Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Aren’t the Young Men Outside Appealing?

Li Yun felt the veins at his temples throbbing violently.

Hearing Ming Lingyi insist that who she liked was none of his business, a towering rage surged within him.

’How could it have nothing to do with him?’

’She was the only one for him in this life. How could she possibly fall for anyone else?!’

’Anyone else was unacceptable.’

Li Yun’s expression was terrifyingly grim. "You can’t do this," he said.

Unfortunately for him, his words fell on deaf ears. Instead of calming Ming Lingyi, they only stoked her defiance, making every bone in her body scream with rebellion.

"And why can’t I? I’m Ming Yao now, not Ming Lingyi! I’ll like who I want to like and marry who I want to marry! Even if you’re the Emperor, what right do you have to control me? And another thing, Li Yun, I told you already: we go our separate ways now. Don’t you dare try to use our past to restrain me. Take a good look at yourself! Look how old you are, and I’ve only just come of age. If you have any other ideas, I’m telling you right now: forget it!"

’She should have realized it long ago,’ Ming Lingyi fumed. ’Li Yun is a complete egomaniac. Even sick and injured, he’s still an egomaniac who never considers anyone else’s feelings.’

’She wasn’t his marionette, so why should she have to obey his every command?’

’She refused!’

’She was a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life. Who would want to get back together with a widower like Li Yun?!’

’Weren’t there plenty of attractive young men out there?’

As she argued with Li Yun, her neck stiff with defiance, Ming Lingyi looked like a feisty chick.

If Li Yun so much as moved, she looked ready to flap her wings and give him a sharp peck.

Li Yun was thoroughly enraged by the woman before him.

The very thought of Ming Lingyi having children with another man, of her sharing the same intimacies with someone else that they once had, was more than he could bear. He couldn’t stand it in the slightest!

"Very. Good."

Those two words seemed to be forced from between Li Yun’s teeth.

The next moment, he lunged forward from his seat, cupping Ming Lingyi’s face in his hand.

He lowered his head and silenced the chattering mouth that had been giving him such a headache.

Ming Lingyi hadn’t expected him to still have the strength to force a kiss on her. But this time, it wasn’t dark. She knew exactly where his wound was. Without the slightest hesitation, she reached out and pressed down hard on the man’s chest.

Sure enough, the hand holding her face trembled slightly from the sharp pain radiating from his chest.

But Li Yun seemed to have gone mad. Ming Lingyi could already feel a warm, sticky wetness seeping onto her fingertips, yet the man forcing himself on her didn’t retreat an inch, as if he felt no pain at all.

SLAP—

Ming Lingyi raised her hand and slapped Li Yun for the second time.

Her fingertips were still stained with blood from his chest. As her hand struck his face, the bloody print left behind was a stark, tragic sort of beautiful—like a shattered, fading bloom.

His strength finally giving out, Li Yun collapsed back into the chair.

Ming Lingyi was seething, her eyes glaring at the man across from her.

"Have you lost your mind again?!"

Li Yun made no attempt to look away, his eyes fixed on Ming Lingyi.

A faint blush, likely from her anger, spread across her face, making her look like a peach blossom blooming on a branch in early spring.

’It wouldn’t matter if he admitted to her right now that he was, in fact, going mad.’

Li Yun knew he’d already lost his mind. He’d gone mad that night five years ago, the night he failed to return in time.

’But he didn’t care. As long as Lingyi was by his side, what did it matter if he was mad?’

"What’s so good about Jiang Yuchuan?" Li Yun stared into Ming Lingyi’s eyes. A hint of insecurity flickered in their depths, but he stubbornly voiced the question that plagued him.

Ordinarily, Li Yun would never have uttered another man’s name in front of Ming Lingyi.

But now his Yuan Niang was talking about finding someone else. How could he possibly restrain himself? 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Ming Lingyi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

’She clearly hadn’t expected Li Yun to even know who Jiang Yuchuan was.’

But a moment later, she realized what it meant: Li Yun must have placed spies around her.

The moment she considered this possibility, her expression grew even colder. "You had people watching me?"

Ming Lingyi wasn’t sure if she was angry. More than anger, she felt a sense of absurdity.

’She’d only seen him two or three times before this, so she’d thought he had finally changed, that he’d let her go. Who would have guessed that while he wasn’t pestering her in person, he had secretly arranged for people to watch her every move.’

’He hadn’t changed one bit!’

’He was exactly the same as before!’

’Utterly controlling and completely tyrannical!’

’That slap she’d given him earlier was far too light.’

"’Watching?’ Li Yun disliked the word. When he assigned the Hidden Guards to Ming Lingyi’s side, it was more for her protection."

’She refused to return to the palace and wouldn’t accept the people he arranged for her. But she was living all alone in a rough place like Huaided Fang, without a single skilled bodyguard. How could he possibly rest easy?’

"I was only trying to help. Those men were just protecting you from the shadows..."

Li Yun tried to explain, but Ming Lingyi couldn’t be bothered to hear another word.

She shot up from her seat. "I don’t need it."

With that, Ming Lingyi turned and walked toward the door.

Liu Ye hadn’t heard his master’s voice from inside, but when he saw the Empress storming out, he didn’t dare try to stop her. He could only watch helplessly as Ming Lingyi strode past him.

Liu Ye strained his ears, listening for a long moment, but heard no sound from within the hall.

A bad feeling washed over him. He hurried into the hall with quick, mincing steps, only to see his master sitting in his chair, chest soaked in blood—

"Someone, help!"

His already high-pitched voice was now sharp enough to pierce the heavens.

Liu Ye felt as if the scene before him had nearly scared his Seven Souls and Six Spirits right out of his body.

’Wh-what in the world just happened?!’

’Weren’t the Empress and the Emperor supposed to be having a nice, peaceful meal together?’

’The Empress even cooked for the Emperor herself, just like she used to five years ago, right?’

’Weren’t they supposed to be making up?’

’How could things turn out like this?!’

Liu Ye was on the verge of a breakdown, but so was Sui Ziran, the Hospital Director of the Imperial Hospital, who had been hastily summoned!

’Hadn’t he repeatedly said that the Emperor’s chest wound was deep, that it required careful tending, and that he absolutely could not be injured again?! What in the world happened?!’

’And hadn’t he also said that the Emperor needed to rest quietly, avoid anger, and refrain from any strong emotional agitation, as it was bad for his health?! But now... who on earth had the gall to provoke the Emperor so badly?’

Sui Ziran was going to lose his mind!