Chapter 70: The Battle for a Wife
Chu Yu threw down the incense he was holding, and wisps of smoke surrounded the two of them.
Chu Yu walked past him, leaving behind a single sentence: "Bury it."
"Yaoyao and I will remember you in the future."
He was lying.
Yao Yao can't remember him.
In a nearby courtyard, Su Fang waited for a long time but Rong Si did not return.
He paced back and forth for a moment, then gave instructions to his other subordinates before going out to check on the situation at Rongsi.
Su Fang could only vaguely remember the direction Rong Si left in, but he didn't know where they were.
He stood on the desolate street in the evening wind, as if countless eyes were secretly watching him.
However, looking around, he couldn't see anything.
Su Fang felt a sinking unease in his heart. He walked away slowly, only the sound of his own footsteps echoing in his ears.
Apart from that, there was complete silence.
He searched all the way to the backyard and the countryside, but still couldn't find the two people.
The entire suburban forest casts blurry shadows in the dead of night, eerily deep and mysterious.
Su Fang's unease grew stronger.
He quickened his pace, exclaiming, "My lord?!"
No one responded.
Su Fang walked further and further away when suddenly he stepped on something, making a faint sound.
An unusual scent lingered and spread through the cool, damp air.
Su Fang held his breath and moved aside, only then did he see the spices that he had trampled out.
Su Fang frowned, squatted down, and touched the fine incense ash.
It's a sleeping potion!
Almost simultaneously, the intoxicating smoke, carried by the misty forest, slowly spread into the courtyard.
The soldiers on duty slowly sensed something strange emerging from the mist.
Someone said first, "There's something wrong with this fog!"
Everyone became alert and covered their mouths and noses.
The next instant, the sound of sharp swords rang out in the courtyard, and Chu Yu's men launched a series of attacks.
In an instant, swords flashed and shadows danced in the courtyard.
The smoke grew thicker and thicker, filling the surroundings and making it difficult to see the situation clearly; one could only deal with the enemy in front of them.
As the group dispersed the smoke, a new wave of guards emerged from the mist, hindering their progress.
Amidst the chaos.
Chu Yu strolled in from the backyard, walking leisurely as if he were returning to his courtyard as usual, seemingly oblivious to all the entanglements around him. His dark, sinister eyes were fixed on the direction of Yu Wanyin's house.
He walked toward the house where his wife was sleeping.
Yu Wanyin had just taken her medicine and was resting. The medicine had a calming effect, and she was sleeping soundly.
Chu Yu entered silently, his figure blending into the cool moonlight outside, casting only a gentle and upright jade-like silhouette.
He quietly approached Yu Wanyin's bedside.
Yu Runquan, a nobleman, naturally exuded a thin layer of coldness.
It makes even people who are asleep unconsciously curl up.
Chu Yu's gaze had just slowly and brazenly traced every inch of her body.
This was the first time he had completely captivated Yu Wanyin with his gaze since she fell ill, not missing a single strand of her hair.
With a gentle, satisfied smile on his lips, Chu Yu leaned down and lifted the brocade quilt covering Yu Wanyin.
Until she was fully revealed in his eyes.
The person in their sleep seemed somewhat uneasy.
But she could feel the shadow pressing down lower and lower until it completely enveloped her.
Chu Yu completely wrapped Yu Wanyin in his outer robe, lifted her from the bed, and then draped a cloak over her.
He carried her straight out of the house.
In the next house, Qin Yuan was startled awake from a light sleep.
The fog in the air was dizzying, but the sound of swords clashing suddenly jolted Qin Yuan awake.
Qin Yuan sat up abruptly, picked up her sword, and looked out the window.
After watching for a while, she actually felt relieved.
It turned out that two groups of people in the courtyard were fighting.
She thought it was the Northern Chi tribe coming to kidnap her.
Anyway, these two factions don't get along very well on a daily basis; they always put each other down.
It's not uncommon for fights to break out.
They were basically just missing an opportunity to fight and vent their frustrations with each other.
They fought without drawing blood. From the very first day, the two factions established a rule that, even if they were to fight under the same roof and serve the Queen, they could not draw blood.
Stop when you've hit them, stop when you're knocked out.
Therefore, Qin Yuan didn't think it was a big deal.
Qin Yuan was about to go back to sleep when she suddenly caught a glimpse of Chu Yu carrying her out of the main hall.
Qin Yuan paused in closing the window, and when she tried to look closer, her vision was obscured by the thick fog, and she could not see clearly.
Not long after.
A carriage quietly drove out amidst the chaos, piercing through layers of fog.
Throughout, Chu Yu's demeanor was gentle and unhurried.
It didn't seem like stealing someone from the house at all; it was more like he was legitimately taking his sleeping wife away from someone else's supervision.
The spacious carriage was divided into two sections.
Chu Yu placed Yu Wanyin in the bed he had prepared long ago.
On the empty and quiet streets, the carriage suddenly stopped halfway through its journey.
Chu Yu looked outside warily, a silent killing intent rising within him.
Chao Yue looked at the figure that appeared opposite him.
Soon, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Chu Yu emerged from inside the carriage.
He went straight to meet Qin Yuan, who was chasing after him.
Chu Yu had some impression of Qin Yuan.
She appears to be a female bodyguard who follows Rong Si and Yu Wanyin.
Qin Yuan stood in front and said, "If you want to take her away, you can, but take me with you."
Chu Yu found this intriguing, "Why should I bring you along?"
“She bought me these past few months, and I escorted her along the way. Isn’t that what I should do?”
Chu Yu narrowed his dark eyes and commented, "Dishonest."
He retreated back into the carriage and said, "Take care of it."
Upon receiving the order, Chao Yue immediately drew his sword and charged forward.
Qin Yuan blocked with her sword sheath, "Alright, alright..."
Qin Yuan relented, feeling a little awkward, "Consider it something I owe her."
Chu Yu stopped, then turned to look at Qin Yuan seriously, "Why?"
Qin Yuan didn't know those people were fake; it all started because of a woman's comment.
“Yaoyao has had a tough time living away from home all these years.”
"We want to take her home."
Those people spoke with such sincerity, as if it were the truth.
She broke her own rules and didn't ask for any payment.
Looking back now, I'm glad I didn't ask for payment.
Otherwise, she would be no different from an accomplice.
However, it seems that there is indeed no difference now.
Yu Wanyin is sick, and she has a share of the responsibility.
Chu Yu sent men to place Qin Yuan in the carriage behind and ordered her to be interrogated.
Chu Yu returned to the carriage. He pulled off her cloak, but he couldn't bear to take off the clothes he had draped over her.
He wanted to leave his scent all over Yu Wanyin's body.
It would be best if she were covered in his scent from head to toe.
Chu Yu slowly tightened his arms, trapping her in his embrace, his hands sliding over her shoulders and back through her clothes.
She then let the clothes, imbued with the fragrance of sandalwood, touch her most intimate parts.
Having broken free from Rong Si, Chu Yu was able to possess things recklessly behind his back.
Although the methods used were not entirely innocent.
However, Rong Si's methods were not necessarily very orthodox.
Chu Yu recalled the faint, mournful cries he heard on the ship that night.
It was just like her crying when she couldn't handle the bed.
At the time, he thought it was a hallucination caused by his deep longing in his dream.
Now it seems it's true; she was tormented to the point of tears by another man in bed.
I begged.
He rarely treated people roughly in bed, and this person was bullied by such unskilled and barbaric behavior.
Yao Yao must find it hard to bear.
Where is Rong Si worthy of such treatment?
How dare the wild beasts of the mountains tear apart his carefully nurtured flowers?
However, even Chu Yu himself had never heard Yu Wanyin make such a plaintive and soft sound when she was under him.
She rarely made a sound before, unless she was brought to tears by the unpredictable and varied attack techniques.
Therefore, he knows best how to make Yao Yao cry happily.
But Rong Si is not.
Rong Si directly brought her to a point where nothing she said mattered, causing her to tense up and lose control.
Poor Yaoyao.
Chu Yu thought that someone with Yao Yao's personality probably wouldn't find Rong Si's brutality more enjoyable.
But it doesn't matter.
He fell in love with someone else while waiting for him, and he has to get her back.
If that's the case, he will bring Yao Yao into their house.
They brought them into their bedchamber.
They tied their bodies and blindfolded them.
Let Yao Yao guess who's on her.
If you guess wrong, you'll be punished; if you guess right, you'll be rewarded.
But who says punishment and reward can't be one thing?
Their relationship lasted a long time, and he always managed to make Yao Yao unable to experience the pleasure that another man could give her anymore.
Chu Yu's increasingly dark thoughts lurked in his heart, slowly swelling.
Yu Wanyin regained some consciousness after being pressed down by him. Her breathing was slightly disordered, but her mind was still groggy, and she was unable to fully open her eyes.
After Chu Yu noticed, he calmly lowered his head and brushed the stray hairs from her temple, saying, "Don't be afraid."
"I'll take you home."
Yu Wanyin only heard the words "go home" before falling asleep again.
"Wherever Yao Yao wants to go, I can take you."
"Whatever Yao Yao wants, I can give it to you."
There is no need for another man.
Fortunately, Rong Si was already dead.
He will never try to take Yao Yao away from him again.
A grand and magnificent procession of carriages and horses stretched out among the hidden mountains and forests outside the city. Without careful observation, one could easily mistake the carriages and horses for the mountains and forests.
As Chu Yu's carriage moved in and out of the city, they silently emerged one by one from the dense forest.
Gradually, a large and mighty force was formed.
Like snakes coiled and lurking in a dense forest, they quietly emerge when the time is right.
The sound of tire tracks, accompanied by the crunching of grass and trees, sent chills down my spine.
Yu Wanyin was still asleep, so the carriage was not moving very fast.
Early in the morning, Yu Wanyin groggily opened her eyes and realized that she seemed to have been moved to a different place.
The bed curtains in front of me are different from those before I went to sleep, but they still have a familiar pattern.
She just couldn't remember where she had seen it before.
A hand held her tightly around the waist, preventing her from moving.
He can't even turn over.
Yu Wanyin instinctively gripped the wrist around her waist, trying to get him to loosen his grip. "Rong Si, you're using too much force."
The voice, soft and weak from just waking up, was mixed with reproach and dissatisfaction, with a hook at the end.
It soothes the ears and softens the bones.
Her speech was surprisingly fluent, and it was clear that she often said this.
Yu Wanyin saw that even after being told not to let go, the fingers that were clasped around her waist slowly tightened around her waist.
The thin fabric of the nightgown rubs against the skin.
Yu Wanyin's muscles were sore from the constant nagging that she turned her head and urged, "Rong..."
However, when Yu Wanyin turned around, she met Chu Yu's dark eyes, which held a hidden smile!
The smile didn't reach her eyes; it was as if a chain bound her firmly within his sight.
Yu Wanyin was suddenly stunned, her scalp tingled, and her mind went blank for a moment.
Suddenly realizing—
She called the wrong person.
Yu Wanyin's confident demeanor froze instantly, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
She tried to make her voice sound soft and natural, "It's you."
“It’s me,” Chu Yu repeated quietly.
He leaned closer, his cold, menacing aura slowly enveloping her. "Otherwise, who do you think it should be, Yao Yao?"
Yu Wanyin's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she changed the subject, "Where are we going?"
Chu Yu could tell she was changing the subject.
He reached out and brushed the stray hairs from Yu Wanyin's ear. "Go to Shanshan."
Yu Wanyin felt those cool, soft fingers brush against her ear, raising a thin layer of goosebumps. "Can we still go?"
"able."
For some reason, Yu Wanyin felt uneasy. "Then, what are the arrangements for Wan'an Port?"
“I’ll take you to Shanshan,” Chu Yu said calmly. “Wan’an Port will be handled by Rong Si.”
"We agreed to split up from the beginning."
Hearing that Rong Si was in Wan'an Port, Yu Wanyin wanted to feel relieved but was also a little uneasy. "You promised, why didn't you tell me?"
They probably both had their own thoughts, so neither of them said anything.
“You’re recuperating lately, so leave these things to us. Don’t worry too much.”
Chu Yu's words were gentle, but they contained an inexplicable and unyielding strength.
Chu Yu's fingers did not move away from Yu Wanyin's cheek, but instead slid down her cheek to her neck.
He looked down at the person who was still held tightly in his arms.
"What, you miss him?"
Yu Wanyin felt that the conversation sounded familiar.
It was like a long time ago, in the mountain hot spring, when Rong Si held her captive in his arms, assaulting her while asking, "How much do you miss him?"
Even if Yu Wanyin didn't know anyone else, she knew her two husbands.
A careless answer could trigger an explosion: "What makes you say that?"
Chu Yu lowered his head slightly, "Because Yao Yao was looking for him as soon as she opened her eyes."
"Have you already tacitly agreed to him sleeping next to you?" Chu Yu asked slowly, his fingertips caressing Yu Wanyin's slender neck, then looking into her eyes, "So, would you prefer him to sleep with you, or me?"
Yu Wanyin appeared flustered.
How did he spend time with you?
The more Chu Yu spoke, the closer they became.
Yu Wanyin also felt that Rong Si had asked the same question.
Could they please stop asking these kinds of perplexing questions? "Stop asking them."
Chu Yu seemed to sense that if she didn't like it, she had no reason to hide it.
And I wouldn't want to not confide in him.
Chu Yu's deep black eyes narrowed, and his cool lips fell.
Yu Wanyin gently shrank her neck; she roughly understood what this meant and first hid herself in the crook of his neck.
Chu Yu's thin lips landed on the tip of her ear.
He was disappointed and paused for a moment.
During this brief pause, an overwhelming sense of possessiveness and obsession arose within the carriage.
But he did nothing.
He chuckled softly, his cool breath brushing against her earlobe, sending a shiver of pleasure through her.
This caused Yu Wanyin to tremble slightly involuntarily.
Chu Yu gently kissed her ear. "It's alright."
Anyway, Rong Si is already dead.
She liked it, and Rong Si would never have the chance to share a bed with her again.
On Yaoyao's pillow, there can only be him.
Chu Yu released her, and Yu Wanyin's waist relaxed, giving her a moment to catch her breath.
He helped her up, her nightgown falling to the crook of his arm, revealing her tender, delicate skin. Yu Wanyin pretended to calmly pull it up, but she could still feel the man's aggressive gaze tracing her body layer by layer.
Chu Yu briefly asked her what she wanted to eat, and then went out to call someone to prepare the meal.
Chu Yu and Rong Si's styles of doing things are indeed completely different.
At a time like this, Rong Si simply couldn't bring himself to say "It's alright."
There was no way to temporarily suppress this matter.
He would definitely make her say on the spot that she didn't like the other person and liked him being with her.
His forgiveness meant that after he had demanded the money, he truly let it go.
Chu Yu's temporary leniency is a sign of pent-up frustration.
It carries a dangerous undertone that will be repaid tenfold in the future.
Yu Wanyin became even more nervous.
Soon, a maid came in from outside to help her wash and dress.
The female doctor accompanied the patient during the consultation.
Yu Wanyin asked again, "When did they agree on this, that one of them would take me back to Shanshan and the other would stay behind?"
The maid didn't know much either, saying, "I know nothing about the affairs of my masters."
After washing up, Yu Wanyin became a little more awake. "Then why are we setting off today? You didn't tell me yesterday or before."
The maids looked at each other in bewilderment. "We were just following orders from our master. He said we'd be setting off today, so we came along."
Yu Wanyin still felt something was off, but she couldn't get a single useful question out of these people.
She pursed her lips gently and didn't ask any more questions.
Chu Yu returned from outside and dined with her.
They sat in the carriage, and Chu Yu naturally served her more food.
Yu Wanyin ate silently.
The carriage was so quiet that the only sound was the crackling of sparks from the fireplace.
For a moment, this made Chu Yu feel as if he had returned to a long time ago, to the time when he and she were newlyweds at the Prime Minister's residence.
Those were the fewest days they had been undisturbed.
They are a married couple, and they can do whatever they want.
Treat each other with respect.
It seems like there's nothing wrong with it.
It is the ideal of a harmonious and respectful marriage, as advocated in the book.
But this was before she had seen Rong Si and her spend time together.
Chu Yu always felt that...
She seemed to have many emotions in front of Rong Si; besides being obedient and gentle, she could also throw a tantrum.
It's a very subtle difference.
She never seemed to lose her temper in front of me.
Although Yu Wanyin was also close to him, trusted him, and treated him as her husband.
We must not let Rong Si harm him, and we hope he will recover.
But like that scolding this morning, and that somewhat dissatisfied reaction that seemed to indicate he was being restrained.
It would be very difficult for them to appear together.
Especially, her temper flared the moment she saw it was him—
I took it back.
Chu Yu kept looking at her.
He couldn't understand it.
Yu Wanyin felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much." Chu Yu looked away and picked up the document. "I brought all the documents related to Shanshan."
"Should I have them bring it to you later?"
"good."
Chu Yu followed up, saying, "The bodyguard next to you said he wants to come with us."
"But I wasn't entirely sure about her background, so I had someone ask her about it."
Yu Wanyin listened.
This was another round of interrogation of Qin Yuan.
"I don't see anything unusual right now. Do you want to ask him again yourself?"
“I checked before, she’s fine.” Yu Wanyin explained softly, “If she were in trouble, she would have left with Bei Chi when he took me away that day. There’s no need for her to stay here and be interrogated repeatedly after achieving her goal.”
Chu Yu nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
When he left, he allowed Qin Yuan to come in as well.
Qin Yuan helped Yu Wanyin bring the documents and historical records of Shanshan into the carriage.
There were several boxes, and luckily she was strong enough to carry them all, so she put them all into the car.
The carriage was spacious enough to easily fit several boxes.
Yu Wanyin, who was sitting next to her, watched her come in and asked her with a hint of sympathy, "You're being interrogated again?"
She had long ago witnessed the procedures and methods of Rong Si Chu Yu's interrogation of people.
The fact that they couldn't find anything amiss under the control of these two people means they are more than innocent.
Qin Yuan opened one of the boxes, touched the bridge of her nose, still looking completely unconcerned, and said in that familiar tone, "Sigh, it happens often on the road of escorting goods."
She placed the documents on the table inside the carriage, saying, "It is only right that I be interrogated."
There was a moment of silence in the room, and Qin Yuan's voice lowered, "Otherwise, I wouldn't know what I did."
Yu Wanyin could hear the self-blame in her words, and she lowered her eyes.
"I don't know what I've done over the past few years."
"It's not your fault," Qin Yuan said, slamming her hand on the table. "It's those people who are shameless!"
These days, what they feared most was that Yu Wanyin would become depressed and her condition would worsen. "Shameless people take it for granted, while the deceived victims still hold grudges. What kind of logic is that!"
Yu Wanyin listened, a faint smile spreading across her lips as she rested her chin on her hand and looked at her, "Don't you know all this already?"
Qin Yuan paused in her act of arranging the books.
Realizing that he had been tricked and coaxed by Yu Wanyin, a rare look of embarrassment appeared on his handsome face.
She kept her head down and continued arranging the items silently.
But she had to admit that Yu Wanyin had stirred up a tingling, itchy feeling in her heart.
If it weren't for their different statuses, she would have loved to pull the person over and properly dispel this strange feeling.
Yu Wanyin casually picked up a scroll of documents, no longer mentioning the matter, and asked, "Do you want to come back to Shanshan with me?"
She remembered when Rong Si interrogated Qin Yuan earlier.
One of the reasons Qin Yuan sent her back was that she also wanted to go back and take a look along the way.
"Hmm." Qin Yuan pursed her lips and said casually, "When Marquis Chu asked me about it yesterday, I didn't answer."
"I thought, I can't just let this deal end like this, that would be too useless."
"I'll take you there to take a look, and I'll go take a look too."
Yu Wanyin caught some key words and asked, seemingly casually, "Did you say you were going to set off yesterday?"
Qin Yuan stopped abruptly, realizing she had said too much.
She hesitated for a while, feeling frustrated.
Yu Wanyin paused in her silence, then asked again, "How did you get here?"
Previously, when Qin Yuan was being interrogated, Chu Yu's men repeatedly threatened and bribed her not to talk about the chaotic battle yesterday.
Normally, Qin Yuan, adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble when escorting goods, would certainly obey.
But this is not quite the same.
She had already messed up one thing in front of Yu Wanyin, so there was no reason for her to lie again.
Secondly.
The escort fee was ultimately paid by Rong Si.
Escort services are all about taking money and doing things for people.
Qin Yuan sighed and decided to be frank, "Fine, I'll tell you the truth."
Outside the carriage, Chu Yu rode ahead on his horse.
He was restless, lost in thought.
Wu Zhou stepped forward and told them, "Once we cross this mountain, we'll leave the Wan'an Port area and head to the next city."
"It is not yet certain whether the next city will be attacked by the Northern Chi army."
Chu Yu instructed, "Let's rest and recuperate at noon, and then set off again after we've scouted the area."
Wu Zhou accepted the order, saying, "Yes."
He turned to communicate with the vast army behind him.
At noon, the sun was high in the sky, and the air was heavy and oppressive.
The marching sound was orderly and solemn, each step filled with tension.
Like his lingering thoughts.
Chu Yu pondered for a long time but could not come up with a solution.
Ironically, he was still thinking about how to compete with a dead man for a wife.
The procession moved forward, passing the foot of the mountain.
The dense shadows of the trees swayed and obscured the light and shadow on the road ahead.
Chu Yu took a deep breath and led the team through the bend in the mountain road.
The sunlight shone brightly, and the road ahead opened up.
A horse appeared out of his sight without warning and stopped right in front of him!
The dead man whom Chu Yu feared was sitting on horseback!
Rong Si, with his long sword held at an angle, stood tall like a tiger blocking his path, watching him with great interest!
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