Chapter 1171 - 851: I Will Ruin You Completely!
The banquet did not end too late. After 9 PM, the people, feeling pleasantly drunk, began to leave the Crown Prince Mansion, taking their tipsiness and thoughts with them as they headed home.
King Qin and Princess Qin were the first to leave.
It wasn’t just because King Qin couldn’t possibly stay in the Crown Prince Mansion drinking and reveling with the others due to his status; it was also because halfway through, the Young Master suddenly began to cry. For this cherished Imperial Grandson, everyone gave more respect than they did to King Qi, and even those who were slightly intoxicated didn’t dare insist they stay, bidding King Qin and Princess Qin farewell.
Shen Wuzheng decided to stay because Pei Xingyuan and a few other officials were drinking happily, and he was worried they might cause trouble, so he stayed to look after them.
However, when seeing off King Qin, he whispered something in Yu Wenye’s ear.
Soon, this remark vanished into the night along with King Qin’s carriage.
Although the sky had turned completely dark, the carriage did not move quickly. The slight swaying of the carriage allowed Yuanyuan, who was nestled in Shang Ruyi’s arms, to sleep peacefully, blowing little bubbles with his lips. His serene and adorable appearance slightly eased the anxiety that had lasted all evening.
Shang Ruyi smiled and lowered her head, gently pressing her cheek against her son’s chubby face.
Then she lifted her head and looked at Yu Wenye.
His face was very red, having drunk quite a bit, but Shang Ruyi felt that he wasn’t drunk at all. On the contrary, he seemed very sober, as she could tell from the steady, long breaths that had echoed in her ears since they got on the carriage.
But he kept his eyes closed, and if it weren’t for the clear sound of breathing, he would seem to be asleep.
Shang Ruyi glanced at him, and then again.
Finally, on her third look, Yu Wenye slowly opened his eyes a sliver and looked down at her: "What do you want to ask me?"
Shang Ruyi’s breath instinctively tightened. She almost eagerly opened her mouth, but her lips moved without uttering a single word for a long time—everything that happened tonight, every action of Yu Wenqian, every word he spoke, even every breath was shocking and unexpected to her, as if she had suddenly entered a demon realm and everything had turned upside down.
After struggling for a long time, she finally said in a low voice: "What exactly does the Crown Prince want to do?"
"..."
Yu Wenye did not immediately answer her. Instead, he slowly widened his eyes, looked at her for a while, and then abruptly asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Do you think the Crown Prince likes you?"
"No,"
Almost instinctively, Shang Ruyi shook her head at once. After shaking her head, she thought for a while and said seriously: "But he, he always makes me feel that he likes me."
"...!"
After saying this, she saw a flash in Yu Wenye’s eyes. It was a light of joy and appreciation, but he did not let this emotion linger for long. He pursed his lips and said: "You do have self-awareness."
The phrase "self-awareness" made Shang Ruyi, while affirming herself, sense something else.
She said: "So he—"
Yu Wenye said: "Yes, he just wants you to feel that he likes you."
"Why?"
"Why,"
Yu Wenye repeated these three words, then raised his head and thought for a moment before saying: "Because in this world, there’s little resistance from ordinary women to men’s favor, especially from a man like him."
Shang Ruyi frowned slightly, unable to refute this.
In fact, from another perspective, given her appearance and status, if she were to show favor to an ordinary man, she believed that man would also have little resistance. But—
She asked: "So what does that mean?"
Yu Wenye said: "Your relationship with him was destined to be adversarial even before you met, wasn’t it?"
Shang Ruyi nodded.
There was no need to elaborate on this point. Even Yu Wenqian himself had said that in the eyes of the world, it was Shang Ruyi who abandoned Yu Wenqian. Regardless of her reasons or burdens, it was the innocent Young Master Yu Wen who was hurt, and Shang Ruyi could not argue against this.
Yu Wenye lowered his head again to look at her, with a hint of a smile: "But after he came back and met you, he was always kind to you, even—very gentle, right?"
Shang Ruyi’s brow furrowed slightly.
This was also a fact.
In fact, what she thought about was even more than what Yu Wenye considered. She had anticipated being reproached, provoked, and met with hostility by Yu Wenqian, and even—like tonight, the threat of death.