“Don’t be angry with me first. Tell me where else you’re hurt. If you want to settle accounts, we can do it slowly when we get back.”

Through her blurred vision, she heard his voice lower, his eyes full of burning urgency and anxiety. Where was even a trace of the cold aloofness from these past days?

But Suzhen couldn’t calm down. She breathed heavily, struggling constantly, kicking viciously at his feet.

Lian Yu didn’t care about such minor pain. His brow furrowed anxiously. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ugly Horse circling continuously nearby. He immediately understood something, couldn’t help cursing under his breath, and shouted at Ugly Horse: “Follow! You’ll be punished when we get back!”

In his rage, he truly wanted to slaughter that creature, but it was her horse. Over these years, loving the house and its crow, not to mention Lian Xi, he had even treated this Ah Chou as precious, personally feeding and washing it daily, unable to strike it heavily.

Ignoring her struggles, he swept her up in his arms, forcibly mounting the horse with her. With a pull of the reins, he galloped toward the city. Ugly Horse guiltily glanced around a few times before running behind them with its tail between its legs.

All along the way, Suzhen kept twisting like a young beast trapped in a hunter’s snare. Lian Yu wasn’t afraid of her hitting or scolding him, but feared injuring herself. Though reluctant, he still pressed her acupoints and held her tightly against his chest.

With her acupoints sealed, Suzhen felt bitter with anger and simply stopped speaking or scolding, tightly closing her mouth.

Lian Yu’s heart felt as if someone were carving it with a knife, again and again. The misty layer in her eyes earlier made him both heartbroken and irritated. Yet he feared that if he yielded now, being the audacious person she was, she might easily abandon him again in the future. Those few days of effort would be wasted. Several words of appeasement rolled on his tongue repeatedly, but he ultimately gritted his teeth and held firm, not speaking them.

The two maintained this golden silence until returning to the city.

The guards knelt down. Before they could pay respects, Lian Yu commanded sternly: “Mount Ah Chou and have Seventh Master bring medical supplies to my room immediately.”

Seeing his iron-dark expression – something not seen even during the most difficult battles of recent years – everyone felt intimidated. The leader said nothing and immediately mounted his horse, galloping frantically inward.

Therefore, by the time they reached their destination, Lian Jie, Lian Qin, Qinglong, Baihu, and Xuanwu were all waiting, along with that newly acquired woman.

Seeing her approach, Suzhen lowered her eyes slightly. Lian Yu carried her down as if he didn’t see the other woman at all, calling sternly to Lian Jie: “Inside. Your sister-in-law fell from her horse and was injured.”

Everyone was surprised. Lian Jie dared not delay and immediately went inside.

Lian Yu gently placed Suzhen on the bed and released her acupoints. Everyone watched each other with bewildered expressions. Lian Qin, always opening the wrong pot, said: “Oh my, Sixth Brother, how could you resort to force? A good man doesn’t fight with women—”

Before he could finish, Xuanwu and Qinglong covered his mouth and dragged him aside.

Lian Yu stood before the bed, clenching and unclenching his fists, lips tightly pressed, watching Lian Jie work.

Poor Lian Jie, a master physician treating what wasn’t even a life-threatening injury, kept sweating profusely under tremendous pressure.

Especially when treating Suzhen’s elbow scrape, though Suzhen’s “hiss” of pain was light, he clearly felt Lian Yu’s gaze darken behind him. He felt like needles were pricking his back.

Shortly after, when treating her legs and feet, Baihu came forward to slightly roll up her trouser leg. Lian Qin and the others automatically retreated to where they couldn’t see. This wasn’t his first time treating improper-to-view injuries on Suzhen’s body, but seeing this patch of white, tender, delicate skin, he still silently groaned inwardly. Sure enough, Lian Yu stepped forward, his gaze growing even darker.

Being a man himself, he naturally knew what Lian Yu disliked.

With great difficulty, after cleaning, medicating, and bandaging the wound, he was stumped again. How should he explain this injury? Suzhen’s injury wasn’t serious, but it wasn’t light either. Her head might have suffered some concussion and needed observation for several days to know if there were major problems. Though his diagnosis suggested she should be fine, careful monitoring was still necessary.

He hesitated briefly. Lian Yu’s gaze immediately sharpened: “How is it?”

He spoke truthfully. Lian Yu’s expression indeed became very ugly: “Stay in the adjacent room. Be ready when called.”

“Yes.” He nodded repeatedly. “This younger brother will go brew medicine and personally oversee it.”

Lian Qin, rarely seeing him at a disadvantage, gloated on the side until being dragged away by him.

At this moment, that woman suddenly spoke: “Let this servant attend to Madam. Master should rest briefly.”

Suzhen suddenly looked up. She showed no excitement, only saying mildly: “Fine.”

Instead, it was Lian Yu who looked at her and said sternly: “Get out!”

On the side, Qinglong and Baihu escorted the woman who still wanted to say something outside. Xuanwu thoughtfully closed the door, shutting the two inside.

Lian Yu sat down beside the bed, seeing Suzhen with lowered eyes, her hair slightly disheveled at the temples with two strands hanging down.

His heart was originally overflowing with something – anger, heartache – but now couldn’t help softening. He reached out, wanting to grasp her hair strands. But Suzhen’s heart was a gray haze. With a “slap,” she knocked his hand away.

Lian Yu’s gaze dimmed slightly as he withdrew his hand and said: “Let’s talk.”

Suzhen spoke softly: “From the moment you were clearly still alive yet left me alone in the palace to face and endure everything by myself, it was already determined that between us, though it seems you’ve given more, it’s only an appearance. What right do you have to demand I do things according to your words and thoughts? When I can’t do it, you get angry and cold toward me. But what about what you owe me, Lian Yu?”

Lian Yu froze completely. He slowly smiled, then his eyes became completely bloodshot.

Suzhen had seen him looking down upon the world with confident far-reaching calculations, and had seen him lose his composure in thunderous rage, wounded beyond endurance. But she had never seen him looking like dead ashes, completely lifeless.

She was the person he kept in his heart, so she knew exactly where his vulnerabilities lay.

She actually understood his suffering and responsibilities better than anyone. At that time, he didn’t know about Li Zhaoting’s obsession and fixation on her – even she herself didn’t know… Yet she still spoke to wound him deeply.

Love sometimes was truly the most unsolvable thing in the world. So sweet and alluring, making you infatuated and willing to give everything for your beloved, yet so fearful and terrifying, making the person you least want to hurt the one you hurt most deeply.

Actually, the moment those words left her mouth, she regretted them, wanting to give herself a hard slap. Her whole body trembled slightly as she slowly reached out, wanting to grasp his hand. But she saw him slowly stand up and say quietly: “It was my fault toward you. I indeed shouldn’t have demanded anything from you.”

He spoke and walked out.

Suzhen was filled with regret. Seeing the door close, she raised her hand and slapped herself. Ignoring the bone injury in her foot, she got off the bed wanting to apologize to him, but reaching the door, she silently stopped.

He was suffering, but wasn’t she suffering too? Why… was she always the first to yield?

Lian Yu never came back in.

Lian Jie personally delivered medicine, almost personally feeding it to her. Baihu came in to take over attending her, but she refused. She never had the habit of being waited upon, or perhaps, deep down, she was waiting for something.

Baihu remained outside the door with several maidservants. Knowing she liked quiet, they didn’t disturb her, only waiting for her instructions.

But even by nighttime, he hadn’t come.

All around was silent. A small lantern hung above the small couch in the room.

The lamplight was hazy. Such dim, quiet nights made one particularly uncomfortable. The physical pain from her injuries was secondary – the heartache was what truly tormented her. She couldn’t fall asleep no matter what, just staring straight at the bed curtains above.

“Master, I don’t know if I should say something?”

A voice suddenly rang from the rafters. She jumped, then remembering something, angrily said: “Xuanwu, get down here right now.”

Xuanwu’s laughter came from inside the room. But he didn’t come down, instead continuing: “Master, Master has lived very badly these years, very, very badly.”

She was speechless for a moment, only hearing him lower his voice further: “Little Master has almost never left Master’s side. This is the first time he’s let Qilin take her on a distant trip. These years, Master personally raised her, handling everything from waste elimination to teaching, almost never delegating to others except during battles.”

“The Empress Dowager and several officials once advised him to marry. After several attempts, once he flew into a rage, saying this lifetime would be like this – he would never remarry. He’s not without heirs – he has Little Master. Even if he had no one, he would never remarry. Since then, no one dared advise him again.”

“The Empress Dowager once said that after Miss Gu, didn’t he still have you? This lifetime is still long – how could he be so certain there would be no one else? She wanted him to try. She hoped Master could have a son to inherit his great enterprise and didn’t want to see him alone and lonely to the end.”

“He said when he was with Miss Gu, he was too young. Before he could ripen the green apricot to full sweetness, it quietly ended. He thought she had died and grieved for some years, but as time passed, the pain gradually lightened. But when he later met you and was with you, the timing was just right. Like a book – with Miss Gu, he only read half; with you, he read it completely.”

“He said those years of youthful recklessness when one could completely give oneself to another person were limited. A person’s heart only grows harder with age, so even if the finest girls appeared around him, none could amaze him anymore. These years, Master has been to many places and truly seen many, many wonderful girls – clever ones, beautiful ones – but he never smiled at anyone again.”

“Master, some words he didn’t say publicly, but he told this subordinate. He said once national affairs and territories were settled and Little Master came of age, he would go find you, neither failing this realm nor failing you.”

“Master, he’s right outside the door, separated from you by just one door. He had people lay a layer of white carpet on the ground because he feared disturbing you. He wants to see you, but doesn’t know how to face you or what to say. He can no longer endure another taste of your departing without farewell. He loves you – not with settled certainty, but always like the first time seeing a girl who captured his heart, seeking but unable to obtain, thinking of you in dreams and waking.”

At this point, there was no more sound. Suzhen touched her cheek – it was already wet and cold.

She threw off the covers and rose, running to the door in two or three steps, then gently opened it.

The moon was white as frost. He wore blue robes, his back to her, head slightly raised, standing in the moonlight. Unknown how long he had stood there. On the ground was a large expanse of snow-white carpet, as if sudden snow had fallen.

She slowly spoke, deliberately: “Why are you still here?”

Hearing the sound, his back clearly shuddered.