Chapter 170: He Deserves a Beating for This Temptation

With their identities revealed, everything from the past was also out in the open.

This made the kidnapping a bit strange, but Xiao Yang didn’t mention returning to the Imperial Palace, and Mu Yunlian didn’t bring it up either.

Mu Yunlian still wore his mask, his entire demeanor returning to its previous composure and indifference. However, inside the carriage, he no longer sat primly on the other side. Instead, he would sit closer to Xiao Yang, taking the opportunity to pull her into his embrace whenever the carriage jolted. He held her hand more naturally—and brazenly—when they got on and off.

The only thing he didn’t do was kiss her. He would stare at Xiao Yang, his longing practically visible, but without her permission, he didn’t dare make a move.

However, this same person who was too shy to kiss her during the day dared to sneak into her bed at night and wantonly demand kisses.

SLAP!

THUD!

It wasn’t that Xiao Yang disliked Mu Yunlian’s kisses, but who on earth kisses someone so relentlessly in their sleep in the middle of the night?

Mu Yunlian took the slap and was even kicked to the floor, but he wasn’t angry at all. He scrambled back up in an instant, pushed his face close, and looked at her eagerly.

Judging by his expression, he looked like he’d actually enjoyed it.

Xiao Yang’s lips twitched. "Don’t you... think you’re a little abnormal?"

Mu Yunlian laughed out loud. "Your Majesty, I’m already split in two. How normal can I be?"

He grabbed Xiao Yang’s hand and pressed it against his heart. "This body may be a bit broken, but it’s not bad. Would Your Majesty care for a taste?"

He was seducing her with all his might. Xiao Yang’s brow twitched as she watched. Faced with such masculine temptation, her only option was to knock him out with a single chop.

’Trying to test me like this... He had it coming!’

The nighttime Mu Yunlian was a wanton seducer, while the daytime Mu Yunlian wished he could crawl into a hole and die, refusing to admit he was the same person.

Xiao Yang asked, "Can’t you control it? You weren’t like this before."

Mu Yunlian knew exactly what he did at night, so when he was lucid during the day, he flushed red with shame. "Before, he only existed in my head. I was the only one who could hear his voice. But the other day, he just... emerged. I don’t know how to control him."

He wasn’t lying. If someone with a mental illness knew how to control themselves, it wouldn’t be called an illness.

And the things that other self did were exactly what his rational self wanted to do but didn’t dare.

He was the embodiment of desire and every wild fantasy, and the source of his temptation was right in front of him. Control was simply impossible.

In the middle of the night, sure enough, that person came to climb into her bed again.

Xiao Yang threw off the covers and took the initiative, pinning him beneath her.

"Split personality? Can’t control yourself, is that it?"

She pinched his chin, smiling like a demon about to devour its prey. "Then don’t you go crying later."

Mu Yunlian’s martial arts were superior to Xiao Yang’s, so he could have resisted. But there are some things one simply doesn’t resist. Even when he was tormented to his limit, he only held her tighter and kissed her madly.

The next morning at breakfast, Xiao Yang ate at a leisurely pace, watching a certain someone constantly tugging at his clothes, trying to cover up the amorous marks.

"Ahem."

Mu Yunlian opened his mouth to speak, but the moment a syllable escaped, his voice was impossibly hoarse.

The pleas and moans from last night seemed to still be ringing in his ears. Under Xiao Yang’s gaze, Mu Yunlian didn’t dare to look up.

VMMMMM.

An arrow shot in through the window and embedded itself in the carriage wall in front of Xiao Yang, its fletching vibrating wildly from the force.

The arrow had missed hitting Xiao Yang by a hair’s breadth.

Mu Yunlian pulled out the arrow, secured the window, and flew out.

The attackers outside weren’t common bandits, but well-trained assassins in black.

They were martial arts experts, fully equipped with arrows, hidden weapons, and poison.

Although Mu Yunlian only had four guards with him, there were others following in secret. At a single signal, dozens more guards rushed forward from the rear.

Just as the tide of battle was about to turn, the assassins unexpectedly received reinforcements as well.

The two sides were locked in a fierce struggle. Suddenly, an assassin noticed something unusual: Mu Yunlian and his maidservant were staying close to the carriage, preventing any assassins from getting near it.

Two assassins exchanged a look. One provided cover while the other circled around, preparing to attack the person inside the carriage.

Ling Ji saw this and quickly fell back to defend, willing to be injured to prevent anyone from touching the carriage.

Ling Ji managed to stop the assassin who had circled around, but the other one who had been watching her seized the opportunity to attack.

She was attacked from both front and back. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed, the carriage door flew open. A figure in white shot out and slit an assassin’s throat with a single slash.

The blood-streaked dagger spun through the air before being caught by a fair hand. Then the white figure drifted past, claiming another kill.

Ling Ji snapped to her senses and immediately coordinated with her.

Xiao Yang was an excellent student, a fast learner in everything from literature to martial arts.

By now, her Qinggong was nearly on par with Ling Ji’s. Combined with her unique techniques, her dagger was deadly, claiming a life with every strike.

Even Ling Ji was stunned. She knew Her Majesty practiced martial arts, but the level of her skill was completely unexpected.

And her killing blows... they were incredibly clean and efficient.

’Her Majesty looks like a docile kitten, but her fighting prowess is that of a fierce tiger.’

Mu Yunlian took down the assassins’ leader, the most skilled of the group. The rest scattered and fled. Mu Yunlian ordered his men to give chase, "Don’t let a single one escape."

The battle left over twenty bodies on the ground—some were assassins, others were Mu Yunlian’s men.

He walked over to Xiao Yang, looking her up and down. Only after confirming she was unharmed did he relax.

He took the handkerchief Ling Ji offered and meticulously wiped the bloodstains from her cheeks and hands.

Xiao Yang was wearing white, but this Jue Pearl Gauze was special; not a single bloodstain marred it.

Xiao Yang looked at the corpses. "Do you know who wants to kill you?"

Mu Yunlian replied, "Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t."

After all, far too many people wanted him dead.

"In the past, I made many enemies while vying for profits. Now, I hold too much wealth, and many more people want to take it from me."

He once harbored the ambition to seize the empire for himself.

But he was a merchant, not a General. Even with money and men, he didn’t know how to wage war and lacked the backing of a great clan. That path was more than just difficult.

He knew that even if he struggled until the very end, his chances of becoming Emperor were slim. At best, he would muddy the waters, ultimately flipping the whole chessboard and driving himself completely mad in the process.

He couldn’t protect his wealth on his own; he needed power. That’s why he allied with the nobles of Beimeng. After arriving in Da Wei, he used Feng Xian to get to Rong Yin, but he never expected to encounter Xiao Yang by accident.

"Your Majesty, you previously laid claim to the mines in Beimeng. In that case... can I give my wealth to you?"

He couldn’t protect his enormous fortune on his own, but the Emperor could.

And if he received authority granted by the Emperor of Da Wei, he could walk the world openly and honorably in the future.

If the Emperor of Da Wei had been anyone else, he never would have thought this way. But it just had to be Xiao Yang.

He wished his very being belonged to her, so of course he was willing to give her his wealth. His only fear was that she wouldn’t accept it.

Xiao Yang didn’t agree immediately. She gave him a meaningful look. "We’ll talk after I get back and see if the throne is still mine."