BXBX NOVEL Chapter Volume 16 4.4
He Di looked at him, lost in thought. In a deep voice, he summoned Kong Liu. “Kong Liu, bring in some wine!”
The door opened and Kong Liu led in a few attendants. “Your Highness, the wine.”
The beauty on He Di’s side, seeing the wine, kneeled down and prepared to serve the master. Using the passing of the wine from the men to the beauty as a distraction, He Di signaled his most trusted aid, Kong Liu, where Zi Yan would not notice.
Tacitly understanding, Kong Liu bowed and retreated after the transferring of the wine. Nearing Zi Yan, he suddenly shouted,
“To subdue!”
Zi Yan had been completely vigilant but did not expect He Di would be more cunning than a fox. He also did not expect the simple serving of wine would lead to the other side making a move before he could. However, once he heard Kong Liu’s piercing command, he instinctively jumped up and attacked him with a palm strike towards the neck.
Kong Liu was not unfamiliar with hand-to-hand combat. Before Zi Yan’s hand could land on his neck, he had already warded off the strike and ferociously brought his knee towards his opponent’s waist.
Zi Yan quickly dodged, but there were still a few mountains surrounding He Di that were not going to miss out on the fun. Facing the experienced Kong Liu one on one was already exhausting, so defeating 4 other skilled fighters by himself was simply impossible.
He was quickly and ruthlessly thrown down on the soft mat by the strong men. The pressure on the back of his head was especially heavy and half of his face was pushed onto the mat, causing him quite a bit of pain. Even the slightest movement was not allowed.
He moved his eyes around and was met with the sight of He Di looking down at him with a pleased expression while laughing detestably.
“Carefully search his body.” He Di said indifferently.
A few hands immediately began to mercilessly grope Zi Yan’s body.
“Your Highness, this man has hidden this on his body.”
Kong Liu held a fish bone-like dagger.
He Di took it, noticed a thin liquid was covering the sharp edges of the blade, and sniffed it. He raised his eyebrows and laughed.
“The Emissary seems like an upright person, yet he actually uses poison.”
Hearing that the dagger was coated with poison, He Di’s men detested Zi Yan’s bold act. The one holding down his shoulder suddenly held it with more force, the one subduing his hands held them down tighter, and the one forcing his head on the mat put more strength into it. They all quickly became more ruthless.
Zi Yan frowned in pain after being forcefully pressured, but he kept his mouth shut, not uttering a sound.
He Di did not care whether he answered or not and continued to laugh. “Do you think killing me would bring down Dan Lin’s pirates? Even if they are scattered, without the peace treaty, do you think your king and Duke Ming can depend on just their strength to deal with all of them, take over the straits of Dan Lin, and open up a route to the sand? Humph… perhaps they would even exterminate the royal family the same way Duke Ming dealt with Dong Fan… ultimately swallowing up my kingdom.”
Zi Yan, who was under a lot of pressure, was almost suffocating, but hearing He Di’s tone grow more and more somber with a hint of retaliation planned towards Duke Ming, he ignored the uncomfortable pressure against his lungs and spoke as calmly as possible. “Your Highness… this dagger has always been with me every day for my own protection. That is why I keep it close to my body. I had no intention of using it on Your Highness.”
He felt a blow against the back of his head.
“If it is for self-protection, why did you need to smear poison on it?”
“Your Highness should be able to think through it. The establishment of the trade route needs to be completed within a year. Even if Your Highness were to be assassinated, my king and Duke Ming would still have to deal with the pirates and open up a route. There would not be enough time.” Zi Yan continued, “Why would I give up on such a simple and easy way to accomplish the goal in favour of a more difficult method?”
His head bowed down in silence.
He Di seemed to consider more into the matter after hearing his words.
After some time, He Di’s scornful laughter rang throughout the room. “It is late… this Prince is tired… Show the honourable emissary to the guest room so he can rest. Do not neglect him in the slightest, and do not allow him to escape.”
His subordinates tied him up with a coarse rope into the shape of a dumpling and left, taking an unperturbed looking Zi Yan with them.
He Di ordered the beauty to leave the room, leaving only Kong Liu behind.
With everyone’s departure, the room appeared emptier.
The candle lights made He Di’s cold expression look distorted.
“Kong Liu… what do you think of this matter?”
Quietly pondering for a moment, Kong Liu responded, “It is possible that the man was hostile towards Your Highness. However, his expression had remained calm and unperturbed from the very moment he departed from Qing Zhang’s residence all the way here.”
“It is because he was too calm that I doubted him. That dagger… is it really meant to assassinate me or for his own protection?”
Kong Liu frowned and, once again, fell into deep thought.
“There is something that this subordinate did not want to say presumptuously, but since the Prince has already pointed it out then, if the dagger is really for his protection, he would not have smeared it with poison.”
“He intended to commit suicide.”
The moment He Di completed the thought, the temperature within the room seemed to drop down to a freezing point. Since he had been following He Di for a long time, Kong Liu had grown to know how terrifying the man could be. At that moment, the atmosphere in the room was filled with violence.
“Your Highness… that reasoning does not make much sense.”
“How does it not make sense?” He Di’s cold gaze pierced through the candle flames. On his lips appeared an indifferent and cold smile. He was someone that absolutely could not be trifled with. “He accepts my invitation and comes to Qing Li’s residence. However, he unexpectedly dies in an isolated area from a dagger that is poisoned. Not only would I not be able to make trouble for the Xiao Family, I’m afraid I would even have to provide an explanation as to why their emissary was killed while with us. Humph… on that subject, if at that time I doubted Qing Li, then our relationship would be severed. All of that would be incredibly beneficial for Duke Ming, would it not?”
“Because this treaty would also profit me greatly, maybe… he thought I would be willing to accept another emissary?” He Di’s gloomy and dark gaze at that moment could make any person’s heart palpitate in fear. “The man had resigned himself to me because he thought I wanted to humiliate him for the wound he gave me. He believes that his death would make my cooperation with Duke Ming go smoother.”
In a dire tone he concluded, “He was ready to die here.”
Kong Liu finally felt at ease. “Since that is the case, as long as Your Highness can make him understand that Dan Lin will never accept another representative other than him, then the problem will be solved, right?”
“That point, this Prince will properly make him understand. However… looking at his reaction towards that woman just now, he seems to only be obsessed with the sword. He has never indulged himself and has no experience in pleasures of the flesh with neither women nor men.”
Kong Liu’s reaction was not small and in a surprised tone, asked, “He’s a virgin?”
“Correct.”
Kong Liu’s expression turned weird.
The life of a pirate was unpredictable and they had to consider the heavens and the sea. There were certain taboos that could never be violated.
Infringing on pure souls was precisely one of those taboos. Pirates believe that the Sea God has a deep fondness for men or women who have clean bodies and will protect them. Not only that, the Sea God hates those who snatch away their innocence forcefully.
Therefore, even though pirates have no qualms about raping people and plundering their ships, their target would certainly not be an innocent body in order to avoid provoking the wrath of the Sea God and inviting bad luck.
So looking at the situation as a whole, if He Di were to force himself on Zi Yan and happily partake in pleasures of the bed…
“I will never let any woman touch him, and it’s even more impossible for me to allow another man to defile his body first.” He did not wait for Kong Liu to say anything and rejected before he could suggest such a method. “HE’S MINE!”
Kong Liu was stunned for a while before letting out a deep sigh.
“Then, Your Highness will have to follow the old rules in order to win the blessings of the gods.”
“………………”
Recalling the so-called “old rules,” He Di’s naturally unrestrained expression suddenly, and unexpectedly, turned into extreme embarrassment.
Damn!
How could this Prince have ended up encountering the one and only cat in the world who refuses to steal fish?
Not only that… the cat is male!!!