Xiao Yunran stood before her, his beloved "white moonlight" nestled in his arms. "Ruoxi," he said, "Ningshang has nothing. It's just a title—can't you give up the position of principal wife to her?"
Zhou Ruoxi smiled faintly, tossed down the divorce letter, and turned to seek out the rumored frail and ill-fated Ninth Prince, Xiao Yuheng.
The handsome and noble man sat in the high seat, his pale face bearing an innate air of wicked charm.
Before everyone's eyes, Zhou Ruoxi lifted her skirts, ascended the steps, and settled into the man's embrace.
"I regret it now. Are you still willing to marry me?"
The world said that Ninth Prince Xiao Yuheng possessed thunderous methods and extraordinary talent but was terminally ill and impotent—what a pity.
On their wedding night, Zhou Ruoxi, supporting her aching waist, was furious.
After marrying, the notoriously ill Ninth Prince not only defied death but regained robust health and was crowned Crown Prince.
With his radiant, flower-like consort nestled at his side, he gazed down at Xiao Yunran prostrating before them, a flicker of triumphant arrogance in his eyes.
"Thanks to your blindness, dear brother, I gained such an exceptional consort," Zhou Ruoxi remarked with a light laugh.
"He is no longer your brother," she added coolly. "Just a prisoner now—address him accordingly."
Zhou Ruoxi had been reborn.
Her first act in this new life was to corner the notoriously aloof and ailing Ninth Prince, Xiao Yuheng,
in a private tea-house chamber.
She reached back to close the door, then lifted her gaze to the impossibly handsome man in the room, a faint smile gracing her lips.
"Prince Ling, it's been a long time."
Seated across from her in a carved pearwood chair, Xiao Yuheng was dressed in a black gold-woven python robe, his hair tied neatly under a jade crown.
His features were exquisitely sharp,though his unnaturally pale complexion lent his noble demeanor a touch of gloom.
Now, the corner of his thin lips lifted into a hint of an inquisitive smile.
"Miss Zhou… what is the meaning of this?"
Zhou Ruoxi gathered her skirts and slowly walked toward him.
Then, bending slightly, she settled herself directly into his lap.
Xiao Yuheng's gaze froze for an instant.
But soon returned to normal.
His pale, somber face showed no trace of emotion.
Only a cool, penetrating stare remained fixed on her.
In the past, Zhou Ruoxi had feared him.
But she had been reborn.
In her previous life, her spirit had hovered mid-air, watching as this man stained the royal house with blood after her death. She saw him pierce Xiao Yunran—the one who had betrayed her—with ten thousand arrows, behead him, and cast his head before her grave.
His crimson eyes were filled with despair and grief as he knelt, confessing his love.
It was in that moment she realized: Xiao Yuheng had loved her to the marrow of his bones.
Remembering this, Zhou Ruoxi reached out and pushed up her sleeve, revealing the crimson chastity mark upon her skin.
At the sight of that vermilion dot, Xiao Yuheng's eyes deepened.
Then, a teasing smile touched his lips.
"So Prince Qi… is incapable?"
"But if the esteemed Miss Zhou is lonely, there are others you could seek. Why come to a sickly man like me?"
Leaning into his embrace, she whispered, "Xiao Yuheng, I want to leave Xiao Yunran. Will you help me?"
He laughed lowly.
"Everyone knows you've been devoted to Prince Qi for years. Now that you've finally married him… why perform this act for me?"
"I regret it. I don't want Xiao Yunan anymore."
She paused. "I want… you."
As she uttered that final word, she tilted her head up, closed her eyes, and brushed a light kiss against his thin, cool lips.
The noble and icy man's composure finally cracked.
He gripped her delicate chin firmly,
his eyes gleaming with a dangerous intensity.
"I thought the esteemed Miss Zhou was utterly devoted to Xiao Yunran. To think you'd be so… forward." His voice was a low, icy thread in the quiet room. "Do you truly believe someone like me would ever want someone like you?"
Zhou Ruoxi's dark, luminous eyes held his, unblinking.
Then, suddenly, she smiled—a slow, deliberate curve of her lips.
"You do."
His fingers loosened their grip. Something shifted in the depths of his gaze, dark and profound.
He tilted her chin up, forcing her lips to part, and closed the distance in a searing, possessive kiss.