Wen Yu had suffered enough hardship last night. When dawn was about to break, she was finally carried back to the soft couch and closed her eyes to sleep.

Xiao Li helped wring out her hair, then leaned down to kiss her for quite a while. Her eyes could no longer open. In her drowsy sleepiness, she only furrowed her brow shallowly and instinctively used her slender pale fingers—branded full of kiss marks and faint red teeth marks even at the fingertips—to resist him.

This night she had truly been severely bullied.

Her shoulders and neck were also covered with red marks and bite marks.

Because she couldn’t escape his dense kisses, in the end she simply turned around and buried half her face entirely in the embroidered soft pillow, breathing deeply and steadily, leaving only the back of her head for Xiao Li.

The obviously ill-fitting, oversized inner garment draped on her body slipped down somewhat from this turning movement, revealing under her black hair a section of snow-white neck and half a shoulder pitifully covered with dense kiss marks.

On her back shoulder was a particularly deep teeth mark that even showed tiny spots of blood.

Xiao Li’s breathing heated up again, yet he knew he couldn’t go too far anymore. He embraced her through the blanket, buried his face in the hollow of her shoulder and nuzzled, then carefully pecked and kissed that teeth mark on her back shoulder several times before finally releasing her.

The bed was in complete disarray, already too disheveled to look at.

Xiao Li took one of his own outer robes from the rack and put it on. Under the unbelted inner garment, the marks on his body were also not light.

Besides the full shoulder of red scratch marks, there were also two teeth marks on the side of his neck and front shoulder, truly deep enough to draw blood.

One was from when he carried Wen Yu into the bathing pool to clean her, and she bit him.

The other was when he couldn’t restrain himself and thoroughly claimed her again in the bathing pool. When he bit that teeth mark on her back shoulder, she refused to suffer any loss and returned one on his front shoulder.

Xiao Li unexpectedly felt very satisfied.

The back shoulder opposite that teeth mark was where the arrow scar that had nearly cost him his life was located.

Two marks, both left by her.

Regardless of whether she had truly wanted to kill him before, he had long since been so utterly defeated that he didn’t want to pursue it anymore.

Now that she admitted she liked him, that was enough.

Xiao Li rolled up the soiled bedding and the section of bed curtain she had torn, putting them all together in the dirty laundry basket. He then rummaged through the cabinet to find new ones and re-made the bed.

While collecting their clothes from the footrest, by candlelight he discovered bloodstains on the silk scarf that had been pressed beneath them during the earlier chaos.

He frowned slightly, not knowing if he had injured Wen Yu.

When he lived with Xiao Huiniang in the Drunken Red Tower as a child, he knew that whenever the young ladies in the building were pushed out by the madam to receive customers for the first time, the bedding changed the next day and washed by the old women always had bloodstains.

But there were also some rough men from the martial world who came to the building seeking pleasure. Even the experienced ladies of pleasure in the building were reluctant to receive such people. He had even heard the young ladies complain that those rough men were too crude and injured them.

In those situations, the bedding the young ladies changed out of also had bloodstains.

Wen Yu… seemed to be injured?

The last time he cleaned her, she was already unconscious. When he touched her, she still tried to hide while murmuring in her sleep that it hurt.

Xiao Li held that silk scarf in silence for a while, then put it together into the dirty laundry basket.

After carrying Wen Yu back to the bed along with the blanket and lowering the remaining half of the bed curtain to shield her from the wind, he walked out of the courtyard gate to order the armored soldiers standing guard outside to cook some soft meat congee.

He then returned to the room and entered the back chamber, wanting to see if there was any usable medicinal ointment.

This mountain hermitage had only been abandoned recently after Pei Song invaded the northern border. Originally used as a place where local officials kept family courtesans to serve the powerful, it must have these ointments on hand.

When Xiao Li was young, when the young ladies in the flower house were injured, they gave him silver to go to the medicine shop to help buy that kind of ointment. Xiao Li remembered that cool medicinal smell that could be detected even through the box.

He held the candlestick and searched through the wall niches, and indeed found a box with oil paper seals still on top, obviously never used before.

After unscrewing the lid and smelling it to confirm there was no mistake, Xiao Li extinguished the candlestick and left the chamber.

Wen Yu was sleeping deeply. When she sensed something cool invading and continuing to probe inward, in the extreme drowsiness and haziness, she could only helplessly murmur a warning: “Xiao Li…”

Xiao Li leaned down to kiss her, his voice hoarse: “I hurt you. Don’t move. I’m applying medicine.”

After finally finishing applying the medicine, Xiao Li buried his face in her neck, breathing hotly and heavily for quite a while before going to the bathing pool in the chamber with slightly reddened eyes to wash his hands clean.

A knock came from outside the room. It was Gongsun Sanniang bringing congee.

As soon as the door opened, Gongsun Sanniang glanced at the teeth mark on the side of Xiao Li’s neck and probably also caught some scent from inside the room. She smiled in very restrained teasing before handing over the tray holding two bowls of shredded chicken congee.

Xiao Li stood right by the door, his tall figure blocking everything inside the room tightly, not allowing anyone to glimpse anything. After having eaten his fill, the heavy aura between his brows had lightened somewhat, but in those wolf eyes, the ferocity remained, intimidating people so they didn’t dare look too much at his excessively handsome face.

After taking the tray, he said: “Don’t let anyone come disturb us before noon.”

Gongsun Sanniang said very understandingly: “Don’t worry, before afternoon, not even a fly will be able to enter this courtyard.”

Returning to the room, Xiao Li hung up that half of the bed curtain and sat by the bedside, lifting Wen Yu up to lean against him. He scooped up some meat congee with a spoon, blew it cool, then brought it to her lips: “A’Yu, eat something before sleeping.”

Wen Yu was truly exhausted. Her eyelids were so heavy she couldn’t lift them at all. She was almost entirely fed that large half bowl of congee by him.

When she couldn’t eat anymore, she turned her head to the other side. Xiao Li placed her back on the bed, and she curled up with the blanket and fell deeply asleep again.

Xiao Li hastily finished the remaining congee. After removing his outer robe and lying back down, he confined her in his embrace. When pecking and kissing that neck covered with red marks, Wen Yu shrank back wanting to hide but was tightly encircled in his arms.

Xiao Li had only slept for a little over three hours last night. He was somewhat sleepy now too, but holding Wen Yu like this, he still felt it was like a dream and didn’t dare fall asleep.

He rained down dense kisses on the side of her neck and shoulder, calling her “A’Yu” tenderly and hoarsely.

Probably not many people in the world knew this childhood name of hers and would still call her this way. Even though Wen Yu had fallen into deep sleep, hearing the two words “A’Yu,” she would still respond groggily, though people couldn’t hear clearly what she was responding.

Xiao Li encircled her even more tightly between his shoulder, arm, and chest. He kissed the top of her head again before slowly closing his eyes in this posture that could be described as a hedgehog curled up clutching some treasure to its belly, his chin resting on the top of her head.

A’Yu was his.

But Hanyang was not yet.

There were many competing for Hanyang. Only by becoming the strongest could he seize her back.

He was jealous of every man who had ever possessed her. He would chop them into meat paste and throw them into the mountains to feed the wild wolves.

But whether she was a virgin or not, he didn’t care.

He had already missed many firsts in her life. He only wanted her future.

Anyway, the men who had touched her were all dead. From now on, she would belong completely and entirely to him alone.

He would be stronger than all the men she had ever had.

–

Wen Yu slept until the afternoon before waking. Because she had been continuously encircled by Xiao Li and his body was hot, she woke up covered in sweat.

Xiao Li’s heavy arm still lay across her waist. When Wen Yu wanted to move his arm, she felt both arms weak and powerless.

Last night he had gone too far. When he lifted her up, she had nowhere to brace herself and had gripped his shoulder and neck for too long.

Thinking of this, not only did some secret irritation arise in her heart, the force she used to push his arm also became greater.

Xiao Li was awakened by her movements. His eyes hadn’t even opened yet when he instinctively pulled her back into his embrace using his other arm, kissing randomly on her face and neck, his voice carrying the hoarseness of just waking: “Awake?”

Wen Yu couldn’t look at her own pitiful shoulders and arms. There was some strange coolness below, making her furrow her brow tightly.

As the chaotic memories from last night returned, Wen Yu couldn’t help but press her hand against her temple.

After becoming clear-headed, she resumed that cool, inviolable appearance. She also didn’t seem accustomed to such excessively boundary-crossing intimacy with Xiao Li. Furrowing her brow slightly, she said: “I want to bathe.”

She had started it, so naturally she had no regrets.

Just… not accustomed.

And… it was too much.

So much that Wen Yu always felt she had made another wrong decision.

She endured the soreness throughout her body to sit up, pulling tight that oversized inner garment. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she nearly fell onto the felt carpet.

Xiao Li’s long arm reached back and caught her, and she landed steadily in his embrace.

His jaw tightened slightly, seeming to also notice that after waking, Wen Yu was invisibly drawing boundaries with him again.

He directly pressed her against the bedside and fiercely kissed her thoroughly, kissing until the coolness on Wen Yu’s face and in her eyes was replaced again by crimson color, then lifted her up in one motion saying: “The young ladies in the pleasure houses often curse those patrons for pulling up their pants and disowning them. Wen Yu, you just got up from my bed and already want to turn your face and disown me?”

No one had ever spoken such vulgar words to Wen Yu. Anger seemed to rise in her eyes, but being easily lifted up with his palm moreover dangerously holding her waist, she finally realized now was not the time to assert herself. She only pressed her lips tighter and said nothing.

Xiao Li turned the stone tablet and brought her into the chamber, lighting the candlesticks on the wall niches and placing her into the hot spring pool.

As soon as Wen Yu entered the pool, she automatically moved to the other side, slightly pulling her collar together without looking at Xiao Li. Her originally cool and crisp voice was somewhat hoarse from crying too long last night, turning into another kind of clear and deep tone: “Please call Sanniang and have her go to the room to help me get some clothes.”

Xiao Li’s dark eyes locked on her. Not only did he not go out, he directly stepped into the pool.

When Wen Yu finished being startled and wanted to hide, with absolute advantages in strength and speed, he closed in and once again pressed her against the stone wall.

His eyes held some anger and thin smile at being used and discarded. His high-bridged nose almost touched Wen Yu’s as his dark eyes displayed to her the all-too-obvious desire to invade and possess: “It just so happens I haven’t had my fill either. Since you’ve forgotten what you did with me last night, let’s do it again.”

His gaze was truly too frightening.

For an instant, Wen Yu even felt like prey cruelly torn apart beneath his claws.

She furrowed her brow and urgently wanted to call him, to make him calm down, but was quickly silenced as he gripped her jaw and took away her breath.

Still the familiar dense kisses that left her breathless—not cruel, but so domineering they wouldn’t allow her refusal.

She couldn’t stand in the water, so he lifted her up. Wen Yu was truly afraid of that position and hurriedly clung to his neck, somewhat losing composure as she fiercely called his name.

Xiao Li kissed her lips, his fierce wild smile carrying some roguishness. He seemed quite pleased she would angrily call him like this rather than facing him with that calm, waveless expression she used with everyone. He said: “I’m here.”

Wen Yu was exasperated. For the first time, she realized this person’s face was actually this thick.

He placed her sitting on the stone platform carved halfway along the stone wall at the edge of the hot spring, his hands bracing the stone platform to encircle her as he continued kissing her.

Behind Wen Yu was the stone wall—she had nowhere to hide at all.

Fortunately, that stone wall was constantly soaked by the hot spring pool water with heat enveloping it, so it wasn’t cold.

Xiao Li kissed her in front until at the end, even though Wen Yu clenched her teeth, she couldn’t endure it and finally sobbed out loud just like last night.

She rarely cried about other matters, as if all her tears were reserved for this.

Xiao Li wasn’t faring well either. The arms bracing the stone platform showed protruding veins, his body muscles tightening. In the end, he could only lift his head from her chest and rest it on her shoulder, breathing heavily. Hot sweat slowly slid down from his temples along the side of his face.

He had said those words earlier only because he was irritated by her distant manner after waking, deliberately scaring her.

But now the one suffering in this unbearable state was himself.

He lightly bit her shoulder again, sighing as if helpless with her: “Wen Yu, how can you be like this?”

Not daring to touch her again, yet unwilling to let her go like this.

He continued kissing down along her shoulder, finally using the pretext of cleaning off the medicinal ointment to kiss downward as well.

She cried and trembled just like last night, but he showed no mercy at all.

After leaving the chamber, Wen Yu had her hair wrung dry by him and changed into fresh clothes. She sat on the daybed by the window with a slightly listless expression, still lacking energy.

Not long after, Gongsun Sanniang came over. She had her help send a message to the Qingyun Guard, saying they could come up the mountain to receive her.

Since leaving the chamber, Xiao Li’s expression had become somewhat strange. After helping her get clothes and dry her hair, he disappeared.

After a while he returned and ran into Gongsun Sanniang leaving. Probably understanding what she had instructed, he walked over and embraced her, resting his chin in the hollow of her shoulder, yet said nothing.

Wen Yu was truly exhausted and tight on energy, having no strength to deal with him anymore. She simply lay on the small table with closed eyes feigning sleep, waiting for him to speak first.

But Xiao Li only kissed the black hair falling by her neck and didn’t trouble her anymore.

Wen Yu thought of her original plan. She lifted her eyes slightly and was about to proactively ask Xiao Li something when someone outside came with hurried steps, stopping outside the door and calling out with some restraint: “Governor!”