With the words falling, she clearly sensed the person on her stiffen, slightly lift his head, and look at her.
Ye Luan reached out and touched the mole at the corner of his eye, her bright eyes casting a faint moonlight.
She tilted her head slightly and kissed the red mole.
To be blunt, she had an ulterior motive for him, purely based on his looks.
It was a pity that their beginnings were too tragic and humiliating, and her temperament absolutely did not allow her to love someone who had hurt her, so she had deliberately ignored it.
Xiao Chizhan stared blankly at the person beneath him, his mind suddenly flashing back to the scene of their first meeting in the dark room.
"What is love at first sight?"
Ye Luan said, "The person you fall for at first glance is love at first sight, or curiosity is also the beginning of attraction."
Curiosity?!
Xiao Chizhan narrowed his eyes slightly.
So, after he discovered she was a different person, he too fell in love at first sight with her!
That was why he had let her go in the dark room and not investigated her background.
Even when she had tried to poison and kill him, he had not eradicated her as he would have before, allowing her to leave the prince's mansion.
Which resulted in him feeling such unbearable pain when she later wanted to leave him.
It turned out, he had fallen deeply in love long ago, loving without knowing it!
Ye Luan's gaze slowly moved up, fixing on his overly bewitching red eyes.
"Xiao Chizhan, your eyes are truly beautiful."
Hearing her words, Xiao Chizhan came back to his senses, "Beautiful?"
"Or perhaps, desire."
Ye Luan smiled and hooked her lips, hugging his head, "Kiss me."
Xiao Chizhan wanted to ask more questions, but she directly blocked his lips, kissing and biting him.
He had abstained for too long and couldn't stand her seduction like this.
He grasped her waist, flipped over, and brought her onto himself, one hand firmly holding her waist, the other pressing her head, kissing her fiercely and relentlessly.
After a long period of entwining, he released her and looked up.
The tent was dim, with only faint moonlight filtering in.
She was sitting on his waist, her dark hair falling behind her back, making her fair face look alluring.
Her exposed shoulders and neck were fair and delicate, her undergarments unable to contain her fullness, revealing a section of her fair, slender waist.
Under the moonlight, it was faintly discernible and captivating.
He reached out and clasped it.
Ye Luan inhaled sharply, twisted her body, and reached out to unfasten his.
"Luan Luan."
His voice was deep and hoarse, reaching her ears and making her heart tremble with an itching sensation.
She leaned down and kissed his lips, her warm breath fully exhaling onto his nose and neck.
Ye Luan's fingertips trembled slightly, and she unconsciously stroked the Qiongqi pattern on his back. The delicate touch spread from her fingers to her heart, making her body feel soft and weak all over.
Outside the window, the moonlight was as clear as washing, and the night breeze blew through the ship's cabin, scattering a layer of cold frost.
---
They traveled less than two days by water before reaching the capital.
From the moment he woke up, Tantai Ye had been guarding Lan Murou. After the warship docked, he carried her out and went straight into the carriage.
Xiao Chizhan and Li Qiongyu needed to go to the palace, Ye Luan wanted to see Old Madam Bai, and Wei Qingge wanted to return to her mansion. The group parted ways.
"Luan Luan."
Just as Ye Luan was about to get into the carriage, she saw Xiao Chizhan riding over, extending his hand to her.
"Aren't you going to the palace?"
Xiao Chizhan grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his horse.
"I'll take you there first, and then pick you up to return to the Northern Palace."
Ye Luan immediately refused, "No, you don't need to pick me up, I'll stay at the Bai Mansion."
"Come on, Xiao Chizhan, you're almost getting married, don't be so clingy."
Li Qiongyu couldn't stand his behavior and rode her horse over, muttering a few words.
Ye Luan agreed, "He's right."
Xiao Chizhan glared at Li Qiongyu with displeasure, but the latter was not afraid and urged him on.
"There are a pile of things in the palace, Tantai Ye isn't managing anything now, the military department is about to be overwhelmed, Liu Rongruo is so busy she can't even eat, and you're dawdling here. Can you two have some ambition?"
Ye Luan: "----"
Xiao Chizhan ignored him and rode away swiftly with Ye Luan in his arms.
Everyone quickly followed.
The news of Tantai Ye's return to the capital had already spread. Upon hearing that he had been assassinated by the Northern Qi, the Old Madam had brought all the family members to the General's mansion early that morning to wait.
This unfilial son would definitely not return to the old residence, so they had to go to the General's mansion to find him.
Therefore, when Tantai Ye dismounted from the carriage with someone in his arms, he saw a vast crowd of people standing at the entrance of the mansion.
He swept his cold gaze over everyone, his footsteps not pausing at all as he carried the person inside.
Those standing at the entrance were stunned by his hair, especially the Old Madam, whose eyes widened, and she almost choked with anger.
"What's going on?"
Qingfeng quickly stepped forward, "Replying to Old Madam, the General was ambushed and attacked, which caused him to be enraged. The imperial physicians said he might recover any day now."
Assassinated and enraged.
"Nonsense, do you think I'm stupid?"
Recalling the news sent back by the dark guards, and looking at Lan Murou, whose life and death were unknown, in Tantai Ye's arms, everyone suddenly understood.
It was because this woman had died that he had turned white-haired overnight.
Absurd!
It was simply absurd!
Madam Yuehua was heartbroken with anger. To have become such a spectacle for a woman, he had completely disgraced the Tantai clan.
"You stop!"
A furious shout came from behind, but Tantai Ye's footsteps did not stop at all. He carried the person and walked directly into the courtyard.
The Old Madam, furious, slammed her dragon-headed cane on the ground.
"Your mother is calling you, can't you hear?"
He paid no attention.
The Old Madam was enraged and cursed, "That woman is dead, why are you bringing her back? Are you crazy?"
Tantai Ye's back stiffened, and he suddenly turned his head. His usually sinister eyes were bloodshot.
"She's not dead!"
Although Tantai Ye was habitually unruly, and had never shown such disrespect to the Old Madam, this outburst stunned everyone.
"Even if she's not dead, the imperial physicians said she might never wake up again. Why did you bring her back? What will the people from Prince Duan's mansion think? Where does that put A'yan, and do you want the entire capital to laugh at our two families?"
"I'm telling you, the marriage is set, and you must marry Li Yan. You promised this yourself. As the Great Liang's Zhenxi General, you should keep your word."
Prince Duan's mansion, a political marriage?!
Tantai Ye lowered his eyelids, looked at the person in his arms, and suddenly burst into laughter.
It was his foolishness, his testing, that had killed her.
If not for that ill-advised political marriage, she would not have been assassinated, nor would she have committed suicide in Jiangzhou. She would have obediently stayed by his side.
He had killed her!
Seeing Tantai Ye suddenly go mad, everyone had different expressions. Some timid ones didn't even dare to enter the mansion gate.
The Old Madam's face turned pale with anger, her head dizzy, and she could only stand with support.
"Why are you laughing? Are you crazy? Look at yourself now, you've completely lost your mind."
Madam Yuehua remained silent. She looked at her son in shock as he shed tears, a wordless desolation surging from her heart.
Was this woman really that important to him?
"I'm telling you, if you keep this woman, our Tantai clan will not interfere, but you must marry Li Yan. The date is already set, we cannot afford to lose face like this."
"Marry Li Yan?!" Tantai Ye suddenly turned back, "If she wants to die, she can go ahead and marry in."
Hearing his threat, everyone was shocked.
"What do you mean? You're not going to marry her?"
The marriage was already set, wouldn't this make the entire capital laugh at them?
Tantai Ye lowered his head, looked at the person in his arms, suppressed his terrifying madness, and became gentle and affectionate, his voice filled with extreme tenderness.
"Of course I'll marry her." He paused, then added, "What I want is her, Lan Murou. I want to hold the wedding ceremony with her and make her my legitimate wife."