Chapter 107: What Do You Want?

After dinner, Zhai Muli headed toward the detached building in the back garden. Upon seeing a maid carrying a tray emerge, he frowned and ordered, “Come in with me.”

The maid followed cautiously behind him as they entered through the main door of the building.

Inside the living room, two young maids on duty were whispering to each other.

“Sister Ju’er, who exactly is that woman upstairs? She has such a fierce temper!”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Uncle Shen said she’s a VIP!”

“If she’s a VIP, why is she locked up?”

“Uncle Shen said she’s ill...”

“*Cough, cough, cough*...” The maid with the tray quickly coughed to warn them.

The two young maids turned around, saw Zhai Muli, and their faces went pale. They lowered their heads, too scared to say another word.

Zhai Muli said to the maid behind him, “Tell Old Shen to replace these two.”

The Zhai family did not tolerate gossipy servants!

The maid nodded in agreement.

The two young maids whimpered quietly, unfortunate to have caught the wrong attention.

Zhai Muli ascended to the second floor and stopped at the bedroom door. Just as he was about to knock, he heard rustling sounds from inside.

He immediately pushed the door open and saw Bai Luomei sitting on the windowsill, one leg already dangling out, clutching the curtain as if preparing to jump out.

Zhai Muli’s face darkened. “Are you trying to end your life?”

Bai Luomei’s body had not fully recovered, and she had not eaten all day. Jumping from the second floor was almost a sure way to kill herself.

“Do you really think I expect you to just let me go?” Bai Luomei’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

It was impossible for her to willingly become a prisoner.

Zhai Muli sneered coldly, “Even if I let you go now, do you think Nangong Ao will still trust you after the trouble you caused? Do you think you can return to his side?”

Without hesitation, Bai Luomei replied, “That’s none of your concern! My loyalty is crystal clear to my boss. As for my mistakes, I’ll bear the consequences myself.”

Zhai Muli couldn’t help but get angry. “How do you plan to take responsibility? The Mo family mansion was bombed. Even if the guests are unharmed, the Mo family will never let the culprit off. Don’t forget, the Mo family’s eldest and second masters are political heavyweights in the imperial city. You think a few years in prison will settle this?

You’re Nangong Ao’s subordinate; he won’t escape blame either!”

That last sentence was exactly what Bai Luomei feared most. She wasn’t afraid Nangong Ao wouldn’t trust her; she was terrified of bringing trouble to the Nangong family.

“What do you want?” Bai Luomei looked at Zhai Muli coldly.

Now that he had leverage over her, given the enmity between him and Nangong Ao, it was only natural he would seize the opportunity to strike.

Zhai Muli was momentarily speechless. He, too, wanted to know what exactly he should do.

As Bai Luomei said, this was the perfect chance to deal a blow to Nangong Ao. What was there to hesitate about?

But if he pushed this woman out, she might take extreme measures to avoid causing trouble for Nangong Ao. After all, her loyalty to him was unwavering; she might even be willing to die.

The thought ignited a strange fury within Zhai Muli, yet he smiled coldly, “I’m a businessman—I love making deals. You have two choices: either save yourself or save Nangong Ao.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you stay here, Nangong Ao will be safe; if you go back, he’ll have to take the blame.”

Bai Luomei looked at him, puzzled.

Why was he giving her a choice? She understood the second option but what about the first?

Why keep her here? Was it to hold her as a bargaining chip against Nangong Ao later? Or simply to torment her?

Seeing her confusion, Zhai Muli didn’t explain but asked, “What’s your choice?”

What choice did Bai Luomei have? Naturally, she answered, “I’ll stay.”

Then she added, “If you trust me.”

Bai Luomei was no pushover; keeping her would come at a price.

Zhai Muli was unfazed. “I trust you won’t try jumping out the window or scaling the walls again. After all, if you cripple yourself, you’ll have to rely on your brother to support you.”

At that, Bai Luomei’s eyes widened fiercely. “Try touching him and see what happens!”

Zhai Muli chuckled quietly. It seemed Bai Luomei’s weakness was indeed her brother.

“Don’t worry. I, Zhai Muli, always treat people with respect—so long as they cooperate.”

Bai Luomei watched him smirk and wished she could rip the curtain down and throw it over his head.

Zhai Muli enjoyed seeing her angry and helpless.

“First, eat your meal. I don’t want to support a patient in my house!”

With that, he knocked on the doorframe, and the maid brought in the reheated dishes, placing them on the bedroom’s tea table.

Zhai Muli glanced over the food: five dishes and one soup—a decent standard of hospitality.

“You’d better finish it all. The Zhai family doesn’t tolerate food waste!”

Leaving those words behind, he turned and left the room.

Bai Luomei reluctantly climbed down from the windowsill and slowly moved toward the table, eyeing the food. There was no way she could finish so many dishes.

“Next time, just two dishes and one soup will do,” she instructed the maid.

The maid respectfully replied, “Yes, ma’am.”

Having not eaten all day, Bai Luomei was already dizzy and weak. Yet after a few bites, nausea overwhelmed her.

It was an unavoidable side effect of the forced awakening from hypnosis.

To this day, she had no way to contact Nangong Ao and no knowledge of the situation outside. What troubled her most was the person who had hypnotized her.

Now, the Mu family, capable of effortlessly manipulating others’ minds, had appeared in the imperial city—and stood in opposition to the Nangong family.

Bai Luomei couldn’t send this warning to Nangong Ao and didn’t expect Zhai Muli to kindly do it for her.

After the maid cleared away the leftover food, Bai Luomei retrieved a small tracking device from the heel of her high-heeled shoe.

It was undamaged. The reason she couldn’t send signals must be because this place had equipment blocking transmissions.

She cursed Zhai Muli silently hundreds of times, unaware that a concealed camera was operating nearby on the windowsill.

That surveillance was linked only to Zhai Muli’s phone and computer.

Though reluctant, he wasn’t sure Bai Luomei would obediently stay, so he took a quick peek.

The maid was remaking the bed linens while Bai Luomei, freshly bathed, stepped out of the bathroom.

She wore a white bathrobe, her waist-length hair half-dried and flowing behind her. Her snow-white skin, just warmed by hot water, glowed faintly pink like a lotus in the snow—exquisitely sensual and enchanting.

The maid was momentarily stunned.

“I’m a light sleeper; I don’t like noise,” Bai Luomei said to her.

The maid snapped back to attention. “Ah, yes, yes. I’ll just stay outside the door.”

With that, she gathered the old sheets and left.

Bai Luomei stared at the night outside for a long moment, then walked to the bed, slipped off her bathrobe, revealing a pale blue silk camisole nightdress. She pulled back the soft covers, lay down, and reached for the remote to turn off the light.