TSFLIP Chapter 884

People of the royal family—there wasn’t a single one of them who didn’t know how to talk their way around things.

No… that wasn’t quite right. Baili Mo was one exception—he really didn’t know how to speak at all.

Thinking of Baili Mo, Fengguang had a rare pang of conscience. She was about to look for Baili Shu and have someone sent to find Baili Mo, but Bingqing spoke up again, cutting her off.

“Fourth Prince, you’d better think this through. If you lay a hand on me, it’s the same as making an enemy of that lord.”

That lord?

Fengguang immediately thought of Song Wuxia.

Baili Shu smiled faintly. “So what if I touch you? Do you think I’m afraid of him? Hmph. Everyone else is scared of Song Wuxia, but I’m not. On the contrary, nothing makes me happier than seeing him unhappy.”

Just how deep was this grudge?

Fengguang nudged Baili Shu with her elbow. “Look… if she’s not willing to let you paint her, why not just let her go?”

“No!” Baili Shu snapped petulantly, like a child throwing a tantrum. “If anyone else didn’t want to pose for me, I wouldn’t care. But this woman is someone Song Wuxia protects. That means she matters to him—maybe she’s even someone he likes!”

“So what if she is…”

“I’m going to paint her portrait and display it all across the country. I’m going to anger Song Wuxia to death!”

That was vicious beyond belief.

Behind her veil, Bingqing’s face finally drained of color.

Fengguang twitched at the corner of her mouth. “Just how big of a grudge do you have against Song Wuxia?”

“Royal Sister-in-law, have you forgotten?” Baili Shu said bitterly. “From the time I was four years old and put under Song Wuxia’s discipline, he punished me every single day—copying texts, doing hard labor. Which palace doesn’t have servants? Yet he insisted I boil water, chop firewood, and cook meals myself!” The more he spoke, the more aggrieved he became. “And even worse, he forced me to eat the food I cooked myself! He went too far! I swore long ago that I’d be his mortal enemy!”

Fengguang fell silent for a long time. Judging by Baili Shu’s account, Song Wuxia truly was his sworn enemy.

Baili Shu turned his gaze back to Bingqing. “If I can’t catch Song Wuxia, then catching you works just as well. Guards—prepare the brushes and ink!”

“N–no… wait.” Fengguang hurriedly stopped him. “Why don’t you think about this again? There’s a saying—misfortune shouldn’t extend to one’s family. Your feud is with Song Wuxia; you shouldn’t drag other people into it. Do you realize that if you plaster that kind of portrait of her all over the country, she’ll have no way left to live?”

“Royal Sister-in-law.” Baili Shu’s face was expressionless as he asked a very reasonable question. “Whether she can live or not—what does that have to do with me?”

“This… this…” Fengguang found herself completely unable to refute him.

Baili Shu raised his hand and gave the order. “Strip her clothes off!”

Bingqing clutched her collar tightly. “If you dare touch me, I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself on the spot!”

“Don’t, don’t, don’t!” Fengguang quickly stepped between Baili Shu and Bingqing. “Let’s talk this out calmly—no one do anything rash.”

“Royal Sister-in-law! Move aside!” What courtesy? What composed youth? Whenever things didn’t go his way, Baili Shu flew into a rage.

Fengguang turned back to him and said, “Since she doesn’t have the spirit to sacrifice herself for art, let’s not force the issue.”

It was precisely while Fengguang had her back turned that Bingqing’s eyes suddenly changed. She yanked the hairpin from her head, stepped forward, and pressed it against Fengguang’s neck.

“Baili Shu—if you dare touch me, I’ll die together with her!”

Baili Shu shouted, “How dare you! Let go of my royal sister-in-law!”

Bingqing lowered her voice and whispered into Fengguang’s ear, “Miss, this is the only way I can protect myself. I have no choice but to wrong you for the moment.”

Fengguang: “…”

The standoff continued when, suddenly, a gust of night wind rose.

No one knew when the man in white had appeared. The calm detachment he usually carried was gone. His eyes were dark with menace as he spoke in a hoarse, chilling voice:

“Let her go.”

Everyone froze.

Because the killing intent rolling off him in that instant swept through the space like a storm, making it hard for everyone present to even breathe.