Chapter 404: w.a.n.gfei’s wrath
“The magistrates are free to burn down houses, while the common people are forbidden even to light lamps.”1 So went a famous idiom about unfair double standards, and a perfect descriptor for Long Feiye’s current att.i.tude. His conservative standards seemed to only apply to other people and not himself. There were around a hundred people total gathered on both sh.o.r.es of the Illusory Sea Lake, and all of them were looking his way. Despite this, he did as he pleased and reveled in bullying Han Yunxi.
Han Yunxi found the whole thing embarra.s.sing at first, but as Long Feiye gradually provoked her with his tongue, she tossed her embarra.s.sment aside. Since they were so happy, they should have a proper celebration! If an ‘old-timer’ like Long Feiye could let loose, why should she feel any awkwardness? Who cares who was watching–let them see! They were legally married husband and wife, anyways, so their actions were perfectly fair and reasonable!
Very quickly, Han Yunxi generously returned Long Feiye’s kiss as their tongues entwined. She seemed to be both challenging and teasing him in the same breath, inciting Long Feiye to increase his attacks and deepen their kiss. Baili Mingxiang’s face turned red as she averted her eyes. Even a few of the men on the scene began to feel abashed at the sight and looked away.
These two are just doing whatever they please. Seriously, that’s enough!
While the couple kissed, the workers were fervently buzzing with activity and gathering up the fish. They’d chiseled open such a large cavity that they were reeling in their nets much faster than fis.h.i.+ng from a usual fisheye. n.o.body knew what kind of drug Han Yunxi had in her bottle, but the lively, thras.h.i.+ng fish meant that it couldn’t be poisonous.
In truth, Han Yunxi had used poison–a type of sweet-smelling toxin with many similarities to typical fish bait. A single small bottle was enough to affect the entire lake. This type of poison took a long time to take effect–at least one or two days later. But only very small quant.i.ties of the poison would be absorbed by the fish into their bodies. Affected fish would only show symptoms through increased irritability. Humans who ingested the poisoned fish wouldn’t be poisoned themselves. Even a high-level poisons master like Jun Yixie couldn’t figure out the toxin, because it was an invention from modern times.
In one to two days, all the fish would have been frozen solid already. Who could tell any signs of their symptoms by then? Meanwhile, the swarms now were fighting for s.p.a.ce in the water, jumping and leaping so energetically that they didn’t seem irascible at all. One could simply say that Han Yunxi had used some fish food.
Jun Yixie began by staring at Long Feiye and Han Yunxi, but after seeing them get so intimate, he had to look away. He’d spent so much effort to find a way to get Han Yunxi’s antidote for his poison, but victory was s.n.a.t.c.hed away from before his eyes! He couldn’t accept it, he really couldn’t!
“Let go of me!” he hissed in a low breath.
“Your Highness Duke of Kang, you cannot defy the taboos on Fishery Island,” Ouyang Ningruo reminded him in a low voice.
“This lord knows them! You, let go!” A sinister look came into Jun Yixie’s eyes as his voice turned cold. But Ouyang Ningruo was on the same boat as Jun Yixie. If the latter broke the rules of the island, he’d be implicated in the mess, so he still refused to release him.
By now, Long Feiye had let go of Han Yunxi, who lowered her head bashfully, looking unspeakably beautiful. Long Feiye looked down at her as his gaze darkened, as if he wanted to eat her whole. He never expected this woman to return his advances–what courage! Naturally, Han Yunxi was both aware of his stare and his thoughts. In the past, she couldn’t be sure of his feelings, but now sh was quite certain. It was perfectly normal for lovers to get pa.s.sionate, so what was there to be afraid of?
Even though her face was burning, she lifted her head to meet Long Feiye’s doting gaze, her smile filled with pride. “Your Highness, did chenqie do a beautiful job?”
Long Feiye gave a start before he laughed out loud. “Everything you did was beautiful!”
Everything?
Han Yunxi was simply asking about the fish, but Long Feiye had answered her both for the fish and her actions just then. She was left speechless by his reply. Really, he’s evil to his bones!
In the eyes of everyone else, they looked like they were flirting with each other. But soon enough, cold laughter interrupted their talk. “The taste of Han Yunxi is nothing worth nothing.”
Who else could have spoken these words but Jun Yixie?
Han Yunxi’s heart leapt in her chest before she glared over. What is that swine planning?
Long Feiye’s face blanched as he turned to demand with an angry voice, “Jun Yixie, what are you talking about?”
The implications of Jun Yixie’s words were too complicated to consider! Everyone else was left astonished as they processed the remark. They were afraid to imagine any further, but they still couldn’t resist making guesses of their own.
Is Jun Yixie saying such things because he’s had a taste of Han Yunxi too?
What else could his words mean, if not that? What other situation would incite him to speak such things? The gazes of the crowd turned complicated, and even the workers and fishermen stopped hauling in their nets too look over in shock.
It was a monstrous accusation!
For a woman, this was a serious insult; for a man, an even greater humiliation! Ouyang Ningruo’s eyes flickered as he realized why Jun Yixie had said he knew well of the unspoken rules here. Fishery Island forbade open combat on its grounds, so Long Feiye wouldn’t be allowed to raise a hand against him no matter what he did. At this, Ouyang Ningruo hastily released Jun Yixie and backed away, making it clear that they had no connections. He couldn’t have really done something, could he? The stakes would be too high!
Long Feiye isn’t an easy foe to provoke!
Now that he’d successfully gained Long Feiye’s attention, Jun Yixie’s smirk turned even more mocking. “What am I talking about? Your official consort should be clearest of all on the facts.”
“Jun Yixie, you better go wash out that dirty mouth!” Han Yunxi raged. She took a stride forward and raised her hand, ready to slap him across the face. But in the end, she forced herself to hold back! Her palm closed into a fist as she lowered her hand. If she really did slap him, then all her efforts with Long Feiye to get up to this point would be in vain. Anyone who violated the terms of Fishery Island would not only be driven away, but forced to leave all their fish behind. No matter how angry she was, she couldn’t fall into Jun Yixie’s trap.
Still, her furious reaction only left the onlookers gaping. For Qin w.a.n.gfei to react like this, doesn’t that mean she and Jun Yixie really…do have something between them?
“Why is esteemed w.a.n.gfei getting so worked up? What happened back then…heheh,” Jun Yixie trailed off before bursting into laughter.
Long Feiye’s fists clenched audibly. “Jun Yixie, just what do you mean?”
Jun Yixie jutted out his chin and gave him a scornful stare. “Exactly what the words imply. The taste of Qin w.a.n.gfei is nothing worth noting!”
“It’s nothing like what he says!” Han Yunxi hastened to explain, but immediately regretted her words. By trying to clear up the speculations, she’d actually made them more believable.
“Heheh, Qin w.a.n.gfei, then what is this lord saying?” Jun Yixie laughed.
Although Jun Yixie really hadn’t done anything like that, Han Yunxi had still been taken advantage of as a woman and lost Long Feiye face. Airing the facts in a public place like this would only disgrace him further.
What a Jun Yixie. Does he insist on exposing everything here today?
At this point, Han Yunxi was incapable of hiding anything further, so she faced the facts. “Jun Yixie, you couldn’t cure this w.a.n.gfei’s poison, nor did you succeed in getting my antidote. Instead, you threatened this w.a.n.gfei to hand it over. Only the timely rescue of a friend allowed me to protect my chast.i.ty. Now that you’ve lost against the Duke of Qin today, you’re bringing up old news again. Absolutely shameless!” Han Yunxi criticized him upright.
But Jun Yixie only laughed in her face. “Protect your chast.i.ty? Qin w.a.n.gfei, are you…certain about that?”
Absolute silence fell over the crowd, enough to hear nothing but the fish leaping about in the water. Long Feiye’s face had turned into ice as his entire person grew still.
“Jun Yixie, shut your mouth!” Han Yunxi was driven to a breaking point.
“What, is Qin w.a.n.gfei afraid that this lord will say something he oughtn’t?” Jun Yixie laughed. No matter how intelligent Han Yunxi could be, what could she do against him in this situation? Things like that needed proof, so where was a married woman like her supposed to get her evidence?
Han Yunxi was so infuriated that her face had turned red. She knew that Jun Yixie was trying to frame her on false charges because those kinds of accusations were hard to disprove. Naturally, the people who trusted her wouldn’t change their stance, while the people who didn’t wouldn’t accept her explanations, either. She glanced at Long Feiye, only to see him looking back at her, his eyes terrifyingly cold.
Her heart seized at the sight as she opened and closed her mouth a few times. She wanted to explain herself, but she didn’t know what to say. Just then, the two of them had been locked in a pa.s.sionate kiss, but why did his eyes look so much like a stranger’s now?
Long Feiye, what’s the meaning of those eyes?
Do you doubt me? Or are you reproaching me?
Does this mean you don’t believe my words?
If you hadn’t gone to rescue Duanmu Yao that time, I wouldn’t have been kidnapped by Jun Yixie in the first place! Just what kind of att.i.tude are you showing me?
“It looks like the Duke of Qin doesn’t know about what happened. Hehe,” Jun Yixie’s frivolous tone carried obvious implications. Long Feiye’s icy eyes narrowed into slits as killing intent emanated from his entire body. The temperatures of their frigid surroundings plummeted even further with the action, causing everyone to start shaking.
Han Yunxi was cold as well, but her heart was even colder.
Long Feiye, you’re such a disappointment! She steeled her heart and looked away from Long Feiye’s eyes, glaring frostily at Jun Yixie. In front of everyone present, she took off her thick fox fur cloak and viciously rolled up her sleeve before raising her bare arm in the air.
It was a graceful, slender arm with soft, smooth skin. Against its surface was a bright red gecko cinnabar mark, its sight as clear as day.
“Jun Yixie, here is this w.a.n.gfei’s chast.i.ty! Take a good look! You spout indignities with ill intent to humiliate me–what kind of person are you? Treating a woman like that–what kind of man are you?” Han Yunxi said sternly, her words powerful and impressive.
She had a slight, skinny frame clothed in thin robes, but stood tall and with pride. As she stood there with her arm raised in the air, she looked absolutely indomitable. As silence swept over the crowd, even Jun Yixie found himself speechless…
Everyone’s eyes were fixated on the red dot on Han Yunxi’s arm, their amazement mixing with an ache in their hearts. All the rumors said that the Duke of Qin doted on his Qin w.a.n.gfei, the woman who had full control over the Duke of Qin’s estate. But who expected that very same woman to still be a virgin after all this time?
1. The magistrates are free…light lamps (只许州官放火；不许百姓点灯) – zhixu zhouguan fanghuo, buxu baixing diandeng.