Chapter 283: Chapter 260: Each Person Takes a Bite Chapter 283: Chapter 260: Each Person Takes a Bite Rong Zhi fell into deep thought in front of Chu Yu. His scheming was profound, and even though tumultuous waves might be surging in his heart, as long as he wished, he could conceal them from detection, his facial expressions becoming even more composed and elegant.

Witnessing this scene, Chu Yu felt that he was probably devising some nefarious plan again.

Just as Chu Yu was becoming somewhat impatient waiting for him to come back to his senses, she heard Rong Zhi’s voice again, “Anything else?” Are there any other conditions?

Chu Yu’s spirits lifted, and she immediately continued with words she had prepared earlier, “Additionally, I don’t care what you want to do, but I don’t want you to reach out to those around me and drag the people by my side into your schemes.”

Rong Zhi slightly raised his eyebrows, “Such as?”

Chu Yu looked at him directly, her gaze resolute as she said, “Such as Huan Yuan, such as Liu Sang. I know that the matter of Huan Yuanzhi might be unrelated to you, and Liu Sang following her sister is what I wish for, but I do not hope for such incidents to happen again. This request shouldn’t be too much, right?” In fact, aside from Huan Yuan, there really weren’t many people around her who could be exploited, so this request was merely a precaution.

Chu Yu’s thoughts were naturally clear to Rong Zhi. He smiled and nodded, “That can also be granted.” Sitting on the stone platform, his words and demeanor were very gentle, yet they unwittingly gave Chu Yu the illusion that she was a bird in a cage or a fish in a net, her life and death reliant entirely upon his whims.

This feeling was quite uncomfortable.

Chu Yu frowned slightly in displeasure and thought it over carefully again. With Rong Zhi’s means, cunning, status, and power, forcing her to reveal all the details about Tian Rujing’s bracelet wouldn’t be difficult, yet he had chosen a relatively mild way of trading. From this perspective, it should be considered quite acceptable.

Thinking back to the past, when Rong Zhi was confined in the Princess Mansion, he probably had a harder time than she did. Now it was merely her turn in the cycle of fortune.

Although the present situation was far from satisfactory, as long as she endured this period, everything should be settled.

With that thought, Chu Yu felt better, and the smile on her face suddenly became more cheerful and bright. She looked at Rong Zhi with a grin, “One last little request, don’t find it too much. This request goes together with the previous ones, which is, as you bring Tian Rujing down, also ensure that Huan Yuan escapes his obligations and no longer needs to be an adviser to Tuoba Hong and Tuoba Lv.”

Rong Zhi gazed at her, slowly blinking, a smile forming as he said, “Alright, all of these are not difficult to manage. I’ll agree to them all together, only the last one isn’t for realization just yet.”

Chu Yu was initially prepared to bargain further, but was surprised by Rong Zhi’s swift agreement. Overjoyed, she took a few light steps forward and swiftly extended her hand, palm facing outwards, and said, “Deal!”

Rong Zhi lifted his hand and gently pressed on her palm, then laughed, “Just a verbal agreement, aren’t you afraid I’ll go back on my word?” A pledge by hand slap is the least reliable oath after all.

Chu Yu snorted, “If you wanted to go back on your word, even if it was written in black and white, you wouldn’t be constrained by it; it’s better to keep it simple.” She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that when Rong Zhi’s palm touched hers just now, it didn’t seem like a slap but more like a comforting stroke…

It’s definitely an illusion.

The two of them thus reached an agreement. Rong Zhi smiled faintly, turned his head, and began to amuse the future heir of Northern Wei, his expression very tender. The glow in his eyes was like the spring sun, gradually melting the harsh and unattainable frost, and Chu Yu couldn’t help but stare blankly. Coming to her senses, she felt somewhat at a loss about what to do next.

According to her and Rong Zhi’s agreement, she should now tell him all she knows about the bracelet, but seeing Rong Zhi’s current demeanor, he seemed in no rush to know, preferring instead to amuse a child… What exactly is he thinking?

Rong Zhi’s fair, slender fingers lightly tapped on the infant’s tender lips. The latter stretched out a chubby hand that resembled a little meat bun, grabbed his index finger, and shoved it into its mouth, vigorously nibbling with its tiny white baby teeth as if it wanted to bite the finger off.

Chu Yu almost gaped, secretly sweating for the heir of Northern Wei. Even if it was teething time and needed something to gnaw on, it should select a better target. Children are just children, fearless because of their ignorance, daring to bite anyone–that was Rong Zhi, and she herself wouldn’t dare to bite him… Ah, no, that was incorrect, she had bitten him before but hadn’t managed to bite hard…

Recalling the reason behind the “biting”, Chu Yu’s face heated up again.

Rong Zhi smiled serenely, reached out his finger to gently scratch the infant’s cheek and corner of the mouth, eliciting giggles from the baby. Seizing this opportunity, he withdrew his finger, which now sported a delicate wet tooth mark between the first and second joints–almost as if wearing a ring. Rong Zhi looked at the “ring” for a while, then turned to Chu Yu and smiled, “My apologies.”

Chu Yu thought it over and over, and finally tiptoed over to the infant, who was to the left of Rong Zhi, so she stood on the right.

Unsure how to look at Rong Zhi, she pretended to focus on the baby. Though initially feigned, her attention to the baby grew genuine, and she found herself increasingly fond of how beautiful the child was.

While watching, Chu Yu remembered something, “This child doesn’t really resemble the barbarians.” Wasn’t it said that the Emperor of Northern Wei originally came from the nomadic Xianbei Tuoba Clan?

She often heard from Huan Yuan about the many barbarians in Ping City. Yet, during her days there, when she occasionally went out, she couldn’t tell apart the barbarians from the Han people on the streets; they all looked quite similar except for their outfits, not much different from those in the Southern Dynasty.

Of course, Chu Yu herself didn’t have a clear idea of what exactly Xianbei people looked like, vaguely feeling they should feature high noses and deep eyes, yet not blonde-haired and blue-eyed like Westerners, essentially not quite like the Han people.

This situation on the streets made sense, because after entering the Central Plains, the Xianbei people lived and intermarried with the Han people. Due to the large base population of Han people, the Xianbei had gradually been assimilated over the years. Now, even the so-called Imperial Family bloodline seemed to have been heavily Hanified.

After a while, Chu Yu couldn’t help but mimic Rong Zhi, reaching out her hand to play with the baby. The next second, her right forefinger, like Rong Zhi’s before, was grasped by the soft, tender hand of the little fellow and expertly stuffed into its mouth for gnawing–seeming quite practiced at this task.

Chu Yu gasped sharply and thought painfully about withdrawing her finger but hesitated, fearing she might accidentally hurt the tender, delicate little being–it seemed so fragile as if even a small force could damage it.

Rong Zhi, pressing his lips together, watched her furrowed brow with a slight smile in his eyes, enjoying the view for a while before finally reaching over to help. He playfully got the baby to open its mouth, freeing her bitten finger. When Chu Yu pulled her hand back, she also saw a tiny tooth mark on her finger, exactly at the same location as the one on Rong Zhi’s.

Each had a tooth mark in precisely the same spot. Although there was not the slightest contact between them, it was as if an invisible thread connected one end to the other.

Feeling uncomfortable, Chu Yu suddenly heard a questioning voice next to her ear, “Do you like children?”

Chu Yu was taken aback, taking a while to realize Rong Zhi was talking to her, hesitated, then nodded, “They’re okay, when they’re not noisy,” just like now. If it started to fuss, she would be ready to run.

Rong Zhi nodded earnestly, “I’ll remember that.”

Chu Yu felt somewhat baffled: Why did he need to remember that?