Chapter 162: Chapter 162: He Loves to Hear It

Ming Lingyi thought Li Yun was spouting nonsense.

She rolled her eyes at him without a word.

Li Yun, however, started muttering an explanation. "I wasn’t exactly lying, was I? I was just helping him see that he should back off. Besides, you rejected him today too, didn’t you?"

"How did you know that?" Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but ask.

Li Yun poured himself another glass of water. He was actually starting to feel a little thirsty.

"Isn’t it obvious?" He glanced at Ming Lingyi with a grin, looking smug now that his little plan had worked. It was undeniable that after sending Jiang Yuchuan away, Li Yun was in an exceptionally good mood. No one looking at him now would ever guess that just moments ago, facing Jiang Yuchuan, he had been so enraged he’d wanted to draw his sword and kill the man. "We’re husband and wife. How could I not know what you’re thinking?"

Ming Lingyi scoffed at that but didn’t deign to reply.

Li Yun added, "I was helping you out of a tight spot."

Ming Lingyi: "..."

’So, I’m supposed to thank him for this?’

’This man is getting more and more shameless.’

"Now you won’t have to worry about him anymore, and you can relax," Li Yun said.

Ming Lingyi turned to him. "So, I’m supposed to thank you for this?"

Li Yun replied, "There’s no need for that between husband and wife."

Ming Lingyi sneered. Her failure to immediately refute what Li Yun had said in front of Jiang Yuchuan tonight had clearly given this man an overblown sense of confidence.

’When had their relationship taken such a huge leap forward? Since when were they ’husband and wife’?’

"What exactly are you trying to do? If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving." Ming Lingyi set her cup on the table and started to get up.

But Li Yun was a step faster. The moment she put her cup down, he reached out and pressed his hand over hers, stopping her.

Ming Lingyi: "?"

Li Yun said, "I’m not trying to do anything..." He tightened his grip on her hand. "I just want to be with you."

They had been apart for too long. Even now, they spent more time separated than together. He just wanted her to stay; he had no other intentions.

Ming Lingyi froze.

"You were so protective of that Jiang fellow outside," Li Yun said sourly.

He was tempted to play the victim for Ming Lingyi again, but it wasn’t something he could do a second time.

But his jealousy was real, and his sour tone wasn’t an act.

When he saw Ming Lingyi shield Jiang Yuchuan, he had truly wanted to kill someone. Even now, recalling it, he could barely contain that murderous impulse.

"Is he that important to you?" Li Yun asked. "Weren’t you afraid of getting hurt?"

Ming Lingyi pulled her hand from his grasp. She didn’t want to answer his question, but when she turned and saw the corners of his eyes were red, her heart couldn’t help but soften for a moment.

"Whether he’s important or not has nothing to do with it! If you had actually killed a man on the street tonight, how would you face the world tomorrow? How would you face the Imperial Censorate? You would have wantonly slaughtered a high-ranking minister. How would you handle the fallout in the royal court? Li Yun, how can you be so impulsive?!"

Ming Lingyi had originally intended to console him, but once she started speaking, the anger she had suppressed seemed to flare up again. When she looked at Li Yun now, her bright, clear eyes were practically shooting sparks.

The one being scolded, however, didn’t seem the least bit unhappy. When Ming Lingyi looked at him, she found he was actually smiling.

Ming Lingyi: "?"

Li Yun noticed her gaze. His expression relaxed considerably, and he even grinned at her. "Scold me some more."

’He loved hearing it.’

Ming Lingyi: "..."

Ming Lingyi’s expression grew complicated as she looked at Li Yun.

Li Yun seemed oblivious. When Ming Lingyi fell silent, he actually looked a little dissatisfied and prompted her, "Go on."

’He had understood perfectly. Although Ming Lingyi was scolding him, every sentence, every word, was spoken out of concern for him.’

’How could he not be happy?’

’He wished she would point a finger at his nose and scold him for a whole hour!’

Ming Lingyi raised a hand and pressed the bridge of her nose.

"Are you sick in the head, Li Yun?" Ming Lingyi finally couldn’t help but blurt out.

Her words were met with Li Yun’s smiling face.

If any of the court ministers were to see him like this, they would surely think their Emperor had been bewitched.

Who had ever seen Emperor Jing’an smile so happily? Especially while being berated by a woman.

Li Yun said, "You weren’t protecting Jiang Yuchuan just now. You were protecting me."

He said it with absolute certainty.

’He had completely misunderstood her.’

’The feeling was like finding a lost treasure. He had thought it was long gone, only to look down and realize it had been by his side all along. He’d simply forgotten to look.’

’How could he not be ecstatic?’

As for Ming Lingyi’s comment about him being sick in the head, Li Yun chose to selectively ignore it.

’All he knew was that his Yuan Niang was always looking out for him, and that it had nothing to do with that Jiang fellow.’

Ming Lingyi: "..."

’If he was determined to interpret it that way, she couldn’t stop him.’

For some reason, though, listening to him talk, Ming Lingyi felt an overwhelming urge to punch him.

She tried to keep a straight face, but she couldn’t hold out against Li Yun’s beaming smile, which was constantly bobbing in her line of sight.

A smile could be contagious.

Watching Li Yun, who was showing more happiness than she had seen from him in a long time, Ming Lingyi finally couldn’t help it, and the corners of her own lips curved up in a slight smile.

"Stop smiling," she said.

Li Yun retorted, "Only my wife gets to tell me what to do."

Ming Lingyi: "..."

"You’re my wife, so of course you can tell me what to do!" When Ming Lingyi didn’t take the bait, Li Yun decided to just establish her identity for her.

Ming Lingyi ignored him and asked, "How are you going to explain things to Jiang Yuchuan later?"

It was only because Jiang Yuchuan hadn’t pressed the issue today. Otherwise, Ming Lingyi really wouldn’t have known how to explain how she’d come back from the dead.

"Why should I explain anything to him?" Li Yun retorted.

He wasn’t anyone important. Why was there any need to explain such a private matter to an insignificant outsider?

Ming Lingyi: "..."

Although his logic sounded strange, she was, inexplicably, convinced.

She really didn’t need to explain her identity to anyone else.

Li Yun figured that since he was already out, he could just hurry back to the palace in time for morning court. Tonight, he wanted to sleep with Ming Lingyi.

’Sleeping alone could never be as comfortable as sleeping with someone else, could it?’

Alas, his hopes were beautiful, but Ming Lingyi was decisive when she left, not even glancing back to give him an opening.

"Go sleep with that sword of yours."