Chapter 148: "Fine, Then Please Me..."
Xiao Li lifted his gaze to look at her. Beneath eyelids beaded with fine sweat, his wolf-like, eagle-sharp eyes still held a ferocious glint from enduring pain.
Wen Yu met his gaze silently.
Her expression was calm and serene, carrying a hint of compassion. Bathed in the blazing firelight, she didn't flinch at all under his intensely aggressive and oppressive stare.
After a brief stalemate, Xiao Li finally released his grip on the bandage and lowered his sweat-dampened eyelids.
The firelight cast a warm glow over half his body. Even at rest, those sharply defined muscles conveyed a sense of terrifying latent power.
Wen Yu smoothed the bandage, pressing one end against his shoulder with her slender fingers. Though her fingertips didn't directly touch his skin, the thin layer of gauze provided little barrier - she could clearly feel the warmth radiating from the muscles beneath.
From enduring pain, Xiao Li's breathing had deepened slightly. His muscles were tensed extremely tight, hard as stone or iron.
Wen Yu glanced at his pale, restrained expression and sweat-beaded temples. When she carefully placed the bandage over his back, even mentally prepared, her breath still caught almost imperceptibly at the sight of the flesh torn open like a slender eye.
Had he been injured this severely?
She averted her gaze, unable to bear looking further. As she prepared to wrap the bandage under his arm and across his chest, she noticed the circular scar on his back shoulder where the skin color distinctly differed from the surrounding tissue. Several shallow marks from torn flesh healing radiated around it - likely from arrow extraction.
Was this the arrow wound that had nearly claimed his life?
Her fingertips trembled slightly with the urge to touch it, but she ultimately didn't dare make contact.
Suddenly overwhelmed by guilt, her breathing carried a faint tremor as she lowered her eyes.
Forcing down the suffocating feeling rising in her chest, she continued wrapping the bandage across his front. Distracted by other thoughts, she didn't notice when her slightly cool sleeves and hair brushed several times against Xiao Li's bare shoulders and arms.
Neither spoke. For a moment, the military tent held only the faint rustle of their clothing occasionally brushing and the crackle of wood burning in the brazier.
Fleetingly, it felt like returning to that New Year's Eve at the Xiao residence in Yong City.
Back then, he had also returned on a snowy night, covered in wounds.
She had also silently and meticulously bandaged him then.
Remembering the past, Wen Yu felt countless emotions swirling inside. After tying the bandage at his front shoulder, she looked up to find her gaze colliding with Xiao Li's.
To be precise, he had been watching her all along.
His gaze was dark, profound, like the mouth of a pitch-black abyss without daylight.
From his expression, Wen Yu suddenly recognized a difference from before.
Back then, he hadn't dared look at her directly. But now, his gaze held unmistakable aggression - so fierce, so wild.
Like a hunter visually confining his prey, restrained from action only for reasons unknown.
Once this thought emerged, Wen Yu realized they were too close. As she moved to withdraw her hand from his shoulder and step back, he unexpectedly seized her slender wrist, restraining her movement.Wen Yu looked at him in shock and suspicion. Despite his scorching breath, his voice remained as cold as before: "Didn't you have something to say to me?"
She tried to pull her hand back with force but failed. His iron-like grip seemed to be tightening even more, so she eventually calmed down, lowered her gaze, and said, "Let's talk."
Xiao Li continued staring at her: "About what?"
Wen Yu replied, "You can't keep me locked up forever. If I don't return and Jiang Yu dies at the Northern Border, the forces of Liang and Chen will not let this go. The Northern Border will be thrown into chaos. If my identity is exposed, you will be branded disloyal in Wei Qishan's eyes. There's no benefit in this for you."
He responded with a cold laugh, "Would you allow yourself to be exposed?"
Wen Yu remained silent.
He answered for her, "No, you wouldn't. Whether for the Southern Border's war or to avoid falling into Marquis Wei's hands, you wouldn't. Otherwise, why would you lie and claim to be Jiang Yu's concubine?"
He was so close, his breath so hot, yet his tone was sharp and icy: "Letting you go would be the real disloyalty to Marquis Wei."
Wen Yu met his gaze calmly. Their breaths nearly mingled, but their words held no trace of intimacy: "I'm afraid the loyalty you believe in differs from what Wei Qishan expects."
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to announce to the world that I've been captured by your Northern Wei. But if Empress Dowager Jiang loses her nephew and Chancellor Jiang loses his beloved son, and I fail to return to give them an explanation, I can't control whether Southern Chen turns into a rabid dog."
Xiao Li fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Didn't your Liang Camp recently arrange for 'Princess Han Yang' to parade through the streets and interact with the people to refute the rumors spread by Pei Song? Now you accuse Northern Wei of detaining 'Princess Han Yang'—what a baseless charge."
He stared unblinkingly at Wen Yu: "So what if Southern Chen becomes a rabid dog? I'd like to see who in the world would believe the absurd words of such a faithless scoundrel!"
With her wrist still tightly gripped, Wen Yu held his gaze and suddenly asked, "Was it you who led the righteous army to aid Wa Yaobao?"
Xiao Li averted his eyes at that moment: "What if it was? What if it wasn't?"
Wen Yu pressed, "If it really was you, how could you set aside such deep grievances with my Liang Camp to rush to their aid and stop Pei Song from slaughtering innocents, yet now you'd rather have our armies clash in battle?"
Xiao Li released her wrist, his lips pressed into a thin line. When he looked up again, his eyes held a fierce coldness, clearly refusing further communication: "From the moment Chen Jun massacred twenty thousand of our Northern Wei soldiers at Ma Jialiang, a battle between Northern Wei and Chen Jun was inevitable. I aided Wa Yaobao for the sake of Tongzhou, not out of any lingering affection for your Liang Camp. Between you and me, there is a life-and-death enmity. There's nothing more to discuss. If you're thinking of persuading me to let you go, abandon that hope."
The heat of his palm seemed to linger on her wrist. Wen Yu suddenly asked, "Then why did you brave the snow at night to buy medicine for stabilizing a pregnancy?"
She didn't mention the preserved fruits, but having exposed the medicine purchase, he should know she was aware of everything he had done.Xiao Li frowned, easily deducing how she had come to know. After two breaths of silence, he said coldly, "Naturally, because the child in Your Highness's womb is useful."
"Your Highness managed to persuade Southern Chen to support you as ruler by relying on this child in your womb, didn't you? If the Southern Border falls into chaos in the future, whoever controls this child can command both Liang and Chen forces, correct? How could I not ensure Your Highness properly nurtures the pregnancy and delivers this child?"
Wen Yu was stunned by this answer for a long time before finally asking, "Do you hate me this much?"
Xiao Li's entire aura turned icy. The arm resting on the copper-riveted, iron-clad armrest showed bulging veins as he clenched his fist tightly. His gaze couldn't be described as merely looking - it was as if he were carving her image inch by inch into his pupils. His lips were drawn taut as he spat out the words: "What did Your Highness expect?"
He still remembered every word she had spoken that rainy night when she left Pingzhou.
She had said: "I think General Xiao must have misunderstood something."
She had said: "I kept this wood carving only because I greatly admired the phrase 'Carp Leaping Over Dragon's Gate' that you once mentioned, not for any other reason. The general's repeated transgressions have truly made it difficult for me."
She had said: "Since this wood carving has been lost, I shall consider it as never having been recovered."
She so detested his affection that, even while considering his past life-saving grace, she had repeatedly driven him away both overtly and covertly.
In the end, they had completely torn apart all pretense, with all her disgust laid bare.
Even Xiao Li, who considered himself the lowest of the low, couldn't bring himself to humiliate himself again.
Hearing this, Wen Yu was lost in thought for a while before finally looking at him calmly and saying, "If I repay you for the pain of that arrow wound, would it make you feel better?"
Without waiting for Xiao Li's response, she continued: "The poison used on the arrow that wounded you was from a poisoned bird. Before I personally execute Pei Song, I cannot die. You may choose some poison that won't kill me but will make me suffer, and apply it to the arrow."
Xiao Li's jaw tightened fiercely, a vein bulging at his temple as if he wished he could dismember the person before him with his gaze: "You think this will settle our accounts?"
He sneered contemptuously: "Don't forget, Wen Yu, I'm the one who saved your life."
Wen Yu replied: "I know."
Her gaze remained calm, as if genuinely negotiating with him: "After I execute Pei Song and settle the whereabouts of all my subordinates, I will prepare a white silk cord and return this life to you."
Xiao Li stared fixedly at her, his eyes gradually turning crimson. He seemed never to have been so enraged before, enunciating each word clearly: "I said I will use the child in your womb to take revenge on you. I don't need you to teach me how to vent my hatred."
Wen Yu hesitated for a breath before truthfully informing him: "There is no child."
Xiao Li misunderstood, thinking she meant she wouldn't give birth to this child to become his tool of revenge.
He hadn't tasted this heart-wrenching pain in a very long time. It felt as if his heart had been torn out and trampled to pieces on a busy thoroughfare.
With crimson eyes, he heard himself speak as if unable to control the beast within: "Fine. Then please me."
Hearing this, Wen Yu hesitated for only a breath before actually taking a step toward him, reaching out with both hands to cradle his face.Her expression was so serene and gentle, yet her eyes seemed to conceal an inexplicable sorrow as she slowly pressed her lips to his.
Her lips were warm and soft, and the hands cupping his cheeks were exceedingly gentle.
Xiao Li kept his lips tightly pursed. After her light touch, she drew back slightly before pressing down again, lingering softly on his lips. Suddenly, Xiao Li grabbed her hand and shoved her away. Hastily throwing on an outer robe, he strode out, tossing back only three words: "How boring."
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