Chapter 176: Detained. The Beginnings of a Torturous Love?
Bai Xiangxiu was absolutely right. He had too many obstacles to overcome before it would be feasible to propose marriage. One good example of said obstacle was his family itself. Even though they weren’t as prestigious as the prince's family, the Song family was still considered to be one of the most influential families. Even though they were just one of the branches of the family, his family would never accept a girl with no family background. Worse still, she had already been another's concubine. There would surely be an enormous fight and resistance then. Even Song Jiaoyue himself wasn't entirely sure that he could convince them. She’s right. I really do have to put in a lot of planning before I can take her into my family.
"It’s too difficult for us both. Since we know that it’s impossible, Why bother? It’s better for us to forget about it. Sir Song, we both need time to calm down." Once she was done speaking, she turned her head to the side and continued, "We should return to the capital!"
There will surely be trouble if I stay here any longer. Since he has harassed me once, I have no doubt that there will be a second or a third time. I'm worried that I really will put a green hat on Long Heng's head if I continue to stay here.
Unfortunately, Song Jiayue grabbed her hand instead and replied, "No. He will only hurt you if you return to his side. So stay."
"I…"
"Song Jiaoyue!" A voice filled with violence suddenly thundered through the room, as if it'd exploded right next to their ears. Bai Xiangxiu quickly pulled her hand away and took a few steps backwards. Immediately after that, a large hand reached out from behind her and pulled her into a man's embrace. Holding her tightly, the man showcased his dominance and possessiveness.
Now that's an appropriate reaction from a male lead. But why is he acting that way towards me instead of the female lead? Even though she felt a little happy, she couldn't help but feel a little distressed as well. The plotline has now derailed entirely from the novel. What should she do? No matter what, she was certain about one thing. She definitely had to return to the prince's manor.
Song Jiaoyue was surprisingly quick on his feet. He quickly reached out towards Long Heng in an attempt to grab the woman in his arms. However Long Heng was no slouch either. He lunged at Song Jiaoyue with a short sword in hand. He showed no mercy. Song Jiaoyue narrowly avoided the attack by the skin of his neck. Unfortunately for him, the sword had sliced into his clothes, and a bookmark fell out from his waist.
Long Heng quickly dived forwards to grab the bookmark, as so did Song Jiaoyue. However, Long Heng was unexpectedly so well-versed in the internal arts that he was able to draw the bookmark into his hands. The bookmark couldn’t have been more familiar to him. He had one as well.
I see. So the two of them have already been seeing each other since a long time ago. I always thought that it was just Song Jiaoyue who was secretly in love with her. But I didn’t expect that she would have such feelings towards him as well? No wonder. No wonder she went personally to seek Song Jiaoyue's help for that Autumn Garden incident, and even spent most of the day outside with him. I understand why now! Long Heng fixed his cold eyes on Bai Xiangxiu. She was trembling hard from fright. She couldn’t help but think that this was a precursor to some kind of torturous love often seen in the novel.
Reality soon proved her intuition right, because he suddenly tightened his arms around her and was unusually rough with her. He was showing no mercy. The hug made Bai Xiangxiu yelp in pain. Even though she wasn’t injured by his actions, she still felt threatened by him. When men become domineering, they are so insufferable. I don’t get why so many women like these kinds of men. Look. He has caused his woman pain for no good reason at all.
Bai Xiangxiu furrowed her brows and was considering if she should imitate the female lead and put up a struggle while shouting for him to let go. But because it was her man that was hugging her, she decided to endure for a little while longer instead.
I didn’t expect her to be so obedient after knowing that she has done something wrong. Is there some hidden reason behind all this? He stopped hugging her so tightly after such thoughts passed through his mind. However, he still maintained his unyielding attitude and immediately turned around to take her away. He'd already crushed the bookmark in his hand had already been crushed into pieces by his internal force.
Song Jiaoyue clenched his fist and said, "You're being too unreasonable Long Heng! She's not your property. She's only a woman. Do you know what a woman wants?"
With his back turned against Song Jiaoyue, Long Heng replied. "I don't need to know, because she is my woman."
Song Jiaoyue only realized now that he was completely in the wrong. He didn’t even have the power to take her away from him. He only moved to the window after they had disappeared from sight. He noticed that a group of men had surrounded the vicinity. Even though they were wearing civilian clothing, it was obvious that they were from the army. He actually dispatched his private army to look for her. Does he actually care about her? Or maybe… he only cares about his own reputation?
Song Jiaoyue laughed coldly. If it was the latter, he would definitely take her away from him and elope without a care for the consequences.
Long Heng was finally able to take her home to the Prince Li Manor this time. However, he didn't take her back to Apricot Garden nor did he take her to Winter Garden. Instead, she was locked up in a small cottage within his residence. She wasn't even allowed to leave her room.
"Your Highness. Why are you imprisoning me? I swear that there's really nothing between me and Song Jiaoyue. We're just…"
"You are not allowed leave this place from henceforth. Otherwise, don't blame me for what happens."
Such a cold demeanor. And yet, every time the female lead gets angry at him or goes out to see another man, he still turns around to put her through agony and then care for her. This man is so awkward and inexperienced when it comes to love. Bai Xiangxiu could only sigh with helplessness. She took a seat on the bed without saying anything, which signified that she no longer cared.
But her actions enraged Long Heng even more instead. He walked in circles in front of her as he rambled. "Fine. You don’t truly care about this prince, do you? You just want to fool around with that Song Jiaoyue instead. I want to see how long you can keep your relationship with him a secret… You want me to…"
Suddenly, he felt a person’s warmth on his lips. His ice-cold heart was thawed in an instant by the warm and sweet sensation. It was the first time she had taken the initiative to kiss Long Heng. And just like that, his loneliness from the past few days and jealousy in his heart was thrown to the back of his mind. He held her tight and tumbled into the sheets with her.
Even though the bed was very small, there was still ample space for them to do whatever they needed to do. However, Prince Li still had to go through his fair share of hardship. Despite looking refreshed and satiated when he left in the morning, he obviously hadn’t slept very well. After leaving the cottage, the door was still locked with an audible clink.
Your mother! Isn’t this a sign that there is more torture to come?! Bai Xiangxiu was taking it surprisingly well. She had come to terms with the fact that she was destined to have many more days where she would not be able to get out of bed. It was probably best for her to lie down and rest instead.
The old madame's condition had turned for the better recently. She was already feeling well enough to take charge of the household matters. As for Bai Xiangxiu's whereabouts, Long Heng had told his mother than he had brought his concubine back because life at the monastery was too tough. And because he was too worried, he decided to move her to his residence.
The old madame also noticed that something was a little off as well. "It isn't wrong to bring her back to care for her, but why make it so that I don't get to see her?"
Long Heng had already prepared an answer. He told the old madame that he'd noticed that his enemies were making their move lately, and because he was afraid that they target his children. Thus, he'd decided to keep her hidden.
Despite being confined in a tiny house, Bai Xiangxiu was aware of everything that was going on outside because Long Heng was unable to keep any secrets from her. However, he was incredibly adamant with his decision to not let her leave and wouldn’t allow Song Jiaoyue to step foot in his estate ever again. He had actually gotten a better understanding of what had conspired between the two. The story he'd received earlier was one of the surface. It had something to do with giving Song Jiaoyue the bookmark as gratitude, and getting to know each other better due to the return gifts, etc.