Di Wu Ya took both of Feng Jiu’er’s hands and turned her to face him.

Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes to meet the man’s gaze and blinked.

Di Wu Ya stared into her eyes and said quietly, “I’m sorry! I haven’t lived up to what you hoped for.”

In the depths of his eyes, Feng Jiu’er felt his sincerity.

She pressed her lips together and shook her head.

“What’s done is done — there’s no use saying that. Besides, even if you don’t march north, Zhan Lingtian would march south.”

“That mother and son have been planning this for so many years — would they give it up so easily?”

“I’m not saying we should give up. The Di family’s vengeance, the Long family’s vengeance — let’s avenge them together. But I hope we don’t have to sacrifice so many more brothers and innocent people.”

“Ninth Imperial Uncle.”

Feng Jiu’er took hold of Di Wu Ya’s hand, her expression earnest.

“I’m thinking — could we sneak into the palace and kill Zhan Lingtian and Ye Xuening?”

“If it fails, we still have Mu Mu.”

“We?”

Di Wu Ya took Feng Jiu’er’s small hand in his, his lips curving slightly.

“No.”

Feng Jiu’er’s small face flushed, and she pulled her hand out of his grasp, shaking her head.

“What I mean is, if we go into the palace and can’t get back out, isn’t there still Mu Mu, Senior Di, Senior Ye? On my side there’s still Qiao Mu, Jian Yi, and Zhao Yusheng.”

“But if we succeed, the Di family’s and the Long family’s vengeance will be settled, and we won’t need our brothers to bleed and suffer — wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Di Wu Ya took hold of Feng Jiu’er’s small hand again and pressed it against his own chest, over his heart.

“We — that sounds very good!”

His handsome face, the deep look in his eyes — Feng Jiu’er glanced at him once and didn’t dare look again.

If she looked again, she felt she might not be able to help herself and would want to take a bite out of him.

As for this sort of reaction that any normal woman would have at the sight of a handsome man, Feng Jiu’er didn’t feel ashamed of it.

She simply worried that she might lose control and do something inappropriate at the wrong moment, so she chose to ignore the feeling.

Feng Jiu’er lowered her head, her small face even redder than before.

“What do you think?”

“Beautiful.”

Di Wu Ya smiled faintly and tossed out the single word.

Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes to glare at him, frowning.

“I’m being serious — can’t you be serious for once?”

“I’m being serious too. Our girl is simply beautiful.”

Di Wu Ya gave Feng Jiu’er an admiring look and pulled her face-to-face into his embrace.

“Private vengeance shouldn’t cost so many brothers their lives — I’ve considered your suggestion as well.”

“However, the situation inside the palace this time is uncertain, and I can’t let you take that risk.”

Feng Jiu’er pushed against Di Wu Ya’s shoulder, stepping out of his embrace, and raised her eyes to look at him.

“Ye Xuening killed my mother — I have to avenge her. Besides, your body hasn’t fully healed yet — are you sure you’re a match for her?”

Di Wu Ya lowered his head to look at Feng Jiu’er and gently rubbed her head.

Just as he was about to say something, Feng Jiu’er’s voice rang out again.

“We agreed — we, didn’t we?”

“Don’t even think about leaving me behind. This vengeance is ours — we’ll see it through together! If we win, we celebrate together; if we lose, at least we’ll have company on the road to the underworld.”

Di Wu Ya lowered his head and kissed Feng Jiu’er’s forehead.

“All right. Three days from now, we go into the palace together.”

“Three days?”

Feng Jiu’er met his gaze, frowning slightly.

“That’s right.”

Di Wu Ya nodded, scratching the top of her small head.

“Three days from now.”

“Three days — won’t that be rushing things a bit? We…”

“There’s no rush. The timing is just right.”

Di Wu Ya’s long fingers traveled from her hair down to her chin.

He pressed gently, lifting her chin to make her face him.

The man’s hot breath fell across her face, and Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together, reaching up to push away the hand at her chin.

She glanced at Di Wu Ya, then lowered her head, avoiding his touch.

“What you mean is, you’d already planned to go into the palace and kill Ye Xuening, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Di Wu Ya answered softly.

Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes to look at him, her crescent brows tightly knit.

“Such an important decision, and you never even mentioned it to me?”

“You meant to sneak in on your own, didn’t you? And here I was, treating your business as my own.”

“Di Wu Ya, you’re far too selfish!”

It wasn’t that Feng Jiu’er didn’t understand he’d done this to protect her.

But right now, she didn’t need his protection — she needed to avenge her mother, and she needed to face this together with him.

A man who claimed time and again that he wanted to marry her, who asked her to give him another chance, yet who didn’t understand her at all — it left her heart aching.

If he died, what would she do?

Feng Jiu’er couldn’t bear to imagine whether she could endure losing another person who mattered to her.

“Jiu’er, I…”

Seeing the glint of tears in the girl’s eyes, Di Wu Ya suddenly felt at a loss.

“Di Wu Ya, you’re so heartless!”

Feng Jiu’er grabbed Di Wu Ya’s wrist and stared at him coldly.

“Don’t you remember whose hands brought your life back from the brink? If you’re going to risk your life, shouldn’t you at least tell me first?”

“No one’s going to stop you, but you have to get my consent!”

Feng Jiu’er didn’t know where her tears were coming from, but they fell naturally, as if they’d been held back for far too long.

Crying wouldn’t really change anything, but at least it let her feelings find some release — who said it was entirely useless?

“Girl, I was wrong.”

Di Wu Ya extended a long finger and carefully wiped away the tears at the corner of Feng Jiu’er’s eyes.

When his finger touched her warm tears, his fingertip trembled slightly.

Feng Jiu’er opened her eyes just in time to see this.

She bit her lip, and somehow it didn’t feel so painful anymore.

“Jiu’er.”

Di Wu Ya reached out his finger again, carefully wiping away her tears.

Watching his clumsy movements and feeling the anxious, helpless air about him, Feng Jiu’er pressed her pink lips together for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.

Di Wu Ya stared straight into the eyes of the woman in his arms, his hand stilling.

A war god of a prince, clearly experiencing love for the first time — utterly adorable.

Feng Jiu’er, thoroughly charmed by the sight of him like this, felt her heart ease considerably.

She cleared her throat lightly, wiped her tears, her expression no longer heavy.

“From now on, you can’t always just think of yourself, understand?”

His body hadn’t fully recovered yet — it really wasn’t appropriate for him to take such a risk himself.

And as for her — she had her father’s divine martial arts protecting her.

If she didn’t act now, wouldn’t it be a waste of all the skill her father had given her?

She was still counting on using the divine power her father had passed down to avenge her mother.

“Mm.”

Di Wu Ya looked at her, blinked once, and nodded.

Feng Jiu’er reached out a long finger and gently traced it across the corner of Di Wu Ya’s lips.

“I’ve already lost my mother — I don’t want to lose you. This vengeance is ours — we’ll see it through together.”

She pressed her lips together, then leaned in slightly and kissed the man’s handsome, thin lips.

Di Wu Ya’s long arms tightened, pulling Feng Jiu’er even closer against him.

Feng Jiu’er looked at the handsome face so close to hers, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.