This madman who rode his horse into the palace city—the first since the Chen King’s palace was built, the new master of the northern frontier who had rapidly risen in the past two years.

Young, fierce, unruly.

Sitting high atop a Dayuan black horse, his coldly fierce gaze swept over like solid substance, forcing the ministers behind who had quietly raised their eyes to observe him to feel their scalps tingle one by one, no longer daring to lift their heads to peek.

This was also Yan Zhen’s first time experiencing such a substantial oppressive presence, surging like ocean tides. The bloodshed and slaughter of countless battles simply could not compare to the generals who had long resided in the royal capital. Just one encounter was enough to leave people dizzy and disoriented.

He held a black sandalwood tray containing Chen Kingdom’s imperial seal, raising it above his head with lowered head, calling out loudly: “Lord’s fame shakes the four corners. Our King admires you and wishes to present the imperial seal to you, Lord, and bind the Liang Wen family woman who previously schemed to harm you, Lord, for you to dispose of at will!”

Cold rain brushed across Yan Zhen’s cheek. He slowly knelt down, shouting out once more: “We respectfully welcome Lord’s great army into the city!”

The Chen Kingdom officials behind followed one after another in kneeling, shouting in unison: “We respectfully welcome Lord’s great army into the city!”

The Chen King also knelt unwillingly and humiliatingly in this rain as fine as cow hair yet exceptionally dense.

Only Wen Yu among those present still stood. Cold rain dampened her temple hair. Though bound, she had absolutely no appearance of a prisoner under the steps, calmly watching that person riding his horse slowly approaching.

The Yan father and son behind, seeing this, both feared Wen Yu would anger Xiao Li and bring disaster upon their Chen Kingdom. They wanted to order people forward to press Wen Yu to kneel down together, but Xiao Li had already quickly approached nearby, so they also didn’t dare move rashly.

From the moment Xiao Li stepped through the gate tower, his gaze had firmly locked onto Wen Yu with her arms bound by rope. Only that gaze was cold, and full of hatred.

Horse hooves trod on the granite floor tiles, making dull “thud thud” sounds. Everyone’s heartstrings tightened.

The Chen King knelt in the rainy ground, staring vacantly at the ground before him, but heard a slow, heavily enunciated cold voice come from above: “Chen King?”

Heavy killing intent and extreme contempt were wrapped in those two words, even giving people an illusion—the other party didn’t know how many times he had ground out these two words from between his teeth carrying immense hatred.

The Chen King slowly raised his head, but before he could clearly see the other’s appearance, he was frightened into not daring to move by that blood-stained long halberd thrust directly at his face, stammering: “Lord, spare my life! Lord, spare my life! It wasn’t us who wanted to fight to the death blocking Lord from entering the city—it was all… all this Liang woman who gave the orders!”

He hurriedly pointed toward Wen Yu beside him. In his private thoughts, he felt that since Xiao Li had old grievances with Wen Yu, and the outside world also knew Chen Kingdom was currently governed by Wen Yu, then no matter what Wen Yu said, Xiao Li probably wouldn’t believe it.

Wen Yu, receiving the Chen King’s accusation like this, remained silent, with no intention of defending herself even once.

The Chen King thought Wen Yu knew her explanations would be useless, so she chose silence. Just when he thought he had successfully pushed everything onto her, Xiao Li suddenly burst into laughter. Yet the expression on his face was clearly so gloomy.

The Chen King trembled, carefully swallowing saliva, not daring to say another word. The Yan father and son and aristocratic family ministers behind also followed with anxious hearts, not understanding why Xiao Li was laughing loudly.

Until Xiao Li put away the long halberd and instead used his blood-stained sword to lift Wen Yu’s chin. That young and cold stern face showed mockery and anger all too clearly: “Wen Yu, what kind of thing did you marry?”

This was the person she pushed him away time and again, abandoned him, yet still chose?

These were the Chen Kingdom officials and subjects she protected the same as she protected Great Liang?

The sword tip was ice-cold, faint bloody smell swirling at Wen Yu’s nose.

Her pale white chin was stained with a bit of blood from the sword. Her pale blue dress hem fluttered in the cold wind. She looked at the person on horseback more calmly than anything and spoke one sentence: “Lord Xiao’s actions also don’t appear very heroic.”

The gloom on Xiao Li’s face intensified.

Was she still defending the Chen King?

That fury crashing about in his chest cavity was almost corroding a huge hole in his heart.

He stared fixedly at her, sneering coldly: “I’ve indeed never been any kind of hero.”

As the words fell, he actually leaned down and swept Wen Yu up onto the horse’s back, spurring the horse directly toward the royal palace.

The ministers were in an uproar. The Chen King and Yan father and son were stunned into wooden puppets.

For Xiao Li’s previous abnormal behavior, they all had an answer.

That’s right—Wen Yu was the renowned first beauty under heaven. Once upon a time, those who coveted her beauty numbered who knows how many.

Only later, the methods she displayed made everyone only remember that this Great Liang Princess’s reputation was sufficient to stand alongside various heroic lords. No one paid attention to her appearance anymore.

If Xiao Li was also captured by Wen Yu’s beauty…

The Yan father and son and the aristocratic family ministers kneeling behind exchanged a glance, each face full of ashen defeat.

Zheng Hu in the rear shouldered the long halberd Xiao Li had tossed over before abducting Wen Yu onto the horse, directing the soldiers below: “First lock up this group of cowardly softies in the prison!”

Zhao Youcai, who had seized Xiao Li’s personal guard position, still stood woodenly watching the palace corridor where Xiao Li had ridden away with Wen Yu, muttering to Zheng Hu with a face that hadn’t recovered: “That… that’s Princess Hanyang?”

Zheng Hu shouldered Xiao Li’s halberd on one shoulder and his own large battle axe on the other, unhappily saying: “That’s my sister-in-law!”

He spat toward the Chen King beside him: “It’s all this coward using power and influence to beat mandarin ducks apart!”

Zhao Youcai had been carefully recalling the other person he had seen in Xinzhou who had falsely claimed with Xiao Li to be Tongcheng soldiers, wanting to say that person was Wen Yu. Suddenly hearing Zheng Hu’s words, he was shocked into an “Ah!” His brain felt like it had been struck by thunderbolt, unable to say a word for a long while.

—

The royal palace was breached. Palace servants had also all been driven to kneel in welcome before the palace gates.

This entire journey where Xiao Li brought Wen Yu galloping on horseback, aside from the drizzling cold rain and solemn palace walls, they saw not a single palace servant.

The bloody smell on his armor was strong. After Wen Yu was swept sideways onto the horse’s back by him, because he immediately spurred the horse to gallop, Wen Yu didn’t even have time to adjust her sitting posture. The warhorse jolted severely in its urgent sprint. She couldn’t stabilize her form, her shoulders and back colliding several times with Xiao Li’s hard armor.

The warhorse beneath them exhaled rough, heavy breaths. The person behind her was breathing hotly, rage rolling off him. The arm that had been wrapped across her waist since he abducted her onto the horse was locked like an iron hoop, not loosening in the slightest.

Wen Yu couldn’t even imperceptibly pull some distance from him. That breath soaked through the rain-dampened clothing and sprayed on her shoulders and neck, giving her the illusion that a fierce beast’s sharp teeth were already pressed against her throat.

Wen Yu forced herself to steady her emotions, her voice icy. “What does Lord Xiao intend? To employ such means and cause this palace to lose face and authority before the court ministers?”Having reached Zhaohua Palace, Xiao Li said not a word. He directly controlled the reins, hoisted Wen Yu over his shoulder, and kicked open Zhaohua Palace’s main door.

Zhaohua Palace was the residence of successive queens in the Chen King’s palace throughout history. This was no secret even among the common people.

Wen Yu was carried head-down over his shoulder, her abdomen extremely uncomfortable from being pressed against his shoulder as he walked urgently. Her black hair hung scattered in disarray. At this moment there was some indescribable awkwardness.

She called Xiao Li’s full name with some anger. Aside from continuing to kick doors and carry her into the inner palace, the other party remained silent.

Not until she was thrown onto the large bed in her sleeping quarters did Wen Yu instinctively feel danger. Her hands propped on the bed to sit up, watching the person standing bedside with vigilance. Before a sentence at the tip of her tongue could be spoken, she heard Xiao Li sneer and ask her: “Why aren’t you continuing to call ‘Lord Xiao, Lord Xiao’ anymore?”

Wen Yu seemed to fall silent for half a breath, then calmly raised her eyes to look at Xiao Li: “May this palace understand that Lord Xiao wishes to resume old affections with this palace?”

**Now in Liang territory, who doesn’t know he flew into a rage for a beauty, massacring all twenty thousand of Pei Song’s surrendered soldiers for a courtesan**

**A’Yu, in this world, human hearts are the thing that most cannot withstand grinding, especially now that he holds great power with empire in sight.**

**Princess, remember today’s choice. Farewell.**

Gu Xiyun’s words and the scene from a year ago when she proposed to Northern Wei to exchange him for two cities’ worth of supplies, and he personally went to the lakeside pavilion to inform her of his choice, were still before her eyes.

They were both approaching the peak of power. No one knew whether those past feelings had already been scratched beyond recognition in the passage of time.

Xiao Li looked at Wen Yu’s absolutely beautiful yet calm to the point of cold face. In this instant, he was so angry he almost wanted to laugh.

That lump of beating flesh in his chest cavity was almost being gnawed clean by that evil beast he forcibly locked under this skin.

That’s right—that night at the mountain hermitage, she was merely repaying the “affection” he had demanded from her.

After repaying it, she didn’t want to stay even a moment before descending the mountain.

Return to her Chen Kingdom, bear royal heirs, secure royal power.

She had always been rational.

Hadn’t her personal martial maid also said it? There were plenty of people willing to die for her. Like that Cavalry General whose head she desperately fought to retrieve.

Those who had staked their lives for her like this would always earn a bit of her compassion—he knew this clearly.

Why did he think he was the special one?

If Jiang Yu hadn’t died, wouldn’t she have allowed Jiang Yu into her bed all the same?

He had never thought about breaking with her—where did “resuming old romance” come from?

When had she ever valued his feelings?

Otherwise why would she send those worthless damn beauties to him!

Anger, jealousy, and hatred nearly twisted gave that evil beast the best nourishment. Xiao Li only felt his forehead seemed split open by something—muddled yet throbbing with dull pain.

For an instant he felt his consciousness had already separated from his body.

He heard himself sneer and say: “Don’t misunderstand. As the Princess said earlier, it’s merely done for the Princess’s subjects to see. The Princess just sent this Marquis so many beauties—would this Marquis lack people at his bedside?”

He also saw himself reach out to clamp Wen Yu’s chin: “Though the Princess’s beauty is renowned throughout the world, this Marquis… really cannot muster interest in women who have just given birth.”

His half-lowered eyes were pitch black and profoundly deep in a heart-alarming way.

Wen Yu’s hand propped on the bedding forcefully clenched her palm. Her face smiled perfectly without flaw, not a single crack to be found: “Lord Xiao’s methods are excellent.”

She slightly turned her head aside, breaking free of his grip: “As long as the beauties sent suit Lord Xiao’s heart, that’s good. Since this is an act, now with no one else present, Lord Xiao can distance himself from this palace. Otherwise it really easily causes this palace to misunderstand.”

Her eyes were so light and so distant.

Xiao Li felt his heart was almost burned through by that fire named jealousy and anger. That evil beast hidden under this body was also roaring, trying to tear him apart and leap struggling from his body.

He desperately wanted to cover Wen Yu’s mouth, make her stop talking.

But he was nailed firmly in place by that pride and self-respect.

Wasn’t it laughable enough already?

How long would he continue wagging his tail begging for her pity?

Anger and hatred intertwined, burning waveless red in his eyes, each breath heavier than the last.

Yet there was also a kind of instinctual longing that made him madly want to approach, to touch Wen Yu.

The brief delicate sensation transmitted through his fingertips, the cool and clear voice by his ear, the quiet fragrance in his breath—all pervasively invaded his senses.

From the moment he swept Wen Yu onto the horse’s back, the blood throughout his body had been surging and crashing through his four limbs and hundred bones, crashing until his fingertips tingled in waves.

He desperately wanted to hold her.

Embrace back this treasure he had lost for so long.

Then tell her.

This past year had not been good for him at all.

Also wanted to say, he hadn’t had a home for a long time.

He had also been drifting outside like a stray wild dog for a long time.

He had saved up enough betrothal gifts for himself—or perhaps it should be called dowry.

Could she give him a home?

But all hope had been shattered.

These words could also never be spoken again.

She didn’t care about him.