The long skirt fell away, and the woman’s fair, flawless skin made Yan Xiu’s gaze grow deep and dark.
A faint fragrance stirred the heartstrings; Yan Xiu slowly lowered his head, and just as his cold lips brushed Li Yuyu’s shoulder, he suddenly froze.
Yan Xiu sprang to his feet, did not look again at Li Yuyu on the bed, yanked over an outer robe, threw it on, and strode out.
"Emperor..." Shen Quan’s eyes widened in surprise.
He looked at Yan Xiu’s shadowed face and hurriedly followed.
Yan Xiu’s steps were swift as the wind; the dampness in his palm made him unconsciously clench his fist.
His touch actually made her suffer that much?
Her compromise was only because she thought of her duty, nothing more. How ironic.
He, as the Emperor, wanting to have a woman yet needing to resort to force—and most ironic of all, even if he wanted to force her, he could not. The moment he felt her tears, his heart throbbed with a sharp pain.
He clearly could have made Yu’er his woman, clearly the desire for her was clamoring in his mind, yet he could not go on.
He did not want to force her; he wanted her to willingly give herself to him.
Shen Quan dismissed everyone and followed Yan Xiu; before he could speak, there was a sudden "bang."
Yan Xiu slammed his fist into the tree trunk and cursed coldly, "Bastard!"
Shen Quan was startled by the fresh blood oozing from the back of Yan Xiu’s hand, but he did not dare cry out. He only waited for Yan Xiu to calm down, then accompanied him back to Yangxin Hall.
"Go, have word of the Emperor’s injury sent over."
When Shen Quan came carrying the medicine box, he shot Donglai a look, telling him to spread the news of the Emperor’s injury.
Spread it where?
Naturally, to Yao Hua Palace.
"My Lady, how are you?" Hua Yin looked at Li Yuyu lying on the bed, tears slipping uncontrollably down her face.
Ever since they entered the Imperial Palace, when had she ever seen her mistress shed tears?
Though her mistress grumbled daily and was never at peace, Hua Yin had never seen her like this—lying on the bed, eyes empty, cheeks drenched in tears, utterly desolate.
Li Yuyu wiped the tears from her cheeks; as she slowly sat up, she pulled her outer robe back over her shoulders.
"I am fine. Help me fetch a new set of clothes. I am going to bathe and sleep."
Hua Yin answered hoarsely, "Yes."
When Little Xianzi returned, he bumped into Donglai. On hearing that the Emperor was injured, he anxiously wanted to go inform Li Yuyu.
"My Lady is bathing. Why must you insist on telling her right this moment?"
Hua Yin stopped him, asking in puzzlement.
"Sister Hua Yin, you don’t know. The Emperor’s hand is injured, but he refuses to apply medicine. Eunuch Donglai says the Emperor is thinking of My Lady and is sulking with her. Now that it’s hot, if the wound isn’t properly treated and gets worse, what are we to do?"
Little Xianzi’s face showed his anxiety.
"Heavens! How did the Emperor get hurt?" Hua Yin’s face also went pale. Feng Yin wasn’t here at the moment, and she had no idea what to do; she only told Little Xianzi to stay nearby while she went in to report.
"What is it?" Li Yuyu heard the commotion and asked with her eyes closed.
Hua Yin repeated what Little Xianzi had said: "My Lady, today is your great day; you shouldn’t be at odds with the Emperor. Why don’t you go to him and apologize?"
Surely everyone in the harem already knew the Emperor was to stay the night in Yao Hua Palace today. If tomorrow they learned that the Emperor had been driven away by Li Xiurong, wouldn’t My Lady become the laughingstock of the harem?
"Apologize?"
Li Yuyu opened her eyes; the clear gaze held none of its usual mirth, only a calm look as she regarded Hua Yin. "You think I was at fault, is that it?"