She Holds the World After Being Reborn-Chapter 21: Daring to Marry Xiao Hongshen, He Would Skin Her Alive

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Daring to Marry Xiao Hongshen, He Would Skin Her Alive

Damn this feigned affection and embrace!

What nonsense is this about being ’good’!

At this moment, Yan Wanqing was unspeakably miserable. The pain in her knees from hitting the wooden tub was impossible to ignore, especially now with her heart racing uncontrollably.

Her hands pressed against the man’s chest through the fabric of his clothes, but the cloth had been soaked through, gradually thinning to nothingness, slowly allowing the heat of his body to seep through... It was so hot that it sent tremors through the very tips of her heart.

This sensation was too strange.

She felt as if her whole body was heating up; if the room weren’t so dim, she thought she might look like a boiled shrimp.

"...Of course not! Cover your eyes and turn around," Yan Wanqing’s own voice trembled as she spoke.

In the darkness, the deep and unfamiliar masculine scent enveloped her, and the silence was such that even the slight movement of a swallowing throat could be heard.

"By holding me, you won’t be able to see anything?" The man’s voice had a hint of malice as he breathed into her ear—a gentle breath that nearly caused her knees to buckle and slide down.

"Xiao Pingfeng!" Yan Wanqing clenched her back teeth and managed to restrain three words.

"Hmm?"

She took a deep breath, her tone softening despite herself, "...Please."

"What are you asking of me?"

"Close your eyes and turn around." When under another’s roof, one must bow one’s head.

"Heh..." The man chuckled softly, "All right, all right."

Seizing the moment he closed his eyes and turned, Yan Wanqing disregarded the pain in her knees. She stepped out of the bath barefoot, grabbed the clothes from the table nearby, hastily put them on, and dived into the bed without looking back, wrapping herself into a bundle like a zongzi.

The commotion wasn’t loud, but the man, with his exceptional hearing, unaware even to himself, smiled indulgently in the darkness.

"...Crown Prince, do you need anything else?" Yan Wanqing spoke, her voice muffled beneath the blankets, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

The man’s tall figure was turned away from her, "Are you sure you want to talk like that? When will you allow me to turn back around?"

Yan Wanqing was so angry she choked. She bit her lower lip, "You...please turn around."

Since he had fished her out of the water earlier that day, heaven knows what kind of rumors were already spreading outside. And just now—he had—The more Yan Wanqing thought about it, the hotter her cheeks felt and the heavier her heart grew with irritation.

Is this man’s head alright? Instead of going to put out a fire at night, he came to her room to watch her bathe?!

The Crown Prince was unaware of what was on Yan Wanqing’s mind, but watching her face change expressions, he snorted coldly, "What’s there for Yan Wanqing to be shy about? We used to bathe together by the river when we were younger."

"Shut your mouth! You—" Yan Wanqing snatched a pillow from the couch and hurled it at him, which he caught with steady hands.

He seemed unfazed, "What is it?"

"Bringing up something from when we were three years old, have you no shame!" Yan Wanqing wished she could pinch her philtrum to suppress the anger raging in her heart—if only her martial arts were with her tonight, it would either be his death or his doom!

Xiao Pingfeng, this demon in human skin!

"Do you even know the meaning of propriety between men and women?!"

She saw the man approaching with measured steps, half crouching before the bed, his gaze intently focused on her, which left Yan Wanqing momentarily stunned.

"You taught me how to lead troops and wage war, but you never taught me about ethical norms and distinctions between men and women," his invasive gaze and the deliberately lowered tone of his voice, even in the darkness, couldn’t hide his radiant features, filled with an imposing aura, "Right, teacher?"

"Who’s your teacher?!" The Crown Prince had his own tutors; how could it be her turn? Xiao Pingfeng was calling out to a teacher that made no sense.

"What’s wrong?" That strong, slender hand reached out to grasp her chin, pinching her cheeks firmly, "Prince Xiao Hongshen calls out like that, but I can’t?"

Yan Wanqing didn’t understand what had gotten into him tonight. Their interactions had never been this intense before... What was he trying to achieve with his behavior?

She couldn’t figure it out, and the atmosphere fell into silence.

As if the man had vented all his frustration, he suddenly withdrew his noble hand, his voice icy cold, "Yan Wanqing, become my Crown Princess Consort."

Those words struck her like a thunderbolt from the clear sky, exploding into a myriad of thoughts within Yan Wanqing’s mind.

She looked at the beautifully chiseled man in shock, her brows slightly furrowed, "...why?"

"What why?" The Crown Prince arrogantly countered, "I’ve touched and embraced you already. If you don’t marry me, who do you want to marry, Xiao Hongshen?"

She wouldn’t dare!

If she dared to marry Xiao Hongshen, he would skin her alive!

Naturally, Yan Wanqing would not marry Xiao Hongshen, but she also had no intention of marrying the Crown Prince.

This was a scenario that had never occurred in her previous life.

"But we’ve only met a few times..." Yan Wanqing struggled to clarify her thoughts, "I think we don’t have feelings for each other, and as the Crown Prince, there’s no need for you to suddenly propose marriage over such a trivial matter, to—marry..." The last few words got stuck in her throat.

"That’s only what you think," Xiao Pingfeng’s eyes darkened further, containing an incomprehensible restraint, "Or are you saying... you already have someone else in your heart?"

Yan Wanqing pursed her lips, pondering what the man really meant, and within the silence, she saw Xiao Pingfeng not looking back as he pushed the door and left.

Her: "?"

Was he angry again? What was he angry about? Because she didn’t agree to marry him?

Or was it the fact that he was rejected? As the Crown Prince of the Empire, the dream lover of numerous young maidens, and yet rejected by her, an older maiden, that’s why he was angry.

The more Yan Wanqing thought about it, the more it made sense.

At this moment, a rustling sound came from the roof beams, "...Master."

It was Piji.

Yan Wanqing held her forehead and sighed softly, "It’s nothing."

Piji seemed on the verge of speaking but ultimately held back.

When exactly the Crown Prince had entered, she did not know, but when he left, he did so with a grandiose air.

Luckily, the madam had taken Aunt Song and a whole courtyard’s worth of people to put out the fire. Otherwise, if the Crown Prince had left through the main gate as if no one else mattered, it could have frightened many to death.

"You can go out," Yan Wanqing said wearily, massaging her brows. Once the house had returned to quiet, she threw back the covers and changed into a new set of comfortable clothes before opening the room’s door.

Even now, the sky was ablaze with fire, and the air was filled with the scent of burning.

Yan Wanqing lifted her hand to catch the bowl of medicine Piji handed over, downed it in one go, and then smashed the bowl on the ground.

"Let’s go, come see with your master how well this fire is burning."

She strode forward, bitterness weighing on her heart, yet she felt indescribably exhilarated.

The trip to Southern Mountain was her, Yan Wanqing’s, grand entrance back into society.

The time to round up and catch the fish had come.

Of course, the great fire caused no casualties. When Yan Wanqing arrived, the fire was still raging, burning only the long-desolate lands behind the mountain.

They saved the nearby stack rooms from the fire and then let it continue to burn unchecked. Below the back mountain was a river, so the fire wouldn’t amount to much.

This was precisely why Yan Wanqing was in no rush about the blaze. She knew it was controllable.

"This fire is very suspicious," commented an official from the crowd with a conspiratorial look, "How could such a fire start out of nowhere?"

"In the winter the air is dry; it’s normal for fires to start. Just last year, Southern Mountain burned once, but that was a small one." Someone chimed in.

The official still shook his head, stroking his goatee.

He felt something was amiss but couldn’t put his finger on why.

Just then, a sharp reprimand rang out, "Come, tie up Lin Pingzhi!"

The one speaking was none other than Prince Xiao Hongshen.