Chapter 535 - 538: A Woman’s Body
Only when the real Miss Nan Jia was led in did the princely heirs have no choice but to believe that the beautiful girl they had been relentlessly flirting with was, in fact, an imposter.
The one who had the strongest reaction was Li Yu.
He was as if struck by lightning, frozen on the spot for a long while, unable to process what had happened.
He never could have imagined that the beautiful "girl" he had taken a fancy to was actually a man!
He had just been hugging and holding him, and had even wanted to do... *things* with him.
His entire worldview had been shattered. His world was collapsing!
...
「An hour later.」
Hua Manman and the other six princely heirs found themselves in the cells of the Jingzhao Mansion.
The charge: soliciting prostitutes in public.
Hua Manman felt wronged. "I was the one being solicited, so why am I locked up too?"
Hearing this from the next cell, Li Yu felt even more suffocated.
The mere thought that he had harbored such desires for a man made him wish he could turn back time and strangle his past, blind self!
His humiliation turning to rage, he shot to his feet, gripped the bars of his cell door, and cursed at Hua Manman in the next cell over.
"You’re a grown man, so why are you dressing up as a woman? Aren’t you disgusting?!"
Hua Manman felt even more aggrieved.
"It’s my business if I like to dress as a woman. I never planned on using it to get anything.
You were the one who wouldn’t let me go. What does it have to do with me that you were blinded by lust?"
Li Yu roared in a fit of pique.
"How the hell was I supposed to know you were a man? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have even given you a second fucking glance!"
Hua Manman pursed her lips. "As if I wanted to give you a second glance."
Stung by the retort, Li Yu flew into a rage, grabbing the bars and howling.
"You just wait! When I get out of here, I’ll kill you!"
Hua Manman got angry too and readily shot back.
"Fine by me. We’ll find a place and have a go at it once we’re out."
’If that damn idiot next door hadn’t stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, I would’ve escaped long ago. I wouldn’t be in this mess.’
’It was magnanimous of me not to go looking for trouble with him.’
’And now he has the nerve to provoke me?’
’He must have a death wish.’
Hearing the two argue, the five other princely heirs in their cells, who loved nothing more than a good show, started to jeer and egg them on.
"It’s a deal, then! Don’t you dare back out!"
"We can even set up a betting pool for fun."
"Yu, don’t say I don’t have your back. I’ll put all my money on you to win!"
"Obviously! Everyone’s going to bet on Yu to win! Just look at the Heir of Prince Yu’s scrawny arms and legs. Yu will probably knock him flat in less than three moves."
"Three moves? I think one move will be more than enough!"
The crowd erupted in laughter.
Hearing his friends’ laughter, the resentment in Li Yu’s heart finally subsided a little.
He gloated and hurled threats at the person in the next cell.
"You hear that? I could kill you with a flick of my finger. You’d better wash your neck and wait for death!"
Hua Manman made a face at the neighboring cell and taunted him.
"All talk and no action. Come on, kill me now! Blehhh~"
Li Yu’s temper flared up again in an instant.
He grabbed the cell bars and shook them violently. "You’re asking for it, you brat!"
The others continued to fan the flames, wishing the two would start fighting right then and there.
For a moment, the prison was incredibly noisy.
Just then, the Regent King walked in.
The moment they saw him, everyone went silent, like roosters with their necks wrung, swallowing every sound.
Li Ji walked past cell after cell, his gaze dark and somber.
"You still have the energy to argue? It seems simple detention isn’t enough to make you truly understand your mistakes."
Anyone his gaze fell upon couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their spine and shrink back in fear.
Finally, Li Ji stopped in front of Hua Manman’s cell.
The prison guard following behind him immediately stepped forward and quickly unlocked the door.
Li Ji walked in slowly.
He looked down at Hua Manman, who was squatting on the floor, and said icily.
"You said you were going to buy oranges. We were waiting for you to come back, but you never did."
As he finished, he let out a low chuckle.
The sound was thick with mockery.
Guilt-ridden, Hua Manman lowered her head and mumbled softly.
"I’m sorry."
Li Ji: "Gou Dan kept asking me, when are you coming back? Why aren’t you back yet? What do you want me to tell him? Should I tell him that he’s been deceived again?"
Hua Manman was overcome with guilt.
At the time, she was only thinking of getting away and hadn’t considered how much her lie would hurt Li Xun.
"I’ll go and apologize to him."
Li Ji’s voice was devoid of any emotion.
"Will an apology be of any use?"
Hua Manman pressed her lips together. Besides apologizing, she didn’t know what else she could do.
Li Ji slowly squatted down.
The luxurious fabric of his robes brushed against the floor, picking up dust.
He paid it no mind, his gaze locked firmly on Hua Manman.
"Not every problem in this world can be solved with a simple ’I’m sorry.’ And ’I’m sorry’ is not what we need."
Hua Manman asked haltingly, "Then what do you need?"
Li Ji raised his hand, his long fingers brushing against her cheek, leaving a cool sensation.
"What we want is honesty. Trust."
The two were now at eye level.
This signified that Li Ji was not using his status as the Regent King to intimidate her, but was speaking to her as an equal.
Li Ji gazed at the woman before him.
’This is the last chance I’m giving her.’
’If she is still unwilling to be honest this time, I’ll have no choice but to use forceful means and take her back to be locked up.’
’I can accept her amnesia. I can tolerate her little schemes.’
’But I cannot bear for her to leave again.’
’Gou Dan and I have waited too long. We can’t endure the pain of losing her one more time.’
Hua Manman felt as if something had gently touched her heart, a feeling both familiar and strange.
She clearly hadn’t known the man before her for very long. He had even snuck into her room in the middle of the night and attacked her.
Logically, she should be wary of him.
But at this moment, she felt an impulse, a strong desire to reveal all the secrets hidden in her heart.
Hua Manman fidgeted with her fingers, forcing herself to calm down.
She knew that if she didn’t provide a reasonable explanation today, he would not let the matter rest.
She asked in a low voice.
"What do you want to know?"
Li Ji: "Why did you run away?"
Hua Manman glanced toward the cell door and said nothing.
Li Ji knew she was afraid the walls had ears.
He ordered that all six princely heirs in the other cells be sent to repair roads—in other words, to perform labor reform.
Before the six of them could even beg for mercy, they were dragged away by the prison guards.
The prison soon fell silent.
Li Ji: "It’s just the two of us now. You can say whatever you want."
Hua Manman took a deep breath.
"I’m actually..."
Li Ji watched her intently, quietly waiting for her to continue.
Hua Manman gathered her courage for a long time before finally finishing her sentence.
"...a woman."