Chapter 2: A Maddening First Encounter
As taught by her master, Jiang Taohua exerted all her skills—entangling, seducing, enchanting souls. Yet somehow, the man on top of her not only remained unmoved, but instead tried to control her, forcing her to follow his pace.
Wasn’t that rather infuriating? How could a man stay rational in bed? Did that mean her skills were lacking?
Fuming, Taohua puffed out her cheeks, reached up to wrap her arms around the man’s neck, and tilted her head up to kiss him.
The man stiffened, turned his face away, and said with great distaste, “Don’t even think about it.”
“……”
Kissing was a first for her too, and it wasn’t like she could kiss just anyone. What was the meaning of this attitude of his?
Every rebellious bone in her body was stirred up.
Jiang Taohua flipped over and pinned him beneath her, her delicate figure outlined beautifully by the moonlight streaming through the window.
The room fell silent for a moment.
“Looks good, doesn’t it?” Peach Blossom squinted her eyes slightly, offering a bewitching smile. “Since you want me to serve you, why not just enjoy it fully? What’s the point of keeping your senses clear?”
The man on the bed cast a cold, detached glance at her, reached out, and gripped her slender waist.
“With skills like yours, if I lose my senses, I might as well hand over my life to you.”
He wasn’t that foolish.
Peach Blossom paused, then smiled again.
“Do you think a single kiss could steal your soul away?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“Then why avoid it?”
“Dirty.”
A simple, direct word struck Jiang Taohua’s entire body with shock. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him.
Saying she’s dirty? Then why voluntarily enter this room? Is there something wrong with this person’s mind?
A fiery heat rose in her chest, more intense than desire.
Without a moment’s thought, Jiang Taohua fiercely smashed her head against the head of the man beneath her.
“Ah!”
The impulsive result was mutual injury, a swelling lump rising on each of their foreheads.
Feeling it wasn’t enough, Taohua wanted to strike again, but the man ruthlessly yanked her down, pressing her into the bed.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…”
“Do you even know what pain is?”
With a cold snort, the man narrowed his eyes.
“Ah!”
This time, it was Taohua’s turn to cry out in agony. Her delicate face instantly turned pale, her body trembled violently, and her nails dug deeply into his flesh.
Gasping sharply, the man above her seemed to have discovered something. His movements froze, and then he fell silent.
Tormented by unbearable pain, Taohua summoned all her strength in a surge of rage. Tilting her head back while the man was caught off guard, she fiercely bit down on his lips.
A muffled groan.
The man seemed genuinely angered, radiating an aura of aggression and fury all around him, showing no tenderness whatsoever.
“No…”
Tears streamed down uncontrollably. Jiang Taohua felt she was utterly miserable.
It was said that any man who encountered her would melt into softness around her finger—but where was the softness in the thing before her? This was simply a beast!
Once she woke up tomorrow and got a clear look at this man’s face, she would absolutely, without a doubt, have someone chop him to pieces. Cut him into eight big chunks!
The crimson quilt tumbled and rolled.
Outside the window, the moon had just begun to rise, while faint howls of wolves drifted from afar.
At half-past five in the evening, someone arrived at the door of the room and gently knocked three times.
The man on the bed sighed softly. Just as he was about to get up, someone hooked their arm around his waist and pulled him back in.
Standing outside the door, Zhanlu furrowed his brow, glanced at the time, and called out in slight surprise,
“Master?”
“…Hmm.”
A hoarse, low voice responded from within, offering no further explanation.
It seemed the storm had reignited, as a flurry of movements could be heard from inside, leaving the person outside blushing from head to toe.
Wiping his face, Zhanlu cleared his throat lightly and turned to the servant.
“Delay the Prince of Jing a little longer.”
“Yes!”
Pushing a woman onto the bed is a man’s skill, but making a man unable to get off the bed is a woman’s skill.
Jiang Taohua endured the pain, using every bit of her ability to contend with this man’s self-control.
After the previous encounter, the poison in her body had already dissipated. But since her body had already been compromised, there was no reason to let anyone easily walk away.
Entangled and squirming, she squinted her eyes, trying to make out the man’s face.
But he pinned her hands above her head with his left hand and covered her entire line of sight with his right.
“Afraid to show your face?” Taohua was slightly annoyed.
“When the time is right for us to meet, we’ll see each other properly.”
He chuckled lightly.
“Like this now—it’s far too impolite.”
Taohua: “…”
We’ve already… and he’s still worrying about being rude?
She still wanted to struggle, but the man lowered his head to her ear.
“Stop trying to win against me. You can’t do it.”
Frowning slightly, Jiang Taohua didn’t have time to think carefully before losing any chance to speak again.
At two quarters past the Hour of the Dog, the door was knocked again.
The man inside the room got up, leisurely putting his clothes back on piece by piece. He glanced at the bed before heading out.
Jiang Taohua was too tired to keep her eyes open and lacked the strength to keep anyone around.
In her dazed state, she heard a commotion outside—someone seemed to be shouting about mistakes, big mistakes and the like—but after just a few moments, silence returned.
Rolling over, she decided not to worry about it for now.
After all, since something major had already happened, it was better to get a good night’s sleep first.
Taohua had one advantage: once she fell asleep, even thunder couldn’t wake her.
This high-quality sleep allowed her to rest under any circumstances.
Of course, the downside was that she wouldn’t know if someone moved her around while she slept.
For example—
At that moment, she was carried out of the Hefeng Dance Hall amid all the noise.
She merely smacked her lips lightly before continuing to sleep soundly, only opening her eyes after a full four hours of rest.
“Master!”
A large crowd of people knelt by the bedside. As soon as she opened her eyes, Moss, at the front, led everyone in knocking their heads against the ground with loud thuds.
Rubbing her eyes, Peach Blossom looked at them in confusion.
“What happened to all of you?”
Qing Tai, with eyes unusually red, bit her lip.
“We failed to protect you, Master. Please punish us!”
“Failed to protect me?”
Peach Blossom slowly sat up. The pain beneath her made her gasp for breath as everything from yesterday came flooding back.
She had been robbed of her chastity in a brothel.
Her face paled.
Jiang Taohua trembled slightly.
“Why didn’t you come looking for me yesterday?”
Qing Tai gritted her teeth.
“After the servants drove away the wolves, we immediately went to search for you—but couldn’t find you anywhere…”
“How could that be? Didn’t I leave marks along the way?”
From the start, she had made an agreement with them: if they ever needed to escape, she would scatter small colored stones along the road.
“The servants followed the marks,” Qing Tai replied. “But the trail ended in an alley. After that, there were no more hints. We searched every house nearby, but still couldn’t…”
Alley?
Taohua raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t entered any alley yesterday.
Something was wrong.
Looking around, she finally realized this place was unfamiliar. Magnificent decor. Fine paintings. Jade pieces casually displayed. Premium mahogany furniture.
“Where is this?”
Moss lowered her head.
“The Prime Minister’s residence.”
Oh. The Prime Minister’s residence.
Taohua nodded.
“Wait.”
She grabbed Moss.
“The Prime Minister’s residence?”
Moss nodded gravely.
“Why was it the Prime Minister’s residence?”
Even if the marriage had fallen through, she should have been at the government inn.
With a long sigh, Qing Tai explained,
“Last night you were found by the Prime Minister, who claimed that… you had already consummated the marriage. Because of this, Prime Minister Shen, the Prince of Jing, and the Southern King went to the palace overnight. They still haven’t returned.”
“Huh?”
Jiang Taohua was dumbfounded.
So the man from the brothel was the Prime Minister of Wei?
What on earth was going on?
“Although I’m new here and not quite sure of the situation…”
She narrowed her eyes and stroked her chin.
“What kind of person is this Prime Minister?”
