You were taken hostage, why pursue the Enemy's Empress?

The atmosphere in the room fell silent for a moment.

Hua Chao finally sat beside Ying Wuji and placed a stack of clean clothes on the table. "Wear these when you're feeling better."

"Mm..."

Ying Wuji weakly responded, wanting to slap himself. How could he not control his mouth in front of Hua Chao?

Hua Chao's slender and fair fingers twisted together incessantly. After hesitating for a while, she tentatively asked, "Wuji, are you interested in any girl in Jiangcheng?"

"I..."

"Don't lie to me, and don't try to change the subject. I ask, and you only need to answer yes or no!"

"Alright!"

Ying Wuji could only nod.

Hua Chao asked, "You said earlier that if you could marry her, are you interested in any girl?"

"I guess so..."

"And you said you could live a peaceful life with her. Is her family background extraordinary?"

"Yes..."

Ying Wuji suddenly felt something was off. What she said might not be about the person he was thinking of. He opened his mouth and said, "Hua Chao..."

Hua Chao hurriedly interrupted, "Don't speak! Just answer my questions. Don't think about lying. I can see through it!"

Ying Wuji felt a headache coming on. "Alright..."

"Is she beautiful?"

"Beautiful!"

"Does she like you?"

"She probably does... like me!"

Ying Wuji was starting to lose his patience. He had enough of the tricks and techniques that the Zhao family girl liked about him.

Hua Chao took a deep breath and stared at Ying Wuji's eyes intensely. "So, you like her... no, no, no! Are you saying that you won't marry anyone else except her? That once you have her, you won't even look at other women?"

Her gaze was too intense, and Ying Wuji instinctively dodged. "Hua Chao..."

Hua Chao's eyes dimmed slightly as she turned her back to Ying Wuji and smiled. "You should like her. If that girl knows about this, she should be happy too. But what she wants, you might not be able to fulfill. Her family background is not what she wants, and she might not be able to help you either. Actually, being friends is not bad, right?"

Sigh...

Ying Wuji sighed inwardly. If they didn't have their respective burdens, Hua Chao would be the type of wife he dreamed of. Even if she was a bit older and not as beautiful, he would still want her as his wife. But his position was too awkward, and it was impossible for him to live a stable life with her and run a bookstore. He might end up relying on her for a living. He understood Hua Chao well and didn't think that showing his domineering side would help her get out of her mother's shadow. Even if there were other women, they would willingly treat him well. If he really thought that way, she would eventually be consumed by her inner demons.

Ying Wuji sighed lightly. "Alright, that's fine!"

Hua Chao turned around, her eyes not showing disappointment but rather a sense of relief. "Your situation is dangerous. She should understand your feelings. If you can be sincere to each other, even if you can't be husband and wife, maybe you can support each other as friends for a lifetime, right?"

Support us at .

"Yes!"

The room fell silent again as the two of them stared at each other quietly.

After an unknown amount of time...

"Kuancha..."

The door was pushed open, and a sturdy figure barged in.

Both of them were startled and quickly tried to make their expressions appear natural.

Wu Dan burst into tears as soon as he entered. "Wuji! I heard that you were beaten. Let me see! Damn it, those bastards from Kingdom Qian are disgusting. Why do they treat you like this? They're even worse than our Kingdom Wu!"

Ying Wuji: "..."

He was certain that Wu Dan's tearful appearance was not fake. They had a good relationship, and Wu Dan could empathize with him.

Being lazy, a playboy, disliked by others, even his fellow countrymen looked down on him. These keywords combined together, wasn't that Wu Dan?

"Don't cry so soon!"

Ying Wuji looked at his pale face, full of suspicion. "What the hell happened to you? Are you losing essence and energy? How many times a day do you go to the brothel? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Wu Dan stopped crying and felt a bit embarrassed as he took a few steps back. "No, it's not like that! I haven't been to the brothel for several days!"

"Bullshit! Are you telling me that you're in such a weak state without going to the brothel?"

"No, it's not like that!"

Wu Dan quickly explained, "I haven't been going as frequently recently, but I really haven't been to the brothel! Hey, let me tell you the truth..."

Wu Dan had been going to the brothel quite frequently after the bookstore made a profit a few days ago. But one day, while he was out riding a horse, he met a beautiful and cheerful girl. Coincidentally, this girl also took a liking to him, and they quickly fell in love. The story continued with their growing affection.

Ying Wuji listened with a grimace. "Is the girl you met a decent girl? The way you describe her, she sounds like a demon who absorbs men's energy."

Wu Dan shook his head repeatedly. "No, no! I had the same suspicion at first, but I went to the doctor to get checked. He said it wasn't the case. He told me to reduce the frequency of sexual activities to less than nine times a day, and then there won't be any life-threatening danger."

Ying Wuji: "???"

Reduce it to less than nine times a day?

From the sound of it, as long as he didn't die, he would do it until he died!

Wu Dan continued, "And I've already asked about the girl's family background. She is from the main branch of the Li family. I'm probably going to become rich in this lifetime! Have you seen this jade pendant? With it, I can freely enter and exit the Li family's villa in the east of the city."

Li family! The legitimate daughter!

Ying Wuji's eyes lit up. The Li family was a major family in Kingdom Li, second only to the Zhao, Wei, and Han families. His brother actually managed to live off someone before he did.

Although he felt a bit sour, he genuinely felt happy for Wu Dan. After all, Kingdom Wu was not strong, and he himself was not valued in Kingdom Wu. Even if he married into the Li family, it was better than struggling so hard.

Compared to being a son-in-law of the Li family, his own position was really not worth mentioning.

Hua Chao spat, "Wu Dan! You can eat off someone else, but don't corrupt my Wuji!"

Ying Wuji nodded in agreement. "No wonder I've been having strange thoughts lately. It turns out it's because of this scumbag!"

Wu Dan: "???"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

There was a knocking sound from the backyard.

Hua Chao stood up and chuckled. "It's probably Zhai Yun. How do these people know everything so quickly? They all know that you got beaten. I'll go open the door!"

Ying Wuji: "..."

Hua Chao covered her mouth and chuckled as she went to the backyard to open the door. There, she saw Luo Ming with a helpless expression.

Hua Chao: "..."

Naturally, she didn't let him in, but this guy looked pitiful, so she allowed him to speak outside the door.

However, after hearing Luo Ming's story, Hua Chao felt frustrated.

She was so angry that her voice trembled. "Marry a wife? He's gone mad! He really has gone mad! Does he think that after deceiving himself, he can deceive me too? Luo Ming, leave. If you anger me again in the future, I won't recognize you as my brother!"

Luo Ming was on the verge of tears. "Sister! I'm not trying to persuade you. If it weren't for our father forcing me to come, I would never have come! You don't know how disgusted I felt when I saw them together. I almost threw up!"

Hua Chao gritted her teeth. "Luo Ming! Tell me, who is this woman and when did she appear?"

"I don't know either!"

Luo Ming rubbed his temples. "But she should have appeared a few years ago. During that time, father would leave the city every month for several days. Every time he came back, he would look much older. Since that woman moved into our house, father's aging has accelerated. You don't know how terrifying his complexion is when he wakes up every morning. It's like..."

He paused halfway through his words when he saw the imposing figure of the hostage for exchange and his partner coming out to drive people away.

In an instant, he thought of a way to describe it and pointed at Wu Dan. "Their complexions are almost as bad as this guy's. It feels like both of their kidneys have been crushed!"

Wu Dan: "???"