Chapter 215 - 150
"What kind of madness are you playing at now?" Xie Wanqing stepped back several paces, on guard, "This is the Imperial Palace, the Holy Emperor is inside, along with the civil and military officials, you..."
Before she could finish her words, there was a tightening at her waist, and by the time she reacted, the two of them were already behind the artificial rock.
"Quite the charmer," Lu Ziyuan’s voice was cold, "One Pei Yuqing isn’t enough, now when did you start a relationship with Ji Chengfeng?"
As he spoke, he directly snatched the plum branch from her hand, intending to throw it away, but Xie Wanqing hurriedly grabbed his sleeve to stop him, "Don’t!"
"Did he give it to you?" Lu Ziyuan sneered, "Sent with love via plum blossoms?"
"No!" Xie Wanqing held onto his sleeve, tiptoeing to try and take back the plum blossom, "I picked it myself!"
In the thick darkness of the night, Xie Wanqing couldn’t see the expression of the person in front of her, but she could sense that upon hearing these words, the aura around him visibly softened.
Soon after, the plum branch was returned to her hand.
"From now on, spare no words or smiles with other men."
There was a hint of displeasure in his tone, which really amused Xie Wanqing. Were it not for the unsuitable setting, she would have mocked him a few times; but for now, she just scoffed, "You better curb your madness as well."
With this, she took a step to leave, but quickly, her wrist was caught.
"What do you want? Let go!" She struggled, and after a brief pause, he actually released her.
"Wanwan," he began awkwardly, "Are you fond of that pretty-faced fellow again?"
"..." Xie Wanqing was silent for a moment, and upon realizing who he referred to as ’pretty-faced,’ she was speechless at his skill for giving people derogatory nicknames.
Yet, her silence was taken by Lu Ziyuan as tacit confirmation, his voice growing colder: "Is that so?"
"No!"
Afraid he might again act out irrationally, though she originally didn’t want to engage with him, Xie Wanqing sarcastically remarked, "In your eyes, am I so lacking men that I fall for every man I meet?"
"Don’t talk nonsense, when have I thought of you that way," Lu Ziyuan relaxed his brows and said seriously, "I’m just worried others might be interested in you."
Not knowing from what standpoint he felt entitled to ask all these questions.
Yet reasoning with him was useless; perhaps in his heart, they were still husband and wife.
Xie Wanqing abandoned the thought of reasoning with him, and said, "I should be going back."
As if reminded by her words, Lu Ziyuan said, "In the grand hall earlier, what did you think I was going to say? Asking that old man for you in front of everyone?"
Before Xie Wanqing could speak, he continued, "I would never do that."
He had never belittled her and how could he treat her like some mere dancing girl, requesting openly in the grand hall.
"I wanted to ask for something else from him."
As he spoke, he reached directly for her waist, disregarding her resistance and unfastened her sachet, squeezing it as he said, "The sachet he’s wearing was embroidered by you."
It had been a long time since he received a sachet from her.
Today, Xie Wanqing wore a light blue dress, and her sachet naturally matched the color of her clothes.
Even in the pitch-black night, Lu Ziyuan could see the lifelike lily of the valley flower embroidered on it, and he glanced at it before resolutely placing it into his chest, keeping it safe.
The sequence of movements was smooth and seamless, making Xie Wanqing widen her eyes in disbelief, "I never said I was giving it to you!"
She jumped up and down, trying to snatch it back, but she was not as tall as him and did not dare to make any further physical contact, so she could only watch helplessly as he tucked it away, fuming, "Don’t you hate these flowery things for being feminine!"
"...I don’t hate them," Lu Ziyuan grasped her wrist and said, "Why would I hate them? It’s just that the colors of the flowers and plants on the sachets you embroidered are delicate and easily stained."
Hence, he hadn’t been willing to wear them.
Later, when she embroidered beasts, whether the sachet’s fabric or the thread colors were deeper, he was willing to wear them out.
But such thoughts, he had not easily expressed to others before, thus up until today, she still thought he despised those flowery things for being feminine.
The previous him was neither expressive nor articulate, stingy in communication, which led to various misunderstandings she had about him.
Many small misunderstandings added up, always making her suffer more grievances.
Xie Wanqing hadn’t expected this to be the reason, and after a moment’s daze, quickly collected herself, "Give me back the sachet!"
Lu Ziyuan pressed his lips, looking at her, "I can return it, but then I’ll just take his."
Xie Wanqing raged, "Do you have no shame?"
This kind of insult she had hurled countless times, Lu Ziyuan listened without any sense of feeling.
Like a pig not afraid of boiling water.
Directly driving Xie Wanqing to near-explosion with rage.