Chapter 2: Who Do You Think You Are to Marry Me?

 The tightly shut door was pushed open with a creak.

“Xixi, what are you doing here?”

That was the first thing Master Chu said upon entering. After all, Chu Xi and Chu Yiyi had never gotten along.

But the moment he saw Chu Yiyi bound up, his expression darkened. Forgetting that Pei Shuheng was standing nearby, he raised his voice in fury, his words trembling with anger.

“Chu Xi! What kind of outrageous thing have you done?!”

When Chu Xi turned toward the newcomer, she saw several tears fall from the corners of Chu Yiyi's eyes, one after another. The sight of her tear-streaked, pitiful face was enough to make even Chu Xi feel sorry for her.

Master Chu had no time to scold anyone else. He hurried forward and personally untied Chu Yiyi.

During that brief moment, Chu Xi caught sight of a man standing off to one side. He was as beautiful as jade, with features as exquisite as a painting.

She stared at him, utterly mesmerized.

How could a man be this breathtakingly beautiful?

Oh, no! She wanted to become his most devoted admirer!

Just then, Pei Shuheng met her gaze. His expression remained impassive, his demeanor cool and detached. After a moment, he finally lifted the corners of his lips ever so slightly and greeted her in a voice that was neither warm nor cold.

“Miss Chu.”

Oh, my goodness! His voice was gorgeous, too!

But wait! He was the male lead! A man with two completely different faces.

In public, he was always courteous and gentle, the very picture of a refined gentleman. But having read the novel, Chu Xi knew what he was really like. Pei Shuheng was ruthless, vicious, and utterly unforgiving.

Those who had bullied or humiliated him in the past had never heard him utter a word of protest. Yet he had remembered every single offense.

Once he rose from a penniless scholar to a powerful official who held the entire court in the palm of his hand, he would settle scores one by one, leaving no one off the list.

Including her, Chu Xi, the vicious female antagonist.

“Waaah, Father!”

After being freed, Chu Yiyi threw herself into Master Chu's arms and burst into tears.

“Chu Xi, how can you be so vicious? In the past, you were always making snide remarks at your younger sister, but I let it slide. And now you've gone too far! How could you bring yourself to harm your own sister?”

Master Chu doted on his second daughter. Whenever he faced Chu Xi, his expression turned utterly cold.

“Father, Elder Sister didn't mean to do it. It's my fault. I must have done something to upset her.”

Chu Yiyi choked back her sobs.

What a wonderful female lead!

Chu Xi desperately wanted to become her best friend.

But a gaze drifted lazily toward her and remained there, making her deeply uncomfortable.

That was the male lead!

And she was still holding a dagger, after having tied up the female lead. Was there still time to turn back from the road to certain doom?

She gave an awkward smile, her voice slightly hoarse, and raised the dagger in her hand.

“If I told you this was only for peeling fruit, would you believe me?”

Chu Yiyi's sobbing abruptly stopped. She had no idea what this idiot was trying to pull.

Normally, shouldn't Chu Xi have remained as arrogant and haughty as ever, delivering some condescending remark about her superior status?

“She's nothing but a lowly concubine-born daughter. If I want to ruin her face, I'll ruin it. I was only going to scratch her face a little. That's already letting her off easy.”

Chu Yiyi was right. That was what was written in the novel.

Pei Shuheng stood motionless, his pale, tranquil eyes quietly observing the woman who had broken off their engagement.

Chu Xi felt frightened under his gaze. She didn't dare meet his eyes.

[Pei Shuheng loathed Chu Xi to the core. That foolish woman had dared to break off their engagement and throw herself at the Crown Prince. His eyes were as calm as still water, but no one could see the obsession and ruthlessness that flashed through them for an instant.]

Chu Xi was terrified that she might be able to see it.

“Hehe, congratulations on becoming a third-rank official!”

She carefully lowered the dagger in her hand. Without worrying that she might accidentally cut herself, she tucked it directly into her sleeve.

So, was she regretting turning him down now?

Pei Shuheng scoffed inwardly, yet his expression remained as gentle and refined as jade.

“Thank you.”

Two concise words. Nothing more.

“I heard you're going to marry my second younger sister?”

She tried her best to put on a kind smile.

Anything to save her own skin!

Chu Yiyi's eyes lit up, and her ears grew warm. Unlike that foolish Chu Xi, she had immediately recognized Pei Shuheng's potential. She knew he was destined for greatness.

She would have been willing to become his concubine, let alone his wife.

The maid standing beside Chu Xi was furious. She was just about to speak up for her mistress when Chu Xi swiftly pulled her behind her.

“I've come to my senses and deeply regret my past behavior. I was blinded by my own foolishness, mistreated my second younger sister, and insulted Young Master Pei.”

Chu Xi grumbled inwardly.

What a textbook white-lotus line!

Her voice was still hoarse, but every word came out clearly and firmly, with deliberate emphasis. She looked straight at the male lead, her expression earnest and her attitude exceptionally pleasant.

Then Chu Xi turned to Chu Yiyi and spoke with utmost sincerity.

“Second Younger Sister, I was wrong.”

So please, just let me live! I beg you! I don't want to die!

Chu Yiyi was so stunned that she couldn't respond for a long moment.

Even Master Chu was momentarily dumbfounded.

Was this really his lawless, unruly daughter?

“I think you and Young Master Pei would make a wonderful match. A talented scholar and a beautiful lady! If you two were to marry, it would surely become a romantic tale worth telling.”

Pei Shuheng scrutinized her, yet he didn't believe a single word she said.

Chu Xi's words from their last encounter still rang vividly in his ears, each syllable having dealt another blow to his pride.

Pei Shuheng, who do you think you are to marry me?

Ha!

What trick was this woman trying to pull now?

“Xier, what nonsense are you talking about?!”

A beautiful woman entered gracefully, surrounded by a group of maids. A cold smile played on her lips, and her eyes shot daggers at those around her.

She was Chu Xi's mother, Zhang Yue, the matriarch of the Chu family.

She doted on her daughter to an excessive degree and had a terrible temper. She was always looking for ways to make life difficult for Chu Yiyi and had never thought much of Pei Shuheng, either.

In her eyes, her daughter was perfect in every way. There was no way a lowly peasant like Pei Shuheng deserved to marry her.

Zhang Yue flicked her sleeve and walked up to Chu Xi, her red lips curling into an utterly arrogant smile.

“An elder legitimate daughter disciplining her concubine-born younger sister is only natural. Master Chu, how dare you scold Xier over this lowly wretch?”

Master Chu had been publicly humiliated, and his expression darkened even further.

Chu Yiyi was the child he had conceived with a maid in a moment of drunken indiscretion. Ever since then, Zhang Yue had quarreled with him constantly. After the maid gave birth, Zhang Yue had driven her out of the residence. For more than a decade, she had never once treated Chu Yiyi kindly.

And now she was humiliating him in front of others again.

How could he possibly tolerate it?

“Yiyi is my daughter, too! Watch your tongue!”

Zhang Yue found the whole thing absurd and let out a cold laugh.

“So what if I kill her? Do you have the guts to lay a hand on me? Can you even afford to offend the Zhang family?”

Her marriage to Master Chu had already been considered a step down in social standing. As her maiden family's fortunes flourished, her confidence had only grown.

As she spoke, her phoenix-shaped eyes swept toward Pei Shuheng as though he were a filthy object.

Chu Xi wanted to bang her head against a wall.

All the careful flattery and timid apologies she had offered moments ago had gone straight down the drain the instant her bargain-bin mother arrived.

Chu Xi was on the verge of tears. At the thought of the vicious female antagonist's gruesome death, she couldn't help trembling.

The more they provoked him, the more brutally they would die.

Pei Shuheng was ruthless to the extreme.

When she had read A Scheming Concubine, Chu Xi had been practically glowing with excitement over his merciless nature. The male lead was powerful enough to command the court, while the female lead was brilliant and resourceful.

The vicious female antagonist's ending had been utterly horrific. She had been left wishing for death, only to find that death itself was beyond her reach. Readers had cheered at her miserable fate.

Zhang Yue was sharp-tongued and cruel. With that mouth of hers, she, too, had met a tragic end.

The person Zhang Yue loved most in this life was Chu Xi. She wanted nothing more than to place every good thing in the world at her daughter's feet.

Yet before her own death, she would be forced to watch, step by agonizing step, as Chu Xi was tormented by a razor-sharp blade until she suffered a fate worse than death.

Zhang Yue assumed her daughter had been frightened into silence by Master Chu's earlier shout. Otherwise, why would she suddenly seem so timid and meek?

“Don't be afraid. Your mother is here. I'd like to see who in this room dares to bully you!”

Chu Xi's arrogance and domineering nature were notorious throughout the household. Only Zhang Yue believed her daughter was sweet and well-behaved, someone who might actually be bullied by others.

The statement was truly absurd.

Zhang Yue's sharp eyes caught sight of the dagger tucked into Chu Xi's sleeve. Worried that her daughter might accidentally injure herself, she promptly pulled it out.

Her expression grew colder by the second.

Then, without warning, she flew into a rage and carefully retrieved the dagger.

The blade caught the light streaming through the window lattice, flashing coldly into Chu Xi's eyes.

Her entire body stiffened. She was too stunned to stop Zhang Yue from doing what came next.

In just a few strides, Zhang Yue reached Chu Yiyi and pointed the dagger at the young woman's delicate, dignified face.

“Why are you crying and sniveling? So what if Xier bullies you? Who told you not to have a capable mother who could stand up for you? Xier doesn't like your face, and neither do I. Just looking at it irritates me. What's the point of keeping it? Planning to use it to seduce men?”