Jin Mulan adjusted the final clasp of her wedding dress as Luo He watched from the bench, his expression carrying that particular warmth he reserved only for his wifves and even amongst them specifically her.
"So it's really my good looks that landed me by your side?" He asked, his tone deliberately theatrical. She turned away, unable to meet his eyes without blushing. "Exactly." She said shyly.
He laughed, that low, genuine sound that made her heart skip and settled back onto the bench. "Whatever. So I am your pretty face man after all. Good, good."
She left him there, his eyes closing as she departed, his posture already shifting into that lazy, carefree languor that was so characteristically him.
He looked like a man with nothing on his mind, content to wait, bored even. The perfect picture of a shameless husband with nothing better to do than rest while his wife tended to his needs.
She didn't see the slight tension that remained in his shoulders, the way his ears tracked her footsteps down the corridor, the careful awareness that never truly left him even in apparent rest.
The washroom was private and cool, a blessed respite from the heat and noise of the wedding. Jin Mulan took her time, enjoying the rare moment of solitude.
The stone walls seemed to hold the day's warmth, and she closed her eyes, as she emptied her bladder, allowing herself to simply exist without performance. It was in that moment of peace that she felt it.
A presence. Sudden. Terrifying. As if someone was watching her. She quickly finished what she came to do and left calmly. Then she felt the presence behind her.
She spun instantly, her body shifting into a defensive stance born from years of martial training.
Behind her stood a man she recognized from the banquet. The Flame Kingdom's official envoy. But what stopped her breath wasn't his presence alone, she was confident that she could break his nose if he tried anything wreck less.
It was the two divine-level cultivators flanking him like pillars of suppressed power was what truly made her feel terrible.
"Even a regular emperor has only one or maybe two Transcendent-level guards at most." Jin Mulan's mind calculated with cold precision.
"But this man, just an envoy, not even royal blood but carries two Divine-level powerhouses as body guards." The disparity was obscene.
It was a display of wealth and power that should have been impossible for anyone below imperial rank. The man smiled at her recognition, and she saw something predatory crystallize in his eyes.
"Darling Mulan," he said smoothly. "How fortunate to find you alone." Before she could respond, before she could even fully process the threat, one of the divine cultivators stepped forward.
His aura released like a physical force. It wasn't a wave or a blast. This was something far more comprehensive. A suffocating weight that descended upon her entire body.
This kept on pressing down from all sides. Jin Mulan's breathing caught. Her muscles, which had responded instantly moments before, suddenly refused to obey.
It wasn't freezing or numbing. It was worse. Her mind was still present, still aware, still screaming commands to her body. But her body simply... wouldn't listen.
The connection between consciousness and flesh had been severed by sheer force of will. Her cultivation, that reservoir of power she'd spent years cultivating, suddenly felt distant and inaccessible.
It was present but unreachable, like trying to grab something just beyond fingertips in murky water. Only her eyes could move, darting desperately from side to side, seeking escape, yet finding none.
"This is what Divine realm truly feels like." The thought crystallized in her mind with absolute horror. "This is the difference between Grandmaster and Divine."
She'd been so certain, so confident in her own power. Luo He had casually spoken of Divine cultivators in dismissive tones. The First Princess of the Yue Kingdom specially.
She's also a Divine-level powerhouse who was openly celebrated throughout the realm? And Luo He had actually mocked her. "She's just a Divine-level rank one." He'd said.
"Low-level golden bloodline. Nothing significant." And Jin Mulan, trusting her husband's assessment implicitly, had internalized that hierarchy.
Because to Jin Mulan Luo He was everything including heaven and earth. To her, he was the most smartest, wisest and most handsome mas in the entire known world.
Divine cultivators couldn't be that much stronger than Transcendent-level fighters. Surely the gap was totally manageable, survivable, defeatable with enough skill.
She'd been catastrophically wrong. The envoy, Prince Lian Luo, stepped closer. His hand reached out and tilted her chin upward with casual possessiveness.
Prince Lian Luo was not a member of the imperial Luo family. His family name was Lian, while Luo was the personal name bestowed upon him.
His father, Lian Zheng, had served the Flame Kingdom with unwavering loyalty since the reign of Luo He's grandfather.
A capable and incorruptible minister.
He had devoted decades of his life to the imperial court, earning the complete trust of the Luo dynasty through distinguished service.
In recognition of those merits, Luo He's grandfather personally granted the Lian family elder a non-royal princely title. From the day of Lian Zheng's departure, his eldest son became known as Prince Lian Luo.
The title carried immense prestige and influence, but it did not make him a member of the imperial bloodline. It was an honor bestowed by the throne upon a loyal servant, not a right inherited through blood.
To outsiders, Prince Lian Luo was the image of a perfect court noble, a courteous official, an accomplished administrator, and a deeply trusted representative of the Flame Kingdom.
His reputation within the imperial court was impeccable, and few dared question a man who possessed both the emperor's favor and the protection of a powerful family.
Yet beneath that polished exterior lurked a man of monstrous character. Behind closed doors, he preyed upon women who lacked the power to resist him.
His authority, wealth, and political connections ensured that accusations vanished before they could reach the court.
Those who suffered remained silent out of fear, while those who dared to speak found their voices buried beneath the influence of a man whose public reputation remained untarnished.
To the world, he was a loyal prince honored by the Luo dynasty. Only his victims knew the monster hidden behind that title.
"I would so enjoy tasting you tonight." He whispered directly into her ear, his breath hot and foul against her skin. "In my bed beneath me, it would feel very good to have myself inside you."
He drooled slightly at the thought, actual saliva escaping his lips. Jin Mulan's eyes moved frantically, the only part of her body still under her control.
She tried desperately to project the maximum amount of resistance through that single channel, pushing every ounce of defiance into her gaze.
Lian Luo noticed and laughed. A wicked, evil sound that echoed in the entire washroom's stone chamber. "Don't you dare tell anyone that this happened." He said, his voice dropping to something almost intimate.
It was the tone of a man who'd said these words before, who knew exactly how to weaponize them. "If you even think of telling anyone, your entire family will die.
I will make absolutely certain of that."
His hand moved down, and Jin Mulan felt genuine terror spike through her as his fingers found the curve of her breast through her dress. He squeezed, testing the weight of her, claiming her with his unrestrained touch.
"I already have people inside your mansion." He said conversationally. "Men loyal to me. Waiting for my word. Just one command from me, and your entire family will be slaughtered. Your mansion will burn to ash. Your parents will die screaming."
Jin Mulan's mind raced through images of her family, her child. "Your child," Lian Luo said, as though reading her thought. "Imagine your little one. How do you think they would feel being barbecued alive?"
"How would it feel to watch their skin blacken, to hear their screams." The horror the powerlessness were too complete. Jin Mulan felt tears spill from her eyes.
They then ran down her cheeks. Her entire body shook with frustrated rage and terror, but she remained paralyzed, frozen, unable to do anything but weep.