Chapter 5: Died of Anger Amidst Brilliant Fireworks.

In the instant he saw Bai Shuxi, Qian Junyou’s spine turned ice-cold. The alcohol sobered him up by half as he sat up abruptly from the long chair.

“Miss Bai…? Why are you here?! …Let’s talk nicely. Don’t… don’t come any closer!”

‘What kind of melodramatic plot is this? Just to make me die in front of her, she actually chased me all the way to a place like this?!’

The girl did not reply. She simply walked forward step by step, slowly approaching Qian Junyou. Her eyes carried seventy percent charm and thirty percent despair.

Her slender waist, long legs, delicate shoulders, and that peerlessly beautiful face that could eclipse the moon and shame the flowers—her beauty was enough to feast the eyes.

Qian Junyou’s face showed fear as he looked at Bai Shuxi’s tender white skin and alluring figure. The mysterious power inside his body began to stir again, twisting his consciousness nonstop.

He didn’t even have time to stand up from the long chair. Control over his limbs had already begun to gradually shift.

The boiling blood in his veins urged him to push the girl before him to the ground, claim her as his own, and ravage both her body and soul.

His vision gradually distorted. A cold wind blew into the room. The flickering lights began to twitch, and the golden-red glow slowly turned into a ghostly green, as if the God of the Underworld had descended.

In his ears came long, profound whispers, the low growls and heavy breathing of countless demons from the abyss—like a desolate chorus of evil spirits and the resonant roars of demonic beasts slowly rising from a temple buried beneath the mud of the netherworld.

Countless evil demons and ghosts gnawed at his soul and tore at his flesh. With every step Bai Shuxi took closer, his consciousness was eroded bit by bit…

The swelling desire was impatient to replace his soul!

Not only were his limbs no longer obeying him, even opening his mouth to speak had become difficult!

In the girl’s field of vision, the room remained resplendent with lights and shadows. She slowly approached Qian Junyou, placed her hand on her own chest, her eyes glistening with tears, and said in a pitiful, delicate voice:

“Young Master, please give Shuxi a chance!”

Bai Shuxi had no way out. She truly did not understand what this noble young master in front of her wanted. But only by satisfying him could she save her family.

Her affectionate eyes gazed at Qian Junyou, like a discarded doll slowly sinking into a swamp.

Meanwhile, Qian Junyou’s face had turned ferocious. Sitting on the long chair, he struggled desperately against himself, trying to put distance between himself and Bai Shuxi, but his body’s muscles could not hear his soul’s cries for help.

“Stop! Bai Shuxi! Don’t come any closer! If you take one more step forward, there will be no discussion about anything!”

He seemed to have managed to speak, but his voice was drowned out by the whispers beside his ears. He didn’t know whether his words had reached her.

Bai Shuxi finally stopped. Her expression showed some confusion. Was he not satisfied with this? Or did he want to take revenge on her?

Revenge for her past coldness and rudeness…

In truth, she also understood in her heart that pinning the crime of arson on a court official… the number of people capable of doing so could be counted on one hand…

If the Prince Rui’s residence was truly pushing things from behind the scenes and pinning her father as the main culprit, then it would be the extermination of three clans. The men would be exiled to the border, and the women sent to the pleasure quarters.

Once she was sent to the pleasure quarters and later redeemed with money to become a household slave, he could both take revenge and claim her for himself…

It was all her fault for being arrogant and cold before, provoking this most powerful noble in the capital. Now, she could only endure being mocked mercilessly.

Soon, as if she had thought things through, Bai Shuxi took a deep breath. With a look of facing death calmly, she forced out a bitter smile and said softly:

“…I beg you, Young Master. Shuxi will make sure… you are satisfied…”

Her trembling voice gradually grew hoarse. She forcefully tightened her throat to barely suppress the sobs.

After speaking, her slender fingertips picked up the semi-transparent white gauze scarf on her shoulder and gently pulled it down, revealing her snow-white, delicate shoulder. She took another step forward and continued walking toward Qian Junyou.

Bai Shuxi could not understand why her life had come to such an end. That once aloof and proud number one talented lady of the capital, who stood above the common crowd, seemed to have turned into a joke overnight.

But what could she do? In front of imperial power, what did the Five Great Families matter? In this era, she had no right to choose love at all…

Perhaps if she had recognized reality earlier, things would not have turned out like this…

Outside the window, fireworks climbed into the night sky along the darkness, blooming with dazzling light. Thousands of homes glowed, gongs and drums sounded, firecrackers crackled, and red flags fluttered!

As the distance between the two grew shorter, the overwhelming power inside Qian Junyou transformed into endless desire, like a bursting flood that was about to wash away his last shred of will.

Their distance was now only two or three steps away. Qian Junyou’s spirit was on the verge of collapse…

“Enough—! Bai Shuxi! Are you really willing to go this far?!”

Outside the window, fireworks exploded. Qian Junyou let out a final roar of anger.

Bai Shuxi suddenly froze. Looking at the blooming fireworks outside, tears streamed down her cheeks. She had once fantasized about happiness, but at this moment her heart could only sigh. Perhaps this was fate…

But why, at this point, was the Prince Rui’s heir still speaking like this? Did he look down on her current wretched appearance?

She had once treated him with cold eyes and indifference. Now she had been reduced to begging humbly. It was indeed ridiculous…

Her hands, with nowhere to rest, tightly gripped the edge of her thin gauze dress. Her words carried more helplessness and self-mockery as she smiled bitterly:

“Young Master… Shuxi doesn’t understand what you mean by that. The current Shuxi has no choice left. My father is about to be sent to the death prison and has even been charged with arson. Soon the entire family will likely be raided. Do you think these punishments… are still not enough to vent your anger?”

Taking advantage of the moment Bai Shuxi stopped, Qian Junyou leaned back onto the long chair and laboriously shifted backward a distance before he barely managed to hold onto his sanity.

Sensing the grievance in her words, he replied in a firm and cold tone:

“Bai Shuxi, you’re overthinking it. Even if you do this tonight, the Prince Rui’s residence will not help you.”

“Why?! What exactly do you want Shuxi to do before you will be satisfied?”

Despair filled Bai Shuxi’s eyes with unspoken anger. Her jade-white collarbones rose and fell with her trembling chest, adding a despairing wail to the end of every sentence.

“Shuxi has indeed offended Young Master many times in the past. Shuxi knows she was wrong. No matter how you wish to punish me, Shuxi will obey. But please, Young Master, save my father!”

No longer hiding her sorrow and despair, Bai Shuxi continued to plead with tears streaming down her face. Qian Junyou looked at her pear-blossom-like tear-stained eyes. Although pity arose in his heart, he was still helpless.

“I have already said it many times. Don’t you understand yet? It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but that the Prince Rui’s residence cannot help you!”

“Why—!?”

Seemingly unable to bear the anxiety and unwillingness in her heart any longer, Bai Shuxi raised her voice, almost shouting.

The Prince Rui’s residence saying they couldn’t do it? No one would believe that. As long as they were willing, half the court would listen to them.

For the Prince Rui’s heir, there was only willing to help or unwilling to help. Looking at his current appearance, he was most likely unwilling.

But the current Bai Shuxi could not give up just because Qian Junyou said he was unwilling to help. This was already the Bai family’s last hope!

Was he planning to watch her family fall apart and leave her with no way out, only to be taken in as a household slave…

Wasn’t that exactly how lustful men like him operated? Just a month ago, he had even tried to force himself on her personal maid…

That was a companion Bai Shuxi had grown up playing with. If she hadn’t arrived in time to stop him…

Although Qian Junyou had apologized afterward, Bai Shuxi had always felt his apology was just for show.

Would a dignified heir actually apologize to a mere maid? For what reason? If he hadn’t been pursuing her, would he really have apologized?

From then on, Bai Shuxi had always held a grudge. She treated Qian Junyou with cold glares and rude words.

“I beg you… Offending Young Master was because Shuxi was young and ignorant, arrogant and conceited. Please save my father! Must you really watch Shuxi’s family be destroyed?”

Qian Junyou listened with a blank face. She was latching onto him? What was this—humanity’s oldest form of moral kidnapping? How did the conversation turn so that he had become the main culprit? Did villains naturally come with a great evil persona?

While shrinking his body backward to create distance, he retorted:

“Could it be that Miss Bai thinks… I was the one who harmed your Bai family? Or do you think I’m deliberately taking revenge on you?”

“Shuxi wouldn’t dare. But the Prince Rui’s residence holds absolute power in the capital. Inside the court, the Emperor decides. Outside the court, the Prince Rui’s residence decides.

If Young Master is dissatisfied with Shuxi’s past attitude toward you, no matter how you wish to punish me, I will satisfy you. I only hope Young Master will be straightforward about it!”

Outside the window, the festive atmosphere was at its peak—singing and dancing, flowing gold and overflowing colors. Fireworks dominated the once-quiet night sky. The wind blowing in from the terrace stirred Bai Shuxi’s hair and dress.

Perhaps because of the color coordination, or perhaps due to her natural temperament, the white dancer’s attire had less媚 and more elegance and sanctity.

As expected of a female lead. The scene was rendered so well… Even in a place like this, after changing into such clothes, she could still appear so righteous and dignified. Look at that resolve to face death bravely… What kind of immersive villain experience was this?

Such a young girl was truly troublesome. She had firmly decided that he could help her, hadn’t she?

Qian Junyou pressed his forehead and sighed in frustration. Anger rose within him. What exactly had he done wrong? Impatiently, he said:

“I already told you, the Prince Rui’s residence really cannot help your Bai family this time. I’m not making excuses, nor am I taking revenge! What exactly do I have to do for you to believe me?”

Having spoken to this point, Bai Shuxi frowned with some half-belief and half-doubt. Had the Prince Rui’s heir really hardened his heart and decided not to help her?

Could it be that this noble young master, who usually greeted her with smiles and flattery, had truly lost all interest in her?

If he really had no interest in her at all, then there was no hope left…

“Speak! What do I have to do for you to believe me!”

Qian Junyou urged somewhat irritably, but Bai Shuxi remained silent.

“Fine. Since you don’t believe me, then how about this? Besides pleading for the Bai family, I will grant you one request.”

Helpless, Qian Junyou decided to compromise and hand the choice over to her.

Bai Shuxi, at a loss, didn’t know what to say for a moment. What exactly was this greedy, lustful, and fickle Prince Rui’s heir thinking?

Why could he go this far? Could he have other motives? Or had she really misunderstood him?

But at this point, if even Prince Rui couldn’t help, where else could she turn?

Anxiously twisting her fingers, her mind was filled with thoughts of how to save her father.

Suddenly, Bai Shuxi remembered Qian Junyou’s mother—Madam He. Back then, she had married Prince Rui and saved the entire He family. Even the crimes of deceiving the emperor and rebellion had been suppressed. It was simply outrageous.

Having made up her mind, Bai Shuxi cleared her throat and gathered her courage to say:

“Then I ask the heir to marry me as your principal wife!”

“Alright… Wait, what?! What did you say?!”