The Captivating Crown Prince

Ch1: The witch’s fiery death

“You’re truly cold-blooded ah!” Shang Wuxin was looking at the man sitting across, her face expressionless as he spoke. Even when she was betrayed, she still didn’t reveal a distressed expression. But nobody knew that within her sleeves both hands had gotten white.

A handsome man with peach blossom eyes was sitting directly opposite Shang Wuxin. A momentary sadness flashed within his eyes, but it was quickly covered up by a strong desire. Wasn’t it for this day that he had concealed himself, hiding by Shang Wuxin’s side for so many years? So long as he killed this woman, he would experience a meteoric rise in his career from now on. He could even rise in the ranks and become the new chief of the police department, in charge of the entire A city.

“Shang Wuxin, you witch!” The man looked resentfully at the woman he had poisoned himself, and laughed as he said, “Did you know? My parents were killed by you. For so many years I’ve always wanted to kill you, did you know? Staying by your side was so disgusting. I absolutely don’t love you!”

Sitting on the scarlet sofa, Shang Wuxin, dressed in red, was looking at this man, whom she had genuinely liked. Her heart was grieving. In front of her was a man who had given her poison hoping to kill her. He was called Du Xingfeng, her secret boyfriend. Why secret? Because she had made too many enemies, she was afraid that someone would hurt her man. That’s why she had intentionally kept many fake lovers around, all in order to protect Du Xingfeng.

“He he he…” Shang Wuxin laughed out loud, a beautiful sound that could make people shiver all over. She laughed for a long time, before slowly letting her gaze return to the man sitting across. Shang Wuxin shakily stood up and walked to his front. The man tensed for a brief moment, but thinking of the highly toxic poison already inside Shang Wuxin, it would be impossible for her to kill him. He remained motionless as he looked at the demoness, whom everyone feared, dying in front of him.

Shang Wuxin gently caressed that pair of peach blossom eyes of Du Xingfeng. She had to admit, whether it was Du Xingfeng’s appearance or his fake personality, both were to her liking. That was why she had disregarded his dangerous identity to keep him by her side.

“You’re certainly their son ah. You could actually conceal yourself by my side for so many years, and almost made me believe you really loved me!” Shang Wuxin laughed tenderly, as she stroked from the man’s eyes down to the bridge of his nose. “Really let me down ah. It’s hard for me to become fond of a man, and it turned out like this!”

Regarding this man, it wasn’t love at first sight for Shang Wuxin, she had only recently started to appreciate him. Her heart was still very guarded against him, but the two of them were attached to each other for ten years, from 17 till 27 years old now. In the beginning, she had been extremely cautious of him and had always pushed him away, but she had slowly relaxed afterward, not carrying a weapon around him, and no longer privately inspecting the food whenever she ate with him. But because of this trust, she had suffered such a significant blow now.

“You witch, you’ve had a strong guard around your heart from such a young age, how else would I be able to kill you!” Du Xingfeng was looking at the woman, who had been stunning at 17 and still uncommonly beautiful at 27. Undeniably, his heart truly had been moved by Shang Wuxin, it was very hard for a man not to be tempted by such a woman. Not to mention how well she had treated him for so long. Too bad, they were born to be enemies. Whether it was his parents’ enmity, or her criminal world versus his law-abidi

ng identity, there shouldn’t have been love between them.
Shang Wuxin didn’t seem the least bit saddened. Even with the highly toxic poison inside her, she still had an indifferent and serene expression. Her fingers slid down the bridge of his nose, arriving at his thin lips, then she kissed him the same way she had always done. The only difference was this man’s lack of earnest response, and the absence of pleasure within Shang Wuxin.

Ending the one-sided kiss, Shang Wuxin sighed as she gazed at the man. They’d been together for so many years, yet except for kissing and embracing, they’d never progressed a single step further. Previously, she had believed that he was considerate of her past trauma, but now…

“Shang Wuxin, did you know? Your kiss really disgusts me!” Du Xingfeng looked at the woman in front of him and stated with a malicious smile. He had always showed a modest gentleman’s appearance to Shang Wuxin, but now exposed his true colors and ambition.

“A woman who’s been raped by her foster father as a child, did you really think I liked kissing you?” Du Xingfeng was watching the woman’s steady expression, feeling depressed at heart. They had already reached this point, yet she was neither sad, nor afraid. It was unfair! Du Xingfeng went on, “A woman like you is really filthy! How could I possibly touch you! Ah, right. Everyone knows you have so many lovers, you’re just a slut, huh!”

A harsh glint flashed deep in Shang Wuxin’s eyes, but unfortunately, this man didn’t notice. Otherwise he wouldn’t have mentioned Shang Wuxin’s most detested memory, that had once been her nightmare.

“It’s really regrettable ah!” Shang Wuxin stood up suddenly. With her firm and graceful posture it was as if there was no trace of poison inside her. She took a seat further away and laughed as she said, “I’d meant to let you keep your life initially, but now… I don’t care one bit for it ne!”

Seeing Shang Wuxin like this, Du Xingfeng got a little scared. He was about to pull out the gun hidden in his clothes, but she didn’t wait for him as she thrust a pen into his throat, cutting off his breath on the spot.

Du Xingfeng’s eyes were still wide open. Up until his death he couldn’t have expected that Shang Wuxin was able to kill people like this. Moreover, he couldn’t understand why she had no issues after drinking the poison. Such skills in martial arts, as if taken out of a movie. But it was a pity that Du Xingfeng would never get the chance to appreciate them again.

“Miss!” A woman suddenly rushed in from outside. She was Shang Wuxin’s trusted assistant, as well as the housekeeper of this mansion. Looking at her young lady weakly sitting there, the woman’s eyes filled with tears.

Shang Wuxin smiled indifferently. Her complexion turned pale, completely different from her composed look earlier.

“Wu Wei!” Shang Wuxin glanced at the woman and stated, “Take him away ba, don’t let him dirty my place. After I die, the Shang family will be given to you. I know you’re not interested in it, but its influence isn’t small. So even when I’m no longer around, you can still do whatever you want!”

“Miss!” Wu Wei looked at the charming smile on Shang Wuxin’s face and her tears abruptly flowed down. This was the young lady she worked for. People only saw her as ruthless and fearful, but in her own view, the young lady had led such an exhausting life.

Shang Wuxin beckoned with her hand, her manner dignified and imposing. Wu Wei gazed deeply at the young lady, then dragged the corpse on the ground away from the room. She departed from the mansion that belonged to the young lady of the Shang family, the place anyone wanted to come in, without knowing how empty and dreadful it was inside.

But not long after Wu Wei had left the mansion, she noticed fire spreading within the building, its intensity fearful. Wu Wei stood there watching, tears streaming down her face. Then she dropped to her knees, shouting out “Miss!”

Shang Wuxin was sitting in the room and looking at a photo on the table. The picture showed a little girl’s simple-minded appearance. That was her when she was five years old. It was the only photo of her, because she had never smiled like this ever since.

Everybody knew the Shang family. Whether it was wealth, or influence, they were second to none. But people didn’t know that the Shang family was an ancient martial clan, possessing inner force and martial arts similar to the ones in Wuxia novels. The only difference was, the Shang family weren’t some secret clan, they rather competed for influence within the noisy city.

She, Shang Wuxin, was a child from a branch family. During a clan gathering, it was decided that the Shang clan head would receive her as an adopted daughter. Initially, she was very happy she could enter the clan head’s family, but when her original parents learned of the decision, their complexions had tensed, their faces full of sympathy. Yet they had still let her enter this much admired Shang family’s mansion. She didn’t understand why her parents looked so strange then, but she understood soon afterward.

On her eight birthday, her adoptive father took her from the training ground to hold a birthday party for her, with her parents included. After the party, she was taken to a room by her adoptive father. That was a humiliation she would never be able to forget. She was violated by her supposed adoptive father. She was only a child, the pain, she didn’t know exactly what was happening, but she knew it was shameful. She was yelling for her parents in pain, longing for someone to save her, but her parents turned a deaf ear right outside the door. For their own benefit and standing, they had looked on unfeelingly as they sent their young daughter to a 30 year old man’s bed.

She had turned numb from the extreme pain. Shang Wuxin had suffered many injuries after that day, but they weren’t as painful as that time. Thinking of dying? She had certainly not thought of that. At the time when she had crawled out of the bed dripping with blood, she knew she would kill this adoptive father, she would kill her so-called parents. She wanted to be formidable, to become a demoness whom everyone feared!

It took her five years to learn the Shang clan’s secret martial arts and become a genuine master. She killed her adoptive father splendidly, and captured the entire Shang clan’s power into her own hands. She had made sure her parents were driven away from the family, and with no way out, they had jumped to their deaths. She had transformed into a formidable demoness.

But her heart was as quiet as stagnant water, her body was also slowly drying up. So laughable ah, obviously a youngster, yet her body was drying up. Indeed, it was because once she had started getting stronger, her adoptive father was afraid she would turn into a hindrance one day, and had thus poisoned her. As a result, she simply couldn’t live long, even modern medicine was unable to save her.

Later, she met Du Xingfeng. She was fond of this man, because he was the only man who wasn’t afraid of her. Moreover, he was very adept at inviting her favor. It wasn’t love, but she couldn’t give up his warmth, so they started a secret love affair. Since she wouldn’t be alive for much longer, she had planned to divide the Shang family in half between Du Xingfeng and her subordinate Wu Wei. But unfortunately, reality gave her a slap in the face, mocking her naivety. She was Shang Wuxin (heartless), why would she need a heart (have emotions)?

In fact, Du Xingfeng didn’t know that even if he didn’t kill Shang Wuxin today, she would not live for more than a few months. Yet he ended up like this. Du Xingfeng’s poison was certainly inside her, but he wasn’t aware of her martial arts, so his loss was inevitable. She had never told him, because it hadn’t been necessary. But now it had let her clearly see his true colors. She knew she would die today, and would disappear just like that.

The fire spread around Shang Wuxin, the orange flame complimenting her red dress made for an incomparably desolate picture.

Burn it ba, take all the filth and burn it along with her… Shang Wuxin felt the pain of her own burning skin, seeping through to her tormented heart. Her face showed a beautiful smile, pure like the one she’d had back when she was five…