"Did he touch this hand?"
The man's cold voice carried not a hint of emotion.
Song Jinyu's eyes showed a bit of timidity. She knew full well that he had always disliked her having any interaction with other men. But that day, she had been in a hurry. Moreover, she hadn't expected Ming Ruyi to lose control like that!
"I..."
She was innocent and had made up her mind not to admit this. Unfortunately, Zhongli Mingye had anticipated that she wouldn't admit it. So he bit her wrist hard. "It hurts!"
"I'll leave a mark on you. If he dares to be so rude again, I'll chop off his arm."
It was just an imperial marriage grant that made Ming Ruyi marry someone he didn't love.
It was a relatively light punishment.
She helplessly stroked his phoenix - like eyes and looked at him intently. "He..." She wanted to say something more, but seeing that this man was extremely jealous at the moment, she changed the topic.
"Brother will come to the capital soon. Then we can go and see them."
"We'll finally be together with our family!"
Just thinking about it made her feel happy. Zhongli Mingye put his arm around her and said, "Wait for another chance. Then we'll invite your father to the capital too."
Hearing this, Song Jinyu covered his mouth. "No!" She understood what he meant. "Father has no other ambitions for an official career. And he stays in Liuzhou for Mother's sake."
Zhongli Mingye laughed. "What are you afraid of?"
"You can make any request to me. I'll surely fulfill it."
"Any request?"
"Of course!"
Song Jinyu suddenly had a naughty thought. She leaned close to his ear and whispered something. "This one request won't do!" Zhongli Mingye was helpless. Was he really that terrifying? Song Jinyu actually wanted him not to touch her for a month. His eyes fell on a certain part of her chest. How could this be possible?
He didn't want to miss a single day, not even now!
The little woman who had made such an "excessive" request was pounced on the next moment.
Rong Shuang'er had been standing in front of the Zhongzhou Prince's Mansion for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick. She had hesitated for many days. Finally, she mustered up the courage.
"I know, Your Highness, that you're not willing to marry. You can't go against the imperial edict and break off the engagement. Then let me do this."
Ming Ruyi picked the best - looking banana leaf and dried the water on it.
As if he hadn't heard Rong Shuang'er's words, he started writing on the banana leaf on his own.
He stopped only when the leaf was full. "You don't need to worry about this. I already have a strategy..."
"Miss Rong, it's better not to get involved with me." His cold words made him seem like a different person. Rong Shuang'er's heart ached. She thought that if she gave up, she wouldn't feel pain.
Now seeing his nonchalant expression, Rong Shuang'er left with a bitter smile.
"Your Highness, the banana leaf is still wet. It's hard to keep the writing." The pageboy advised from the side.
"Get out!"
Seeing that the writing was getting more and more blurred, Ming Ruyi swept the Four Treasures of the Study onto the ground.
He had thought that if he married Rong Shuang'er, it might give him an extra boost. But every time he talked to her, he always felt as if Song Jinyu was by his side.
No matter how similar other women's personalities were, they weren't her. If he had known that one day he would be so out of control because of a woman.
Ming Ruyi would surely have trapped her in that small mountain village until she fell in love with him.
It was a pity that there were no "what - ifs" in time.
Even more hateful was Zhongli Mingye. In order to make him give up, he had incited the emperor to grant him a marriage!
Ling Yufei looked at the bowl of medicine and frantically beat on the door. "Let me out! I'm the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's Mansion!"
"I'm Father's favorite daughter!"
Madam Ling knelt in front of Prime Minister Ling and pleaded bitterly. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Ling remained unmoved.
"If you let Fei'er die, I... I won't live either!"
"Fine, then you can die too." Prime Minister Ling's coldness broke Madam Ling's heart. "It's not that I want to kill my own daughter with my own hands. It's the emperor and Concubine Shu!"
Prime Minister Ling stood up. "You're so stupid! Fei'er is exactly like you."
Ling Yufei had to die. Just because she had broken into the prison at night, this was a capital crime. The emperor, considering his many years of service to the court and the great contributions of the Ling family's ancestors to expanding the territory of the Xia Dynasty, had only given Prime Minister Ling a verbal warning on the surface. In fact, Prime Minister Ling had long felt that the emperor was already suspicious of him.
Madam Ling slumped to the ground. "Fei'er..." Then she fainted.
The death of a young lady in the Prime Minister's Mansion was like a passing wind. In the imperial capital circle, it was only talked about for a while. After Song Jinyu heard the news of Ling Yufei's death, she was stunned.
She suddenly felt the cold - heartedness of the royal family. Before, she only thought that the noble circle in Liuzhou was complicated and the competition among the martial arts sects was fierce. Now, here at the foot of the emperor, it was no less so.
Now that she was also in the middle of this turmoil,
Just the prison, she and her husband had taken turns to go there twice. Although she had been fully prepared when she married him. But now, she began to yearn for the simple life she and Zhongli Mingye had in Liuzhou.
She had seen through Zhongli Mingye's thoughts early on. Even so, she was still troubled by the blood - filled storms in the court and couldn't eat or sleep well.
Summer was approaching and the weather was getting hot. Her appetite became extremely poor. "The Princess didn't have dinner again?"
Mi Cui nodded and asked the maids to serve dishes and porridge.
Zhongli Mingye lifted the beaded curtain and just saw her reclining on the soft cushion, listless.
"Are you going to eat by yourself or do I have to feed you?" He reached out and pinched her nose. "Hey! You..." Finally, he pulled her out of her reverie.
After watching her eat a lot of vegetables, fish, and drink a bowl of porridge, Zhongli Mingye began to eat slowly. He even fed her a few mouthfuls of vegetables.
"I just don't have much of an appetite." Song Jinyu complained as he stuffed a lot of meat into her mouth.
"Is it because of what happened a few days ago?"
Zhongli Mingye put down his chopsticks and looked at her seriously. "Do you still remember what you said when something happened on Tianmen Mountain?"
"What?"
"You said, 'The martial arts sects change. What's wrong with a few people dying? Which sect doesn't have deaths when they change their masters?'"
"..."
He still remembered such a reckless remark?
"Now, Father is getting weaker every day. Although he forces himself to go to court and handle government affairs. But..."
"He has to admit that he's old."
"Everyone wants to sit on the throne. What's a few deaths?" He raised his eyebrows and looked at her. "Are you scared now?"
"Who's scared!"
"It's too late to be scared..." But was she worried about him? The once - wise and calm young girl seemed to have changed into a different person.
Was it because he had spoiled her? Protecting her under his wings for a lifetime. Isn't this what he had always wanted?
Song Jinyu was helpless and became even more clingy to him. Zhongli Mingye smiled gently. "All I want is for you to stay by my side."
"Okay!"
He was always like this, scheming about everything, including her heart. Sometimes, when she thought about it, she felt that Zhongli Mingye was really calculating.
From the first time they met until now, every step had been within his scheme. Even though there had been the tricks of fate in between, she still ended up in his hands.
A man with such a deep - seated heart was her beloved.