Chapter 101: Can’t let you go
The curiosity in Han Shuying’s gaze immediately shifted to anger. Even in her presence, Ru Yi was asking for others. Was she not enough?
"When you got stabbed, a shadow came out of you instead of blood," Han Shuying asked, completely ignoring her other question. "I’ve never seen anything like it before."
Ru Yi rubbed her temples to ease the ache in her head. "Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with the guards?" She finally looked around, taking in the room. "This is not Madam Xiao’s house."
"Who is Madam Xiao?" Han Shuying asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice.
"That’s none of your business," Ru Yi answered, she was starting to get her bearings. "Why am I here alone with you?"
Han Shuying stood straight. "We’re going back to the capital so the royal physician can examine you."
"There’s nothing wrong with me," Ru Yi declared. "And I’ll rather die than go anywhere with you." She stood up, but got dizzy for a second and fell.
Han Shuying managed to catch her on time. She leaned in, her lips directly on the shell of Ru Yi’s ear. "You need me, Ru Yi. Whether you realize it or not."
"Move away from me," Ru Yi muttered, but her voice came out weak and hoarse. The warmth that radiated off Han Shuying wrapped their arms around her. "I hate you."
Han Shuying looked genuinely confused. "That was not the idea I got the last time we were together," she whispered back.
Ru Yi being in her arms was a routine she was rapidly becoming accustomed to. Instead of placing her back on the bed, she moved them both to the chair with Ru Yi sitting on top of her.
"Sit still," Han Shuying roared when Ru Yi tried to get up. "Why would you say you hate me?"
Ru Yi bit her bottom lip, thinking back to the night she was with the triplets at the inn. "You were among the assassins that attacked us that night. I saw you."
Oh.
Oh.
Han Shuying’s cheeks turned a suspicious red. "I didn’t think you’d recognize me." Then her face turned serious. "I wasn’t there for you. The triplets were our target."
She put a finger under Ru Yi’s chin, gaze sickenly soft. "I would never harm you."
Ru Yi pushed her hand away. "I don’t believe you."
"I don’t need you to." She put her fingers back on Ru Yi’s face. "What you need to do is follow me back to the capital. I’ll get you a house and take care of you, there’s no need to worry about what’s going on in the palace. You’ll be safe from it all."
Ru Yi turned to look at her face.
This was the version of Han Shuying she had a soft spot for. The one that took care of her in that dark cell, and wanted her to have a fun night with her friends.
Sometimes, Ru Yi found her heart wavering when she thought about it. "Why will you do that for me?" she asked. "So you can hold it over my head and manipulate me like the others?"
"What?" Han Shuying asked. "When have I ever manipulated you? You wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for me."
Ru Yi stood with no resistance on Han Shuying’s part. "I’m grateful that you helped save the kids, but that will be all. You’ll return to the capital and I’ll go back to—"
"Don’t you dare!" Han Shuying warned, the fierce warrior everyone feared peaked for a second. "You’re choosing them over me?"
"I’m not choosing anyone, I’m just continuing my life as I know it right now." Ru Yi exhaled, brief and exhausted.
"Then let me be a part of that life," Han Shuying blurted out, surprising both of them. She backtracked. "No, that’s not what I meant."
Ru Yi bit her bottom lip. "You’re always sending me mixed signals like this. First, you’re kind to me...then you try to kill me and..." Ru Yi could feel her frustration bubbling to the surface. "And now you show up still wearing the stupid bracelet I gave you!"
Han Shuying looked at the wrist. "The bracelet is not stupid."
"Right..." Ru Yi nodded slowly. "You are. I apologise for reading too much meaning into the things you did for me."
Han Shuying wanted to tell her she wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t understand why she did all those things herself. Whether it was the bracelet or sparing her life on numerous occasions.
All she knew was...she didn’t want Ru Yi out of her sight. Or even worse, close to those damn wolves.
"If you really want to repay me for my kindness, then come with me. There’s nothing for you here in Tiancheng or anywhere else." Anywhere that Han Shuying wasn’t.
It was an offer Ru Yi would’ve taken in the past, especially when she wanted nothing to do with the triplets.
Now, she was getting comfortable around them. Especially Yexue...even Lieyin’s fierceness was rubbing off on her.
And Qingyue...
"Why do you want me to go with you, Han Shuying?" Ru Yi asked her seriously. "Answer me honestly."
Han Shuying scrambled for an answer that she could understand herself.
If she was capable of properly loving someone then she would’ve given that answer first. But she knew very well the shadow that was where her heart should be. The growing darkness that kept her awake in the middle of the night.
Still...couldn’t she indulge in this one act of selfishness?
Ru Yi took her silence for an answer of its own. "Don’t be too kind to others, they might misunderstand you just like I did. Can I have the bracelet back?"
Han Shuying hit her wrist behind her back. "It was a gift, there’s no need to take it back."
"It’s just a piece of cheap jewelry, I’m sure you have others more valuable than it."
Han Shuying shook her head. "No one ever gave me a gift, until you." She touched the jewelry. "It might not mean much to you but it’s everything to me."
Ru Yi’s heart fluttered.
That treacherous creature!
"Keep it or not, I don’t care. But let’s never meet each other again," Ru Yi said. "I’ll find my way back to Madam Xiao’s house. I just have one last wish."
Han Shuying nodded for her to go ahead.
"Please make sure those children are in safe hands, they’ve gone through enough pain to last them a lifetime."
Ru Yi turned to the door. "It might come off as greedy, but don’t come after the triplets anymore. They’re the last good things in my life."
Han Shuying waited until Ru Yi was at the door before she spoke. "The next time we meet, Ru Yi. I won’t be letting you go."
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