This sentence in Chapter 692 is the truth.
Although the sound came from his chest, it struck Shang Ruyi's chest hard at that moment.
Her heartbeat was completely erratic.
Although her heart was pounding, her thoughts inexplicably became clearer, and she finally understood why Yuwen Ye had always forbade her to look up at him—she had said that she was using him, which had made him furious, but now he was telling her with such calm words that he was willing to be used.
She was willing to be used just to stay by his side.
This is a kind of resignation, or rather, an admission of defeat. Yuwen Ye—the proudest and most arrogant Yuwen Ye, a man whose destiny and imperial power could not make him bow down, a man to whom even gods and Buddhas had to give way—said he admitted defeat.
For a man...
A surge of intense heat welled up inside her, instantly reddening her eyes and making Shang Ruyi's throat tighten even more. She wanted to say something, but couldn't utter a sound.
When Yuwen Ye said this, he seemed to have a "what's the use" attitude. He continued, "So, you can only stay by my side, be my wife, and be the Princess Consort of Qin."
"..."
"Because you left me. Once you leave me, it's not safe for you anywhere. In this chaotic world, no one can fully protect your family—not even my father or my brother!"
"..."
"If you stay by my side, I will protect your family and, more importantly, you."
"..."
"It's settled then!"
"..."
Shang Ruyi couldn't say it.
But at this moment, listening to Yuwen Ye utter those incoherent words, she inexplicably wanted to laugh—what a "terrible" deal this was! Not to mention that he was the King of Qin, even ordinary merchants and common people might not be able to accept such a deal.
But he spoke so quickly, so matter-of-factly.
It seemed as if they were afraid of being opposed.
If she hadn't clearly seen this man from across the Cangtou River, and if she hadn't been sitting cross-legged on his back, nestled in his arms, feeling his strong chest and familiar warmth and breath, she would almost have suspected that this man had been possessed by some madman.
Possession...
The thought of those two words made her heart sink.
But before she could think about it any further, she heard Yuwen Ye's slightly panting, even trembling voice from above, whether because he had talked too much and was out of breath or for some other reason.
He said, "You've agreed, haven't you?"
That tone didn't sound like a question at all.
But it seemed he didn't want to hear any answer he didn't want to hear, and the hand around his waist unconsciously began to tighten.
Shang Ruyi was being squeezed so tightly by him that she could hardly breathe.
In fact, after hearing the news that Shen Wuzheng was not dead, Shang Ruyi originally had no other response.
But at this moment, she fell silent, keeping her head down and refusing to meet his deep, even somewhat intense, gaze. Immediately, Yuwen Ye's breathing became even more erratic, and he said in a deep voice, "You—"
Aren't you angry?
Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a sudden question from Shang Ruyi.
"...?"
Yuwen Ye was taken aback, but the next moment, he understood.
Shang Ruyi slowly raised her head. Her face wasn't too pale, but it was clearly bloodless. Only her eyes and nose were red. Her eyes trembled slightly, revealing an unexpected softness. She had completely lost the hateful coldness and decisiveness she had shown when she spoke those decisive words to him that day.
Yuwen Ye's face immediately darkened.
His appearance, besides being strikingly handsome, was sharp and cold. Such a person would naturally exude a powerful and majestic aura on the battlefield, but in ordinary times, as soon as he put on a stern face, he would immediately give people an aura of authority without anger.
This aura instantly turned the already gentle, even somewhat tender and romantic atmosphere between the two of them cold and stern again.
Shang Ruyi, however, refused to ignore this point out of fear.
Since two people are going to be honest with each other, they should make everything clear. After this experience, she not only felt bad, but also became afraid, and she didn't want any future misunderstandings between them, repeating the same mistake.
So she asked, "After I said those things, are you really no longer angry?"
"Of course I'm angry."
"That--"
“However, I’ve thought it through these past few days. You only said those things to me after you learned of Shen Wuzheng’s ‘death.’ But his ‘death’ was a lie.”
Shang Ruyi was slightly taken aback. This was indeed the truth, but what did it prove?
Yuwen Ye's breath hitched, and he looked down at her, saying, "Everything has a cause and an effect, and a false cause cannot produce a true result. Since his 'death news' is false, then what you say and do because of this false news is not true."
"..."
"so,"
As he spoke, he looked down at Shang Ruyi and said, "I want to hear the truth!"
Meeting his burning gaze, Shang Ruyi's already slightly hot chest felt as if it were boiling, with something surging and about to burst forth.
But she suppressed the surging emotion, took a deep breath, and said softly, "Do you remember what you asked me when we first met?"
Yuwen Ye was taken aback, seemingly surprised that she had suddenly steered the topic so far.
"What?"
"You ask me why I won't marry your older brother."
"...Yes. But you didn't answer me."
"Yes. Then you made me answer why I wanted to marry you."
But you still didn't answer.
"I can tell you the answer today—"
Almost immediately, Shang Ruyi felt her waist tighten again, and Yuwen Ye's expression immediately became serious, staring intently at her, as if he had been waiting for this answer for a long time.
He asked, "Why?"
Shang Ruyi looked at him and said, "At that time, I had no intention of marrying you at all."
"What?!"
Yuwen Ye's eyes widened suddenly, and he involuntarily tightened his grip, causing his horse to shake its head restlessly and nearly throw Shang Ruyi from his arms. He released the reins, calmed the horse, and then looked down at Shang Ruyi with a grave expression: "You said you—"
Shang Ruyi was jolted and her posture tilted slightly, but she didn't bother to adjust herself. She was only immersed in the helplessness and despair she felt at that moment, and slowly said, "What I mean is, when I fell ill at that time, I only told my uncle and aunt that I didn't want to marry your older brother, and I didn't mention you."
"..."
"It was their parents who felt that if I broke off the engagement, it would damage the relationship between the two families and go against my father's last wish. So, in order to fulfill my wish and to prevent the two families from becoming enemies, they changed the engagement without my consent and made me marry you."
"..."
Yuwen Ye remained silent.
It was nearly dusk, but the sky remained overcast, casting a shadow over his face.
Shang Ruyi felt that the hand around her waist seemed to loosen its grip a little.
Her posture was already somewhat crooked, and when the hand that was holding her waist loosened, she lost all support. The horse trotted forward a few steps, and she was almost thrown off.
She bit her lower lip and said calmly, "I don't really want to do this because we've never met and there's no affection between us. Suddenly saying I want to marry you would be asking too much of you. Besides, I was originally going to marry your older brother, but now I'm going to marry you instead. So, no matter what other people think of me, I don't care about their opinions, but it would be really difficult for me to live in your house."
"..."
"So, I originally thought it would be better to find an opportunity to cancel this marriage."
"..."
"And just then, you and Father arrived."
Yuwen Ye remained silent.
His once fiery gaze had now turned cold, and the howling wind seemed to have instantly condensed a layer of frost on his pupils. He slowly raised his head to look ahead, his gaze devoid of any warmth.
Even the aura surrounding Shang Ruyi turned cold.
At this moment, he spoke instead, but his voice was colder than his breath, even colder than the whistling wind that pierced through the gap between the two people.
"Then why didn't you refuse?"
"..."
"Could it be because—"
He didn't say anything more, even though what he wanted to say was perhaps exactly the same as what he had just said. But at this moment, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
That feeling of being completely used... even if you're mentally prepared, it's still heartbreaking.
Shang Ruyi tilted her head back, looking at his well-defined chin, high nose, and cold, bright eyes. In the cold wind, her cheeks felt hot in waves.
She said, "Actually, the moment I saw you when you came to my house, I changed my mind."
"...!"
Yuwen Ye's breath caught in his throat.
He immediately lowered his head, his eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe his ears, staring blankly at Shang Ruyi, his eyes trembling, and even his lips, which had been tightly pressed into a line, began to move slightly.
This time, Shang Ruyi's face turned bright red. She had been calm and composed just moments before, but the last few words completely revealed her girlish thoughts to the other person.
She no longer hid anything from him.
Yuwen Ye's breathing became increasingly rapid, and his chest heaved as if he were crashing into Shang Ruyi. She almost fell down, and instinctively reached out to grab Yuwen Ye's chest. Yuwen Ye also wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her even closer into his embrace.
He asked, "Why?"
His tone was calm, but that calmness was the result of his desperate suppression. Shang Ruyi, who was pressed close to his chest, could clearly feel that every barely perceptible tremor in his voice was just like his erratic heartbeat.
After asking the question, he suddenly chuckled, as if he couldn't contain himself, but after laughing, he immediately pursed his lips, biting the smile tightly between his teeth.
He asked again, "Why?"
Because he was holding her so tightly, Shang Ruyi was pressed against his chest. There was no possibility that she would slip off due to the jolting, but she buried her face in his chest and reached out her small hands to gently climb onto his shoulders and hug his neck.
She said sullenly, "I never imagined that the person who came to my door, the one I'm going to marry, would be so, so...liked by me."
"..."
“I’ve said it before, you are a miracle given to me by God and Buddha.”
"..."
"This is the truth."
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