Chapter 040: Good Baby

By then, it was nearly Xu Shi.

In early autumn, the sky darkened earlier. The setting sun had long since sunk behind the distant mountains, and as dusk enveloped everything, the crimson glow gradually faded from sight. Clouds thickened while stars grew faint, and a deep moonlit sky resembled flowing water.

A lingering mist still hung in the mountains. Maple leaves rustled in the breeze, with dewdrops clinging to their surfaces, gently sliding down the veins as the leaves swayed.

One such dewdrop fell from above onto Liu Yandai’s face, bringing a slight chill.

But Liu Yandai could no longer pay it any mind.

She sat astride him, her face tilted upward, her hair already disheveled. She felt as if she were about to be set aflame, her cheeks flushed, her eyes and brows damp with moisture—whether tears or sweat, it was impossible to tell. The droplet that had fallen traced a path down her cheek, over her slender neck, across the fullness of her jade-like peaks, and finally gathered at the curve of her waist before disappearing. A gust of wind swept through, mingling the rustling of leaves with her intermittent sobs. In a nearby corner, an agile rabbit seemed to dart past in agitation, its paws pattering against the ground before the sound dissipated with the wind.

By then, the sky had darkened completely, and not a soul could be seen in the forest. Only after the wind stilled did Liu Yandai gain a moment’s respite, yet she could not escape. An arm held her tightly, rendering her immobile.

Beneath her lay a thin layer of silk clothing, while beside her was a body as hot as a blazing furnace. Enveloped entirely, her legs trembling, she gasped for breath, her mind blank as she stared up at the sky overhead.

Tree branches fragmented the grayish sky into irregular patches, dotted with stars. The silver moon cast a faint glow, bathing the trees in a soft radiance, as if the Milky Way itself flowed through the moonlight.

The person beside her had already lost consciousness, yet even in his stupor, his grip on her waist remained unyielding.

Pressed against the furnace-like heat, Liu Yandai’s mind was a haze of confusion.

Earlier… everything had happened too quickly. She hadn’t had time to react.

The Crown Prince had fallen from his horse, seemingly losing his senses, muttering incoherently about “raising a child.” He pressed down on her, coaxing her with one phrase after another, uttering words that made her blush—things like “good baby” and “so obedient,” each syllable falling into her ears like a cascade. Whenever she lifted her gaze, she could see the infatuation in his eyes.

So intense, as if he wanted to devour her, to chew her up and swallow her whole.

By then, Liu Yandai had begun to sense something amiss. The Crown Prince’s demeanor was too peculiar, as if he were drunk or… as if he had been drugged.

By whom?

The thought flickered only briefly in Liu Yandai’s mind before it was shattered by the Crown Prince’s grasp.

His hands were large, his bones firm, his palms rough with calluses from wielding a blade. In the chill of autumn, they felt like flames, easily restraining her when they closed around her arm. By the time she regained her senses, he was biting her—or perhaps sucking—and at one point, she vaguely heard him ask, “Will your child be like this too in the future?”

She carried another man’s child. Her body bore another man’s scent. This filled the Crown Prince with jealousy and resentment. That worthless Zhou Yuanting—why wasn’t he dead yet? And if he wasn’t dead, why did he have to leave behind a child?

Liu Yandai couldn’t understand what he was saying, only lifting her foot to kick him. He was kicked but didn’t move, merely lowering his head to coax her softly, “Good baby, don’t move.”

His heart was filled with hatred, almost dripping blood, yet his words remained gentle, uttering every sweet phrase under the heavens. Those honeyed words fell like they cost nothing, meant to soften Liu Yandai’s very bones. But when he acted, he showed no mercy—his words soft, his hands hard. Beneath his human skin hid a starving wolf, and Liu Yandai, with her easily swayed heart, was always muddled, deceived by him, falling into his trap.

He said to kiss, good baby, said not to move, said it would be quick—he said everything, seeming as though he was pleading with her, giving her the illusion of “choice.” But in truth, there was none. Hidden beneath the sweet exterior was an endlessly greedy human heart.

Even without today, without this cup of tea, there would have been something else in the future. He was a vicious wolf; he hadn’t devoured her before only because he wasn’t hungry enough. Once he was starving, he would come to consume her.

And Liu Yandai was like flowing water—without edges, without weapons to protect herself—only to be folded into any shape by him. Liu Yandai had never encountered such a situation. She bit his shoulder, sobbing as she clawed at his robe with her fingers.

He would gently grasp her hands but wouldn’t stop.

When it was all over, Liu Yandai, exhausted, gazed at the sky, her mind holding only one thought.

The Crown Prince had only one thing he hadn’t lied to her about.

She moved her waist with difficulty, thinking, it seemed like just two quarters of an hour—it really was quick.

Back when Zhou Hai served her Pomu, it was said to take at least two hours.

Looking back again, Liu Yandai saw that the Crown Prince had already fainted.

His face was flushed red, as if he had a high fever, somewhat delirious. Even in his unconscious state, he twitched faintly from time to time, as if fighting someone in a dream.

Looking at him, a chill ran up Liu Yandai’s spine.

This was dire—the Crown Prince had been drugged, and she had slept with him!

Did this count as defiling the Crown Prince? The Crown Prince hadn’t married yet—could she have taken his first night?

In her daze, Liu Yandai suddenly heard someone stumbling through the dense forest nearby!