Chapter 171:
Lu Ziyan’s gaze turned cold, his expression terrifyingly grim. Xie Wanning didn’t look at his face, but she could feel the boiling rage from the person beside her.
She held her breath, instinctively stepping back, but soon her wrist tightened as he pulled her into his arms.
A familiar breath hit her face. Xie Wanning swallowed, her voice trembling with fear, “Lu Ziyan, don’t go crazy!”
His large palm gripped her slender nape, gently drawing her in, his knuckles brushing her soft skin, sending a shiver through her.
Lu Ziyan chuckled.
The laugh was short and icy, making one’s hair stand on end.
Xie Wanning stiffened all over. Suddenly, the hand on her nape applied a bit more force. Her vision went dark as her face was pressed straight into his chest.
The moment Lu Ziyan lowered his head and securely pulled her into his arms, regret surged through him like turbulent waves.
How could he allow this young lady to lie beneath another man.
On those lonely, sleepless nights, she was held in that old man’s arms, their necks entwined in passion.
Right on this bed!
A short, trembling sound escaped Lu Ziyan’s throat. His lips parted, tongue curling to take her jade-like earlobe into his mouth, slowly grinding against it.
Xie Wanning could no longer hold back and began struggling wildly.
She used considerable strength, but that bit of force was no different from flirting in front of him. It couldn’t stop him at all and instead aroused his reaction.
“Does he know you’re sensitive here? …Hmm?” His voice was low and hoarse, half-mocking as he laughed, “Every time he kisses here, your body goes soft. Does he know that?”
They had been a couple for two years. This young lady was very delicate; light touches weren’t enough, but heavy ones weren’t allowed either. To avoid hurting her on the bed, he had nearly carved the word “endure” into his bones.
He was familiar with every part of her body, from inside to out.
And now?
Did that man know her just as well?
He knew they had consummated their marriage, but only at this moment did Lu Ziyan deeply feel the fact that his exclusive treasure had been touched by another man.
His hatred surged, his eyes bloodshot, his reason nearly gone.
His lips pressed against her scorching hot earlobe, his laugh brimming with killing intent, “Wait and see. Soon, I’ll make you watch him die with your own eyes!”
The chill spread from her ear canal to her limbs and torso. Xie Wanning’s struggling movements stiffened for a moment.
Lu Ziyan was both jealous and furious. His boiling rage made him want to tear the person before him apart. He gritted his teeth, “What exactly did you see in that old man!”
He could even accept her marrying someone else out of revenge against him!
But how could she give away her true heart!
“Didn’t you say you loved me? Didn’t you say you’d marry no one but me!” The bitterly suppressed jealousy and hatred exploded. Lu Ziyan lost all reason, his bloodshot eyes glaring at the young lady before him, “How could you so easily accept another man!”
The man before her was truly frightening now. Xie Wanning took a deep breath, digging her nails into her palm to force herself to calm down and avoid arguing with him.
She didn’t want to further enrage him, but in her own home, being questioned like this, she really couldn’t endure it.
“Is it that painful?” She looked at the neatly made bed, saying softly, “You can’t stand such a clean bed? Have you ever thought about what you’ve made me endure?”
She thought of her past life in the dream, that warm room.
On a bitterly cold winter day, she stood outside in the howling wind, hearing the voices of the man and woman inside with her own ears.
One was her deeply loved husband, the other her trusted maidservant.
Even if she now knew the truth wasn’t as she thought, in her past life until death, she had firmly believed they were tangled together inside.
Such soul-crushing pain, he had made her hear it with her own ears.
Then without the slightest apology or explanation, he directly took her as a concubine.
Compared to him, what wrong was it for her to be intimate with her husband in this life?
She wanted to say more, but her wrist was gripped tightly. In the next instant, her whole body was flung onto the couch.
Lu Ziyan followed, pressing down over her. One hand restrained her wrist, the other buckled her waist, trapping her beneath him as he leaned down to gaze at her.
“Clean?” He repeated lowly, his teeth bared in menace, “He hasn’t touched you here?”
What was talking past each other? Xie Wanning finally understood.
This man was truly seriously ill.
She stopped speaking and dared not struggle anymore. The person on top of her seemed to gradually calm down as well.
The room was utterly silent.
After a long time, so long that the redness in his eyes faded and clarity returned.
He leaned down, burying his face in her neck, his voice muffled.
“Why didn’t you come?”
Xie Wanning was stunned, “What?”
Her confusion didn’t seem feigned. Lu Ziyan’s voice deepened slightly, “What about that bamboo tube?”
Xie Wanning’s brow twitched sharply as she realized why he had come.
She didn’t speak. Lu Ziyan propped himself up to look at her, his expression darkening, “Lost?”
As he spoke, he reached out to grip her chin, “Where did you lose it?”
He wasn’t pressing down on her anymore, letting Xie Wanning breathe a little easier. She didn’t play coy, turning her head to point at the vanity beside them, “Under the cosmetic box.”
Lu Ziyan glanced at her, got off her, walked over, rummaged in the cosmetic box, and turned back. By then, Xie Wanning had also gotten up, standing far from the bed.
Her guarded posture, as if afraid he would do something to her on the couch, made Lu Ziyan’s already simmering anger surge even more.
He sneered coldly, his slender fingers casually flipping the unopened bamboo tube at his fingertips, “Since you kept it, why not open it? Was toying with me fun?”
“I didn’t keep it,” Xie Wanning parted her lips, explaining the misunderstanding from yesterday, “I never intended to toy with anyone.”
She explained so earnestly, yet Lu Ziyan’s expression didn’t soften at all.
Of course he knew she had never thought to toy with him.
There was probably only one thought in her mind.
That was to stay as far from him as possible, best if they cut ties completely and never interact again.
Between them, it was always him forcing it, him being persistent.
Thinking this, the smile at his lip grew colder, his gaze on her so direct it was chilling.
Xie Wanning was angry but dared not speak, turning her face away to avoid looking at him, hoping he’d take the thing and leave quickly.
But Lu Ziyan showed no intention of leaving. Instead, he walked to the small round table and sat down, pouring himself a cup of cold tea before saying, “That man is old and frail; no wonder you could be moved.”
Belittling Pei Yuqing seemed to boost his mood; his expression visibly improved. When he looked up again, he tossed the bamboo tube over.
Xie Wanning instinctively reached out to catch it.
The moment the bamboo tube landed in her hand as intended, who could deny their tacit understanding.
Xie Wanning’s breathing hitched as she looked at the youth with slightly raised brows, inwardly annoyed at her instinctive reaction.
The bamboo tube in her hand felt like a hot potato; she wanted nothing more than to throw it back to him.
