You never said you wouldn’t take care of me, yet you’re acting so aggrieved…
Both of them recognized that voice instantly—who else could it be but Li Ran?
Li Ran stepped gracefully into the room, offering a sweet smile to the tall, elegant man before closing the door behind her.
Yan Yu’s expression turned cold.
That was more like it. The only one who would dare to pull such reckless stunts on him repeatedly was none other than Princess Zhaohua, the daughter of the Eldest Princess.
“Brother Yu~”
Li Ran cooed as she leaned in, reaching out to stroke Yan Yu’s chest. He didn’t move his feet but leaned back slightly, causing her delicate fingers to hover just two inches away from him, never making contact.
Noticing the ornament at his waist, Li Ran shifted her hand toward his hip and exclaimed in surprise, “Huh, this thing… Brother Yu, how many of these do you actually have?”
One after another, everyone seemed eager to touch it.
Yan Yu simply turned around, strode over, and sat down in the chair behind the desk. His long legs stretched beneath the table, effectively trapping the person hiding there between them!
Mei Yao tensed up, her heart pounding even more fiercely. A restless energy surged through her body—it was too stifling, too hot, as if her entire being were about to catch fire.
Yan Yu also sensed something was off.
A pair of small hands first brushed against his calves, then wrapped around his entire leg. A soft, warm body pressed against him, and she even rested her cheek on his thigh, nuzzling against it!
This unruly, brazen woman!
“Brother Yu,” Li Ran called out to him in a sweet voice.
“What is it?”
As Yan Yu spoke, both he and Li Ran detected a hoarse, restrained quality in his voice.
Li Ran assumed her plan was taking effect and felt a surge of satisfaction. She took a few steps closer to him, pouting as she said, “Brother Yu, did you know… His Majesty intends to arrange a marriage for me…”
“What does that have to do with me?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he felt a tingling sensation at the base of his thigh. Whether intentional or not, the person under the table had brushed against that spot! His brow furrowed, and he instinctively tightened his legs, trapping her firmly.
Mei Yao hadn’t meant to provoke him. It was just that she was unbearably uncomfortable at the moment—dizzy and consumed by a scorching restlessness she had never experienced before, unsure how to ease the torment. She wanted something to lean against, but his leg was too hard, making it terribly uncomfortable to rest on. As she squirmed restlessly, she felt something hard brush against her. At first, she didn’t realize what it was, but after a moment, it dawned on her, and the heat within her only intensified!
Now, trapped and unable to move, she grew even more agitated. Frustrated, she reached out to pinch his thigh, but it was unyielding—how could he be so hard?
In a fit of pique, she bit down on his thigh!
Yan Yu’s brow twitched.
Li Ran watched the man before her intently. His expression seemed strained, as if he were holding something back. Secretly pleased, she maintained a pitiful, innocent look on her face and said, “It does have to do with you, Brother Yu! My mother and the Empress both want me to marry Fourth Brother, but I… I have feelings for you…”
“What did you do?”
Yan Yu hadn’t been listening to her at all. All he felt was a restless energy churning in his core. At first, he thought it was just irritation at the troublemaker between his legs, but gradually, he realized it was more than that.
Li Ran grew even more aggrieved. “Brother Yu, what do you mean by that?”
“Aphrodisiac incense? Or something else?” Yan Yu questioned her mercilessly.
Li Ran’s eyes welled up with tears. “Brother Yu, you know my heart belongs to you. How could you… how could you treat it so callously… sob sob sob…”
Yan Yu felt nothing but annoyance.
He had sensed something amiss upon entering—if the Empress Dowager had rested here, how could all the doors and windows be shut? He simply hadn’t expected such a crude trick. Now it seemed clear the room had been filled with some colorless, odorless substance, and the mastermind behind it was still putting on an act, stubbornly refusing to admit it.
“Mmm…” A faint, almost imperceptible moan suddenly came from beneath the table.
Mei Yao was trying her hardest to endure. Unable to pinch the man, she pinched herself instead, hoping the pain would keep her alert.
Yan Yu felt they could no longer stay here.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he turned to Li Ran. “Come closer!”
Li Ran hadn’t expected him to invite her near. After a moment’s hesitation, she leaned in and said softly, “Brother Yu…”
She had used a generous amount of the alluring incense and had been standing there for a while herself. Now, she too felt a surge of desire.
The man before her exuded an irresistible allure. As she drew closer, the faint scent of ambergris on him made Li Ran take a deep, shaky breath. She leaned in, arms outstretched, to wrap them around his neck. But the moment she touched his shoulder, a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck, and her body went limp, collapsing unconscious.
Yan Yu stood up, intending to carry Li Ran out first, but the person clinging to his leg held on tightly. With one arm supporting Li Ran, he lifted the tablecloth with the other and said, “Let go first!”
The person resting on his leg raised her head, her face flushed. She looked at him, then at the woman in his arms, and tears welled in her peach-blossom eyes.
It was as if she was convinced he was abandoning her for the woman in his arms.
Yan Yu’s voice softened slightly as he explained, “Her people are outside. I need to send her out first so you can escape.”
Seeing her teary-eyed, only half-aware, he spoke in a soothing tone, “Be good. Hold on a little longer. I’ll be back soon!”
The small hands clinging to his leg finally loosened their grip. He watched as she leaned against the table leg, closed her eyes, and her chest rose and fell unevenly.
Carrying Li Ran, he opened the door and stepped outside, catching a glimpse of a figure darting into the shadows of the flowers.
He shouted in the direction the figure had vanished, “Get over here! Take your mistress to summon a physician!”
General Yan’s reputation as a god of death was well-known. Seeing this living Yama enraged, a timid eunuch emerged from behind the flower shadows, trembling as he took the unconscious woman from his arms. After scurrying a few steps away, the eunuch suddenly turned back.
Remembering the attendants Yan Yu had executed, the eunuch gritted his teeth and said, “General, you must leave quickly! The Empress Dowager will be here any moment!” With that, he hurried away with Li Ran.
Yan Yu returned to the room, bent down, and pulled the person from under the table, carrying her out as he went. Just as he stepped outside, the Empress Dowager’s voice reached him, “What is Ran’er up to? What treasure does she have that she insists I come here to see it?”
There was only one secluded stone path here, and carrying her out this way would mean running straight into the Empress Dowager. Yan Yu tightened his grip on the woman in his arms and, without hesitation, leaped over the flower wall, heading down another path.
Mei Yao had initially wrapped her arms around his neck, but now she didn’t know what to do. Nestled in his embrace, surrounded by his pleasant scent, she felt even more restless. She wanted something but didn’t know what. She squirmed and fidgeted, soft moans escaping her lips from time to time. Her hands began to wander, accidentally slipping into the opening of his robe. The spring clothing was thin, and his skin was warm. Her small hand unconsciously roamed inside, igniting sparks wherever it touched.
Yan Yu glanced down at the woman in his arms. “Stop moving!”
“I’m uncomfortable…”
“I know!”
He wasn’t feeling much better himself.
He had no idea what had happened before, nor where her maid was. Sending her for medical treatment like this was clearly inappropriate, and carrying her out of the palace was unrealistic. He had no choice but to take her to a side hall in the former empress’s residence. After the former empress passed away, no master had lived here; only some servants remained, and it was largely vacant.
Yan Yu placed her on the couch and was about to stand up when she grabbed the front of his robe. Looking down, he saw red nail marks on her fair, jade-like wrist.
She truly was harsh on herself.
Her hair bun had already been mussed by her own movements, and her collar was slightly loose. Her originally fair, creamy skin now carried a faint pink hue, like morning glow reflecting on snow. Those peach blossom eyes, which could captivate with a single smile, were now misty, filled with a mix of grievance and pleading, staring unblinkingly at him. Her lipstick had been rubbed off, and whether from desire or her own biting, her cherry lips grew even more red and moist, glistening as if coated in honey.
Yan Yu felt the breath in his lower abdomen growing unsteady.
Her voice was like a sob, pleading: “Don’t leave me…”
She clung to his clothes with such force that her fingertips turned white, as if fearing he might pull away at any moment.
“I’m really so uncomfortable… Xiao Yu gege…”
The words “Xiao Yu gege” felt like another dose of aphrodisiac, stirring restlessness in his heart and making his breathing grow heavier. Even in such discomfort, she called for Xiao Yu, not General Yan. Seeing how she had pinched her own arm red to stay conscious, he felt a pang of pity.
“Xiao Yu gege… save me…”
Her words were slurred, and while one hand still gripped his chest, the other had already wrapped around his neck. She arched her chest, trying to draw closer, but couldn’t quite reach. In her frustration, she tugged at him and burst into tears.
“Wuwu… why are you so mean… I’m so uncomfortable… take care of me… please…”
Tears streamed down her face as she cried, her breath growing ragged, and her complexion flushing even deeper. Though her hands still clung to him, her jade-like legs were already entwined and twisting restlessly.
He abruptly pulled her back into his embrace and leaned down to kiss her!
This sudden kiss silenced her muffled sobs. Like a parched person encountering sweet dew or someone lost in fog seeing light, a soft moan escaped her lips. Her sensitive body trembled with satisfaction, greedily seeking more as she followed her instincts!
He kissed her urgently, as if releasing his own suppressed desires. His tongue swept and surged in her mouth, sucking and nipping, gradually stealing the air from her lungs.
Soon, a sense of suffocation washed over her, and Mei Yao’s moans carried a hint of discomfort.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from her lips and saw the dazed look in her eyes, her flushed face, and her chest heaving as she gasped for air.
He wiped her tears with his slightly rough fingers and said softly, “I never said I wouldn’t take care of you. Why are you so aggrieved?”
Mei Yao, having recovered from the suffocating sensation, felt even more uncomfortable all over. That kiss had been like drinking poison to quench thirst, plunging her into deeper emptiness and confusion. With eyes like a young deer’s, she reached for his lips again and whispered tremulously, “More…”
Yan Yu met her, this time gentler than before, though Mei Yao remained somewhat frantic and uncoordinated in her urgency.
After kissing her lips, he moved to her flushed earlobe, taking it into his mouth and hearing her uncontrollable trembling sigh. He gave it a gentle bite and soothed her, “Don’t rush…”
“But I am…”
She spoke as if about to cry again.
Gritting his teeth, he untied her skirt sash and slipped his hand inside.
Gao Sheng’s voice sounded outside the door: “Your Majesty, please return after a short stroll. Your dragon body must be cared for.”