The Road to Glory

Chapter 227: "Wen Yu, Remember to Kill Me..."

The ferocity in Xiao Li's wolf-like eyes nearly boiled over as he crushed the wine jar in his hand. The remaining half-jar of wine spilled beneath the throne, intensifying the alcoholic scent in the air.

His fingers were cut and bleeding from the shattered pottery shards, yet he seemed completely unaware of the pain. With crimson-tinged eyes fixed on Wen Yu, his cold voice barely concealed its hoarseness: "Why have you come?"

Wen Yu watched his bleeding fingers, her brow unconsciously tightening further, though her tone remained detached: "Didn't Xiao Jun summon me for discussions?"

Recalling the strange behavior of the bearded general before she entered the hall, she roughly understood the situation. Turning away, she said: "Since there's no matter, I won't disturb Xiao Jun further."

"Halt."

The voice from behind was hoarse and urgently articulated, as if bearing immense hatred.

Wen Yu stopped in her tracks, her back still turned.

The person behind her commanded: "Pour wine for this Marquis."

Wen Yu didn't move, merely stating: "If Xiao Jun lacks servants to serve tea and wine, I shall relay the message for you."

Conflicting emotions surged in Xiao Li's chest, nearly tearing it apart. He suddenly spoke with icy malice: "Don't you want to know whom this Marquis interrogated in the imperial prison?"

Wen Yu's intended step halted. She turned to face Xiao Li: "Interrogate whichever officials knelt to welcome you at the palace gates as you wish. But leave the other ministers in the imperial prison untouched."

Xiao Li lifted his face slightly, a cold smile appearing on his gloomy features: "Because some of them are the Princess's lovers, is that it?"

Wen Yu gazed at Xiao Li for a long time without speaking. Finally, as if weary, she calmly asked: "Xiao Li, have you forgotten that I'm married?"

"When I left the pass for Southern Chen years ago, didn't you know I was to wed another and bear children?"

"When we reunited at the Northern Border, what happened at the mountain temple was mutual consent. I believe I owe you nothing."

"Now you have your confidantes, and never lack beauties by your pillow. Why bother so much with the bedchamber affairs of a former acquaintance? Moreover, Pei Song isn't dead, the alliance between Liang and Xiao camps remains intact. Surrounding my royal court won't reflect well on your reputation."

She raised her eyes, emotionlessly regarding the man seated above, changing her address: "Even now, I remain willing to negotiate peace with Xiao Jun."

Xiao Li laughed mockingly, veins bulging on his tightly clenched fists as sticky blood seeped between his fingers. The whites of his eyes were burnt crimson with hatred and jealousy as he stared at Wen Yu: "The Princess is... absolutely correct."

"But you understand the principle that the victor becomes king while the defeated becomes the outlaw, don't you?"After meeting his savage, almost mad gaze for two breaths, Wen Yu finally ascended the royal platform."

The royal table had been overturned by King Chen during the day and not yet replaced. Fortunately, the side tables flanking the throne could still hold refreshments and wine.

Noticing bronze wine vessels on one side table with no wine pot nearby—only honeydew-melonsized wine jars—Wen Yu unsealed one and filled a vessel to the brim.

Xiao Li grabbed the vessel and drained it in one gulp, then extended his hand toward Wen Yu, his crimson eyes filled with self-destructive madness: "Continue."Wen Yu noticed the blood dripping from between his fingers as he held the wine vessel. The scent of blood mingled with the strong aroma of alcohol, creating an indescribable odor that made her heart constrict with bitterness.

She set down the wine jar and stopped pouring. Just as Xiao Li turned his head to mock her, she drew a handkerchief from her sleeve, took the wine vessel from his hand, and wrapped it around the bleeding wound.

Xiao Li's eyes instantly reddened further. He tilted his head away, struggling to suppress the turmoil gathering in his gaze.

After a long moment, he forced down the hoarseness in his throat and asked coldly, "Pleading for your lovers in prison?"

Wen Yu paused briefly in her movements. After tying the knot, she straightened up and said, "You may think so, my lord."

She turned to leave but was abruptly seized by the wrist by his injured hand.

The handkerchief was already soaked with blood from the wound. His tight grip pressed the damp, sticky fabric against both their skins.

Several layers of silk couldn't block the scorching heat of his palm. Before long, Wen Yu felt as if a band of hot iron encircled her wrist.

She tilted her head back slightly, waiting for him to speak.

A cold wind blew through the unclosed palace doors, causing the row of long-necked palace lanterns nearby to flicker wildly.

Xiao Li's grip was iron-tight, his voice deep and raspy, as if laying down the card that had sustained him until now despite knowing how absurd it seemed: "You said you loved me."

Wen Yu's chest tightened further. Remembering the rumors about him in the Northern Border, she pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and said, "But people change, don't they? What was loved before may not be loved now..."

Before she could finish, she was violently yanked into an embrace reeking of alcohol.

The cold, hard armor on his body dug into her painfully. Before she could even gasp from the impact of her elbow, he seized her jaw.

His strikingly handsome, sharply defined face loomed inches above hers, features taut with tension. His eyes burned with a ferocity that seemed ready to tear her apart limb by limb and devour her raw. Completely unhinged, he snarled, "Go on. I swear, if I hear one more word I don't like from your mouth, I'll find that lover and daughter of yours and feed their minced flesh to the dogs!"

Wen Yu glared back, sneering, "What is this, my lord? 'The magistrates are free to burn down houses, while the common people are forbidden even to light lamps'?"

Xiao Li was utterly consumed by rage. Though he understood Wen Yu had genuinely mistaken him for having another woman, he couldn't bring himself to explain at that moment.

Heartache and fury tore at him. He struggled to control his breathing. "Don't think I'm bluffing."

Taking his words as confirmation, Wen Yu's eyes, reflecting the flickering candlelight, turned icy. She suddenly wrenched at the hand gripping her jaw, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Go ahead."

"Let me tell you, Xiao Li, for every one you kill, I'll find another. There are plenty of good men in this world—can you kill them all? ...Mmph..."

While still desperately trying to pry his fingers from her jaw, the back of her neck was suddenly clamped down. Then sharp pain erupted on her lips as her breath was stolen away.

It wasn't a kiss—it was pure savagery.

Brutal, furious, mad.Wen Yu couldn't push him away, nor could she break free. When she raised her leg to kick, both limbs were quickly restrained. The moisture in her eyes—whether from an emotion called grievance or from pain—rolled down and mingled in their kiss. Furious to the point of hysteria, she cursed him vehemently.

The salty taste of tears dissolved between their lips and teeth. The man pressing down to kiss her clearly tasted it too, yet he only paused for a breath before ruthlessly parting her teeth as she cursed him again, tangling and sweeping through, as if intent on devouring everything she was.

Wen Yu tasted more saltiness, the pain and grievance seeming not to come from her alone.

But he was domineering and unyielding, as if he had resolved to conquer and defend something through this savage means.

The kiss was nearly a brawl.

Wen Yu's lips were bruised and numb from the biting, her hair disheveled from struggling, her body slick with sweat, her breaths heavy and rapid.

The one forcefully restraining her fared no better. As he trailed kisses down her snow-white neck along her loosened collar, Wen Yu closed her eyes and said, "Xiao Li, don't make me hate you."

Xiao Li's lips still pressed against her warm, pale skin. At her words, he let out a near-scoff, lifting his head slightly. The crimson in his eyes seemed to overflow as he gazed at Wen Yu: "Who started this a year ago?"

He cupped her face with one hand, his expression filled with such hatred and pain: "You wanted to leave the mountain—I didn't stop you. You came back on your own, you provoked me!"

"You call that repayment? You call that settling debts between us?"

He suddenly bit down harshly on Wen Yu's shoulder. This time, she couldn't hold back a pained gasp. On the pale skin stretched over her delicate bones, a bloody tooth mark surfaced.

When Xiao Li released her, the storm gathering in his eyes also broke, falling as moisture.

His expression remained fierce as he said, "Wen Yu, this is what you owe me."

Wen Yu trembled slightly from the pain. The ties of her cape had long come undone in the struggle, but only because Xiao Li gripped her waist did the voluminous fabric not slip away.

Disheveled strands clung to her sweat-dampened neck. Her prominently defined collarbone rose and fell with each breath, right beside the bleeding tooth mark.

When Wen Yu regained her composure, she clung to Xiao Li's shoulder armor and bit his neck in return, leaving an equally bloody mark—refusing to be at a disadvantage.

Xiao Li grunted but made no move to stop her.

As soon as Wen Yu released him, before she could even catch her breath, he gripped her jaw and kissed her again.

Clad in solid armor, he left her no other place to bite, which was why she had savaged his neck.

Yet, like a madman, after she retaliated, he only kissed her more wildly.

Unlike the earlier kiss fueled by rage, this one, though equally frantic, carried something else within the taste of blood.

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, the cold rain pouring down. Wen Yu broke into another sweat.

The rigid armor tangled with her cape and outer robe as they were discarded to the floor.

Her underskirt was torn. She shivered continuously under his blood-free fingertips, and when he pressed against her, she remained trapped.

Xiao Li's body burned hot, the muscles of his shoulders, back, and arms taut like stone.

Wen Yu's hands were twisted behind her back, easily captured by one of his, while his other hand gripped her waist.He kissed from her neck down to the bite mark on her shoulder. When his lips trailed further downward, she trembled so violently she could barely sit upright, relying entirely on his scorching hand gripping her waist to steady herself.

In the chaos, as he finally sank deep into the mire, Wen Yu lost control, shaking uncontrollably, when she suddenly felt a chill at her neck.

When her dazed eyes cleared, she saw he had released his grip on her wrists at some point, and a pure gold collar, its inner surface polished smooth, was now fastened around her neck. The collar was connected to a chain, its other end piled and dangling all the way to the throne.

As Xiao Li embraced her and moved slightly, the chain clinked and swayed noisily.

A surge of fury shot straight to Wen Yu’s head. She raised her hand, pulled the hairpin from her hair, and pressed it against Xiao Li’s neck, her voice icy: “What are you trying to do? Remove it.”

Xiao Li easily seized her wrist, applying a clever pressure that sent a numbing pain through her arm. The hairpin fell to the floor, and he pinned both her hands behind her back again, his gaze fierce and dark as he stared at her: “I know why you chose those useless men.”

“Isn’t it because King Chen is a coward, and you want to secure your place on this throne?”

“Am I not stronger than the trash you picked?”

Holding her waist with one hand, his movements below grew fierce, the chain shaking incessantly: “Everything you want, I can give you now. There’s no need for you to see anyone else or play coy with them.”

“As for those lovers of yours…”

Sweat dripped from his eyelids, his force so brutal, his words gritted between his teeth: “I mean what I say. I will find every last one of them, chop them into mincemeat, and feed them to the dogs!”

Restrained and furious, Wen Yu lunged at him, biting countless marks into his shoulders and arms. When he gripped her jaw, she sneered and retorted, “And what about your women?”

Xiao Li’s movements suddenly halted. The alcohol clouded his mind, slowing his thoughts. He stared at Wen Yu for a long time, as if in disbelief or uncertainty, and asked, “Wen Yu, are you jealous?”

Sweat beaded on Wen Yu’s forehead, her expression as cold and rigid as ever: “Xiao Jun overestimates himself. I merely find it unfair. You want to kill everyone by my side, yet your own companions… mh…”

His movements abruptly turned savage and intense. Wen Yu couldn’t endure it, her words cut short.

He pressed the back of her neck, forcing her tightly against him. The rising drunkenness shattered his usual composure. Tears silently fell from his bloodshot eyes as he said bitterly, “Do you think everyone is like you, Wen Yu?”

His roughness pushed her to the brink, leaving him equally disheveled. As he bent to kiss her, it was unclear whether he spoke to her or to himself: “It doesn’t matter. Soon, I’ll make sure there’s no one left by your side but me.”

Wrapped in the scent of alcohol from him, Wen Yu felt dizzy in the stifling intensity. Feeling the wetness on his face brush against her cheek and recalling the answer she’d heard, her defenses softened slightly. Exhausted, she lifted a hand and gently touched Xiao Li’s head.

Xiao Li raised his bloodshot eyes to look at her, but before Wen Yu could speak, the sound of the chain clinked once more.

The situation took a turn for the worse.

The lingering effects of the wine took hold, and Xiao Li was thoroughly drunk.

The candles burned until dawn, and Wen Yu remained trapped on that throne throughout the night.At daybreak, her clothes were completely soaked with sweat. After the golden chain around her neck clattered for the final time, the man who had fastened it lowered his head to press his forehead against hers as she lay nearly unconscious. Gazing at her flushed face, his eyes churned with a crimson tide as he hoarsely murmured like a trapped beast: "Wen Yu, I have troops and power now. Will you marry me?"

Wen Yu woke again in the evening.

Her throat hurt, her bitten lips hurt, her entire body hurt—more intensely than during her previous days fleeing in the wilderness.

Finding the bedchamber empty, she tried to get up for some water, only to hear the chain's rattle once more. Looking down, she saw the other end secured to the bedpost.

Memories of the previous night flooded back, leaving Wen Yu momentarily stunned with rage. How dare he?

In her daze, the chamber door opened from outside. Xiao Li entered holding a bowl of porridge and, seeing her seated on the bed, spoke as naturally as ever: "Awake? You've slept all day. Have something to eat."

Suppressing the urge to smash things in fury, Wen Yu fixed him with a blazing glare: "Unlock this!"

Xiao Li ignored her demand, pulling over a stool to sit before her. Stirring the porridge, he scooped a spoonful and offered it: "It's lily bulb and barley porridge—your favorite."

The prominent bite mark on his neck remained starkly visible above his collar, boldly displaying the events of the night.

Wen Yu recalled pleading with him repeatedly in the latter half of the night, trying to make him stop, but once drunk, he'd become deaf to reason. The thought fueled her anger further.

She had no memory of how she'd returned to the bedchamber after fainting.

That she could even rise now was thanks to her habit of practicing martial arts daily to stay fit after recovering from giving birth to A Li.

Shutting her eyes to contain her temper, she asked, "The council hall..."

Xiao Li replied, "I've cleaned everything. No one saw me bringing you back."

Wen Yu refused to open her eyes, never imagining things would come to this.

After a pause, she insisted, "Remove what you've put on me."

Xiao Li remained silent.

Wen Yu snapped her eyes open, yanking hard at the chain padlocked to the bedpost, and coldly demanded, "You were drunk last night. What about today?"

Xiao Li answered slowly, "I had the finest craftsman in the Military Camp forge this chain ever since I decided to come to Chen to find you."

The look in his eyes sent a chill through Wen Yu, quickly replaced by seething fury: "What do you take me for?"

Unexpectedly, he retorted, "And what am I to you, Wen Yu?"

"You drove me from Pingzhou with a single word. After we parted at the Northern Border mountain convent, you never said another word. You claimed you loved me! Is this what your love looks like?"

Wen Yu pressed her lips together, finally uttering, "I'm sorry."

In Pingzhou, she had trampled on his feelings. At the mountain convent, uncertain of his stance and whether he would ultimately let her go, she had chosen to leave without a word for the greater good.

Meeting his gaze, she said, "For forcing you to leave Pingzhou that way, I admitted it was my arrogance, my fault. But when we parted at the mountain convent, I never promised to stay. If you resent me for that, I apologize for that too."A surge of bitter resentment churned in Xiao Li's chest. Back then... he had been ready to follow her anywhere. After what they had done, how could she remain so indifferent?

Was it because she saw it merely as a way to repay his affection?

If there hadn't been that separation, if he had followed her back then, would she not have sought others?

But unfortunately, there are no "ifs" in this world. What still gnawed at him was how she claimed to love him, yet divided everything as clearly as interests on a chessboard, more like a transactional exchange.

So she didn't feel she owed him anything.

Only under his relentless pursuit did she offer an apology that seemed to settle the score.

Xiao Li lowered his head briefly, then looked up with a cold laugh: "Wen Yu, I didn't forge this chain wrong."

Outside the hall, a Wolf Cavalry soldier knocked cautiously and reported: "My lord, reinforcements from the Chen Kingdom border have arrived at the royal court."

Xiao Li set down the porridge bowl. Before leaving, he turned to Wen Yu and said: "With both you and King Chen in my hands, those fools can't make waves. Even if they surround the royal court, it's just for show. If I were you, I wouldn't threaten by starving myself during this time, only to ruin my own health."

Wen Yu picked up the porridge bowl he had put down. Furious, she initially wanted to throw it at him, but through the half-open window she saw the rice sprouts bearing grains in the courtyard, and forcibly restrained herself.

After the door closed again, she resentfully finished the porridge and slammed the bowl heavily on the bedside table before beginning to examine the chain around her neck.

The part fastened to the bedpost was manageable - she could chop the post to gain mobility.

But the collar around her neck, as thick as a little finger, resembled the iron shackles used on prisoners. It required a key to open; otherwise, even striking it with hard objects would be futile since it fit snugly against her neck with only a few fingers' space.

The chain clanked with every movement. Recalling last night's humiliation, Wen Yu searched the room for sharp objects but found none. She dragged over a stool, attempting to break the chain.

But perhaps the craftsman had added something special when forging the chain. Even when the stool splintered from her efforts, the chain remained unscathed.

Rarely had she felt so agitated. She flung the broken stool away and collapsed exhausted onto the bed. Probably still weary from the previous night, she actually managed to fall asleep again.

In her half-dreaming state, she felt intense heat behind her, and dampness at the nape of her neck. When she groggily opened her eyes and realized what was happening, she was already being kissed.

Enraged, Wen Yu bit down immediately. Though his lips were soon torn and bleeding, he didn't stop.

Just like that chaotic night in the council hall.

He endured her scratching and biting until she lacked even the strength to lift her arms, then bit gently into the tender skin of her neck and asked: "Did your lovers ever make you feel like this?"

That night in the council hall, Wen Yu had intended to have a thorough talk with him, but now she just closed her eyes in silence.

When he carried her to the bath for cleaning, the chain continued its clattering. She finally uttered two words: "Remove it."

Xiao Li kissed her cheek, having learned to ignore those two words.

Wen Yu said nothing more.

When he went too far while washing her in the bath, she unceremoniously left another bite mark on his arm.

The following days continued similarly. Wen Yu stopped resisting him, ate her meals normally, and occupied herself with reading during leisure time.

Until one day, without warning, large rashes broke out all over her body, particularly on her neck, where she had scratched herself raw in multiple places.Upon seeing this, Xiao Li stared fixedly at her, his entire being seemingly suppressing some fury. He then removed the collar from her neck and summoned the imperial physician to examine her.

The physician suggested it might be heat rash caused by the sweltering weather and prescribed both oral and topical medications. Xiao Li personally applied the ointment initially, but when she showed resistance, he assigned a young palace maid to regularly administer the treatment at Zhaohua Palace.

Despite Wen Yu developing a full-body rash, Xiao Li showed no intention of moving out of Zhaohua Palace.

When sharing the bed with Wen Yu again at night, he still enjoyed holding her. Wen Yu, using the excuse that his body was too warm and made her uncomfortable, tried to drive him away. Without a word, he made a bed on the floor beside her.

Seeing that she couldn't get rid of him, Wen Yu simply let him be. Occasionally, when the Wolf Cavalry came to deliver messages, she could also learn about the outside situation.

One day, tired from reading, she prepared to rest her head on the small table for a nap. When she looked up, she noticed Xiao Li, who had been handling military affairs by the window, gazing at her with a profound and seemingly suppressed emotion in his eyes. He had clearly been watching her for a while, his gaze carrying a suffocating, hidden pain.

Feeling irritated, Wen Yu retorted sharply, "In my current state, does the Marquis still harbor any thoughts about me?"

That very night, Wen Yu regretted the words she had spoken during the day.

Pinned down amidst the bedding, her body drenched in sweat that never seemed to dry, Xiao Li kissed her cheeks, where the rash had yet to fade, with meticulous care.

He had lit the candles in the room so brightly that when he restrained her hands above her head, her face was fully exposed. Wen Yu couldn't bear to face him with her rash-marked visage and turned away, but he gripped her chin and forced her back, continuing to shower her face with delicate kisses.

As his lips wandered to the side of her neck, they brushed against the faint scabs left by her earlier scratches. Suddenly, he covered the spot with his sharp teeth.

Given the ferocity of his actions, Wen Yu thought he would leave bite marks on her neck. Instead, he merely held the flesh gently between his teeth, grinding lightly before mercifully releasing it.

Drenched in sweat and unable to endure any longer, Wen Yu cursed him as a beast.

In the damp, feverish heat, Xiao Li gripped her chin and deepened the kiss. Only when catching his breath did he say to her, "You're not wrong. Back in Yongzhou, when you faced me with this very face, I already wanted to do this to you."

He hadn't known her appearance or her identity, but from that moment on, he had loved her.

Wen Yu was momentarily stunned by his words.

His movements were fierce, and as the drug took effect and he collapsed at the end, his only words to Wen Yu were, "Wen Yu, remember to kill me."

Fine beads of sweat dotted Wen Yu's forehead, her eyes clear as a lake under the candlelight.