Inside the cabin.
With quick reflexes, Liu Rongruo caught the falling person in his arms, pulling the bedsheet around them both and rolling onto the floor.
Chiyou felt the Toad King Gu within her desperately breaking free. Letting go of all else, she flipped over and pinned him down.
Both were wrapped in bedsheets, which, due to their intense rolling, became tightly bound.
Her forceful movements instantly tore the bedsheet.
Liu Rongruo glanced at the collapsed bed, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the person on top of him.
"So unbearable?"
Chiyou twisted her waist and lowered her head, covering his lips.
Liu Rongruo's eyes darkened slightly, and he grabbed her waist, gaining the upper hand.
The ground inside the cabin was cold, having just rained.
Chiyou, pinned to the ground with only a bedsheet beneath her, felt a moment of clarity from the cold.
Looking at the person above her, her blank mind cleared.
Recalling what had just happened, her eyes turned red, a flicker of hatred crossing her gaze as a warm tear trickled down.
She couldn't understand, truly couldn't understand why it was him who could break the Toad King Gu.
"Hate me?"
Liu Rongruo lowered his eyelids, looking at her with a smile.
Chiyou snapped back to reality and curved her lips coldly.
"I wish I could kill you right now."
Liu Rongruo's expression remained unchanged, but his cold hands closed around her neck.
"I'd like to see who kills whom first."
Feeling the suffocating pressure, Chiyou hooked her arms around his neck, clinging to him and tightening her grip. She whispered into his ear.
"Do you know what your fate will be for breaking the Toad King Gu?"
Her voice was low, laced with intense killing intent and a hint of playful mockery.
Liu Rongruo raised an eyebrow. "What fate?"
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
She tilted her head, looking at him, and laughed.
A bold, unrestrained laugh.
Her slender, clean fingers poked at his chest, one by one.
"A respected Prime Minister, yet you don't even consider why past Saintesses were implanted with the Toad King Gu, or what fate awaits the man she loves."
Liu Rongruo grabbed her hand, his gaze calmly fixed on her.
Her face, now moist, was full of a delicate, flower-like beauty, but her eyes held an unconcealable hatred mixed with a smile.
He leaned down, biting her lip, and said in a deep voice.
"If I die, I'll drag you down with me."
Chiyou paused, intending to provoke him further, but her expression suddenly changed as the Toad King Gu within her began to tear at her again.
She cried out in pain and hugged him.
"Brother."
Liu Rongruo watched her face contort. He loosened his grip on her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist, lying down himself.
After an unknown amount of time passed, the sounds from inside ceased.
Bai Ze, his face flushed, moved further away and looked up at the sky.
It had just rained, the sky was a vast, cloudless blue, and flocks of swallows circled over the river, emitting loud, sharp calls.
Kirin walked over and stood beside him.
After a while, Bai Ze began to sigh.
"You think... Master might actually have fallen for Chiyou?"
Kirin nudged him. "If Master finds out you're privately discussing his personal affairs, you'll be waiting for the cane."
"You blockhead, you don't understand. Chiyou is the Saintess of Nanjiang. Master nearly annihilated Nanjiang. If he truly likes Chiyou, it'll be troublesome."
Kirin remained silent, recalling the few months Ah Wu spent at the mansion. Master had seemed truly different towards her.
"Even if he treats her differently, it's useless. You know Master's personality; he disdains these romantic entanglements. Once he tires of her, her fate might be worse than those women in the mansion."
Bai Ze waved his hand. "You're a bald featherless bird, you know nothing."
"You--"
Insulted, Kirin became angry and swung his sword at him.
At that moment, a楼船 (building boat) suddenly sped towards them from the distance. Both men looked up and saw a man and a woman standing at the bow.
"Young Marquis."
Li Qiong Yu stood at the bow, holding a fan.
He scanned the surroundings and saw Xiao Chi Zhan's warship docked by the shore. With a snap, he closed his fan.
"That lustful scoundrel, he really stayed on the river all night."
Hearing him curse Brother Liu, Wei Qing Ge kicked him directly.
"Shut up."
"What? I can't say it?" Li Qiong Yu scoffed. "Jiang Huai Ren said he found the person, and before they even entered the city, I thought he'd turn back to the capital. And him? He got horny right on the river."
Wei Qing Ge couldn't listen to him anymore. She turned her waist, no longer bothering with him.
Yesterday, she had been too tired to rush along with Brother Liu, so she only arrived in Yanzhou today.
She had wanted to join the excitement, but it turned out the excitement had already dispersed.
Boring.
"Li Qiong Yu, I'm not returning to the capital. You can take the Prince's warship back later; I'm going directly to the border."
Li Qiong Yu looked at her sideways. "You dare?!"
Wei Qing Ge crossed her arms and glared at him. "Why wouldn't I dare?"
"The wedding is approaching. Do you want me to go and tell Old General Wei personally?"
"---" Wei Qing Ge, enraged, pushed him. "Despicable."
Li Qiong Yu eyed her, then put an arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace and pressing her against the ship's railing.
"If I weren't despicable, how would I marry you?"
Wei Qing Ge, pressed tightly against the ship's side by him, with his hot, burning chest behind her, shifted uncomfortably and complained.
"You just bully me."
Li Qiong Yu heard her soft complaints and chuckled.
"Once we're married, you can go to the border, and I'll accompany you."
Wei Qing Ge's eyes lit up. She turned to say something but her lips brushed against his Adam's apple, and her face instantly turned red.
Li Qiong Yu's eyes darkened, and he leaned down, directly capturing her lips.
Perhaps it had been too long, but the moment he touched her, he lost some control. He held her waist, kissing her deeply and passionately.
Wei Qing Ge, kissed by him, struggled to catch her breath. Her ears turned a subtle red, and she couldn't help but open her eyes to look at him.
The fluttering in her chest quietly spread to her fingertips, making the hand holding his collar tremble slightly.
"Li--Li Qiong Yu--"
Li Qiong Yu felt the person in his arms trembling violently and loosened his hold slightly.
"Silly, you've been kissed so many times, and you still don't know how to breathe."
Hearing this, Wei Qing Ge was instantly embarrassed and angry, grabbing his ear and glaring fiercely at him.
Li Qiong Yu didn't mind, leaning down and whispering in her ear.
"Don't be nervous."
Then, he kissed her lips again.
Wei Qing Ge trembled all over, unconsciously wrapping her arms around his neck and responding.
Their bodies clung tightly, the kisses growing more uncontrolled.
Li Qiong Yu directly swept her up and headed for the cabin.
Just then, the building boat docked.
Wei Qing Ge turned her head and saw Bai Ze and Kirin, who had been staring at them. Startled, all her thoughts vanished, and she quickly tried to jump from his arms.
Li Qiong Yu slapped her on the backside. "Don't move."
'There are people.'
Her face was flushed to an unbearable degree, and she twisted her body, struggling to get down.
Li Qiong Yu glanced back, saw that the two had averted their eyes, and carried her into the cabin.
"Shameless."
Wei Qing Ge kicked him angrily.
Li Qiong Yu lowered his gaze. 'Can I eat my face?'
"You--"
"I only eat you."
His teasing voice made Wei Qing Ge's ears turn even redder.
She put on a brave front, glaring at him, but it was useless. He carried her directly into the room.
As soon as they entered, he pressed her against the door and kissed her.