Chapter 445: Reliving an Old Dream, Who’s on the Bottom?

That blindfold was something she had deliberately put over his eyes back then, afraid to see the cold, cruel look in them.

Seeing the old item, Ji Qingwu’s raven-black eyelashes trembled.

She still held on to a sliver of hope, asking, "Haven’t we already settled this score?"

Zhao Mingyan chuckled softly behind her ear. "When did we ever settle it?"

Faced with the memory of how she had forced herself on him all those years ago, Ji Qingwu felt a pang of guilt, and her words came out haltingly.

"Th-th-that time in Zhaoyang Hall."

Zhao Mingyan mused, "That could, at best, be considered the interest. This time, I’m collecting the principal and the interest."

’What interest and principal?’

Ji Qingwu knew perfectly well he couldn’t have just conjured these two items out of thin air.

’He must have had this planned for a while.’

’But why did he keep these old things from years ago? What was going through his mind back then?’

The blindfold and the cord showed no signs of wear or dirt; they must have been carefully stored. She had never seen them before, which meant he must have kept them in his military tent all this time.

Ji Qingwu had never dreamed she would see these two "instruments of the crime" again.

She looked at her own wrists. A coarse, crimson rope was bound around their pale white skin. The knot was even tied in the exact same way as back then—her preferred multiple-hitch backhand knot.

Ji Qingwu stared intently at the blindfold in his left hand, her heart clenching with every kneading motion of his fingers.

’If there were no surprises, he was planning on a re-enactment.’

This backhand knot was tied neatly and securely; she couldn’t break free with brute force.

He took in her look of utter despair.

"Is Ah Wu scared?" Zhao Mingyan looked at the knots binding her hands, a broad smile spreading across his lips.

"Just a moment ago, Ah Wu swore to me that you feared nothing as long as you were by my side. Surely you don’t want to go back on your word?"

Ji Qingwu could neither take back her bold declaration nor did she want to relive this "old dream" with him.

Her eyes flickered as she said, "I said I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt."

Zhao Mingyan chuckled, his tone exceedingly gentle.

"How could I bear to let you get hurt? I won’t."

But the gentler he acted, the more Ji Qingwu felt things were about to spiral out of control.

Zhao Mingyan’s eyes were dark and deep, yet they burned with an eerie light.

Earlier, he had returned to the main tent first. After listening to Si Hai’s report with a frosty expression, he had sought out these two items.

Before Ji Qingwu returned, Zhao Mingyan’s original plan was to use this situation, and these items, to "discipline her a little."

What he hadn’t expected, however, was that every word Ji Qingwu spoke was a heartfelt confession that had set his heart ablaze.

There was no longer any need to use this as a pretext. Right now, Zhao Mingyan had only one thought...

Even through her clothes, Ji Qingwu could feel his body temperature was scorching hot.

She blinked, her face filling with grievance. "So, after I just poured my heart out, Your Majesty’s response is to tie me up?"

Zhao Mingyan raised an eyebrow and replied, "Of course not."

With practiced ease, his hand slipped into her inner robes, the heat of his palm making her tremble.

Ji Qingwu pressed against his arm but couldn’t move him an inch. She said placatingly, "But I want to hear Your Majesty talk. We can settle this matter anytime. It’s not like I’m going to run away."

"I believe what Ah Wu says. You definitely won’t run away again this time."

Zhao Mingyan’s voice was vicious, the word "again" laced with a grinding resentment. His hand on her grew more forceful in its caress.

Ji Qingwu didn’t even have time to cry out in her mind.

A blindfold covered her eyes, plunging her into sudden darkness. Ji Qingwu couldn’t see his movements, but she could clearly feel the path his hands traced, the pressure so intense it felt like he wanted to leave a brand on her skin.

Ji Qingwu said, "Let’s just talk first, okay?"

"No."

Zhao Mingyan refused flatly. He cupped her chin with one hand, his voice low. "No amount of talking compares to doing."

His long fingers rubbed the small of her back, the implication clear.

As she was swept into his arms and tossed onto the bed in the military tent, Ji Qingwu had a feeling that not even the childbirth system could save her back now.

She kept her eyes open but could see nothing. For a long while, she waited, but he made no move.

Ji Qingwu was tense, but the next moment, she felt the knots on her hands being untied.

"I didn’t even tie it tightly, and they’re already red."

She heard him sigh softly by her ear, a sound filled with endless tenderness.

Ji Qingwu nodded, her lovely lips parting as she said plaintively, "If they’re tied for too long, the blood flow gets cut off and they’ll bruise."

She perked up her ears, listening for his voice.

He didn’t speak. He only took her wrist and gently rubbed the red marks a few times.

"When Ah Wu tied me up back then, you didn’t show a shred of mercy."

Ji Qingwu’s lips parted slightly. She froze.

Back then, even though she had used the Yin Yang Harmony Powder on him, she had still been terrified that he might suddenly regain his senses and crush her to death in a fit of rage. Trembling with fear, she had bound him as tightly as she could.

’Ji Qingwu thought of something. The next day, who came to untie him?’

’No wonder he holds such a deep grudge about this.’

Before she could think any further, Ji Qingwu’s wrists were suddenly lifted high above her head. The cord slid through her palms before looping back around her wrists.

She said in a panic, "Didn’t you let me go?"

Zhao Mingyan said, "When did I say that? Being tied to the bed—now *that* is the scene from that night."

’So, he only untied her temporarily to put her in a more authentic position to be tied up again.’

Ji Qingwu said, "But if you insist on a re-enactment, this isn’t right either."

Zhao Mingyan admired the sight before him, asking nonchalantly, "How is it not right?"

Ji Qingwu said hurriedly, "Then you should be the one on the bottom! You’re the one who was tied up!"

"Oh? Is that so."

Ji Qingwu said, "Doesn’t Your Majesty think that reliving an old dream exactly as it was would be more... flavorful and evocative?"

A strange light flashed in Zhao Mingyan’s eyes, as if her proposal had struck a chord.

The cord around her wrists hadn’t been knotted yet. Ji Qingwu felt she still had a chance.

So, she tried her best to persuade him. "Your Majesty, this is a rare opportunity. Even if Your Majesty agrees to be on the bottom in the future, I won’t agree to it again."

Ji Qingwu lifted her leg and rubbed it lightly against him, as if to show him just how fatally alluring she could be when she took the initiative.

Watching the curve of her twisting waist, Zhao Mingyan’s breathing grew deeper.

Not long after.

Ji Qingwu could finally see again. She blinked, adjusting to the light before her.

Then, she excitedly pushed him down onto the bed, and Zhao Mingyan, with a lazy expression, complied with her actions.

She held the cord in her hand, her eyes glistening as she wrapped it loop by loop around his hands, tying them to the iron railing of the bed.

This time, Ji Qingwu used a double-looped knot, tying it neatly and securely.

Zhao Mingyan watched the smile playing on her lips, nudged her with his knee, and his throat bobbed.

"Shouldn’t we be getting to the main event now?"