Chapter: 31.3 of 87
When Qing Qiao opened her eyes again, she had already been placed inside Prince Duan Yu's luxurious carriage.
"You're awake." Duan Yu looked at her. He didn't seem startled.
Qing Qiao raised her head. She only saw that the corners of his lips were slightly curved as well as the shadows of his eyebrows.
"We're heading towards the palace... I've never seen a pulse like yours. Perhaps, the imperial doctors will have a method."
He was actually explaining things to her. Was she hallucinating?
“Why bother?” She scoffed. Her expression was indifferent. "I'm going to die either way. What's the difference from dying from poison or being hanged? It couldn't be that Your Highness wants to save me from poison, then let me die?"
Duan Yu raised an eyebrow. Two small cluster of flames suddenly appeared in the shadows. "... Whether you die or not, this will be determined by me."
Alas, as the carriage passed through a spot, the fiery light bowed down underfoot. The light was dazzling bright. It was the light of stepping down on the entire world.
"Even if you're going to die, you can only die under my control.” He suddenly caressed her face as if they were lovers. "If you leave in such an unclear and dubious way, I'll be very unsatisfied..."
His eyes were like circles of pitch-black blind spots. It wasn't light or heavy, but if fell into her mind and made her heart tighten.
"Where… Where are we going?" Qing Qiao turned her face away to avoid his gaze and slightly straightened her trembling body.
"We're about an hour away from the palace." Duan Yu took his hand back without any changes in his expression.
Qing Qiao didn't reply. She only opened the curtain to look outside.
The night should have been desolate and still, but the silence was trampled into pieces by the group of swiftly running horses.
"Your Highness, it's okay if you hate me."
Qing Qiao suddenly turned her head around. Her tone was very light as she said, "Because you'll hate me even more in the future."
Duan Yu froze for a moment. He only saw a cold light flashing by. Before he had time to react, there was a cold, sharp object against his neck.
"Have your entire entourage leave and return to your residence to await orders!" Qing Qiao ordered in a trembling voice that was filled with hatred. Her straining fingers were white.
"... Little Qiao, your hand doesn't even have the strength to truss a chicken. Do you really think you can subdue me with a mere hairpin?"
When he understood what had happened, he only calmly laughed. He laughed at how nervous she was and how she had overestimated her capability.
There was burning light in her eyes. Qing Qiao slightly closed her eyes. "You're right. I can't do much against you. At most, this hairpin can only scratch your skin."
"But..." Her hand extended upwards to move the hairpin along his outline and stopped at his dark, phoenix eye. "But, it can stab your eye."
As she expected, Duan Yu's expression slightly stagnated.
"Your Highness, on behalf of our past relationship, I'll tell you something else."
The corners of her lips curved up and her face became even more beautiful. "This hairpin has been coated in jian xie (Antiaris toxicaria) poison. It won't kill you. It'll only make you lose control of your entire body and make you into a puppet-like cripple. Do you want to reconsider?”
Duan Yu's bright eyes sharply stared at her as if he wanted to penetrate every corner of her circulatory system.
She clenched her teeth and persevered in meeting his gaze. She refused to even slightly lose in imposingness.
She was gambling. She was gambling that there was nothing more torturous than a disability to a person like him. He was an arrogant person that flaunted himself as perfect and treated the entire world as if it was beneath him
For him, true terror was losing his dignity and majesty. Living would be worse than death.
"You don't care about the poison in your body?" He suddenly spoke. His expression seemed somewhat absent-minded as if it was going scatter in all directions at any moment.
"Even if I died, I want to be far away from you, at least five hundred thousand meters away." As Qing Qiao proudly smiled, scarlet blood started dripping out from the corners of her mouth again. It was a truly awful sight.
Duan Yu turned his eyes away from hers and didn’t continue looking at her.
"As you wish." His tone was so indifferently calm that it was like clear autumn water.
"Xing Si." He raised his voice as he said, "Bring the Wu Yi* to my residence. I'm going to bring the prisoner to the palace by myself."
* (T/N: Duan Yu’s name for his group of shadow guards. Qing Qiao usually refers to them as gossiping crow people.)
Chapter: 31.3 of 87
When Qing Qiao opened her eyes again, she had already been placed inside Prince Duan Yu's luxurious carriage.
"You're awake." Duan Yu looked at her. He didn't seem startled.
Qing Qiao raised her head. She only saw that the corners of his lips were slightly curved as well as the shadows of his eyebrows.
"We're heading towards the palace... I've never seen a pulse like yours. Perhaps, the imperial doctors will have a method."
He was actually explaining things to her. Was she hallucinating?
“Why bother?” She scoffed. Her expression was indifferent. "I'm going to die either way. What's the difference from dying from poison or being hanged? It couldn't be that Your Highness wants to save me from poison, then let me die?"
Duan Yu raised an eyebrow. Two small cluster of flames suddenly appeared in the shadows. "... Whether you die or not, this will be determined by me."
Alas, as the carriage passed through a spot, the fiery light bowed down underfoot. The light was dazzling bright. It was the light of stepping down on the entire world.
"Even if you're going to die, you can only die under my control.” He suddenly caressed her face as if they were lovers. "If you leave in such an unclear and dubious way, I'll be very unsatisfied..."
His eyes were like circles of pitch-black blind spots. It wasn't light or heavy, but if fell into her mind and made her heart tighten.
"Where… Where are we going?" Qing Qiao turned her face away to avoid his gaze and slightly straightened her trembling body.
"We're about an hour away from the palace." Duan Yu took his hand back without any changes in his expression.
Qing Qiao didn't reply. She only opened the curtain to look outside.
The night should have been desolate and still, but the silence was trampled into pieces by the group of swiftly running horses.
"Your Highness, it's okay if you hate me."
Qing Qiao suddenly turned her head around. Her tone was very light as she said, "Because you'll hate me even more in the future."
Duan Yu froze for a moment. He only saw a cold light flashing by. Before he had time to react, there was a cold, sharp object against his neck.
"Have your entire entourage leave and return to your residence to await orders!" Qing Qiao ordered in a trembling voice that was filled with hatred. Her straining fingers were white.
"... Little Qiao, your hand doesn't even have the strength to truss a chicken. Do you really think you can subdue me with a mere hairpin?"
When he understood what had happened, he only calmly laughed. He laughed at how nervous she was and how she had overestimated her capability.
There was burning light in her eyes. Qing Qiao slightly closed her eyes. "You're right. I can't do much against you. At most, this hairpin can only scratch your skin."
"But..." Her hand extended upwards to move the hairpin along his outline and stopped at his dark, phoenix eye. "But, it can stab your eye."
As she expected, Duan Yu's expression slightly stagnated.
"Your Highness, on behalf of our past relationship, I'll tell you something else."
The corners of her lips curved up and her face became even more beautiful. "This hairpin has been coated in jian xie (Antiaris toxicaria) poison. It won't kill you. It'll only make you lose control of your entire body and make you into a puppet-like cripple. Do you want to reconsider?”
Duan Yu's bright eyes sharply stared at her as if he wanted to penetrate every corner of her circulatory system.
She clenched her teeth and persevered in meeting his gaze. She refused to even slightly lose in imposingness.
She was gambling. She was gambling that there was nothing more torturous than a disability to a person like him. He was an arrogant person that flaunted himself as perfect and treated the entire world as if it was beneath him
For him, true terror was losing his dignity and majesty. Living would be worse than death.
"You don't care about the poison in your body?" He suddenly spoke. His expression seemed somewhat absent-minded as if it was going scatter in all directions at any moment.
"Even if I died, I want to be far away from you, at least five hundred thousand meters away." As Qing Qiao proudly smiled, scarlet blood started dripping out from the corners of her mouth again. It was a truly awful sight.
Duan Yu turned his eyes away from hers and didn’t continue looking at her.
"As you wish." His tone was so indifferently calm that it was like clear autumn water.
"Xing Si." He raised his voice as he said, "Bring the Wu Yi* to my residence. I'm going to bring the prisoner to the palace by myself."
* (T/N: Duan Yu’s name for his group of shadow guards. Qing Qiao usually refers to them as gossiping crow people.)
