Recklessly Breaking a Delicate Branch - Chapter 41

With his long legs, the man slammed the door shut. In the next instant, he snatched the keys from Jiang Wanshu’s hand, took the exterior lock from outside, threaded it through the gap on the inside, and locked them in.

As the keys hit the floor, Jiang Wanshu was hoisted up, her mouth covered by the man, and carried to the bed.

The flimsy wooden bed creaked and groaned under the weight of their struggle. Jiang Wanshu whimpered, her hands frantically striking the man’s right palm, which remained clamped over her mouth.

Her breath grew faint, and her face flushed a deep crimson from the lack of air. Only then did Zhou Yan suddenly realize the situation and release his grip.

For a brief moment, the man’s chest took a direct hit—in a reflexive burst of strength, Jiang Wanshu struck his torso, which was barely half a centimeter away from her own.

As the restraint faded, Jiang Wanshu scrambled to sit up. The guest room was pitch black, yet even in the darkness, she could recognize him. It was Zhou Yan.

To avoid a repeat of the struggle, she used both hands and feet to retreat toward the back of the bed, only to be seized by the ankle a second later and dragged back to her original spot.

Panic-stricken, Jiang Wanshu struggled with her trapped leg. “Let me go, Zhou Yan!”

Zhou Yan’s face was grim, his grip on her ankle punishingly tight. “Run? Aren’t you quite the expert at it, Jiang Wanshu? Go ahead, try running from me again!”

As she tried to scream, his large hand covered her lips once more, stifling her voice.

Zhou Yan’s frame was solid, easily pinning her down until she was immobile. She stared at him tensely, and when his palm finally moved away, her voice trembled as she stammered, “How… how did you know I was here?”

It turned out a woman’s intuition was always accurate. No wonder she had suspected at least twice over the past few days that he was closing in.

Zhou Yan let out a cold snort. “Heh, why should I tell you? So you can learn how to evade me better next time you decide to bolt?”

As he spoke, the fury he had been suppressing for days surged to his head. Furthermore, the memory of the “Brother Zhou” she had mentioned earlier fanned the flames of his temper. He erupted into a tirade:

“Jiang Wanshu, are you out of your mind? Out on the grasslands, I raised you with such luxury and pride, yet you’re willing to stay in a dump like this just to get away from me? Fine, run if you must—but the moment you step onto Central Plains soil, you can’t wait to see your ‘dear brother’? Do you really think I’m an idiot? Do you think I’d let you return to the palace that easily?”

His verbal onslaught left Jiang Wanshu unable to interject. Just as a gap opened for her to speak, he cut her off with renewed rage.

“Tell me, I’ve been by your side trying to please you for so long, yet your attitude toward me hasn’t changed since the day we met. Is it because you’ve had someone else in your heart all along? Is that why you pretend not to see my devotion? You dream of coming back to fly off with him? Keep dreaming. You’re coming back with me!”

He grabbed her wrist, intending to haul her up, but Jiang Wanshu outmaneuvered him.

Betting on the fact that he wouldn’t truly hurt her, she threw her entire weight back onto the bed the moment he pulled.

To prevent her from suffering a fracture from the forced tension, Zhou Yan was forced to stop.

He loomed over her, staring her down with an overbearing intensity. Originally, he thought she simply disliked him, but now it seemed she was running for someone else. Blinded by jealousy, he barked, “Dammit, where does he live? Since he’s got you so mesmerized, I’m going to find him myself!”

Jiang Wanshu’s eyes widened in horror. Zhou Shu’an had nothing to do with this. If Zhou Yan actually found him and her relationship with Zhou Yan was exposed, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Her tone sharpened instantly. “Are you sick, Zhou Yan?! If you can’t deal with me, you take it out on someone else?”

As the argument escalated, Zhou Yan finally let go of the hand pinning her down. “You’re just feeling guilty! Fine, if you won’t tell me, I’ll find him myself. I want to see exactly what kind of man has managed to steal your soul!”

With that, he stood up abruptly under her watchful gaze. His steps were fueled by fire. Upon reaching the door and realizing the keys were still on the bed, he kicked the door twice in frustration before turning back to retrieve them.

Jiang Wanshu gripped the keys tightly, refusing to let him have them.

Zhou Yan frowned at the girl before him. As he reached out to snatch them, Jiang Wanshu found an opening and landed a slap across his face. His head barely moved, but a red mark bloomed on his cheek.

Jiang Wanshu dropped all pretenses of politeness, her own anger boiling over. “I just want to go back to the palace! That is where I grew up! Is it a crime for me to want to go home?”

She cried out her accusation, her eyes turning a deep, pained red.

Zhou Yan was the type who could be swayed by softness but never by force. Seeing the gentle rabbit finally turn fierce only heightened his temper.

He pushed her back, showing no mercy as she tumbled onto the soft mattress. He looked at her with disbelief.

“You hit me?!” He, Zhou Yan, had never been humiliated like this in his entire life.

Jiang Wanshu had lost all traces of logic. “What if I did? You forced me to do so many things I hate! If I were still the Princess and had my power, I would have you severely punished!”

She didn’t care how this would end; she only wanted to vent the weeks of accumulated grievances. Thinking of how she had already lost her virtue and how she could never explain herself to her Imperial Father and Mother, crystal tears began to stream down her face.

Seeing her “pear blossoms bathed in rain” look, Zhou Yan cursed inwardly.

This damned woman… of all things, she has to look like that. Doesn’t she know I can’t stand to see her cry?

Yet, he couldn’t afford to lose the standoff. He forced himself to look tough, though his voice softened significantly. “So you’ve finally shown your true colors, Jiang Wanshu. You’re coming back with me. I won’t give you another chance to return to this place.”

Zhou Yan’s objective shifted quickly, and his voice turned even gentler.

“I won’t! You and I have no status, no formal ties! I have my parents and brothers. I am still alive, yet you want to keep us apart! You say you love me, but if it were you, would you accept this kind of ‘love’?”

Jiang Wanshu’s heart-wrenching cry rattled Zhou Yan’s nerves.

He recalled the conversation he had overheard at the inn between the two scholars heading for the capital. He calmed himself, fell silent, and—contrary to his usual behavior—stopped trying to grab her.

Reflecting on it now, he had initially been drawn to her beauty and pressured by his sister’s constant nagging about marriage. That was why he had rescued her and kept her, wanting her to be his Ajia.

But over time, his feelings had evolved. He became greedy; he wanted Jiang Wanshu to stay by his side of her own free will. Later, he realized he loved her and wanted her to love him back with the same intensity.

But love could not be forced. Jiang Wanshu was incredibly stubborn; if he remained aggressive, it would only backfire. He began to stifle his inner fire, his expression becoming solemn as he gazed at her.

Dazed by his sudden change in demeanor, Jiang Wanshu tried to stand up. In the next second, the sash that had fallen from her person was deftly snatched up by the man. He pinned her down and swiftly bound her wrists and ankles.

“Let me go, Zhou Yan!” She struggled desperately, but it was futile.

Zhou Yan ignored her words, simply moving her to one side. Then, miraculously, he fell silent.

Time ticked away. Just as Jiang Wanshu was about to speak again, he interrupted her.

What he said next nearly made her soul flee her body. “Let me be quiet for a while. Once I’ve thought it through, I’ll decide whether or not to let you go back.”

Zhou Yan’s internal turmoil had finally settled into a calm. Jiang Wanshu stared at him, dumbfounded. “You… what did you say?”

He was actually going to consider letting her return to the palace?

Jiang Wanshu knew she was caught. Given his nature, if he didn’t want to let her go, she would never escape. Since that was the case, it was better to stay quiet and let him think—it was likely her only chance.

She became quiet and cooperative, and Zhou Yan began his deliberation.

Thinking back to the scholars’ words, he felt a pang of unease. He looked at Jiang Wanshu’s desperate longing to return home, and worry clouded his mind.

He shouldn’t have been bothered—he truly had no intention of letting her go. But she had told him before that in the Central Plains, if they didn’t have the consent of both sets of parents, they weren’t truly husband and wife, even if they had bowed to each other.

She loved her parents and her brother. If she returned now, would she really be despised by others as those scholars had suggested? She was such a proud woman; how could she allow herself to be the subject of such gossip? It would break her heart.

To let go, or not to let go.

It was a tangled, inexplicable emotion. One part of him argued to let her go this once, while another warned that if he yielded now, she would only become more emboldened in the future.

This decision weighed on him for a long time. The two remained in a silent stalemate as the night deepened. Finally, Zhou Yan reached out and untied the sash binding her hands and feet.

Jiang Wanshu rubbed her sore wrists, her eyes never leaving the man. It was no exaggeration to say she was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, waiting for his answer. Her own anger had finally cooled.

“Well? What have you decided?” she asked hurriedly. Fearing he would say no, she added a promise: “If you let me go back, I promise I won’t treat you poorly. Gold, silver, jewels, official titles, beauties—I’ll give you whatever you want.”

The moment those words left her mouth, the man shot her a lethal glare.

Jiang Wanshu sheepishly shut her mouth and waited for his actual reply.

“I can let you go back. But I have conditions.”

Jiang Wanshu was so excited she didn’t care about anything else. “Tell me, tell me! I’ll agree to anything.”

“Don’t you always say that in the Central Plains, a man and woman are only truly husband and wife after exchanging marriage contracts, informing parents, and bowing in the high hall?”

Hearing this, Jiang Wanshu felt a massive headache coming on.

“Aren’t you just afraid of what your parents will think when you return? I’ll go back with you. Let them know I exist. Don’t worry, I definitely have a way to make them accept me.”

Since she was hell-bent on going back, this problem had to be solved sooner or later. If she wouldn’t bring him, he would force her hand.

Once they completed the marriage rites according to Central Plains custom, he didn’t believe she could treat him like a stranger anymore.

As the saying goes: A day as husband and wife brings a hundred days of grace.

Once they were properly wed and her inner defenses were breached, even if that “lover” of hers still existed, he wasn’t afraid of making her fall for him over time.

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