"Song Qing'an?"
After calling out a few times without a response, Feng Yinwan paused, her brow furrowed as she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. She had arranged to meet him in Yuzhou earlier, and hadn't heard from him in days. Today, although he attended the palace banquet with Minister Song, he had continuously defended her.
She wondered what had happened these past few days.
She pursed her lips and remained silent.
This place was not far from Prince Mo's mansion. Fortunately, the owner of this tavern was familiar with Song Qing'an. Feng Yinwan sent someone to escort him back to the mansion and then returned to her own.
Before returning, she tidied her clothes to ensure Yuping wouldn't notice anything amiss before stepping into the courtyard.
Contrary to her expectations, the courtyard was silent, and Yuping was nowhere to be seen. Even the room was unlit.
Considering the time, the palace banquet should have concluded. They weren't aware of her early departure. If Yuping wasn't at the mansion, had she gone with Qi Xuan to pick her up?
Frowning, Feng Yinwan stepped through the doorway.
"Yu..."
Before she could finish, her body was enveloped in a pair of strong arms, and a chilling fragrance instantly filled her breath.
Sharply detecting the scent of alcohol on her, the arm around her waist paused, then forcefully pressed her against the door.
"You've been drinking?"
Through the dim light, Ye Tinglan's handsome face was shrouded in shadow. His features were stern, his nose and lips sharp, still captivating. When he looked up, the unyielding coldness in his eyes melted into the darkness, dangerous enough to consume her.
Feng Yinwan pursed her lips, her eyelashes falling silently.
To Ye Tinglan, this looked like an admission.
"Nonsense! How can you drink while pregnant? You disregard such a major taboo, and you call yourself a physician!"
He was angry. Angry that she was hiding things, angry that she was defending Song Qing'an, and even more angry that she wasn't taking care of herself.
Feng Yinwan found it ironic.
She struggled, but the grip on her shoulders tightened. She simply stopped resisting.
"In what capacity are you questioning this concubine, Your Highness?"
He was the one who kept things secret, he was the one feigning indifference, he was the one who remained silent in the grand hall. She couldn't think of a reason for his questioning, nor understand the meaning of his anger.
Ye Tinglan's indifferent eyebrows furrowed, but he still reprimanded her.
"Don't be foolish. Yun Shu and I are not what you think."
"Then what are we?"
The response was a suffocating silence.
This outcome was within Feng Yinwan's expectations. Her eyelashes trembled a few times before she finally voiced the question that had been accumulating in her heart for days.
"Then, Your Highness, can you tell me what you are doing?"
Ever since his return to the capital, he had been acting strangely, even using an injury to hide himself. She thought, he was a God of War, a prince with the potential to be crowned heir. Perhaps his actions were against his will, trying to avoid attention. She had also considered that Yun Shu's matter might be related to what Ye Tinglan was doing, but she never wanted to be kept in the dark.
Her cool fingertips traced her chin, lifting it with a slight force. Ye Tinglan parted his lips, but evaded the question.
"Tell me, whose child is in your womb?"
He was indeed bothered by this. Feng Yinwan let out a soft scoff and lowered her eyes as if mocking herself.
"If I say I don't know, will Your Highness believe me?"
The force on her jaw instantly tightened. His fingers were extremely heavy, as if they would crush her bones.
"So, the night I returned home, you were indeed with someone."
To have the most shameful thing exposed by the person she cared about, Feng Yinwan's mind buzzed. She had no idea how to defend herself. This reaction, in Ye Tinglan's eyes, was undoubtedly an admission. The scene of Song Qing'an taking her away from him tonight replayed in his mind as if it were happening now.
Ye Tinglan's gaze turned to ice. His dark eyes, filled with suspicion, scrutinized her from above. His next words plunged Feng Yinwan into an abyss.
"You and Song Qing'an have known each other since childhood. He has approached you intentionally several times, and tonight he even defied me to your face for you."
The hand against her tightened again. Feng Yinwan's delicate face contorted, and a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
"Speak, is he that adulterer."
His handsome thin lips were so close, his warm breath still faintly brushed her face as he spoke. Yet, the person before her looked at her with a cold expression, his eyes devoid of any emotion but a chilling severity. Beautiful yet cruel, ambiguous yet frightening. Feng Yinwan felt that the person before her was incredibly strange. A chill seemed to seep from her bones, from head to toe, sparing no part of her.
Her silence successfully enraged Ye Tinglan. His cool fingertips roughly scraped across her lips. Ye Tinglan spoke, his tone softening slightly.
"Abort the child, and I will overlook this. Otherwise, I will never forgive him."
Feng Yinwan's heart jolted, and her eyes turned red with disbelief.
"You want me to abort the child?"
Even though she was in pain just moments ago, she had kept her lips sealed and remained silent. But this child was only three months old, had endured so much hardship with her, and was now forming. How could she abort it! The child was innocent. Damn the one who stole her purity!
She stubbornly covered her lower abdomen, her defiant gaze towards Ye Tinglan unusually stubborn. Ye Tinglan's eyes darkened, mistaking her stubbornness for reluctance to part with Song Qing'an's child, and the hand holding her became even stronger.
"If you refuse, I will do it myself."
As he spoke, her body was lifted into the air. The room was dark, but Ye Tinglan almost carried her directly to the bedside. Realizing his intention, Feng Yinwan shuddered, immediately struggling with all her might.
"Let go!"
How could he! How dare he! She struggled and slapped desperately, but Ye Tinglan remained grim-faced, as if he heard nothing. The force around her waist was as unyielding as iron, leaving Feng Yinwan unable to budge an inch.
Her body was thrown down, sinking into the soft bedding. Before Feng Yinwan could regain her senses, the man's aggressive presence overwhelmed her. Her wrists were seized and pinned above her head. The next moment, Ye Tinglan's hot, furious kisses rained down on her like a dense storm, completely stealing Feng Yinwan's last breath.
"Mmmph..."
The room was so quiet that only the ambiguous sounds of intertwined lips and teeth could be heard. They had been together before; their breaths were familiar. Once touched, they could no longer resist the burning desire of longing.
Her consciousness gradually sank. Seeing her struggles weaken, Ye Tinglan rose and forcefully parted her legs with his knee.
"Forget him."
Feng Yinwan's heart tightened, and she suddenly awoke.
"Let go of me! Ye Tinglan, if you dare do this, I will hate you forever!"
Ye Tinglan looked up, his dark ink-colored eyes glancing at her faintly. "Then hate me." He had made a mistake by abandoning her for battle on their wedding night, but after that, he would never allow another man to defile her. And he certainly wouldn't let his woman give birth to another man's child!
The cold touch on the back of his hand made Ye Tinglan stop. The silver needle, hidden between her fair, slender fingers, had somehow reached her slender neck. Feng Yinwan looked up at him, her beautiful eyes filled with sorrow and determination.
"Stop, or I will die with you."