When Zhou Wei walked in from the entrance, he noticed that there were somewhat more court ladies and eunuchs in the room, though none of them showed any unusual expressions.
Yet Zhou Wei could faintly sense that they were on guard against him.
Zhou Wei let out a sneer. "Playing hard to get."
For a moment, a trace of smugness rose in Zhou Wei's heart. He did not believe that Yao Yingying was unaware he had followed her back to the main courtyard, yet she had not tried to stop him. Was this not because, having been reborn, he possessed the memories of how to seize the throne, while she knew she was completely useless before him and feared that his eventual ascension would leave her dead in a pool of blood? That was why she did not dare to truly offend him!
Fostering this confidence, Zhou Wei stood firm outside the screen, looking at the shadows cast upon it, and spoke with arrogant mockery, "Weren't you acting quite tough just now when the Princess Consort ordered these people to make a move against me?"
If not for wanting to conceive his child to secure her position as Princess Consort and begging him to treat her well, how could her temper possibly have tolerated his affair with Yao Mengtao?
"What is she doing now? Seducing me because she wants to keep me here?"
Harboring the urge to crush Yao Yingying's spirit, Zhou Wei spoke with crude and intentionally humiliating words.
Jinyi, gripping her dagger, truly wished she could plunge it straight into Zhou Wei's neck!
Yao Yingying's alluring face, however, showed no sign of distress. She merely lowered her gaze to look at the person kneeling before her.
Quan Yuanwu maintained his posture, lifting his pitch-black eyes to meet Yao Yingying's gaze without the slightest trace of tension or fear—neither regarding the exposure of his throat nor the people outside.
Hearing no scolding from Yao Yingying, Zhou Wei only grew firmer in his convictions. No longer in a rush to go inside, he leisurely took a seat on a stool in the outer room, poured himself a cup of tea, and spoke in a frivolous tone.
"I don't wish to sleep with just anyone. The Princess Consort's temperament is something I truly find tiresome and utterly uninteresting."
Zhou Wei lifted his eyes slightly, his handsome features rendered somewhat more striking by the candlelight.
He was waiting for Yao Yingying to take the initiative and yield, but after waiting for a long while without hearing a reply, Zhou Wei frowned and spoke angrily, "Yao Yingying, once married, you should act like a wife! Come over and help me undress! Kneel as you serve me!"
Both Jinyi and Yushi looked toward Yao Yingying, waiting for her command.
Yao Yingying lifted her eyelids. Those phoenix eyes possessed a soul-captivating beauty that often made people forget her ruthless side.
"That foolish brain of yours really needs some treatment."
The very first thing he did after being reborn was come here to bellow at her, and now he was eagerly delivering himself to her doorstep for a thrashing. Was he truly terrified that she might sleep poorly at night with the hatred of her past life weighing on her?
"His Highness's taste is truly getting worse by the day."
The voice rang out, blended with untamed bravado and the unshakable certainty of someone who held absolute power in adulthood.
Zhou Wei's hand, holding the teacup, paused. His eyes widened instantly, and the teacup crashed violently to the floor. "Yao Yingying, how dare you harbor people in your room?!"
Zhou Wei was consumed with rage.
Outside the door, hundreds of the Prince's estate guards—who had returned from goodness knows where—had all gripped the hilts of their sabers, standing in a distant standoff with the bridal escort eunuchs and soldiers clad in Anguo attire.
Inside the hall, Jiyu gripped her dagger, her gaze locked firmly on Zhou Wei.
Quan Yuanwu's intervention had been terribly sudden, yet not a single person panicked; instead, every one of them burned with a steadfast desire to eliminate Zhou Wei.
At this moment, when a conflict could erupt at any second, the warm, rough sensation against her ankle became all the more distinct.
Yao Yingying had not intended to pay it any mind, but the next instant she felt her foot being gripped and pressed against a scorching hot surface...
Yao Yingying lowered her gaze in puzzlement, only to lock eyes with a pair of deliberately provocative eyes.
His behavior was unbridled, his actions dissolute.
Yao Yingying was genuinely ticked into laughter and kicked out to shove him away, only to find that the hand grasping her ankle was powerful and unyielding, refusing to let go.
Without a second thought, Yao Yingying raised her other foot and kicked. "Get out."
Quan Yuanwu did not dodge. That kick landed squarely on his chest, yet his posture did not even sway.
Instead, with one hand, he directly pulled open the lapel of his own garment and guided Yao Yingying's foot straight inside.
The same scorching, taut physique... The contact was vivid.
A smile laced Quan Yuanwu's voice. "So, Your Highness prefers this place..."
His tone was ambiguous, his words vague, deliberately inviting wild imagination.
To Zhou Wei, this looked like flirtation that utterly ignored him, driving him into a frenzy of rage.
Zhou Wei shouted at the top of his lungs, "Wang Yong! Get your ass in here!"
Outside the room, the crisp and pleasant sounds of weapons clashing echoed through the air. Zhou Wei glared furiously at the silhouette behind the screen, the veins on his forehead bulging, his entire body resembling a piece of burning charcoal. "Yao Yingying, how dare you let your people make a move?!"
Looking as though she had heard the most preposterous joke in the world, Yao Yingying replied, "Zhou Wei, could it be that in our past life I was far too lenient with you, breeding this blind confidence of yours?"
Seething with fury, Zhou Wei kicked open the bedroom door and roared at the chaotic battlefield outside, "Wang Yong! Bring me my sword!"
A long sword fell directly from above, landing right before Zhou Wei. Wielding the sword and cloaked in rage, Zhou Wei strode into the room, entered the inner chamber, and kicked over the screen. The moment he caught sight of Quan Yuanwu, he raised his blade and slashed down without a single word.
The instant he discovered another man by Yao Yingying's side, Zhou Wei lost the last shred of his sanity! It enraged him far more than when Yao Yingying had tried to expose his affair with Yao Mengtao in front of Zhou Qiming and the ministers!
Quan Yuanwu made no grand movements. Without even looking back, he raised a hand, accurately caught Zhou Qiming's arm, and applied pressure.
The crisp sound of a joint dislocating was exceedingly pleasant. Yao Yingying sat gracefully on the bed, her beautiful face and soul-stealing eyes filled with profound meaning.
Zhou Wei was by no means weak. Among the six arts of a gentleman, he had paid exceptional attention to martial arts, merely biding his time until the day his armies reached the imperial capital.
Yet in Quan Yuanwu's hands right now, he could not even withstand a single move.
"Since I am helping Your Highness resolve a matter that leaves you endlessly hesitating, shouldn't Your Highness offer me some sweet rewards?"
Observing Yao Yingying's expression, Quan Yuanwu flashed a faint, dark-eyed smile.
Amidst Zhou Wei's miserable shrieks, Yao Yingying glanced at Quan Yuanwu, but the next second her gaze shifted back to Zhou Wei.
Trembling all over from the pain, Zhou Wei had a pale, handsome face drenched in dense cold sweat.
Such a sight truly lifted one's spirits. It was a fitting reward for his repeated provocations.
Quan Yuanwu rose to his feet, forced Zhou Wei down to his knees, and planted a foot firmly on his back, leaving Zhou Wei sprawled in utter wretchedness right before Yao Yingying.
Resting his arm across his raised knee, Quan Yuanwu leaned his upper body slightly forward, his brows and eyes radiating unbridled arrogance and supreme conceit. If not for his loosened garments revealing his alluring, well-toned waist, one had to wonder how many people would have refused to submit to him.
"Is he better-looking than me?"
The words sounded like a pet seeking favor, yet spoken by him, they carried the weight of grand ambitions.
Yet his gaze remained dissolute, his posture dissolutely extravagant.
Possessing a heart full of benevolence, Yao Yingying cast her gaze toward Quan Yuanwu.
One had to admit, Zhou Wei's royal appearance was utterly worthless compared to this face.
Even...
From her vantage point, she could clearly see just how wretched the man crushed beneath that foot appeared, and how twisted and ferocious his handsome face had become.