Chapter 245: Why Are You at My Brother's House?!

Jin Shaoyu opened the apartment door only to come face-to-face with Chu Yi. The smile on his face vanished instantly. He stood in silence for a few seconds, then took a half-step back, looked up to confirm the house number, slammed the keys in his hand against Chu Yi's face, and roared, "Chu Yi! Why the hell are you in my brother's house?!"

Chu Yi sidestepped to avoid it, and the keychain fell to the floor with a crisp sound.

He then bent down to pick up the keys, placed them on the marble tabletop, and said nonchalantly, "Shao Yu, it seems your brother hasn't told you yet."

Jin Shaoyu had disliked Chu Yi since his student days.

Later, when the Empire fell into chaos, it was all instigated by Chu Yi. He once suspected that Chu Yi had fed his brother some kind of love potion to make Ling Wu agree to work with him.

Furthermore, Jin Shaoyu believed Chu Yi was hypocritical; even when he was just a Special Student, he had tried every possible way to get close to his brother, all to exploit Ling Wu.

Jin Shaoyu had preconceived notions, imagining Chu Yi to be a heinous person, and this prejudice only grew stronger with age.

Yet, Chu Yi truly lived up to the assessment in Ling Wu's letter: meticulous and resourceful. He had struck the nobles until they retreated step by step, throwing away their helmets and armor. His methods were precise and ruthless; while cutting weeds and eliminating roots, he didn't mind adding a raging fire to the mix.

It was just that in front of Ling Wu, he pretended to be harmless and magnanimous, while in reality, he never showed mercy when playing dirty.

Jin Shaoyu had suffered at his hands more than once.

Of course, this was all from Jin Shaoyu's one-sided perspective; in fact, Chu Yi had never actually caused him any trouble...

Settling old and new scores together, Jin Shaoyu couldn't help but curse, "Shao Yu? Who gave you permission to call me that? Who are you trying to get close to? Why don't you go take a piss and look at your own reflection?"

The muscles on Jin Shaoyu's face twitched: "It's already a stretch for you to even call me 'Grandpa'!"

Chu Yi did not want to argue with him.

Seeing Chu Yi fall silent, Jin Shaoyu felt the satisfaction of having his nemesis under his feet, wanting to crush him ruthlessly. He raised his voice: "Aren't you supposed to be staying in the Empire? What are you doing running to my brother's house? Is it not enough that you've already harmed my brother so badly?"

"Was it you who instigated him back then? He almost died, do you know that?!"

Chu Yi sat on the sofa, leaning back slightly, looking quite at ease, not at all stung by his sharp words: "If you insist on bringing up the past, I can only tell you that Ling Wu and I were of the same mind."

Jin Shaoyu repeated: "Of the same mind?"

He was so angry he laughed: "Do I need to spell out who gained more? Without my brother mediating and balancing things in the middle, did you think you could have taken Beidu City so easily?"

Chu Yi accepted this readily: "Indeed."

"A-Wu's contribution was indispensable."

Jin Shaoyu felt as if he had punched a cotton ball, or thrown a stone into a lake without even causing a ripple.

Seeing his face turn livid, Chu Yi leaned over and poured a glass of warm water: "Are you tired from talking?"

"Drink some water."

Jin Shaoyu rolled his eyes internally. He was about to say that no one wanted his lousy water, but then he thought better of it—this was Ling Wu's home, and the water was his brother's water, so he swallowed the words back.

He took the water, his gaze inadvertently catching the photo in a prominent spot, perfectly encased in a frame. The face of Chu Yi in the photo looked as if it could come to life, showing off and acting arrogant toward Jin Shaoyu.

Jin Shaoyu set down the cup and pointed at the photo: "What is this?!"

"Take your things and get out right now!"

Chu Yi caught the frame steadily and hugged it to his chest like a treasure: "Shao Yu, don't break it. This is something that belongs to both your brother and me."

"What do you mean?" Jin Shaoyu frowned.

Chu Yi looked at him with composure, his eyes as gentle as water, but the words he spoke carried a sharp edge: "Shao Yu, what do you think I mean?"

What did he mean...

Jin Shaoyu realized it belatedly. He looked at the doorway, where there were two pairs of men's slippers that were not Ling Wu's size, as well as the photo of the two of them displayed in the home. The apartment was filled with the atmosphere of two people living together.

All of this was a reminder to Jin Shaoyu that Ling Wu was living with Chu Yi! And it wasn't just for a day or two.

Jin Shaoyu grabbed Chu Yi by the collar, his expression extremely ugly, and roared: "Did you seduce my brother?!"

Chu Yi didn't fight back even while being grabbed by the collar. There wasn't a hint of fear on his face as he added slowly: "Yes."

Yes.

Jin Shaoyu hadn't expected Chu Yi to be so shameless; he felt waves of chill sweep through his entire body.

Chu Yi stared into his bloodshot eyes and simply laid it all out: "It's exactly what you think. We are already together, living together. Ling Wu is my boyfriend now, and in the future, he will be my husband."

Every word and every tone of his speech was dancing on Jin Shaoyu's landmines.

Jin Shaoyu sneered: "Chu Yi, what are you so proud of?"

"My brother and I are the closest. Besides, does my brother know you have two faces? Someone as hypocritical as you had better pray you can keep up the act for a lifetime and never let the truth slip out."

Chu Yi couldn't keep up the act for a lifetime; he had already broken character the moment he heard that Ling Wu and Yu Shixue were about to enter a political marriage.

He was desperate to have Ling Wu leave something behind for him—something unique, something etched into his bones, even if it were pain or a scar, it didn't matter.

But after that incident, it had, to a certain extent, distanced his relationship with Ling Wu.

Thus, through the constant trial and error of people like Yin Huaiyu, Yu Shixue, and Jing Du, Chu Yi had figured out a strategy that suited him.

After that night at Muya Snow Mountain, Chu Yi was even more certain of the correctness and feasibility of this method.

Even if he just kept walking along this path he had researched, even if he couldn't successfully reach the intersection point with Ling Wu, at least they wouldn't be parallel lines.

Hearing Jin Shaoyu say this, Chu Yi also began to worry: could he really keep acting forever?

This worry left him feeling empty inside, a sense of panic, as if the time he had spent day and night with Ling Wu was something he had stolen through improper means.

It was true that Chu Yi loved Ling Wu.

It was also true that he was good to Ling Wu.

But his true nature and his reason were at war with each other.

Jin Shaoyu knew he had hit a sore spot: "Back in the Empire, you pretended to be generous, but in reality, seeing my brother surrounded by countless people who liked him, you must have been grinding your teeth to dust, right?"

"But you couldn't deliberately crowd around my brother like Yin Huaiyu did."