CH 39

Ming Zhu was so sleepy she could fall unconscious. Lying on the table, her breathing became soft and slow, and she was about to fall asleep.

She didn’t even notice when the door was pushed open. When Ah Ruo saw the man who walked into the room, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes. She was about to speak up to warn Ming Zhu.

Zhao Zhi coldly glared at her and ordered her to get out.

Chapter 39

(14.2)

Ming Zhu, who was sleeping uncomfortably, raised her eyelids in a daze, it seemed like she saw a blurred figure in the room.

The man’s whole body was emitting a slight chill. Sitting in the dim light, he was quietly watching her with an imposing aura.

Ming Zhu instantly woke up from her half-asleep, half-awake state, feeling big waves inside her heart from the surprise. She really didn’t expect him to come over today.

Wasn’t he supposed to be in the palace for the New Year at this time? How come he had time to come to her ?

Ming Zhu had a bad premonition in her heart, her legs and feet started to feel weak, she lifted her head, her white face was left with two red marks from her nap and her hair was also a bit messy.

Zhao Zhi silently drank two mouthfuls of tea, quietly and peacefully. Yet, on the contrary, he was carrying the harsh cold aura of someone who had just killed.

The room’s door was half open and it seemed to have started snowing outside.

Biying, carrying the sweet soup dumplings she had just freshly cooked, just reached the courtyard gate when she was blocked by guards she had never seen before.

Biying’s heart skipped a beat, what was going on here?

The crown prince’s personal soldiers were holding swords and guarding outside the courtyard gate, and no one was allowed to approach.

Ming Zhu was a little nervous, “Your Highness.”

Zhao Zhi was just looking at her, without saying anything. When he had finished drinking his cup of tea, he slowly placed the jade crown he kept in his sleeve in front of her.

Seeing this poor quality jade crown, Ming Zhu’s complexion suddenly turned dark, like she had a lump in her throat, and didn’t know what to say.

One lie needed another to fill in the blanks. That evening, fearing that he would find out about her visit to the pawnshop, she lied about having bought him a gift.

In her room, she really couldn’t find anything that she could gift to a man, so she really had no other choice but to take out this item that she would never again be able to gift to the person it was intended for, and offer it to him.

Ming Zhu’s face turned white, her instincts would have her turn around and run, but her legs were too stiff to even move.

She took a deep breath to try and stay calm, at this point, the situation was still unclear, Zhao Zhi may not necessarily be aware that this wasn’t originally bought for him.

She squeezed out a forced, ugly smile, “You don’t like it? Then give it back to me.”

Zhao Zhi’s face looked calm and one couldn’t see any hint from it, “You tell me, when and where did you buy this jade crown from ?”

The moment these words came out, Ming Zhu knew that she was already exposed.

Her taut body suddenly relaxed as the faint candlelight shone on the soft, white delicate side of her face. She lightly lowered her eyelashes in a serene manner.

“You found out.”

Her eyes swept a glance across the doorway where she saw soldiers carrying swords in the courtyard. Thus, she knew that Zhao Zhi was probably very angry this time.

But she was very puzzled, she didn’t know how Zhao Zhi came to know about this matter, was it that his eyes were omniscient to this degree ?

Zhao Zhi slowly stood up, closed the door of the room, and then walked towards her again, “A birthday gift that was bought for someone else a year ago.”

Ming Zhu said, “A year ago, he was still my fiancé.”

Now that things came to this point, she wasn’t that scared anymore.

Zhao Zhi grabbed her wrist and tugged it towards himself, the expression on his face somber, “So you repeatedly begged me to let you go home by playing weak, just to come back to see him?”

He used a lame excuse to leave early from the palace, and even loaded the carriage with some small fireworks that girls like, with the intention more or less to make her happy.

He didn’t want her to be sad during the New Year, but instead he received such a big surprise.

Ming Zhu’s slim wrist was hurting from his grip, and she was pinned against the soft couch, in a very difficult situation. She had to raise her eyes to face his grim gaze.

She couldn’t acknowledge it, she had already implicated Wei Chiyu far enough, and she couldn’t let these matters affect him again.

Besides, the reason she wanted to go home originally wasn’t to see Wei Chiyu.

“No.” Ming Zhu gritted her teeth, her voice shaking a little, “I’ve just been locked up by you for too long, I just wanted to come out for some air.”

Zhao Zhi stared at her face.

Ming Zhu was forced to look into his eyes. The man in front of her was very close, just a few inches separated them. Even with a close look, one couldn’t find any flaw on his face.

She asked the question that had been hidden in her heart for a long time, “Just why are you keeping me locked up?”

She was a person, not a bird raised in a cage.

Zhao Zhi was clearly not an unreasonable person, everyone who mentioned him would praise him, saying he was a mature, steady and reasonable person.

When Ming Zhu was still a girl in her boudoir, she had also heard the maids mention the crown prince, talking about him with great admiration.

They used to say that he was good-natured, gentle and courteous, very kind-hearted, compassionate towards the people, that he wasn’t haughty at all and never did things that would put others in a difficult situation.

Why was it different when it came to her?

He clearly knew that she was about to get married and still took her away by force, which is something bad people would do.

Zhao Zhi, who was staring into that pair of wet eyes, couldn’t answer her question.

Because he liked her so much, he used the brazenness of a lifetime all on her, step by step.

He was constantly afraid that she would follow someone else and run away, which is why he was so insane, trapping her in the golden cage he built for her.

Even though he knew it wasn’t right, he still did all the wrong things, one wrong after the other.

Zhao Zhi released her wrist and fixed his lapel, “I’ll pretend this matter never happened.”

He squeezed her chin, “But in the future, you aren’t allowed to ever meet with him again.”

Ming Zhu pushed his hand away and lowered her head.

“Tomorrow, I’ll dispatch someone to pick you up and take you back.”

“I’m not going back.”

Hearing these words, Zhao Zhi, who was already intending to leave, turned around, visibly extremely unhappy, “What did you say?”

“I want to celebrate the Lantern festival this year.” Ming Zhu lifted her eyes, speaking without any offensive strength: “If you insist on bringing me back, you can just dispatch someone to pick up my corpse tomorrow.”

Ming Zhu never spoke to him this way, no matter when, she was always warm and soft and easy to bully.

Zhao Zhi blandly opened his mouth, asking, “You’re threatening me?”

In this world, she was probably the only one who dared to threaten him.

Ming Zhu tilted her snow-white neck and lifted her small face to look at him, “Even rabbits bite when they are desperate.”

The words Zhao Zhi said carried an eerie chill, he was truly enraged, “On the 15th, I will personally come to pick you up.”

The man didn’t stay for the night and left with a cold face in the windy night with his personal soldiers.

He came suddenly and left suddenly and his brutal murderous aura couldn’t be contained. Before leaving, the crown prince issued the order, “Watch her closely for me.”

The Ming family’s eldest master was stunned, in so many years, he had never seen the crown prince being angry like this!

“Don’t worry, Your Highness, that’s a given.”

Ming Zhu was really too unreasonable, she was serving the crown prince, whose temperament was so nice as a person, and she still couldn’t serve him well ?

He only hoped that in the future, when Ming Ru marries into the crown prince residence, the crown prince wouldn’t get angry with her because of Ming Zhu’s immaturity.

How could Zhao Zhi not be aware of the Ming family’s moral conduct, “Also, if someone in your residence dares again to be disrespectful towards her and neglect her, your brother won’t be the only one to be dismissed of his post.”

The Ming family’s eldest master was terrified inside, but he had to keep the smile on his face, “Your Highness is right, I will definitely discipline the short-sighted people inside the family.”

Zhao Zhi gave him a mocking look and smiled coldly.

Before leaving, he withdrew all the personal soldiers who were guarding the gates of Ming Zhu courtyard.