Just as Sang Luo was about to cry out in surprise, the man covered her mouth and she fell onto his long, sturdy legs, only able to make pitiful muffled groans. The man had cunningly set up an isolation barrier inside the carriage, so that people outside couldn't detect the commotion within.
She faced the carriage door, unable to see the other person's face, but the figure was clearly that of a man!
What a bold lecher, daring to act on the princess's wedding carriage…
The man reeked of alcohol, making her nose tingle.
Sang Luo tried to run out, but the other party's strength was astonishing. The man forcefully pinched her chin and eagerly kissed the back of her neck, sometimes lightly nibbling her earlobe, sometimes moving forward to land near her fragrant lips… The man's breath fell on her skin, causing her body to tremble slightly, a wave of numbness spreading through her.
"You!"
Sang Luo's pretty face was flushed, and her breathing was ragged.
"Your Highness, it's me…" The young man's voice was panting.
Sang Luo's struggles ceased.
Yun Qi!
How could it be him! When had he become so bold?
Having shared a bed with him for so many days, Sang Luo knew his scent well, but the young man's drunkenness had clouded her judgment. The young man didn't usually like to drink. Being so close, Sang Luo faintly smelled a faint aroma of spikenard hidden within the alcohol.
"What do you want to do?"
The young man didn't continue his impudence. He held Sang Luo's waist with both hands, turning her halfway around to face him.
"Your Highness, don't marry my brother, okay?" The young man pleaded, his eyes clear and shattered, flashing with sorrow.
…
When they arrived at Fancheng, the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan sent envoys to greet the bride, but when they opened the curtain, they found it was empty!
The bride was gone!
An elopement? Or had she been kidnapped by villains?!
"Someone! Go find her quickly!"
At this moment, on a certain hilltop, Sang Luo was wearing a fiery red wedding dress, her peach-blossom cheeks and red lips both alluring and pure, but her face was full of helplessness.
She found a flat rock to sit on, meeting the young man's infatuated gaze, and was speechless for a moment.
"Your Highness looks so beautiful today." Yun Qi gently stroked her eyebrows and eyes, regretting, "How wonderful it would be if Your Highness had worn this wedding dress for me."
"Yun Qi, let me go back!" Sang Luo's tone was somewhat cold.
The young man shook his head, his face red. "No, I can't let Your Highness go back. You're going to marry someone else… I feel uncomfortable, I feel very bad…"
He felt so bad he wanted to die.
"Even if I die… I want to die with Your Highness. Your Highness is clearly mine… I was the first husband to marry Your Highness…"
Sang Luo secretly smelled the alcohol on him and sighed softly, "You're drunk!"
"No! I'm not drunk!"
Yun Qi stubbornly glared at her, his eyes red, with a misty shimmer.
"…" He only dared to be so outrageous with her under the influence of alcohol.
Sang Luo softly soothed, "I know I've been too busy these days and have neglected you a bit. I'm willing to indulge your usual little tricks, but today is a major event for the alliance of the two clans, and I won't allow you to act so recklessly."
"If you don't send me back, and it delays the auspicious time, I'll really get angry."
"If Your Highness is angry, you can hit me like you used to. I can take it."
"Absurd!"
This guy had just figured out that she wouldn't do that to him.
Yun Qi grabbed one of Sang Luo's hands and placed it on the injured left side of his face. "Hasn't Your Highness always wanted to know how this face was injured?"
Sang Luo looked at him in surprise. She had asked him about this before, but he had never said anything, and she didn't want to bring up his sad past.
Yun Qi smiled sadly, "It was my brother who wanted to ruin this face. He hated having a shadow flitting around in front of him, and wouldn't allow anyone to have the exact same face as him!"
Sang Luo's face was full of disbelief!
How could Yun Rong do such a thing!?
Yun Qi saw that she didn't believe him and tugged at the corner of his lips, "My brother didn't want to marry the princess, so he thought of my existence. I was very happy at the time, thinking that my father and the Fox Clan had finally accepted my existence, but on the night I was to be married, Yun Rong found me. He said that he hated me the most, that a discarded black fox wasn't qualified to be called his brother…"
As he spoke, he touched that half of his face, not knowing who he was mocking, "My brother clearly looks down on Your Highness in his heart, but he's worried that Your Highness will be seduced by this face of mine and change your mind… Doesn't Your Highness think he's ridiculous? Arrogant and insecure. So that day, he added a special fire poison to the food and water in advance. Because I didn't understand medicine, I accidentally ingested the fire poison, and the poison flared up on the way to the wedding, ruining this half of my face."
Sang Luo was unable to recover for a long time, pursing her lips and muttering,
"What you said, is it true? Aren't you deliberately trying to deceive me?"
"I have never lied to Your Highness!" Yun Qi stared at her eyes, word by word, "If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can divorce me on the grounds of slander and drive me out of the princess's mansion!"
"…I believe you." Sang Luo closed her eyes, a bitter feeling flashing through her heart.
"Then does Your Highness still want to marry my brother?" the young man asked eagerly, "My brother sees me as a thorn in his side and won't tolerate me. After Your Highness marries my brother, I don't know what kind of end I'll meet. Perhaps, it's time for me to leave."
He had even learned to play the victim.
"Yun Qi, the marriage alliance is something that has already been decided after discussions between the two clans, and it cannot be changed. It's not something that I alone can reverse." Sang Luo thought for a moment and said seriously, "If you really want to leave, I'll write a divorce letter when I get back, give you a sum of money, and send you away from the princess's mansion. From then on, you'll have nothing to do with the princess's mansion, and you can live freely in the world under an assumed name."
Anyway, she was about to leave, letting Yun Qi leave safely was also a way.
"Your Highness!" The young man looked at her in shock, unable to speak for a long time.
Sang Luo released his hand and turned to leave.
The young man hugged her tightly, the back of his hand showing bluish veins and white bones.
"Okay… I'll let Your Highness go, but can Your Highness answer one last question for me?"
"Speak."
"Did Your Highness really ever like me?"
The alcohol smell had been mostly blown away by the mountain wind. Sang Luo once again smelled the pleasant spikenard scent on the young man. She hadn't seen him for a month, and he often tended to the garden of herbs in Plum Blossom Garden, and his body was also stained with a faint bitter medicinal fragrance, which made her mind wander.
Sang Luo turned around, raised her head to look at the young man's handsome and alluring face, the scar on his face had also healed a lot… He looked more and more like that person.
These days, she had suspected more than once who was the "person" she wanted to see.
She initially thought it was Yun Rong, but after spending these days together, the other party gave her a very unfamiliar feeling and didn't stir her heart. On the contrary, the young man in front of her had broken her rules again and again.
After a moment, Sang Luo tiptoed and kissed his lips.
The young man's eyes widened, his heart beating rapidly, his mind blank.
The kiss passed like a dragonfly skimming the water, but the soft, sweet touch lingered.
Sang Luo took two steps back, put her hands behind her back, and smiled at him,
"I'll give you an answer after this wedding."
The answer would be revealed after the wedding.
She was also looking forward to this answer, whether it would be as she wished.
The wind blew through the mountains and forests, and the night was quietly approaching. Yun Qi watched the girl's figure disappear, the moonlight falling on him like frost, appearing lonely and uneasy, but also with a hint of hidden expectation.
He raised his hand and touched his face in a daze.
This was the first time Your Highness had taken the initiative to kiss him…
