Chapter 43 All a scoundrel needs to do is kiss the other person, not let go, not give in…

She stared intently at Li Chengyi's thin lips, her gaze so intense that Li Chengyi opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his eyes, he was met with Lin Yanshu staring at him with a look of intense curiosity—or rather, staring at his mouth.

Lee Seung-ik reflexively licked his lips, which became moistened by saliva.

Li Chengyi's breath hitched when Lin Yanshu stared at him, and warm breaths wafted between them.

His fingertips curled unconsciously; he was thinking:

With her staring like that, what if... she kisses me?

What should I do if she kisses me?

Should I push her away? Or remain still? Or take back the initiative?

Lin Yanshu stared at Li Chengyi's tongue movements, then looked up and noticed that Li Chengyi was awake. She curled the corners of her lips into a smile.

"You're awake?"

Li Chengyi gave a muffled "hmm," then asked the question that had been bothering him:

"Yanshu, what were you looking at just now?"

Lin Yanshu, without any reservations, said, "I'm looking at your mouth."

"Why...why are you looking at it?"

"Hmm, I was thinking that Ah Zhao's lips are so thin, but when she's with someone she loves, they can make it hard for you to breathe."

A surge of anger rose within Li Chengyi from his lower abdomen. He had truly brought trouble upon himself. Knowing full well what kind of person Lin Yanshu was, he still chose to provoke him.

Li Chengyi felt a tingling sensation in his heart, like a lotus flower being gently touched by a gardener.

Lin Yanshu suddenly realized that her words seemed... somewhat presumptuous. If Li Chengyi hadn't confessed his feelings to her before, she could have said whatever she wanted without restraint.

But now, Ah Zhao likes her, and she says this as if she likes him too.

"Ah Zhao, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Why?"

"ah?"

"Why pretend you never said it?"

Lin Yanshu said somewhat shyly:

"Hmm... it doesn't seem appropriate to talk to someone who likes me like this."

"It's like, I like the other person too."

"So you're going to hide something from me just because I like you?"

“But Gu Mingming always speaks freely with Yan Shu, without even hiding his feelings.”

Li Chengyi's words were like a drug, bewitching and seducing Lin Yanshu, making it impossible for her to think.

She seems to have really let Li Chengyi down and betrayed his feelings.

Lin Yanshu was bewildered.

Looking at Lin Yanshu's expression, Li Chengyi's slight displeasure at Lin Yanshu's desire to distance herself from him was easily swept away.

Why did he have to kill Lin Yanshu? She was just a clueless fool who fell into his trap with just a little coaxing.

Just like now.

“But we’re not husband and wife, we shouldn’t be able to talk about everything.”

“We weren’t husband and wife before, but Yan Shu told me everything.”

Li Chengyi patiently guided him:

"If Yan Shu distances herself from me because I love you, I will be heartbroken."

Li Chengyi's face showed sorrow, but his eyes were full of cunning as he stared at Lin Yanshu.

Play the victim.

Lin Yanshu couldn't stand this approach; she pondered it but to no avail.

"I understand, I will change."

“Tell Ah Zhao everything.”

"Hmm, good girl."

"Besides that question, is there anything else you want to ask, Yan Shu?"

That question... that question of how to kiss someone until they can't breathe.

Lin Yanshu blushed instantly. She had only asked the question casually, but who knew that Li Chengyi would actually answer it.

"No...that's all."

Li Chengyi deliberately teased Lin Yanshu, and he said slowly:

"Just kiss them, don't let go, give them no room to maneuver, and slowly bite them..."

Li Chengyi acted as usual, but Lin Yanshu felt increasingly parched.

What are all these things?

Lin Yanshu bit her lip and looked away.

Li Chengyi noticed that she was distracted, but he deliberately did not do as she wished!

Li Chengyi's tone was seductive:

"Yan Shu doesn't believe it? Would you like to test it?"

Lin Yanshu suddenly looked up, her eyes wide, and shook her head:

"you……"

Seeing Li Chengyi laughing so freely, she realized he was deliberately teasing her.

She said angrily, "I don't want to!"

"Ah Zhao, you filthy scoundrel."

Li Chengyi licked his lips. In the past, people praised him as a gentleman, but suddenly he was being called a hooligan.

It feels...it feels pretty good.

Li Chengyi stopped teasing Lin Yanshu; if he angered the little rabbit, she would be bitten until she bled.

…………

After drinking the medicine prepared by Lin Yanshu, the witness's condition improved, and he immediately set off, traveling day and night.

Lee Seung-ik has gathered all the evidence in the corruption case.

But fearing that his actions might alert the enemy, he asked his aunt to invite everyone together under the guise of a banquet.

Especially Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen didn't want to attend, but Xie Ciyan told him that going too far in avoiding suspicion would attract attention.

Xiao Chen went there, but he saw the Grand Commander on the field.

Halfway through the banquet, Li Chengyi stepped forward:

"Father, I have a gift to present."

The emperor granted permission.

Lee Seung-ik clapped his hands, and the witnesses and a host of physical evidence were brought in.

"Previously, I went out to investigate the case of embezzlement of military rations, but to no avail. Now the truth of the case has been revealed."

The accounts of everyone were presented to the emperor, including who was involved and who was in charge of which checkpoint.

The witnesses below the stage, barely holding their breath, stared at the Grand Commander whose face showed signs of panic:

"Your Majesty, I witnessed the Grand Commander's corruption in the military camp years ago, but I was too lowly to expose it."

"But this man embezzled military rations, causing his comrades in the camp to die due to food shortages. His actions are despicable!"

"All evidence has been submitted; we implore Your Majesty to punish them severely!"

The emperor looked at the cases in his hands. These people were sucking the blood of the people and deceiving him, the emperor. Did they even respect him, the Son of Heaven?

“Father, the Grand Commander is just one of them. The embezzlement of military rations has been going on for years. The current ringleader is the princess’s husband, Xiao Chen.”

Xiao Chen raised his eyes slightly. He knew that since Li Chengyi had made it clear in public, he must have sufficient evidence.

The emperor looked at Xiao Chen, expecting to see him looking anxious and uneasy, but Xiao Chen calmly drank his tea.

"Prince Consort, aren't you going to say something?"

Xiao Chen calmly stood up, walked forward, and without bowing, said:

"I admit it. What does Your Majesty want to hear me say?"

Li Chengyi knew that Xiao Chen was no ordinary person, but his calm demeanor after the scandal broke was unusual.

Li Chengyi frowned, becoming more wary.

Xiao Chen was unaware of what the others were thinking; in fact, they didn't need to be so wary.

He had anticipated this outcome from the beginning. Although the emperor was useless, the crown prince, Li Chengyi, was exceptionally capable.

But he hadn't yet gotten what he wanted: to kill this hypocritical emperor with his own hands.

The emperor, seeing Xiao Chen's disrespectful attitude towards a criminal, showed a hint of anger on his face.

"How dare you! As the son-in-law of the emperor, you have committed such a heinous crime!"

"I have always believed that Princess Yi treated you well, yet you repay kindness with enmity."

Xiao Chen sneered:

"You old codger, you want to know why I act this way."

“I’ll tell you.”

"Because you are a tyrannical ruler who is blinded by lust and accomplishes nothing."

"Sitting in a high position, you only seek pleasure. When you get old, you start to work hard, but you have no imperial talent at all. Even when you do things, you do them terribly."

"You are not worthy to be emperor. Oh, no, you are not even worthy to be human!"

No one expected that Xiao Chen would point his finger at the emperor and berate him.

For a moment, no one spoke. Everyone was waiting to see the emperor's expression.

The emperor was so enraged that his veins bulged. He slammed his hand on the table and roared:

"How dare you!"

Xiao Chen chuckled coldly a few times:

"Why wouldn't you dare? When you went south to seek pleasure and abandoned my mother, did you ever think that one day someone would point their finger at you and curse you?"

The emperor was taken aback. Years ago, when he went south, he did have a brief affair in Jiangnan.

However, he only regarded it as a beautiful story he told outside the palace, so why did Xiao Chen mention it?

"What, you've slept with too many women and can't remember them?"

The emperor narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Xiao Chen's face, which overlapped with the blurry face in his memory.

Could he be...? How could that be? He even married his daughter to him.

The emperor tremblingly reached out his hand to him:

"Come here, let me see you."

Xiao Chen looked at the emperor on the platform, but remained silent.

Those around had a pretty good idea: His Majesty was probably being soft-hearted towards his own flesh and blood. If it really were a prince, how could he possibly be imprisoned and branded?

Xiao Chen finally got up and squatted down in front of the emperor's table. He looked at the other person with cold eyes.

The emperor felt uneasy under the gaze of those eyes, and the face seemed all the more familiar to him.

This is his son, his royal son, who has simply made a mistake.

The emperor finally remembered the face of the woman he had a brief affair with, and for a moment, he felt a fatherly affection for her.

He reached out his hand, his expression softening considerably, and touched Xiao Chen:

"You do look somewhat like your mother."

Before the emperor's hand could even touch Xiao Chen, he drew a dagger from his waist and slashed at the emperor.

He was aiming for a fatal blow, but the old man, though old, was terribly afraid of dying.

The moment the emperor was blinded by the silver light on the back of the knife, he quickly pulled back, but Xiao Chen still managed to cut off one of his fingers.

Seeing this, Li Chengyi quickly stepped forward, snatched the dagger from Xiao Chen's hand, and dislocated his arm. Li Chengyi then plunged the dagger into Xiao Chen's chest.

He swiftly drew his sword, intending to strike Li Chengyi again, but the emperor, clutching his wound and looking at his two sons before him, hurriedly cried out:

"Don't kill him."

Li Chengyi turned around and looked at his father, the emperor. He put away his sword and ordered someone to stop the emperor's wound.

Everyone was startled by this turn of events; who would have thought that an assassination attempt on the emperor would occur?

The emperor entrusted all other matters to Yi Seung-ik:

"Zhao'er, your father is getting old."

After being assassinated by his own son, the emperor began to reflect on what he had done wrong.

Li Chengyi obeyed the order and ordered his men to subdue Xiao Chen.

Lin Yanshu was too far away to see clearly.

She was only able to approach after the emperor left. She rushed to Li Chengyi, grabbed his arm, and spun him around.

He asked with concern:

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Li Chengyi let Lin Yanshu do as he pleased, looked himself over thoroughly, and then spoke:

"I'm fine."

Lin Yanshu stared at the blood on his clothes.

"This blood is not mine."

Lin Yanshu breathed a sigh of relief, took out a handkerchief, grasped Li Chengyi's wrist, and wiped away the blood from his palm.

Li Chengyi remained still, looking down as Lin Yanshu gently wiped his hands.

After making sure there was no blood on Li Chengyi's palm, Lin Yanshu put away the handkerchief.

Li Chengyi looked at Lin Yanshu's small hand, which was pressed in his palm. It was fair, clean, and smelled sweet.

"Yan Shu is really good."

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Author's Note: Extra chapter tomorrow! I've been completely drained these past few days [hugs]. Get ready for our little sister to awaken and do something big, hahaha!