Xia Yuqing tightened her grip on the phone, her gaze sharpening until her eyes turned cold. "What did you do?" she asked, her voice low and controlled.
His tone had been too confident, too self-assured, and she knew immediately that kidnapping her was not his only move.
Long Mingze leaned back slightly in his chair, wearing a smug little smile. "My empress, you are as perceptive as ever. If you truly wish to know what I did, why don't you ask the man standing beside you?"
She turned her head slowly. The moment she looked at him, the man broke down completely. His knees hit the floor as tears poured down his face.
"Madam… Madam, my wife—she has been kidnapped," he choked out between sobs. "Please… I beg you, please save her. They will kill her if I don't do as they say…"
Disgust and fury knotted in Xia Yuqing's stomach. She looked back at Long Mingze coldly. "You are despicable."
"Call it whatever you want," he replied lightly. "I will do anything if it means getting you back."
