Luthier (11)
A few days later, Li Chiyin once again came to the dinner party in her memory that brought her pain.
The wine and drinks placed in front of her rippled with the sound of drums, and the people sang and danced, the scene was peaceful, but it made her feel nauseous.
My stomach, which was burned by the alcohol at the last wedding banquet, is now aching again.
It was because of that drinking incident that damaged his stomach, and coupled with Huyan Jun's extreme punishment of Jiang Yu, Li Chiyin had a poor appetite and lost a lot of weight in recent days.
It was another dinner party to which everyone was invited. Xiao Lin and Mu You also participated, but this time they huddled behind Chu Mo, their faces full of guilt.
Li Chiyin picked up a grape and was about to put it in his mouth when he was interrupted by Hu Yanjun who was sitting next to him. He raised his chin and pointed forward, saying, "Look, I kept my word and spared his life."
Li Chiyin looked towards his chin, but saw Jiang Yu with his hands wrapped in white cloth, trembling as he poured wine for the royal family. He couldn't help feeling sad.
She glanced up at Xingye, then stared into Huyan Jun's eyes and asked sternly, "You've damaged his hands like that, and you still let him pour the wine? If you want to vent your anger, take revenge on me. Why did you provoke him?"
Huyan Jun swallowed the wine and made a "sha" sound between his teeth.
Then he crossed his legs and suddenly put his arm heavily on Li Chiyin's shoulders, pulling her closer: "Why, are you heartbroken? My Queen, you're actually heartbroken for another man? How can I save my dignity?"
Li Chiyin frowned: "What do you mean..."
"Don't be nervous." Hu Yanjun sneered, "I won't do anything to him. After all, I'm not a tyrant."
"What do you want to say..."
"I want to say this: regardless of whether you've ever had an affair with him, from now on, you're my woman. A few days ago, he used sweet words to lure you away, and I pulled out his nails. And if you continue to have a close relationship with him and cause me to gossip, I'll want more than just a few of his nails..."
"Huyan Jun, are you crazy?" Li Chiyin met Huyan Jun's eyes, a rare sight filled with questioning and anger. "Now that I've returned to the palace, what else do you want? You've already destroyed his hand, and if you couldn't bear to see him go, you could have sent him back to the Central Plains. Why do you have to torture him like this? Could it be that you're a vile villain who mocks a talented person and ruins his future?"
Unexpectedly, these words completely infuriated Hu Yanjun. He grabbed Li Chiyin's wrist viciously and yelled at her, "Don't try your tricks, you Central Plains people!"
"I'm a mean fellow indeed, so you'd better be careful. I might get him killed if I'm not satisfied one day!"
After saying that, Huyan Jun pushed Li Chiyin away and stared at Jiang Yu with a frown. His eyes were full of the bloody smell of a hunter looking at his prey, and he was determined to kill him.
Li Chiyin couldn't understand why the man in front of him would go to such lengths and be so vicious.
But compared to that, she was more worried about the inhumane treatment Jiang Yu would suffer at his hands.
With everything uncertain, Li Chiyin mustered her courage and threatened Hu Yanjun, "I ask for nothing more. If he's safe, I'll cooperate with you. But if anything happens to him, I'll risk my life. You know clearly that if I, the Princess of the Central Plains, die, you, Fujue, won't have a good ending either."
Huyan Jun glanced at her sideways and sneered.
At this time, Jiang Yu happened to walk up to Xiao Lin and his group. He dragged his sick body and glanced at the three of them out of the corner of his eyes.
Chu Mo bowed slightly, and when Xiao Lin met his eyes, she could no longer hold back her tears.
Mu You didn't know what happened after they were taken back by Guliang Que that day. He was just confused when he saw the white cloth in Jiang Yu's hand.
So, when Jiang Yu approached, he whispered, "Your hand..."
Jiang Yu endured the pain, but still couldn't control the trembling wine jug. He pretended to be calm and replied, "My nails were pulled out..."
Such bloody words came out of Jiang Yu's slightly opened mouth, like a heavy hammer, hitting Xiao Lin and Mu You's hearts directly.
"I'm sorry..." Xiao Lin sobbed.
Jiang Yu smiled gently.
At this point, Xiao Lin cried even harder. She never imagined that her and Mu You's good intentions would end up ruining his career as a zither player.
After this incident, she no longer dared to be self-righteous.
After pouring wine for them, Jiang Yu held the wine pot and walked forward unsteadily, his eyes always scanning the tables of the guests. Whenever he saw someone calling him, he would go over.
As he walked, he finally arrived at the royal table. Then he walked up the stairs and poured wine for Li Chiyin.
The two looked at each other and nodded, and Jiang Yu tilted the wine jug.
He watched the wine tremblingly flow out of the spout of the pot, while her eyes followed his every move. In the corner where he couldn't see, tears were already welling up in her eyes.
At this wedding banquet, Huyan Jun did not ask Li Chiyin to toast every guest, so the banquet did not end with Li Chiyin falling asleep.
But looking at the palace walls that were built step by step, Li Chiyin still didn't dare to let go of his worries.
Nowadays, the person around Li Chiyin is no longer Huyan Nu, the former King Fujue who disdained to touch her.
He was replaced by Hu Yanjun, an unpredictable scoundrel.
The singing went on till late at night, but Li Chiyin's heart was not moved at all by the congratulations from the kings and ministers. She knew that she did not belong here at all. Her heart at the moment was like a bundle of wet firewood, which could no longer ignite any passion.
After a long time, when the banquet ended, Li Chiyin also felt tired.
Afterwards, supported by her maid, she decided to go to the palace regardless of Huyan Jun's feelings.
Huyan Jun, who was sitting next to her, naturally noticed her abnormality, but he only glanced at her briefly and then dealt with the ministers who had arrived late one by one.
When the wine cups collided, Li Chiyin also pushed open the palace gate.
She had never felt so tired, as if all her strength had been drained away, leaving only a broken body, leaving her in Fujue, barely surviving.
Li Chiyin didn't want to have anything to do with any of them anymore, and the same went for Jiang Yu.
Her love for him was too heavy and too frivolous to take root and could not be expressed on the surface.
Arriving at the door of her bedroom, she couldn't help but take a deep breath. Only when she was away from the hustle and bustle of the wedding banquet did the piano music from her hometown ring in her mind.
The music was ethereal and beautiful, better than music from heaven, and was the source of all her comfort in this life.
Just as she was indulging in this hard-earned joy, a noise once again disturbed her mind.
"Where are you going, Queen?" Hu Yanjun had stood behind her at some point, tilting his head to look at her back.
"Go back to my bedroom." Li Chiyin didn't want to pay any more attention to him, so he walked straight to his bedroom, but failed to do so.
"How can the Queen and I sleep in separate rooms tonight? Are you trying to embarrass me?"
Hu Yanjun's words were a final word, holding her back.
Li Chiyin tried his best to restrain himself, but his heart was still pounding.
She held herself in high esteem and turned her head steadily, intending to provoke Huyan Jun, but she vaguely saw Jiang Yu following beside him.
The other attendants around him all understood Huyan Jun's meaning, bowed silently and retreated, leaving Jiang Yu alone in a dilemma.
He didn't understand Fujue's words, so he had no idea what Huyan Jun and Li Chiyin were talking about. What's more, when he saw the other attendants retreating together, he slowed down his pace a little.
But seeing Li Chiyin's face full of shock and helplessness, he didn't dare to retreat.
At this time, Huyan Jun looked around and smelled a hint of good fun.
He stepped forward, grabbed Li Chiyin in his arms, and held her tightly.
Then he turned around and faced Jiang Yu, and with a hostile look on his face, he said in the Central Plains dialect, "Why don't you leave? Do you want to see me and the Queen Mother perform the Zhougong ceremony with your own eyes?"
At this moment, Jiang Yu finally understood the reason for Li Chiyin's panic. His heart collapsed and a stitch in his throat rose.
He suddenly lost all color, his eyes widened, his pupils constricted, like a puppet that had lost its soul, the corners of his mouth trembled slightly, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
He didn't want to believe that his desperate struggle ended up like this.
Not only him, Li Chiyin also saw what Jiang Yu was thinking. Just as she was about to speak, a burst of sadness immediately blocked her lips and teeth, her ears and nose turned red in an instant, and tears burst out.
Even though they were married, they found it difficult to make their identity as husband and wife public.
Jiang Yu seemed to hear his own heartbreaking sound in his ears, and the pain from his chest had long since drowned out his bleeding fingertips.
After tonight, there will be no possibility for Li Chiyin and Jiang Yu.
Any hope they had once held on to sank silently to the bottom of the sea like a huge rock at the foot of a mountain after a storm.
Inadvertently, Jiang Yu took a step forward, but still failed to get past Huyan Jun.
Li Chiyin understood that even if Jiang Yu could put aside their past grudges and was still willing to marry her and stay with her, she would not let him suffer this injustice - after all, she was just being mean to herself.
So, she could no longer give Jiang Yu the so-called fantasies and expectations, and she would kill their future with her own hands.
"Back off... From now on... you will no longer be my servant..."
This was the last farewell Li Chiyin said before Jiang Yu discovered her tears. It was like a poisonous sting, piercing into the most vulnerable part of Jiang Yu's heart and gradually devouring his entire heart.
Helpless Jiang Yu just stood there in a daze. His desperate eyes followed Li Chiyin's back as he wandered through the corridors of the palace, and finally disappeared the moment the door of Prince Fujue's bedroom closed.
Behind the door, Huyan Jun was like a wild beast, tearing off Li Chiyin's thin shirt.
Li Chiyin refused and grabbed the lapels of her clothes one by one tightly.
But there was no way she could hold off the enemy due to the huge disparity in strength. She tried her best but could only hold off for a short while. In the end, except for one piece of underwear, all the rest of her clothes were torn off by Huyan Jun.
She resisted, but Hu Yanjun held her wrist; she tried to bite his arm to stop him, but he felt no pain and remained indifferent.
The pain from her twisted wrist spread throughout Li Chiyin's body. In Huyan Jun's eyes, her resistance was not worth mentioning.
Her eyes flashed with fear and unwillingness, tears welled up in her eyes, and finally, unable to contain the grief and anger in her heart, they slowly slid down her flushed cheeks.
The next moment, Huyan Jun held her waist with his other big hand and pressed his lips down heavily.
The tip of his nose brushed against her cheek, taking away a tear.
Li Chiyin was pinned to the wall by him and couldn't move.
Her nostrils twitched slightly, and every intermittent breath was filled with unspeakable pain. The corners of her lips trembled slightly, but she could only let out a slight whimper.
Li Chiyin's plea for mercy was like a broken spider silk, broken by Huyan Jun's heavy breathing, and drifted away in the silent bedroom.
It wasn't until Hu Yanjun's lips moved down and kissed her neck that she was able to speak: "Why? Why me..."
As soon as these words were spoken, Huyan Jun stopped his arrogance, stood up straight, and looked Li Chiyin straight in the eyes.
Li Chiyin took the opportunity to ask again: "Why me? You can clearly be with the one you love for the rest of your life, so why don't you let me go and want me to sit in this seat? Is it just to follow that ridiculous rumor you're telling me..."
The night wind penetrated through the gaps in the window lattice and slipped into their bedroom without anyone knowing. Then, with a hint of coolness, it swept away the sweat on Li Chiyin's body.
Hu Yanjun's skin was as white as bronze, which formed a sharp contrast with Li Chiyin's wrist bones, which were slightly sun-bleached but still white.
After hearing Li Chiyin's question, his hand loosened a little.
"You... love him so much?"
This was his answer.
However, Li Chiyin didn't buy it. She sniffed, wiped back some tears, and said solemnly: "Answer me."
Seeing her like this, Hu Yanjun's brows sank, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised with disdain: "Ever since I was a child, my father has not loved me. He laughed at me for not being able to lift a bow, and laughed at my mother's family for being powerless. So I kept a low profile, raised loyal soldiers, and served the people. It took me twenty years, twenty years to get to where I am now, but Hu Yannu, from beginning to end, never took me seriously..."
"He made fun of me, killed my mother, forced my allies to death, and gave me the title of the Third Prince in vain, while secretly eating his leftovers..." As he spoke, Hu Yanjun began to grind his teeth. "So I want him to see, even if it's from heaven, how I sit on his throne and play with his empire!"
"What about me? Why do you want to involve me in your father-son feud?!"
"You are also a bargaining chip!" Huyan Jun roared, shocking Li Chiyin.
Hu Yanjun asked, "Do you remember that when you first came to Fujue, it was I who met you?"
Li Chiyin remained silent and bit his lower lip.
"That early spring, before the snow had melted, your face was clean and clear, your eyes bright and moving. At one glance, I remembered your appearance. You at that time were like a stream of fresh blood injected into this withered palace, so different, yet so dazzling..."
As he spoke, Huyan Jun's knuckles slid across Li Chiyin's temples. Although it was gentle, it caused her pain.
But Hu Yanjun didn't care: "You said, why not let the person I love sit on this seat? How do you know that my heart doesn't belong to you..."
Huyan Jun's expression faded a little, and his constricted pupils secretly revealed a hint of tenderness, but Li Chiyin was still sober and would never fall for his sweet words.
She dodged his knuckles and hit the nail on the head: "The Fujue grassland is vast, and should be filled with generosity, but your love is even more selfish than that of other creatures."
Hu Yanjun's fingers paused, hanging in mid-air.
"Your heart isn't with me at all. You're just using me as a weapon to wage war against Huyannu. He dislikes people from the Central Plains and won't allow his descendants to bleed their blood, yet you're determined to do the opposite. You've made me your queen, overthrowing everything he revered."
The night breeze blew gently, and the candles in the bedroom were quietly extinguished. The bright stars were reflected in Huyan Jun's eyes, and they even illuminated a bit of water light.
"You have already done it now. You sit on the throne and love the people like your own children. You will end his tyranny and become the true king of the Fujue clan..."
While Huyan Jun was still in shock, Li Chiyin took advantage of the situation and put his hands on his broad shoulders, tentatively exerting force in an attempt to push him away.
She took slow steps and whispered soothingly, "Therefore, my existence is meaningless to you. Let me go. Your love is enough for your people..."
Just when everything was going according to plan and Huyan Jun gradually lowered his eyes, Li Chiyin was able to catch his breath.
However, just as she was about to release her hands from Hu Yanjun's collarbone, he immediately grabbed her fingertips again and again.
Li Chiyin's eyes were filled with astonishment, while Huyan Jun's were filled with coldness.
"Not enough! My ambition is far from enough!" Hu Yanjun wrapped one hand around Li Chiyin's fingertips, and with the other hand, he reached down and lifted her up by the waist. "If you hadn't mentioned that rumor, Queen, I would have forgotten about it. But now that I've explained it, I really want to meet the rumored True King Fujue, who was born from your womb. What's the difference between him and me?"
"Huyan Jun, let me go!" Li Chiyin struggled on his shoulders, but was unable to break free from his strong arms. "Let me go!"
She patted his strong back vigorously and tapped her toes, but he ignored her. In response, he tightened his arms, pushing Li Chiyin's abdomen closer to his muscles.
Then, Huyan Jun leaned over, and Li Chiyin instantly fell on the soft bed, her skirt fluttering, revealing her delicate calves.
She clutched the bed sheet tightly, tears streaming down her face, her eyes filled with fear, while Huyan Jun leaned on one leg on the edge of the bed, looking down with his eyes slanted.
Looking into his cold eyes, Li Chiyin was completely panicked.
She couldn't escape, she still couldn't escape.
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