Chapter 22: You Are Already My Wife

In an instant, a freezing, glacial current surged into her body, and Chu Xi could not help but shiver uncontrollably.

"Don't touch me!" she warned Qi Huan with all her might.

Qi Huan, however, curled his blood-red lips into a sinister smile. "You are already my wife."

"Absurd!" Chu Xi retorted angrily. "We never formally exchanged vows; how could we be husband and wife?"

Qi Huan gripped her chin with his cold, bloodless hand, his narrow eyes filled with malice. "The last one didn't exchange vows either, yet you spent three years mourning for him. What is it? Does it not count when it’s me? Am I so inferior to that weak and incompetent Li Dan?"

"Or is it that you would rather be married to a corpse than to a living freak like me?"

With that, Qi Huan tightened his grip, causing Chu Xi’s face to contort in pain, rendering her unable to speak. Feeling as though her bones were about to be crushed by this madman, she instinctively raised her hands to pry his fingers away. But despite his eerie, androgynous affectations, his strength was undeniably that of a man.

Chu Xi let her arms fall in defeat, leaning against the wall, no longer struggling. Seeing this, Qi Huan released her. He pressed his terrifying face close to hers, his shrill, thin voice whispering into her ear.

"What, have you never heard the rumors spreading like wildfire across the capital? They say I am a bloodthirsty demon. Not a single woman who has married into this Prime Minister’s estate has ever walked out alive."

Not one has walked out alive?

So, Marquis Chu and Lady Liu knew this, yet they still tricked her into walking into this death trap. Once inside this estate, her fate was sealed. How could they be so cruel and heartless? They were her own flesh and blood. At this thought, the hatred in Chu Xi’s heart surged, drowning out her fear of Qi Huan.

She lifted her head to meet his gaze directly and scoffed, "Have you forgotten? I was imprisoned by the Emperor in the Duke of the State’s residence for three years. Cut off from the world, how could I possibly know of such baseless rumors?"

"Baseless rumors? Are you questioning me, or are you mocking me?" Qi Huan was thoroughly enraged by her words. His narrow, sinister eyes grew sharp, and his voice deepened, becoming heavy, resonant, and filled with a stark, masculine power.

Chu Xi felt no terror at his fury; instead, her expression was one of utter despair. She said coldly, "Release my maid. She should not be implicated in this."

Qi Huan frowned, narrowing his eyes as he studied her. "What, you’re just accepting your fate without even a struggle?"

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. A servant spoke in a low voice, "Young Master, I have brought tea and food for the young mistress."

Qi Huan stepped back, putting distance between himself and the woman he had pinned against the wall.

"Enter," he commanded, his shrill voice returning.

A servant entered carrying a food box. Chu Xi’s sharp eyes immediately recognized him as the same servant who had led her into this abyss earlier that day.

"Young Master, the Madam has given orders: this meal must not be delayed past tomorrow morning." As the servant spoke, his eyes flashed with a fierce, insolent light, and he did not even bother to mask his lack of respect when looking at Qi Huan.

To her surprise, Qi Huan did not react at all to the servant's disrespect, appearing almost submissive. Only moments ago, he had claimed to be a bloodthirsty demon, yet here he was, cowed before an insolent servant.

Noticing the bizarre dynamic between the master and the servant, Chu Xi immediately realized that something was deeply wrong.