Chapter 29: Come Quickly to Save Me

"Who are you? Are you sick in the head? Who would want to be your concubine? Get lost!" Yuan Qian'er felt that this man was truly deranged. Ask yourself, if you were walking down the street and some lecherous-looking stranger suddenly demanded you marry him, what would you do?

"Oh, a fiery temper, is it? I like that! You must be new to the palace, aren't you? Don't you know who I am?" Zhao Mingyu was certain Yuan Qian'er was a newly arrived maid; had she been a young lady of status, she surely would have been accompanied by a servant, but she was alone.

"I am new to the palace, yes. So what? Do I need to know you?" It was true; Yuan Qian'er had just arrived in the palace with Mo Yiran.

"That settles it then. I am Zhao Mingyu, the Prime Minister's son. Ever heard of me? It is your honor that I have taken a fancy to you. Come with me!" Zhao Mingyu wore an expression that suggested he was doing her a great favor and expected her to worship him for it.

Yuan Qian'er looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not interested. Go find someone else to bother!" With that, she walked right past him.

Zhao Mingyu had never been ignored like this. Seeing her walk away, he immediately grabbed her, pulled her forcibly into his arms, and sneered, "What an unappreciative girl. Are you playing hard to get? I don't have much patience, you know. Don't test me—I might just take you right here!"

Forcibly dragged into his embrace, Yuan Qian'er felt a wave of revulsion. She stomped on his foot and spat, "You filthy stud, is your head filled with dung? Who's playing hard to get with you? Let me go, or you'll be asking for your own death!"

"Hmph, you wench. You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, is that it? Insulting me, are you? I'll show you what it means to be 'high and mighty' once I'm through with you!" Enraged and blinded by his base desires, Zhao Mingyu pushed Yuan Qian'er into the bushes. He pinned her wrists above her head and pressed his body against her legs with a practiced ease that suggested he had done this many times before.

Yuan Qian'er panicked. Mo Yiran hadn't let Mo Ming or Mo Xian follow her, and for some reason, the Imperial Garden was completely deserted! She had no choice but to rely on her own desperate cries. "Help! Rape—! Mmph! Mmmph!"

Before she could finish, Zhao Mingyu clamped his hand over her mouth. Yuan Qian'er opened her jaw and bit down on his hand with all her might. "Argh! You wretched woman, let go! Do you think I won't kill you after I'm done with you?"

Yuan Qian'er refused to loosen her grip. As if! If she let go, he would surely attack her!

*Slap!*

Zhao Mingyu struck her across the face. In pain, Yuan Qian'er finally released her bite. "You pig, let me go!"

*Rrrrrip!*

Yuan Qian'er's clothes were torn open. By now, Zhao Mingyu's desire to conquer had been fully ignited; he was deaf to her words, his mind filled with only one thought: "Tame her, take her!"

It was the first time Yuan Qian'er had faced such a situation. She was terrified and furious—terrified that her virtue of many years was about to be ruined by a swine, and furious that she was being treated like prey, unable to fight back. She swore to herself that if she survived this, she would learn martial arts!

She closed her eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Mo Yiran, come save me!"

Hearing her, Zhao Mingyu covered her mouth again. "You're just a lowly maid. Do you really think bringing up Lord Mo will scare me? Hmph, stop struggling. I'll make sure to be 'gentle' with you!"

Elsewhere, Mo Yiran, having finished his long-winded warnings to Bing Qinghua to keep as far away from Yuan Qian'er as possible, had gone to the Imperial Garden to find Yuan Qian'er, intending to take her out of the palace for some fun.

As he neared the garden, he heard Yuan Qian'er screaming for help. He dashed toward the sound and arrived just in time to see Zhao Mingyu attempting to tear her clothes again. A surge of volcanic rage erupted within him. He unleashed a palm strike without a shred of mercy. Before Zhao Mingyu could even see who had arrived, he was sent flying several meters through the air, landing squarely in the pond.