Wenren Li nodded without expression. “Very well.”
In truth, he had wanted to bring Chen Yixin back from Qingruo’s side long ago. None of the promises Chen Yixin made about behaving before leaving had been kept. He was now openly jealous of Lin Yu because of Qingruo, yet Chen Yixin did not even become jealous when Wenren Li held Yinzi.
Even Lin Yu could never have imagined the complicated thoughts hidden beneath Wenren Li’s expression, but obtaining Wenren Li’s agreement still reassured him. At minimum, he would not have to sleep in a separate room from Qingruo tonight.
Before Chen Yixin and Qingruo even reached Heavenly Phoenix Valley, Lin Yu and Wenren Li were already waiting for them.
The banquet had already been prepared. The wine had been newly brewed in Heavenly Phoenix Valley. Its base was Dream-Thousand-Years brought from Taixuan’s floating island, then steeped with phoenix blossoms and renamed phoenix-blossom wine. The flavor was dramatically different and exceptionally popular among the Ten Divisions, making it rather precious.
The food had been purchased by Lin Yu during a special trip to an immortal city, chosen specifically for these two picky brothers. It was still steaming when Chen Yixin and Qingruo sat down.
Chen Yixin walked with one arm over Qingruo’s shoulder. If he had not remembered that Wenren Li could look in on him at any time, he probably would have asked Qingruo to carry him on his back. Back when Chen Yixin was still a phoenix egg, Qingruo had never had an opportunity to carry him that way, but he had almost never put him down.
Being carried in Qingruo’s arms was inappropriate now, and Chen Yixin did not dare suggest being carried on his back either, so walking shoulder to shoulder like this was the best he could manage. Close brothers among ordinary people often behaved similarly, and Chen Yixin saw nothing improper about it.
His gaze swept ahead and found Wenren Li and Lin Yu drinking wine. Chen Yixin blinked, his smile immediately growing brighter. He pulled Qingruo forward at a quick pace and sat beside Wenren Li. “A-Li, why are you here…?”
There was surprise in his voice, but his delight was written openly across his face. He turned and looked at Wenren Li as though they had not seen each other in years, the affection in his eyes direct and intense.
Wenren Li raised a hand and gently rubbed Chen Yixin’s hair several times, conveniently wiping away every trace of Qingruo’s aura. He murmured, “I came to keep you company.”
With Qingruo around, Chen Yixin probably would not have remembered that Wenren Li wanted his company as well, much less remembered that they had not spoken for an entire month. Wenren Li wanted Chen Yixin beside him. Whatever irritation he felt, he could never simply remain behind after Chen Yixin forgot him, so he came with Lin Yu.
“Mhm.” Chen Yixin answered and took Wenren Li’s left hand, tightening his fingers around it little by little. Then he opened his mouth. “Ah.”
He had apparently decided to treat himself like a newly hatched chick incapable of taking care of itself, without even the slightest embarrassment. Lin Yu could only shake his head. Yet two people simultaneously picked up food to feed him—Wenren Li and Qingruo, who actually dared compete with Wenren Li in presence.
Chen Yixin narrowed his eyes without feeling anything was wrong. His appetite was excellent. One bite from the left, one from the right, he ate both. “Delicious.”
“A-Li and Elder Brother should eat too.” Chen Yixin finished speaking, glanced at Lin Yu, and added, “Big Brother Lin Yu too.”
In short, Chen Yixin ate the meal with enormous satisfaction and felt extraordinarily happy. It was almost as though everything had returned to the past, as though they had never experienced those heartbreaking separations of life and death and everything remained complete.
Chen Yixin was happy and drank plenty of wine as well. Despite normally having a decent tolerance, his cheeks eventually turned red, his expression dazed. He was genuinely drunk.
When drunk, he was actually less troublesome than when sober. He sat obediently with narrowed eyes and looked exceptionally soft and well-behaved. But the moment Lin Yu sitting opposite made any movement toward Qingruo that exceeded what Chen Yixin considered appropriate, his eyes immediately widened.
He grabbed Wenren Li’s hand and began complaining with extraordinary grievance. “Great Emperor, look! Lin Yu is trying to steal Elder Brother from me again. Hurry and help me steal him back…”
Qingruo and Wenren Li both looked over. Lin Yu could only withdraw the hand he had unconsciously used to touch Qingruo. How could this little phoenix still watch him so closely even while drunk?
“A-Li, after we finish everything else, we need to hold a wedding for Elder Brother. Lin Yu might be annoying, but Elder Brother likes him…” As Chen Yixin spoke, he looked increasingly aggrieved. He turned and clung to Wenren Li’s chest, then hiccupped.
“All right.” Wenren Li answered quietly, rubbing Chen Yixin’s hair. He looked toward the slightly tipsy Lin Yu and Qingruo. “I’ll have An Cheng begin preparing the wedding. Don’t refuse. This is A-Rong’s wish.”
Although this was not the best possible time, neither was it particularly bad. What had already been missed could not be allowed to remain missing forever.
“Thank you, Great Emperor.” Qingruo and Lin Yu rose together to answer. They had essentially lived like an old married couple for ages and did not place much importance on ceremony, yet the absence of a proper wedding had always left something incomplete.
Wenren Li nodded and rose with Chen Yixin in his arms. “I’ll take A-Rong back.”
Qingruo looked at Chen Yixin in Wenren Li’s arms, reluctant to let him go, but Lin Yu caught his other hand. “Great Emperor, please take good care of the Sovereign Consort. This wine has a strong aftereffect. The court assembly is approaching, and the Sovereign Consort cannot be absent.”
“That’s true.” Qingruo nodded and stepped closer to pat Chen Yixin’s shoulder. “Your room in Heavenly Phoenix Valley will always be kept for you. Go back with the Imperial Sovereign tonight. Be good.”
Wenren Li glanced at Qingruo, nodded, then teleported away with Chen Yixin.
Qingruo remained stunned for a moment before shaking his head helplessly with a smile. “Why has the Imperial Sovereign become just like A-Rong…?”
“That’s how it should be. You’re the one who always takes A-Rong’s side.”
Lin Yu pulled Qingruo back down to sit, a trace of helplessness entering his own tone. Much of the reason Chen Yixin had disliked him for so long was Qingruo’s own indulgence. Qingruo spoiled his younger brother without any limit, leaving Lin Yu, his lover, pushed aside far too often.
Qingruo lifted his wine cup and took a light sip. One glance at Lin Yu was enough to erase every complaint the man had been preparing. In a cool voice, Qingruo asked, “You have an objection?”
“N-no, I wouldn’t dare. But below A-Rong, I should at least be second—no, third, shouldn’t I…?” It was rather pitiful. Below Chen Yixin in Qingruo’s heart stood Wenren Li, meaning Lin Yu might rank only third.
Qingruo smiled. “You’re third. I’m fourth.”
In other words, Chen Yixin and Wenren Li were both more important to Qingruo than Lin Yu, but Lin Yu was still more important to Qingruo than Qingruo himself.
It was Qingruo’s form of a love confession, adding another measure of candid warmth and beauty to the already drunken night.
As for Chen Yixin, whom Wenren Li had carried back to Yuxu Palace, he was drunk but not completely unconscious. The alcohol simply allowed the emotions inside him to emerge with less restraint, making him even clingier and more intimate with Wenren Li.
“A-Li, A-Li, A-Li…”
He repeatedly called Wenren Li’s name, smiling one moment and frowning the next. Even Wenren Li could not entirely determine what Chen Yixin was thinking each time he called him.
“All right. I’ll help you disperse the alcohol.” Wenren Li’s hand had barely settled against Chen Yixin’s back when Chen Yixin immediately struggled in dissatisfaction.
“A-Li is stupid. Not this kind of dispersing. That kind. That kind, understand…?”
While saying “that kind,” Chen Yixin hooked an arm around Wenren Li’s neck and bit-kissed his lips. “Understand now?”
A celibate life was impossible when living with Chen Yixin. Even on the occasions Wenren Li did not think about such things, Chen Yixin would bring them up himself.
Wenren Li nodded. The court assembly was three days away. Given the strength of phoenix-blossom wine, dispersing all the alcohol within three days using “that method” would genuinely test him, though it was not impossible. The consequence was simply that Chen Yixin might become rather tired.
“A-Rong asked for this himself. You aren’t allowed to beg me to stop later.” Wenren Li tugged at his clothes, his entire presence changing for an instant. Chen Yixin, trapped in his arms, resembled meat already caught between a predator’s teeth—something Wenren Li intended to devour completely and would allow nobody else to covet.
Chen Yixin vaguely sensed danger, but before he could think through how to respond, his mouth was sealed. Wenren Li kissed him down onto the bed, silver hair and ice-blue hair becoming tangled together. They looked faintly similar but were in fact completely different.
Yet those two completely different individuals entangled themselves fiercely together, impossible to separate. There was no need for them to distinguish themselves so clearly in this lifetime. Their lives and deaths were bound together. Whether living or dying, they would remain together.
The three days that should have been Wenren Li’s and Chen Yixin’s busiest were instead spent entirely rolling around in bed. Chen Yixin gritted his teeth and refused to beg for mercy, while Wenren Li truly did not let him off until every trace of the alcohol had dispersed.
Chen Yixin’s legs trembled slightly, the feeling of being unable to close them particularly obvious. He circulated divine power through his body several times until the physical sensation faded, but the impressions left inside his sea of consciousness could not disappear so quickly.
The phoenix inside his sea of consciousness looked even more wilted than his physical true form, entirely Wenren Li’s doing.
“A-Li, tell me honestly. Did you take this opportunity to settle old accounts and deliberately punish me?” Chen Yixin was extremely suspicious. He sat atop Wenren Li and refused to let him rise, brows lifted with limitless allure.
The words sounded accusatory, but to Wenren Li, Chen Yixin seemed more dissatisfied than angry—as though he were tempting Wenren Li again.
Wenren Li hesitated before nodding. “I can’t bear to hit or scold A-Rong. This was the only way.”
Wenren Li admitted it frankly, leaving Chen Yixin, who had finally obtained an answer, unsure how to react. His cheeks puffed out and his eyes widened further before he finally obediently rolled aside.
In a strangely aggrieved tone, he asked, “Then… has A-Li calmed down?”
Wenren Li slowly dressed without answering. Was that not already an answer that he had not? No, even “calmed down” was not quite right. Every time Wenren Li remembered what happened, he still became angry and still felt pain.
That wound was difficult to heal. Perhaps only after thousands, tens of thousands, or even more years would Wenren Li finally stop caring so deeply.
Chen Yixin also fell silent for a while. Then his huffy expression transformed into exceptional obedience. He handed Wenren Li clothes, found his shoes, cooperated completely when Wenren Li dressed him, and even offered sweet kisses from time to time.
He had dug this pit himself. Crying was not an option. He could only smile while filling it back in. Besides, Chen Yixin had caused this wound, and he needed to heal it for Wenren Li willingly, no matter what treatment Wenren Li chose.
Chen Yixin followed Wenren Li with an obedient expression. He had barely taken two steps outside the sleeping palace when he walked straight into Wenren Li’s back. The next instant, Wenren Li picked him up.
Wenren Li’s anger had not faded, but he still felt heartache for Chen Yixin. Even knowing he had not actually harmed Chen Yixin, Wenren Li could not bear even this slight sensation of distance between them.
Only when they were almost at Yuxu Palace’s main hall did Wenren Li set Chen Yixin down and change to holding his hand.
An Cheng called loudly, “Great Emperor Yuxu arrives! The Sovereign Consort arrives!”
The two entered hand in hand. Their clothing could only be called ordinary daily wear, but the force of their presence still prevented the gathered Immortal Emperors and Immortal Lords from looking directly at them. They crossed the long red carpet and sat together upon the large silver seat atop the hall.
The assembled immortals knelt and paid respects. “We greet Great Emperor. We greet the Sovereign Consort.”
“Rise.” Wenren Li lifted one hand, and invisible divine power supported everyone back to their feet.
Then an Immortal Emperor stepped forward from his original place and bowed. “Changdong brings his subjects to offer congratulations. May Great Emperor and Sovereign Consort endure through eternity and once more forge the glory of the divine realm.”
Immortal Emperor Changdong was the same Immortal Emperor who had once taken Chen Yixin away, sent him to the Sea of Ice Extremity, and later been trapped there by Chen Yixin. Like Sovereign Feng Yuan, he had originally maintained neutrality. Now, like Feng Yuan, he had chosen Chen Yixin’s and Wenren Li’s side.
Among the Ten Emperors, Changdong was an old and highly prestigious figure. His decision alone was enough to influence some people who still hesitated.
Others stepped forward one after another afterward and expressed their allegiance. Yet those who came represented less than half of the Upper Realm’s Ten Emperors and Nine Clans. The other half had chosen Dongfang Jin and Nangong Chuan.
That result was not especially surprising. Human hearts changed easily. In the perception of most Immortal Emperors and Immortal Lords, Wenren Li belonged to the glory of the past—a glory that had once been dragged from its divine pedestal. They trusted the currently ascendant Nangong and Dongfang more.
Just as the remaining Immortal Emperors and Immortal Lords finished paying respects, a streak of golden light shot directly toward Yuxu Palace.
“Envoys of Sacred Lord Nangong come to offer congratulations!”
Even when two armies were at war, envoys were not killed. These messengers had charged straight into Yuxu Palace rather rudely, but killing them outright would still be inappropriate.
At that moment, Qingruo flew forward and swept his Heavenly Phoenix Token through the air. The mass of golden light shattered instantly, and four people tumbled out. Nearly everyone present recognized the man in front—Immortal Emperor Guangle, Lan Xin’s father.
None of the four had expected Wenren Li’s side to show not the slightest fear of Nangong’s name. Beneath Qingruo’s Heavenly Phoenix Token, even Immortal Emperor Guangle could not withstand a single strike.
The rule about not killing envoys meant only that Qingruo could not kill them. In his eyes, crippling or maiming them was perfectly acceptable.
Especially someone like Guangle, who could not distinguish right from wrong or good from evil. He would regret his choice, and that regret would begin today.
“Kneel!” Chen Yixin narrowed his eyes and spoke a single command. All four immediately dropped to their knees upon the steps before him and Wenren Li.
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