GBP Chapter 1316 Let's Act It Out
Chapter 1316 Let's Act It Out
"Our master has been exceptionally lenient towards you because you've behaved well on the way here! Didn't you want to see your wife and children? We've brought them to you!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a figure was shoved into the room from outside!
The man staggered and almost fell to the ground.
She wore a thin, plain linen dress that seemed extremely out of place in the ice cellar. Her blonde hair was scattered messily around her pale cheeks, and her hands were tightly bound behind her back with rough hemp rope, which dug deep into the flesh of her wrists, leaving glaring red marks.
There seemed to be a trace of dried, dark red bloodstains at the corner of her mouth. It was clearly a "prop" that Rhys or a guard had roughly put on there. Several fresh bruises were visible on her bare neck and arms, which stood out starkly in the cold air.
It was Eva!
She was pushed forward and fell, barely managing to keep from falling completely by bracing herself on her knees when she was less than three steps away from Xiao Ce's stone bed.
She raised her head, her once bright blue eyes, like the waters of Lake Baikal, now filled with fear, grievance, and a bottomless pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, but stubbornly refused to fall. She looked at Xiao Ce sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, her lips trembling violently. She wanted to call his name, but seemed unable to utter a sound due to extreme fear and humiliation, only able to let out a faint, mosquito-like sob.
The two burly guards escorting her stood at the door like two guardian deities, their hands on the hilts of their swords, their eyes cold and wary as they watched Xiao Ce's every move. Rhys's tall figure was hidden in the shadows of the passageway outside, holding his breath, intently listening for any sound or change in atmosphere within the ice cellar, his fists clenching unconsciously.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
Only Eva's suppressed sobs and the heavy breathing of the guards outside the door could be heard in the ice cellar.
Xiao Ce slowly, very slowly, opened his eyes.
His gaze calmly fell on Eva, from her disheveled blonde hair to the bloodstains at the corner of her mouth, to her wrists bound behind her back and turning purple, and the glaring bruises on her arms...
The wrists, tightly bound by rough hemp rope, bore deep purple bruises, and the bluish-purple marks on the bare arms revealed a heart-wrenching fragility in the chill of the ice cellar.
She looked up at Xiao Ce, who had opened his eyes on the stone bed. Those once loving, deep blue eyes were now filled with fear, grievance, and a near-desperate pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
Her lips trembled, as if she wanted to call his name, but could only let out broken, suppressed sobs, like a young animal abandoned on an icy plain.
In the shadows outside the door, Rhys held his breath, his senses heightened to the extreme, like a cheetah poised to pounce, waiting for its prey's true reaction.
The two guards gripped their sword hilts tightly, their knuckles turning white from the force, and the air inside the ice cellar was extremely tense.
Xiao Ce's gaze calmly fell on Eva.
However, this calm lasted for less than a moment.
Lingxu's insight unfolds silently, like the most sophisticated scanner.
Amidst the disheveled hair, beneath a few deliberately pulled strands, the scalp remained intact, without the slightest trace of struggle.
The "bloodstains" at the corner of the mouth were too dark and uniform in color, lacking the viscosity and rusty smell of fresh blood. They looked more like some kind of carefully mixed paint or dried fruit juice.
Those glaring, deep purple marks on his wrists!
Lingxu's perception penetrated deep into the subcutaneous tissue. Although the capillaries there were congested due to pressure, the damage to the muscle fibers was negligible. It was more like the result of forceful friction or pressing in a short period of time, rather than prolonged binding and struggling.
Most importantly, the edges of the marks are too "clean," lacking the irregular abrasions and bleeding points that should be present when repeatedly rubbed by a rough rope.
The bluish-purple bruises on his arms appeared somewhat contrived in their distribution and shape, and the color transitions were not natural enough. Lingxu even detected a faint, almost completely masked, peculiar oily scent!
That was a special effect makeup residue often used by Slavic court physicians, specifically to create realistic scar effects.
According to Lingxu's perception, her heartbeat was slightly faster due to the cold and tension, or perhaps the tension of the performance, but the rhythm was stable and strong, without any of the disorder and weakness that should be present under a heavy blow or extreme fear.
Although she deliberately suppressed her breathing to the point of sobbing, the depth and frequency of her breaths revealed her strong body control and the fact that her internal organs were not actually damaged.
Behind the unfathomable pain and fear in her eyes, Xiao Ce caught a glimpse of guilt and struggle caused by deceiving her loved ones, which she was trying hard to hide, as well as... a hint of expectation, a hint of expectation to observe his reaction.
installed!
Lingxu's feedback was cold and certain, instantly shattering the last shred of hope in Xiao Ce's heart.
From the "disappearance" at the Brahma Palace to the "threatening letter" of Shiva's Tears, and then to the "abused hostages" in this ice cellar, it was indeed a meticulously planned and self-directed hoax!
Eva, his wife, his mother who looked to the future, the Slavic princess, the daughter of the Nikolayevich family, not only knew about it, but was also the protagonist of this drama!
In fact, Xiao Ce had been planning for this outcome all along, but it all really happened right before his eyes.
It was still somewhat difficult for him to accept...
A chilling, bone-chilling rage shot from Xiao Ce's feet straight to the top of his head!
The anger did not stem from the humiliation of being imprisoned, but from the utter deception, from the fact that his closest relatives had pointed a sharp blade at his heart, endangering the safety of an innocent child!
Where is the distant view? Is it truly safe? Or has even that little child become a cold bargaining chip in this game? Thinking of the possible plight of the child he had never met yet was connected to by blood, and of how Eva could so cruelly drag him into this conspiracy, Xiao Ce's anger was like a volcano dormant for millennia, suddenly ignited into its most violent lava!
But just as this destructive rage was about to erupt, Xiao Ce's almost instinctive rationality, honed by countless life-and-death experiences, acted like the strongest gate, forcefully stopping it!
We cannot afford to explode! We cannot afford to expose ourselves!
Eva's performance at this moment, besides testing his reaction to confirm his identity and emotions, was probably also an attempt to soften him with her tragic story and pave the way for subsequent negotiations.
Since they want to act, to test us, and to exploit this "sympathy"... then let him give them what they want! Moreover, he must act even more convincingly and intensely than they do! By playing along with their scheme, following their script, and pushing this drama to an unexpected climax, he can tear open a deeper wound, see through their true purpose, and ultimately... take control of the situation!
In the blink of an eye, the decision was made.
At this moment, Eva felt a little uneasy being stared at by Xiao Ce.
There was a sense of panic, as if she had been seen through, but she still suppressed her fear and unease.
"Your Highness...Your Highness...It's me...Don't you recognize me? How did you get brought here...?"
Xiao Ce saw Eva begin to act.
He naturally had to take on acting roles!
Those once calm and still eyes suddenly surged with turbulent waves, like a deep pool where a boulder had been thrown in!
First, his pupils contracted sharply to the size of pinpoints, as if pierced by the horrific scene before him, instantly losing focus. Then, a visible, icy aura, like an out-of-control cold wave, erupted from his seated body!
"Ugh...!!!"
A low growl, suppressed to the extreme and seemingly torn from the depths of the throat, suddenly shattered the deathly silence of the ice cellar!
That wasn't an angry roar, but an unbelievable wail of extreme pain!
The sound was filled with the despair and ferocity of a dying beast, instantly making Rhys outside the door shudder. Even the two guards subconsciously took a half step back, their hands on their knives tightening.
Xiao Ce's body trembled violently, not from the cold, but from the surging, uncontrollable rage and heartache!
He sprang up abruptly from the cold stone bed, his movements swift as a ghost, yet carrying a sense of staggering loss of control, as if the dam of reason had been breached by immense pain.
"Eva!!! Who...who...who tortured you like this..."
"You bunch of bastards, didn't you say that if I cooperated with you, you wouldn't hurt them?"
He roared her name, his voice hoarse and broken, filled with heart-wrenching pain and raging fury.
He strode to Eva, who was slumped on the ground, his movement so swift that it stirred up a chilling gust of wind.
Instead of helping her up immediately, he suddenly turned his head, his eyes burning with violent crimson flames, like a vicious blade forged from hellfire, fixed on the two guards at the door!
"What did you do to her?!"
Every word was like a shard of ice squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a murderous intent that could freeze the soul!
The guards felt their blood freezing under that gaze and the chilling aura. The tangible killing intent made it hard for them to breathe, as if they were locked on by a prehistoric beast, unable to move even a finger!
"Speak!! Who did it?!"
Xiao Ce roared again!
This terrifying aura, this completely out-of-control rage, this killing intent that could terrify even the most battle-hardened warriors... perfectly captures the ultimate reaction a powerful man should have upon seeing his beloved wife being abused!
Eva was completely stunned by the terrifying, volcanic eruption-like power that was so close at hand!
She truly felt the rage that almost tore her soul apart, the heartache that burned the very heavens! The pain when that gaze swept over her "scars"... was so real, so intense!
Her meticulously prepared performance seemed to be instantly engulfed and shattered by this overwhelming rage. A tremendous sense of guilt and fear gripped her!
Did she do something wrong?
Xiao Ce's reaction was a hundred times more violent than she had expected!
The tears in her eyes could no longer be held back, and they rolled down like beads from a broken string!
This time, it was no longer a performance, but a mixture of guilt for deception, fear of Xiao Ce's reaction, and immense panic about the unknown future.
Her body trembled violently, even more so than before; it was a tremor that came from the depths of her soul.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, to explain, to call a halt, but then she remembered that Rhys and the others were watching outside the door, and could only let out even more desperate and helpless sobs.
In the shadows outside the door, Rhys's heart pounded, his palms were sweating, but his eyes gleamed with excitement and confirmation!
It's true! This is definitely Xiao Ce himself!
Rhys is now almost certain...
Only Xiao Ce could possess such a terrifying aura!
Only the real Xiao Ce, seeing his beloved woman and child being abused in such a way, would have such a rage that consumed his reason and was willing to destroy everything!
This power, this killing intent, this domineering aura—it can't be faked! A stand-in?
Which stand-in could possess such power? Xiao Ce's weakness, as expected, is his family! The plan succeeded!
The guards stood silently at the gate, coldly watching Xiao Ce.
Eva, who was standing nearby, saw this and was worried that Xiao Ce might do something too extreme.
"Your Highness...please calm down...I'm fine...why are you here...?"
"Eva! I came to India to find you, but I just got there and heard you'd been arrested..."
"Eva! How are you? Are you alright? Does it hurt?"
His voice was hoarse and trembling, every word filled with heart-wrenching concern and frantic tenderness.
That sight was like a most treasured gem being shattered before his eyes, causing him unbearable pain.
His hot, trembling fingers, carrying a temperature that even an icebox couldn't cool, tried to touch the glaring bloodstain at the corner of Eva's mouth, but stopped abruptly just before touching it, as if afraid that his touch would worsen her pain.
Where did they hit you? Are you hurt anywhere else? Tell me quickly!
Xiao Ce spoke very quickly, his eyes frantically scanning Eva's body, searching for any possible injuries. His tension and heartache were almost overflowing, creating a striking contrast with his earlier devastating rage. He perfectly portrayed the image of a husband who deeply loved his wife and whose emotions were turbulent because of her abuse.
Eva was completely overwhelmed by his sudden, volcanic eruption of concern that instantly transformed into the scalding heat of lava.
She thought Xiao Ce's rage was the limit, but the tenderness and panic that followed, almost burning her, made her heart ache even more.
Those fake wounds now felt like real branding irons, searing her very soul. A wave of intense guilt washed over her like an icy tide, almost suffocating her...
Her meticulously crafted lines and performance appeared so pale and despicable in the face of this torrent of emotions so "real" that even she almost believed it...
She dared not look into Xiao Ce's eyes, brimming with heartache and worry; that gaze made her feel like a heinous sinner. Tears, like a burst dam, surged forth, rolling down her pale cheeks...