The person restraining her seemed to know her body extraordinarily well, anticipating every move Jiang Chenbi made in her struggle, causing all her counterattacks to fall short.
Horror surged in Jiang Chenbi’s heart. Who could infiltrate her bedchamber palace so brazenly?
Finally seizing an opportunity, Jiang Chenbi stomped viciously on the person’s foot, broke free from the restraint, and instinctively swung a slap as she turned around.
The slap whistled through the air and landed with a sharp crack. When she saw who it was, Jiang Chenbi’s eyes widened in shock.
In the dimly lit bedchamber palace, Cui Wangshu had her face turned sideways, her expression obscured. Her neatly combed hair was slightly disheveled, and her black attire nearly blended into the night.
After a long moment, Cui Wangshu turned back. Her left cheek was red and swollen, evidence of Jiang Chenbi’s strength.
She licked the corner of her mouth where the skin had split and bled, her pitch-black pupils fixing intently on Jiang Chenbi. Instead of anger, she smiled.
Her expression under the candlelight didn’t look furious—it seemed excited.
A dangerous premonition welled up in Jiang Chenbi’s heart. She swallowed hard and retreated a few steps.
Wiping the blood from her lip, Cui Wangshu’s gaze lingered darkly on Jiang Chenbi’s face, her lips curving up. “A reward?”
Jiang Chenbi naturally heard what she said, but right now, more terrifying than those beastly words was that she couldn’t speak—not even to explain.
Cui Wangshu stared at Jiang Chenbi’s face, her brows lightly furrowing. After a moment, realization slid through her eyes, and she chuckled. “It seems Miss Jiang can hear now.”
“But you can’t speak again, can you?”
Cui Wangshu advanced step by step, tossing the item from her waist to the ground with feigned regret. “I specially bought this today, but it looks like it’s not needed anymore.”
Jiang Chenbi’s gaze fell on the discarded item, and her brow twitched. It’s over.
It was a black leather strap with a perfectly sized mouth ball in the middle, made of high-quality Hetian jade—so smooth it wouldn’t feel cold in the mouth.
Jiang Chenbi tugged at the corner of her mouth, forcing a smile as she inwardly cursed Liu Xuan a thousand times over. If not for his insidious poison, she wouldn’t have lost her hearing again or become mute.
She wouldn’t have panicked and pushed Cui Wangshu away, triggering the woman’s emotional outburst.
Jiang Chenbi was an extremely clever woman who knew how to leverage every resource to her advantage. Even unable to speak, her mind raced.
Steadying her mind, she stepped forward, wrapping one arm around Cui Wangshu’s neck. She furrowed her brows slightly, her eyes conveying vulnerability like Xishi clutching her heart, while her other hand’s index finger gently stroked Cui Wangshu’s injured lip, as if distressed by the wound.
Amusement flickered in Cui Wangshu’s eyes as she watched with interest, clearly anticipating Jiang Chenbi’s next move.
Knowing this woman was skilled in hypnosis technique, Cui Wangshu glanced once at Jiang Chenbi’s eyes before shifting her gaze to her lips, refusing to meet her eyes no matter how seductively Jiang Chenbi tried.
Jiang Chenbi gritted her teeth, feigning embarrassed anger as she lightly pushed Cui Wangshu back and turned to leave.
Cui Wangshu grabbed her, pulled her waist back toward her, and lowered her head to kiss her. The gentle, skilled kiss carried a magical allure; Jiang Chenbi sank into it, instinctively responding a few times before snapping back to awareness and dodging to the side.
Cui Wangshu chuckled softly, gently tugging her back and lowering her head again—this time pressing her tightly into her embrace, leaving no room for escape.
Jiang Chenbi twisted slightly, pinning Cui Wangshu against the edge of the table. She braced against her shoulders to create distance, panting as if out of breath, her nose tip brushing Cui Wangshu’s.
Cui Wangshu, enticed by the posture, lifted her head to seek her lips. Seizing the moment, Jiang Chenbi clamped her chin, forcing her to meet her eyes.
The woman’s dark pupils shifted from hazy confusion to deeper chaos. A faint smile curved Jiang Chenbi’s lips as she held Cui Wangshu’s gaze, slowly withdrawing from her embrace.
Cui Wangshu docilely allowed herself to be led to the bed and sat down, devoid of her earlier predatory demeanor.
Seeing her fully entranced by the hypnosis technique, Jiang Chenbi finally exhaled in relief. Those “punishments”—let her illusory self endure them in the trance.
Her peripheral vision caught the strap Cui Wangshu had discarded. Jiang Chenbi narrowed her eyes, walked over, picked it up, and studied how it worked. Her gaze landed on Cui Wangshu’s cool, aloof face.
After cleaning up, Jiang Chenbi mischievously guided Cui Wangshu to open her mouth and bite down on the Hetian jade ball. The black strap contrasted sharply with her fair skin.
Jiang Chenbi’s breath hitched. Though it was an item for the submissive, on Cui Wangshu, it melded with her deep brows and eyes into a wildly feral aura.
It was as if she weren’t wearing a mouth ball gag, but a muzzle for a rabid dog on the verge of snapping.
Jiang Chenbi’s throat bobbed as she reached out to caress Cui Wangshu’s brows and eyes. Before she could savor the feral sensation, the woman—who should have been lost in illusion—suddenly lifted her head, eyeing her playfully.
Startled, Jiang Chenbi jumped, but her hand was caught before she could pull away.
Cui Wangshu raised a brow, not removing the gag. With a gentle tug, she pulled Jiang Chenbi onto her lap, straddling her.
That unabashedly ambitious, predatory look made Jiang Chenbi think she truly needed a muzzle.
Jiang Chenbi frowned. When did she break free from the trance—before or after the gag?
If before, then Cui Wangshu’s beastliness in her mind rose another level.
Now both were speechless: one from sealed vocal cords, the other…
Cui Wangshu lifted her chin, the smooth jade ball in her mouth gliding over skin, sending shivers.
Jiang Chenbi trembled lightly, forced to sit. In her involuntary arousal, she looked down to see Cui Wangshu’s scattered long hair.
The cool nose tip and warm jade formed stark contrasts, both stimulating her. Unable to resist, Jiang Chenbi gripped the bedpost with one hand and pushed up with the other.
Cui Wangshu gripped her waist, shifting her down slightly, revealing her brows and eyes.
Jiang Chenbi knew sign language. Looking at Cui Wangshu beneath her, she frantically signed for her to stop. Laughter bubbled from Cui Wangshu’s throat. Freeing one hand, she deliberately signed back: Don’t understand.
Just as Jiang Chenbi reached to tug her ear, Cui Wangshu lifted her chin. Jiang Chenbi’s pupils dilated and unfocused; her body went limp and rigid in place.
After a long while, when her jaw ached from the jade, Cui Wangshu removed the strap, rubbing her sore mandible before turning to Jiang Chenbi.
Seeing her gaze, Jiang Chenbi frowned and signed: Get out.
Cui Wangshu pulled her close into her embrace, voice low and husky. “I don’t understand.”
Jiang Chenbi drew a deep breath, struggling to escape the embrace.
She knows sign language! She’s faking!
But a hand probed, seizing her vital point, freezing her body.
She recalled the last time Cui Wangshu had started before she recovered, leaving her…
So now, Jiang Chenbi didn’t dare move.
Cui Wangshu rested her forehead lightly against Jiang Chenbi’s head, wickedly saying, “Miss Jiang, tell me if you can’t take it later… but you have to speak.”
Jiang Chenbi bit her lower lip; no sound emerged. But Cui Wangshu loved her voice, so she deliberately murmured lowly, “Looks like I haven’t tried hard enough. Miss Jiang has no reaction at all.”
Tears welled in Jiang Chenbi’s eyes. Her trembling arm grabbed Cui Wangshu’s wrist, signing for her to stop.
Cui Wangshu drawled meaningfully, grinning. “Oh? Miss Jiang wants me to go all the way?”
Jiang Chenbi’s eyes widened in panic, shaking her head frantically. Annoyance mixed with a secret thrill stirred in her heart.
She signed another gesture. Cui Wangshu’s smile chilled. She sneered, “Miss Jiang seems to have forgotten. I warned you—don’t have other thoughts.”
That sign had been: If you keep this up, I won’t come to you anymore.
Cui Wangshu leaned down, nipping her earlobe, voice low and cold. “How should a naughty child be punished…”
Jiang Chenbi’s eyes were blindfolded, senses overwhelmed like driftwood in the ocean’s center, clinging instinctively to the only anchor before her.
No matter what signs Jiang Chenbi made next, Cui Wangshu ignored them. Only when her whimpers grew pitiful did she gently reply, “I can’t see.”
…
Cui Wangshu’s lips curved, eyes sated with satisfaction. Lying sideways beside Jiang Chenbi, she tenderly kissed the arm at her lips.
That arm bore countless cuts—each from losing control to the love gu or forcing out poison blood like this time.
Jiang Chenbi’s skin was so fair; the faint red scars crisscrossed her body. Cui Wangshu had kissed them countless times, as if to soothe past pains.
Obtaining the woman before her again finally calmed the uncontrollable anxiety in her heart. Cui Wangshu gazed obsessively at Jiang Chenbi’s face, convinced she’d fallen for life here.
She couldn’t imagine Jiang Chenbi leaving her. Just the thought unleashed suppressed violence.
Jealousy toward a nonexistent rival who might stand by Jiang Chenbi’s side—it was addictive torment, masochistically deepening her obsession in every fantasy.
But knowing her feelings, Cui Wangshu indulged her growing possessiveness, as if fulfilling a vow of “never going back on her word.”
As long as she unabashedly intensified her monopoly over Jiang Chenbi, she’d never let go—no matter the circumstances. Even if Jiang Chenbi tried to leave, she wouldn’t relent.
When Jiang Chenbi had been refining soul-seizing powder that day, Cui Wangshu had arrived at Yellow Path Palace but didn’t want to disturb her, so she’d come to the bedchamber first.
Jiang Chenbi didn’t yet know Ying Lan had thoroughly betrayed her, even leading Cui Wangshu to her bedchamber.
Ying Lan thought with Cui Wangshu there, at least the palace lord’s meals were safe. Little did she know she’d delivered the palace lord into the tiger’s mouth.
Cui Wangshu had learned from Ying Lan about Jiang Chenbi’s hearing loss and that Ying Lan hoped she’d supervise her to rest properly.
Gazing at the sleeping Jiang Chenbi, Cui Wangshu’s heart was a tangle of emotions. She didn’t want her using such self-destructive methods to detox—hoping Wang Lao had another way.
