Su Xiaoqi suddenly fell onto the bed. Startled, she shouted, "Chu Yunwei, you bastard, get out!"
Chu Yunwei laughed heartily, "I'm a bastard, ha ha ha..." Since he was called a bastard.
Wine emboldened the timid, so today he would do something a bastard would do.
With that thought, Chu Yunwei, his mouth reeking of alcohol, moved to kiss Su Xiaoqi.
"Mmm... get away, get away." Su Xiaoqi was truly frightened. She had never imagined Chu Yunwei would be so reckless.
At this moment, she could only struggle and twist, preventing him from touching her.
A dark shadow flashed by the side of the bed. Chu Yunwei swayed and fell to the other side of the bed.
Su Xiaoqi's body went limp. Just as she was about to push him away, she saw Shen Yun, dressed in black, grab Chu Yunwei by the back of his collar.
He threw him to the ground, then placed his right foot on Chu Yunwei's chest and abdomen, pressing down. The pain jolted Chu Yunwei awake.
His eyes immediately fell upon Shen Yun standing in the room.
"You... how did you get in?" he asked, utterly bewildered.
Shen Yun remained silent, merely increasing the pressure of his foot on Chu Yunwei's chest.
Su Xiaoqi was surprised by Shen Yun's actions.
Why had he suddenly exposed himself?
She wanted to ask, but it was not appropriate in front of Chu Yunwei.
She could only look at Shen Yun, her eyes asking the question.
"The evidence has been secured. I was returning to tell you this, but I didn't expect... he deserves to die," Shen Yun said, his calm words laced with a chilling murderous intent.
"You... you guys..." Chu Yunwei finally understood.
So, Shen Yun had been here before.
Judging by his tone, he must have been here for a long time.
He recalled his previous suspicions and tested Su Xiaoqi, "When I came last time, was he here?" He gestured towards the bed.
Su Xiaoqi remained silent, but Shen Yun confirmed it, stating he had been there all along...
"Good, good for you, Shen Yun, good for you, Su Xiaoqi," Chu Yunwei's voice held a hint of desolation.
Though he didn't know all the details, now that it had happened, it somehow didn't feel so significant.
"So, do you dare to kill me?" Chu Yunwei asked.
Su Xiaoqi looked at Shen Yun, unsure of his intentions.
She was still completely in the dark.
She had thought Shen Yun was here to rescue her and hadn't had time to do anything else.
But in reality, though he was with her, he had accomplished everything he had planned.
"What if I kill you?" Shen Yun pressed down harder with his foot.
The pressure on Chu Yunwei's chest sent a sharp pain through him, making it difficult to breathe.
"Cough cough... If you kill me, do you think you can get out?" Chu Yunwei threatened, his voice raspy.
"You're overthinking it. Would I appear here if I wasn't absolutely sure?
Blame yourself for messing with the wrong person."
Shen Yun drew a dagger, poised to stab Chu Yunwei.
Perhaps they had had some acquaintance in the past.
But that was all in the past, and their relationship was not deep.
Chu Yunwei had approached him with a specific purpose back then.
Therefore, Shen Yun had never been able to truly connect with him.
Furthermore, after discovering Chu Yunwei had concealed his identity, Shen Yun's good impression of him had completely vanished.
He had merely remained wary,
always prepared for a confrontation.
After all, he was from Northern Chu.
But he had never expected that they would finally clash, and the reason wouldn't be that Chu Yunwei was from Northern Chu and he was from Liang.
It was simply because Chu Yunwei had threatened the woman he cherished most, and he could not tolerate anyone who wished to harm his wife.
Upon entering the room and witnessing what Chu Yunwei was doing to Xiaoqi, he knew this was a man he had to kill.
"Wait, husband, don't kill him yet," Su Xiaoqi suddenly said.
Shen Yun looked up, inquiring her meaning.
Su Xiaoqi's ears twitched slightly. She said, "It sounds like the ruler of Northern Chu has arrived. No, there are many people, and my mother is also here..."
As she spoke, Steward Gu, alone, rushed over, shouting as she ran, "Young Master, the Ruler has arrived again, and the Empress has also returned..."
Before she finished speaking, she saw her young master being held down by someone's foot, a sharp dagger pressed against his face.
She screamed in terror. The group Su Xiaoqi mentioned quickly approached.
Su Xiaoqi saw Chu Yu, the ruler of Northern Chu, leading the group.
Beside him walked Yu Jing, who immediately spotted Su Xiaoqi. She shoved Chu Yu aside and rushed forward, embracing Su Xiaoqi:
"Xiaoqi, Mama's Xiaoqi..."
"Mother," Su Xiaoqi softly called out.
"Is Mama's Xiaoqi alright?" Yu Jing held her, gently stroking the back of her head, then her face, and then her shoulders. After a thorough inspection, she murmured.
"I'm fine, Mother," Su Xiaoqi said, pointing at Chu Yunwei on the ground. "As for him, it looks like it's quite serious."
It turned out that although Su Xiaoqi had stopped Shen Yun earlier, he had still managed to stab Chu Yunwei before they entered.
It was in his thigh, not a vital spot.
"Chu Yunwei!" Yu Jing enunciated his name slowly.
Chu Yunwei lay on the ground, blood gushing from his thigh, the pain consuming all his senses.
He heard Yu Jing's gritted teeth and managed a weak smile.
At this moment, there were no more uncertainties. With the arrival of the Ruler and the Empress, his rebellion had failed.
He was a prisoner.
But why, why had he succeeded by chance in his previous life?
And in this life, he had failed?
He cast his gaze towards Su Xiaoqi. In his previous life, she wasn't there.
He seemed to realize something.
The variable in all of this had always been her.
In his memory, the political landscape of Liang in his previous life was also different from this one.
In his previous life, Prince Ping had indeed been emperor for a period.
But in this life, he had been demoted directly from Crown Prince to Prince.
Later, he was even stripped of his rank and became a commoner.
Initially, he believed this matter had nothing to do with him.
Moreover, his relationship with Prince Ping was not good, as they belonged to opposing factions.
Therefore, he hadn't given it much thought.
He only knew that Shen Yun had played a significant role.
But now, he realized that the situation had reached this point.
It was a combination of many things he had previously overlooked that had led to the current outcome.
Chu Yunwei sighed, attributing it to fate.
Ultimately, he had been too complacent.
"Why?" Chu Yu's expression was tinged with hurt.
Su Xiaoqi's attention had been entirely focused on Yu Jing. Seeing her frail and exhausted, she knew her mother must have rushed here overnight.
Lacking any news of her, she hadn't rested properly.
Su Xiaoqi busied herself finding medicinal pills for her mother, thus failing to notice the tall Chu Yu.
Now, seeing him, she understood why he was a Northern Chu native, born on horseback. His stature and build were like a Schwarzenegger.
Measuring over 1.9 meters, he was tall and strong, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, but his expression was one of disbelief.
Although he had seen it with his own eyes and received much evidence from Yu Jing,
he still couldn't believe that his own nephew had harbored such ambitions so early on.
Thinking that with no heir of his own, he would overthrow his rule and seize the Chu Dynasty.
Su Xiaoqi understood his feelings.
After all, Chu Yunwei was not only his nephew but also the one who had suffered for over a decade as a hostage for him.
Regardless of anything else, this alone was enough to move him.
"Why, my good uncle, you have no sons and have refused to take concubines or remarry for so many years.
Have you ever considered what chaos Northern Chu would face after your death, with no successor?"
"I did this for the good of Northern Chu." Chu Yunwei felt increasingly justified as he spoke, his chest straightening.
However, being pressed down forcefully by Shen Yun, his posture didn't add much to his appearance, instead creating an awkward impression.
"How do you know I haven't made arrangements?" Chu Yu's heart ached; he clutched his chest.
Yu Jing saw this and immediately took out medicine from her sleeve and fed him a dose.
"When I was a hostage in Liang, I suffered greatly, and my health was already ruined.
The inability to produce an heir is not the Empress's fault; it is entirely my own doing.
I am the ruler of Northern Chu. Do I not love my country more than you do?
I have made arrangements long ago, you just didn't know!" Chu Yu desperately wanted to shout the answer in his heart, but he suddenly felt weak.
Yu Jing, however, had no such reservations.
While Chu Yu was taking his medicine, she stared coldly at Chu Yunwei and said with hatred:
"You ungrateful wretch, do you know that the Ruler and I had already planned?
This time I went to Liang, I exchanged a thousand fine horses to bring you back. Next, I was going to make you the true Crown Prince of Northern Chu."
Originally, Chu Yunwei was considered the son of her and the Ruler of Northern Chu in the eyes of the world, holding the status of a Northern Chu prince.
Making him Crown Prince would have been a rightful matter.
But unexpectedly, not only had he left Liang, but he had also kidnapped Xiaoqi, whom she was reluctant to part with.
He had imprisoned her here for many days, and now he even dared to try and marry her and seize Northern Chu.