The Prisoner of Beauty

Xiao Qiao slowly raised her eyes to meet his gaze.

He stared at her unblinkingly, his dark brows framing eyes that seemed to gather an undercurrent of turbulent emotion, silently churning.

The room was so quiet that only the sound of their breathing remained.

Perhaps he was holding her too tightly—Xiao Qiao gradually felt her breath grow uneven.

Seeing that he neither released her nor spoke, she finally shifted slightly. "Husband, you...?"

"Manman," Wei Shao began slowly, his words abrupt, "for a long time, I actually wanted to ask Grandmother one thing—why did she insist on arranging for me to marry a daughter of the Qiao family?"

"But later, I gradually stopped wanting to ask. Whatever Grandmother’s thoughts were, they no longer mattered. Now, I am even more grateful to her. If not for her persistence back then, how could I, Wei Shao, ever have been worthy of marrying you in this lifetime, of having you treat me this way?"

Wei Shao loosened his arms and walked to the window, pushing it open. He took a deep breath of the night air that rushed in.

The candlelight flickered in the wind, casting shifting shadows across his face.

Xiao Qiao silently watched him.

"Long ago, I told you that my heart is yours. I did not lie to you. But at the same time, no matter what concessions you made for me, no matter what efforts you put in, in my eyes, they all became something I took for granted."

"Everything stemmed from the fact that your Qiao family once wronged my Wei family, and your marriage to me was the Qiao family seeking reconciliation. So even after I married you, even though I loved you, I never once considered your feelings. If I treated you well, I saw it as my benevolence toward you. If you were grateful and repaid my Wei family, I saw it as only natural..."

He paused briefly.

"Now that I think about it, Wei Shao—what a bastard I’ve been!"

Xiao Qiao remained motionless, her gaze fixed steadily on his face.

"Your tolerance and sacrifices were things I took for granted. I also knew that, because of your family’s debt, no matter how I treated you, you would never leave me. Besides, I always believed I had already given you the best I could. So time and again, I overlooked your feelings, growing accustomed to it."

"After the battle of Shanggu, before I could even catch my breath, my mother died in such an unexpected manner. She had been muddled all her life, hardly a proper matriarch of the Wei family, but to me, she was a loving mother. At the time, I found it hard to accept. Even in her last moments, her heart was filled with selfishness and hatred. When I think about it carefully, how similar I am to her—though my eyes are not blind, my heart has long been consumed by hatred and selfishness. During that time, with the Xiongnu pressing at the borders and Grandmother falling ill, you bore so much hardship alone. Yet I was lost in my own grief, neglecting you once again. Even when I felt guilty, I always told myself that you would understand, that you would support me... until that day, when you stood before Grandmother and announced your intention to return to the Qiao family without a single word to me beforehand."

Wei Shao walked back to her and stopped in front of her.

"Manman, at that moment, I suddenly felt—you were pulling away from me. It seemed as if you wanted to leave. I knew you would still return, but this feeling wouldn’t leave me. It even reached the point where I couldn’t eat or sleep in peace. Then I escorted you to the Qiao family, and yesterday, seeing how you were among your own family with my own eyes—I grew even more uneasy..."He paused, his brow furrowed with distress.

“Though my Wei family is no cage, to you, it might as well be one. In all these years you’ve spent with us, when have I ever seen you so carefree?”

“I didn’t want to leave today. I felt there was still something unfinished. But since you didn’t ask me to stay, I couldn’t bring myself to linger. When I left, your father escorted me out of the city and, before parting, solemnly entrusted your future to me. On the journey, I kept asking myself—if Shanggu had fallen, if Yuyang had fallen, if I had lost Grandmother and also lost you—then even if I wiped out all my enemies, gained the world, and held beauty in my arms, there would never be another you. No one else could call me ‘husband’ the way you do. What joy would there be in the rest of my life?”

Xiao Qiao’s eyes slowly welled up with shimmering tears, gathering until, finally, a crystalline drop escaped her lashes and rolled down her cheek.

Wei Shao gazed at her, raising his hand to gently wipe away the tear with his finger.

“That’s when I realized—the thoughts I’ve been carrying all this time, I had to let you know. If I didn’t seize this chance to speak, no matter where I went, my heart would never be at peace. So I came back.”

“Manman, before, I always felt wronged for myself. I’ve mentioned it to you more than once—how I made all sorts of concessions against my will because of you. But I never stopped to think about the pressure and pain you endured because of my attitude. You weren’t born to come to the Wei family to atone for your late grandfather’s sins. Even if that was the case at first, by now, you owe nothing. If anything, it’s me who has neglected you far too much…”

The more he wiped, the more Xiao Qiao’s tears fell, dampening her collar and soaking the back of his hand.

“That I, Wei Shao, have been captured by you is the greatest fortune of my life. But before, though I claimed to love you, to cherish you, and demanded your wholehearted devotion, I used the family feud as an excuse to never—not once—consider your feelings. When it comes to arrogance and selfishness, who in this world could compare to me…?”

Xiao Qiao shook her head repeatedly, tears streaming down.

Wei Shao watched her, his own eyes reddening slightly as she wept and shook her head vehemently.

“I’m nothing but a scoundrel, only seeking pleasure from you without ever cherishing or treasuring you. I once promised you—if I ever wronged you, you could hit me to vent your anger. That still holds true now and always. If I hurt your heart, just hit me. But don’t turn away from me. Don’t grow distant…”

Xiao Qiao clenched her small fists, pounding haphazardly against his shoulders and chest, sobbing, “You really are a scoundrel… I was perfectly fine—who asked you to suddenly come back and say all this…?”

Before she could finish, she buried herself in his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her tear-streaked face against his chest, refusing to lift it again.

The soft figure in his arms trembled uncontrollably, her tears surging forth, quickly soaking his robes.

He carried her to the bed, holding her tightly against him.

A long while later, he finally felt the trembling in her body subside, though her face remained hidden against his chest, unwilling to look at him.

Wei Shao shifted slightly.

A small hand immediately clutched his collar, gripping it tightly.

“I want you to stay… Don’t go…”Xiao Qiao spoke in a muffled voice, her tone thick with a nasal sob.

Wei Shao gently turned her face towards him.

Her eyelids had turned a faint pink from crying, slightly swollen, and the tip of her nose was red. A strand of hair clung tightly to her tear-streaked cheek, leaving her in a rather disheveled state.

Her eyes were tightly shut, her lashes trembling lightly, still holding a single teardrop.

He leaned down and tenderly kissed her eyelids, licking away the tear stains from her lashes and cheeks.

Xiao Qiao finally opened her eyes slowly.

Their gazes met, entwined.

"I won't leave. On the way here, I had already decided—even if you try to drive me away, I won't go."

Wei Shao murmured softly, lying beside her with their necks entwined, capturing her crimson lips.