A Disguised Scum Alpha Marked Her Aloof Ex-Wife - Chapter 27

Bai Shuzhou was exhausted. Even her breathing carried a heavy weight.

Zhu Yu could not bear to close her eyes. Her gaze lingered on Bai Shuzhou’s fine, curled lashes, as if even her own breathing had become light, afraid of disturbing that fragile curve.

Only the faint red at the tip of Bai Shuzhou’s nose, dyed by desire or illness, added a trace of color to her paper-pale face. After this kiss, light as a feather, it was as though she had awakened from an ancient black-and-white scroll. Her pale blue eyes were misty, reflecting Zhu Yu’s tiny, anxious shadow.

The kisses that followed were especially gentle. Bai Shuzhou rarely gave up control, allowing the young woman to explore slowly and awkwardly, with an almost indulgent patience.

Fingers clumsily searched through the cold gaps until, at last, their hands clasped tightly, drawing the thin warmth from each other’s palms.

The dragon race had always had a lower body temperature, but Zhu Yu felt that the body in her arms tonight was as cold as a piece of jade that could never be warmed.

She did not know what torment Bai Shuzhou had endured, nor what pain was surging beneath that seemingly calm surface. Thousands of words blocked her throat, and in the end, they only turned into a deeper, wordless rubbing of lips and teeth, carrying comfort.

For the first time, Zhu Yu realized so intensely that even though she had once read Bai Shuzhou’s life in words, Bai Shuzhou was still unfamiliar to her.

It was like looking back through a history book. In the long flood of time, one person’s joys and sorrows became very small.

She would become very powerful.

And then?

Would those old wounds still ache faintly in quiet nights?

Zhu Yu had only glimpsed Bai Shuzhou’s bright, moonlit future. She did not know her past, did not know how the moon had risen, and even more, did not know…

What Bai Shuzhou was thinking right now.

As if sensing the young woman’s sudden low spirits, Bai Shuzhou bit her lower lip, neither hard nor light.

There was no threat in it. It was more like a proud little cat showing its soft pink paw pads and patting her gently.

Her cool voice carried a faint hoarseness from desire as it brushed against Zhu Yu’s sensitive ear.

“Focus.”

When you kiss me, focus a little.

A moonlight-like voice, mixed with a trace of lazy nasal tone. That solemn warning, with Bai Shuzhou’s indifferent nature, was practically acting spoiled.

Zhu Yu blinked and caught the fleeting satisfied smile between Bai Shuzhou’s brows and eyes.

She was clearly quite pleased with this kiss.

Zhu Yu’s heart softened. She cupped Bai Shuzhou’s face carefully with both hands and pressed down an even gentler peck.

Conspiracies and schemes, the rise and fall of the universe, all became distant and insignificant in this moment.

Only their touching body heat and intertwined breathing were the exhausted soul’s one anchor, making Zhu Yu certain that two hearts were drawing closer—not merely because of that night when the sensitive period had erupted, not merely because pheromones and hormones had catalyzed it.

Bai Shuzhou lightly touched the tips of the young woman’s hair. Her lowered eyelids suddenly opened again, and her voice dipped, carrying thick exhaustion as she clearly and logically analyzed the treacherous situation for Zhu Yu. She reminded Zhu Yu not to respond to anything related to the Federation.

Even if the response was positive, one day in the future it might become the Sword of Damocles hanging above her head, ready to fall at any time.

Bai Shuzhou had already requested that the military take the insectoid infestation seriously. But clearly, the Empire nobles, born as the so-called “crown of all living beings,” arrogantly believed that mere insects could not threaten the Empire’s foundations too greatly. In their eyes, the enemy had always been the Federation from beginning to end.

Even more despicably, some believed that only war and plunder could achieve the fastest primitive accumulation and…

Consumption.

Bai Shuzhou closed her eyes, frowned, and let out a soft breath. Her eyes were filled with compassion.

She said softly that the Empire was ill.

Her fingertips unconsciously drew circles in Zhu Yu’s palm, taking those icy calculations apart bit by bit for her, as if handing over a heavy entrustment.

The complicated world was peeled open layer by layer through her calm narration, revealing clear veins beneath.

For a moment, Zhu Yu felt Bai Shuzhou had already stood at the highest place, overlooking the world, while she herself was Bai Shuzhou’s most capable minister, gathering strength, ambitious and ready to act, only waiting for Bai Shuzhou’s command.

But her sovereign was too pale and frail, as fragile as glass. Zhu Yu could not help climbing the steps, stopping almost offensively at her side. Her voice was light as a sigh.

“Is your body all right?”

“It’s only a small problem.”

Bai Shuzhou paused, her tone light as if discussing the weather. She raised a hand and pinched the tip of Zhu Yu’s nose, trying to dispel the heaviness.

“It’s because I’m very strong.”

There was a hint of pride too subtle to notice. Her whole body sank into the soft pillows, silver hair scattered messily. Her usually sharp outline had softened, revealing a rare, fluffy fragility.

“My mental power is too strong. My body cannot bear it. When the vessel overloads, it spills out, causing some confusion. I’ll be fine after resting for a while.”

But unease still lingered in Zhu Yu’s heart, refusing to leave. She kept feeling something was wrong, but could not say what.

Before, whenever she sat at the edge of the bed, even if Bai Shuzhou ignored her, her tail would gently wrap around her, much more honest than Bai Shuzhou herself. Her physical reactions were adorable.

Tonight, there was no movement at all.

Bai Shuzhou was exhausted. Her pulse was so faint it was almost impossible to capture. Those pale blue eyes flickered in the backlight, then slowly lowered.

It was already time for Bai Shuzhou to rest.

“Can I massage you?”

Zhu Yu softened her voice and leaned close to her cool ear, warm breath brushing past.

“It’ll feel much better. Sleep. Only when you sleep enough can your body recover.”

“No.”

Bai Shuzhou lifted her eyes again and stared at her.

“I won’t use that,” Zhu Yu knew what she was worried about. Using her ability in the Academy was indeed dangerous. So she nuzzled closer and said softly, “I only want to make you a little more comfortable. Okay?”

The young woman’s gentle nuzzling was too soft. Her bright eyes watched Bai Shuzhou without blinking, and even the gloom in Bai Shuzhou’s heart seemed to faintly disperse.

Reason urged her to let Zhu Yu leave.

But Bai Shuzhou faintly lifted a brow and knowingly asked, her little finger rather wickedly poking the soft flesh at Zhu Yu’s waist.

Her voice was very light.

“That? Which one?”

Unspeakable, unspoken, known only between the two of them.

Zhu Yu held the hand that was making trouble, and the atmosphere suddenly changed.

To ask such a private question with such a cool, businesslike expression—tingling numbness crawled up from their touching fingertips.

Zhu Yu looked at Bai Shuzhou’s slightly raised lips and wanted to kiss her again.

Why could she never kiss her enough?

Those lips were too thin, always giving the illusion of sharpness and ruthlessness. But they were clearly still stained with Zhu Yu’s color, her warmth, shimmering with wet light as Bai Shuzhou pressed them together.

Ugh. How could she be this beautiful…

Zhu Yu could not help swallowing.

Seeing Zhu Yu blush, Bai Shuzhou was very satisfied. She laughed softly. Her icy hand stroked Zhu Yu’s face, palm fully pressed against her cheek, fingertips slow.

“Do you have a fever?”

Bai Shuzhou’s cool hand brushed Zhu Yu’s burning cheek, her fingertips unhurriedly tracing her outline. Her cold voice was thin and crisp.

Deliberately, she became very aloof again. She even leaned back slightly. Those thin lips looked even fuller and more moving.

Her distant brows and eyes seemed to write:

You are not allowed to kiss me.

Do not imagine a pink elephant.

Do not sink with me into the soft pillows and let disordered breaths entwine. The night is too cold. Do not melt with me. Warm ice water will drip down.

Do not…

Zhu Yu should not have come here now.

Bai Shuzhou should not be indulging herself like this either.

The more something was forbidden, the more the flames of emotion grew wildly.

Following the slight hook of Bai Shuzhou’s hand, the young woman half-knelt up. Her long legs supported her weight, and she bowed her head devoutly, trying her best not to press on Bai Shuzhou.

She knelt to no gods or buddhas in the heavens, only to her desire.

At one moment of light contact, the woman’s soft arms stiffened for an instant, but she quickly adjusted. Her breathing also slowed further, and the faint scent of roses spread with the heat she exhaled.

The slight pain of wounds intertwined with tingling numbness. A gasp that could not be voiced. Bai Shuzhou bit her lip, and her clear thoughts briefly sank.

It was only a brief sinking, a brief escape. In this moment, she pulled away from endurance and unbearable pain, letting her lover gently touch her wounded soul to ease the agony.

Without question, Bai Shuzhou disguised herself very well, showing only her elegant, noble side.

But when the kiss reached the side of her neck, Zhu Yu suddenly stopped with great restraint, unwilling to go further.

Gradually, wet droplets rolled down.

Bai Shuzhou opened her eyes and froze slightly, suddenly crashing into the rain falling from the young woman.

Zhu Yu was crying.

It should have been summer-night rain, sudden and urgent, coming before even thunder had time to startle anyone. Zhu Yu bit her lip, and bitter tears fell drop by drop.

“Does it hurt?” Zhu Yu asked.

She did not continue kissing her. Instead, she barely touched the needle mark on the side of Bai Shuzhou’s neck. Because of that sudden indulgence just now, a bead of blood was seeping from snow-white skin.

It was like the most expensive, brilliant ruby had been finely pierced through the skin and stitched there. Beautiful and bewitching.

Does it hurt?

It must hurt.

Why…

Why would she refuse to say anything?

Her initial restraint had been out of pity for Bai Shuzhou’s body. Now, however, she was stabbed by the sight before her.

Zhu Yu trembled as she lifted Bai Shuzhou’s scattered hair and gathered it in her palm. More red marks were exposed under the light.

There was more than one needle mark, and they were near the most sensitive and fragile gland. Her loose long hair had hidden too many traces of medical treatment, deep and shallow, winding down into the depths of the sheets.

Those were wounds even a sky full of snow could not cover, wounds she had carefully hidden, pretending to be careless, pretending everything was under control.

Bai Shuzhou’s skin was very sensitive. The slightest touch easily left marks. Zhu Yu knew Omega physiology was special. Their senses were many times sharper than ordinary people’s.

Pleasure would be magnified.

Pain would be magnified too.

That day at Paradis, just one injection had already been almost unbearable for Zhu Yu. When the needle pierced the gland, it felt as though part of the soul had been pierced too, constantly flowing outward.

Now Bai Shuzhou lay there powerlessly, guiding with restraint even when stirred. She had thrown every sense into the sinking kiss…

It was her only piece of driftwood against boundless pain.

When Zhu Yu lightly touched her lips, Bai Shuzhou’s throat trembled. She shrank, but did not dodge. Instead, she closed her eyes and felt it with her heart.

Her pale blue eyes fell into darkness, sensing her lover’s kiss.

Even without ability healing, simply embracing and kissing could ease the pain.

Even when speaking of the old grudges between the Empire and the Federation, Bai Shuzhou had remained restrained. Rationally and indifferently, she had used many neutral words to describe it all.

But at this very moment, all her emotions and senses seemed poured into kissing Zhu Yu.

It was release.

It was sinking.

It was the silent throbbing suppressed deep within pain.

And her suppression, her pain, her tiny pauses and breaths…

Zhu Yu caught them all.

Zhu Yu’s tears fell for Bai Shuzhou’s pain, and also for her own slowness.

In this bitter sea called Bai Shuzhou, she was like a little fish leaping out of the water of pleasure, stubbornly crying for Bai Shuzhou’s wounds.

The tears were hers.

But the pain seemed carved into both their bones, no longer distinguishable.

Bai Shuzhou endured the pain in the most relaxed posture and tapped Zhu Yu’s lips.

“It’s fine. Continue.”

When people were at their weakest, they instinctively longed for intimacy, coveting that brief numbness and warmth.

And Zhu Yu knew nothing about everything happening to Bai Shuzhou’s body.

Just like that morning when she woke, Bai Shuzhou had already disappeared. Bai Shuzhou was always so solitary, holding everything up by herself.

“Can you let me see your injuries? Should I call a doctor?”

“Aren’t we lovers? Tell me. I want to share it with you too. Don’t say nothing…”

After a short silence, Bai Shuzhou actually laughed softly.

She made as if to kiss Zhu Yu again, completely ignoring the bead of blood rolling down her neck. Only after Zhu Yu stopped her did Bai Shuzhou lightly lift her brows.

“No. I don’t want to talk about this.”

It was not direct silence, but “I don’t want to talk about this.”

This was already a kind of concession, tentative, exhausted, and almost spoiled.

But Zhu Yu failed to understand this complicated compromise.

She only caught that bit of softening and urgently pulled open the quilt, wanting to confirm Bai Shuzhou’s safety, just like when they were in the rented house, when she checked her injuries.

The boundaries between them had long since blurred. From massages to care, there was no need to be separated by a blanket. Skin brushing against skin was warm and comfortable, and the effect would be better.

But pulling the quilt open crossed the final defensive line in a very offensive way.

“Don’t move!”

Cold air abruptly drilled into her skin. Those wounds that had not had time to heal were unexpectedly exposed to the air just like that.

Bai Shuzhou’s pupils abruptly shrank, and the thin vertical pupils became sharp. Her body stiffened fiercely, and from her throat came a broken low growl, frightened like a young beast.

“Don’t look at me.”

Her cool voice was unusually hoarse at this moment, as if mixed with gravel, carrying an uncontrollable tremor. The suddenly lowered tone made the temperature of the entire room drop.

Zhu Yu had not expected such a strong reaction from her. The wounds she had not clearly seen only made her heart even more uneasy, trembling and beating wildly.

If Zhu Yu used even a little force, she could pull it open again. In Bai Shuzhou’s current frail state, she could not refuse.

But the woman’s eyes were red at the edges, flashing with shock and humiliation. She did not want to be seen.

It was as if some defensive mechanism had been triggered. Yet she no longer had enough strength to raise her thorns and protect herself. She could only clutch the quilt tightly, her knuckles turning pale from force, her body spasming faintly beyond her control.

No, no…

Her thoughts cleared briefly. Bai Shuzhou looked at her trembling hands in disbelief.

As if suddenly realizing something, she opened her bloodless lips, wanting to say something to Zhu Yu. But that clarity was like a stone thrown into a deep pool. It only squeezed out a few broken syllables before being swiftly swallowed by a chaotic fog.

She looked terrible.

“I’m sorry—”

Zhu Yu was somewhat at a loss.

Bai Shuzhou lifted her face. Fine cold sweat surfaced on her forehead. Using the last of her strength, she gritted out:

“Get out!”

Her tone was decisive, unquestionable, just like the absolute control she had shown when pulling Zhu Yu close at the start. But now, it was used to shove her away fiercely.

The piercing call bell rang.

A Snow Leopard Knight appeared like a ghost and forcefully “invited” the dazed Zhu Yu out.

The distance between them kept widening. The scent of disinfectant filled the air, and Zhu Yu finally noticed that the soft bed looked more like a lone island.

There were no shoes beside the bed.

No wheelchair.

No…

Freedom.

The tear stains on her face had yet to dry. The places Bai Shuzhou had touched still burned, numb and painful. That feeling of shared pain now turned into a real blade, repeatedly crushing Zhu Yu’s heart.

Because on her lover’s body, that unbearable pain was especially obvious.

She hated her own belated realization, hated that she had let Bai Shuzhou endure alone for so long.

Zhu Yu tried to break free from the Snow Leopard Knight’s control.

She could not leave like this!

But the moment she stepped out the door, the overwhelming scent of seawater surged toward her, almost devouring her whole.

The young woman’s knees went weak. If the Snow Leopard Knight had not been holding her, she would have collapsed in an even more miserable state. She lifted her eyes and met a pair of deep blue eyes looking down at her with disgust.

It was…

Bai Qianze.

She had actually been waiting here the entire time!

The emperor’s terrifying pressure struck Zhu Yu’s mind blank. Fear from instinct made Zhu Yu’s body react before her consciousness did. She quickly bowed and heard herself call out with utmost respect:

“Your Majesty.”

Melno stood not far away, one hand behind her back.

The emperor looked down at Zhu Yu indifferently, her gaze as sharp as an ice pick. Pure contempt seemed almost tangible.

Invisible mental power surged, far more fatal than Izelia’s exposed killing intent. It silently squeezed the air, bringing a near-death suffocation.

—Trash.

This word did not need to be spoken. It was already clearly carved into every one of her icy gazes.

“What can you even do properly?” Bai Qianze’s voice was like jade striking stone, carrying metallic coldness and mockery.

The instant their eyes met, Zhu Yu saw the smile without warmth in her eyes, and the settled, undisguised killing intent. It was not an angry warning, but a casual command, like brushing away a speck of dust.

She could kill Zhu Yu easily, if she wished.

That hand, symbolizing supreme authority, elegantly lifted and approached Zhu Yu.

At that critical instant, the emperor’s gaze swept over Zhu Yu’s tightly clenched fist and clearly caught the ring between her fingers, refracting blood-red light.

It was the gift Bai Qianze had given Bai Shuzhou, now worn on Zhu Yu’s hand.

“Tsk.”

An icy, disgusted scoff.

“Nothing but a plaything.”

Bai Qianze withdrew her hand, frowning as if she had touched something filthy. Too disdainful to look again, she turned and pushed the door open to enter.

Zhu Yu still wanted to follow, but Melno grabbed her hard and asked in a low voice, “Do you want to die that badly?”

The door had not yet closed. In the quiet corridor, Zhu Yu very clearly heard Bai Shuzhou call out with a very low sob in her voice:

“Imperial Elder Sister…”

Alarm bells rang wildly in Zhu Yu’s heart.

Bai Shuzhou’s abnormal state and Bai Qianze’s overwhelmingly domineering aura seemed to weave into some ominous sign.

Ignoring Melno’s obstruction, Zhu Yu used all her strength to break free.

Don’t bully her.

Even her sister cannot!!

The door was pushed open with a bang.

The expected tense confrontation did not appear. The scene inside the room was completely different from what Zhu Yu had imagined.

Inside the door, Bai Qianze was holding Bai Shuzhou carefully in her arms with a strong, protective posture, as if guarding a fragile treasure.

In one hand, she held a cup of water. With the other, she was patiently feeding pills one by one to her younger sister’s pale lips.

At this moment, the emperor had withdrawn all her sharp edges. Only an almost obsessive, quiet protection remained.

This warm scene gave Zhu Yu an indescribable fear.

Her intrusion had undoubtedly disturbed this strange quiet. Bai Shuzhou lifted her head at the sound.

Her gaze crossed her sister’s shoulder and landed on Zhu Yu.

In those pale blue eyes, there was no trace of the confusion and pain from moments ago, nor the deep affection from before.

Only…

Complete and utter hollowness and coldness.

She even instinctively shrank deeper into Bai Qianze’s warm embrace.

Bai Qianze sensed her younger sister’s discomfort. The frost between her brows, which had melted slightly from tenderness, instantly froze over again, and her killing intent grew even stronger.

She slowly lifted her chin, deep blue eyes locking onto Zhu Yu frozen at the door, filled with displeasure that her territory had been invaded.

“Get out. Do you want to hurt her again?”

“…”

Ah.

Zhu Yu stood stiffly at the door, even her breathing thrown into disorder.

Clearly, not long ago, they had still been kissing.

But now, the way Bai Shuzhou looked at her seemed to have returned to the very beginning.

Cold and wary.

No.

It was even worse.

In those hollow eyes, there was not even hatred.