Ensnared - Chapter 3

His provocation couldn’t have been clearer.

If he exposed what had just happened, Shen Zhou’s aversion to me would shoot straight to a hundred. I would never complete my mission then.

I had to keep him under control.

This man, who was even crazier than Shen Zhou.

Forcing myself to stay calm, I hurriedly sorted through what I knew.

The original novel hadn’t mentioned him, but the imperial family had once ordered the execution of all twins in Great Zhou. He was probably the infant the Shen family had been forced to sacrifice and abandon.

The web between his thumb and forefinger was callused, and his body bore numerous scars.

Some were blade wounds from the past few years, looking from a distance like centipedes. Others were much older burns, now faded almost to the color of his skin.

He must have endured inhuman torment. His childhood could hardly have been happy.

Shen Zhou, by contrast, belonged to a family that had fallen on hard times but still possessed a hundred mu of good farmland. Obscure they might be, but they were undeniably landowners.

His life must have been comfortable.

Born to the same mother on the same day, yet their lives were worlds apart.

There was a very good chance this man had come for revenge.

The Imperial Preceptor had prophesied that twins would change Great Zhou’s destiny. Concealing twins was a capital offense. If the authorities learned who this man was, the Shen family would be destroyed.

Yet instead of reporting them, he had chosen to sneak into his sister-in-law’s bedroom.

Either he didn’t hate the Shen family enough to destroy them, or he preferred to remain in the shadows and torment his prey at leisure.

If it was the latter, making my own position clear might win his trust and gradually give me the upper hand.

First, I needed to find out where he stood.

I smiled sweetly, let my fear vanish, and rested a hand on his shoulder.

Surprise flashed in his eyes at the sudden intimacy.

While he was distracted, I pushed him beneath me. The abrupt movement pulled my half-fastened clothes open, revealing the red breastcloth embroidered with mandarin ducks underneath.

He froze for a few seconds. I seized the chance to straddle him, tracing light circles over his chest with my right index finger and letting my expression turn seductive.

“You’re certainly more interesting than your brother. But does Shen Zhou know you exist?”

My finger drifted lower as I leaned closer, until we could see ourselves reflected in each other’s eyes.

He raised his head slightly. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed, and his breathing grew heavier.

I thought I could coax some answers out of him this way, but I had underestimated his wariness.

“What do you think?”

He saw through my trick. Catching my right hand, he rolled over and pinned me beneath him.

“I’m curious. Does Shen Zhou know how wanton his wife is?”

That sounded very much like a threat.

I instinctively tried to fight back, but he caught my left hand too.

His hands were large and strong. He held both my wrists in one and undid his belt with the other.

Within moments, my hands were securely tied to the rail at the head of the bed.

He knew how to tie a knot. I struggled with all my strength several times and couldn’t break free. In the end, I could only lie there and resign myself to his scrutiny.

He seemed to enjoy watching me struggle. When I went still, some of the amusement faded from his eyes.

Then, as though something had occurred to him, he gave a wicked smile.

“Tell me, if Shen Zhou walked in and saw you like this, would he be so furious he’d cough up blood?”

He wanted to provoke me. Little did he know, he’d given me exactly the opening I needed.

“What a devoted little brother you are,” I said sarcastically. “He just asked for an amicable divorce. I haven’t even answered, and you’ve already handed him grounds to repudiate me.”

“What, you can’t bear to leave him?”

“It’s not that. I just refuse to let him profit at my expense. My dowry is worth several times the Shen family’s entire estate. If he repudiates me under the seven grounds for dismissing a wife, won’t it all become his?”

“You don’t seem particularly fond of Shen Zhou.” He raised my chin. “But you’re from a distinguished family. Shouldn’t you be a virtuous wife who worships her husband?”

He was obviously testing me.

Luckily, I had the original owner’s memories. I understood her resentment too.

“Worship him? That depends on whether he deserves it. I was born into privilege. My older paternal cousin is a marquis’s wife, and my younger cousin is going to marry a commandery prince. I’m no less worthy than either of them, yet I have to settle for a provincial graduate. Does that seem fair to you?”

“Shen Zhou has a talent for governing,” he said quietly. “Perhaps he’ll reach the very highest office one day.”

“The world is full of talented men. He might never even place first in the imperial examination, yet I’m supposed to marry beneath me for the mere possibility. Isn’t that absurd?”

I scoffed, letting hatred fill my eyes.

“Besides, if he had any pride, he’d have waited until he placed first to ask for my hand. Instead, he married me now. In my opinion, he’s a dog sniffing after power, so desperate to bask in the glory of the Cui clan of Qinghe that he couldn’t agree to the match fast enough. And someone that contemptible expects me to wait on him? Ridiculous!”

My words seemed to strike a chord. Calling Shen Zhou a dog sniffing after power clearly pleased him. The amusement in his eyes deepened.

Taking advantage of his good mood, I ventured, “I imagine you don’t want life to go smoothly for him either.”

“Hmm?”

He offered no real answer, only a lazy sound in his throat.

Pretentious bastard.

But to complete my mission, I had to grit my teeth and keep going.

“You slept with his wife to get revenge on him, didn’t you? But he doesn’t love me. You could sleep with me a thousand times, ten thousand times, and he wouldn’t care.” I paused. “What if I made him fall in love with me? Wouldn’t that make things more interesting?”

My proposal caught his interest.

He forced my jaw open and pushed a pill into my mouth.

“Make Shen Zhou fall in love with you within three months, and I’ll give you the antidote. Otherwise…”

Otherwise, I died.

He didn’t have to finish. I understood.