The Slender Waist-Chapter 31 - 26 The Sound Cat Strikes the Flame

The midnight rain began suddenly, and by dawn the sky remained as dark as thick ink.

Within Huayuejian, the lights were bright; the glow from the corridor lamps fell into the river behind the elegant pavilion, causing gentle ripples to spread in circles.

The Crown Prince Chunyu loved cleanliness; he rose to bathe and never allowed anyone close to serve him. The servants prepared the water and then left the pavilion one by one, standing guard outside.

No one else was left in the entire two-story building. Chunyu Yan exhaled, removed the mask from his face, took off his light robe, placed them on the wooden rack, and then with long strides, he sunk into the steaming hot bath, closing his eyes.

After a while, there was a thump by his ear.

Chunyu Yan’s eyes snapped open, only to discover a strange, yellow-brown cat suddenly leaping from the beam, landing precisely on the wooden rack beside his bath, and rapidly dragging away his robe. The speed was so fast he almost thought he was seeing things...

"Where did this stray cat come from..."

No, this doesn’t seem like a normal cat—

Chunyu Yan sensed something was wrong, and stood up to grab his mask from the rack, about to chase after the cat when he suddenly felt a chill at his waist.

"Don’t move!"

Chunyu Yan’s attention had been entirely on the strange pointy-eared, thin-faced cat; he was caught off guard when someone approached from behind, a cold dagger pressing against his back, the familiar voice tinged with mockery.

"Don’t make a sound, otherwise the entire Huayuejian will see a face the Crown Prince Chunyu never shows to anyone, and..."

The dagger’s sharp edge rolled along his waistline. Chunyu Yan tensed up, his spine rigid, a forced, grinding laugh in his voice.

"Lian Ji, what are you trying to do? Return kindness with ingratitude?"

"I am certainly not your Lian Ji." Feng Yun’s voice was languid, and sensing Chunyu Yan’s suppressed anger, she couldn’t help but smile with pursed lips.

"I want what you know, Crown Prince Chunyu."

"Is twenty stones of grain not enough to eat? Lian Ji, you do have quite the appetite."

"The princely heir is not small either."

Feng Yun’s dagger glided down along his waist, inch by inch moving—threatening to pierce his skin at any moment, yet also like it was stirring something, slowly yet insistently wandering around his waist, her garment carrying a faint fragrance in waves, Chunyu Yan helplessly feeling his body breaking out in goosebumps under her provocation, and just as helplessly watching himself unable to control the furious glares he cast her way...

He cursed himself silently!

To become so flustered and yet to lose face like this.

Taking a deep breath, trying to remain calm and collected, "The matter of bandits blocking the road has nothing to do with me. Blame yourself for having caught the fancy of Pei Wangzhi and inviting disaster upon yourself..."

"Oh?" Feng Yun responded lightly.

"Since the princely heir knows who wants to harm me, you can hardly be considered innocent. So, even if I cripple you today, it wouldn’t be excessive, right?"

The sharp dagger had now moved from his waist to his lower abdomen.

With every glide, there was a dangerous threat of a sudden cut.

And yet the woman’s voice was calm and soft, like a seasoned woman who, in the face of a naked man, showed not the slightest embarrassment. The words she uttered were gentle but filled with threat.

Chunyu Yan was so furious his head throbbed, and he wished he could turn around and choke her to death.

But he couldn’t make a single move.

"You woman, do you not feel any shame?"

"Compared to Crown Prince Chunyu, I am quite well-acquainted with shame."

A waistband was tossed onto the tub, half of it sinking into the water.

Feng Yun said, "Come on, bind your hands tightly yourself! Otherwise, I’ll cripple you."

Chunyu Yan was furiously frustrated, his forehead throbbing violently, his teeth nearly shattering from clenching.

"To go to such lengths for two hundred thousand stones of grain, do you truly do this only for Pei Jue?"

"Do it! No more talking." Feng Yun laughed.

As her voice penetrated Chunyu Yan’s ears, the sharp point of the dagger also slid up and down the root of his thigh, like a snake flicking its tongue, cold and unpredictable, ready at any moment to open its jaws and swallow him whole.

"Don’t shake. I’ll do it." Chunyu Yan’s Adam’s apple rolled, glaring at Feng Yun with gritted teeth as he simultaneously restrained his own hands with the waistband.

"Very good." Feng Yun smiled in satisfaction and then puckered her lips, "Slowly step out of the bath, and go behind the curtain where you receive guests..."

Chunyu Yan was furious, "At least let me put on some clothes..."

"No need," Feng Yun smiled and said, "The Crown Prince Chunyu, who deals honestly, makes me feel more at ease."

A person who always hides his face behind a mask naturally does not wish to expose his body. For Chunyu Yan, having his appearance seen by others was more unbearable than death itself...

"Feng Family! You’d better kill me, otherwise I..."

"Walk nicely!" Feng Yun’s dagger slid smoothly, "Don’t look around, don’t try any tricks..."

After speaking, she glanced at his expression as if he had swallowed a fly, and smiled warmly, "You won’t be faster than my tortoise. Even if my dagger isn’t quick enough, the tortoise’s claws can make the Princely Heir lose... oh, the lower half of his body."

Chunyu Yan gasped: ...

Everyone said that he, Chunyu Yan, was a madman.

But the Feng girl was a hundred, a thousand times crazier than him.

"Don’t be too angry, and don’t think about how to retaliate against me," Feng Yun calmly advised him, "If the Princely Heir weren’t so stingy, I wouldn’t have resorted to this tactic. After all, it’s the Princely Heir who forced my hand."

"You really aren’t afraid of death!" Chunyu Yan gnashed his teeth and cursed.

The cat that had stolen his robe growled lowly, staring coldly at his lower abdomen, licked its tongue, and he felt a chill. He immediately shut his mouth, lowered his eyes, pretended to be a dead man, and sat on the soft couch as Feng Yun had ordered, the same one from the day he met her.

"You know what happens to those who offend me, I will make your life worse than death..."

"A man with tough talk is really not cute," Feng Yun suddenly lowered her gaze, as if her sympathy was suddenly aroused, and curled her lips, "Or does the Princely Heir want to try my dagger, to give the Princely Heir a shave?"

Madwoman!

Chunyu Yan clenched his teeth in anger, his body trembling slightly.

"Feng Family, you are courting death..."

Mmm! Feng Yun said casually, "Before I die, I will take the Princely Heir with me..."

Chunyu Yan, sensing the chill in her words and realizing something, suddenly turned his head and changed his tone, "Have I ever offended the lady?"

Feng Yun gazed at him intently.

It took a moment before she chuckled softly, "Not at all."

"Then why do you hate me?" Chunyu Yan asked.

Feng Yun replied, "Do I appear that obvious?"

Chunyu Yan: ...

Feng Yun let out another laugh, her eyes drifting over the mask on his face.

With not a thread on his body, wearing a mask seemed somewhat superfluous.

Driven by curiosity, Feng Yun reached towards Chunyu Yan’s face, but she saw a look of horror in his eyes, "Don’t mess around!"

Was removing the mask even harder to bear than removing clothes?

Feng Yun snickered, "Princely Heir, don’t be afraid. I’ve seen plenty of ugly men. I won’t laugh at you."

No matter how beautiful the eyes were, a man who always appeared behind a mask inevitably led to speculation that there might be some disfiguring defect on his face...

Feng Yun was purely curious, her gesture to take off the mask casual and almost dismissive...

However, the moment the mask was lifted from Chunyu Yan’s face, she was entirely stunned, the mask slipping from her hand unnoticed...

This face, which was rarely seen in two lifetimes, was incredibly handsome.

The Crown Prince of Yunchuan, with his damp long hair scattered, long eyelashes slightly curled, lips pursed in anger—his features were delicate, his skin was whiter than most, not only did he possess a face so beautiful it transcended gender lines, but his body was also not that lean, bony type. The thin areas were thin, the muscular areas muscular, proportioned just right—although he didn’t have the three-dimensional depth of Pei Jue, he held a different sort of stunning beauty...

Feng Yun’s gaze slid from top to bottom, chilling yet laughing.

"I’ll give you the two hundred thousand bushels of grain," Chunyu Yan couldn’t stand the hair-raising silence in the air, he gnashed his teeth, "Isn’t it enough for you if I give it to you?"

Listening to Feng Yun speak, he hated.

When Feng Yun remained silent, only staring at him, he hated even more.

What he hated the most was his own weakness; under such extreme humiliation and coercion, his body reacted defiantly, fueling his arousal...