Chapter 65 I grabbed her ankle and made it all red.

Lin Yanshu cried again. She hid in her room, her eyes swollen from crying. When a servant brought her food, she simply agreed and told him to leave it at the door.

She lay on the couch, burying her head in the blankets, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed. What should she do?

Upon Li Chengyi's return, he was informed by his servants that Lin Yanshu had not eaten all day and had locked himself in his room.

Li Chengyi frowned unhappily, wondering if Lin Yanshu was unhappy because he had forcibly brought her back, or because she was sad because she couldn't see Xie Ciyan.

Li Chengyi strode to Lin Yanshu's courtyard and knocked on the door.

Hearing the noise, Lin Yanshu sobbed and said, "I don't want to eat! Just leave the food at the door!"

Li Chengyi immediately sensed that something was wrong with Lin Yanshu; she started crying.

Why? Because of him? He made Lin Yanshu cry. He opened the door behind him, walked in with a cold face, strode to the side of the bed, grabbed Lin Yanshu, forced her to sit up, and made her look at him at eye level.

Before Lin Yanshu could react, she was suddenly pulled up, her eyes red as she looked at Li Chengyi.

"Why are you crying?"

Lin Yanshu hadn't expected Li Chengyi to suddenly appear and see her in such a disheveled state. She curled up, backing away, trying to escape...

Lin Yanshu is just like that. Just like before, when faced with difficulties that she can't solve at all, she only thinks of retreating and avoiding them.

She thought, "It'll be fine if I just get away from it; it'll be fine in a while; it'll be fine if I just get further away."

Lin Yanshu shifted her body slightly, which Li Chengyi noticed. He leaned closer and questioned Lin Yanshu again, "Why are you crying?"

Lin Yanshu's eyes reflected Li Chengyi's image, her pupils trembled, and she tried hard to suppress her sobs: "No... I didn't cry."

Li Chengyi was so angry he laughed again. He realized that Lin Yanshu could easily make him so angry that he would burst into laughter.

"My eyes are swollen even though I didn't cry."

Li Chengyi gently pressed his fingertip against Lin Yanshu's eye and kissed away the tear that was at the corner of her eye; it tasted salty.

Lin Yanshu pushed Li Chengyi away and stammered, "We... can't do this."

"Ah Zhao, please let me go." You're getting married.

Li Chengyi grabbed Lin Yanshu by the back of the neck and narrowed his eyes. Sure enough, it was for that man; she still wanted to leave him.

"Let you go? Why should I? I finally managed to find you and bring you back."

Would he find her, do all sorts of absurd things with her, and then marry her again to humiliate her like that? Would Li Chengyi be happy to humiliate her like that? Or does he still want to enjoy the bliss of having two wives after marriage?

Didn't he say he liked her?

"If you run away again, I'll lock that Xie guy up, break his legs, and smear his face so he can never seduce you again."

Lin Yanshu was lost in her own thoughts and didn't hear Li Chengyi's words at all. She was so angry at this "humiliation" that she raised her hand and slapped Li Chengyi across the face.

The force was so great that a red mark instantly appeared on Li Chengyi's face. Li Chengyi was stunned. He didn't expect Lin Yanshu to hit him for those words, and for some random man, and hit him so hard.

"You fought me for him?"

"I'll go and kill that Xie fellow right now!"

Before Lin Yanshu could react, upon hearing Li Chengyi mention Xie Ciyan, she grabbed him, preventing him from leaving. She had already implicated Xie Ciyan; she couldn't let him suffer any more.

Li Chengyi looked down at Lin Yanshu's hand that was gripping his, and asked incredulously, "You bowed down to me for him?"

"You...you shouldn't cause trouble for Lord Xie."

"How are you going to beg me? Why should I listen to you with just a few nice words?"

Lin Yanshu looked at Li Chengyi with watery eyes. Although she still had the same sad look on her face, she was now so angry at Li Chengyi's overreaching behavior that she wanted to throw a tantrum, but she couldn't.

What do you want?

Lin Yanshu already had the answer in his heart. Li Chengyi was just thinking the same things: hug him, kiss him…

Before Li Chengyi could speak, Lin Yanshu covered his mouth, almost biting him, and then pushed him off the bed, clearly driven by personal grudges.

The force was so great that Li Chengyi staggered back several steps. When people are extremely angry, they can unleash unlimited potential.

Neither of them was happy; both were suppressing their anger. Their thoughts were almost completely out of sync.

"You're willing to go to this lengths for a man? Does that mean you'll do whatever I say?"

"How could you, how could you do this for such an insignificant person..."

"Succumbing to self-destruction."

Lin Yanshu sneered at Li Chengyi's words. She willingly degraded herself? What about him? He married one outside and kept another at home. Was she as degraded as him? He was the crown prince, and doing such things was even more outrageous and self-degrading.

Lin Yanshu didn't know where her temper came from, but she raised her hand and slapped Li Chengyi across the face.

Clap clap clap.

Lin Yanshu slapped him several times in a row. Li Chengyi, like a vicious wolf, stared at Lin Yanshu and grabbed his wrist. Only then did Lin Yanshu realize what was happening, his palms burning hot from the slaps.

Li Chengyi's face burned, yet he was extremely excited. On one hand, he was jealous because Lin Yanshu hit him for a man, and on the other hand, he felt the pain was real, a tangible reminder that Lin Yanshu was right beside him.

Lin Yanshu's hand hurt from hitting him, and she raised her leg to kick Li Chengyi, but because of the fatigue from last night, her leg was very sore, and she fell onto the couch as soon as she lifted her leg. Li Chengyi quickly went to help her up.

Lin Yanshu cursed, "Get away from me! You're going to curse me again! You're about to marry the Crown Princess, why did you have to drag me back here?"

"I've only slept with you twice at most. Even if I lied to you the first time, didn't you beg for the second time? How could you marry a woman and then keep me trapped here, watching you two be all lovey-dovey?"

Lin Yanshu cried so hard she could barely breathe, and she didn't forget to curse Li Chengyi as shameless and vicious.

Her face flushed red. Li Chengyi lowered his head, somewhat unable to understand what she was saying, and asked, "You don't want to marry me?"

"Who wants to marry you! You've married one woman after another, why would I marry you?"

"I'd rather spend my whole life practicing Buddhism than marry you!"

"Where would I marry one woman after another? I will only marry you, you will be my only Crown Princess."

Lin Yanshu clenched her fist and punched Li Chengyi. Only after she punched him did she realize, "Crown Princess?"

"Whom should I marry?"

"you."

Who is the Crown Princess?

"you."

………………

Lin Yanshu then realized that the person Li Chengyi wanted to marry was her, and that he wanted to make her his legal wife. How could that be possible!

Lin Yanshu stared wide-eyed at Li Chengyi in disbelief. Li Chengyi then realized that Lin Yanshu was making a fuss because of the Crown Princess; she felt she should marry another woman.

Why the commotion? Li Chengyi was actually hoping Lin Yanshu would make a bigger scene over this. This showed she cared about him.

With his face red from the beating, he asked, "If I don't want to marry someone else... then who do I want to marry?"

"How about marrying Yan Shu?"

Lin Yanshu belatedly felt embarrassed and forced a reply: "No."

In the past, Li Chengyi would have angrily questioned Lin Yanshu, but not now. He gleaned a secret from Lin Yanshu's slaps.

With a smile on his face, Li Chengyi pressed Lin Yanshu for answers little by little.

Lin Yanshu sat back on the couch, unconsciously swallowing nervously, and stepped back. Her mind was a complete mess, and she didn't know what to do.

She's too easy to read.

Li Chengyi knelt on the couch, raised his leg, and climbed onto the couch, inching closer. Lin Yanshu had nowhere to retreat, so she tried her best to curl up her limbs and stay as far away from Li Chengyi as possible.

Li Chengyi stared intently at him, then stretched out his hand. Lin Yanshu looked over and saw that Li Chengyi's hand was very beautiful, with distinct knuckles, as clear and cold as jade, and his knuckles were pale white.

Li Chengyi gripped Lin Yanshu's ankle with his fingers, applied a little force, and pulled Lin Yanshu closer. The distance between them instantly shortened, and Lin Yanshu looked up in horror at Li Chengyi's face, which was so close to hers.

The anklets on her feet jingled.

Lin Yanshu's face scrunched up, her brows furrowed, and she uttered a soft cry, "It hurts."

Li Chengyi had been pulling and rubbing her ankle all night. She couldn't take it and wanted to escape, leaving Li Chengyi to deal with it alone, but he grabbed her ankle and twisted it in various ways, until Lin Yanshu's ankle turned red.

Li Chengyi shamelessly kissed him and said, "I made this place all red, it's my fault. I'll give Yanshu a kiss."

Lin Yanshu was so ashamed of Li Chengyi that she almost buried her head in the ground. Now, the pain in her foot is a reminder of that.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Li Chengyi ran his fingers up his calves from his ankles, coaxing him gently: "What if Yan Shu cries again if I don't marry her?"

"I am deeply in love with Yan Shu and wish to be her husband."

"Wouldn't it be good for Yan Shu to be my wife, my Crown Princess?"

Li Chengyi's words were extremely seductive, and coupled with his deep, captivating eyes, they were almost enough to draw people in and make them want to drown in them.

"You...can't..."

Li Chengyi rested his face against Lin Yanshu's palm; his face was still slightly hot from being slapped by her.

"Why not? Does Yan Shu not like me? Or... does she like someone else?"

Lin Yanshu felt she couldn't escape this answer. She tried to pull her hand away, but Li Chengyi held her wrist firmly. She could only slowly say, "No... I don't dislike anything, I like it."

"What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly."

"I like... I like Ah Zhao."

As soon as Lin Yanshu finished speaking, Li Chengyi covered her mouth with his. This time, Li Chengyi was unusually gentle, lightly pecking Lin Yanshu's lips. Lin Yanshu was just about to react and was somewhat intoxicated when Li Chengyi pulled away.

He was panting heavily: "Yan Shu, say it again, who do you like?"

Lin Yanshu's eyes welled up with tears, and she stammered shyly, "I like... I like A-Zhao."

Li Chengyi kissed Lin Yanshu on the cheek again: "Good Yanshu."

Lin Yanshu was flattered by Li Chengyi's praise, but she still made sure to finish her sentence: "But... we can't be together. You are the Crown Prince, and we are worlds apart."

Even if... even if I fall for you and you love me, we are still not a good match. You should find a partner of equal social standing, not me... I know nothing about politics, and I am not proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, or painting.

"Who told you all this?"