“What did you say?”

Lian Yu’s voice deepened slightly. Suzhen looked up to see a trace of danger in his eyes. He stared at her intently, the corners of his lips suddenly curving in self-mockery: “You still won’t give me a chance? Was tonight just out of pity for me?”

“If you’re unwilling, I won’t force you to stay here with me. I saved you because I was willing to do so. Or are you still blaming me for once saying, because of A Luo, that I wouldn’t marry you?”

He sighed quietly, his eyes darkening with self-reproach and mockery.

Seeing him like this, Suzhen became somewhat anxious: “No, Lian Yu, that’s not what I meant.”

She clutched the bedcover, speaking softly: “When I was with you before, that first night…”

Her face reddened slightly. Lian Yu’s gaze dimmed somewhat as his hand cupping her cheek moved gently.

“I regarded you as my husband. Perhaps in your view it was foolish—regarding an emperor as a husband. But in my heart, that’s how I thought. My heart was very conflicted because I felt that though you loved me, dismissing your entire harem for me wasn’t realistic. Moreover, toward the other concubines who had already… shared pillow and bed, it wouldn’t be righteous.”

“But I also didn’t really want to become your concubine. I wouldn’t want to spend nights alone in an empty room. If I marry someone, I hope to see him every day, like my father and mother.”

“Later, when A Luo’s incident happened and you said you wouldn’t marry me, I gave up completely.”

“I don’t intend to spend only this one night with you. I said before—having made a decision, I won’t easily give up. I’ll accompany you back. When you have leisure, you can leave the palace to find me. Though I’m no longer a magistrate, I can find work as a coroner in the capital, or help people write legal documents. If there’s spare money, I can occasionally travel and sightsee. I don’t want to live in the palace, fighting and competing for you with others. For me, I would be jealous, and such a life would be meaningless. There are too many girls who like you—even your Baihu…”

She lowered her head, tugging at the bedcover, speaking bit by bit, honestly, with some smile and some bitterness on her lips.

Lian Yu suddenly felt himself despicable!

He feared that when she returned to the capital, she would still have opportunities to interact with Quan Feitong. He thought of her past engagement to Quan Feitong, and how intimately they had once been…

Thinking of these things, he became jealous—jealous to the point of pain and panic.

So he wanted to establish a true lifelong bond with her.

This title was for her, but more for himself.

Only this way would it be fair to her—he couldn’t let her follow him without status.

But he hadn’t expected her heart to think this way. She was unwilling to become his concubine, but she could forever follow him like this! She was even independent enough to want to earn money to support herself?!

He couldn’t describe what he felt—fury? Heartache? Being moved? Perhaps all of these, perhaps none at all. But each emotion, that intensity, was something he’d never experienced before. Before knowing her, it had seemed ordinary!

It was like this again! Suzhen waited a long time without seeing him respond. Looking up, she discovered his eyes were red with darkness, somewhat frightening. Naturally she wasn’t afraid of him, but still found it rather unsettling. She felt she hadn’t caused him any trouble, so what was he dissatisfied with? He looked as if he wanted to do something to her!

Just thinking this, she saw him lean down toward her… She had only half-cried out before losing her voice. Clothes rustled in the darkness as he gripped both her hands, making her gasp lightly, trembling all over… His movements on her body were intense as he panted. Her hands, under his guidance, explored into his chest clothed only in undergarments after bathing, but her touch met sticky wetness. Startled, she immediately pushed him away: “Don’t…”

Lian Yu also realized his wound had reopened and relaxed slightly. Suzhen, remembering his earlier actions, blushed furiously and rolled out of bed: “I’ll go sleep with Lian Xin. You… heal your injuries first.”

Lian Yu’s eyes still burned with dark fire. Hearing this, he only nodded without trying to keep her. He couldn’t control himself very well. Seeing her panicking and about to leave, he quickly got out of bed and found a clean outer robe to drape over her.

“I want you to marry me as my empress. As for harem matters, you needn’t worry—I’ll handle them and give you a satisfactory result. I’ll have only one woman, and that’s you. This was a decision I made before asking you earlier. Previously I wasn’t certain of your thoughts, but now I absolutely won’t allow you to change your mind.”

When Suzhen opened the door, she heard his voice coming from behind—somewhat hoarse but extremely steady, clearly the result of deep consideration.

Suzhen’s heart raced. She turned back wanting to say something, but suddenly saw his embarrassing condition, her face immediately flushing. He rarely showed embarrassment too, coughing lightly: “Sleep with Lian Xin for the next few days.”

This made it sound as if she were the unrestrained one.

Outside Lian Yu’s room was a row of inner guards responsible for night watch duty. For security, they had booked all the second-floor rooms. Seeing her emerge, they all bowed. Suzhen felt they must have heard the sounds from the room. She hastily said “Please rise” and quickly slipped into Lian Xin’s room.

Because both were injured, if it were just Lian Yu alone, he would probably depart immediately. But considering Suzhen, he scheduled departure for five days later. For the next three consecutive days of recuperation, apart from Suzhen telling Lian Yu about the white-clothed man and asking him to investigate while expressing gratitude, the two rarely met, taking meals separately in their rooms.

Lian Xin thought this was bad—the two were having another spat. When she asked Suzhen, Suzhen changed from her usual directness and answered vaguely. When she asked Lian Yu, he directly ordered her out of the room. When she told Lian Jie and the others, they also felt something was wrong. On the morning of the fourth day, they brought both people to the dining room for meals.

But when Lian Yu saw Suzhen come down, his stern gaze while discussing matters with his brothers clearly softened. When Suzhen saw him, her lips also curved upward. As soon as she sat down, Lian Yu served her food. Lian Xin was immediately puzzled—were they fighting or not? She exchanged glances with her two brothers. Lian Jie and Lian Qin, usually no pushovers, immediately understood somewhat and smiled at each other quite lewdly. Ming Yanchu and the others quickly caught on, leaving only Baihu and Lian Xin staring at each other in confusion.

Zhuque sighed and whispered a few words in their ears. Lian Xin blushed while Baihu paled.

Suzhen saw everyone’s strange expressions. Thick-skinned as she was, her face reddened again. She hurriedly gobbled a few mouthfuls of rice and left the door. Lian Yu was unconcerned—the more they laughed, the more annoyed she became, and the more interesting he found it. Seeing Suzhen leave, he followed.

Because the two had just reconciled and currently had no room for others between them, though Lian Yu was the Son of Heaven and safety came first, requiring everyone to accompany and protect him whenever he went out, Lian Yu ordered that only Qinglong and Xuanwu should follow with men at a distance. Lian Jie and the others took Lian Xin elsewhere to play.

Though the Feng family matter was cleared under heaven, since Feng Suzhen had already “died,” Suzhen put on a veil and took Lian Yu sightseeing around, using his money to buy him local specialties.

The two walked hand in hand. Lian Yu’s mouth was basically never idle as she bought him many snacks to eat. He ate while laughing, sometimes lifting Suzhen’s veil to feed her a bite. The scene made Xuanwu and Qinglong behind them shake their heads—those sickly sweet and greasy things, where was the appeal?

Wandering to one place, Suzhen was quite excited: “Lian Yu, there are many beautiful girls there with exceptional talents. Do you want to go see?”

Lian Yu looked at the three-story building ahead reeking of rouge and powder. His smile faded and his face darkened as he flicked her head: “You, a young lady, used to frequent such places?”

Suzhen felt unsettled under his gaze and laughed it off, tossing the money pouch in her hand to buy him more food. But Lian Yu embraced her waist and said softly: “Be good, go over there and buy me a jade pendant.”

He nodded his chin toward a small stall ahead. Suzhen was puzzled—these were all cheap imitations, yet the great Son of Heaven actually fancied them. But since he strongly requested it, she would fulfill her host duties and buy it for him. Young masters like him all had some unexpected strange hobbies.

Lian Yu clasped his hands behind his back, smiling as he watched her walk to the jade stall and begin bargaining with the boss, selecting jade pieces. This wife was quite good at managing household finances. When the realm was pacified, he would take her back to that year’s kiln cave and have her personally make a flute. For now, this would do temporarily.

Suzhen had no idea of his scheming thoughts. Though they were fakes, she selected very seriously. After fussing for the time of a cup of tea, she returned to his side.

Lian Yu removed the jade stone from his waist, casually stuffed it into her hands, and ordered: “I have nowhere to put this—you keep it for now. Put this one on me.”

Suzhen didn’t think much, tucking the stone into her bosom and fastening the selected jade pendant at his waist. When finished, she looked at the fake goods with new appreciation. Tsk tsk, wearing it on a handsome person was truly different—tassels fluttering, a gentleman like jade, a young master without equal in the world—wasn’t this exactly so?

Lian Yu glanced at the jade stone tassels showing from her bosom, his lips curving slightly as he held her hand. Suzhen greatly enjoyed the envious gazes of passing girls and women, feeling quite pleased with herself. Just then, the stall owner approached and said quietly: “Young master, would you consider standing at my stall for a while? I’ll give you two extra jade pendants.”

Suzhen was stunned, then nearly laughed herself silly—this uncle wanted Lian Yu to be a spokesperson?!

Lian Yu said nothing, just raised his eyes. The man inexplicably felt his heart racing with fear. Never mind soliciting business—he didn’t dare linger and quickly returned to his stall.

Lian Yu saw Suzhen laughing until she nearly had a stitch and pinched her face hard through her veil, pretending anger: “Let’s go!”

“Young master, wait,” Suzhen mimicked the boss’s tone, ran back to the stall, and soon presented a small cloth bundle before him like offering treasure.

Lian Yu asked: “What is it?”

Suzhen raised her hand and waved vigorously toward the back. Seeing her summons, Xuanwu and Qinglong quickly brought their men over: “What are Magistrate Li’s orders?”

Originally, without Lian Yu’s instruction, they already treated Suzhen as their mistress. Moreover, Lian Yu had ordered that henceforth, Suzhen’s commands equaled his own—how dare they be negligent?

Suzhen opened the small cloth bundle, revealing a pile of jade pendants to the two men. They were puzzled until they heard Suzhen laugh: “Buy three, get one free. Including Lian Yu, you’re nine people total. I can keep three more—all for Shaqi Ma. One horse gets three exclusively—it’ll be ecstatic. Come, don’t be shy, pick first.”

Qinglong and Xuanwu exchanged glances, not daring to look directly at Lian Yu’s expression. Trembling, they each grabbed one and wanted to retreat to their original positions, but Suzhen said: “Wait, the accompanying inner guards have also worked hard. Should I go buy more in bulk—”

Behind them, over ten inner guards simultaneously lowered their heads and replied tremblingly: “Thank you, Magistrate Li, but we dare not.”

Seeing everyone’s firm refusal, Suzhen didn’t insist. She smiled and took Lian Yu’s hand: “Come, let’s continue exploring.”

But he suddenly slapped her hand away and strode ahead.

Suzhen didn’t know what young master tantrum he was suddenly throwing. She ran up to block him but was pulled into a nearby alley where he removed her veil and bit her face.

“Damn! You dare bite me!”

Suzhen was angry and stepped on his clean boots, also moving to bite his face. Lian Yu twitched his lips, reached out to block her, covering her face so Suzhen couldn’t bite. Suzhen’s strength and martial arts were far inferior to his—she had no way to bite back.

Like Shaqi Ma, she squatted on the ground throwing a tantrum and refusing to leave. Lian Yu watched her for a while, then half-squatted and brought his face near her mouth. Only then did Suzhen smile with bared teeth.

In the evening, when the Lian couple returned to the inn, one wore a veil, the other a bamboo hat.

The next day, they went to the Feng residence to pay respects to ancestors. Lian Yu, with the dignity of Son of Heaven, accompanied Suzhen in kneeling and offering libations before the grave. Suzhen’s eyes reddened. Lian Yu held her tightly and helped her into the carriage. The group left Huai County.

Returning to the capital, another struggle was about to begin. Taking a day off tomorrow due to commitments—see you the day after.