Her blurred gaze swept over the audience and locked onto Ye Lan’s face, which wore a smug smile.
Ye Lan was lazily swirling her wine glass, but there was a glint of playful mischief in her eyes.
Those seated closest to the stage could clearly see the ambiguous marks at the base of Mu Xi’s thighs; some whispered among themselves, others stared with greedy eyes.
It was more humiliating than being stark naked.
Such half-concealed exposure only further stoked the onlookers’ imaginations.
“One more set of moves. Mind your expression—make it a bit more alluring.” The dancers continued to guide without mercy, their own movements becoming ever more brazen.
At last, the music swelled to its climax, and the dancers struck their final pose.
Four encircled Mu Xi, while one lifted her arms from behind, forcing her into a tantalizing position for the audience.
The lights turned even more suggestive at that moment.
In the several seconds they froze in place, Mu Xi felt every gaze in the hall focused on her sweat-soaked body.
Amid thunderous applause, Mu Xi bowed mechanically, her legs trembling as she made her way back to the piano.
She took several deep breaths, trying to steady her racing heart, but her fingers still quivered faintly.
“Don’t let me down.” Ye Lan’s voice drifted from the front row, gentle in tone but laced with a hidden threat.
Mu Xi placed her trembling fingers on the keys.
This piece was far more challenging than the last—Ling Yue had once told her that even professional pianists needed to practice it repeatedly before mastering it.
And she, Mu Xi, had never played it through even once.
The first chord rang out, and Mu Xi felt the vibration inside her intensify without warning.
She bit down hard on her lower lip, nearly striking a wrong note.
Instinctively, she looked up and saw Ye Lan toying with that small remote, a provocative smile tugging at her lips.
This was a blatant challenge.
A stubbornness surged from the depths of Mu Xi’s heart.
She had survived far worse than this—she wouldn’t let a mere vibrator break her will.
Closing her eyes, Mu Xi lost herself in the music, as if only by doing so could she withstand the ever-mounting pleasure within her.
Her fingers danced over the black and white keys, precise as a machine, fluid as water—every note perfect.
Ye Lan, sensing Mu Xi’s adjustment, raised the vibration’s intensity.
Mu Xi’s waist arched involuntarily, but her fingers grew even more unruly, playing out a more impassioned melody.
It had become a silent contest: Ye Lan controlling the remote, Mu Xi countering the humiliation with music, the piano’s sound rising and falling between passion and sorrow.
Sweat dripped from Mu Xi’s forehead, soaking her lashes, tracing down her cheek, finally landing on the keys.
She grew dizzy, pleasure and pain tangled together, fueling her desire to perform.
She would prove that even under such torment, her talent could not be tainted.
In the final, climactic passage, Mu Xi’s fingers blurred into afterimages.
The vibration inside her reached its peak, her inner thighs soaked, yet her playing remained flawless.
As the last note faded, the entire banquet hall fell into brief silence, then erupted into unprecedented applause.
Mu Xi rose and bowed to the audience.
Her gaze met Ye Lan’s.
In Ye Lan’s eyes flickered a complex emotion she’d never seen before—
Admiration, possessiveness, and something else indescribable.
In that moment, Mu Xi realized that perhaps, in this twisted game, she was not entirely at a disadvantage.
The next few pieces, Mu Xi accompanied herself as she sang, her body gradually finding a strange sense of balance.
Her fingers flowed smoothly across the keys, her voice rising and falling with the melody, steadier than before.
The tattoo on her lower abdomen rose and fell with every breath, like a living, beating heart.
The vibration inside her had long surpassed what any ordinary person could bear.
Her secret place was drenched, the numbing sensation spreading from the base of her thighs throughout her body, yet it seemed to blend with the music itself.
In a daze, Mu Xi realized her body no longer needed her brain’s command.
It resonated with the notes on its own, her fingers tapping out the melody from memory, her voice flowing with the tune.
In the audience, Ye Lan crossed her legs and tapped the armrest with her fingers, the anticipation in her eyes turning gradually to confusion.
She had expected Mu Xi to lose control in public, to disgrace herself before the crowd and collapse in shame.
That was supposed to be the night’s greatest amusement, yet it never came to pass.
Ye Lan’s gaze grew cold, her breath heavy and quick.
The banquet hall’s lights flickered in her eyes, the ornate murals seemed to warp, the spots of light on the crystal chandelier pricked at her pupils.
“The last piece.” Ye Lan whispered, beckoning a maid by her side.
The maid approached the piano with a silver tray, upon which rested a beautifully wrapped candy.
“Master says your throat must be tired. This is a special Throat Lozenge.”
Mu Xi accepted the candy, her fingers trembling slightly.
Of course she knew this wasn’t a Throat Lozenge, but Chun Medicine.
Having been forced to take it so many times before, she was now all too familiar with its taste.
Placing the candy in her mouth, she tasted the sweet cloying flavor spreading instantly as the drug dissolved.
Mu Xi adjusted her posture, catching Ye Lan’s expectant smile out of the corner of her eye, as the remote was turned up to its highest setting.
The final piece began.
The moment Mu Xi’s fingers touched the keys, two surges of stimulation struck her at once—
The vibrator inside her jumped to an intense frequency, making her legs go weak; the Chun Medicine’s effects hit with blazing speed, heat radiating from her stomach to every part of her body.
Pleasure surged through her like an electric current straight to her brain.
Mu Xi clenched her teeth, sweat beading on her brow.
She tried to focus on the sheet music before her, but found the notes twisting into strange shapes, as if alive and dancing on the page.
‘Hold on…’ Mu Xi chanted inwardly, but she couldn’t withstand the oncoming climax.
Thirty seconds—just thirty seconds, and her body was already completely out of control.
Warm liquid gushed from her secret place, soaking her already thin skirt.
Those close by could clearly see the dark fluid trailing down her slender thighs, dripping onto the stage carpet.
The piano music cut off abruptly.
The venue fell silent—so silent even breathing sounded painfully loud.
Mu Xi felt countless eyes scorching her, with shock, with derision, with barely hidden desire.
Yet to everyone’s surprise, she neither screamed nor ran, nor broke down in tears.
She lifted her head, cheeks flushed, and calmly addressed the audience:
“Sorry, I climaxed.”
Her tone was serene, as if she’d only spilled a glass of water.
The hall erupted.
Some covered their mouths to laugh, some gaped in disbelief, and more had a glint of amazement and some unnamable respect in their eyes.
Mu Xi stood up, her legs quivering from over-stimulation, but her posture remained graceful.
She bowed to the audience, then, step by step, walked with difficulty backstage.
With every step, she left behind a wet footprint, but what lingered was a strange sense of composure and dignity.
Ye Lan stood there in shock, the remote slipping from her hand and hitting the floor with a dull thud.
She watched Mu Xi’s retreating figure, the slender waist outlined by metal chains, the dripping skirt, her expression shifting from shock to something indescribable.
This was not the ending she had planned.
In this moment, who was the true victor was no longer clear.