Chapter 24: Anger

How to hold?

Xuan Rui took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down as he urged the horse forward slowly.

“The hour of the ox has passed, and your body shows no abnormalities—indicating good recovery.” He suppressed the inexplicable anger in his heart, his tone carrying a chill.

In two more days, once he sent her back to the capital, all these troubles would be completely over.

But just as his words fell, the young girl turned sideways, leaning her upper body backward slightly to seek the warmth from him.

“It’s so cold.” She frowned, shrinking further back, her hands taking the initiative to wrap around his arm.

Though the cloak was warm, when she reached out, the wind still seeped in from the front.

Li Youqing had always been one to indulge in comfort. She simply pulled his arm inside the cloak, not only for warmth but also to block the wind.

Having gained a sliver of satisfaction, she soon felt another emptiness somewhere, urgently needing to be filled. Anxiously, she called out, “Xuan Rui, General Xuan…”

“Don’t start that.” Xuan Rui gritted his teeth and pushed her away, though a faint blush uncontrollably spread across his face.

Li Youqing, at her most needy moment, paid no heed to his resistance and nestled even closer against him.

To please him, she even rubbed her cheek against his arm.

Here we go again—

Xuan Rui’s brow twitched. He pressed it with his fingertips, his eyes darkening like an impending storm.

What did this woman take him for?

From beginning to end, was he merely a tool to detoxify or a ladder to escape danger?

Summoned at will, dismissed at will.

Though her consciousness was blurred, Li Youqing vaguely remembered a few words from their earlier conversation and asked hazily, “Why is the General so angry?”

Her reminder shattered Xuan Rui’s already precarious composure. He lifted her and laid her horizontally across the horse’s back, then leaned down and bit her.

Through the thin layer of fabric, he accurately found the spot. His sharp teeth pierced her skin, and the bitterness in his heart finally eased slightly.

Soon, bright red blood seeped out, blooming like a vividly colored flower on her chest.

Li Youqing stiffened for a moment but quickly adapted, her arms weakly hooking around his neck.

Aside from the slight stinging pain, what she felt more was a deep-seated attachment, a desire to press closer and closer to him.

But he suddenly pulled her arms away, forbidding her from touching his body. This unequal treatment only heightened her anxiety.

Why was he so domineering? She struggled free and, as if in defiance, wrapped her arms around his neck again.

Her wrists were so slender and weak, exerting no force at all. Though her embrace felt almost nonexistent, it suffocated him with an overwhelming sense of oppression.

After a long moment, Xuan Rui straightened up and shoved her away fiercely.

Li Youqing panicked, sensing that this time, he was truly angry.

Unsure how to mend the situation and make him cooperate with her as before, she could only shamelessly press close to him again.

Like a cat, she repeatedly rubbed her face against his chest and murmured softly, “General, don’t be angry.”

Seeing that he didn’t resist this time, as if his attitude had softened somewhat, she added, “I want a hug.”

“What did you say?” Xuan Rui was almost amused by her audacity.

He pinched her chin and pushed her slightly away, lowering his gaze to stare into her misty, dazed eyes as he asked, word by word, “How to hold?”

Li Youqing naturally wanted him to allow her to cling freely to his scorching body and draw warmth as he had the previous night, but with both of them on horseback now, any embrace felt awkward.

After a moment’s thought, she simply lifted one leg, intending to swing over and sit facing him.

“What are you doing!” Xuan Rui swiftly caught her calf, preventing her next move.

Li Youqing hated being restrained most of all, and now under the influence of Gu poison, she found it even more unbearable to be kept from approaching this body.

Yet her outstretched calf was firmly pinned against the horse’s back by his large hand, leaving her unable to move. She twisted impatiently, accidentally bumping her forehead against his shoulder.

Rubbing her forehead, she mumbled dazedly, “So hard.”

“Quiet!” Xuan Rui’s ears flushed red all the way to the back, wishing he could throw her off the horse immediately for some peace and quiet.

But in that moment of distraction, she seized the opportunity to successfully adjust her sitting position.

Finally able to sit facing him, it felt slightly better than before, though still somewhat awkward.

She shifted her hips forward a little more, lifting both legs to rest on his thighs.

Having found the most comfortable position at last, she relaxed completely, burying her entire head in his embrace as she said sweetly, “See? Just hold me like this.”

Xuan Rui, feeling as if he’d been plunged into a battlefield of torment, clenched the reins tightly, gritting his teeth.

On this bitterly cold early winter night, beads of sweat continuously dripped from his forehead.

Perhaps sensing the increased pressure of the reins around its neck, the horse suddenly broke into a lively trot, the bouncing motion carrying a fierce rhythm.

Xuan Rui closed his eyes briefly before reaching into his cloak to wrap an arm around her slender waist.

After being struck by the hard agate stone on her forehead earlier, Li Youqing had become fixated on it. Tilting her head, she stubbornly tugged at it with her hand, determined to remove the headpiece.

“I don’t want this forehead ornament anymore – it hurt so much when I hit it earlier,” she complained while pulling at it. Lifting her eyes to see the man sitting rigidly upright, she said with an innocent expression, “General, why are you just staring dumbly? Won’t you help me?”

Surprisingly, Xuan Rui patiently and gently helped unfasten the pearl clasps holding the dark hair on both sides of her head before removing the entire headpiece.

Seeing her finally relax and become even more brazen in rubbing her forehead against him, his Adam’s apple moved as he asked, “Satisfied now?”

Though he didn’t say anything unnecessary, Li Youqing intuitively sensed something dangerous in his current aura and quietly withdrew, not daring to act recklessly anymore.

Suppressing his anger, Xuan Rui directly tossed the headpiece aside.

Noticing her gaze still lingering on the discarded ornaments, he threaded his fingers through her hair and said in a deep voice, “Those weren’t the finest gems.”

Li Youqing only half-understood, commenting with slight regret, “True, but they were novel for a while.”

The remark was casual from the speaker but meaningful to the listener.

Xuan Rui’s heart sank, his hand unconsciously tightening in her hair.

“Ah—” she cried out in pain, looking up at him with puffed cheeks and a somewhat wronged expression as she said, “Why are you still angry? Fine, I’ll do as you say.”

After all, once they returned to the capital, he wouldn’t be able to control her anymore.

“How will you do it.” He lifted his chin, looking at the flash of crimson at her collar with a somewhat vicious expression.

He would give her one last chance – if she brought it up, he would take responsibility.

At this very moment, she was wrapped in her own cloak, held tightly in his embrace, her most intimate places touched by him… Just last night, she had coiled around him like a soft vine, pleading with him not to leave.

How were they any different from lovers?

But the words she spoke next doused his passion like a bucket of icy water.

“Once the Gu poison is cured, I’ll return home and marry into a respectable family, completely forgetting this past, and absolutely not causing any trouble for the General.” Li Youqing’s tone was docile, even moving herself with her own words.

Surely he should be satisfied now.

“Marry into a respectable family?” Xuan Rui’s voice carried a sharp edge as he leaned down to bite her shoulder, murmuring, “What if those respectable families knew you’ve been held like this by this General?”

“You—” Li Youqing started to retort, but the stinging pain in her left shoulder made her momentarily dazed.

Suddenly forgetting what she had meant to say, she leaned backward and caught sight of the powerful curve of his neck, her blood rushing hot.

Like a leopard poised to strike, ready to attack at any moment.

Li Youqing shrank back, inexplicably frightened, and said, “General, what are you doing—”

He lifted his head, his eyes gleaming with dangerous shadows, and leaned in to stare down at her. “Answer me.”

Answer… answer what…

Li Youqing’s mind went blank, unable to comprehend why he was so fixated on her plans after returning to the capital tonight.

Within the warm, thick cloak, his large hand gripped her waist firmly, as though he would snap her in two if her answer displeased him.

His expression at this moment was truly terrifying—

Several thoughts raced through Li Youqing’s mind as she pondered how to respond.

But he leaned in again, nibbling delicately at her shoulder as if he meant to devour her.

Was this man insane?

She longed to escape immediately, yet her body couldn’t bear to part from his warmth. Glancing down, she saw the bloodstains blooming on the fabric over her chest and felt dizzy.

With her clothes in such a state, how would she face the soldiers when they returned to camp? They would surely mock her even more.

The arm around her waist tightened abruptly, signaling that the man’s patience was wearing thin. Li Youqing weighed her words carefully and said, “Gossip is troublesome, so I simply won’t marry. I’ll become a nun instead.”

The pain in her shoulder faded as the man withdrew his hand. After a long pause, he asked lightly, “Still cold?”

Though Li Youqing yearned for his warmth, she didn’t dare lean closer again.

She only shook her head and said, “I’m not cold anymore. Let’s go back. Doesn’t the General need to hurry to Ming City?”

The mention of Ming City restored his remaining rationality.

But he wanted both Ming City and her.

The harsh wind of the wilderness whipped against their faces. Xuan Rui carefully tightened the cloak around her and handed her a small porcelain bottle. “Apply the medicine yourself.”

After acting as though he wanted to destroy her moments ago, he still remembered to give her ointment now. Li Youqing sighed softly, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

A thin layer of scab had formed where he had bitten her. Silently, she loosened her collar and applied the ointment with her fingers.

He didn’t press her further or lose his temper again, merely watching quietly as she tended to her wound.

“My clothes are dirty, what should I do?” Li Youqing looked up at him, her eyes rather resentful.

“Change in the carriage.” Xuan Rui placed his large hand on her head and gently ruffled her hair.

Li Youqing felt he was comforting her like a small cat or dog. After applying the ointment, she returned the bottle to him, feeling physically weak and exhausted. She restrained herself, ultimately just cautiously leaning her head against him.

Xuan Rui guided the horse back slowly, calming his emotions along the way while suppressing the surging passion within him.

Compared to previous nights, Li Youqing was much more subdued, quietly resting against him while gently stroking the horse’s mane.

As they approached the camp, Xuan Rui had her turn around to sit properly. When they reached the carriage, he dismounted and carried her inside.

Given her usual temperament, she would never let him go until dawn. Her behavior tonight suggested the toxins had mostly cleared from her system.

Li Youqing was simply following her instinct for self-preservation, not daring to provoke him again.

Now curled up in the cold carriage, she felt both wronged and pitiful, her fingernails unconsciously scratching lightly at the carriage wall.

Hearing those faint, rustling sounds made her feel slightly better.

Although her chest had been treated with medicine, her shoulder still ached faintly.

Outside came his command to assemble the team, his tone deep and stern – completely different from when he threatened her by her ear.

How could he be so terrible, using his strength to bully her like this?

Li Youqing indignantly recalled each of his misdeeds from the night when suddenly a “Hyah!” sounded outside, and the carriage began moving slowly.

At the same time, the carriage curtain was lifted by a hand. In the night, the man leaped aboard with agile movements and silently handed her a bundle.

Inside were clean clothes and a water pouch.