Chapter 169 "Wen Yu, How Could You Be Like This..."
Wen Yu had suffered enough last night. When dawn approached, she was finally carried back to the soft couch and closed her eyes to sleep.
Xiao Li helped her dry her hair, then leaned down to kiss her for a long while. Her eyes were already unable to open, and in her drowsy state, she faintly furrowed her brows, instinctively using her slender, pale fingers—covered in kiss marks and faint red tooth imprints—to push against him.
She had truly been bullied too harshly this night.
Her shoulders and neck were also covered in red marks and bite marks.
Unable to escape his relentless kisses, she eventually turned over and buried half her face into the embroidered soft pillow, breathing deeply and evenly, leaving only the back of her head to Xiao Li.
The oversized inner garment, clearly ill-fitting on her, slipped slightly due to her turning, revealing a section of snow-white neck and half a shoulder densely covered with kiss marks—a pitiful sight.
On her back shoulder, there was a particularly deep bite mark, even showing traces of blood.
Xiao Li’s breathing grew hot again, but he knew he couldn’t go any further. He embraced her over the quilt, buried his face in the hollow of her shoulder, nuzzled against her, then carefully kissed the bite mark on her back shoulder before releasing her.
The bed was in complete disarray, too messy to even look at.
Xiao Li took one of his own outer robes from the rack and draped it over himself. Beneath his unbound inner garment, the marks on his body were not light either.
Aside from the red scratches covering his shoulders, there were also two bite marks on the side of his neck and front shoulder—so deep they drew blood.
One was from when he carried Wen Yu into the hot spring to clean her, and she bit him.
The other was when he couldn’t restrain himself and thoroughly possessed her again in the hot spring, biting that mark on her back shoulder, and she, unwilling to take a loss, returned the favor on his front shoulder.
Xiao Li felt unexpectedly satisfied.
That bite mark on her back shoulder corresponded to the arrow scar on his that had nearly taken his life.
Both marks were left by her.
Whether she had truly wanted to kill him before, he had long been defeated to the point of not wanting to pursue it.
Now, her admission that she liked him was enough.
Xiao Li rolled up the soiled bedding and the torn bed curtain she had ripped, placing them together in the laundry basket. Then, he rummaged through the cabinet for new ones and remade the bed.
While tidying up their clothes from the footrest, he noticed by the candlelight that the shawl they had been lying on in the chaos was stained with blood.
He frowned, wondering if he had hurt Wen Yu.
When he lived with Xiao Huiniang in the Drunken Red Chamber as a child, he knew that the girls there, whenever forced by the madam to receive customers for the first time, would always have bloodstains on the bedding changed the next day for the matrons to wash.
But there were also rough men from the martial world who came to the establishment for pleasure. Even the experienced girls there weren’t too keen on serving such types, and he had even heard them complain about how those rough men were too brutal and had injured them.
In those cases, the bedding the girls changed also had bloodstains.
Wen Yu... seemed to be injured?
When he last cleaned her, she was already unconscious, yet she still dodged and murmured in pain when he touched her.
Xiao Li held the shawl silently for a moment, then placed it in the laundry basket as well.
After carrying Wen Yu back to bed along with the bedding and lowering the remaining half of the bed curtain to shield her from the wind, he walked out of the courtyard and instructed the armored soldier guarding outside to cook some soft meat porridge.He then returned to the room and entered the hidden chamber at the back, hoping to find some usable ointment.
This mountain retreat had only been abandoned recently after Pei Song advanced into the Northern Border. Originally used by local officials to house courtesans for entertaining dignitaries, it would certainly have such ointments in stock.
When Xiao Li was young, the courtesans in the pleasure quarters would send him to buy such ointments from the pharmacy whenever they got injured, paying him silver for the errand. Xiao Li remembered the cool medicinal scent that could be detected even through the box.
Holding a candleholder, he searched along the wall niches and indeed found a box of ointment still sealed with oil paper, clearly never used before.
After unscrewing the lid and confirming the scent, Xiao Li extinguished the candle and left the hidden chamber.
Wen Yu was sleeping deeply. When she felt a cool sensation invading and probing inward, she could only murmur a helpless warning in her exhausted stupor: "Xiao Li..."
Xiao Li bent down to kiss her, his voice hoarse and low: "I hurt you. Don't move, I'm applying medicine."
After finally finishing the application, Xiao Li buried his face in her neck, breathing heavily with burning heat for a while before rising with slightly reddened eyes to wash his hands in the hot spring pool in the hidden chamber.
A knock came from outside - Gongsun Sanniang had brought congee.
When the door opened, Gongsun Sanniang glanced at the bite mark on Xiao Li's neck and likely caught some scent from the room. With restrained amusement, she handed over a tray bearing two bowls of shredded chicken congee.
Xiao Li stood by the door, his tall frame completely blocking any view into the room, allowing no one to peek inside. Having satisfied his hunger, the fierce intensity between his brows had lessened somewhat, but the wolf-like ferocity in his eyes remained, making people afraid to even look at his excessively handsome face.
Taking the tray, he said: "Don't let anyone disturb us before noon."
Gongsun Sanniang replied with full understanding: "Rest assured, not even a fly will enter this courtyard before afternoon."
Returning to the room, Xiao Li lifted half the bed curtain and sat by the bed, lifting Wen Yu to lean against him. He spooned the meat congee, blew on it to cool it, then brought it to her lips: "A Yu, eat something before sleeping."
Wen Yu was truly exhausted, her eyelids too heavy to open. She barely managed to finish most of the bowl with him feeding her.
When she could eat no more, she turned her head to the other side. Xiao Li laid her back on the bed, and she curled up in the blankets, falling deeply asleep again.
After hastily finishing the remaining congee and removing his outer robe to lie back down, Xiao Li encircled her in his arms. When he kissed the red-marked nape of her neck, Wen Yu shrank away trying to escape, but he held her firmly in his embrace.
Having slept only slightly over three hours the previous night, Xiao Li was somewhat tired now. Yet holding Wen Yu like this still felt like a dream to him, making him afraid to fall asleep.
He covered her neck and shoulders with dense kisses, calling her "A Yu" with tender hoarseness.
Perhaps because few in this world knew this childhood name of hers or still called her by it, even in deep sleep, Wen Yu would respond vaguely upon hearing "A Yu," though what she murmured was unclear.
Xiao Li held her even tighter within the circle of his arms and chest, kissed the top of her head, and finally closed his eyes with his chin resting against her hair, holding her like a hedgehog curling around some precious treasure.
A Yu was his.
But Han Yang was not yet.
Many were contending for Han Yang. Only by becoming the strongest could he seize her back.He was jealous of every man who had ever had her, and he would chop them into mincemeat to feed the wild wolves in the mountains.
But whether she was a virgin or not, he didn't care.
He had already missed many firsts in her life; he only wanted her future.
After all, everyone who had touched her was dead. From now on, she would belong to him alone.
He would be better than all the men she had ever had.
Wen Yu slept until the afternoon before waking. Because Xiao Li had been holding her tightly and his body was warm, she woke up drenched in sweat.
Xiao Li's heavy arm was still draped across her waist. When Wen Yu tried to move it, she found her own arms weak and sore.
He had been too rough last night. When he lifted her, she had nowhere to brace herself and had clung to his shoulders and neck for too long.
At this thought, a secret annoyance stirred in her heart, and she pushed his arm with more force.
Xiao Li was awakened by her movements. Before he even opened his eyes, he instinctively pulled her back into his embrace with his other arm, planting messy kisses on her face and neck. His voice was hoarse from sleep: "Awake?"
Wen Yu couldn't bring herself to look at the disastrous state of her shoulders and arms. A strange coolness between her legs made her frown tightly.
As the hazy memories of last night returned, Wen Yu couldn't help but press her fingers to her temples.
Once awake, she had returned to her usual aloof and untouchable demeanor. Seemingly unaccustomed to such overly intimate behavior with Xiao Li, she slightly furrowed her brows and said, "I want to bathe."
She had started this, so naturally, she wouldn't say she regretted it.
It was just... unfamiliar.
And... too much.
So much so that Wen Yu felt she had made another wrong decision.
Enduring the soreness all over her body, she got up, tightened the oversized inner garment, and nearly stumbled on the carpet as soon as her feet touched the ground.
Xiao Li's long arm reached back and pulled her steadily into his embrace.
His jaw tightened slightly, as if he had noticed that Wen Yu was once again drawing an invisible line between them after waking up.
He pinned her against the bedside and kissed her fiercely until the coldness on her face and in her eyes was replaced by a flush. Only then did he scoop her up and say, "The girls in the brothels often curse their patrons for pulling up their pants and pretending not to know them. Wen Yu, you just got out of my bed, and you're already turning your back on me?"
No one had ever spoken to Wen Yu so crudely. Anger seemed to flicker in her eyes, but as she was effortlessly held in his arms, his palm resting dangerously on her waist, she realized this was not the time to assert herself. She pressed her lips together and remained silent.
Xiao Li turned the stone plaque and led her into the hidden chamber. After lighting the candlestick in the alcove, he placed her in the hot spring pool.
As soon as Wen Yu entered the pool, she automatically moved to the opposite side, tightening her collar and avoiding Xiao Li's gaze. Her originally clear voice, now hoarse from crying too much the night before, took on a deeper tone: "Please call for San Niang and ask her to fetch a change of clothes from my room."
Xiao Li's dark eyes fixed on her. Instead of leaving, he stepped into the pool.
Before Wen Yu could react and retreat, he closed in with absolute strength and speed, pressing her against the stone wall once more.His eyes held a flicker of anger and a faint, mocking smile, as if he had been used and discarded. His tall nose bridge nearly touched Wen Yu's, and his dark, profound gaze revealed an all-too-obvious desire for conquest and possession: "It just so happens I haven't had my fill yet. Since you've forgotten what we did last night, let's do it all over again."
His expression was truly terrifying.
For a moment, Wen Yu even felt like prey pinned beneath his claws, being torn apart mercilessly.
Frowning anxiously, she tried to call out to him, to make him calm down, but her breath was swiftly stolen as he cupped her chin.
It was the same suffocatingly tender kiss she remembered—not brutal, yet so domineering she couldn't refuse.
Unable to stand steadily in the water, she was lifted into his arms. Wen Yu was genuinely afraid of that position and hurriedly wrapped her arms around his neck, crying out his name in a somewhat undignified, fierce tone.
Xiao Li kissed her lips, his wild smile tinged with a roguish charm, as if he quite enjoyed her angry outburst—preferring it to the calm, detached face she showed everyone else. "I'm here," he said.
Wen Yu was speechless with fury. For the first time, she realized how thick-skinned this man was.
He set her down on the half-carved stone ledge along the hot spring's edge, bracing his hands on either side to cage her in, and continued kissing her.
With the stone wall behind her, Wen Yu had nowhere to retreat.
Fortunately, the wall, soaked year-round by the hot spring's waters and enveloped in steam, wasn't cold.
As Xiao Li kissed his way down her front, Wen Yu clenched her teeth but couldn't hold back, eventually sobbing just like the night before.
She rarely cried over other matters—it seemed all her tears were reserved for these moments.
Xiao Li wasn't faring much better. The veins on his arms, braced against the stone ledge, bulged, and his muscles tensed tightly. In the end, he could only lift his head from her chest, resting his forehead against her shoulder as he breathed heavily, sweat trickling slowly down his temples from the heat.
His earlier words had merely been born of frustration at her aloofness upon waking, meant to scare her.
But now, it was he who was left in an unbearable state of suspension.
He nipped her shoulder lightly and sighed as if helpless. "Wen Yu, how can you be like this?"
He didn't dare touch her further, yet he couldn't bear to let her off so easily.
He continued kissing down her shoulder, using the pretext of washing off the medicinal ointment to kiss lower.
She trembled and cried just as she had the night before, but he showed no mercy.
After leaving the dark room, Wen Yu had her hair towel-dried by him and changed into fresh clothes. She sat on the couch by the window, looking weary and still lacking energy.
Before long, Gongsun Sanniang arrived. Wen Yu asked her to send a message to the Azure Guard, informing them they could come up the mountain to fetch her.
Since emerging from the dark room, Xiao Li had been acting strangely. After fetching her clothes and drying her hair, he vanished without a trace.
He returned a while later, just as Gongsun Sanniang was leaving. Guessing what Wen Yu had instructed, he came over and embraced her, resting his chin in the crook of her neck without saying a word.
Too exhausted to deal with him, Wen Yu simply leaned on the small table, closing her eyes to feign sleep, waiting for him to speak first.
But Xiao Li only kissed the dark hair cascading over her neck and didn't disturb her further.
Recalling her original plans, Wen Yu partially opened her eyes and was about to ask Xiao Li something when hurried footsteps approached from outside. Someone stopped at the door and called out with restrained urgency, "Governor!""
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