The equestrian arena is always filled with the smell of leather and hay.
As Yu Jiuyuan led a pure white Arabian horse across the sandy path, Ji Luoqin sat in the shadows of the viewing platform, a pair of black leather gloves between his fingers, his gaze fixed on her like that of a hawk.
"Young Master Ji seems to have some free time today."
She reined in her horse, her boots clattering softly on the sand, and sunlight filtered through her hair, scattering like golden foil at his feet.
As Ji Luoqin stood up, the hem of her black riding suit swept across the railing, revealing half of her silver spurs.
He wasn't as silent as Ji Nianqin, but he was sharper, like a knife hidden in its sheath, always unpredictable where he would stab next.
"I heard you made a ring for Rong Shenghan."
His voice was flat, but his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the brass buckle on his leather glove, a shallow mark left by Yu Jiuyuan's bite at the last banquet.
Yu Jiuyuan smiled and stroked the horse's mane: "Young Master Ji's information network is truly impressive. What's wrong, are you jealous?"
Her pinky ring gleamed with a faint blue light in the sunlight. The system panel showed that Ji Luoqin's favorability was stuck at 80, but the negative value of her emotional fluctuations quietly climbed to 5, like ink spreading into clear water.
“He’s not good enough for me.” Ji Luoqin suddenly grabbed her wrist, her grip firm and unyielding. “That ring should be on my hand.”
His palms were so hot they made your skin feel tight.
Yu Jiuyuan didn't struggle; instead, she took half a step forward, her nose almost touching his tie clip: "Oh? Then how does Young Master Ji intend to prove it?"
Her voice carried a lazy provocation, like teasing a beast poised to pounce.
Ji Luoqin's Adam's apple bobbed. His gaze fell on her wind-blown hair. Suddenly, he bent down, picked her up, and leaped onto his black horse.
"Hold on tight," he whispered in her ear, and the black horse reared up and charged down the sand like a black lightning bolt.
The wind whistled in her ears, but Yu Jiuyuan deliberately loosened her grip on his neck, letting her body lean back.
Ji Luoqin immediately tightened his arms, holding her even tighter, his chest muscles taut like strings, stiff with anger.
"Are you scared?" He lowered his head and bit her earlobe, his breath carrying the cool scent of tobacco and roses.
"I'm afraid you'll drop me."
Yu Jiuyuan grabbed his collar with her other hand, her fingertips tracing the second button of his shirt, where there was still a small mark she had made with a carving knife. "After all, Young Master Ji isn't as good at taking care of people as Rong Shenghan."
The black horse suddenly stopped at the end of the sandy path, and the inertia caused her to bump into Ji Luoqin's arms.
His hand pressed against her lower back, so hard it almost crushed her bones, but his eyes churned with a complex emotion, like a deep pool illuminated by moonlight.
"The way I show affection might be too much for you to handle."
His kiss landed, with a predatory brutality; when his tongue pried open her teeth, he could almost taste blood.
Yu Jiuyuan met his kiss, her fingertips sliding down his spine and stopping precisely at the old wound on his lower back, the spot where Ji Nianqin had whipped him when he tried to catch her last time.
"Does it still hurt here?" She breathed on his lips, her voice sweet and cloying. "Were you very angry when I begged you to let Rong Shenghan go that day?"
Ji Luoqin's movements suddenly stopped, and the desire in her eyes was instantly covered by gloom.
He hated this look of hers the most; she was clearly showing weakness, yet it was as if she was holding the sharpest knife, precisely cutting through all his pretenses.
"Yu Jiuyuan." He pinched her chin, the force almost crushing her bones. "Don't test my limits."
The blue light from the pinky ring suddenly became dazzling, the system panel jumped wildly, Ji Luoqin's favorability increased by 5, and the positive emotional fluctuation broke through 100, like a flower suddenly blooming in a thicket of thorns.
Yu Jiuyuan smiled, raising her hand to stroke his brows and eyes with an unusually gentle touch: "I just want to know, is your feeling for me possessive, or..."
She paused deliberately, her fingertip lightly touching his heart: "Something else."
The black horse suddenly began to paw at itself restlessly, and Ji Nianqin's shouts came from afar.
Ji Luoqin ignored her, staring intently into her eyes as if trying to dig out the madman's soul hidden beneath that innocent facade.
"What do you want?" he suddenly asked, his voice hoarse. "Tell me, and I'll give it to you."
“I want you to be obedient.” Yu Jiuyuan’s fingertips traced his lips, as if tracing a work of art, “like Rong Shenghan, stay obediently by my side.”
These words were like a needle, piercing through all his defenses.
Ji Luoqin chuckled softly, her laughter tinged with self-mockery and a stubbornness born of something lost and regained: "Alright."
He leaned down and gently bit her palm, leaving a faint tooth mark: "But you must also remember, you cannot afford the price of betraying me."
The blue light from the pinky ring remained stable at its brightest level, and the 85% favorability rating was like a brand, deeply engraved into the system panel.
Looking at the seriousness in his eyes, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly felt that the way this beast put away its claws was more interesting than any docile pet.
"Let's go, baby." She deliberately called him by the same name she used for Rong Shenghan, her voice sickeningly sweet. "We should go back and apply your medicine."
Ji Luoqin's body stiffened, but she ultimately did not refute him. She simply turned her horse around and slowly walked back to the sand path.
The setting sun cast long shadows of the two men, and the manes of the black and white horses tangled in the wind, like an endless struggle.
In the shadows of the viewing platform, Ji Nianqin gripped the riding whip tightly, her gaze fixed intently on the embracing figures.
He knew better than anyone that his younger brother had truly fallen this time, fallen into the hands of this seemingly harmless but actually more insane young lady.
Yu Jiuyuan stroked the teeth marks on her palm, feeling the warmth from the pinky ring. It was the lingering warmth of Ji Luoqin's emotional fluctuations, like moonlight filtering through thorns—dangerous, yet fatally alluring.
Another new entry has been added to her "strategy guide".
This fiercest beast finally and willingly put on the shackles she had forged herself.
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