Damn it, this wasn’t the first time she’d thought this, but this time she inexplicably felt… guilty.

“Instead of handling your affairs, what are you doing here?”

Lian Yu coughed slightly, his tone somewhat cold and hard. His five fingers gripped as he reached for the teapot to pour tea.

Today he had changed his demeanor again—truly someone who seemed easy to get along with but was thoroughly difficult to deal with. It seemed her appearance displeased him. Suzhen pitied this sick person, walked over to brew him tea, and casually broke the somewhat awkward silence: “Sixth Young Master, with your martial arts skills, jumping down wouldn’t kill you.”

Lian Yu was just sipping tea when he heard this and decisively sprayed it out.

Tea water splashed Suzhen’s face. She was annoyed and raised a small fist under her sleeve toward him, but Lian Yu’s eyes were sharp and stared directly at her hand.

Suzhen was slightly dumbfounded and annoyed. Since he didn’t seem to think much of her anyway, she simply bowed to him: “You rest well. This humble subject takes leave.”

Just reaching the stairway entrance, footsteps suddenly sounded behind her. Before she could take a breath, she was lifted up by him.

Without explanation, he pressed her against the wall in the same position as that day. That strong masculine scent sprayed onto her face, making her immediately panic. Looking up, she met exactly the scar on his chin.

The scar was very shallow but still an injury. This position… she suddenly remembered the intimate contact of lips and teeth in the alley, her heart pounding again. But this wasn’t the mark she’d bitten—it looked more like a shaving cut. Right, he was the emperor—how could he be seen like this? He must have later used a razor to cut his chin to cover the old mark.

She couldn’t help but awkwardly swallow, and Lian Yu’s already somewhat dark eyes suddenly seemed stormily染了风暴. He grasped the back of her head, making her lean close to his face, saying in a low voice: “I raised an ungrateful wolf who doesn’t even think about who those words were said for, yet you dare use words to mock me?”

Just as Suzhen was about to explain, Lian Yu had already bent down to seal her lips and tongue.

She was completely unprepared as he drove straight in, directly lifting her tongue to suck… This time his mouth had a slightly cool medicinal taste, bitter yet fragrant. She desperately tried to dodge but was pinned by his legs pressed against her waist, until he had thoroughly tasted everything in her mouth, then blocked her lips, turning and kissing several times before releasing her.

Her breathing was unsteady as her body slid down softly, but he caught her and pulled her back into his embrace.

His broad robes spread slightly, completely surrounding her.

Except for being slightly flushed, where did this person look like a patient? Shame and anger filled Suzhen’s heart as she forcefully pounded his shoulders and back. But his shoulder muscles were solid and she ended up with swollen lips and aching hands. Constrained by people downstairs, she could only grit her teeth and whisper: “Lian Yu, let me go!”

“Treason! You dare call my name directly now!”

Lian Yu knew she disliked this. Such intimate matters differed from ordinary situations with various possible outcomes—mutual affection, submission due to his authority, compliance for benefits, reluctant accommodation, or desperate resistance. This person before him was somewhat afraid of death but had a stubborn nature. He didn’t want a mutually destructive outcome, so he tried restraining his temperament and taking it step by step. Therefore he didn’t force her too much now, slowly releasing her while slightly raising an eyebrow teasingly.

Even though Lian Yu wasn’t being excessive, Suzhen’s emotions were still turbulent.

Though the other party had never broken through that layer of paper, now she could no longer deceive herself into thinking he was just toying with her.

Never mind that her heart already belonged elsewhere—just considering the Feng family’s extermination, whether it was his father or he who personally issued the imperial edict, how could she like him?

She was also shocked to realize their past interactions had been inappropriately intimate. Though she’d long resolved to become his closest person, the current situation wasn’t within any of her expectations!

Suzhen had hidden her emotions extremely well, but Lian Yu still sharply saw on her face the same disgust he’d seen that night when he brought food to test her—the same expression that had made him slightly cold toward her then. This expression made him feel awkward. Now his heart sank slightly as he flicked his long sleeves, leaned against the window, and decided to speak plainly.

“Li Huaisu, I want you. Beyond sovereign and subject, I also hope you’ll be my… companion.”

Suzhen was even more shocked, barely able to stand steady.

However, what surprised her somewhat was that he hadn’t said “catamite” or “male favorite”—but “companion.”

She suddenly asked somewhat strangely: “You don’t find me ugly?”

Lian Yu stared directly into her eyes, showing composure and calmness beyond his current years: “No. Such matters have nothing to do with beauty or ugliness anyway. Besides, I myself am a beauty—how many people could be better looking than me?”

As if someone had poked her heart with a small stick, an indescribable aching feeling arose. But hearing the last sentence, Suzhen fell silent again.

This person, this person, really was!!

Her emotions were ultimately intense.

She had never been as carefree as she appeared on the surface. Deep down was an inferiority that even father’s teachings couldn’t drive away. Everyone around her was excellent and beautiful except for mother, but mother had father’s complete devotion. Zhaoting was different—she knew he cared somewhat. In the past, when Mrs. Li called her ugly, he had never refuted it.

She thought he liked her personality. After coming to the capital, she learned that wasn’t true either—on the contrary, he very much disliked this version of her.

She had asked family members if she was ugly.

Father laughed heartily: “Even if ugly, you’re still father’s daughter.”

Mother said: “It’s mother’s fault.”

Brother said: “Knowing you’re ugly, that bastard still dares say it—brother will beat him up for you.”

Leng Xue said: “Ugliness doesn’t matter if your character is good, though your character…”

Hong Xiao said: “Miss is a very good person.”

But this person said without hesitation that she wasn’t ugly… Did he really think so?

Something surged in her heart but was quickly suppressed. She secretly pinched herself—what was she thinking? The point was—she and Lian Yu were completely incompatible people.

Even if he didn’t think her ugly, even if he wasn’t toying with her, even if she didn’t love Zhaoting, even if there was no enmity between them, he was just momentarily interested. How could an emperor truly like her?

Time would change everything.

She suppressed all emotions, slowly knelt on the ground, and said seriously: “This humble subject thanks Your Majesty for your misplaced love, but this humble subject is a man.”