Everything happened so fast. In the blink of an eye, Su Mo'er's thoughts had been dragged into the adjacent elegant room.
The elegant room was filled with incense and dim orange candlelight, and the person who entered swung the door violently.
Su Mo'er's heart leaped to her throat. She wanted to call for help, but before she could make a sound, the other person's large hand covered her mouth.
Inside the room, her intense struggling only sparked even more interest from the person behind.
The voice that had been like a nightmare for the Su family for the past few years spoke by her ear with hot breath, "My dear sister, it's been a few months since we last met. How could you make your brother wait so long?"
His extended tone made his originally gentle voice sound even more sinister, sending shivers down her spine.
"Sob sob..." Su Mo'er couldn't help but shiver all over. Her delicate face turned red from the fear and struggle, and her normally watery eyes, which exuded charm, now held a hint of fear, stirring up an irresistible desire.
Seeing her current appearance, the man's breath became heavy, and his voice unconsciously carried a hint of smoky affection.
He lifted his other free hand and slid it down from Su Mo'er's bound hair, "Look at you, sister, you've been living quite well. In just this short time, your complexion, skin, and figure have become even more exquisite and beautiful. Your skin is so well-hydrated, it's making your brother impatient."
While he was speaking, Su Mo'er took advantage of his carelessness and bit fiercely on his hand. He let out a cry of pain and instinctively flung her away.
"Help!" Su Mo'er immediately seized the opportunity, she didn't care whether she could escape, but she wouldn't miss the chance to call for help.
If she guessed correctly, the prince and his party should be arriving soon, right?
Thinking of this, her frantic heart finally calmed down a bit. It's just that she was a little regretful that she couldn't present this scene perfectly before the prince.
Although she had many thoughts, for her, it all happened in an instant. She got up quickly and tried to escape.
But the person behind had already reacted. The main purpose was right in front of him. How could he let her escape so easily?
"You little b***h!" He cursed under his breath, quickly stepped forward, caught Su Mo'er, and pressed her onto the table. He forcefully covered her mouth, pinned her hands down on the table, and restrained her kicking legs, then leaned down to stare at her.
"Why are you so desperate? Since I've taken action today, I won't let you have a chance to escape." He licked his lips and smirked, "But do you remember what I told you before? I said, don't think just because you're by the prince's side now, you can climb high and escape from my grasp. See, today, you've still fallen into my hands."
As he spoke, he was ferociously ripping her clothes.
Su Mo'er's gaze had been hopeful looki this whole time, but there was still no movement at the door. She couldn't help but feel a sense of despair from being hopeful to powerless, and her heart was as cold as ashes.
Could this be her retribution?
The bitter calculations she had made, ultimately just amounted to a pipe dream and turned out to be nothing.
She unwillingly closed her eyes, silent tears slipping from the corners of her eyes. Her heart was filled with resentment, pain, and regret.
Seeing her like this, Li Yanze sneered, "Why are you crying? Save these tears, in a moment, Brother will make you comfortable..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but he had already untied his belt. As he was about to approach, the door was suddenly burst open.
Before anyone in the room could react, a figure in a pale white robe hurried over and kicked Li Yanze, sending him flying out of the room. He toppled several tables and chairs and finally fell heavily against a pillar, raising a cloud of dust.
Seeing the scene, the newcomer snorted, quickly approached, helped the suddenly rescued and trembling Su Mo'er, and then let out a sigh of relief.
"You..." Su Mo'er thought the person she'd been waiting for had arrived, but when she looked up, she found that the man in front of her was tall and upright, with a refreshing and graceful demeanor, but he wasn't someone she knew. She couldn't help but be stunned, but then quickly kneeled to thank him, "Thank you for saving me, young master. I am grateful beyond words."
The man looked at her with his bright eyes and waved his hand, "There is no need for excessive courtesy. I just couldn't stand by when I saw an injustice."
He quickly took off his cloak and covered her. Su Mo'er hesitated and felt a little shy, but ultimately did not refuse.
At this time, Li Yanze got up from the ground, his face full of ferocity. He covered his side that had been kicked and winced in pain, but his gaze towards the man in white was filled with anger and malice, "Who are you! How dare you ruin things for this lord! You are asking for trouble!"
The man in white smiled, fanned himself with a fan in his right hand, and swayed suavely, "Under the clear sky... no, under the grand cosmos! Someone is bullying innocent girls here. I can't stand people like you who behave like beasts! You're the one who's in the wrong! What can you do about it?"
"The tone is not small!" Liu Yanzai narrowed his eyes and said, "Look at you, don't you know who I am?"
The man in white 'Oh' one, took the fan and pointed at him, "You're not bad, depending on the situation, do you know who I am?"
The man in white spoke as if making small talk, but in Liu Yanzai's ears, it was all sarcasm. Coupled with the anger and resentment from the earlier incident being exposed by the other party, he couldn't contain his pride and spoke with a malicious tone, "Kid, are you doing this on purpose?! I'm warning you, be smart and get out of here, stop meddling in others' business!"
"I don't need to know who you are," the man in white chuckled, tapping the fan in his hand, and finally stopping it in his palm, "If you don't want me to intervene, then I won't. You don't care about face? Don't bother saying any more, today I have settled your idle affairs!”
"You..." Liu Yanzai was furious, "You don't know your limits!"
He knew in his heart that his actions at the moment were not to be seen by others. If the matter with Su Mo'er had succeeded and was discovered later, it would be too late to do anything.
But now, since he had failed to succeed, he could not delay. Therefore, as the words fell, he was too lazy to waste time with the man in white, and directly flew up, intending to use force to quickly expel the other party.
Unexpectedly, the man in white saw the situation and his eyes brightened, exclaiming, "Good, come on!"
Then he swiftly went up to meet him. Su Mo'er watched this scene, dumbfounded and hurriedly moved to the side, worried that the man in white might not be a match, so she quickly shouted for help.
But Su Mo'er did not know that at this moment, Liu Yanzai was full of resentment.
When he wanted to use force to suppress the other party, he initially thought it was because he was unprepared, so he let the man in white take advantage of the situation.
Now, thinking that he was prepared and fully engaged, he should have no problem subduing the other party with his martial arts.
But he did not expect that after exchanging blows for a while, he was having trouble defending. However, the man in white looked relaxed and at ease, occasionally shaking his head with a sigh, as if his disappointment had brought him here hurriedly and ended in disappointment.
The attitude of the man in white only further stirred up the resentment in Liu Yanzai's heart, and he was more ruthless in his actions.
The intensity of their fight immediately escalated from initially being deliberately restrained to becoming increasingly intense. Combined with Su Mo'er's alarmed reaction, Liu Yanzai became even more furious.
Knowing that this could not continue, he realized that it might not be easy to determine the outcome with the other party. The most crucial factor was Su Mo'er's shouting, which made him frown.
In a flash, he ruthlessly forced back the indifferent man in white, then quickly rushed towards Su Mo'er.
Since he couldn't deal with the man in white, he decided to take Su Mo'er away!
Seeing this, the man in white immediately realized his intentions and smirked, his eyes narrowing as he guffawed, "Trying to run?"
Then, he quickly caught up to Liu Yanzai and struck him again, sending him flying, "You... are too much!"
With a 'bang', Liu Yanzai hit the ground hard, even breaking a pillar this time.
As the only legitimate son of the Liu family, Liu Yanzai had lived a privileged life for nearly twenty years, always getting his way. Today, he suffered blows one after another, and couldn't bear it. He couldn't endure it and spluttered out blood.
Su Mo'er was so frightened she covered her eyes and whispered, while the man in white hurriedly comforted her, "Don't be afraid, he won't die."
"Thought you were so capable, but you can't even take a hit." He sneered, then walked straight towards Liu Yanzai, ready to continue attacking.
At that moment, a group of people appeared at the door, and the leader saw the scene inside and shouted, "What are you doing? Stop it!"
Su Mo'er was pleasantly surprised, "Your Highness!"
The leader turned out to be Prince Zhao Jinghuan.
The man in white also looked over upon hearing this, and upon seeing it, he laughed and said, "Brother, you finally found me!"
On the other side, Li Gonggong and Du Zhong, who were following Prince Zhao Jinghuan, also quickly saluted the man in white, "Greetings to Your Highness, the Prince."
The man in white was none other than the third son of the current emperor of Dayan, Prince An Zhao Jing Ran.
Prince Zhao Jing Ran waved his hand and looked at Prince Zhao Jinghuan with a smile, "Brother, you're so slow, I've been waiting for quite a while, and you only just arrived."
Prince Zhao Jinghuan's face darkened, "If not for your running around, why would I have to search for you everywhere?"
"That's not my fault!" Prince Zhao Jing Ran looked innocent, "I was just getting bored waiting for you guys, so I came over first."
"Look, if I hadn't arrived in time, who knows what this beast might have done?" He looked at Su Mo'er and continued, "Based on what I heard earlier, how do you know my brother, the prince?"
Su Mo'er, who had just realized from their conversation, nearly stumbled. Fortunately, she was supported by Zhao Jing Ran in time, "You, your body is too weak, such a small matter has frightened you? Stand steady!"
Su Mo'er blushed and hurriedly bowed in courtesy, "I didn't know it was His Highness the Prince, I hope Your Highness will forgive me for the offense."
Seeing this, Prince Zhao Jing Ran smiled indifferently and helped her up, "It's okay, you don't have to be so formal in front of me. I, Prince An, am the most amiable and approachable person. Don't believe it? You can ask my brother, oh, he's the prince you mentioned."
Prince Zhao Jinghuan stared at their interaction, his eyes deep and his expression inscrutable.
Then he followed Prince An's gaze and looked at Su Mo'er. After seeing who she was, his deep eyes flashed, and his expression became more unreadable as he asked in a deep voice, "What's going on here?"
Prince An sneered, "What else could it be? It's nothing more than seeing a beautiful girl and wanting..."
At this point, he remembered that Su Mo'er, the person in question, was still next to him, so he deliberately avoided being too explicit and laughed ambiguously.
Regardless, even if he acted this way, the meaning behind it was clear to everyone present.
Meanwhile, realizing that the situation was getting worse, Liu Yanzai, who had been preparing secretly, tried to escape when no one was paying attention.
Zhao Jinghuan saw the situation and nodded silently at Du Zhong behind him. Du Zhong immediately glared fiercely and shouted, "How dare you!" Before the words fell, he rushed out.
Liu Yanzao was horrified by the sight. He knew who Du Zhong was, a strong warrior, even if uninjured, might not be a match for him, let alone in his current state of disarray?
Even if he resisted, it would only be a futile struggle. In less than three moves, Du Zhong captured him and brought him before the crown prince. "Your Highness, the person has been captured, what should we do?" he asked.
Although he spoke this way, Liu Yanzao also knew that today was difficult to resolve. But even at this point, he did not lose heart.
Upon hearing this, he smiled sardonically and looked directly at Zhao Jinghuan. "Your Highness, even though you are the current crown prince, if you want to capture me, the son of a prominent family in Changzhou, without asking for any reason, aren't you afraid of causing conflict between the noble families and the royal family?"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Liu Feifei also hurried out at this time and knelt in front of the crown prince, pointing at Su Mo'er with tearful eyes, accusing her, "There must be something fishy about this. Surely, it is Su Mo'er who enticed my elder brother first!"
Even though Su Mo'er knew their tricks early on, hearing this made her shudder. If it wasn't for Prince An's appearance today, they would have succeeded in their scheme, and she knew what her fate would have been.
Just thinking about such a brutal situation sent shivers down her spine, and upon hearing Liu Feifei's accusation, she immediately retorted, "You're talking nonsense!"
Her eyes quickly filled with tears, and she knelt down, looking at the imposing figure of the crown prince. "Your Highness, I have not done such a thing! I didn't do it before, I'm not doing it now, nor will I do it in the future!"
She knew that at this moment, she didn't need to say too much, just show her attitude.
Ultimately, she had the confidence because of Prince An's presence.
Thinking of this, she felt even more grateful to Prince An.
Liu Feifei sneered and said, "Of course you will try to deny it! Do bad people tell others that they are bad? Do thieves admit to the authorities that they are thieves?"
She turned to the crown prince, and with a proud and tearful face, continued, "Your Highness, to be honest, Su Mo'er has had intentions toward my brother for a long time. Even before entering the official's mansion, Su Mo'er had already attached herself to my brother. My brother has always taken care of her due to her family's tragic situation, but over the years, he has not made any inappropriate advances. If you send someone to investigate, you will know!"
She was not afraid that Zhao Jinghuan would really investigate. Even if he did, he would only find out about the ambiguous relationship between the two, which played into her hands even more.
She continued, "It's just that I didn't expect my brother, who always adheres to propriety, to not receive any gratitude from Su Mo'er. On the contrary, she held resentment in her heart. This time, my brother specially came to the capital to visit me, and I'm sure he was provoked by Su Mo'er and coerced into this situation by some unsavory means! Otherwise, with my brother's status in Changzhou, which woman couldn't he get? Why would he do such a thing? I advise Your Highness to be careful and see through this matter!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was kicked away by a furious Zhao Jingran.
"Blind to the truth!" Zhao Jingran didn't discriminate between hitting men and women; if someone behaved improperly, they deserved punishment. Currently, with Liu Feifei speaking nonsense, he was visibly displeased. "So, you are saying that this prince is blind and can't see the truth of the situation?"
Liu Feifei was frustrated and wanted to vomit blood. She covered her chest, feeling dizzy and said hurriedly, "Your Highness, please calm down. I didn't mean that. I was just saying, maybe there's a misunderstanding in this matter..."
"Then are you saying I'm wrong?"
"Your Highness..." Liu Feifei was almost in tears. If she weren't mindful of her status, she would have leaped forward and torn Prince An to pieces for unexpectedly intervening!
They had expected everything to go smoothly tonight, but no matter how much they planned, they had not anticipated a prince appearing out of nowhere. How could they not feel frustrated and resentful?
"That's enough, stop making a scene." Zhao Jinghuan glared and warned Zhao Jingran. The latter reluctantly rubbed his nose and kept quiet.
He then gave Du Zhong a signal before the siblings from the Liu family could say anything more. The guards immediately came forward, apprehended the two, and stopped them from speaking.
Zhao Jinghuan then said, "I will personally investigate this matter and find out the truth. Today's events end here."
Though his voice was not loud, it was firm, and no one dared to speak up.
As for the Liu siblings, they were too stunned to understand how they had been inexplicably tied up. When Du Zhong took action, they fainted.
Seeing the siblings being taken away, Zhao Jingran rolled his eyes, "They got off cheaply."
He then saw Su Mo'er kneeling on the ground and promptly went to help her up. "Alright, they've been taken away, and you haven't done anything wrong. Why are you still kneeling, get up."
Su Mo'er then glanced at the crown prince. When she saw that he had no reaction, she let Zhao Jingran pull her up. However, the events had taken a toll – her knees were injured, and with the uncertainty of the situation, her entire being was tense. Now, as things seemed to be settled, the tension in her heart released, causing her to lose balance and fall to one side.
Zhao Jinghuan noticed this, but it was too late to act. Su Mo'er had already been pulled in and embraced by Zhao Jingran. There were hints of fragrance and softness which made even the usually composed Prince An slightly flustered.
It was only when Su Mo'er's voice sounded like a mosquito, "Your Highness, An Wang…" that he regained his composure. His cheeks, neck, and even earlobes turned slightly red.
After adjusting Su Mo'er's posture, Prince An reluctantly let go and awkwardly said, "Look at you, always kneeling down."
Su Mo'er's charming face turned misty, making her even more enchanting, as she acknowledged him.
Seeing this unconstrained scene between the two, Zhao Jinghuan clenched his fists tightly behind him, his cheeks tensed slightly. He then addressed Su Mo'er, "Come here," in a calm tone. Despite its calmness, it instilled fear in her. She glanced at him and then respectfully bowed to Zhao Jingran before preparing to leave.
Seeing this, Zhao Jingran immediately pulled her behind him, protecting her. He spoke irritably to the crown prince, "When will you improve your temper? Can't you be gentler with a beauty? Look, you've frightened her."
"Oh?" The crown prince chuckled as if he had heard something amusing and looked deeply at Su Mo'er. "Did I scare you?"
Despite his calm and naturally inquisitive tone, Su Mo'er shivered and widened her eyes. The crown prince had never referred to himself as "I" before her!
Feeling anxious, she hurriedly shook her head and said, "No, I, I..."
"And she claims she wasn't scared!" Zhao Jingran held Su Mo'er again, staring at the crown prince. "Brother, see what you've done; you've scared her."
The crown prince’s lips twitched slightly, but he remained silent, with a calm expression and deep, piercing eyes focused on Su Mo'er.
...