Chapter 222 -

Chapter 222: Chapter

Wenzhe pulled her closer until there was no space left between them. She could feel his chest rising and falling, warm and steady against her back.

He leaned down until his lips almost touched her ear. "Do you love me, Yueqing?" he asked softly. His voice was deep and gentle, with none of his usual coldness.

Yueqing’s breath caught in her throat. She quickly turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

"You always say I love you," she muttered, her face still burning hot. "You always make up stories in your head to make yourself feel good. So why are you asking me now?"

Wenzhe let out a quiet sigh. He reached out and gently held her chin with his hand, turning her head back until she was forced to look straight into his eyes.

"Because I want to hear it from your own mouth," he said softly. "Just once."

Yueqing looked into his dark eyes, and the playful smile on her face slowly disappeared. The loud, chaotic attitude she always used to hide her feelings faded away, leaving her completely quiet.

The room grew very still.

To be honest, she did not even know what was happening in her own heart anymore.

She looked at Wenzhe’s tired face. It was true that she did not hate him. She did not want him to get hurt, she did not want him to become an evil villain, and the thought of him dying made her heart hurt.

But was that enough to call it love?

Yueqing closed her eyes for a second. She felt a quiet sadness deep inside her. She had spent years traveling through different story worlds, taking over different lives and acting out different roles just to survive. She had played so many characters for so long that she did not even know which personality truly belonged to her.

Sometimes, when she looked into a mirror late at night, she did not even recognize the person looking back at her. After all, she was not even in her own real body. She was just a soul living in someone else’s life.

How could someone like her ever give a real answer about love?

Wenzhe felt her body go limp in his arms. The stubborn, fiery girl had suddenly become very quiet, as if she were carrying a heavy weight.

He frowned with worry. "Yueqing?"

Yueqing opened her eyes and looked up at him with a soft, distant look.

"Wenzhe..." she said quietly, her voice full of simple honesty. "I do not even know who I really am half the time. How can I tell you if I love you?"

Wenzhe stared at her, taken by surprise. He did not fully understand what she meant by not knowing who she was, but he could clearly see the quiet pain in her eyes.

Without saying another word, Wenzhe wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her close against his chest as if he was afraid she would disappear.

"It doesn’t matter," Wenzhe whispered near her ear, holding her firmly. "You are here right now. You are my wife. That is all I need to know."

Wenzhe did not say another word. He looked down at her soft lips, and before Yueqing could react, he pulled her straight into a deep, heavy kiss.

Yueqing gasped, completely shocked by the sudden heat. His lips were hot and demanding, wiping away the quiet silence in the room. His big hand slid down her back and held her bottom through her thin silk gown. Because she had nothing on underneath, his warm hand felt impossibly close, sending a sharp jolt straight up her spine.

For a moment, Yueqing tried to stay calm, but her mind went blank. She let her eyes close, sliding her arms up to run her fingers through his long, soft hair, kissing him back.

Feeling her give in, Wenzhe completely lost control. His breath became fast and heavy. He dragged his hand up, pulled her gown high, and exposed her bare skin to the cool night air.

The cold air on her hips snapped Yueqing right out of her daze.

"Wenzhe—stop!" Yueqing shouted, breaking the kiss by force.

She twisted her hips and tried to push off his lap, but Wenzhe was far too strong. His thick arms locked around her waist like iron bands, holding her tightly in place.

"Shh... calm down, Yueqing," Wenzhe whispered softly, his voice heavy with desire. "I promise I will be gentle this time... very gentle. In fact, I will let you be in control."

"No!" Yueqing snapped.

She pushed against his chest with all her strength, wiggling frantically until she finally managed to slide off his lap and stand up on her own two feet.

Wenzhe let out a long sigh. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at her, pouting like a sad, defeated puppy.

Yueqing was not buying it for a single second. She stood a few feet away, fixing her clothes and glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"You say you will be gentle!" Yueqing scolded, pointing a finger at his face. "But once you start enjoying yourself, you completely forget your own strength and get crazy rough! I have important things to do tomorrow. I am not going to spend the whole day stuck in bed recovering!"

⁠[If I end up walking funny tomorrow, Nine will make fun of me the whole day!]⁠ she added in her head, her face burning hot. ⁠[And don’t forget the biggest problem, there are no condoms in this ancient world! If I let him do whatever he wants, I have a super high chance of getting pregnant! I am running away from that nightmare!]⁠

Wenzhe looked at her standing there with her face bright red, shouting at him about her busy schedule tomorrow. The heavy sadness from earlier was completely gone, replaced by a soft, genuine smile.

"Fine," Wenzhe said softly, holding up his hands in surrender. "I won’t press you."

He patted the space on the bed beside him. "Just lie down and sleep with me. No funny moves, I promise."

Yueqing narrowed her eyes, watching him closely. "You better keep your hands to yourself, Xi Wenzhe, or I am kicking you off this bed."

"I promise," Wenzhe murmured, sliding under the blanket.

Yueqing hesitated for a moment before crawling onto the other side of the bed. The moment she settled down, Wenzhe reached out, pulled her gently into his chest, and rested his chin on top of her head.

"Tomorrow, you will escort me to meet the Prime Minister’s family to discuss the marriage proposal for Lanyin and their son," Yueqing said. "If that goes well, we will head to a tea pavilion and wait for Xiao Chen. I will send a letter to ask him to meet us there tomorrow."

"Hmm... don’t mention him again," Wenzhe said childishly, making Yueqing roll her eyes.

Yueqing lay still under the thick blanket, trying to force her racing mind to relax. But just as she was about to close her eyes, she felt something warm and unmistakably hard pressing against her back.

Her eyes snapped open. She turned her head slightly to glare at Wenzhe. He was wide awake, his long dark lashes fluttering as he deliberately stared at the carved pattern on the wooden bedpost, trying his absolute best to avoid her gaze.

Yueqing frowned hard, her eyebrows pulling together in utter annoyance. "If you are turned on, then leave my room!" she snapped in a hushed voice. "Stop staying here, because it clearly isn’t going down!"

"I don’t want to leave..." Wenzhe murmured softly, finally looking down at her. "I’ll try to calm myself down. It is just... my wife is so beautiful, I can’t resist. I just want to..."

He reached out his broad hand, trying to wrap it around her waist again to pull her back in, but Yueqing instantly slapped his fingers away with a sharp PAT!

"Go to sleep!" she ordered, turning her back to him once more and closing her eyes tight.

Silence filled the dark room for a few moments. Yueqing took a deep breath, trying to slip into dreamland. But then, sure enough, she felt that same persistent warmth nudging against her lower back again.

At this point, Yueqing was completely fed up.

"That’s it," she muttered under her breath.

She sat straight up in bed, throwing the blanket aside. Wenzhe sat up right behind her, his dark hair messy as he watched her with a confused look on his face, wondering what on earth his wife was doing in the middle of the night.

Yueqing walked over to her dressing table. She opened the small wooden drawer and pulled out a long, soft silk ribbon usually used for tying up her hair. Wrapping the silk tightly around her knuckles, she turned on her heel and marched straight back to the bed.

She stopped right in front of him, pointing at his lap with an unyielding glare.

"Bring it out," Yueqing commanded firmly.