CHAPTER 481: CHAPTER 414: HE IS COVERED IN WOUNDS, BUT ISN’T SHE AS WELL?

But he didn’t.

He merely looked at her face, also tinged with a bit of drunkenness, flushed cheeks and those hazy eyes, remained silent for a moment, and softly said, "Why did you hesitate just now?"

"..."

"When elder brother asked you."

Shang Ruyi’s breath hitched.

"I didn’t—"

She instinctively wanted to deny it, but immediately swallowed the words back.

She understood that someone like Yu Wenye, even if he really drank nine jars of Nine Brewed Spring like Yu Wenquan did that night years ago, could never truly get drunk. People born into such aristocratic families would never let themselves go at the drinking table, lose their poise or dignity, and certainly not completely lose themselves or their consciousness.

Thus, that moment of hesitation she had, he really saw it clearly.

Even though she changed her answer later.

Shang Ruyi’s gaze was suddenly a bit unsettled; she instinctively lowered her head, but Yu Wenye abruptly flipped over. Caught off guard, Shang Ruyi felt as if the world spun for a moment, and she was pressed down onto the bed beneath him, with no chance to evade or escape. Another hand reached over, pinched her chin, lifting her face gently towards him.

Shang Ruyi looked up and met those eyes that looked at her as if a fierce beast hunting, burning with heat.

He gazed at her: "Why?"

"..."

The two were so close that even a thin layer of clothing couldn’t hide the touch of skin. She had nowhere to hide her thoughts.

Shang Ruyi didn’t speak anymore. Those small hands that had been wrapped around his neck slowly slid down his solid, well-defined back. Yu Wenye seemed to sense something. Just as he frowned, Shang Ruyi’s slender fingertips, through the thin fabric, touched a sudden protrusion.

It was a scar.

Yu Wenye’s expression tensed. Before he could say anything, Shang Ruyi’s hand slid to the side again, tracing another one along the path of memory.

Then another.

Those were scars left from the time he got hit by three arrows from Hua Ziyang while saving Empress Jiang during the fall of Luoyang.

In fact, not just these three, earlier at Ban Yan Temple, when they were bare and intimate, she had touched more than one scar on his body.

His title "Unmatched in the world" wasn’t earned by the status of being the second son of the Duke Mansion.

But from leading the charge in every fierce battle, fighting bloody combats.

Seeing Shang Ruyi’s expression become more and more grave, and her eyes welling up with a mist of tears, Yu Wenye’s brow furrowed. Before he could say anything, Shang Ruyi softly said, "I know it surely doesn’t hurt you now."

"..."

"But if you get hurt again, it will still hurt."

"..."

"I would feel the same."

Hearing her words, a sharp light flashed in Yu Wenye’s eyes, understanding immediately: "So, you were late because you met with him. He told you these things, didn’t he?"

Shang Ruyi nodded gently.

Yu Wenye said, "He made you worry about me?"

Shang Ruyi said, "I was already worried about you."

"..."

The originally cold eyes suddenly softened almost imperceptibly; Yu Wenye’s expression gradually eased. He slowly bent down, leaning closer to look at the petite woman beneath him, her cheeks flushed, eyes wandering, clearly having been the one who initiated, lighting the flame, yet now appearing all bashful and innocent.

Yu Wenye couldn’t help but curve a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

She was smart.

She could see through the other’s intentions at a glance, just as they say — "I will not do what my enemy desires," even if what was said was her very concern, she still considers the bigger picture, not letting lingering affections hinder important matters at this moment.

Yet, she was also foolish.

Knowing there might be danger, but still insisting on staying by his side...

Thinking of this, his breath unintentionally became hotter, and the earlier simmering scent of wine between them now intensified, almost intoxicating Shang Ruyi. She instinctively raised her hand to push against Yu Wenye’s chest pressing down, hoping to gain a sliver of breathing space, only to have her hand caught by him.

Then, holding her slender, fair hand, he brought it gently to his lips.

A kiss fell upon her palm.

For some reason, even though it was just a kiss on the palm, not even a sensitive place, yet the moment it was captured by his warm lips, Shang Ruyi trembled all over.

Her heart seemed to come alive suddenly, beating intensely.

When she looked up again, she met his eyes, shimmering with wine vapor, gradually turning red.

He gazed at the person beneath him, those eyes filled with aggression, like an elegant yet formidable fierce beast eyeing its prey, already powerless to resist, pondering where to take the first bite.

As his gaze finally settled on those cherry-red lips, slightly swollen from today’s ordeals, he slowly bent down, his lips inching closer to those trembling lips, almost about to experience her softness and sweetness again, but suddenly stopped at the very moment Shang Ruyi’s heart was pounding out of her chest.

He looked into her eyes and softly asked, "May I?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi’s breath caught.

At this moment, her face was burning and hot, almost set ablaze, not understanding why Yu Wenye would ask such a question at this point—

Was he teasing her?

But the next second, meeting his gaze again, she seemed to understand something.

This was their first closeness since the near fallout after the fall of Luoyang.

He was indeed covered in wounds, how could she not also be?

Moreover, after the calamitous upheaval in Jiangdu Palace, she even had a miscarriage, such immense pain not only made her lose heart but almost cost her life; and those days of fragile shattering evidently left a significant shadow on the man before her, so much so that at this moment, in the height of passion, he still asked her first—

May I?

The long-lasting bitterness in her heart and the surge of emotions in her chest intertwined turbulently at this moment. Shang Ruyi gently raised her slender pale arms, once again wrapping around his neck, bringing her lips close to his.

Softly said, "I want you..."

The final "you" was swallowed fiercely by the man before her.

He seemed to have entirely ripped apart the calm and elegant facade, revealing his fierce hungry true self. His burning large hands roamed over this body that had long belonged to him. The fair and smooth skin trembled under his broad palms, yet could only rise and fall with his breath.

The night, gradually deepened...