Chapter 8: The Threat.

Chapter 8: The Threat.

For a moment, the only sound in the study besides the curling tendrils of bamboo incense was the sound of breathing. Huo Qiu gave her a long, searching look before addressing the two men: “That will be all for today. You may leave.”

This was an unmistakable order to dismiss the guests.

Though his words were directed at Wang Yi and Zhong Yu, his gaze remained fixed on Tang Zhuozhuo’s face, refusing to let even the slightest flicker of emotion escape his notice.

Tang Zhuozhuo knew exactly what he was thinking, but today’s encounter was truly a coincidence. Had she known Wang Yi was here, she wouldn’t have set foot in the Qianqing Palace for anything.

Seeing him now only reminded her of the hideous face he hid behind his mask; even a single glance made her head swim with nausea.

I must find a time to speak with Father and Brother, she thought. They must not feel a shred of guilt toward this man again. Such a petty, insatiable creature should be exiled to guard the imperial tombs.

Wang Yi and Zhong Yu exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of helplessness in the other’s eyes. They bowed deeply. “This official takes his leave.”

The moment Wang Yi’s foot crossed the threshold, Huo Qiu stood with his back to the light, his hands behind him. His voice was like a poisoned arrow: “Wang Yi, your wedding date draws near. You need not concern yourself with court affairs for now. Consider it a vacation granted by me.”

Wang Yi’s slender frame stiffened. He desperately wanted to turn back and see the man’s expression, but he was cowed by the heavy warning in Huo Qiu’s tone. Recalling his current precarious position in court, he could only grit his teeth and force a smile. “Many thanks to Your Highness for your… consideration.”

He knew full well that Huo Qiu was forcing him to admit, right in front of Tang Zhuozhuo, his petition to marry the second daughter of the Marquis of Ningyuan. It was hateful, yet he had to swallow this insult with a smile.

Oppressing others with power, the hatred of a stolen wife, sooner or later, I will make him pay!

Wang Yi’s gaze turned murderously dark. Then, feeling as if he were being watched by something predatory, his footsteps faltered slightly. He quickly turned a corner, his back vanishing from Tang Zhuozhuo’s sight.

“Have you seen enough?”

The bone-chilling voice came from her side, laced with mockery. Huo Qiu followed her gaze to the empty corner and asked with feigned nonchalance.

Tang Zhuozhuo snapped back to reality. She pushed the pastries she had just taken from the food box toward his hand. “Your Highness has been discussing matters for a long time. Please, have some cake.”

A faint ray of sunlight filtered through the window lattice, falling squarely on her charming face and gilding her beauty with a layer of gold.

The more Huo Qiu looked, the more the fire in his heart raged out of control. Seeing her “hurrying” here combined with the memory of her taking out that portrait again the other night caused a blizzard to erupt in his normally calm, dark pupils.

Yet, he still picked up a well-shaped pastry and put it in his mouth. The sweet, soft taste spread instantly, but to him, it felt like swallowing pure bitterness.

It was tasteless as wax.

Tang Zhuozhuo felt both guilty and terrified, yet she couldn’t allow a single flaw to show on her face. Huo Qiu’s aura was so powerful that a mere furrow of his brow sent a wave of freezing cold toward her.

She remembered that Huo Qiu had always despised Wang Yi, never even granting him a glance. Why had he suddenly allowed him to visit today?

Connecting this to Zhong Yuxi’s plea from a few days ago and the disheveled state of the two men just now, Tang Zhuozhuo pursed her lips and moved her mouth: “Was the gentleman just now the elder brother of Zhong Liangdi?”

Huo Qiu paced back to his desk and picked up his brush, not looking at her again. Hearing her question, he gave a lukewarm “Mhm.”

But how could he truly rest his mind? The sweet fragrance on the woman was even more prominent than the bamboo incense in the study, and it was particularly tantalizing.

Tang Zhuozhuo rubbed the tip of her nose awkwardly, then muttered in a very low voice, “He doesn’t look like what Father described.”

Huo Qiu looked up. “Like what?”

Tang Zhuozhuo met his gaze and gave a shy smile. “Father told me the young master of the Zhong family was peerlessly brave, a rare military talent that few women could be worthy of.”

Her expression was sincere. In her past life, Zhong Yu had been Huo Qiu’s right-hand man and helped him immensely. Later, it was cleared up that the incident with the courtesan was a secret trap set by others.

It might very well have been aimed at Huo Qiu.

Although Tang Zhuozhuo disliked Zhong Yuxi, if she could help Huo Qiu, she didn’t mind going against her conscience to put in a good word.

If I say it like this, Huo Qiu should understand my meaning, right?

Huo Qiu’s brush-holding hand stopped. His temples throbbed with pain. He suddenly threw the wolf-hair brush aside, his expression turning ferociously grim. Almost through gritted teeth, he asked, “Lady Tang, what exactly are you trying to do?”

She was being too abnormal. She didn’t cry or make a scene upon seeing Wang Yi; she didn’t even mention him. It was as if she were a different person, and it left his heart suspended in mid-air with no place to land.

Tang Zhuozhuo was silenced. Feeling the raw anger in his words, she didn’t know how to respond. Her throat felt dry, and her expression turned inevitably aggrieved. “I am… terrified.”

People are strange. In her last life, no matter how much he roared in anger, she would stubbornly talk back. But after being reborn, her courage seemed much smaller; the moment the man grew angry, she felt at a loss.

She was single-mindedly thinking of helping him this time, but she had forgotten that her change was too sudden. Not to talk of  the naturally suspicious Huo Qiu, even if she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t believe it.

Tang Zhuozhuo mocked herself inwardly. Seeing Huo Qiu’s tightly clenched eyes, she curtsied. “If Your Highness is busy, I shall return first.”

Huo Qiu naturally saw that tiny trace of grievance on her face, and he was so angry he almost wanted to laugh. What does she have to be aggrieved about?

His hand hanging by his side slowly clenched. His eyes were filled with countless shards of cold light. He paced toward her step by step, ignoring the flecks of ink that had splattered onto his sleeve. His brows were like curved blades, his aura overwhelming. Tang Zhuozhuo unobtrusively took several steps back, her heart full of alarm.

With Huo Qiu looking like this… he doesn’t want to strangle me, does he?

Sensing her flinching, Huo Qiu stopped. His yellow boots, embroidered with gold python patterns, halted three steps away from her.

He was exceptionally handsome, but when he furrowed his brows, he looked like a cold-faced Yama from a picture book. Right now, his face bore a sneer, and his voice was like a winter night in the twelfth month: “Tang Zhuozhuo, I have a thousand ways to make Wang Yi wish he were dead. You had better not provoke me.”

Nothing was more ridiculous than this. He, Huo Qiu, wanted the woman of his heart to be a little more obedient and stable, and the only effective method he had was to use Wang Yi as a threat. This realization pushed the anger churning in his heart to its peak, yet he had no better way.

Give her the cold shoulder? She would only be happier. Truly punish her? How could he bear it?

Tang Zhuozhuo had heard this threat many times in her past life. Hearing it again now, she felt the man was incredibly awkward, his mouth completely betrayed his heart.

“If I provoke Your Highness, will you crush General Wang like an ant?” she asked with total seriousness, her almond eyes clear and gentle.

Huo Qiu narrowed his eyes slightly. This confrontational Tang Zhuozhuo made him feel more secure than the submissive, well-behaved version of her from these past few days.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Tang Zhuozhuo laughed on her own, revealing two sweet little dimples. Even her voice carried a pear-like sweetness: “In that case, how should I go about provoking Your Highness?”

The anger on Huo Qiu’s face came to a screeching halt. He gave her a deep look, and the hand playing with his jade thumb ring paused. “I am not easily toyed with, Jiaojiao.”

He emphasized the name Jiaojiao heavily, as if he wanted to tear her apart and swallow her whole, yet a faint smile actually appeared on his face.

Tang Zhuozhuo blinked. Since her rebirth, Huo Qiu had always called her “Lady Tang” coldly or used her full name—as stiffly as possible. This “Jiaojiao” was quite abrupt.

But what needed to be said had to be said. Since she had come to plead for mercy, she had to make sure someone paid the price.

“How would I dare toy with Your Highness?” She smiled and picked up a cup of steaming tea from the table, tracing the floral patterns on it until her slender fingers turned red from the heat.

“The other day, I was lying peacefully in my hall when Zhong Liangdi suddenly burst in. Without a word, she knelt before me, begging me to let her see Your Highness.”

A flash of interest appeared in Huo Qiu’s eyes. As they drew closer, their breathing mingled. Tang Zhuozhuo’s face felt hot as she continued: “Where would I get such heaven-reaching power? Your Highness is busy with state affairs; how could I allow such a thing to disturb you?”

A faint smile finally appeared on Huo Qiu’s face. “You didn’t agree?”

“Of course I couldn’t. How could I influence Your Highness’s decisions?”

Tang Zhuozhuo raised her eyes, her slightly heroic brows arching with confidence. She said righteously, “Besides, as for matters of the court, how could I interfere? Zhong Liangdi knows this well, yet she still had the face to bring it up?”

She was never one to be weak in speech, especially when she had the upper hand. Huo Qiu truly loved this little “unreasonable” look of hers.

He suddenly moved a bit further away, a very faint trace of a smile flashing in his habitually indifferent eyes.

“Then the one who just pleaded for Zhong Yu wasn’t you?” He took a dark handkerchief from the table to wipe the ink spots from the back of his hand, then fixed his sharp eyes on her with a half-smile.

A chill ran down Tang Zhuozhuo’s spine. She didn’t dare look directly into his piercing eyes. “I… I wasn’t really pleading for the young master of the Zhong family. I just remembered what my father once said and mentioned it in passing.”

Zhong Yu would be a great help to him. If he could be saved, a casual mention wouldn’t hurt her. Plus, once Zhong Yu became a high-ranking official in the future, the Zhong family would owe her a debt of gratitude.

As for Zhong Yuxi… Tang Zhuozhuo pursed her lips, her eyes dimming.

Seeing her shamelessly “tattling” on Zhong Yuxi right in front of him, Huo Qiu wanted to laugh loudly and pull her into his arms to take a good look at her.

From the day they married, the bright smile had vanished from her face. As time passed, he had almost forgotten that she was someone who couldn’t stay still for a moment; yet now she could stay inside Yiqiu Palace for over ten days without stepping out.

But even this woman who could sway his every mood had neither him in her heart nor in her eyes.

Huo Qiu’s left index finger, hidden behind his back, twitched. His heart was in turmoil, not nearly as calm as he appeared on the surface.

“How is it that I once heard the Minister standing at the courtyard gate cursing every member of the Zhong family for being hypocrites who couldn’t handle the spotlight?”

Tang Zhuozhuo looked up at him, stunned. Her face slowly turned bright red, yet she still followed up smoothly: “Then… perhaps I remembered incorrectly.”

Of all things she calculated, she forgot to account for a father who loved to speak the blunt truth after a few drinks.