Lu Yunjian silently stole A’wu away.
Just as he was leading her out of Yan Yang Temple, she heard the sounds of slaughter and saw faint flames rising into the sky.
Lu Yunjian slightly tilted his head, his narrow eyes glowing with a bewitching allure in the firelight.
He smiled faintly, “Nie San has killed someone. He wanted to save you, but it’s too late.”
He caressed A’wu’s cheek, “Perfect, just let him be the scapegoat.”
A’wu turned her face away, thinking to herself, Nie San and Lu Yunjian, they’re both dogs, not much difference!
At that moment, the fire in Yan Yang Temple spread rapidly, and a large number of soldiers arrived.
Judging by their attire, they were the Crown Prince’s men.
Clearly, the Crown Prince had also arrived.
A’wu’s heart stirred.
Even if the Crown Prince hated her, he would surely save her.
She wanted the Crown Prince.
Lu Yunjian kept his gaze fixed on Awu in the firelight, noticing the hope in her eyes.
He sneered, “What? You want Mo Yao to save you? Do you think he can save you? A mere child!”
With that, he suddenly turned, swiftly mounted his horse with A’wu, and galloped away.
The mountain path was already steep, and riding at such a speed was dangerous.
A’wu was jolted violently, clutching his robe tightly in fear, curling up in his arms.
Lu Yunjian’s large hand gripped her waist, holding her tightly within his cloak.
Then he leaned down, breathing heavily in her ear, his voice hoarse, “Do you miss me so much?”
Hearing his voice, Awu became furious.
In her anger, she pushed him, determined to push him away even if it meant her death.
But she had no strength left, and Lu Yunjian only held her tighter, making it impossible for her to struggle.
Lu Yunjian slowed the horse slightly, holding the reins with one hand and wrapping his other arm around her, pressing her against his chest.
Then, he sighed contentedly, “A’wu is mine again.”
A’wu was filled with anger and resentment but could say nothing.
Lu Yunjian, “You should know who I am by now.”
A’wu retorted sarcastically, “Your Excellency, the Imperial Uncle!”
Lu Yunjian whispered, “Yesterday, I went to the palace to report and happened to hear the news, so I hurried over.”
A’wu ignored him.
Lu Yunjian, “Don’t you want to know who framed you?”
A’wu turned her face away, “Of course I know!”
Lu Yunjian chuckled, “Oh?”
A’wu, “It must be the Crown Princess’s people!”
Lu Yunjian clicked his tongue, “Awu is so clever. Yesterday, that woman put on a show in the palace, crying and saying she had found Nie San.”
A’wu listened, “As expected, Nie San was up to no good from the start!”
Lu Yunjian’s fingers gently stroked A’wu’s back, “A’wu, now you understand, no man out there is good, they all deceive you.”
A’wu scoffed, “And what are you? You must have been watching the Crown Princess closely to find me so quickly. You knew she set a trap for me, yet you watched me walk right into it!”
As they spoke, the sky had already brightened, and they had reached the foot of the mountain.
A’wu looked around and saw no one, “Let me go.”
Lu Yunjian, “Let you go? So you can run away?”
A’wu, her thoughts exposed, replied frankly, “Why shouldn’t I run? Should I stay by your side as a concubine? Do you dare to keep me? Aren’t you afraid the Crown Prince will stab you to death?”
She first slept with the Crown Prince, then with the Emperor.
She couldn’t believe there was still a man bold enough to openly demand her!
Lu Yunjian looked deeply at Awu, a mocking smile tugging at his lips as he said, “What? Now that you’ve been with other men, you don’t recognize me anymore?”
Awu replied, “What can I do? They were bigger and stronger than you. After leaving you, I realized how vast the world is and what a real man is like.”
A shadow of gloom instantly clouded Lu Yunjian’s eyes. “Is that so? Awu, I seem to recall you were quite fond of me back then-“
Awu stomped her foot, raised her hand, and slapped Lu Yunjian across the face.
It was a resounding slap.
Afterward, she panicked a little.
She had acted impulsively and hadn’t expected Lu Yunjian not to dodge.
Lu Yunjian, with his agility, shouldn’t have been so easily hit.
After being slapped, Lu Yunjian simply narrowed his eyes and stared coldly at Awu.
Awu’s eyes darted around. “I didn’t mean to.”
But she had meant it.
Seeing her timid demeanor, Lu Yunjian sneered, “Scared? Afraid I’ll hit you back?”
Awu bit her lip and said weakly, “If you want to hit me, go ahead. Just kill me…”
Lu Yunjian glared at her, his voice harsh. “In the past, no matter how much you angered me, did I ever lay a hand on you?”
Awu fell silent.
It was true; he had never hit her.
Lu Yunjian laughed coldly. “Awu, don’t forget, it was you who threw yourself at me first.”
Awu retorted, “So what!”
Lu Yunjian’s eyes darkened, and he gritted his teeth. “You were the one who provoked me.”
Awu shrank back, feeling a bit guilty.
At that time, she had been separated from her fellow villagers, and the neighbor’s brother had disappeared.
With her looks, she would have been bullied in the crowd, and she didn’t know what might have happened.
She had no choice but to find a man to rely on.
She quickly regained her composure. “I slept with you, and you protected me. We’re even. I never deceived you; it was agreed upon from the start!”
They had agreed to part ways afterward, but he was the one who later refused to let her go!
Lu Yunjian let out a cold laugh, his eyes filled with icy rage. “Let you go? So you can find another man?”
At his words, Awu became furious and she replied, “Yes, you found me a man! You sold me! You’re a heartless monster!”
She challenged him, expecting a cold retort, but instead, he fell silent, looking at her with a sorrowful gaze.
This caught Awu off guard.
She lowered her head, avoiding his gaze, but in her heart, she thought she could endure for now and escape when the opportunity arose.
Lu Yunjian watched her lowered eyes, her seemingly submissive demeanor.
This softened his expression.
He reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from her ear.
As he did so, his fingers paused, lightly touching her delicate earlobe, satisfied to see her shiver slightly.
His voice was low and cold. “Did the Crown Prince like touching you here?”
Awu was instantly annoyed, wanting to curse at him, but she bit her tongue and held back.
The Crown Prince had been quite fond of her, doing everything he could to please her in bed, almost reverently.
But she didn’t want to share anything about the Crown Prince with Lu Yunjian.
The Crown Prince was a pure person, purer than both Lu Yunjian and Nie San, and the Emperor couldn’t compare to him at all.
Such a person, though she had a fleeting connection with him and did not love him, was still worth cherishing in her heart, rather than having this experience exposed for comparison and ridicule.
Lu Yunjian, being the sharp man he was, naturally sensed it immediately.
He suddenly let out a cold, bitter laugh: “What, after being with him for eighty-four days, you’ve fallen in love?”
Eighty-four days-Lu Yunjian spat out the words through gritted teeth.
Awu found it amusing, utterly amusing.
It was he who had sent her to the Crown Prince!
He had used the finest medicines to refine her, nurturing her into a body as delicate and precious as pearls and jade, only to then offer her to the Crown Prince!
When she and the Crown Prince were entangled in passion, shouldn’t he have secretly rejoiced at the success of his plan?
Wasn’t it his intention to place her by the Crown Prince’s side as a hidden pawn?
So why was he now spouting such sour words!
She retorted bluntly: “Some men, even after a thousand nights, still evoke disgust. Others, after just one night, become unforgettable for a lifetime.”
She tilted her head, deliberately asking him, “Seventh Brother, which one do you think you are?”
Lu Yunjian raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly.
His lips brushed faintly against her ear as he spoke with a hint of malice, “Awu, tell me, how good is the man who became unforgettable after just one night? Seventh Brother wants to learn too. Teach me.”
This side of Lu Yunjian made Awu tremble, sending shivers down her spine.
She snapped, “Get lost!”
Lu Yunjian suddenly closed in, his face both sinister and handsome and he said,
“What, don’t want to talk? Then Seventh Brother will have to see for himself whether Awu’s body, after being enjoyed by the Crown Prince, has become even more exquisite. Come, let Seventh Brother take a look.”
With that, his fingers landed on her collar, ready to tear it open.
“Ah-“
Awu screamed!
She didn’t want this-here in the wilderness, in broad daylight, how could he treat her like this!
Awu twisted her body, trying to break free, but Lu Yunjian’s fingers were as unyielding as iron clamps.
She flailed and kicked wildly, but it was no use.
In her panic, the embroidered collar was torn open, revealing the white silk undergarment beneath.
Awu’s eyes welled with tears, her teeth clenched in hatred.
Lu Yunjian’s rough, calloused hand swept over her waist. “Here, how did he touch you? How did he caress you? How many times in one night did he “
Awu struck at him, “I don’t want you! Let me go, you scoundrel!”
Lu Yunjian’s voice was cold and mocking, “Could the Crown Prince give you the pleasure I can? He’s just a half-grown boy. What does he know? What could he possibly give you?”
” I, Lu Yunjian, command the Eastern Sea Fleet. Even his father, the Emperor, has to tread carefully around me. What is he to me? Did you really think you’d climbed to some lofty position? Did you think you could escape my grasp? You heartless, ungrateful woman!”
Awu, unable to break free, collapsed in his arms, large tears rolling down her cheeks.
Lu Yunjian, seeing her fragile state, couldn’t help but lower his head and kiss her eyes. “Such a pitiful little thing. Seeing your Seventh Brother makes you lose control, doesn’t it? You never really liked him, did you?”
Awu stared at his lips, so close now-the lips of a fickle, heartless man, yet so full and alluring.
She fixed her gaze there and suddenly, with a sharp “Aah-“, opened her mouth and bit down.
The sudden pain made Lu Yunjian pause.
Then, he pulled away from Awu, raising his elegant, slender fingers to lightly touch his lips.
A crimson streak of blood stained his jade-white fingertips.
Lu Yunjian stared at the blood, his gaze intense.
There had once been warmth and tenderness between them, but now she had bitten him without a trace of mercy.
He raised his eyes, a dark shadow lurking in their depths. “Oh, biting me? Do you wish you could devour me?”
Awu stubbornly lifted her chin and replied, “I really hate you! If it weren’t for you, maybe I would have found my brother by now! I could have found him!”
As she spoke, the tears in her eyes flickered like a torch in the dark night.
She wept, “It’s all your fault. I’ll never find him again… All the villagers have left. They boarded the ship, leaving only me behind.”
Yet, Lu Yunjian’s heart was heavy with sorrow.
The “brother” she spoke of was not her brother who had gone to sea, but the boy next door, her childhood sweetheart!
When she heard news of him, she rushed to find him, disregarding everything else, not even sparing Lu Yunjian another glance.
He sighed, “Awu, do you think if you had boarded that ship, you could—”
His words were cut off by the sound of hurried hoofbeats.
Someone was coming!
Hearing the noise, a glimmer of hope stirred in Awu’s heart.
Lu Yunjian wrapped his cloak around Awu’s trembling, delicate frame and held her close.
Soon, the carriage and horses arrived nearby.
Seeing the overly ornate carriage, Awu’s heart slowly sank.
She felt that her earlier hope was utterly laughable.
Without Lu Yunjian, there was still someone else, but at this moment, no one could save her.
This was the emperor’s displeasure, the crown princess’s scheme.
The crown prince couldn’t save her, Nie San wouldn’t save her.
No matter how she struggled, there was only one path left for her death.
The carriage and horses quickly drew near.
Awu heard them stop and felt Lu Yunjian tense.
Awu was puzzled.
Who could it be that made Lu Yunjian so cautious?
She wanted to peek out, but Lu Yunjian pressed her head down, keeping her hidden within the cloak.
Then, she heard a voice say, “Yunjian.”
The voice was gentle yet commanding.
Hearing it, Awu was stunned, then suddenly realized something.
This… this was the empress’s voice?
The empress had come to Nanqiongzi?
And appeared here?
Was this the same empress who traveled with all her grand entourage?
How could she—
She quietly peeked through a gap in the cloak, seeing only the lavish carriage and the procession of eunuchs and maids.
She couldn’t see the empress herself; she was inside the carriage.