Chapter 952: Chapter 693: Soft Jade and Warm Fragrance, Held in My Arms

A warm, large hand suddenly caressed the back of Shang Ruyi’s neck.

This felt like being hunted, even restrained, causing her spine to shiver, but in the next moment, when she met those eyes that were supposed to be cold but were now seemingly burning with flames, she suddenly understood.

Yu Wenye held her neck, bringing her to face him.

Those eyes stared deeply at her, as if trying to capture every inch of her into his view, no longer allowing her to escape his gaze.

Then, he lowered his head and bit her lips!

"Mmm!"

Shang Ruyi instinctively whimpered, but all the panting and moaning were swallowed. Yu Wenye, kissing her deeply and forcefully, like a beast tearing into its prey, made her tremble uncontrollably. She couldn’t struggle—she just closed her eyes and surrendered to his maneuver.

Yu Wenye truly showed no restraint.

He held the person tightly in his arms, the force making Shang Ruyi’s bones creak as if embedding her into his body; his kisses were so intense, it’s as though he wished to chew her up, swallow her, to wholly possess this girl, and to make this moment eternal.

"Mm, umm..."

Shang Ruyi, nearly unable to breathe, still didn’t resist, her soft hands instinctively gripping his shoulder.

Her nails even dug into his skin through the fabric.

A sharp pain spread, but this slight discomfort did not deter him; instead, it excited Yu Wenye even more. With powerful hands, he nearly picked Shang Ruyi up from the horse’s back, pressing and kissing fervently, his breath became animalistic in urgency.

The vast sky, the expansive grassland.

At this moment, it seemed like the whole world only contained the two of them, and for the first time, Yu Wenye realized such a small world felt a profound sense of fulfillment.

Just because, the warmth and fragrance, was now in his arms.

It was unknown how long had passed before he finally released the girl in his arms.

Shang Ruyi breathed heavily, her lips trembling, flushed and irresistible. The separation of their lips was marked by a soft, sticky "pop" sound, barely audible but in their close embrace, it sounded so intimate that Shang Ruyi’s face blushed red to her ears.

She dared not meet those still fervent, unsatisfied eyes, immediately lowered her head and buried her face in his chest.

But Yu Wenye’s breath was hot, emotions uncontrollable.

Yet seeing Shang Ruyi’s shy and uneasy posture, he had no choice but to let her go—he had no choice. After all, this was still under the broad daylight, with a team of ten thousand behind them. If they continued, once someone saw clearly what the two were doing, Shang Ruyi wouldn’t live it down.

He grasped the reins again with one hand, gently placing Shang Ruyi back onto the horse’s back with the other.

Her small hands were still tightly encircling his neck.

With things clarified, the heaviness in his heart lifted, and Yu Wenye felt a sense of leisure he had never experienced before. He even delightedly shook the reins slightly, making the horse trot rhythmically and comfortably, causing the person in his arms to hold tightly onto him, preventing any fall.

This feeling satisfied him greatly.

Just then, the person in his arms suddenly raised her head again, softly saying, "My brother..."

Upon hearing these words, Yu Wenye’s eyes faintly dimmed.

Even though he understood Shang Ruyi’s feelings, and knew there was no need to mind over anything else, hearing her call an intimate name and thinking about the man who once accompanied for a long time and gave her protection, instead of himself, made his heart uncomfortable.

Yet, he suppressed that slight displeasure, saying, "Hmm?"

Shang Ruyi asked, "Where is he now?"

Yu Wenye replied, "If nothing unexpected happened these days, he should still be stationed in Taiyuan."

"Taiyuan?"

"With my remaining troops."

"Ah...?"

Shang Ruyi was momentarily at a loss, unable to transition from the fire at Changchun Palace to the defense at Taiyuan, but upon hearing Yu Wenye mention "remaining" troops, she slowly gathered her thoughts.

Delving deeper into her mind, she suddenly said, "You let my brother take my third brother to Changchun Palace actually to support the rear troops?"

Yu Wenye said, "Hmm."

Shang Ruyi took a deep breath, remembering Yu Wenquan had given her two brothers each a hundred thousand troops for the Taiyuan campaign, but due to weather and provisions, both split their commands into two parts.

One part was the twenty thousand troops initially led by the two directly from Chang An until they passed Tongguan, where they split ways.

But there were still seventy to eighty thousand troops in the rear.

Shang Ruyi immediately said, "So you let my brother take my third brother to Changchun Palace also as an opportunity for him to meet with the remaining troops?"

Yu Wenye said, "Hmm."

Shang Ruyi said, "Then he—"

Yu Wenye said, "When the news from Changchun Palace first arrived, I was surprised, but given your brother’s smart nature, he wouldn’t let Changchun Palace fall into such crisis, nor die within it."

"..."

"Moreover, I calculated the time; he should have been heading south to Tongguan, meeting the troops."

"..."

"After you left...he arrived quickly, so I let him stay in Taiyuan with my elder brother’s forces, while I came here."

Shang Ruyi felt the blood in her body flowing vigorously, a refreshing sensation in her heart, saying, "So, it was just an accident, and my brother avoided it."

Yu Wenye nodded.

But in the next moment, he added, "However, you’re not entirely correct."

"Hmm?"

"That may not have been an accident."

"...!?"

Shang Ruyi suddenly widened her eyes, her breath almost held: "Are you saying—"

Yu Wenye said, "Although water and fire are unpredictable, I always felt that at this critical moment, that big fire was suspicious. What’s more peculiar is that my third brother, who was supposed to be there only to recuperate, just happened to avoid it."

"..."

Shang Ruyi’s eyes widened even more.

Although there was no one around, she instinctively lowered her voice and hoarsely said, "Are you saying—"

Yu Wenye looked down at her and said, "Fu Ming has taken action several times in recent days, each time hitting the mark. For me, he’s a great support. But for the opposition, he is a significant threat."

So, the person who acted must have been—

Shang Ruyi suddenly shivered, but was immediately pulled closer into Yu Wenye’s embrace, his feverish warmth permeating through her clothes, layer by layer warming her skin.

This conclusion was not surprising.

In fact, as early as the morning assembly when the Han King and King Qin were enfeoffed, both sides were already in a life-and-death struggle. However, this kind of life-and-death struggle was different from the flesh-and-blood massacre that had just happened by the Cangtou River.

It was a bloodless, but more dangerous, life-and-death struggle.

Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi looked up at Yu Wenye again and said, "Given that, you and my brother should be more united. Why are you both still fighting?"

"..."

Mentioning this, Yu Wenye’s expression suddenly changed.

He recalled that night on Cangbai Mountain, when the ever-gallant and genteel Shen Wuzheng suddenly swung a fist at him. Even though he was usually swift and skillful in battle, he was caught off guard. The suffocation and anger at that moment caused his face to sink. Yet, meeting Shang Ruyi’s flickering gaze, he could only suppress his anger, "He said I wronged you."

He then looked down at Shang Ruyi, "Did I wrong you?"

"..."

Shang Ruyi blinked.

She understood now.

As far as martial prowess was concerned, Shen Wuzheng definitely couldn’t beat Yu Wenye. But Yu Wenye returned that night with injuries, clearly suffering from being caught off guard, so the one who struck first must have been Shen Wuzheng.

Even so, Shang Ruyi wouldn’t indulge him.

Since all her thoughts were already laid bare, she no longer concealed anything. Furthermore, thinking back on this journey, or rather since the epidemic ended and the West City Yanzuo Square was unsealed, his attitude toward her had suddenly changed. Although he didn’t physically or verbally abuse her, the transition from intimate closeness to emotional barriers, even subtly sensing his "hostility," puzzled and saddened Shang Ruyi deeply.

This sadness had further caused their hearts to drift apart.

Ultimately, it led to the event that day.

So she said, "Didn’t you?"

"..."

"How have you not wronged me on this journey?"

"..."

"I devoted my heart to you, yet what about you? You questioned me at every turn, blamed me every step of the way."

"..."

Yu Wenye was left speechless by her questions.

Though he had a military background where "kindness doesn’t command troops," he had been leading soldiers for a long time and his temper wasn’t gentle; even so, he was born in a world of riches and etiquette, and even for this little woman he hadn’t loved from the beginning, he treated her with courtesy without letting her suffer grievances.

However, these past days—he indeed wanted nothing more than to make her suffer a bit!

Thinking of this, he looked down into Shang Ruyi’s eyes, "I doubted you because I’ve already shared all my thoughts with you."

"..."

"But yours—you’ve just revealed to me."

"..."

"This is inherently unfair."

Shang Ruyi’s gaze quivered slightly, no, it began to tremble.

What Yu Wenye referred to was his feelings toward Empress Dowager Jiang. Indeed, after clarifying and sorting out his emotions, he had laid bare his feelings for her, yet her feelings for him were only just being explained.

No, it wasn’t...

Shang Ruyi’s heart moved instinctively, and seeing her faintly trembling eyes, Yu Wenye immediately said, "No, it wasn’t."

"..."

"You just told me half."

"..."

"You only told me why you decided to marry me, but you still haven’t clarified why after your illness, you refused to marry my elder brother."

"..."

"Why?"