Suddenly bitten, she instinctively retaliated, but she quickly realized that Ying Wutu was trying to kill himself.
She raised her hand and looked down at the half-circle of teeth marks on the back of her hand. She suddenly laughed; the bite hadn’t even broken the skin.
Was this supposed to be resistance? It was more like he was acting spoiled.
Those two little rabbit teeth marks were imprinted on the back of her hand.
She sat down by the bed, her bright gaze returning to Ying Wutu.
Ying Wutu was gasping for breath, his vision blurred from the blow, and his jaw dislocated, unable to close his mouth.
Jiang Shouzhu, who rarely showed emotions, now had a hint of a smile on her face.
“Ying… Wutu…”
Jiang Shouzhu slowly repeated his name, as if savoring the taste of those three words.
Ying Wutu struggled more violently, making muffled sounds, but with his dislocated jaw, he couldn’t say a word.
“Why? Didn’t you call my name when you tried to kill yourself on the battlefield? Now that I’m saying it back, you’re this agitated? I never thought you were a man, and I’ve never seen such a cunning man like you.”
Jiang Shouzhu had never been deceived by a man before. She had only known two types of men in her life: those like her father, kind and gentle, and those like her attendants, obedient and tame. She never imagined there was a third type, a truly unique anomaly.
She was very interested in Ying Wutu and wanted to understand him deeply.
Ying Wutu struggled desperately on the bed, the chains clinking incessantly. If the bed weren’t sturdy, it might have fallen apart from his thrashing.
“You want to speak?” Jiang Shouzhu said, but didn’t give Ying Wutu a chance to respond. She got up, took the burning candle from the candlestick at the door, and sat back down, smiling, “I have to check personally, in case they made a mistake. To prevent you from biting again, you’ll just have to keep your mouth open and moan until I’m done.”
Ying Wutu was both ashamed and angry. He wanted to resist, but his wrists were rubbed red from the chains due to his violent struggles; he wanted to curse, but he couldn’t utter a word; he even wanted to bite his tongue to commit suicide, but he couldn’t even close his mouth.
He was clearly crying out in pain, but to Jiang Shouzhu, it sounded like… moaning?
It was simply humiliating him!
But this was just the beginning.
Jiang Shouzhu’s fingertips lightly pressed against Ying Wutu’s prominent Adam’s apple, moving down his neck. Her fingers felt his firm chest muscles, pausing to poke them twice.
“Solid, well-trained. No wonder you managed to escape from me twice. You’re not just a pretty face.”
At these words, Ying Wutu, who had been struggling desperately, paused. Was he… being praised?
This was the first time in his life he had been praised by a woman.
But this woman was his enemy.
Now he was her captive.
“Why aren’t you making any noise?” Jiang Shouzhu’s gaze shifted back to Ying Wutu’s face, seeing his dazed expression.
She was a bit annoyed. She was conducting an examination, and what was her defeated opponent doing?
She was quite willing to savor his reaction to being examined, but his current reaction puzzled her, so she was displeased.
So, she avoided the bandaged wound and grabbed Ying Wutu’s chest muscle, giving it a hard twist.
“Ugh—” Ying Wutu let out a whimper, the pain in his chest pulling his complex thoughts back, and tears streamed from his eyes.
Jiang Shouzhu brought the candle closer to his face.
The flame danced in Ying Wutu’s eyes, along with her shadow.
Jiang Shouzhu demanded, “Answer me, what were you thinking just now?”
What was he thinking?
He was thinking that it was the first time in his life he had been praised by a woman, and it was in such a situation.
In his eighteen years of life, he had disguised himself as a woman, mingling in an all-female military camp, overcoming obstacles with his brilliant mind, finally gaining the emperor’s favor, but his country was already in decline.
The journey had been fraught with dangers and difficulties. During the six months of being hunted by Jiang Shouzhu, he had been on high alert, never having a moment of peace. He had never known peace, let alone a word of praise.
How could he possibly say such things to his enemy?
He closed his eyes, the only resistance he had in this situation.
“Oh, I forgot, you can’t speak now.” Jiang Shouzhu used her other hand to hold his chin, intending to help him, but she paused and suddenly smiled, “I just realized, your tongue is also pink and tender.”
Ying Wutu’s eyes widened in anger again.
This woman was determined to humiliate him!
If looks could kill, he would have killed her a thousand times over.
But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even hide his tongue, exposed to her gaze and her teasing words.
“Interesting.” Jiang Shouzhu reattached his jaw and asked again, “Now answer me.”
“Kill me!” Ying Wutu’s voice was hoarse, and he could only manage three words.
He wanted to bite his tongue and commit suicide again, but he had already tried before Jiang Shouzhu arrived and couldn’t do it.
Now, after another heavy blow to his head, he had even less strength.
Jiang Shouzhu chuckled softly and asked, “If you were truly determined to die, why didn’t you do it before surrendering? Did you come to me to put on a show?”
Ying Wutu had been glaring at her fiercely, but after hearing this, he averted his gaze, looking at the candle in her hand. Staring at the flame for too long made his eyes sting.
In fact, he was tearing up again.
He wasn’t putting on a show. He had intended to assassinate her during his surrender, but when he got close, he realized he was no match for this woman.
An assassination would surely fail, and his remaining 3,000 elite soldiers wouldn’t survive either.
So he decided to commit suicide.
But he failed again.
Now he found himself in a situation where he couldn’t live or die.
This was only part of the reason. Another reason was that during the six months of being hunted by Jiang Shouzhu, he dreamed of her every night, all strange dreams.
For eighteen years, he had lived a dangerous life disguised as a woman, never getting close to any woman. Yet, Jiang Shouzhu had scattered his long hair and shattered his armor. His feelings for her were very complex; he wanted to die in front of her.
Even in death, he wanted to splatter her with his blood!
“Not speaking? I’ll take that as an admission. You really are an interesting man.” Jiang Shouzhu moved her fingers down to his abdomen, touching the spot where she had paused earlier.
“Don’t…”
His voice was breathy, pleading.
Jiang Shouzhu didn’t stop. She remembered the strange dreams she had the first time. Her fingers continued to circle his abs, commenting, “Tight abs. It’s hard to imagine what it would look like if you were pregnant with a big belly.”
“Stop… please…”
Ying Wutu didn’t want to hear it; he just wanted to die!
When the edge of his clothing was hooked, he was utterly desperate, feeling as if he had fallen into an abyss.
Jiang Shouzhu raised an eyebrow slightly, laughed, and withdrew her hand.
It was indeed genuine, and the matter was settled.
“You really are a man.”
Jiang Shouzhu’s hand touched his face again, feeling how cold it was, like a dead person.
He was alive, but his spirit was broken.
“Same color as your tongue.”
Ying Wutu choked with anger, losing even the last bit of his vitality.
“Why no reaction at all?” Jiang Shouzhu reached out to check his breath, saying, “Could it be that you died of anger? Such a big temper?”
She was obviously teasing him on purpose.
She found that seeing Ying Wutu’s reactions was even more interesting than winning a battle.
When her fingers approached his nose again, she quickly withdrew them.
Because Ying Wutu tried to bite her again, but he missed, his teeth clashing together, only able to bite at her “laughter.”
“Hahaha… so fond of biting?” Jiang Shouzhu raised her right hand again, admiring the half-circle of teeth marks on the back of her hand. After admiring it, she pinched Ying Wutu’s cheeks, forcing him to open his mouth, “You really have two little rabbit teeth. You escaped again and again like a cunning rabbit. How about I call you Little Rabbit from now on?”
“Jiang… Shouzhu…” Ying Wutu gritted his teeth, “Give me a quick death!”
“No way! You are my captive. Your fate is in my hands. Let me think, what should I do first?”
Jiang Shouzhu had always been used to seeing obedient men. The more she saw Ying Wutu resist, the stronger her desire to conquer him grew.
Even though he was her captive, he was still so stubborn, truly temperamental.
This only made her more interested.
“Jiang Shouzhu!” This was the third time Ying Wutu called her name, almost shouting, “A man can be killed but not humiliated! You…”
Before he could finish, a voice called out from outside the tent.
Jiang Shouzhu’s playful expression vanished, and she looked towards the entrance: “Come in.”
Her deputy lifted the flap and entered.
Jiang Shouzhu could tell from his expression that it was urgent. She quickly placed the candlestick on the bedside table and stood up to approach him.
The deputy whispered in General Jiang’s ear, “General, we’ve found the whereabouts of the fifth prince of the enemy country.”
“Prepare the troops! Move out!” Jiang Shouzhu walked out of the tent without looking back.
They had captured the entire enemy royal family, except for the fifth prince who had escaped.
The fifth prince of the enemy country was very handsome. The emperor specifically instructed Jiang Shouzhu to capture him alive if possible. That’s why Jiang Shouzhu hadn’t drunk much tonight, saving her strength for the capture.
In an instant, Jiang Shouzhu led her troops westward. Her mind still wandered to that suicidal little rabbit, but there was no rush.
Patience was needed to catch a hot rabbit.
He couldn’t escape anyway.
An hour later, Jiang Shouzhu personally brought the fifth prince back to the camp and instructed, “Take good care of him.”
Dismounting, Jiang Shouzhu noticed the time was nearly midnight. She hadn’t finished speaking with that little rabbit earlier. Brushing off the snow, she lifted the tent flap and took a step inside, only to find… the bed was empty!
Only four chains with pried-open locks remained.
Jiang Shouzhu stepped forward, noticing the pieces of something on the bed… wax?
Thinking back, she remembered placing the candlestick on the bedside before leaving.
Could it be that Ying Wutu bit the candle apart and used the wick to pry open the locks?
Was that even possible?
A smile appeared on Jiang Shouzhu’s face. The thought of Ying Wutu biting the candle to escape made her want to laugh.
But she could laugh later; she needed to catch him first!
That disobedient little rabbit, pretending to be suicidal and lifeless just to lower her guard.
She found this to be even more interesting.
