Chapter 33 Madness
This sound came out of nowhere.
In the deadly silence of the stalemate, it acted as a fuse.
Yu Wanyin was startled when she saw who it was.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, realizing she had called the wrong person, and her lips quivered.
Rong Si stared intently at her, his amber pupils reflecting the image of the beautiful white porcelain flower not far away, who had suffered a great injustice.
The Hu general who had just been negotiating with the other side frowned slightly, for some reason he had just felt there was still room for negotiation.
Right now, I feel a chill in my heart.
He saw a visibly hardened expression creep across Rong Si's cold face as he ordered, "Kill them all."
Bandits immediately charged into the Hu people's ranks.
The cold glint of swords swept in under the moonlight.
Yu Wanyin immediately lowered the curtain and hid inside the carriage as if trying to escape.
Her chest heaved violently, and she didn't recover for a long time.
Oh my god.
What did she shout?
How did she get on his bad side again?
Yu Wanyin covered her eyes.
She thought it was her husband's reinforcements, but it turned out to be another pack of wolves and tigers.
For a moment, she couldn't even tell whether the Hu people were more dangerous or he was more dangerous.
Yu Wanyin's mind was still filled with the image of Rong Si, who exuded the murderous aura of a fierce bandit, coldly surveying the entire Hu people's group.
What he was holding in his hand was the head of a barbarian that had just been cut off!
Rong Si threw it away as casually as if he were just tossing away some trash.
He worked as a groom at the Prime Minister's residence for several days, and Yu Wanyin realized that she had actually treated him as a simple groom for quite some time.
This moment felt like a return to several months ago, to seeing him in the bandit camp.
Back then, he was just like he is now, a bandit who dared to get involved in disputes with court officials.
Arresting members of the imperial family and nobles, cutting off their hands and provoking trouble were commonplace for them, not to mention that they possessed a large amount of weaponry and could do whatever they wanted.
The stench of blood permeated the carriage, making her even more tense.
Everything I had just seen became increasingly clear and chilling in my mind.
Yu Wanyin remained huddled in the carriage for a long time, unable to recover her senses.
The sounds of fighting, screaming, and the dull thuds of flesh being torn apart outside the carriage grew increasingly louder and louder.
Each time, it gave her goosebumps all over her body.
Yu Wanyin had to cover her ears to block out some of the screams from outside.
At such a critical moment, life and death are both extremely easy.
The once imposing and lively barbarians were now nothing more than corpses struggling for their lives.
The places ravaged by war are now filled with countless graves.
Yu Wanyin had never experienced life and death so frequently before, so much so that every scream made her body tremble slightly.
It was as if it were roaring right next to her ear.
It's like the wheel of fate turning; you never know when that knife will strike you.
Yu Wanyin closed her eyes, and what she was thinking about right now was...
When Rong Si had just left the capital, she assigned Chu Yu's subordinates to surround and annihilate them.
Although I didn't know it was him at the time.
But later she learned that if he delayed important matters because of his own selfish desires, she didn't regret it.
Suddenly the carriage shook violently.
A Hu man scrambled up in a panic, crying, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! There's a beautiful woman here, I'll offer her to..."
As the barbarian spoke, he lifted the curtain, and almost simultaneously a long sword pierced straight through his chest!
The blood-stained blade appeared at the carriage door before he did.
The Hu man stood frozen in place.
Immediately afterwards, his body was lifted up by the long knife and swiftly thrown off the car!
With a loud crash, a heavy object was thrown down, and a figure stepped onto the front of the vehicle.
Yu Wanyin was horrified; her legs went weak and she couldn't straighten up.
The curtain wasn't lifted; it was ripped off.
Rong Si threw the torn curtain on the ground, staring intently at her, a long, blood-stained knife in his hand.
He walked into the carriage from the outside, each step making the wooden planks creak and groan, as if he could crush someone's bones with each step.
Rong Si stepped over the blood-soaked ground and said, "Long time no see."
"The Prime Minister's wife."
The stench of blood and the scent of wild grass wafted towards us.
Yu Wanyin was speechless.
The light and shadows before her eyes dimmed, and a huge cloak enveloped her.
Immediately afterward, Rong Si took out a bundle of rope. Yu Wanyin looked at the rope warily, "You..."
Rong Si watched her expression and tied her hands. "Madam just killed someone. If I don't tie you up, I might be the next one to be killed."
Rong Si's voice was deep and husky, "It's not like the Madam hasn't done this kind of thing before."
Yu Wanyin's mind was tense, "You know..."
She had only uttered a few words when her voice abruptly stopped.
"Know what?" Rong Si looked her over. "You should remember what you did."
Yu Wanyin choked up.
On one hand, he was terrified because he deliberately brought up the matter of her sending troops to besiege him.
On one hand, he felt a chill run down his spine because of the profound meaning behind the word "Madam".
She couldn't tell if his words were an attempt to force himself on her or revenge.
But upon closer examination, these two things are not contradictory.
Yu Wanyin bit her lip, realizing that she looked as if she had been forcibly abducted by Rong Si.
She had long since lost the strength to resist.
When they were led out of the carriage, the sky outside was already beginning to lighten.
After a night of chaotic fighting, corpses littered the ground, and the slaughter left no barbarian survivors.
The smell of blood was stronger than the smell in the carriage earlier.
It's like a hellish, blood-soaked city.
Rong Si stepped over the corpses and left, as if stepping on some kind of stepping stone.
As before, he placed her in front of him and tied her to his waist.
Yu Wanyin watched nervously as he wrapped the rope around her body again and again, probably wanting to get away from him and not be so tightly bound. Her whole body was stiff and tense.
Rong Si noticed her subtle movements and suddenly exerted force without making a sound.
The rope suddenly tightened!
Yu Wanyin was pulled backward by the sudden force, and her back pressed against the chest of the man behind her.
The scent of morning dew and fresh grass, unique to him, enveloped her completely.
Yu Wanyin had to hold her breath, but this act of holding her breath made the heartbeat of the man behind her even clearer.
He rammed into her hard, one blow after another.
Yu Wanyin showed a hint of barely perceptible panic.
In contrast, Rong Si was remarkably calm and composed.
Qing Song was hit too hard and hadn't woken up yet. He was taken away in a carriage.
On the other side, A-Zheng kicked aside the Hu soldiers blocking her way and breathed a sigh of relief.
She happened to walk up to Yu Wanyin's horse. "You startled me. I thought I had gone too far to run into your husband."
The word "husband" felt hot.
Especially after she called the wrong person.
Yu Wanyin felt embarrassed, and the presence of the man behind her became even stronger.
She then realized that Ah Zheng had no idea who her real husband was; Ah Zheng had only ever met Rong Si.
How could she have thought that A-Zheng was going to bring her to see Chu Yu?
She was so anxious she was practically frantic.
Ah Zheng laughed and said, "Now you can rest assured."
Yu Wanyin became even more worried.
She wanted to cry, but couldn't.
Seeing that Yu Wanyin's expression wasn't much better than before, Azheng felt a pang of sympathy. "Madam must have been terrified."
Rong Si acted as if he hadn't heard anything, handling the reins and horse-riding equipment in his hands.
He would only occasionally glance down at the reactions of the people in front of him.
Zong Cheng called to her, "Little devil, over here."
"Hey, here I am." Azheng ran over.
After A-Zheng left, Rong Si lowered his head slightly and asked, "Who scared you?"
As soon as he spoke, Yu Wanyin trembled. "Nobody."
Rong Si's voice was low and gloomy, "Feeling guilty?"
She could feel the burning heat, which made her ears turn red. "No."
Rong Si hesitated for a moment, then urged his horse on.
Yu Wanyin was jolted and instinctively grabbed onto something sturdy to steady herself.
When I came to my senses, I realized that I was holding onto his leg.
Yu Wanyin felt a burning sensation in her palm, and the bulging muscles of the man beneath her hand caused her body to undulate.
Yu Wanyin hurriedly withdrew her hand.
This time was not much better than the last time he took her back to the bandit camp.
It's even worse now.
This was another instance of her being caught by him after she had offended him repeatedly.
The bandits looted the Hu people's armor, weapons, and some valuable items, and then set off back to their camp.
The campsite is some distance from here.
After traveling for more than an hour, we arrived at the encampment.
They changed to another vehicle and left the camp, heading to a nearby old village.
Yu Wanyin was shoved into the car by Rong Si.
But he didn't leave.
Being alone in a room with him all of a man and a woman so suddenly made Yu Wanyin very nervous.
She kept a wary distance from him, watching Rong Si prepare a basin of water and soak a clean handkerchief in it, busy with something on his own.
Yu Wanyin's hands were still bound by him and hadn't been loosened. After a long while, she finally couldn't help but speak up, "How long are you going to keep me tied up?"
“Madam, this doesn’t sound like the attitude of a prisoner. Anyone who didn’t know better would think I’d brought back a patriarch.” Rong Si tapped the basin of water beside him lightly. “Come here.”
He used the word "grab," not "rescue."
Yu Wanyin turned her head away, unwilling to cooperate.
Rong Si stared at her for a while, exuding a sense of pressure.
Then he got up and walked straight toward her.
The shadow loomed over her, completely enveloping her figure.
Yu Wanyin was still scared, so she shifted her body slightly, and was immediately pulled away by his large hand.
It naturally rested on my lap.
This overwhelming force made Yu Wanyin feel like a helpless little chick in front of him.
Rong Si was tall, and even so, he was still much taller than her.
His large hand gripped her waist, like an impenetrable wall binding her.
There is nowhere to escape.
Yu Wanyin was on edge, her bound hands instinctively protecting her body.
Rong Si completely ignored her reaction, scooped the handkerchief out of the water, wrung it out, and casually covered her dirty face with it.
She made herself look like a little kitten.
A layer of cool, damp water droplets soaked into Yu Wanyin's face, forcing her tense nerves to relax.
Then he passively wiped the dust and blood off her face.
His movements were not gentle; they even involved a bit of brute force.
Wipe away any dirt you see.
They changed the water and continued.
After wiping his face and neck clean, his hands were blocked by the bound, fair arms.
Rong Si looked up and met her wet and nervous expression.
He lowered his eyes, casually grabbed her slender arms, and wiped away the dried blood from her hands.
In the end, I ended up rubbing a lot of blood off the person.
Yu Wanyin remained silent.
Her body would tremble uncontrollably if he touched some sensitive areas.
She wasn't actually this sensitive before.
It seems that she was molded into this state by Chu Yu after she married him.
He acted erratically in bed, deliberately provoking all her emotions, calming her when she was tense, and attacking her when she was relaxed.
Over time, she became sensitive to everything she touched.
She tries to predict his next move, but she's often wrong.
The more wrong she guesses, the more sensitive she becomes next time.
She remained silent because she dared not let the man in front of her know.
Rong Si didn't know why, but she was fine when wiping her face, but when she wiped her hands, she started shaking.
The inside of the wrist shakes, and the forearm also shakes.
It wasn't until Rong Si noticed that the red marks on her slender arms hadn't faded and were even starting to turn blue that he realized he might have used too much force.
He frowned, gaining a new appreciation for her spoiled nature.
He weighed his bound hands in his hand.
She is more well-proportioned than when I saw her in Jiangling.
It's clear that Chu Yu takes raising people very seriously.
No wonder she showed favoritism so quickly.
Rong Si watched coldly, then casually untied the ropes and wiped away the bloodstains hidden inside.
But his thumb pressed against the bruised area, and he began to rub away the blood clots, intentionally or unintentionally.
Yu Wanyin didn't know why he suddenly started rubbing. The man's fingertips had thin calluses and were rough. It didn't hurt there, but the more he touched it, the more intense the itching became.
Yu Wanyin couldn't help but say, "Stop rubbing."
Rong Si snapped out of his daze, his tone extremely provocative, "What, did Chu Yu also rub you like this?"
That's a rather arrogant and blunt statement.
Yu Wanyin began to feel swollen all over.
She retorted, "He's my husband, so it's perfectly reasonable for him to do anything with me."
Rong Si's tone was arrogant and unrestrained, "What kind of husband is he to you?"
"Yu Wanyin, you've only gone through the betrothal ceremony, and there's no marriage certificate yet. What proof do you have that he's your husband?"
Yu Wanyin was slightly taken aback.
They do not have a marriage certificate.
Before they could register their marriage at the Civil Affairs Bureau after the wedding, the bureau was burned down.
Their matter is temporarily put on hold.
Without a marriage certificate, marriage is not legally recognized.
However, in many places, this is not a concern; once the formalities are completed, the couple is considered husband and wife.
However, it will be more troublesome to investigate the other matters that are involved later.
Wealthy families all needed to register their marriages with the local officials.
She hadn't thought that much about it, figuring that getting her file in was just a matter of time.
But I never expected that bandits would take advantage of this loophole.
Yu Wanyin watched him approach with a flustered and confused expression.
"Do you think that once the formalities are over, he's your husband?" Rong Si said quietly. "But we're still missing that formality."
Yu Wanyin's breathing was disordered, and she could tell what he was planning to do. "You dare?"
Rong Si's heart sank even more at her reaction. "That's not what you said back then."
She said she would marry him no matter what.
Marrying Chu Yu was out of necessity.
"It hasn't been long, and you're already trying to kill me for Chu Yu's sake, and you're doing it so reluctantly again."
On what grounds?
Yu Wanyin's lips tightened, and when he brought up that matter again, her attitude hardened, "In the outskirts of Shang'an, I didn't know that the bandits outside were you."
"The relocation of the capital is imminent, and delaying it even by one day will cause great trouble for the entire Shang'an City and even Yingzhou."
"If you insist on blocking the city gates because of your own selfish desires and ruining everything, what's wrong with killing you?"
"Do you think your individual worth can compare to the people of the city and the future of Yingzhou?"
Rong Si rarely saw her argue so fiercely, but unfortunately, she was saying things like she wanted him dead.
A dark undercurrent swirled in the man's eyes, and a chilling smile curved his lips. "It's a pity I didn't die."
He grabbed Yu Wanyin's wrist. "Yu Wanyin, I think I said that before."
"If you want me dead, you'd better let me die completely, otherwise you should pray you don't fall into my hands."
As soon as he finished speaking, he exerted a little force and pulled the person in front of him.
Yu Wanyin was forced to fall against his chest.
She hurriedly tried to get up, but the man's overwhelming masculine aura pressed down on her.
Yu Wanyin's jaw was grabbed and her lips and teeth were invaded. She opened her eyes wide in shock the moment it happened!
He came at her forcefully and fiercely. She turned her head to avoid him, frantically trying to push him away, but he pressed down on the back of her neck and invaded her even more violently.
The place where she had only ever been intimate with her husband was now being invaded by another stranger.
His attacks were incredibly fierce, leaving his mark and presence with swift sweeping force.
That was the unique scent of grass and trees found only in the mountains and forests.
It has a light scent mixed with lemongrass.
Yu Wanyin was extremely conservative when it came to such matters.
She simply couldn't accept the thrill of changing men so quickly.
She didn't know where she got the strength, but she pushed him away forcefully!
Then he slapped her.
A sharp, crisp "snap" sounded.
The entire carriage fell silent.
Yu Wanyin belatedly realized that she had used too much force.
My palms started to feel numb.
Rong Si's head tilted slightly from the blow, and the brief silence made Yu Wanyin's heart leap into her throat.
She didn't know how she would be treated because of that slap, and hurriedly moved back.
A moment later, Rong Si let out a cold laugh.
He raised his hand to lightly wipe the corner of his lips, cleansing away the beauty's saliva, and then picked up the rope again and walked towards her. "These hands still need to be tied up."
Yu Wanyin was cornered by him with nowhere to hide, and his hands were tied.
Rong Si slowly pressed down on her hand, wrapping it around her hand in circles. "You choose."
“Either marry me and repay the marriage you owe me,” he said, staring intently into her eyes like a lurking wolf or tiger, “or I will use my own methods to avenge the grudge you inflicted on me in the suburbs of Shang’an City.”
He wanted her to answer right now, "Which one do you choose?"
They all seem to be the same.
But Yu Wanyin had seen his methods of retaliation before, such as the son of Qi Zhong, who was left with severed limbs and broken walls in the Jiangling bandit camp, the old woman Lai who was shot to death, Chu Yu who was seriously injured in the melee in the suburbs, and the sea of corpses and blood outside just now.
"If you don't choose, then I will..."
"I choose." Yu Wanyin interrupted him. She could tell whether it was more important for her to choose or for him to choose. "I agree to marry you."
Rong Si observed her for a while, trying to determine whether her words were true or false.
But he wasn't concerned with whether it was true or false, and simply said casually, "If you lie to me again, I'll choose for you."
Yu Wanyin felt that getting married was just another way of getting revenge.
He will definitely bully her.
You could tell how much resentment he was suppressing from that forceful kiss.
She had never imagined that a kiss could be so aggressive and destructive.
It felt like it could pry her whole body open.
Someone called him from outside the car.
Rong Si responded with a deep voice, then casually pulled the bedding out of the carriage without saying a word and got out of the carriage.
Yu Wanyin lowered her eyes. Although he didn't say anything, she could roughly understand what he meant by looking at the blankets he had pulled over.
The bedding was all new, clean and tidy, and had the familiar smell of sun-dried vegetables.
It's an implication that she can rest here.
Soon after Rong Si left, someone else came up to deliver things.
The bandit had seen Yu Wanyin in the village before, and was quite surprised to see her wrists tied up by their lord. "Hey, what are you doing, lord?"
He finally found a wife, but then he tied her up with him.
What a rough and uncouth man, he has no sense of tenderness or consideration for women.
The bandit hesitated for a moment, then quietly stepped forward. "I'll untie you. Have something to eat first, and I'll tie you up again before I leave."
Although he wouldn't dare to make the decision on his own, it should be alright to secretly make an exception.
Yu Wanyin was a little wary because of his nice attitude.
Logically speaking, if they knew she was Chu Yu's wife and knew her identity...
Knowing that the brawl in the outskirts of Beijing was related to her, she couldn't be so friendly.
But the bandit soldier truly had no other ill intentions; on the contrary, he warmly placed the food on the table and helped Yu Wanyin untie the ropes.
Yu Wanyin looked at him for a while, "You knew I was here?"
"I don't know." The bandit blinked. "We came here to rob the Hu people, but we didn't expect to rob you instead."
"We heard that you were kidnapped while shopping with our lord, and we were very worried."
"Our lord is stubborn; he wouldn't even let the wedding banners be taken down until he found you." The bandit soldier seemed to have opened a floodgate of words. "Luckily, we found you."
He placed the bowl and chopsticks in front of Yu Wanyin.
I served her a bowl of fish porridge.
Yu Wanyin listened to their tone of voice.
It seems that Rong Si did not tell them her identity.
It seems they don't intend to bring it up again.
"Who kidnapped you earlier?"
Yu Wanyin remained silent.
Seeing this, the bandit thought it was probably a sad story, so he simply didn't mention it. "It's nothing, it's all in the past."
“We went to Shang’an before, but we didn’t see you.”
Yu Wanyin looked at him, "You're going to Shang'an..."
"It's not that the barbarians are about to invade; they're actually just going to test the waters," the bandit soldier said in detail. "You have no idea, our lord almost didn't make it back."
Yu Wanyin knew, but she still pretended not to know and asked, "What's wrong?"
The bandit soldier was furious as he spoke, "But this is our personal grudge, you can just listen to it for fun."
"We fought the Prime Minister's mansion to a draw. When we heard that the Northern Chi were invading, we thought that dealing with the external enemy was the priority and prepared to evacuate. But then that corrupt official Chu Yu turned around and launched a surprise attack."
"Without thinking twice, they set a trap for our lord. Luckily, our lord is lucky."
Yu Wanyin sensed something was amiss with these words. "The Prime Minister... Chu Yu already knows about the Northern Chi invasion. Hasn't he prioritized peace talks and discussed the evacuation with you?"
"What nonsense about peace talks? We understand the principle of prioritizing important matters better than those corrupt officials. We were ready to withdraw and didn't need them to negotiate, but they came up here and wanted our lord's life."
"What do you mean? Whoever takes the lord's life will be rewarded."
Yu Wanyin was somewhat incredulous, but she vaguely realized where the problem lay: "How much reward?"
"I don't know the specifics, but we did seize a box of purple pearls."
Yu Wanyin suddenly realized.
The bandits, in a fit of anger, began to hurl insults at each other.
The bandits on their way outside knocked on the door and reminded her, "Don't tell the Queen these messy things."
"I understand. This is because I treat the Queen as one of my own, so I didn't hug her."
Yu Wanyin finished her meal absentmindedly.
They then retreated.
Before leaving, the bandits hesitated for a moment, but still did not tie Yu Wanyin up and take her back.
If the lord can tacitly allow them to serve, then he can also tacitly allow them to be untied.
Yu Wanyin's feelings were complicated.
I never expected that the officials in Shang'an would be so outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant.
The message was relayed through two layers of communication, and it became that she wanted to directly take the bandits' lives.
If it's passed up two more levels, it becomes a story of insatiable greed, where bandits profit at the expense of others and commit murder.
No wonder she felt she was not wrong, and no wonder Rong Si was so magnanimous.
Yu Wanyin sat stiffly inside the carriage for a while.
After all, she hadn't slept for a day and a night, and finally couldn't resist crawling into bed.
Well, things have already turned out this way.
You can't afford to make things difficult for yourself, no matter who else you are.
*
After resting, the team is ready to set off.
Rong Si walked to the front of the group, mounted his horse, and swung himself onto the ground.
Zong Cheng asked, "How is he?"
"He's quite energetic." He can even hit people.
Zong Cheng sighed, "I never expected to run into her here."
Initially, they split into three groups, following the three routes that the Hu people might take.
Zong Cheng led the way to Chu Yu's side.
They were dispatched all the way to Shuping along the road outside Qinggupo to keep an eye on the Hu people so as not to ruin the relocation process.
Rong Si's journey was reported by scouts who said that the Hu people had inexplicably added another batch of reinforcements and were lying in wait outside Qinggupo. This position was in the middle of Shu Ping and Chu Yu's troops, allowing for both offense and defense.
Rong Si's arrival with his troops and his unexpected encounter with Yu Wanyin was actually an accident.
She came out covered in blood, her hair disheveled, and she looked terrified and aggrieved, calling for help.
Rong Si only wanted to kill.
The fact that he was calling out "husband" made him even more eager to kill.
He couldn't tell whether his feelings for Chu Yu's wife were mixed in.
He just wanted to kill all those barbarians, then snatch her away and tell her who her husband should be.
He felt that being a bandit was a bit despicable.
He was being plotted against to the brink of death, yet he still harbored thoughts of his enemy's woman.
At first, he thought of one revenge trick after another, but now Rong Si even felt that her reasons for plotting to surround and kill him were both open and sufficient.
She did it for the sake of the people and the clearing of Yingzhou, not for the sake of Chu Yu.
Rong Si was so angry he almost laughed.
He was like a madman, listening to her say that compared to the people of the city and the future of Yingzhou, he was nothing at all.
For a fleeting moment, he actually felt that it was right.
A strange longing overwhelmed the resentment.
In chaotic times, the desire to be pitied and redeemed is the nature of people suffering.
He felt that Chu Yu shouldn't have it, and he also wanted this bright moon.
I forced her to take the photo of me alone.
He had never wanted her more than he did now.
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