more than a means of survival.
Su Muying had no regrets. In order to survive and return to Anzhou, she accepted the price she had to pay. But she only asked that Xie Lin'an not be present at the funeral hall.
This will really make her...
It's worse than death.
She is also a person with a sense of shame and dignity.
She had read many books and was the apple of her parents' eye.
She was once a lady from a respectable family.
Moreover, Lin'an, thank you Lin'an...
She can't be seen by him, she can't...
She cannot be at the funeral hall in Lin'an...
cannot……
This was the last pure land in her heart, a moonlight that could not be tainted.
But Xie Linyuan clearly intended to destroy it completely.
"Please, please..."
"No, not there..."
"Please..."
She tremblingly grasped his loose collar and pleaded with him, tears welling up in her eyes like a lake, yet she dared not let them fall, making her look even more pitiful and endearing.
But this was useless against Xie Linyuan.
The more she pleaded with him, the stronger his coldness and oppressive aura became.
Moreover, a sense of ferocity and agitation was palpable in his dark eyes.
His thin eyelids drooped, trembled very slightly, and then he let out a cold laugh.
"It's no use begging me, sister-in-law..."
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
"You just want to seduce me and get into my bed, don't you?"
"Now I will do as my sister-in-law wishes."
"Sister-in-law should be happy."
He actually carried her to Xie Lin'an's mourning hall.
It was late at night, and the lamps hanging under the eaves cast a yellowish glow under the moonlight. A tall, handsome man with his robes open carried a woman in his arms as they walked through the night. His black hair was blown about by the night wind and was tinged with a deep, dewy look.
Occasionally, the servants on night watch would see them, but they would only catch a glimpse from afar before lowering their heads, bowing and curtsying before immediately retreating, not daring to approach.
Therefore, when Xie Linyuan carried Su Muying to the mourning hall, there was no one around.
No one dared to come here.
Only the moon above the mourning hall shines silently.
Upon arriving at the mourning hall, Xie Linyuan put the pitiful woman down from his arms.
She was trembling and kept her head down.
I dared not raise my eyes, dared not look at any of the furnishings in the mourning hall.
Xie Linyuan was quite at ease. He first lit three incense sticks for his elder brother in front of the memorial tablet, then walked up to Su Muying and suddenly lifted her chin.
Su Muying opened her eyes wide in alarm.
Xie Linyuan tilted his head slightly, gently stroking her chin with his fingertips, and said, "Sister-in-law, would you like to offer incense to my brother?"
Light an incense stick...
Su Muying's pupils dilated, but she dared not shift her gaze even slightly.
She was afraid to see Xie Lin'an's memorial tablet.
"Second Young Master, please, let's go back."
"No, not here..."
"He will not rest in peace in Lin'an..."
He will not rest in peace...
She was about to lose her balance, her thin, slender back bent, and her whole body went limp as she was about to fall to the ground when Xie Linyuan reached out and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back into his arms.
"Second Young Master?" He smiled, his peach blossom eyes shimmering with an undisguised lust under the candlelight of the mourning hall.
He thought it was disgust.
"What should my sister-in-law call me..." Xie Linyuan's words fell beside her ear, carrying a scorching heat that seemed to burn her to ashes, slowly drilling into her ear.
Su Muying's earlobes turned a deep, blood-red color. Her consciousness was already hazy, and she didn't know how her calling out "Second Young Master" had displeased him again. She could only plead with him in a tearful voice, "I don't know, please, please..."
"Let me go..."
"We can't let Lin'an see this..."
"Not here..."
For some reason, and for some unknown reason, a word provoked him, but Xie Linyuan's eyes suddenly flashed with a fierce anger.
His peach blossom eyes turned blood red.
The smile in his eyes vanished completely.
"You can't let my brother see this? How could my sister-in-law forget? It was you who wanted to get into my bed, begging me to take pity on you..."
"Now you say you can't let my brother see this... What are you pretending for, sister-in-law?"
"From the first moment I saw my sister-in-law, I knew that she was a woman who was good at acting and was hypocritical."
"Now it seems that this is indeed the case."
"Today I will show my brother what the people he saved with his life are doing."
"How shameless they are..."
"Let my brother see if it's worth it..."
"Is it worth it for him to abandon the entire Xie family...?"
"To risk one's life."
"I really don't know what makes you so special."
"Sister-in-law, can you tell me for my brother?"
He looked down at her with his arms crossed, appearing completely at ease. He was slightly bent over, and his captivating eyes shimmered with a mesmerizing charm, yet also held a hint of doubt, as if he were genuinely asking her what was so special about her.
Su Muying, however, wouldn't listen to anything.
Standing in the mourning hall, she could see the burning incense sticks, the half-burned paper money, the ever-burning lamp, the fluttering white banners, and in front of her, just as she looked up, stood... Xie Lin'an's memorial tablet...
Lin'an is watching her.
Lin'an must be watching her.
Everything around her seemed to have transformed into ghosts, monsters, gods, and Buddhas. Su Muying dared not look at anything else; she could only look at Xie Linyuan.
She shook her head in fear, clinging to her last shred of hope as she pleaded with him.
Beg for his mercy.
But how can evil spirits be merciful?
"No, no..."
"I beg you..."
However, before she could finish her plea, with a tearing sound, the silk cloth was completely ripped apart, sliding down the woman's fair and rounded shoulders like a piece of moonlight falling.
A vast expanse of spring color was suddenly revealed, and a sudden gust of wind rose, causing the white banners in the mourning hall to flutter and the burning incense sticks to flicker.
"Beg me?"
"Begging me won't help, sister-in-law..."
"This is your own choice, sister-in-law." Xie Linyuan picked up her loose hair and sniffed it, his beautiful face colder than frost and snow.
He stared intently at Su Muying, his eyes filled with not only disgust and desire, but also a deep-seated hatred.
A hatred he himself was unaware of.
But why would he hate it?
The smell of incense ash reached Su Muying's nose, and tears she had been holding back for so long suddenly streamed down her face.
She no longer cared whether Xie Linyuan would break her legs.
He inflicted the most profound humiliation upon her.
He made her turn her back to him.
The man grabbed the girl's wrists and pinched her waist, pressing her against a pillar in the mourning hall.
Su Muying did not want to consummate her marriage with him. On the contrary, she did try every means possible, even preparing to seduce him, in order to consummate her marriage with Xie Linyuan, get pregnant, and leave the Xie family.
But not here.
Not in Xie Lin'an's mourning hall, but in front of Xie Lin'an.
In such an absurd way.
What did he take her for?
When the last piece of clothing covering her shame fell to the ground, Su Muying trembled and tears streamed down her face.
"No, no..."
She kept repeating those two words to herself.
I kept repeating it.
Amidst repeated punishments and the uncontrollable fluctuations of her consciousness, Su Muying seemed to be losing her mind.
She kept crying and pleading with him, her eyes red and tears falling one by one.
She wanted to retain the last shred of dignity.
I want to retain the last bit of shame.
But the more she cried and begged him, the more Xie Linyuan tormented her.
He held her slender waist from behind, his lips gently nibbling at Su Muying's earlobe, a tender yet torturous act.
Sweat dripped from between the two of them.
Her black hair was also tangled together.
Su Muying, however, kept crying.
Sobbing and whimpering.
Under Xie Linyuan's deliberate teasing and punishment, she had no control over her body and could only plead with him, her eyes reddening and her voice incoherent.
This is Xie Lin'an's mourning hall.
What is he doing?
She was so ashamed that she wanted to kill herself by hitting her head against the wall, but then she heard a man's extremely wicked laugh. Immediately afterward, he bit her earlobe hard, and blood flowed out, making his lips appear even more beautiful and red, like a bewitching demon.
He grabbed the back of her head, forcing her to turn her head and look at him.
The man stared into the woman's misty eyes, licked the blood from his lips, and suddenly asked her, "Who am I?"
Su Muying, whose consciousness was hazy and who was sobbing incessantly, did not understand why he would ask such a question.
who is he?
She wanted her to answer who he was.
Su Muying could only guess his thoughts and answered, uttering three words tremblingly.
"Thank you, Lin'an."
She thought that he loathed her so much, hated that his brother died for her, and hated that she had offered herself to him and seduced him, abandoning his brother. She thought that was the answer he wanted from her.
However, after she replied with those three words, in her blurry vision, she seemed to see the man in front of her suddenly freeze in expression.
The dreamy look in those peach blossom eyes instantly turned cold.
Su Muying's body trembled violently. She was instinctively afraid, but she didn't know how her answer had angered him.
Sure enough, the next moment, the man's hand, with its clearly defined fingers, moved to her neck.
The frost and snow chilled her through her neck and spread to her entire body, causing her to tremble uncontrollably. The next moment, the woman's delicate, fair neck turned red.
The man's long, slender hands, with veins bulging, gripped the severed neck with remarkable ease; with just a slight exertion, he could snap it in two with remarkable precision.
She is so fragile; it would be easy to break her, to destroy her.
The feeling of suffocation is getting worse.
The woman's fair face inevitably flushed red, revealing an alluring and captivating beauty.
The man was handsome, yet his complexion remained as white as snow, seemingly no different from usual.
As a tear swayed and rolled down Su Muying's cheek, he let go of her hand.
As she gasped for breath, Xie Linyuan grabbed her waist and hugged her from behind.
His thin lips brushed against her ear, and his voice was incredibly gentle.
He spoke gently in her ear, words that were like stabbing her heart with a knife, slowly torturing her inch by inch.
"Look, my sister-in-law is a natural seductress."
"The same applies to my brother's memorial tablet..."
"My sister-in-law likes it too, doesn't she...?"
"Sister-in-law is so good..."
"Cry louder, so everyone in the mansion can hear you, including my brother..."
"What do you think my brother would think if he saw this now..."
"How will he see you...?"
“He used to cherish you so much, he took twenty-four knife wounds for you, he was covered in blood, you could even see the bone…”
"Tell me, what would my brother do if he saw you having an affair with me, in front of his memorial tablet..."
"You were his wife, but now you're my concubine..."
"ha……"
He laughed, then suddenly stopped. He changed his posture and scooped up one of the girl's legs with his arm.
Under the moonlight and candlelight, the girl's slender white legs were shrouded in a holy moonlight, swaying in his arms.
The gracefully curved instep suddenly straightened, and the pink and jade-like toes curled up.
He still had no intention of letting her go, and became even more ruthless, his words whispered in her ear were extremely cruel.
"What makes you... what makes you think your brother would die for you?"
"Su Muying, do you deserve it? Do you even deserve it?"
Are you really that good?
"Do you really think you're some kind of perfect couple...?"
"What else can you do besides seducing people?"
"You're good for nothing except your face."
"Su Muying, do you even have a heart?"
"Su Muying, is your blood warm?"
"Su Muying, you are not worthy."
"You should carry this life on your shoulders forever."
"You deserve to pay with your life."
"He deserves to be punished."
"By the way, how about letting your older brother take a look every time from now on?"
He bit the back of her neck, then, as if punishing her, bit all the way down to her earlobe, saying this with a smile.
The voice, carried by the spring breeze of the night, even carried a hint of tenderness when it reached the girl's ear.
But Su Muying's pupils dilated, she kept shaking her head, and tears streamed down her face.
"No, you can't..."
“Don’t pretend to cry. I’ve said it before, if I ever see you cry for your brother again, I’ll break your legs.”
"Why not... Su Muying, you are now my concubine..."
Have you forgotten?
"My brother is dead..."
“This is a natural and proper thing for us as husband and wife.”
"Don't look at me like that..."
He suddenly covered her eyes, his palms damp with her tears, and then he chuckled softly in her ear:
"This will only make me want to..."
"I'll ruin you."
——
He seemed to enjoy watching her expressions when she acted on instinct, when she couldn't control herself.
The false facade she usually wore was torn away, and her dignified and gentle demeanor was transformed into a seductive allure.
Those empty eyes shimmered with a seductive charm, their gazes swaying like spring water, exuding a captivating allure.
They really have no shame.
Is this only true for him, or for his brother as well?
Her body was perfectly suited to his.
She was clearly immersed and comfortable, but she also felt ashamed. Pain spread across her face, her eyebrows furrowed, and her small mouth opened as she begged him to let her go.
He found it very interesting.
A woman who is good at acting, a woman who is hypocritical.
This woman seduced him shortly after his brother's death, but now she acts as if she has wronged his brother and is deeply in love with him.
That's really interesting.
His punishment and torment of her continued.
In her hazy state of consciousness, sweat and tears streamed down her face. Su Muying finally realized what kind of devil the person in front of her was.
He promised to marry her and let her live, but only to torment her.
For example, let her be in the mourning hall, let her be in this posture as Xie Lin'an's memorial tablet.
He stripped away all her sense of shame, only to torment her.
Make her wish she were dead.
But she didn't want to die.
They must not die.
It will be fine once she gives birth to a child for the Xie family.
It will be fine once she gives birth to a son for the Xie family.
If she is pregnant this time, she can return to Anzhou.
Su Muying was forced to abandon all shame, and as he deliberately aroused her body to have an uncontrollable reaction, she repeated these words in her mind over and over again.
The candles in the mourning hall burned quietly, and the moonlight fell on the girl with pity and sorrow.
Su Muying endured the humiliation Xie Linyuan inflicted on her and stopped begging him.
She knew that begging him was useless and would only make him more violent, so Su Muying could only force herself to please him.
Her slender, white arms encircled his neck.
She also wanted him to finish this sooner.
Let's end this flogging.
However, she never dared to look up.
I dare not look at that memorial tablet.
However, despite her attempts to please him, Xie Linyuan not only didn't finish sooner, but his energy actually increased.
The long night seemed to have no end.
Su Muying couldn't take it anymore, and then she fainted.
Su Muying didn't even know how she got back to her room.
When she opened her eyes, the sun was high in the sky. Her whole body ached as if it were about to fall apart. The scene of the funeral hall kept flashing through her mind, and Su Muying had a splitting headache.
Xie Linyuan, dressed neatly, sat on the side of the bed.
After the mourning period ended, he changed out of his white robes into his usual black ones. His pale skin gave off a chilling aura, making him appear even more imposing and heavy, showing no trace of yesterday's madness.
He was languid, looking at her sideways. His face was clearly extremely handsome, with a slight smile on his thin lips, but it sent chills down her spine.
Su Muying lay on his bed, the whole room filled with a strange medicinal fragrance.
While she was still drawn to the medicinal fragrance and pondering why it was there, Xie Linyuan's extremely cold laughter rang in her ears.
"You're so weak, you can't even handle that."
"I drank it."
These two simple words are an order that cannot be disobeyed.
As soon as he finished speaking, he placed the bowl of medicine in front of her with one hand.
Su Muying stared at the bowl of still steaming brown medicine, and a bad feeling suddenly arose in her heart.
She sat up, propped on her elbows, her long hair falling over her shoulders, the black strands cascading down her cheeks, making her small, delicate face appear even more exquisite.
However, her face was completely bloodless and deathly pale.
The heat from the medicine dissipated, and the moisture gradually dampened her face.
Su Muying stared at it for a long time before hesitatingly asking, "What is this?"
Xie Linyuan coldly replied: "Pregnancy-preventing soup."
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