Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Perhaps the Ex-Husband Isn’t a Bad Choice

Ming Lingyi thought, ’If Li Yun tries to force me, I’ll just have to stab him in the chest again today. I’ll teach him a lesson.’

But to her surprise, Li Yun simply gestured toward her with his hand and did nothing more.

"Look," Li Yun said, motioning for Ming Lingyi to look at his sleeve cuff. "It’s old and frayed."

Ming Lingyi: "???"

’Is the great ruler of a nation really telling me he has no undergarments to wear?’

’If word of this got out, no one would believe it, would they?’

"You used to say you wouldn’t let me wear undergarments made by anyone else," Li Yun said. "So now, Yuan Niang, if you don’t make them for me, I have nothing to wear."

Li Yun seemed to grow a thicker skin whenever he faced Ming Lingyi.

Just like now, he played the victim with practiced ease, showing not a hint of shame.

Back when they were newlyweds in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, Ming Lingyi had indeed said something like that. Her Grandpa had only ever had his wife in his life; his household was simple, with no other women.

She, too, had married Li Yun full of hope, naturally wanting to live a harmonious life with her husband and grow old together.

But that was all in the past.

Ming Lingyi hadn’t expected Li Yun to be so shameless. She snapped, "Well, I’m allowing it now."

The look on Li Yun’s face darkened. "I don’t agree." He suddenly took a step forward, closing the distance between them. "Why should I? You tell me not to wear clothes made by others, so I don’t. Now you want to take it back? I won’t allow it."

Ming Lingyi’s lips parted. She wanted to ask what Li Yun could possibly do about it, even if she did take it back.

But before Ming Lingyi could speak, in the moment she’d slightly lowered her guard, Li Yun suddenly bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Li Yun had to admit he was acting out of desperation. Ever since their reunion, he hadn’t gained any ground with Ming Lingyi.

He couldn’t bear to hear another word he didn’t want to hear from those soft lips he had once adored.

Li Yun’s plan had been simple: shut her up and teach her a lesson. But as he drew close to Ming Lingyi, things spiraled out of his control.

His body, already intensely aware of the woman before him, reacted instantly. The moment his lips met hers—as soft as he remembered—his hand instinctively went to her waist. He pulled her hard against him while she was still staring wide-eyed, lost in a daze.

Ming Lingyi’s body was forced flush against the man before her.

Li Yun had already removed his outer robe, leaving him in just a thin under-robe, one that was almost transparent from repeated washing. His body was scorching hot. The instant Ming Lingyi was pressed against him, she felt the change in his body.

The surprise in her eyes was now tinged with fury.

Ming Lingyi wanted to call him a scoundrel, but she had only just parted her lips. Before she could escape his hold, she inadvertently gave him an opening.

Li Yun instantly parted her teeth, deepening the kiss.

One of his hands wrapped around Ming Lingyi’s waist, while the other moved to the nape of her neck, strong and unyielding, preventing any chance of escape.

In moments, Ming Lingyi was enveloped in Li Yun’s scent. She felt his hand on her waist begin to roam, lingering there restlessly. His palm was large and calloused, his grip firm. The pressure sent a tingling numbness through her waist, and her body went weak, melting almost uncontrollably into his embrace.

In truth, even if Li Yun weren’t holding her now, she wouldn’t have the strength to stand.

The base of her tongue grew numb from his kiss. To Li Yun, Ming Lingyi was like an addictive drug, impossibly alluring.

And Ming Lingyi—the woman who had once loved him enough to believe they would grow old together—how could she be completely unmoved, even as her mind screamed at her to push him away?

After years of sharing a bed, they knew each other’s habits and preferences in these matters with an unspoken intimacy.

When Li Yun tilted his head and took her earlobe between his lips, Ming Lingyi finally let out a soft cry.

Li Yun felt her response.

For the first time all evening, a small smile finally graced his lips.

Lowering his head, Li Yun bent down again. The hand on her waist slid lower, hooking under her bottom as he lifted her into his arms.

Ming Lingyi gasped in surprise, but she had already lost her chance. The moment she hadn’t pushed him away, the moment she had tacitly allowed him to continue, she had surrendered the upper hand.

His familiar scent enveloped her, and on top of that, the man’s physique was enough to make one’s mind wander. After a moment’s hesitation, Ming Lingyi ultimately didn’t push him away.

Before her marriage to Li Yun, Ming Lingyi had never imagined that the act of love between a husband and wife could be so addictive. But she couldn’t hold out against the young general’s enthusiasm for it on the frontier. Besides, their bodies had always been exceptionally compatible, and she had gradually come to appreciate it.

But later, after Chen Fei entered the palace and she herself became pregnant, Ming Lingyi had not been intimate with Li Yun for a very long time.

Her physical condition was one reason. But another was, how could she not feel that a Li Yun who had been with another woman was already tainted?

Now that she knew the truth of what had happened back then, the resentment in her heart had lessened somewhat.

’If I were to spend a night of passion with the man before me,’ Ming Lingyi thought, ’I wouldn’t be the one losing out.’

An unmarried maiden might have reservations, but she had been married once, had even died once. So many things she had once held dear were now as fleeting as smoke. Reborn into a new life, the most important thing was to live freely, just as she pleased.

At this thought, the last trace of hesitation in Ming Lingyi’s heart vanished. She reached up, following her heart’s desire, and wrapped her arms around Li Yun’s neck.

’Here’s an ex-husband, presenting himself on a silver platter. He’s not bad-looking, costs no silver, and comes with no emotional baggage. What’s wrong with using him for a bit?’

The moment Ming Lingyi’s arms wrapped around his neck, a jolt shot through Li Yun, as if a feather were being brushed, gently and repeatedly, against his tailbone. His entire body trembled; even his very soul seemed to shudder.

Li Yun stared deeply into her eyes, searching her face for the answer he so desperately wanted.

But when had Ming Lingyi ever been so accommodating?

Ming Lingyi was oblivious to Li Yun’s thoughts. She only sensed that the man holding her had paused for a moment. Not thinking much of it, she slowly opened her hazy eyes, the corners flushed and moist.

"Second thoughts?" she asked.

As she asked, she seemed perfectly prepared to pull away and leave.

If he wasn’t going to do anything, she had no intention of just billing and cooing with him.

Her words, sounding as if she might pull away at any moment, made Li Yun’s gaze darken. An instant later, he leaned in and covered her body with his.