Chapter 123: The Home Invader Lover
Chapter 123: Chapter 123: The Home Invader Lover
She said she believed only in him.
Those beautiful, almond-shaped eyes were sparkling, filled entirely with his reflection.
Xie Jinbai thought, ’In this world, probably no one can resist a gaze like that.’
He was utterly defeated. Without a second thought, he lifted her chin and lowered his head to kiss her.
A warm feeling covered her lips. Cui Lingyao was caught completely off guard by the kiss. When she came to her senses, she reached out to push him away, but he grabbed her wrist.
Xie Jinbai held her wrist with one hand and cupped her jaw with the other, lowering his head to gently suckle and kiss her lips.
His long, narrow eyes lifted slightly, looking at the girl in his arms, his gaze thick with desire.
As their eyes met, the tips of Cui Lingyao’s ears turned red.
Xie Jinbai smiled at her. "Don’t blame me. You’re the one who tempted me first."
His voice was slightly hoarse.
Incredibly alluring.
Cui Lingyao’s mouth felt a little dry.
She swallowed, then reached up to cup his face, saying unhappily, "From a certain point of view, you just kissed two different girls."
Although, one was her.
And the other was also her.
But if you really thought about it...
’This topic again.’ Xie Jinbai felt a headache coming on.
"Can you find another way to make things difficult for me?"
Even if he was incredibly resourceful, he was powerless against something so mysterious and abstruse.
Cui Lingyao fell silent.
Xie Jinbai pulled her onto his lap and coaxed her for a long time.
In the end, he made himself laugh.
He had been mature and serious since he was young, and he rarely laughed so freely. Even three years ago, it was rare.
Since they reunited, he’d been acting strangely, constantly shrouded in a gloomy, sinister aura.
But this laugh scattered the gloom around him, making him look like the young man he was years ago.
Cui Lingyao stared in a daze. "What are you so happy about?"
Xie Jinbai ruffled her hair and whispered, "If I had known you were concerned about even this, how could I have misunderstood your feelings?"
Cui Lingyao: "..."
She furrowed her brow in hesitation. "Are you saying... I like you a lot?"
Hearing this, Xie Jinbai’s smile vanished. He stared at her intently.
The girl in his arms was genuinely confused, and even a little wary.
It was as if, not only was she unaware of her feelings for him, but she also found the very idea dangerous.
A sense of panic tightened in Xie Jinbai’s chest.
"Yaoyao..."
His lips tightened slightly. "A person can’t be this oblivious. Admitting your feelings isn’t shameful, and liking me won’t bring you any danger."
The Changping Marquis and his wife were famous in the Capital City for their loving and harmonious relationship. As the Marquis Mansion’s only daughter, she had been doted on her entire life. How could she be like a little hedgehog?
So guarded when it came to her emotions.
He was at the point where he wanted to rip out his own heart to show her, yet she remained this stingy with her affection.
Xie Jinbai was annoyed, but this time, he felt more pity than anger.
He pitied the reason for her cowardice.
’Why is she so afraid that she can’t even face her own heart?’
The room fell silent.
Cui Lingyao lowered her head, resting against his chest without another word.
In her mind, only one phrase echoed: ’Liking me won’t bring you any danger.’
He was wrong.
It was dangerous.
Before coming to Great Yue, Cui Lingyao had told herself that she was here to save her brother. She must never forget her original purpose or develop feelings for anyone in this world.
As her target, Xie Jinbai was the number one threat.
In her subconscious, she had long ago categorized him.
Whether it was self-deceiving avoidance or genuine cold-bloodedness...
In short, while she was working to increase his Love Value, she also had to guard against falling for him herself.
When he had proposed taking a concubine, Cui Lingyao had even felt a sense of relief.
That way, when she succeeded and returned home, her memories wouldn’t be of their bittersweet, lingering affection, but of the image of him standing side-by-side with Li Wanrong.
She could discard everything from this world more quickly.
More decisively.
Without any mercy.
She could draw a clean line and begin her real life.
But life is unpredictable, and she was back.
After all that, she was in his arms once again.
He said she liked him.
To that, Cui Lingyao could no longer find the words to deny it.
But she still felt miserable.
’So what if I like him?’
He was the target of her mission.
And this time, the mission was to make him have an heir.
’Do I dare to like him?’
A breeze blew in through the window frame, causing the candle flame, shrouded by a light gauze, to flicker.
The room was silent.
Xie Jinbai’s arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly in his embrace. His eyes were lowered, his thoughts unreadable.
For a long, long time...
He reached out and ruffled the hair of the girl in his arms, huffing, "Hide well in that little hedgehog shell of yours. Sooner or later, I’ll drag you out."
Cui Lingyao choked, retorting irritably, "What are you, a burglar?"
Xie Jinbai chuckled, grabbing the small of her back and pressing her against him. "It’s you I’m robbing!"
’With her, he had been determined to have her from the very first glance.’
’If she liked him too, then it would be mutual love.’
’If she didn’t...’
’He could plot his course slowly.’
’Or he could take her by force.’
’In any case, she had to be his.’
’He’d take the life of anyone who dared to compete with him!’
Faced with a lover who was like a burglar—domineering, tyrannical, and only growing bolder with every setback—Cui Lingyao had run out of ways to bury her head in the sand.
Thinking of her mission, she sighed inwardly. ’I wonder when this man will have an heir.’
The system had gone dormant due to insufficient System Energy.
She had a good impression of the system, especially since it had the Hundred Diseases Pill. In this world, Chen Minrou’s condition was beyond medical help, so she could only pin her hopes on the system.
Even if it was just for Chen Minrou, Cui Lingyao wanted to complete the mission quickly, wake the system, and negotiate with it to see if she could get an extra Hundred Diseases Pill as a reward.
After all, while such an elixir was priceless to her, it was likely nothing to the system.
Lost in thought, she ended up asking it aloud without realizing.
Xie Jinbai was silent for a few moments, then reached out and pinched her cheek. "If you want me to have an heir so badly, then marry me sooner."
Cui Lingyao: "..."
"What?" Xie Jinbai raised an eyebrow, smiling. "What’s with that expression?"
After talking so openly for so long, he was genuinely happy today.
A happiness not seen for many years.
The joy in his eyes was impossible to suppress. His usually cold, unruly face was now so gentle it seemed to overflow with tenderness.
He was so handsome that anyone who saw him would have to take a second look.
Cui Lingyao hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him to take a concubine to bear a child.
"Forget it," she said, lowering her head in frustration and sighing. "I can’t explain it to you right now."
A glint flashed in Xie Jinbai’s eyes. Miraculously, he didn’t press the issue. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. "It’s getting late. Let’s go to bed."
As he spoke, his hands slid to her waist, preparing to help her undress.
Cui Lingyao froze, quickly grabbing his hands. "You’re staying the night?"
"Of course," Xie Jinbai replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He pointed to the skin under his eyes. "Look. These past few days without you by my side, I haven’t been able to sleep at all."
He was a pampered Prince who had waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, yet his skin was still fair.
Not rough at all.
Which made the dark circles under his eyes all the more obvious.