Reborn Nine Times, the Tyrant Always Wants to Imprison Me - Chapter 16

Zhou Ling clearly hadn’t expected her to defy him so directly, even rudely. The amusement in his eyes faded slightly, replaced by a deeper, more dangerous interest.

Instead of getting angry, he took a step closer, almost completely enveloping her in his shadow.

“What a sharp tongue,” he said in a lowered voice, carrying a magnetic pressure. “I show concern for you, and not only are you ungrateful, but you act like a bristling cat? Could it be… I’ve actually hit upon something that troubles you?”

His seemingly all-seeing gaze and his step-by-step pressing completely ignited the accumulated resentment in Fangru’s heart.

She remembered the heavy responsibility she carried, the pressing time, yet this man kept pestering her. New and old grievances intertwined, and the thread of her reason snapped instantly!

“Your Majesty!” Fangru nearly gritted her teeth as she squeezed out the two words. The suppressed fury in her eyes was almost bursting forth. “You attend to numerous affairs of state every day, why must you repeatedly bother with such trivial matters concerning your subject? What exactly do you want?!”

Her resistance and irritation were obvious, like a young beast backed into a corner, raising all its spikes.

Zhou Ling gazed at her face, so full of vivid ferocity and utterly different from her usual gentle demeanor. Not only was he not angered, but the interest in his eyes deepened further.

He let out a very soft laugh, as if finding her bristling appearance quite amusing, and took yet another step closer. His black sleeves almost brushed against her arm.

“What do I want?” he repeated her words, drawing out the final tone with a lazy yet dangerous magnetism. “I’m merely curious. Ordinary noble ladies, when they see me, are invariably cautious and strive to be perfectly poised. Only you, Shen Fangru—why are you always… so exceptionally different in my presence.”

These words, seemingly complimentary yet filled with a desire for control, mingled with the undeniable scent of ambergris and his intense masculine aura. They acted like the final straw, instantly crushing Fangru’s strained nerves!

It was like a quenched key, violently jamming open the locked floodgates of memory! All the grievances, all the humiliation, all the inescapable rage and despair accumulated over three previous lifetimes—like magma long suppressed—erupted violently at this moment, instantly drowning her reason!

Why?! Why, no matter how she struggled or tried to change, could she never escape his control? Why could he always so naturally intervene in her life, even questioning whom she spoke to or why she was angry?!

The rebellious fire suppressed for three lifetimes suddenly flared, burning her eyes crimson. The last thread of reason snapped with an audible twang!

All her schemes, all her endurance, were incinerated in this moment by the overwhelming fury!

Before her eyes was no longer the emperor she needed to carefully navigate, but the tyrant who, no matter how many times she was reborn or how hard she struggled, always tightly gripped the throat of her destiny!

“Why?” She abruptly raised her head, no longer concealing the surging hatred in her eyes. Her gaze was like the sharpest, poison-quenched ice pick, stabbing straight into Zhou Ling’s pupils, which had constricted sharply and grown even more profound and inscrutable at her sudden, completely unexpected, intense reaction.

Her voice trembled slightly, uncontrollable from extreme anger, yet each word was clear, carrying a near-destructive mockery:

“Why must Your Majesty feign ignorance here?! Time and again you press me, scrutinize me, interfere with me! Why am I unsettled? Why do I refuse to socialize? Why must every conversation I have be interrogated?!” Her voice suddenly rose sharply, carrying an accusation that seemed to bleed from her very soul. “All of this—is it not entirely bestowed upon me by Your Majesty?! Can you truly not feel it at all?!”

Zhou Ling was startled by the undisguised, intense hatred in her eyes, his brow furrowing slightly. The teasing impulse in his heart was instantly replaced by a more complex emotion. He instinctively pressed further, “Because of me? What have I done to make you…”

“What have you done?!” Fangru cut him off sharply, almost roaring, “You are everywhere! Like an eternal shadow that can never be shaken off! No matter what I do, where I go, or what I become, you refuse to let me go! You’ve ruined my life—is that not enough? Must you destroy everyone around me too?! What crime have the common people committed to be sacrificed for your ambition? And what did Su Wanqing do to deserve a lifetime of paralysis because of you?! By what right?! Just because you are the emperor, does that mean you can do as you please, manipulating everyone as if they were pawns in your hands?!”

Her words were like the sharpest daggers, stabbing repeatedly at Zhou Ling and at her own bloody past.

Zhou Ling was momentarily rendered speechless by her completely out-of-control outburst and the immense amount of information it contained. His eyes were filled with shock and bewildered disbelief—he clearly had not yet done the things she accused him of!

In the brief moment he was stunned by this overwhelming impact, a flicker of crazy determination flashed in Fangru’s eyes!

Summoning strength from somewhere deep within, she channeled all her hatred into her arms, thrusting her hands out with all her might and shoving Zhou Ling hard in the chest!

“Stay away from me!”

Zhou Ling had not expected her to suddenly resort to physical force. Combined with the slippery moss-covered stones at the pool’s edge, he was caught completely off guard and stumbled backward from the push.

A loud “splash!” echoed through the air.

Water sprayed everywhere, shattering the garden’s tranquility.

The supremely noble young emperor had actually been pushed into the chilly early autumn pond by the daughter of one of his own officials!

The guards, palace attendants, and distinguished guests nearby were all petrified, standing frozen like wooden chickens, unable to react for a moment.

Fangru stood by the pool’s edge, chest heaving violently as she watched Zhou Ling flounder in the water, his ink-black hair soaked and his dark robes clinging tightly to his body, making him appear utterly disheveled. Yet, his eyes blazed with a terrifying mix of shock and fury. A shudder—part exhilaration, part dread—coursed through her.

Soon, belated fear washed over her like ice water, leaving her hands and feet cold and numb.

She wasn’t afraid of death, but she feared implicating her father and the Shen family! Yet, at this moment, there was no escape left for her.

The surrounding guards and attendants had long been scared out of their wits, kneeling en masse, but none dared to rashly enter the water. Because the emperor in the pond, after the initial shock, did not erupt in rage. Instead, he began to laugh softly.

The laughter rumbled from his chest, carrying a strange and eerie sense of pleasure that stood out starkly amid the held breaths of the crowd.

He wiped the water from his face, his soaked black hair plastered to his temples and cheeks. Droplets traced the sharp line of his jaw, slid over his subtly moving Adam’s apple, and vanished into the equally drenched, tight-fitting dark collar that clung to his sturdy chest.

Under the moonlight and shimmering reflections on the water, those eyes were as sharp as a hawk locking onto its prey, gleaming with an almost maddening interest and thick, palpable desire, firmly fixed on the bold woman standing on the shore.

“She’s insane… completely insane…”

“Miss Shen is done for this time…”

“Disrespect before the emperor is already a grave offense, but this—pushing His Majesty into the water—is a crime punishable by the extermination of one’s entire clan!”

The hushed whispers around her slithered into Fangru’s ears like venomous snakes.

Since death seemed inevitable either way, she might as well vent her anger freely!

Fangru steeled her heart, and all her fear was replaced by a reckless, desperate madness. She pointed at Zhou Ling in the water, her voice shrill with agitation yet clear enough to reach every corner: “Zhou Ling! You dog emperor! What else can you do besides bullying others with your power and seizing whatever you want?! I’ve endured you for far too long! You want to know why? Because I despise you! I wish you were—”

Her words were abruptly cut off!

In the water, Zhou Ling’s eyes darkened abruptly. The moment she pointed at him, his hand shot out and seized her slender wrist!

The force was so immense it felt as though her bones might shatter, yet it carried a scorching, irresistible heat.

“Ah!” Fangru gasped in shock, unable to struggle in time before she was violently yanked into the icy pond by an overwhelming force.

“Splash!”

A larger spray of water erupted.

The frigid pond water instantly submerged her mouth and nose, the biting cold sending a shiver through her entire body.

The next moment, a powerful arm, firm as an iron band, locked tightly around her slender waist, pulling her forcefully against a solid chest that was equally drenched but radiated astonishing heat.

Before she could catch her breath, her chin was lifted by a cold, forceful finger, forcing her to tilt her face upward.

Then, lips chilled by the pond water but charged with the force of a storm crashed down upon hers, brutally silencing all her cries and curses!

It was a kiss of plunder and punishment—rough and deep, carrying the faint metallic tang of the pond water and the unique, cool fragrance of ambergris that clung to him. It forced its way past her lips, tangling and sucking, nearly robbing her of all breath and strength.

Fangru stared wide-eyed in terror, struggling futilely. Her limbs were firmly restrained by his body and arms in the cold water, and every twist only brought them closer, allowing her to feel the taut lines of his muscles beneath the water and a certain dangerous shift.

Just as she was on the verge of suffocation, her body growing weak from lack of oxygen and the conflicting sensations of cold and heat, Zhou Ling finally released her slightly. His lips, however, continued to hover close, brushing against her swollen, reddened ones, his scorching breath washing over her face.

Fangru jerked her head up, gasping for air. Droplets rolled continuously down her flushed cheeks and disheveled hair, her chest heaving violently with rapid breaths. Her soaked dress clung tightly to her body, outlining her alluring curves.

Her heart still racing, she glanced around in astonishment, only to find that the guards, palace attendants, officials, and noblewomen who had been kneeling everywhere moments ago had now silently retreated to a distance, their backs turned to the pond as if nothing had happened.

What sent a deeper chill through her, however, was the glimpse of a familiar official’s robe disappearing behind the dense foliage of a distant parasol tree.

That was Zheng Yu! He was actually hiding in the shadows watching! Surely the scene of her being forcibly dragged into the water, and even being… had all fallen into his eyes.

A mixture of shame and a strange sense of vengeful pleasure swept through Fangru’s heart.

Just then, a clear image suddenly flashed through Fangru’s mind—in the previous three lifetimes, at this Xuanji Banquet, the ones who had accidentally fallen into the water were Cheng Jinse, the daughter of the Minister of Works, and Zhao Heng, the son of the Vice Minister of Rites! In the first lifetime, they became the subject of ridicule because of this incident, yet it unexpectedly led to a marriage.

But in this lifetime… how could it have become her and Zhou Ling who fell into the water?!