A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go

Suddenly, she was lifted up and placed on the daybed.

Her back sank into the soft brocade quilt, and Mei Wanying’s face went deathly pale.

"Your Highness, what kind of woman can’t you have? Why must you torment me like this? If word of this gets out, how will the court censors impeach you? Will the neutral factions turn to Pei Yan because of this?"

Mei Wanying tried to reason with him.

’Aren’t his life-and-death struggles with Pei Yan all just to secure his position as the Crown Prince?’

’Her father is a man of great merit. If the daughter of such a man suffers this humiliation, what will the hundreds of officials in the Court think?’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

’What would the people of the realm think!’

"Mei Wanying, you can only blame your own misfortune. Who told you to get involved with Pei Yan? As for everything else, it is not your place to worry for me."

Used as a pawn in their struggle, Mei Wanying felt both innocent and wronged.

Feeling a tug on her outer robes, Mei Wanying instinctively fought back.

SLAP!

The sharp sound of a slap echoed through the air.

The Crown Prince tilted his head, pushing his tongue against the inside of his cheek.

"Mei Wanying, you keep slapping me in the face. Who gave you such audacity?"

Mei Wanying scrambled backward, trying to put distance between herself and the man.

Whether from fear or the effects of the incense, she felt her limbs grow weak. She could barely maintain her grip on the butterfly hairpin she held for self-defense.

In Mei Wanying’s mind, she had expected the Crown Prince to use threats and promises, the carrot and the stick. She never imagined he would resort to this.

"My father is a man of great merit, Your Highness. You cannot treat me this way."

Touching the spot where she had struck him, the man chuckled. "General Mei is indeed a man of great merit. For his sake, I really should let you off the hook."

Savoring the look of hope on Mei Wanying’s face, the Crown Prince’s tone turned vicious. "But you only have yourself to blame. Why did you have to like Pei Yan? I just love taking his things."

"He doesn’t like me. I’m not his," Mei Wanying corrected.

"Anyone he cherishes, I must destroy. Mei Wanying, do you understand?"

’Whether Pei Yan liked her or not was unimportant.’

’But the fact that Mei Wanying liked Pei Yan was an offense to his eyes.’

The more Mei Wanying resisted, the more fiercely his desire for destruction burned.

’When the dust settles and Pei Yan hears the news, I wonder what his reaction will be?’

’His expression should be quite a sight, shouldn’t it?’

The Crown Prince felt a surge of anticipation.

He snatched the butterfly hairpin from Mei Wanying’s hand and threw it to the ground.

Gripping both her hands tightly, he said, "Be a good girl, and the position of Concubine can still be yours."

"Don’t dream of anyone coming to rescue you. My men lured Pei Yan away long ago."

Despair washed over Mei Wanying, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

’Despite all this commotion, the people at the Royal Villa are turning a blind eye. Clearly, the Empress Dowager is on the Crown Prince’s side.’

’No matter how outrageously he behaves, the Empress Dowager will clean up his messes.’

’And her?’

’Was she fated to be a plaything for the Royal Family?’

Even in her past life, when she fell into enemy hands, Mei Wanying had never felt this hopeless. Back then, she had been resolved to die, determined not to put Pei Yan in a difficult position or live on in shame.

But now, she wanted to live.

And she did not want to be forced to go through *that*!

Mei Wanying’s limbs were powerless as a strange sensation spread through her entire body.

Her vacant eyes turned toward the sound of his breathing. "I am not willing," she said.

’Even if he succeeds, I will not submit!’

There was no impurity in those eyes. Though she was blind, the Crown Prince felt as if she could see right through him.

He covered her eyes with his hand.

"So what if you’re not willing? As long as I am pleased, that is all that matters."

He had never been a soft-hearted man. Whatever he wanted, he had to have.

If he could not have his way, he would rather destroy it than let anyone else have it!

Just as he lowered his head to taste those cherry-colored petals, the sound of fighting suddenly erupted from outside.

The Crown Prince froze, his eyelid twitching violently.

’This is the Royal Villa. Who is tired of living and dares to trespass, making such a racket?’

The Crown Prince’s expression darkened.

The name had just surfaced in his mind when the woman trapped on the daybed cried it out.

"Pei Yan!"

"Take me home!"

Mei Wanying screamed with all her might, her voice thick with sobs, her body trembling.

The Crown Prince’s face was taut, but then he suddenly burst into laughter.

"All the better. Let him see with his own eyes what I’m doing to you. He’ll go mad, won’t he?"

A man knows another man best. Even if he didn’t like Mei Wanying, Pei Yan still considered her within his sphere of influence.

Anyone who touched Mei Wanying was provoking Pei Yan.

The Crown Prince grew excited just thinking about it, his blood boiling in his veins. He wanted to make Pei Yan suffer!

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Mei Wanying’s will to survive flared intensely.

Perhaps because he thought the incense had fully taken effect and Mei Wanying could no longer escape, the Crown Prince was caught off guard. In that moment, she broke free of his grasp and swiftly pulled a golden hairpin from her hair.

She stabbed at him viciously.

Mei Wanying did not hesitate in the slightest. She had to buy herself time.

Someone was here to save her. If she didn’t fight for herself now, she’d be nothing but a lost cause!

As for the consequences of harming the Crown Prince, Mei Wanying had already thought it through in that split second.

’The Crown Prince is under confinement. This is the Royal Villa. How could the person I’m injuring possibly be the Crown Prince?’

Being blind, Mei Wanying missed her target, but she bought herself precious time.

The carved wooden door was kicked open.

The room was dark. The first thing he saw was two entangled figures, with Mei Wanying pinned down on the bed.

She was struggling, crying out to him for help.

Pei Yan’s eyes burned with a murderous rage.

He was a man who had clawed his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, yet now, the hand holding his sword was trembling.

’How dare he? How dare he treat Mei Wanying like this?’

’That was Mei Wanying!’

His reason turned to ash as his sword slashed toward the Crown Prince’s neck.

’A single thought screamed in his mind: Kill him!’

’If he died, no one could ever harm Mei Wanying again.’

’Mei Wanying would no longer have to live in fear. She would go back to being her old pampered, innocent self!’

"Your Highness!"

Someone cried out in alarm.

One of the voices belonged to the Crown Prince’s personal Hidden Guard, the other to Wei Jue.

’Now was not the time for a mutually destructive fight. If the Crown Prince died, His Highness would be embroiled in trouble. He might have to pay a far greater price and take a much longer path to reach that throne.’

’His Highness had truly lost his mind!’

The Crown Prince’s Hidden Guard had been meticulously cultivated by the Royal Family. They had fought their way through round after round of brutal culling in the Dark Guard Camp since childhood. Only the last one standing was qualified to serve by the Crown Prince’s side.

His skill in close combat was not to be underestimated, but against Pei Yan, he was ultimately outmatched.

The Hidden Guard took the full force of the sword blow for the Crown Prince.

He was grievously wounded, but he had bought the Crown Prince a chance to live.

The stench of blood filled the air, overpowering the fragrance of the incense.

The Crown Prince felt no panic, no fear. Instead, he grew even more excited.

’So, Pei Yan has come. Good.’

’He had long wanted to cross swords with Pei Yan, rather than continuing this farce of calling each other brother.’

’This was his enemy, even if they shared the same blood.’

’Since he stood in my way, he shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless to my own kin!’

The Crown Prince dragged Mei Wanying up, one hand clamping down on her shoulder, the other seizing her by the throat.

Her neck was long and slender, delicate and fragile, looking as though the slightest pressure could snap it and end her life.

The Crown Prince wore a mocking smile. "Second Brother, didn’t you say you don’t care about this little blind girl? I was just kindly taking her in. What’s the rush?"