Chapter 105:
She stood there without moving, her gaze fixed on the dagger with the leather scabbard.
Lu Ziyan followed her gaze and glanced down at it, saying, “That year when I went to Lingnan, I heard there was a family of blacksmiths there, so I commissioned this pair of daggers.”
He had been more steady than his peers since childhood, and as he grew older, he became even more impassive. The shallow and straightforward affection of a young man, when placed on him, was something he greatly liked, but perhaps only half of it would be revealed in the finer details.
For example, he had never told her that upon receiving the news of her snow blindness, he was frantic with worry and rushed back day and night.
But after he returned, she was instead going to great lengths to find another man.
What piano music, what companionship, what gentle soothing.
That was the first time he tasted the sourness of jealousy, and also the first time he dreaded another man so much.
He smiled and said, “Do you think that I blocked your carriage halfway, abducted you here, acted arrogantly, and bullied you too much?”
Xie Wanning did not speak.
But her expression clearly said yes.
Lu Ziyan’s heart grew even more sour, and he said angrily, “Do you think that sickly person is some good thing? When you were my fiancée, he coveted you; when you were my wife, he still wouldn’t give up, keeping you in mind like a rat in the gutter.”
As he spoke, his smile turned cold. “After going around in circles for two lifetimes, he just got the advantage of my past life memories awakening later than yours, snatched you away, and now wants me to accept fate. Why should I accept fate?”
If he had awakened his past life memories first, things between them absolutely would not have developed to this point.
How could she have remarried someone else.
In this life, she was already someone else’s legitimate wife—this was a fact that made him want to vomit blood every time he thought of it.
These words contained a huge amount of information, and Xie Wanning’s heart skipped a beat.
“…In the past life, after I died, he…”
So, did Pei Yuqing really silently pay attention to her all along in his previous life?
Lu Ziyan glanced at her and said, “Wanwan, you need to know that he was the one who came after me first. He wants to fight me for you in two lifetimes, so I don’t need to show him any consideration.”
Including abducting the other’s nominal wife halfway and bringing her to his own courtyard.
He refused to say what Pei Yuqing had done after her death in the previous life, but his words already revealed his hatred.
Xie Wanning listened quietly, but her mind involuntarily wondered what reaction the man who had never appeared before her in the past life would have upon hearing the news of her death.
He also had a heart condition.
Her absent-mindedness was clear as day to Lu Ziyan, and a trace of gloom flashed in his eyes.
“What are you thinking about? That sickly person is good at pretending to be weak. I died, but he lived just fine,” he said. “The one who truly died for love for you was me. After killing all your enemies, I used my own life to atone to you.”
His tone was calm, speaking of committing suicide as if it were some insignificant trifle. Xie Wanning’s heart was full of complex emotions.
There was panic, there was shock, and even more, she increasingly felt that he was utterly mad.
Lu Ziyan glanced at her, reached out to pick up the dagger from the table, drew it from the leather scabbard, and said indifferently, “Didn’t you say you were going to sentence me to death? Come over and carry it out.”
Xie Wanning still did not move.
“Afraid?”
“If you’re afraid of being held accountable for killing me, you can rest assured.”
He set down the blade and gave her a hooked-lip smile. “This courtyard is my private residence. No one will know you were here. After I die, Ming Jian and the others will clean up all the loose ends for you. Everyone will only know that I died from an old illness relapse. You can just go back and continue being the Young Lord’s Consort of the Duke’s Estate.”
“Wanwan, I’ll say it one more time,” he paused, slowly reining in his smile, and said indifferently, “This is the only opportunity in this life for you to get rid of me. As long as I’m alive, no matter what, I won’t let go of you.”
He was very sincere, laying everything out clearly.
Perhaps it was because he saw her emotions collapsing and felt soft-hearted, or perhaps he wanted to gamble once, to know whether she had truly completely let go of him as she claimed, and whether she had even half a portion of reluctance toward him.
So he decided to give her this opportunity.
As long as she was ruthless enough, one stab to end his life, and in this lifetime, she would completely get rid of her entanglement with him.
Xie Wanning’s gaze fell on the dagger on the table.
When she received it back then, she was very happy and even gave it a name.
Cai Yue.
Hers was called Cai Yue; she didn’t know what this one was called.
Xie Wanning finally moved. She walked step by step to the table. Lu Ziyan’s gaze tightly followed her, but she ignored him, reaching out to grip the hilt embedded with a ruby.
The blade forged from fine iron gleamed with a bright watery luster under the candlelight—sharp and cold.
With Lu Ziyan’s temperament, no matter what reason led to his decision, if she really dared to stab him with the knife, he certainly wouldn’t go back on his word.
With this one stab, she might really be able to end everything.
Stab his chest, or his neck?
The neck wouldn’t work; the wound would be too obvious, and the excuse of an old illness relapse wouldn’t hold up.
Then it would be… the chest.
But after stabbing?
He was a military general who had never lost a battle, brave and skilled in combat, and the Great Khan had long been plagued by internal and external troubles, most lacking generals who could lead troops in battle.
In her past life, though she had only lived to eighteen, it was enough for her to know how important this man was to the Great Khan.
Even if he was just a subject, the Emperor treasured him immensely, let alone that his true identity was…
Of course, she was just a girl from the boudoir. Worrying about the country wasn’t her concern. No matter how chaotic the nation became, the officials would figure it out. If the sky fell, there would be tall people to hold it up.
She was born into wealth and nobility. Even if the country was riddled with problems, only the poor commoners would suffer; it wouldn’t reach her.
Killing him wouldn’t affect her…
Xie Wanning tightened her grip on the hilt and suddenly asked a question.
“You said that after returning from the Northern Frontier Battlefield, you were ambushed… Was it the First Prince’s doing?”
At that time, she had just left the family temple when she heard the news of his great victory in the Northern Frontier, capturing the Northern Frontier prince alive.
The Great Khan only needed to wait for the Northern Frontier to take the initiative to sue for peace before deciding whether to hand over the hostage.
Such a great victory not only invigorated the border generals and soldiers guarding the city gates but was also enough to deter the petty villains within the country.
The occasional unrest from bandits in various places also quieted down.
Yet with such a victory celebrated by all the people, he was ambushed and nearly killed on his way back to the capital.
Lu Ziyan seemed somewhat surprised that she suddenly asked this question. His eyes lifted slightly before he nodded and said, “It was him.”
“He knows your identity and, seeing you win a victory, fears you threaten his position as Crown Prince, so he wanted to get rid of you?” Xie Wanning was puzzled. “He is His Majesty’s eldest son, with a reputation for wisdom far and wide, admired by the court and the people. You…”
Even if he won a victory, even if he regained his identity, but as the Emperor’s illegitimate son—a bastard raised outside—such a birth shouldn’t be enough to affect his inheritance rights as the Eldest Prince, right?
