Damn it! This is endless, isn't it!
"Your Highness, forgive me, but I cannot agree with your words. You make wild, baseless accusations about my identity and burden me with fabricated charges! I will not accept this! What? Is it a crime now that I no longer pester you? Or does Your Highness believe that I must remain shamelessly devoted to you just to prove that I am indeed Shen Qingyan? Your logic is truly something to be admired!"
"Shen Qingyan, you—!"
She smiled, her tone resolute, filled with both firmness and a trace of mockery. "Is it not a bit too obvious that Your Highness is desperate to force the label of 'spy' upon me? In my view, your questioning of my identity is a facade; the real reason is that you are just looking for an excuse to give me a hard time. Otherwise, why else would you break into my boudoir in the middle of the night to cause trouble? I certainly won't believe Your Highness came here to catch a spy!"
He grabbed her collar. "Shen Qingyan! You are clearly twisting the truth!"
She bore it with a calm expression, unflinching. "I am merely stating the facts! There is no sophistry here!"
He couldn't possibly be wrong! But... he also couldn't explain the transformation she had undergone these past few days; it was as if she had become an entirely different person. The adoring, love-struck girl who once looked at him with such joy was a complete contrast to the person before him now.
A look of confusion clouded Xuanyuan Ming's eyes. He yanked her toward him and shoved her onto the bed. Half a month ago, he had been drugged and forced himself on her. It was then that he had seen a red butterfly birthmark behind her left shoulder. If he wanted to verify her identity, uncovering her clothes would resolve his doubts.
Ignoring her resistance, he turned her so her back faced him. Shen Qingyan was forced to lie face-down on the bed, a wave of humiliation washing over her.
"Xuanyuan Ming! What do you think you're doing? You beast, you pervert, you piece of garbage, go to hell! Let me go!"
Shen Qingyan was so frantic she began to curse.
The man ignored her anger, finding her foul language grating to the ear. Yet he didn't care, for he only wanted to confirm the answer in his heart.
Despite her resistance, the clothes on her back were torn away by the man.
The red butterfly birthmark appeared, vivid and lifelike against her snow-white skin.
She finally went quiet, her previous agitation gone. Xuanyuan Ming had clearly torn her clothes to verify her identity, and his reaction now proved that she was indeed the genuine Shen Qingyan—the only difference being that this body had long since become hers.
Xuanyuan Ming’s expression shifted, as if he found it inconceivable that he could ever misjudge someone.
The man's cold fingers brushed lightly over her smooth, flawless back. Shen Qingyan shuddered, feeling as if countless fingers were tracing her skin.
Finally, unable to bear the sensation any longer, she turned around and kicked him. The man let out a muffled groan of pain and rose, no longer pinning her down. Looking down at her as if she were an ant, he said furiously, "Shen Qingyan, you toxic woman, are you trying to murder your husband?"
She straightened her clothes and issued an order to leave: "Since my identity has been verified, I ask that Your Highness leave. After all, this is a lady's boudoir. For Your Highness to disregard propriety and trespass is a grave offense! Does Your Highness not feel that such actions are beneath your station? It is highly improper!"
"Are you lecturing me on rules?"
He returned to his cold indifference, and Shen Qingyan couldn't help but step back.
"We are divorced, Your Highness. Please, have some self-respect!"
"What a joke. Is it against the rules for me to enter my own consort's boudoir?"
Shen Qingyan felt he needed a psychiatrist. She kept her patience and prompted, "You signed the Divorce Decree. Do I need to take it out for you to admire your own signature? Your Highness, since we have reached a consensus, there is no need to keep pestering me. Please, leave!"
He circled her waist and pinched her chin. "So what? You want to pair up with some other man? I won't let you have your way! Shen Qingyan, so what if we are divorced? I hold all the power in the Capital. If I don't agree to you choosing another husband, no one will dare to marry you!"
Xuanyuan Ming, you really are a total dog!
Her eyes flickered, and she decided to fan the flames. "So, is Your Highness planning to go back on your word? Do you want me to continue being Prince Qin's Consort?"
Before the man could say "you're flattering yourself," a loud *bang* echoed as a dozen black-clad assassins kicked the door open.
Shen Qingyan looked toward the commotion. Before she could react, the dozen assassins swarmed in.
Shen Qingyan dodged the killing intent, swiftly seized the wrist of one assassin, and used her hands and feet to kick another. Her kick was so powerful that the man was sent crashing into a large pillar.
A flash of surprise crossed Xuanyuan Ming's eyes before he joined the fray. He kicked an assassin away, leaped into the air to circle Shen Qingyan's waist, and used his hand to snap another assassin's wrist, casually kicking him aside.
Working together, they quickly beat the dozen assassins to the ground, resolving the situation with ease.
The battered men stood up, realizing they were no match, and the leader made a signal to withdraw, disappearing from the estate.
Shen Qingyan wanted to capture one to interrogate them on who wanted her dead, but Xuanyuan Ming grabbed her hand, stopping her: "Do not chase a desperate foe!"
...
"Miss Shen, you really are full of surprises! First, you have a change of heart and stop pestering me! Now, you fight off a group of experts empty-handed right under my nose! You truly make me look at you in a new light at every turn!"
He stepped closer to her, his eyes filled with scrutiny and suspicion!
She knew Xuanyuan Ming was questioning her identity again, because the original owner of the body was a pampered noblewoman who never lifted a finger. Having resolved so many assassins right under his gaze without a hint of fear—these two people were polar opposites. No matter how she changed, she was bound to expose herself as a fake.
Lian'er heard the sounds of fighting and rushed over, terrified that something might have happened to Shen Qingyan. But when she recklessly burst through the door, she saw Shen Qingyan pressed against the wall by Xuanyuan Ming in a posture that made her blush. The room was in a complete mess.
Lian'er thought Xuanyuan Ming was bullying her mistress again. She was furious but dared not speak. She wanted to protect Shen Qingyan, but the moment she saw Xuanyuan Ming, all her anger vanished into thin air...
Shen Qingyan hadn't expected Lian'er to appear. She quickly pushed Xuanyuan Ming away and steadied her emotions. Lian'er looked at Xuanyuan Ming with guarded eyes, offering a stiff, fearful bow. "Miss, are you alright...?"
"With me here, what could possibly happen?" he said, confident and proud.
Lian'er’s expression suggested it was precisely because he was there that things happened. But she didn't dare say anything else. Seeing that her mistress was unharmed, her heart finally settled.
Xuanyuan Ming had never taken Shen Qingyan seriously. Without a shred of patience, he pulled her toward him to grill her about what had just happened, and outright told Lian'er to get out!
Lian'er, thinking Xuanyuan Ming was about to bully Shen Qingyan again, dropped to her knees to "beg for mercy."
Shen Qingyan wanted to pull Lian'er up, but her wrist was held tightly by the man, the pain making her unable to speak.
"Get out! Don't make me say it again!"
Lian'er trembled at the shout, even more worried that her mistress would suffer physical harm. She could only kneel and kowtow repeatedly in her panic.