Chapter 543: Attack on the Mind

"What's different?" Zu'an asked, holding her and sitting on the edge of the bed, making no further moves.

Xiaotuo turned her face away, her lips pressed tightly together. She didn't answer; clearly, at this point, there was no point in saying anything.

Zu'an smiled slightly, "It's my soft heart. I can let bygones be bygones. From now on, you just need to be my woman entirely."

"You're dreaming!" Xiaotuo retorted, mustering her courage despite trembling with fear. "The one I truly love is forever Brother Lian. I would never submit to a tyrant like you."

Zu'an chuckled, "You're so devoted to Lian, but he may not necessarily trust you."

Xiaotuo bit her lip hard and said, "Brother Lian and I grew up together. We understand each other perfectly. You can't sow discord between us."

"Really?" A hint of sarcasm flickered across Zu'an's face. "If you two were truly soulmates, how could he bear to send you into the palace to serve other men?"

"Isn't it because you and your father seized the throne that rightfully belonged to him? Since I love him, it's only natural for me to do everything I can to help him," Xiaotuo replied.

"Even at the cost of your own purity?"

"I'm willing!" Xiaotuo said calmly, her voice cold. "Do what you will, whether kill or torture me. Don't waste any more words."

Zu'an's face showed a hint of admiration. "What a brave woman. It's a pity you've entrusted yourself to the wrong person."

Xiaotuo turned her head away, clearly unwilling to debate the matter with him.

Zu'an then said, "What I said about Lian possibly not trusting you wasn't baseless. Think about it: when you first entered the palace, you sent intelligence out very frequently. But later, the intervals between messages grew longer and longer, and recently, you've only sent one after a very long time. Why is that?"

"I..." Xiaotuo's breath hitched. She couldn't explain why, nor had she even noticed the change herself.

Zu'an chuckled, "It's because over time, being with me, you've developed feelings. You subconsciously feel you've wronged me, and that guilt led to this change."

If he hadn't sensed the change in her, he wouldn't have bothered with all this talk. He would have simply had the guards take her away, if not to execution, then at least to the imperial prison.

Xiaotuo's face paled, and she quickly retorted, "Nonsense! How could I possibly develop feelings for you?"

"Even little cats and dogs develop feelings when you spend a lot of time with them, let alone a living person," Zu'an replied. "Besides, we've been together all day, every day recently, doing things more intimate than a husband and wife. What's so strange about an innocent young woman like you unconsciously developing feelings for me?"

"No... that's not true..." Xiaotuo still argued, but her voice lacked its former conviction.

She felt a sense of bewilderment. Could it be true, as he said, that she had developed feelings for him?

But I clearly love Brother Lian. How could I be such a fickle woman?

Seeing her expression shift uncertainly, Zu'an pressed on, "No matter how strong your feelings for Lian are, a man can't simply overlook such matters. Even if he succeeds in seizing the throne, the thought of you having pleased another man will surely torment him. So, from the moment you agreed to this plan, regardless of whether Lian or I win, your fate is sealed for tragedy."

Xiaotuo's face paled further. She had, in fact, considered this before but had instinctively reassured herself that Brother Lian wasn't that kind of person, refusing to dwell on it. Now that he had laid it bare, she understood it was highly probable.

Zu'an continued, "When he thinks of your past, he'll be uncomfortable. Add to that the reduced frequency of your messages to him recently, and won't he suspect that you've been sleeping with me every day, and I've charmed you, making you subconsciously develop feelings? These two factors combined are adding insult to injury. There's no way you two can ever go back to how things were."

Xiaotuo took a deep breath. "I know all that, but so what? Since I agreed to help him, as long as he ultimately succeeds, I'll be content if he occasionally remembers my good deeds. I never expected to live happily ever after with him anyway."

"Remember your good deeds?" Zu'an scoffed. "Naïve! He'd be lucky not to hate you to the bone. How could he possibly remember your good deeds?"

"Nonsense! How could he possibly hate me!" Xiaotuo exclaimed, agitated. This was her only pillar of faith, and she wouldn't allow anyone to destroy it.

Zu'an reached out, hooked her chin, and scrutinized her beautiful face at close range. "Since I knew your intentions from the start, how could I not have taken precautions?"

Xiaotuo suddenly realized something, her face instantly draining of color.

Zu'an's fingers caressed her cheek, feeling the smooth, delicate skin. "You've secretly taken a lot of intelligence from me and sent it out during this time, haven't you? Although you were careful every time, how could I, being on guard, let you succeed?"

"But I still found a lot of confidential information!" Xiaotuo quickly protested.

Zu'an smiled. "Because I deliberately let you send out those false reports."

"False reports?" A sudden realization struck Xiaotuo, her mind reeling. She barely registered his touch on her—though, given their intimacy recently, it hardly mattered anyway.

Zu'an nodded. "Actually, I should thank you. Originally, getting rid of some opposition was quite troublesome. But you misled Lian, causing him to kill a large number of his own trusted subordinates. Haha, he thought those people had been bribed by me. On the contrary, the people he later relied heavily on and tried to win over, those are truly my people."

"You've helped me so much, and you've harmed him so terribly. Tell me, will Lian remember your good deeds, or will he hate you?"

Xiaotuo felt a chill run through her, and she quickly began to struggle agitatedly. "You devil!"

Zu'an firmly held her struggling hands and said coldly, "You were the ones who meticulously plotted to harm me first. Who's the devil now?"

Xiaotuo's face was blank, and she seemed to lose all strength, collapsing into sobs.

All her beliefs utterly collapsed. Only then did she realize that everything she had clung to was, in fact, a complete joke.

Yet, for this, she had sacrificed her purity and happiness, and also caused Lian's ambitions to suffer a devastating blow.

That man was still relentless, his demonic voice continuing in her ear: "Once he realizes all of this, connecting it with the suspicions already planted in his mind, his first reaction will be that you and I slept together and developed feelings, that you betrayed him, and conspired with me to deceive him."

"No, it's not..." Xiaotuo frantically shook her head, muttering to herself, but she knew how powerless her words were.

"Why are you telling me all this? Are you deliberately humiliating me?" Xiaotuo asked, looking at him through her tears.

Zu'an gazed back at her, reaching out to wipe away the tears on her cheeks. "Because I want to have you."

"You already have me!" Xiaotuo cried, her voice rising. "You torment me every day; aren't you satisfied yet?"

"No, not yet," Zu'an shook his head.

Xiaotuo paused, her expression initially puzzled. After a moment, she understood what he meant: he wanted not just her body, but her heart as well.

She let out a cold laugh. "Do you think that's possible?"

Zu'an said calmly, "If I hadn't sensed the changes in you recently, and the struggle and hesitation you yourself weren't even aware of each time you sent out intelligence, I wouldn't be telling you all this."

Xiaotuo fell silent. Could it be true that she had unconsciously...

Zu'an then continued, "Why would you grieve for a man who uses the body of the woman he claims to love to achieve his goals? Remember, besides love, you have family, and the people of Tuo Kingdom. Do you want them to be ground into paste and used as human sacrifices because of your involvement?"

"You truly are a devil!" Xiaotuo trembled all over.

Zu'an shook his head. "I'm not threatening you with this. You know perfectly well that many matters aren't decided by the King alone. When Lian is eventually brought to justice, the imperial officials will surely hold you accountable as well, along with your family and clan. It's not a matter of me simply choosing not to pursue it; otherwise, the country would fall into chaos."

"What I'm telling you now is simply to show you a way out. Only by becoming completely mine can I declare publicly that you were always my double agent, thereby allowing you and your clan to avoid a tragic end."

Seeing her eyes filled with confusion, Zu'an leaned down and kissed her red lips.

Xiaotuo instinctively tried to push him away, but her hand stopped halfway.

Zu'an smiled faintly, took her hand and intertwined their fingers, then embraced her and rolled onto the bed beside them.

Xiaotuo's heart began to pound. Although she had been intimate with him many times recently, she felt exceptionally nervous now, even more so than on their first night.

She understood the difference, her heart filled with conflict and hesitation.