Thinking of this, that intoxicated desire immediately disappeared. The thought that she might have shown this side of herself to another man sent towering fury surging through his mind.

Seeing the desire in Chu Li’s eyes recede, Qing Xia knew the time had come. While he hadn’t yet gotten up from the bed and had lost all vigilance, she suddenly exerted force with both hands and grabbed Chu Li’s wrists from behind. The belt that had just been removed appeared in her hands like magic, and a simple knot commonly used by special forces was instantly tightened.

The movements were fluid, her skills agile. In just an instant, she had subdued this leopard that was about to pounce and devour!

“You!” Chu Li finally reacted and shouted angrily.

“How about it? Hit me then!” Qing Xia leaned her head over, smiling as she spoke, extremely proud of herself. “Or why don’t you call for people? Let your subordinates all see what their wise and mighty Crown Prince looks like tied up by his own consort. Maybe they’ll even suspect you have some special preferences. Ha!”

The more Qing Xia spoke, the happier she became, and by the end she couldn’t help but laugh with joy.

Chu Li lay on the bed, struggling with force twice, but finding it impossible to break free, he stopped wasting energy. He looked sideways at this woman who had successfully toyed with him again, his eyes blazing with fury as he said in a deep voice: “Aren’t you afraid I’ll depose you and confiscate your entire family’s property?”

“Go ahead and depose me—I’d be delighted! As for confiscating my family’s property, wait until tomorrow. I’m very sleepy now and need to sleep.” While speaking, she yawned widely. Qing Xia lazily stretched, then seeing Chu Li lying on the bed with his hands bound, couldn’t help but smile again. After being here so long, this was the first time she felt so happy.

It must be because Qi An’s matter was already resolved. Now she was just waiting for Zhuang Dianru to return safely, then she could leave. Having set aside her worries, she could be this relaxed. She rarely joked around with Chu Li like this.

Actually, she was originally a woman in her twenties. Having entered Zhuang Qingxia’s body, she appeared to be only eighteen on the surface—even younger. Her nature was lively, but previously she had been constrained by her identity, which made her so tense and cold. Unlike many modern people, she didn’t have a sense of rejection toward the imperial palace. The main reason was that this place couldn’t confine her, so naturally there was no talk of being caged. She simply treated this as a vacation to enjoy—with food and drink, and people to serve her. She had never lived so comfortably in her entire life. So her desire to leave wasn’t particularly strong either. She figured when she got bored, it wouldn’t be too late to leave then.

When in a good mood, do good deeds. Qing Xia jumped down from the bed and removed Chu Li’s boots, armor, and crown ornament, leaving him in just a cotton robe. She pulled over a quilt to cover him and finally gave him a gentle pat, smiling: “There, now you can sleep.”

Chu Li watched her rarely cheerful jumping up and down, undressing him and tucking him in. The fury in his heart subsided slightly, but his face still wore an annoyed expression as he said coldly: “Untie me, and I can forgive your crime of great disrespect.”

“Ridiculous!” Qing Xia looked at him disdainfully, curling her lip as she said: “Trying to condemn me while in my hands—such a stubborn temper that can’t recognize reality will cause trouble sooner or later.”

Having said this, she lay down beside him. Her black hair covered half her face, long eyelashes veiled her eyes, and her cherry lips said lightly: “I’m very tired today and have no energy to deal with you. Either sleep like this or go to someone else’s palace. This lady isn’t entertaining tonight.”

Chu Li was stunned. Hearing her tone, he was almost bursting with anger. But seeing her chest rise and fall gently after just a moment, she seemed truly very tired. Somehow, he couldn’t bear to call out.

Forget it, he was very tired too anyway.

Chu Li comforted himself this way, closed his eyes, and fell asleep lying on his side with his hands bound, in an extremely awkward position.

Outside the window, the crescent moon was bright and clear, casting white light everywhere.

Waking up with a sore back and shoulders was definitely inevitable!

Chu Li’s face was gloomy as he looked with murderous eyes at Qing Xia, who was smiling wickedly while helping him untie the rope. His lungs nearly exploded with rage.

The Crown Prince of Southern Chu, who could normally make countless heads roll with a single command, only learned today how uncomfortable it was to sleep with hands and feet bound. His shoulders felt like they couldn’t move, and after moving them up and down, he suddenly grabbed Qing Xia’s hand and shouted loudly: “You have such audacity!”

The fury that had been bottled up all night finally erupted at this moment.

Qing Xia looked noncommittally at the angry man, shrugged indifferently, and said lightly: “You only learned today that I’m audacious?”

“Yes!” Chu Li emphasized his tone viciously. “I certainly misjudged you before.”

Since Qing Xia had come to Southern Chu, he didn’t know how many times he had said this sentence. Qing Xia ignored him, broke free from his grasp, and sat contentedly on the floor mat in the center of the bedroom. She tilted her head back to enjoy the bright sunshine streaming through the window and took a deep breath. Her face showed satisfied contentment, feeling that this kind of life was actually quite nice. At least there were no Navy SEALs coming to bomb her hideout with C4 explosives, no FBI from the U.S. Military Intelligence Agency issuing worldwide warrants for her, and no need to worry about what conspiracies the UN peacekeeping forces in Iraq might be secretly plotting, what plans the terrorists in Mumbai were organizing, or what new tricks the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan had pulled off by hijacking someone’s plane.

Life had suddenly become leisurely. No longer did she need to listen to the long-winded speeches of those old men in Division 9, no need to disguise her identity, no need to live like a savage in the jungle, and no more endless special training. Life could actually be quite beautiful.

She wondered how Tang Yu was doing now. Unable to find her, he was probably going crazy. Fortunately, he had completed his studies and she didn’t need to worry about his livelihood. She could consider her mission accomplished.

“Hey! I’m hungry. Are you eating breakfast here?”

Chu Li, who had been left aside and was about to lose his temper, saw Qing Xia suddenly turn around and ask casually in a very domestic manner.

“Knowing that Your Highness is busy, I won’t keep you. Please do as you wish,” Qing Xia quickly said to herself before Chu Li could answer.

“Who said I’m busy?” he said urgently, as if possessed by a ghost. Seeing Qing Xia’s slightly surprised gaze turn toward him, Chu Li’s face reddened, and he immediately shouted fiercely: “You dare make decisions for me without permission? Are you tired of living?”

Qing Xia glanced sideways at Chu Li, feeling that this man was sometimes ridiculously cute. She stood up and, before he could become angry from embarrassment, opened the door to the inner chamber and said to Xiangju who was waiting outside: “His Highness will have breakfast here. Tell the kitchen to prepare something light, and… just bring it directly to the bedroom.”

Chu Li sat somewhat proudly on the floor mat. The incense burner emanated curling fragrance that smelled very pleasant. He looked at the hourglass timing device and secretly thought that he had to eat anyway, so let those generals at military headquarters wait.

The imperial kitchen was very efficient, and breakfast was quickly brought up. Two young eunuchs first carried in a low nanmu wood table, followed by more than thirty palace maids carrying bowls and dishes.

Qing Xia was dumbfounded at the sight. She had originally wanted to eat in the bedroom to be more convenient and casual, but who knew it would be even more troublesome.

She saw that in the center was a bird’s nest with winter bamboo shoots and fat chicken hot pot of the first grade, five dishes in enamel bowls, four dishes of mixed vegetables, one dish of deer tail sauce, one dish of minced wild chicken, one dish of assorted meat platter, one dish of winter bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat, one dish of steamed fat chicken and roasted dog meat platter, one dish of deer tail and black sheep fork platter, one dish of elephant-eye small steamed buns, one dish of elbow silk rolls, one dish of white flour silk cake and millet flour cake, one dish of snail buns and bean steamed buns, one dish of small dishes in silver sunflower boxes, one dish of small dishes in silver plates, one dish of salted meat, one dish of fermented goose eggs, one dish of rice cakes, three dishes of pastries, one dish of small dishes in silver sunflower boxes, and two dishes of small dishes in gold plates.

Looking at this dazzling array spread across the entire table, Qing Xia’s appetite immediately opened. Back when she worked in intelligence, she often moved in high society circles and was accustomed to the dining habits of nobles from various countries. She just hadn’t expected that Chu Li’s simple breakfast would be so sumptuous. It seemed she had really saved him money these past few days.

Without caring about anything else, she buried her head and ate heartily. Suddenly feeling a sharp gaze pressing toward her from across the table, Qing Xia looked up to see Chu Li moving his neck and shoulders while glaring at her fiercely. Qing Xia naturally knew what this was about and couldn’t help but mutter quietly: “Pampered and spoiled!”

“What did you say?” Chu Li frowned and asked in a deep voice.

“I said you’re pampered and spoiled. Didn’t you hear?”

For some reason, Chu Li had always been calm and composed. Though he was autocratic and domineering, his tolerance was good. But ever since Qing Xia arrived, he could no longer control his temper. This was probably because no woman had ever dared to defy him before. At this moment, seeing Qing Xia’s indifferent attitude toward him, he couldn’t help but feel anger rising in his heart.

After the serving maids placed the last dish, they all withdrew. Chu Li suddenly seemed to remember something and straightened his expression. Glancing sideways at Qing Xia, who was buried in her meal, he suddenly said in a light tone: “Your old lover escaped from the heavenly prison. You didn’t know?”

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

With a “swish,” Qing Xia’s movements suddenly froze, and the silver chopsticks in her hand immediately fell onto the table. Her body began to tremble slowly, as if she were too shocked to control herself. After a long while, her small pointed face slowly lifted up, looking intently at Chu Li with a trembling voice: “You’re lying to me!”

Seeing her like this, Chu Li’s original trace of doubt instantly vanished. Reason flew away from his mind, leaving only overwhelming jealousy and fury. He looked deeply at Qing Xia, wishing he could devour her completely.

“Oh God!” Qing Xia suddenly covered her mouth, tears rolling down in large drops onto the nanmu table. Her lips were almost trembling as she said: “You’re telling the truth? He really escaped?”

With a “bang!” Chu Li overturned the table with one sweep. All the food and soup spilled onto the thick carpet. He grabbed a treasured sword from the bedpost and walked toward the door.