Chapter 108:
Xie Wanning’s facial expression changed: “Are you going to break a promise?”
“I promised to let you leave, and that I would never again bring you here without your consent, and I certainly will not break a promise,” Lu Ziyan lowered his gaze to look at her, saying: “But you must first answer one question for me.”
Xie Wanning took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the displeasure filling her heart, and lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. “Ask.”
As their eyes met, Lu Ziyan ‘s jaw tightened slightly, and he said stiffly, “He really can’t do it, right?”
In his heart, she was still his wife. Letting his own wife go back with another man was already something sufficient to make him vomit blood.
If they still……
The sound of iron blades clashing came from the outer room. Lu Ziyan’s personal soldier was exchanging fire with others, while he himself was stubbornly waiting for her answer.
He was determined to get an answer, but how could Xie Wanning tell the man who coveted his wife about Pei Yuqing’s pain? She frowned and turned her face away.
“I cannot answer this question,” she said in annoyance: “Lu Ziyan, you should know that apart from Pei Yuqing, I don’t need to keep myself chaste for anyone.”
“Alright,” her words were truly not pleasant to hear, but Lu Ziyan’s tense jaw relaxed. He smiled and said, “That’s enough. I’ve already understood.”
He understood her too well, so he took this answer of hers as the default.
He paused, then said again, “Promise me one last thing, and I’ll let you go.”
Xie Wanning already understood his rogue nature and did not expect him to let her leave easily, so upon hearing this, she silently glared at him.
Lu Ziyan hooked his lips into a smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes. “Don’t let him kiss you anymore. Can you promise me?”
Abducting someone else’s wife to his own separate courtyard, and now that the person involved has come knocking on the door, he’s still here making conditions. Truly shameless.
Xie Wanning could not bear to see his confident demeanor even more, her eyes revealing annoyance, “What exactly do you want to do!”
He had clearly promised to let her leave, and also promised that he wouldn’t take her away without her consent in the future. She and Pei Yuqing were already a legitimate couple. How they got along in private was something he could control?
What qualification does he have to make her agree to such an absurd and unreasonable matter.
Even if it was just perfunctory, she wasn’t willing to even perfunctorily do it.
Lu Ziyan softened his tone, “If I don’t release her, it would be very difficult for him to take you away today,”
He said, “Wanwan, are you really going to compete with me over this?”
“For something like this, even if I agree, would you believe it?” Xie Wanning was amused to anger. “Also, how intimate I am with him, what does that have to do with you? Haven’t you already promised to no longer…”
“I promised not to force you anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up,” he stated matter-of-factly. “I’ve said it before—as long as I have a breath left in me, I won’t stop coveting you. I’ve given you the opportunity, but you couldn’t bring yourself to take my life.”
The commotion in the outer room grew louder and louder, and both of them heard it crystal clear.
Lu Ziyan’s facial expression softened under the candlelight. His gaze focused as he said, “Wanwan, I just need you to promise me this one thing. If you’re willing to commit, I’ll believe you.”
That sickly person truly has a frail body, so it’s normal that he cannot consummate. As long as she doesn’t touch his young lady again, he can grit his teeth and accept it, treating it as if she has not yet married.
Actually, at present, she is safer in Duke Pei’s Mansion than by his side, which also conveniently frees up his hands to deal with some riffraff.
This time, he had no weakness and did not need to have scruples about others…
Once everything is settled, he will come grandly to seek her forgiveness.
He had planned everything properly, seeking nothing more than a promise from her.
Don’t allow that sickly person to kiss her again.
Xie Wanning did not understand the ever-changing court politics, nor did she know how turbulent the world was, but she vaguely understood his intentions.
Without much deliberation, she said, “You must remember what you said, that from now on you will no longer force me.”
Lu Ziyan nodded solemnly, “I guarantee I won’t force you in the slightest.”
“Alright,” Xie Wanning said: “I promise you.”
She agreed too readily, which was not what Lu Ziyan wanted.
But after Xie Wanning finished speaking, she turned and walked toward the door. He subconsciously wanted to reach out and pull her back, but he was also afraid of ruining her rare concession.
This was her first concession tonight.
It was also the first time she agreed to his request.
Lu Ziyan silently withdrew his hand, clenching it into a fist, his gaze fixed on her back as she left without hesitation, his expression inscrutable.
He indeed shouldn’t have pressured her too tightly; he should let her relax, then find a way to win her heart again.
So what if they marry? They’re just a couple in name only without substance.
He doesn’t care!
…………
Xie Wanning opened the door, and upon lifting her eyes, she saw Pei Yuqing standing not far away in the courtyard.
His face was as still as water, his eyebrows and eyes full of a cold severity she had never seen before.
The moment the door opened, he immediately lifted his gaze to look over. Their eyes met in midair, locking for an instant. The depths of his eyes were profound, betraying no emotion.
Xie Wanning pursed her lips, somewhat at a loss.
Ming Jian, guarding outside the door, saw the door open and was slightly stunned. He then looked behind her.
Lu Ziyan glanced at him, and Ming Jian understood. He waved his hand to call everyone to a stop.
Only then did this farce finally come to a stop.
Xie Wanning lifted her skirt hem, about to step down the stairs, when her elbow was gripped from behind by someone.
“Wanwan,” Lu Ziyan glanced at the man in plain clothes in the courtyard, and when he turned his face back, his eyebrows and eyes were gentle. Meeting her angry glare, he hooked his lips into a smile and said lightly: “Remember the promise you made to me.”
Truly shameless.
Saying such words right in front of her husband.
This demeanor, this context, as if she really had some unclear relationship with him…
Xie Wanning’s heart flared with anger. Ignoring him completely, she impatiently shook off his hand, lifted her skirt hem, and hurried down the stairs.
Lu Ziyan just quietly watched her almost run to the other man, and in the next instant as she approached, that man encircled her waist and pulled her into his arms.
Surrounded by the familiar scent of Buddhist lotus, Xie Wanning’s nose tingled, and she nearly shed tears.
“Elder Brother Changqing…” She gripped his sleeve, her voice trembling, wanting to say something but unable to continue.
Grievance like a child who had been bullied outside and, upon seeing family, prepared to complain.
Her voice was very low, even more inaudible in the night with the wild wind howling.
But even so, it effortlessly reached the ears of several people.
Pei Yuqing’s heart’s tip suddenly tightened, both sour and painful. He tightened his arms, rubbing his chin against the top of the young lady’s hair in his arms, but his gaze abruptly lifted, piercing toward the man who had walked out of the door with her.
Lu Ziyan didn’t feel any better than him. Looking toward the pair embracing in the courtyard, compared to her struggling in his arms earlier, she was now very docile, obediently letting another man hold her.
But he surprisingly had no time for jealousy and hatred; at this moment, his mind was filled with thoughts of.
So, she called him Elder Brother Changqing.
So, in front of him, she had such a little girl’s demeanor.
Begging for tickets, begging for red sleeve tickets~~~
