Volume One, Chapter 16: Si Yan’s Threat

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Su Yu woke up, the terrifying images from moments ago flooding back into her mind instantly. She nearly sprang upright, only to collide with a pair of dark, brooding eyes—

Si Yan sat silently at the edge of the bed, staring at her with a gaze as deep and cold as a bottomless, icy pool. His voice was low and void of any warmth: “You’re awake.”

Su Yu’s whole body stiffened, and her eyes involuntarily fell upon him. His chest wound was completely unbandaged. The once dark fabric of his clothes was stained with dried blood, now a dull, blackish red, while fresh droplets seeped continuously from the gash, spreading a vivid, glaring red stain.

“Come here.”

Si Yan beckoned her with a hand. Su Yu dared not resist and slowly shifted over from the bed.

Fear and guilt churned within her heart.

The man pulled her into his embrace, gripping her chin with a large hand, his tone harsh and threatening: “Su Yu, no matter what happens from now on, you are never allowed to harm yourself.”

“Do you hear me?”

Si Yan had truly been scared just now. If she had really hurt herself with any real severity—

He would regret it for the rest of his life!

Su Yu’s throat tightened painfully under his grasp, her breathing becoming labored. Her body trembled uncontrollably in his iron hold.

She forced herself to speak, her voice faint but pleading: “Then... could you please let Li Hanyan go?”

“I’ll even be your maid…”

“Maid?”

Si Yan’s lips curled into a dangerous, teasing smile, his eyes suddenly darkening.

“A maid has to provide me with special services, little darling. You better think carefully.”

His grip tightened further, jealousy burning fiercely in his eyes, nearly consuming his reason—

She was willing to be a slave to that man.

Why could he do that, but she could not?

“You know, that’s not what I meant!”

Su Yu suddenly raised her voice in protest, her cheeks flushed with shame and anger, her eyes heating uncontrollably.

“I meant... like serving tea, cleaning, those kinds of chores.”

“Don’t twist my words on purpose!”

She struggled to push him away, her tone full of resistance and embarrassment, turning her head to avoid his mocking expression.

“Impossible.”

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Si Yan rejected her outright, his voice cold and unyielding as iron. “I haven’t even settled accounts with you for escaping the castle. You have no right to bargain with me.”

He would never let Li Hanyan go—that bastard dared to covet his wife!

With that, he suddenly released her. Su Yu staggered backward half a step, barely steadying herself before he commanded again, “Now, bandage me.”

Su Yu froze, anger and anxiety surging in her heart—escaping through a barbed wire fence didn’t count as fleeing the castle!

Si Yan was a ruthless landlord, oppressing migrant workers!

“What, you injured me and now want to shirk responsibility?”

Si Yan’s eyes narrowed as he stared at her dumbfounded face, his tone laced with dissatisfaction and deliberate intimidation.

He turned and grabbed the first aid kit nearby, slamming it down on the bed in front of Su Yu, pushing it into her hands.

“No, no…” Su Yu choked on his words, instinctively protesting as her fingers touched the cold edge of the box.

Her heart was in turmoil—unwilling yet helpless—she could only slowly open the kit.

She stripped off his bloodstained clothes, and it was the first time Su Yu truly studied his back.

Countless scars, big and small, marred his skin.

Carefully, she dipped a cotton ball in antiseptic and gently touched the wound, watching the torn flesh curl and bleed. A pang of pain squeezed her heart, and tears of fear slipped down, falling onto Si Yan’s shirt.

Before the tears could fall further, Si Yan suddenly raised his hand and softly caught the drops in his palm.

He looked into her reddened eyes, his voice still stiff, yet hiding a subtle awkwardness: “Why are you crying? I’m not dead yet!”

“I’m sorry, I... I didn’t mean to!” Su Yu’s voice choked with emotion. The pent-up grievances and fear erupted, and she burst into tears. “Wuwu... It’s you, it’s you who scared me.”

Her broken words were soaked with helplessness, tears rolling down like broken pearls.

Watching her sobbing uncontrollably, Si Yan’s heart softened. All anger and resentment instantly vanished, leaving only overwhelming tenderness.

He pulled her tightly into his arms, gently patting her back to soothe her: “I know, I know you didn’t mean it.”

He understood his little darling’s kind heart—she could never truly want to harm him.

Her loss of control just now was simply because he had frightened her.

“Your husband isn’t mad at you.”

Si Yan’s voice softened to a whisper, his palm stroking her fuzzy hair with comforting warmth.

Su Yu cried in his embrace for a long while, until her tears dried up. Sniffling, she lifted her head, roughly wiping her face on Si Yan’s coat sleeve. A glimmer of hope shone in her eyes.

“Si Yan, then can you let both me and Li Hanyan go?”

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“I... I will light incense and pray every day to thank you.”

No sooner had she spoken than the tenderness on Si Yan’s face vanished. His expression darkened abruptly, cold and unyielding as ice.

He lowered his gaze and grabbed Su Yu’s chin with an irresistible force.

Then he leaned down.

A fierce, possessive kiss slammed down on her, thick with anger at being offended, almost swallowing her whole.

This mouth should be silenced—nothing she said was pleasing to him!

After a long moment, he finally released her, his fingertips gently caressing the swollen, reddened lips he had kissed.

“Let you and Li Hanyan go, then watch you two marry, have children, and grow old together?”

Si Yan’s voice was as cold as ice, each word piercing like a shard of frost.

His grim face was etched with suppressed fury and gloom, his gaze sharp enough to pierce through a person.

He leaned close to Su Yu, his tone ruthless and unhidden: “Baby, I don’t believe in that nonsense about gods and Buddha.”

“What you should be praying for now is that Li Hanyan hasn’t been beaten to death yet.”

“Otherwise, he wouldn’t get to see us making love.”

“He didn’t do anything wrong. Why do you want him dead...”

Su Yu’s voice trembled with anger as a sudden thought flashed through her mind, chilling her to the bone.

“It was you—you deliberately let him come, didn’t you?”

She looked up sharply, staring at Si Yan with shock and disbelief.

“You used my phone to send him messages, didn’t you?”

All the overlooked details suddenly connected.

Su Yu now understood why he had disappeared so abruptly, why he had acted so strangely those two days, and why the patrols inside the castle had been lax.

Everything made sense.

Her heart sank to the bottom of a valley. Her voice cracked with tears, but every word was clear: “You were waiting all along—waiting for Brother Hanyan to come and die!”