Chapter 170: What Tang Wanzhuang Hopes To See

Chapter 170: What Tang Wanzhuang Hoped to See

The weather was sultry to begin with, and under the influence of the drug, the heat became unbearable. Zhao Changhe stripped off his clothes and tossed them aside, revealing a torso still webbed with unhealed scars.

Sisi instinctively recoiled toward the inner corner of the bed.

"Stop acting." Zhao Changhe walked to the table, poured a cup of water, and downed it in a single, roaring gulp. "Even if your resistance to this kind of poison isn't complete immunity, it's hardly as dire as you're making it out to be."

Sisi froze. Her writhing posture eased slightly as she muttered, "It really does feel awful. I have a resistance, true, but I'm definitely not immune... She forced me to swallow it, which is much worse than just breathing the vapor..."

Zhao Changhe cut straight to the point: "Are you truly poisoned? If I were to take you now, would that count as saving your life?"

Sisi bit her lower lip and remained silent.

Zhao Changhe eyed her sideways. "You simply figure that if I sleep with you, I might feel too ashamed to kill you or throw you into the dungeons of the Demon Suppression Bureau. This malicious display of seduction is just your chosen method of self-preservation, isn't it?"

Sisi stared at him, looking as though she had been deeply insulted. Her face flushed a violent crimson as she shouted, "I wasn't thinking that at all!"

"Or perhaps you truly believe that offering your body as compensation is a fair trade? Or could it be that you actually like me?"

Sisi fell silent once more.

"Whatever notions you're harboring, I doubt you even understand them yourself... In any case, if both parties are willing, such an act might be considered an amorous diversion. But under these circumstances, it could only be called rape. Do you think I am capable of that?" Zhao Changhe poured another cup of water and suddenly splashed it directly into Sisi's face. "Calm down."

Sisi was left speechless.

"At least this isn't one of those vile poisons that will incinerate your meridians if you don't find a partner. It merely stokes desire, high-grade though it may be... But desire remains just desire. Splash it with cold water and the illusion shatters—or at least it becomes manageable, does it not?"

As he spoke, Zhao Changhe poured a third cup of water. He raised it before his own face as if intending to douse himself, but hesitated and refrained.

Sisi snapped in annoyance, "Why don't you splash yourself?"

"I can endure it for now, so why make myself look so wretched?" Zhao Changhe set the cup down and cast a sidelong glance at her. "Tell me, if a maid offers to give her master a handjob, would she be willing?"

Sisi looked bewildered. "What is a handjob?"

"...Forget it." Zhao Changhe walked to the basin to wash his face, murmuring, "Regarding this matter, though I am furious, I am not so enraged that I want to kill you."

Sisi froze again. It was a long moment before she spoke: "Because... you anticipated this?"

"Yes. When one is mentally prepared, there is no sudden shock or the burning rage of betrayal." Zhao Changhe scrubbed his face and sighed. "Though there is no deep hatred between us, we were never truly friends either. It was always a relationship of smiles on the surface and mutual vigilance underneath. Nothing you do could surprise me. It's not as if I invested any genuine affection only to end up heartbroken. Surely we didn't play our parts so well that we deceived ourselves?"

Sisi pressed her lips together, offering no reply.

Zhao Changhe continued, "If we speak of genuine sentiment, there was some. After all, we fought side by side and sustained each other. I truly hoped you could become a friend, but in the end, it was merely a disappointment... From this day forth, all ties between us are severed, and I shall no longer harbor such unrealistic expectations."

Sisi cried out loudly, "You have absolutely no need for the Sword Seal! I was merely contesting with Tang Wanzhuang—or rather, with the Great Xia Empire—for its possession! If the item belonged to you, I would have asked you for it directly!"

Her underlying meaning was clear: she did consider him a friend, and she was merely stealing from others.

Zhao Changhe countered, "Then why do you feel guilt?"

Sisi said, "In the end, I utilized your Dragon Sparrow to draw the Sword Wardens into attacking you... I knew Tang Wanzhuang would surely rescue you, thereby dragging her into the fray. But I was truly worried that something might happen to you! I even sent the terracotta puppets to restrain the Wardens!"

"And what if something real had happened to me? If I hadn't broken the suppression of the Sword Domain, I might not have even withstood that single strike from the Warden. I could have been slain instantly."

Sisi lowered her head, murmuring softly, "That is why I feel guilty... As I said, whether you beat me, curse me, or even wish to kill me, I will accept it..."

"You weighed a friendship against the grand designs of your clan and decided your clan was more important. In truth, I can understand that... Our acquaintance had not reached such a profound depth. Although I am displeased, that is not what truly infuriates me."

Sisi blinked in confusion. "Then what is it?"

Zhao Changhe kept his face stern. "I gave my word as your guarantor. Chief Tang allowed you into the mausoleum solely on my account. Your plotting made me lose immense face before her; I was utterly humiliated. That is what constitutes a true backstab."

Sisi stared at him blankly for a long time. Though she knew it was entirely inappropriate, she could not suppress a sudden laugh. "Is your anger not because I forced you to bear the responsibility, but simply because you lost face?"

Zhao Changhe scowled and remained silent.

"It is only right that you are angry about that. I thought you were furious because I plotted against Tang Wanzhuang." Sisi sniffed, lowering her voice. "I have no friendship with Tang Wanzhuang. Whether I contest with her for a treasure or plot against her for your amusement, what does it matter? If you are angry and wish to strike me yourself, I accept it. But if you trouble me on her behalf, I refuse to submit. Who is she to me? Why should I not plot against her..."

Zhao Changhe did not know whether to laugh or cry.

This was a fundamental difference in their moral frameworks. This girl had never believed that plotting against others was a crime. Whether it was the Sect of Thieves, the Maitreya Cult, an unfamiliar maid servant, or now Tang Wanzhuang—so long as she did not consider them one of her own, Sisi simply did not care.

She claimed to be a wicked woman, but in her heart, she did not truly believe it; she thought her behavior was entirely natural... It was only because she had gathered from Zhao Changhe's stories that he viewed such deeds as the work of a villain that she adopted the label.

She was no Ah-Zhu; she was a thoroughbred Ah-Zi.

"Then if you were the one plotted against by another, would you also consider it entirely natural?"

"Of course. If I am tricked, it is because I am foolish or lacking in skill. What ground is there to resent others?"

"Then when Chief Tang captured you and forced a mouthful of aphrodisiac down your throat so you would couple with me, you also found that entirely natural, correct?"

Sisi fell silent. After a long pause, she spoke: "The victor claims the crown, while the vanquished tastes defeat. I plotted to afflict her with the venereal poison, and she repaid me in kind. She likely deems it a matter of course. Had any other man been standing here, he would have amused himself with me for hours. Why do you view this as some sort of unpermissible rape... You are all people of Xia, yet your notions of good and evil differ so wildly. To think you are trying to lecture and reform me simply because an outsider's thoughts diverge from yours—it is truly strange."

Zhao Changhe was dumbfounded. "So that display of intense poisoning and seductive behavior earlier... you were merely accommodating me so we could get it over with quickly?"

Sisi turned her head slightly and mumbled, "I don't know why I was so foolish this time, muddling through these chaotic schemes and neglecting the consequences. I truly got what I deserved. In any case, since she demanded I pay with my body, I found it quite reasonable. Your own poison hasn't cleared yet. If you want to take me, do it quickly. If you can find it in yourself to release me afterward out of regard for the fact that I never intended to harm you, I will be deeply grateful."

She had just been drenched with water; her face was still wet, her hair disheveled, and droplets ran down her chin to splash upon her chest, leaving a large, damp stain. Such a spectacle, paired with those words, was enough to ignite a fire in any man's heart and send a flush of heat through his veins, entirely independent of any drug.

Zhao Changhe's throat visibly tightened as he swallowed. He stepped forward slowly and reached his hand into her robes.

Believing the act was about to begin, Sisi's eyelashes trembled slightly. Though filled with a touch of reluctance, she ultimately closed her eyes in submission.

His hand slid into her garments, and along the way, he unceremoniously gave her breast a firm squeeze. Sisi's face flushed a deep crimson, and she could not help but let out a soft groan.

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe recalled the time she had disguised herself as Yue Hongling; Yue Hongling had touched her in a similar fashion, and she had elicited a comparable reaction.

In an instant, his desire evaporated. He retrieved the Sword Seal from her person and stepped back, abandoning the game entirely.

Sisi opened her eyes in astonishment.

Zhao Changhe said, "As I stated before, I am angry, but not to that extreme... A punishment and a lesson are mandatory. Confiscating the Sword Seal is already an unbearable penalty for you, and for me, that lesson is sufficient."

Sisi asked in surprise, "Then what of Tang Wanzhuang? She was so enraged."

"Do you truly believe her vision is as narrow as yours? Since she granted me the authority to decide, she will support whatever choice I make. That is true magnanimity." Zhao Changhe tossed the Sword Seal lightly in his hand and murmured, "In truth, I know exactly what course of action would earn her greatest admiration—the very conduct expected of the identity she wishes to see... Initially, I wasn't particularly inclined to perform it..."

Sisi found herself entirely unable to follow his train of thought. She silently lamented that while she considered herself clever, she was apparently far inferior to him; at the very least, she had failed to match his reasoning during the investigations in Yangzhou and Gusu...

Thinking of this, her head drooped in a fit of dejection. "In any case, I have nothing left. What more can I do?"

"...Is your chastity not still intact? The Sword Seal never belonged to you in the first place. When all is said and done, you have lost nothing, yet you stand there acting aggrieved?" Zhao Changhe's expression turned cold. "Speaking of which, I am displeased once more. I must make you do something."

Had she not been bound, Sisi would have gladly slapped herself across the face.

Zhao Changhe spoke: "The Sword Seal must be surrendered to the Great Xia. However, if you allow me to study it for a few days, I can extract a complete compendium of the Sword Emperor's techniques for you to take back. Would that not fulfill your original purpose?"

Sisi was stunned, scarcely able to credit her own ears. "You... you are still willing to give it to me?"

"Indeed. But this time, it is an exchange. I will grant you the sword styles, and in return, you shall provide Chief Tang with the ancient records, historical chronicles, and secret lores of the Ancient Ling Clan, as well as your knowledge of the mausoleum's layouts and restrictions... Furthermore, you will establish a clandestine trade relationship with the Demon Suppression Bureau, supplying the unique products of the Ancient Ling Clan. If your venomous arts and the like can be bartered, they shall be included. In exchange, the Demon Suppression Bureau will provide you with Central Plains martial arts and local specialties, sparing you from the need to resort to theft and deception."

Sisi's eyes grew wider and wider.

It was true. If the identity corresponding to the Dragon Sparrow held weight, this was precisely the conduct Tang Wanzhuang most desired from him.

Whatever grievances, deceptions, or offenses had occurred were entirely negligible in Tang Wanzhuang's heart when compared to this grand design.

A sudden thought struck Sisi: whether during their actions within the mausoleum or in the present moment, these two had never actually communicated their intent, yet they seemed to know exactly what the other planned to do and what was expected of them. Their unspoken accord was astonishing... She had once believed that he and Yue Hongling were a match ordained by heaven, but now it appeared that Tang Wanzhuang was equally well-suited to him. Yet, they were two entirely different archetypes of women...

Zhao Changhe was saying, "I do not know what manner of upbringing or education you received in your homeland. As a princess eligible for succession seeking the advancement of her clan, this is the mode of thinking you ought to possess, rather than wandering abroad to steal, plunder, and deceive."

Sisi muttered haltingly, "B-Because it was impossible to establish trust. To reveal the secrets of the Ancient Ling Clan... Wait, how did you know I belong to the Ancient Ling Clan?"

"...Never mind that."

Sisi watched him suspiciously for a long moment before continuing, "Revealing the affairs of the clan might well invite calamity. How could I lightly enter into such an arrangement with others? But now... if it is you..."

Zhao Changhe's face was expressionless: "You trust me? Well, thank you very much. But now I dare not trust you. What if you take the sword technique and hide back in the Gulin tribe, never to emerge again? Wouldn't I be the fool? Once bitten by a backstab is enough."

Sisi's gaze toward him held a trace of sorrow, yet she finally sighed: "You're right. So what kind of restriction will you place on me?"

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and almost simultaneously the control method of the Blissful Art came to mind—if there were ever a cycle of cause and effect, this might be where fate weaves its thread.

But the second time falters, the third time fails; by now Zhao Changhe had long lost any such thought, and even the poison had been completely cleansed...

He pressed his lips together, then finally stood up: "Let's go. With my meager cultivation, what kind of formidable restriction could I impose? Leave this matter to Head Tang."