Chapter 204 - 146:
Xie Wanqing hesitated for a moment, then reacted and immediately strode towards the door.
When passing him, her wrist was caught again. Thinking he was teasing her again, Xie Wanqing was about to burst into curses, but suddenly a heavy coat wrapped around her shoulders.
Lu Ziyuan reached out to fasten the cloak’s tie and helped her put on the hat, meticulously covering her from head to toe. Finally, he took off the white jade from her waist and tied it to himself, exchanging it with the black jade from his own waist.
After this, he gave her a light smile and said, "New Year’s gift."
Between them, there was always an exchange of gifts every year, without exception over the years.
Xie Wanqing gave a final glance at her jade pendant before turning and leaving briskly.
Lu Ziyuan did not see her off; in the softly lit room, he stood still, quietly watching her departing figure.
As the door opened, Mingjian, who was outside preparing to knock, quickly retracted his gesture. Xie Wanqing said, "Take me out."
This was a military camp. She had been here a few times in previous years, but always closely following Lu Ziyuan, never moving on her own, especially at night. She didn’t know the way out.
Mingjian glanced back into the room, received an order, and immediately gestured, "Follow me."
In the freezing military camp of midwinter, there was a certain cold solemnity. Along the way, they encountered several small patrol squads, who greeted Mingjian with hand gestures, all ignoring the figure wrapped in the commander’s cloak behind him.
Smoothly and steadily, they walked out to the outmost sentry. Xie Wanqing saw a carriage shrouded in the night, and heard someone next to her say, "There’s something the subordinate must speak."
Before Xie Wanqing could respond, Mingjian continued, "Our Princely Heir was a renowned young hero before coming of age, excelling in both civil and military arts, ambitious, with no peak unreachable. How does he fall short compared to the Pei Family, prompting you to hastily abandon him in such a humiliating manner?"
Xie Wanqing’s steps briefly paused, momentarily caught by the question.
This wasn’t only Mingjian’s puzzlement; perhaps anyone in the Capital truly understanding Lu Ziyuan would find her choice perplexing.
In outsiders’ views, Lu Ziyuan’s wrongdoing was merely bringing back a mistress.
Would the bond built over ten years together mean less than a mistress, inferior even to a concubine, that it deserved such strict judgment?
Moreover, after her engagement withdrawal, the Lu Family conceded, willing to dismiss the mistress, yet she insisted on breaking the engagement, resolutely marrying someone else without leaving any room for reconciliation.
The person she married was a Princely Heir of Duke Pei Mansion, eleven years her senior, famously weak in health...
Though Pei Yuqing’s birth was noble too, his covert control of the Qingtian Guard was unknown to outsiders, so compared to the promising Lu Ziyuan, in anyone’s eyes, her actions seemed extremely humiliating.
Thinking this, Xie Wanqing couldn’t help but think of a wry laugh. She removed the cloak, handed it to Mingjian, thought for a moment, and said, "I have a clear conscience."
Mingjian reached out to take it, pausing for a moment upon hearing her words.
Xie Wanqing glanced at him and said, "You don’t need to seek justice for your master; I don’t feel I owe him anything."
Having said that, she stepped away.
The carriage immersed in the night was already near without her noticing.
The driver was Pei Er, who promptly lifted the heavy curtains upon seeing her approach.
Xie Wanqing lifted her gaze, meeting the eyes of the man seated inside.
They had shared intimate moments as a couple just the night before, yet now, after only a day apart, in this setting, she suddenly felt estranged, staring blankly as if she didn’t know him.
In the icy snow, not even wearing a cloak, Pei Yuqing couldn’t resist reaching out to encircle her waist, bringing her into the carriage.
The thick curtain fell, blocking any further view inside. Mingjian watched as the carriage turned around and slowly left before returning to the camp to report.
......
Inside the carriage, the brazier was burning hot.
Upon entering, Xie Wanqing pulled away from the hand on her waist, sitting opposite him, her head bowed silently.
Pei Yuqing glanced at her, raised his hand to pour a cup of hot tea and pushed it over, but she didn’t reach to take it.
For a while, neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere descended into a peculiar silence.
When it comes to patience, perhaps no one could equal Pei Yuqing, and Xie Wanqing was no exception.
Under the oppressive quiet, her suppressed emotions couldn’t bear any longer, and she was the first to speak, "Don’t you have anything you want to ask me?"