After a stick of incense, he patiently carried her out again.
"Are you tired?"
"Mm..."
"Okay, then sleep. I absolutely won't touch you this time."
"...Liar." Gu Ying mumbled. Her body was covered in his markings everywhere, her cheeks flaming red hot, how could she believe his words?
Zhao Changdu gave a low, sexy laugh. "I'm really not lying to you this time." He did indeed put her on the bed.
But very quickly, he lifted the quilt and slipped in as well.
Gu Ying could feel the explosive strength in the man's muscles. His long legs tangled around hers.
She thought...he wanted her again. She pursed her lips in grievance.
But the man only laughed and stroked her hair gently, kissing her forehead lingeringly. It had nothing to do with passion or lust. "Sleep."
She was exhausted, but still couldn't sleep. She nestled softly in his embrace, her cried-red eyes fixed upon him.
After a thorough lovemaking session, the man was still spirited and lively.
His features were distinct and strikingly handsome.
Huo Qiyun's matter still wasn't resolved. Such a sudden turn of events, she didn't know what the Prince meant. Was he just glossing over it casually?
With this woman between them, if her fate wasn't determined today, no matter what, she wouldn't be able to rest.
"I can't sleep, Adu."
Zhao Changdu leaned against the headrest, arching his brow calmly. "What's wrong?"
Gu Ying simply endured the soreness and sat up. Her face was completely serious. "Huo Qiyun is currently living in Changfeng Lodge. It's somewhat inappropriate. Adu, what do you plan to arrange for her in the future?"
Zhao Changdu was completely nonchalant. He had just satisfied himself on the young girl and didn't want to talk about another woman right now. "You're the main mistress of Changfeng Lodge. How do you want to arrange it?"
"...Gu Ying's brows furrowed slightly. Tonight, Lv Zhi was taken out to take the fall, which could be considered giving outsiders an account. This was the Prince intentionally protecting Huo Qiyun. Since this was the case, it would be easy to handle.
"Take this opportunity to blow up the poisoning incident and force Zhao Changxing to divorce Huo Qiyun. With a murder charge over her head, no matter how close the Cheng family and Zhao Changxing are, they wouldn't dare oppose the Zhao and Huo families. So this is the best opportunity to force them to divorce."
After calming herself, Gu Ying also thought things through clearly.
She would have to divorce the Prince sooner or later anyway. Properly arranging Huo Qiyun now would be the right thing to do.
Zhao Changdu's phoenix eyes narrowed. "Oh? Then?"
Gu Ying had the air of a proper main mistress as she smiled openly. "After the divorce, I'll privately arrange for a residence outside for her to live in."
Zhao Changdu's eyes turned cold, an unnamed anger flaring up once more. "Are you trying to make me keep a concubine with your own hands?"
Gu Ying blinked. "It's not really a concubine...After things die down, I'll find a way to change her identity and bring her back to Changfeng Lodge..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Changdu was completely enraged. His dark eyes stared at her as he pulled her over forcefully and bit her lips in retaliation. "Gu Ying, are you genuinely stupid or just pretending? Are you trying to anger me? I, an imperial guard commander, have only just served you, and it's still not enough? You want to treat me like this?"
"I..." Gu Ying sucked in a breath of cool air in pain. He had bitten too cruelly. Blood bubbled up on her lips swiftly. "How am I treating you? I'm doing this for your own good!"
She felt more and more aggrieved the more she spoke. He wouldn't agree to the divorce or letting him properly arrange a woman!
She had already retreating yieldingly to this extent, what more did he want?
"I've said it countless times. I don't like her! How many more times must I say it?" Fury roiled in the man's eyes as he grabbed her cheek meat roughly. "Is your brain full of water?"
Gu Ying winced in pain. Her small face instantly turned red.
"Yet you're perfectly fine with pushing your husband to another woman." The man gave a cold snort. His expression was terrifying.
"I didn't...I just thought that for men, isn't it normal to have three wives and four concubines?"
Zhao Changdu gritted his teeth. His long fingers stroked the girl's tender cheeks. "Nonsense."
Gu Ying's eyes shifted.
The man continued. "What would I do with so many women? One of you is already hard enough to serve."
Gu Ying's face grew hotter as she swallowed nervously, her eyes hooked onto the man's refined features. She tentatively asked, "Just me?"
"Mm." Zhao Changdu's lips curved into an alluring smile. "One lifetime, one world, two of us. This is what I want."
Gu Ying stared at him in disbelief, feeling his words were unreal coming from him.
Among Chang'an's nobility, few men were willing to spend their entire lives devoted to one woman.
The Prince was of prominent status with great power and limitless prospects.
A man of his excellence had always attracted women like moths to flames since ancient times. Was he truly willing to dedicate his life to one woman?
"Today I will make things clear. I have only ever felt gratitude towards Huo Qiyun. When I was young, I did receive her kindness once. But as I've told you, her kindness was repaid with my life when I was fifteen."
"So you don't need to arrange anything for me and her."
"As for the woman I truly care for, there is only one." He moved closer, his profound eyes looking deeply into hers.
His breath carried a lingering fragrance of sunken wood.
His alluring lips were right before her eyes, parting and closing seductively.
Bewitched by his beauty, Gu Ying's heart skipped a fierce beat. Her mind blanked for a moment.
He laughed lightly at the girl's bewildered expression before leaning to her ear. His voice turned low and husky. "The one I like is that little steamed bun who daringly took advantage of me when she was just three or four."
Gu Ying stared confusedly at him, taking a long time to recover her senses.
But she had heard his words clearly.
He didn't like Huo Qiyun.
In that moment, she didn't know whether to feel happy or awkward that the dark clouds in her heart had dispersed, leaving her mood much lighter.
But that little steamed bun who took advantage of him in childhood...could that be her?
She blinked. "Adu, did you like me from back then?"
Zhao Changdu's lips curved affectionately as he pulled her into his embrace, openly admitting, "What do you think?"
In those dark days, that blurry little face had always given him the will to live on. He would always remember how that child pulled him back from the abyss. Those soft, warm lips that kissed him painfully again and again on his icy cold mouth until he awoke from unconsciousness multiple times. He also remembered her pleading words in his ear for him to live on, soft and tender like a ray of sunshine, bringing a shred of precious warmth to his heart.
Over a dozen years had passed...
He truly never imagined that by a twist of fate, he would end up marrying her...
He held her tightly. A burst of joy from recovering something lost welled up in him.
