My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

The two cups of wedding wine were pushed away and refused, yet they were still fought over. The two women put loyalty first, yielding to each other, though neither truly wished to yield.

Chen Yi was always more sensitive to the word "affection" than women were, as if witnessing a ripple and knowing the dragonfly just passed. Sometimes, he felt somewhat sentimental, holding a snowflake about to fall, placing it on his eyebrow, missing other women, seeming both affectionate and infatuated, like the beautiful young man in a book, pitying his own shadow...

Yet each time Little Fox saw this, she couldn’t help but laugh.

This occasionally caused Chen Yi to crack a little, helplessly having no choice but to bully her well at night to vent his resentment for a time.

His thoughts drifted slightly away, then swiftly returned. Chen Yi’s gaze swept over the two women, that trace of greed no longer hidden.

The candle flame suddenly flickered.

The room fell into dead silence, the few words just spoken seemed still to linger between the beams.

Min Ning reacted first, stepping back half a step as if scalded, bumping into the round table behind her, making the candlestick wobble. The blood drained from her handsome face, only to rapidly flush with a tide of shame and anger.

"Chen Zunming, you!"

She opened her mouth but only managed to squeeze out a broken syllable, her fingers tightening around the wine cup, knuckles turning white.

Qin Qingluo did not move.

She merely stood there, her towering figure cast into a somber shadow in the candlelight.

A storm gathered in her serpent-like pupils, slowly pinning onto Chen Yi’s face, as she squeezed two words through clenched teeth, "...Brazen."

She clenched the wine cup, knuckles releasing the tiniest creaking sound from the force exerted.

Almost simultaneously, the two women retreated half a step. Min Ning turned her body, eyes shocked at first, then restrained, seemingly ready to bolt for the door. Though as a local Vassal King, Qin Qingluo was calmer, her serpent-like pupils flickering several times.

Chen Yi smiled slightly, speaking slowly: "You’ve fought over this before, now having you both drink together, consummate together, and yet you’re unwilling."

The two women almost immediately rebutted.

"You’re insane, I just wanted you to give an explanation!"

"Such audacity!"

Chen Yi met their gaze, his usual hint of mockery gone, leaving only a deep, still calmness.

Ignoring the women’s reprimands, his eyes rested not on any one person but encompassed the view, saying: "Yue Chi, you want an explanation from me, I now tell you, you are you, today my explanation is to keep you, not abandon you." He paused, smiled, then continued: "Prince, you and I are at the last step of marriage, there’s no reason to be such a wasted effort."

With each word fallen, the women’s expressions changed, the candlelight grew dimmer, shadows seemingly cloaking the three of them.

He stepped forward, not to press closer, but to deepen the weight in the room’s atmosphere.

"I am greedy, I want both, don’t want to disappoint either, it’s unpleasant but the truth." His gaze swept over the two women, "I’ve said many pleasant words, tried hard to maintain face. But the result? You both wanted to come to blows, reached this step, can I still endure?"

Min Ning’s breath quickened, she looked at Chen Yi, her gaze as complex as a tangled skein, with anger, disappointment, and agitation, shaking her head vehemently, a steady voice saying: "This isn’t you, you can’t..."

"I can." Chen Yi interrupted her, his tone firm and decisive, eyes moving away from her, turning instead to Qin Qingluo, smiling: "Prince, for you, I’ve obeyed for so many days, now just allow me this one indulgence."

His words were casual, yet Qin Qingluo’s jaw tightened, her aura becoming suddenly dangerous, a pressure born of long-held authority and control over life and death,

"Chen Yi, think about the consequences."

"Consequences?" Chen Yi laughed lightly, a smile lacking warmth, "Nothing more than you hate me a bit more, but if I yield to either of you tonight, how could you not harbor resentment toward each other?"

"I’d rather you both hate me," he looked steadily at Qin Qingluo, "besides, hate, at least, is more straightforward than loss."

Before the words were finished, Min Ning suddenly moved.

As though unable to bear such crooked logic, she flicked her wrist, spilling the wine fiercely onto the ground, then turning, rushed toward the door, her figure swift like a red flash, carrying a sense of resolution.

She only came for an explanation, not to make it easy for him, to let him have them both.

Yet she didn’t reach the door.

Chen Yi’s figure seemed merely to sway, blocking her path effortlessly, no harsh collision, he simply raised a hand, gently pressing.

An unyielding yet soft Sword Intent appeared out of thin air, halting Min Ning’s forward momentum abruptly, as if she hit an invisible net, stumbling, caught by his arm around her waist, brought back.

"Let go of me!" Min Ning gasped in shock and anger, elbowing backwards fiercely, legs swiftly sweeping at his lower body.

Chen Yi didn’t take it head-on. He swiveled his wrist around her waist, sidestepped, guiding the fierce stream like water, using force against force, dispersing her attack into nothingness.

Min Ning felt her strength dispersing like mud into the sea, each strike landing in vain, instead being spun halfway around, her back touching the soft bedding, guided to sit upon the bed’s edge.

Her eyes widened.

Almost simultaneously, on the other side, Qin Qingluo moved in genuine anger.

She couldn’t just stand by as Chen Yi treated Min Ning thus before her, Chen Yi’s greedy act succeeding would not only humiliate Min Ning but also trample her authority. She pointed her fingers like a sword, not striking Chen Yi, but aiming directly at his shoulder acupoint, intending to force him to release.