Chapter 1226 - 902: Are You Competing With Her?
This New Year’s Eve banquet, watched and calculated by many, ended amidst the evening’s sudden snowstorm.
Although some incidents occurred before the feast, they did not affect everyone’s mood. During the banquet, people toasted each other and engaged in joyous conversation, fostering closeness akin to a common family gathering, further enhanced by Little Yuanzi’s unabashed and childlike laughter.
In the end, everyone kept vigil for the New Year and then dispersed, carrying the scent of alcohol with them.
By this time, the snowstorm had grown significantly, covering the road with a layer of snow. As they walked to the palace gate and saw the carriages waiting for them in the snowstorm, darkness had already descended. Only two lanterns swayed lightly in the wind under the carriages’ eaves, emitting a faint red glow, resembling a large python with blood-red eyes waiting for them to step into its tooth-filled maw.
Seeing this scene, Yu Mingyue inexplicably felt a shiver.
However, Yu Wenqian halted and spoke to Lou Liangdi beside him: "You ride back first."
Lou Chan Yue was taken aback and looked at him: "Your Highness, what about you—and the Crown Princess Consort?"
"I’ve had another carriage prepared in the palace; it will come soon. We will ride that one back."
"...Yes."
Under usual circumstances, leaving her deliberately to ride alone with the Crown Princess Consort might have been obvious favoritism that would leave Lou Chan Yue feeling melancholic and disappointed. But given today’s events, seeing Yu Wenqian’s deepened, although nearly transparent eyes, she softly said: "I understand, I shall take my leave first."
After speaking, she made a courtesy to the two and boarded the carriage accompanied by her maid.
Soon, the carriage turned around and vanished into the snowstorm.
In front of the palace gate, only the two remained standing there, while a few attendants and maids trailing far behind were dismissed by Yu Wenqian. In the snowstorm, their figures were almost invisible, as if they were the only ones left in this chaotic world.
The cold wind howled and the snowflakes drifted nearly sweeping away the last bit of warmth from their bodies.
But Yu Mingyue was drenched in cold sweat.
Su Qinglan was released and reinstated with merits; although it was the outcome she had hoped for before, ever since Shang Ruyi intervened, she vaguely sensed something amiss, even more so the chilling aura emitted by the man beside her, even as he toasted with Yu Wenye and seemed friendly.
She knew Yu Wenqian had discovered and understood.
He let Lou Liangdi go ahead, leaving the two of them to wait in the snow for the uncertain arrival of the carriage, meant he had words to say to her.
Yu Mingyue’s hand, tucked in her sleeve, kept clenching, with her nails digging painfully into her palm until she could no longer hold back and spoke first, turning to Yu Wenqian: "Your Highness, isn’t there something you want to tell me?"
Yu Wenqian did not look at her; those eyes, nearly as cold as ice, indifferently watched the falling snowflakes ahead.
"Some things, shouldn’t you tell me first?"
"..."
Yu Mingyue’s breath sank.
She bit her lip before finally saying: "He, my father, risked his life for the court, even losing sight in one eye. I can’t stand by and watch someone manipulate his past ’mistakes’."
Yu Wenqian’s gaze flickered slightly.
Yu Mingyue’s words indeed had no apparent issues, even if spoken bluntly to the Emperor, he might have softened, for now, his established deeds, emotional ties of family were what could sway him.
But as Yu Wenqian slowly turned to look at her, his gaze was none the warmer, instead colder, more penetrating, as if seeing through Yu Mingyue’s body into her soul, sending a chill throughout her being.
Yu Wenqian said: "Is he truly your father?"
"..."
"Would you bear such responsibility for this ’father’?"
Yu Mingyue’s heart suddenly sank.
Indeed, she should not forget that even if the previous words could pass before the Emperor, they did not with Yu Wenqian because from the beginning, she had disclosed her background entirely to him. He knew that apart from a biological similarity with Yu Dingxing, there was no additional sentiment, further heightened by contempt for his despicable abandonment of his family.
Therefore, her earlier words were not only an excuse but appeared as a mockery before him.
Yu Mingyue’s cold sweat increased, almost soaking her clothes, even forming droplets on her forehead and descending along her temples.
Yu Wenqian said coldly: "So, is there anything more you wish to explain?"
Yu Mingyue gritted her teeth and replied defiantly: "Even if those words seem unreasonable to you, Your Highness, he and I are inseparably linked, after all."
"..."
"Does Your Highness truly not understand what I’m concerned about?"
"..."
"I can’t allow anyone to climb over me, nor can I allow someone to step on me to rise, especially the woman beside you!"
Yu Wenqian slightly frowned and regarded Yu Mingyue with an odd expression, making her increasingly uneasy and just as she was about to say more, Yu Wenqian suddenly asked: "Are you contending with her?"
Yu Mingyue was startled: "I—"
The question was like a deeply buried torpedo that exploded within her, leaving her utterly shattered.
Is it really...
Seeing her visibly flustered, Yu Wenqian felt a sense of desolation inside. He might have seen through this seemingly wise woman who seemed increasingly dull as time went on, but by this point, he could no longer turn back.
So he articulated more calmly: "You know well what you’re thinking."
"..."
"I am keeping you here today merely to say one sentence: Henceforth, do nothing behind my back, nor make decisions without my consent."
"..."
"You are deeply connected to your ’father,’ much like you are to me. Having married you, our lives are intertwined, and a wrong step on your part could lead to my downfall. I have reminded you more than once since the confirmation of our marriage. You better remember it clearly, very clearly!"
"..."
Listening to his calm voice, though laden with invisible pressure, Yu Mingyue’s breath became increasingly heavy.
She replied hoarsely: "Yes."
Only then did Yu Wenqian languidly turn his head, watching the pitch-black night unfold before them. At the same moment, a carriage emerged from the snowstorm, the two climbed aboard, quickly heading towards the Crown Prince Mansion.