The murderous intent in Xiao Li’s eyes grew heavier.

He had never been among her choices.

Before, it was so. Now, it was also so.

Even though she had already fallen to such circumstances.

Those extreme emotions entangled and twisted, finally wringing into a fury and hatred even he himself couldn’t clearly articulate.

He even felt there was a bloody taste in his throat when he breathed. He suddenly wanted to know just how hard Wen Yu’s heart had become to be able to speak such words to him so calmly at this moment. So he deliberately provoked her: “The Princess overthinks. The beauties the Princess sent this Marquis are each gentle and considerate, very skilled at serving people—not like the Princess, like a block of wood.”

Wen Yu’s hand propped on the bed—the tendons and bones on the back of her hand protruded obviously from tensing with force. The silk fabric beneath was also creased deeply by her grip. Only her expression remained so unconcerned, even carrying a hint of relief at finally being able to speak plainly: “Could it be Lord Xiao’s bedroom skills are beneath flattery?”

Xiao Li’s jawbone clenched tight almost instantly: “The Chen King is better than me?”

Wen Yu’s eyes seemed like a sea, hiding all emotions. She slightly raised her head to look at Xiao Li, a smile at the corners of her lips: “Does Lord Xiao not know the principle that bedside companions are often changed for freshness? This palace and Lord Xiao still shared a fleeting romance—why would I hang myself on the Chen King’s single tree?”

Xiao Li could no longer restrain the murderous intent in his eyes. He clenched his teeth several times, yet couldn’t speak another word.

So she truly didn’t care about others entering her bed.

That heavy wave gathering in his eyes was almost about to fall. He hurriedly turned his eyes away, unwilling to let Wen Yu perceive his awkwardness, continuing to ask harshly: “Where is your daughter?”

Beneath Wen Yu’s eyes also hid a circle of not very obvious red. Her voice immediately became vigilant: “What do you want to do?”

A low laugh of unknown mockery or sarcasm spilled from Xiao Li’s throat.

He desperately tried to suppress the soreness in his eyes, only to no avail.

—She was guarding against him.

Afraid he would harm her daughter?

When she left his army last year, the first birthday gift he had prepared for her unborn child—presumably she had never opened it to look.

Fury, bitterness, and an immense despair crashed about in his heart. For a moment, Xiao Li felt he should have died at Yanle Mountain.

Died in that heavy snow last year after escaping the Wei residence to help the Wolf Riders.

At least then he was still dreaming that after becoming a powerful lord, he could bring her back from Chen Kingdom.

Rather than like now, standing before all this rotted decay, so powerless he wished he could have died a thousand times, ten thousand times in the past, rather than encounter such an ending again.

After Xiao Li took a deep breath, his eyes bloodshot, he sneered coldly at Wen Yu: “Nervous about what? I only wanted to see what your and that coward Chen King’s child looks like. What—not the Chen King’s seed?”

Wen Yu, touching his heart-piercingly red eyes, also felt a pain in her heart.

Was he also grieving over this?

She endured the gradually heavy astringency in her eyes and turned her head to the side, unwilling to answer Xiao Li again.

But Xiao Li misunderstood, thinking it was truly as he said—the child probably wasn’t the Chen King’s, but hers with someone else. At this moment he only felt that even if the lump of flesh in his chest cavity were dug out raw and thrown among ten thousand troops to be trampled into pulp, it probably wouldn’t hurt more than now.

The violent energy in his eyes climbed. Reason had been eroded by anger until little remained. Fearing what he might do to Wen Yu if he stayed longer, he retreated backward: “Won’t say? Then this Marquis will interrogate myself!”

Saying this, he slammed the door and left.

Wen Yu looked at the closed palace door. The shoulders and back that had originally been tensed with force finally slowly released their strength. Somewhat wearily yet forcibly suppressing her heartache, she closed her eyes.

What did he want?

She had given the apology for that arrow from the past.

The affection he had once trampled, she had returned to him completely and wholly.

Back then when he wanted her to reconcile with the Chen King and choose him, the campaign against Pei was imminent, and Liang and Chen Kingdom’s interests were deeply intertwined—how could she make such a rash decision for personal desire?

Not seeing each other for a year, he didn’t hesitate to bear the evil name of massacring surrendered soldiers for a courtesan. Today’s various actions seemed more to only want her to regret her decision from the past.

He spoke viciously to her. Her pride also wouldn’t let her lower her head even half a bit.

Before clarifying everything, she couldn’t possibly let him know A’Li’s true identity.

—

After Xiao Li left Zhaohua Palace, he went directly to the prison.

The Chen King had been under house arrest by Wen Yu for a year. Having just raised his eyebrows triumphantly for not even a day and a half, he was imprisoned again. Smelling the moldy straw filling the cell, he angrily kicked the cell door several times. After summoning the jailers, he pointed at their noses and launched into a tirade: “Is this a place for people to live? Hurry and change it all for this King!”

The jailers below hadn’t been replaced, but Wolf Riders were already standing guard outside. The jailers didn’t dare offend anyone, only saying: “Your Majesty, this is the imperial prison. It’s always been like this…”

The Chen King angrily continued cursing at the jailers: “A group of things that fawn on outsiders and deceive the master! After this King’s reinforcements arrive and that Xiao wolf cub is beheaded, watch this King not exterminate your nine clans…”

From the entrance of the cell corridor came a voice: “Lord has arrived—”

That fear of having the long halberd pointed directly at his face still remained. The Chen King almost instantly fell silent, only his expression still showing suppressed resentment and indignation.

The jailers below felt as if granted special amnesty. Seeing Xiao Li approach, they hurriedly paid respects: “Greetings to Lord…”

The aura around Xiao Li’s entire body was coldly fierce and intimidating. He coldly ordered: “Open the cell door.”

The Chen King separated by one cell door immediately no longer dared show even the resentment and indignation on his face. He stared woodenly as the jailer hesitated slightly, then steeled himself and stepped forward to open the cell door. His mind was almost completely blank, unable to figure out what Xiao Li sought him for.

The iron chains on the cell door clanged as the lock was turned. After the jailer unwound the chains wrapped around the cell door, Xiao Li again ordered with extreme coldness: “All withdraw.”

The Wolf Riders who had entered the imperial prison with him all obeyed the order and withdrew. The jailer naturally didn’t dare linger. After bowing once, he withdrew with hunched back.

The Chen King watched Xiao Li step into the cell. Out of instinct he retreated a step, swallowing saliva: “Not knowing Lord… Lord has personally honored us with your presence, what… what noble business brings you?”

Xiao Li raised his foot and kicked. The Chen King screamed miserably, flying backward like a broken sandbag and falling into the moldy straw. In an instant, his internal organs were violently shaken, burning pain surging through him as his stomach churned. He opened his mouth, about to vomit acid.

Fear overwhelmed him completely. Holding his stomach, he crawled up on his knees and clumsily kowtowed to Xiao Li. “My lord, spare my life! My lord, spare my life! This small king will surrender everything to my lord—please, just spare this small king…”

Xiao Li coldly watched the Chen King’s wretched appearance, the violent energy around his entire body rolling and growing more intense.

It was such a thing unfit to be seen in public that married Wen Yu, performed the marriage ceremony—when he died, his tombstone would also have to be engraved with her husband Hanyang’s title?

Was he worthy?

Xiao Li’s boot pressed down on the five fingers the Chen King had planted on the ground. The Chen King screamed miserably again, tears and snot streaming down his face. He kept shouting “Spare my life!” over and over.

The light in the imperial prison was dim. The illuminating lamplight on the wall niche cut out Xiao Li’s sharp profile. His other half face was completely hidden in dark shadow, his brows and eyes hidden in even deeper darkness. The riding crop he hadn’t had time to put down from galloping all the way here was curved and lifted in his hand—pitch black and glossy, like a coiled black snake.

The Chen King, in pain, continuously pounded the ground with his other hand screaming miserably, completely not daring to raise his head. In his line of sight he could only see that boot firmly grinding his right hand and that section of black whip. Not knowing whether it was cold sweat from pain or cold sweat from fright, in moments it soaked through his back.

“If anyone attacked the royal capital today demanding Hanyang, you would present her, wouldn’t you?” The tone from overhead was bitterly cold.

The Chen King cried and wept: “This truly isn’t something this small King can decide! This small King has already been under house arrest by Hanyang for over a year. Only yesterday was I released…”

Xiao Li used the curved black whip to lift the Chen King’s chin. In his cold eyes, another surge of chilling, violent energy and madness flickered: “Who released you?”

The Chen King, too frightened to think deeply about why Xiao Li was asking these things, tremblingly revealed everything: “Yan Zhen, it’s the Yan father and son! They’re the ones who wanted to rebel against Hanyang. It has nothing to do with this small King!”

“Whoosh”—a fierce whip lashed the Chen King’s face. The Chen King again let out a pig-slaughtering scream.

Xiao Li’s tone was ice-cold as he spat out two words: “Useless.”

The Chen King, in pain with cold sweat pouring from his entire body, slowly seeped blood from the swollen mark the whip left on his face. He didn’t dare retort a single word, continuing to cry miserably: “This small King is useless. I beg Lord to spare this small King…”

Xiao Li shifted his boot pressing down on the Chen King’s five fingers, continuing in a cold voice: “Hanyang’s daughter—whose is she?”

Though the Chen King was stupid, thinking of how Xiao Li had earlier directly abducted Wen Yu onto his horse toward the royal palace, he also clearly knew he must have taken a fancy to Wen Yu. Covering his ground fingers, he hurriedly said: “Not mine, not mine!”

To increase credibility, he didn’t hesitate to reveal his own secret: “This small King… this small King was previously injured and cannot perform marital relations. This small King has never touched that slut. It’s that slut who is fickle and loose. Not knowing with whom she had an affair, she bore a bastard!”

“Whoosh”—another fierce lash of the whip. The Chen King covered the bleeding, swollen mark that had risen from his ear to the corner of his mouth, almost unable to kneel anymore. For a time, only his wailing echoed in the cell.

The Chen King’s tears smeared his entire face. Touching the wound made it hurt even more intensely. Not understanding why he was whipped again, he could only continuously beg for mercy: “Lord, see clearly—everything this small King said is true…”

Xiao Li’s expression was sinister: “Where is her daughter now?”

The Chen King had already been beaten into fear. Holding his head, he sobbed: “This small King doesn’t know. This small King truly doesn’t know. Yesterday when the Yan family launched the palace coup, the people by her side already sent that bast… that child out of the palace.”

—

Since the Yan father and son entered prison, their anxious hearts hadn’t relaxed for a moment.

When the Chen King’s heart-rending screams came from the innermost cell where the Chen King was held alone, the Yan father and son and a crowd of aristocratic family ministers turned even paler.

An aristocratic family minister said in panic: “We… we’ve already offered surrender. Is that Xiao Li still going to be so cruel and inhumane, driving us to extinction?”

Across in the cell where Qi Simai was imprisoned, he slowly lifted his eyelids and said: “With great enemies at hand, you lot wanted to stir up internal chaos. What do you expect now?”

Duke Yan retorted: “The Forbidden Army couldn’t even block that Xiao fellow’s tiger and wolf troops for half a day. Even if today it were that Liang woman governing, what difference would the result be?”

After speaking, he even snorted coldly: “That the royal capital didn’t suffer massacre, that you lot still have your lives now—you should thank us for binding that Liang woman and offering surrender to that Xiao wolf cub!”

Hurried footsteps came from around the corridor corner. The Chen Kingdom ministers who had wanted to engage in verbal battle also temporarily stopped their voices.

A squad of armored Wolf Riders approached, scanning everyone and asking coldly: “Who is Yan Zhen?”