38 To Believe or Not to Believe

Should she say it or not?

Chu Yu stared at Rong Zhi without blinking.

His facial features were impeccably beautiful and refined. His eyes were pitch black. The blackness of his pupils was like the abyss of the end of the universe, giving one an illusion of being sucked in if one were to stare into them for a while. The bridge of his nose was straight while the tip was somewhat soft. Not only was his skin snowy white, but it was also smooth, warm and exquisite, just like a slab of jade. 

The two pairs of eyes stared into each other. Under such close proximity, they could surely read each other's expressions and gauge their feelings. The sharply contrasting black and white of his eyes reflected the sincerity flowing deep within his words. His eyes echoed his whispers. "Believe me."

Chu Yu looked intently at him. The derision in her eyes gradually transformed into ridicule. Believe him? She obviously did not. Not even a single word of it.

Princess Shanyin would have granted people varying degrees of trust and believed certain people. However, the Chu Yu from a thousand years later would not. 

She believed no one upon arriving here. She maintained strict vigilance and carefully guarded her secret. On the premise of protecting herself, she investigated her surroundings and pondered the direction to take going forth.

Despite her uncertainty, she refused to feel grief or dejection because of this.

The truth of her origins was her ultimate secret. Perhaps, after telling Rong Zhi, he would then cooperate with her. However, there was also the possibility of him using this to push her towards eternal damnation.

Chu Yu was not overly skeptical, but she found it hard to believe. What could Rong Zhi have that was worth for her to reveal her ultimate secret, to throw caution to the wind, and believe him?

Rong Zhi arched his eyebrows in a grandiose demeanor like wings aflutter. "Don't want to say anything? Fine, even if you don't say anything, I have evidence."

The intensity of the disdain in Chu Yu's eyes heightened a notch. Evidence? What evidence? Could he also have the ability to read my thoughts?

In her heart, her intuition told her that he would not hurt her. She knew that he lacked authority within the Princess's Imperial Residence. Furthermore, there was clearly no killing intent in his eyes. In fact, if he wanted to kill her, he had many chances to do so, and he would have done it more covertly without a trace. He would not use violence like this in the Apricot Forest under broad daylight. 

Even though he was aggressive, his method was as gentle as before. When he pinned her to the ground, he also let his own body fall backward first to brace the impact of hitting the ground. Then, he turned his body to hold her down.

Nevertheless, Rong Zhi's next move made Chu Yu unable to stop the sudden impulse of her whole body turning stiff. He lowered his head, parted his lips and used his teeth to lightly snag her collar, slowly tugging it sideways.

An extreme bout of goosebumps ran across her whole body as if in rampant protest. Chu Yu was unable to contain her body's instinctive reaction of fear. She felt like even the deepest part of her bones was quivering with the faint sting of mortification.

He was undressing her!

Even though her identity at this moment was that of Princess Shanyin, the experiences from her past life had shaped her character. She was not inclined towards self-indulgence, thus she saw no need in male companions. Furthermore, dismissing them avoided trouble. 

Chu Yu and Princess Shanyin had differing values. Chu Yu was ironically more conservative and traditional than Princess Shanyin of the olden times. She upheld the belief that a couple should be harmonious and hold eternal resonance for each other. 

She also advocated respect and equality. The level of intimacy of Rong Zhi's behavior already surpassed what she could accept.

The reason why Rong Zhi had used his teeth was purely that both of his hands were occupied, so he had no other choice. Chu Yu also knew this, but she kept telling herself not to care while she made a great effort to stifle her reflexes and tried to not allow her body to become too rigid. At the same time, she also filled her mind with other thoughts to keep her distracted. 

Just now, Rong Zhi said 'four years ago'. Judging from his appearance now, he looks merely seventeen to eighteen years old. Four years ago, he would've only been thirteen to fourteen years old. Could Princess Shanyin have already taken fancy to him at such a tender age? Or did she wrongly estimate his actual age?

Rong Zhi still continued using his teeth and managed to slowly pull open the lapel of one side of Chu Yu's outer jacket. After that, he raised his head slightly and softly puffed out a breath, then subsequently sank again to continue tugging her inner clothing with his teeth ever so precisely. She had now lost her outer layer of clothing, and the warmth of his breath caressed the skin on her neck. Chu Yu opened her eyes wide and stared motionlessly at the sky, acting like a dead fish. 

Rong Zhi caught a glimpse of the solemn martyr expression on Chu Yu's face, almost as if she were preparing to die for a righteous cause. He could not help but grin. "Which clan sent you over? Before coming here, didn't you know what the Princess is usually fond of? Can't you even endure this small episode?" He had already labeled Chu Yu as a spy sent over from another area, but he was rather curious about how she managed to switch the real Princess under the guarded surveillance of the Princess's Imperial Residence. 

Eventually, several layers of clothing were pulled open on one side, revealing Chu Yu's naked shoulder. Rong Zhi blew out a light breath while his gaze naturally fell below her collarbone. 

Then, he froze as his eyes were fixated on something.

Below her collarbone, there was a small red speck. Its color was as bright as cinnabar(1), and together with Chu Yu's expression, seemed to be mocking him.

Rong Zhi revealed an expression of deep thought before he then released the hand that was holding Chu Yu's lower jaw captive. He ran a finger across that red speck although what he was staring at did not disappear.

At this moment, the weight in Chu Yu's heart finally eased and was set at rest. She then twitched her mouth as she thought about what evidence could Rong Zhi have. It turned out that he was searching for physical traits. He absolutely would never have guessed that this body was precisely the one that belonged to Princess Shanyin. But what did she actually have below her collarbone? How come she herself had never noticed it? She guessed she must have accidentally overlooked it! 

The instant that Rong Zhi relaxed his hold on Chu Yu, she hastily turned her head and screamed out, "Yue Jiefei!" Can't you come in any sooner?!

Was it not a bit too quiet in the forest? Yue Jiefei, who had walked a few steps further away, was still steadfastly keeping on guard. After a while, he could not help but feel somewhat suspicious. Just when he was hesitating whether to go back and take a look, he suddenly heard Chu Yu's raised voice. Immediately, without any qualms about it, he swiftly leaped and rushed towards the inner forest.

When Yue Jiefei chanced upon the duo in the forest, the circumstances they were in rendered him dumbfounded. He rubbed his eyes emphatically to make sure there was nothing wrong with his eyesight. As far as he knew, in the past, it had always been the Princess taking the initiative to throw herself on Rong Zhi. How could Rong Zhi be weighing the Princess down? Could it be that as her dominance became rampant, Rong Zhi had already gotten used to it, then along the way, Rong Zhi also came to counter by throwing himself onto the Princess?

Watching Yue Jiefei obviously being plagued by doubts, which were also mirrored in his eyes, Chu Yu was filled with indignation. 

What kind of expression is he having? What's the meaning of that expression? It's as if he wants to eat me up!

She shouted again, "Yue Jiefei what are you still doing gawking over there? Hurry! Come and rescue me!"

Upon hearing her urges, as if awakening from a dream, Yue Jiefei hastened his pace and quickly stepped forward.

Author's Note:

Cinnabar is a natural crystal-like ore that is bright scarlet to brick-red in color.