Chapter 43: The Obsessive, Desire-Driven Hostage Prince x The Spoiled, Arrogant Princess (43)

The death row was dark, damp, and reeked of foul moss in the corners.

On a wooden cross, Chu Yuan had his hands and feet nailed down. He was shirtless, his exposed chest pierced by sharp weapons, leaving numerous bloody holes.

He was still conscious, having not been tortured into unconsciousness, and he opened his swollen eyelids to look over.

"Ugh! Urgh-ah!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Chu Yuan's screams choked in his throat as he widened his bloodshot eyes in agony.

He cried out in a bizarre, excruciating manner, his wide-open mouth a bloody mess of flesh.

His tongue had been cut out.

Though unable to speak, his gaze conveyed a multitude of things.

Rage, contempt, and a blazing fire that burned with the desire to sear straight through Shu Yao's body.

Vile woman! Vile woman!

In his eyes, Shu Yao—who should have been on her way to a marriage alliance—was standing in the death row without a single scratch on her, which must mean she had surrendered herself to the Di bandits!

"How does it feel to see your brother?"

The thick, dark tone wrapped around Shu Yao's neck like a venomous snake.

Shen Jingmu lowered his gaze to look at her, watching those bright, defiant eyes gradually become stained with terror.

"Mad dog! What on earth are you trying to do?"

Shen Jingmu raised an eyebrow, leaning in intimately to lightly brush against Shu Yao's hair, though his eyes remained fixed on Chu Yuan upon the cross, challenging him with excited provocation.

"Your Highness, you are being most unreasonable. I pitied your deep sibling bond and arranged for the two of you to meet before crossing the Yellow Springs, so why are you refusing to appreciate it?"

Chu Yuan's emotions grew even more violent as the wooden frame rattled loudly, desperate to tear through the flesh on his hands.

The bloody skin bulged, outlining the shape of the iron nails.

"Ugh! Urgh-urgh!"

Go to hell! All of you go to hell!

A gleaming dagger was thrust into Shu Yao's palm.

The man seized her, pulling her effortlessly toward the wooden frame, one hand gripping her slender waist to suppress all fear and struggle.

"Your Highness, it is time to send your imperial brother on his final journey."

He pressed intimately against her hair bun, tracing the tip of his tongue along her small, pink earlobe amidst his eager, burning breath, while his large hand controlled both of her wrists, denying her even the slightest possibility of resistance.

"You brute! What are you doing?!"

Panicking, Shu Yao struggled fiercely, yet she could only watch helplessly as Shen Jingmu forced her hand, pressing the tip of the blade against Chu Yuan's chest.

"No.... No... You can't!"

Ignoring her breakdown, Shen Jingmu exerted a sudden, fierce force!

Slash!

The blade pierced straight through Chu Yuan's body, and his head slumped sideways as he fell completely still.

This was the first time Shu Yao had ever killed someone.

Shen Jingmu had forced her to do it, hand in hand.

In a daze, Shu Yao collapsed heavily to the ground, watching as Chu Yuan's blood flowed, and flowed, and flowed.

Chu Yuan's days were already numbered anyway, and Shen Jingmu had never intended to let him go, yet he had deliberately chosen the most cruel method possible.

He made even Shu Yao's hands stained with sin.

Shen Jingmu, who had been standing by the side the entire time, discarded the dagger and looked down at the dumbfounded, broken Shu Yao on the floor, a lingering thirst for more flashing deep within his eyes just after committing murder.

"Has Your Highness still not accepted reality?"

He squatted down and lifted Shu Yao's pale, delicate chin.

"Chu Yuan drugged you and ruined your chastity. Aren't you glad I helped you take revenge?"

Aside from staying by his side, where else in this world could such a wonderful thing be found?

Yet Shu Yao did not react, merely staring blankly at her own hands.

Her hands seemed to still retain the hard texture of gripping the dagger, along with the dull sound of breastbones being crushed.

She had truly killed someone.

-

"Shen Jingmu!"

A cold flash swept past, and the wooden chair Shen Jingmu had been sitting on was smashed to splinters.

Zhaoyang suppressed her fury, clutching a sharp longsword snatched from a guard.

Shen Jingmu's expression remained calm as he said leisurely, "What business does Princess Zhaoyang have here?"

Zhaoyang lunged forward to slash again, but Shen Jingmu dodged every blow with nimble ease.

He did not even harbor the intention of fighting back, instead catching Zhaoyang by the wrist and snatching the longsword away.

"I do not fight with women. Get out of here at once."

As if she had heard nothing, Zhaoyang launched a frantic attack targeting his vital points.

Losing his patience, Shen Jingmu sidestepped her attack and kicked her to the ground with a single blow.

Zhaoyang crashed onto the floor, coughing up blood from the pain, and raised her head to stubbornly question him.

"You promised me you would not harm Jianing."

Shen Jingmu curled his lips into a cold sneer. "Harm? I haven't laid a single hair on her head."

Zhaoyang's eyes were red-rimmed, her voice hoarse.

"Locking her away is a form of harm too!"

She clenched her fists with bitter resentment. "I have done everything I promised you. Let her go."

"Let her go?"

Shen Jingmu's expression grew terrifyingly gloomy.

"The princess seems to have forgotten what the lofty Princess Jianing once did to me."

Of course Zhaoyang had not forgotten; she remembered it with absolute clarity.

Back then, she had suffered persecution from Jianing just like Shen Jingmu, and having lost all hope for Great Chu, she had chosen to ally with him.

Yet now she regretted it.

The tattoo on her neck burned and stung, telling her plainly:

Deep within the vast imperial palace, someone actually still cared about her.

Yet she had been driven onto a path of no return, afflicted with a lethal poison, forced to continue cooperating with Shen Jingmu simply to survive.

Her only request had been that he spare Jianing.

And yet, she had ended up harming her.

Endless remorse crushed Zhaoyang until she could barely breathe.

"I am not you; I am not so easily fooled that a single ugly tattoo can erase all my hatred."

With a sarcastic expression, Shen Jingmu cast a malevolent glance at the nape of Zhaoyang's neck.

What a beautiful tattoo.

Look how kind it was.

"Since Jianing bullied you, you are entirely free to take your revenge."

Zhaoyang choked back a sob, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.

"If she whipped you once, you could return it tenfold or a hundred times over. But by what right do you lock her away, trample upon her, and turn her into the laughingstock of the entire world as a traitor?!"

"I am the one who committed the wrongdoings. Direct your anger at me; I will pay the price for her, I will atone for her sins."

Shen Jingmu let out a soft scoff, and amidst Zhaoyang's shattered gaze, he picked up the longsword discarded in the corner.

"What Princess Jianing owes me cannot be repaid tenfold or a hundredfold."

With those words, carrying a bone-deep hatred and ruthlessness etched across his face, he turned and walked away.

Zhaoyang could no longer hold back as she screamed at the top of her lungs, her face contorted with frantic hatred and despair, tears streaming down as she neared total collapse.

"Stop right there! Take it out on me, come after me instead!"

"No... Stop..."

The door was locked from the outside, followed by the man's cold voice echoing from the corridor.

"Keep a close watch."

"Understood!"

-

Ever since she had been forced by Shen Jingmu to kill someone, Shu Yao had begun experiencing nightmares once again.

The dreams were still filled with scenes of seas of corpses and mountains of blood, except this time, the one cornered by the Di army with no way out was Shen Jingmu.

His face was streaked with tears, his tall figure trembling violently in the torrential rain.

"Spare my life, Your Highness... Your Highness..."

"This lowly one was wrong."

So it had been a pleasant dream after all.

Shu Yao unconsciously curved the corners of her lips, but before the sweet dream could fully unfold, she was rudely shaken awake by a pair of hands.

"Jianing! Jianing, wake up!"

Rubbing her eyes, Shu Yao's heart leapt into her throat the moment she recognized her visitor, instantly chasing away all lingering sleepiness.

"Zhaoyang?"

Seeing that she had finally woken up, Zhaoyang let out a breath of relief, her trembling hand reaching out to stroke Shu Yao's face.

"Jianing... It was my fault."

The sudden display of affection left Shu Yao utterly bewildered, and before she could process it, she was pulled into a tight embrace.

Zhaoyang buried her face in the crook of Shu Yao's neck as large tears fell.

"You've suffered. Eldest Sister is going to take you away."

Take her away?

Shu Yao instantly seized upon those words.

Princess Zhaoyang had actually come to rescue her, the wicked female supporting character, and help her escape?!

True to her nature as a kind and righteous female protagonist, she really had a grand vision; the scumbag male lead simply couldn't compare.

Overjoyed to the point of tears, she immediately wrapped her arms tightly around Zhaoyang in return, acting all aggrieved.

"Wuwu! Eldest Sister! What took you so long to get here?"

"That scoundrel Shen Jingmu forced me to kill someone and abused me. I was so scared."

A pang of heartache struck Zhaoyang, and her tears flowed even faster.

She stroked Shu Yao's hair, her voice trembling slightly.

"Eldest Sister is here now. Don't be afraid; I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

Taking advantage of the interval when the maidservants delivered meals, Zhaoyang had dropped down from the rafters to knock them unconscious before changing into their attire.

Having participated in Shen Jingmu's campaign plans, Zhaoyang was familiar with the Di army's deployment, allowing her to easily smuggle Shu Yao out of the Qiwu Palace.

The moment they stepped onto the palace pathway, Shu Yao finally breathed in fresh air after a long, stifling period.

During these past few days, she had been locked inside Qiwu Palace without being allowed a single step outside, and her only excursion had been that trip to death row to kill Chu Yuan.

Zhaoyang gripped her hand tightly, keeping a wary eye out for patrolling Di soldiers.

Disguised as maidservants, they managed to avoid arousing any suspicion.

-

"Any updates?"

Outside Qiwu Palace, Shen Jingmu questioned Chen Mo and the deputy general guarding the gates.

Princess Jianing held a position of noble status, and since he did not trust anyone else to watch over her, he had naturally assigned his two most 'clever' subordinates to the task.

At this, the deputy general patted his chest with absolute confidence.

"Your Lordship, rest assured! This subordinate has kept watch here without closing my eyes for even a single second, and Princess Jianing has been quietly staying put inside!"

Shen Jingmu lifted his eyelids to glance at the tightly shut palace doors. "Has she eaten?"

Chen Mo replied, "She's eating now; the meal was delivered just a single incense stick ago."

"If you ask me, Princess Jianing is truly delicate. Even without her hands being locked in chains, she still needs a maidservant to feed her, which is why she hasn't come out yet."

He muttered those words casually, only to abruptly realize something was amiss.

By the time it registered in his mind, Shen Jingmu had already kicked the palace doors wide open.

The interior of Qiwu Palace was completely empty, with the maidservants lying unconscious on the floor, dressed in the princess's garments.

Shen Jingmu flew into a towering rage. "Where is she?!"

The deputy general dropped heavily to his knees. "Please grant this subordinate a chance to redeem myself through meritorious service!"