Abandoned Wife? Her Starlight Shall Blind You!-Chapter 48 - 1: Sensing His Frightening Nature

Shen Ruoxi wiped her lips and smiled, "You said it yourself, you know I’m the most reasonable."

"Your aunt just hopes you can live well, otherwise she wouldn’t have forced you to marry Xiao Chengyi.

Although you and he have separated, all of us, your family, are your support. You really don’t have to go to the border city.

You know very well how dangerous it is there.

Don’t let what happened with Xiao Chengyi make you fear marriage. I believe you will find a husband who loves you wholeheartedly, who will treat you well for a lifetime and love only you.

Cousin Jue really doesn’t want you to go to the battlefield.

Besides, our grandparents are getting on in years and can’t take much more, don’t make them worry about you, okay?"

Shen Ruoxi’s eyes were clear and bright as she quietly stared at Lan Jue, "Cousin Jue, I know you’re looking out for me, afraid I might be in danger, but some things are destiny, and I don’t want you to be the one to stop me!"

Lan Jue’s gaze deepened, "That’s because you don’t understand, Ruoxi. There’s no one who wants to keep you away from danger more than I do, even at any cost!"

"Like my master said, break my legs?" Shen Ruoxi said with a faint smile.

"I’m not joking with you!"

It was rare to see Lan Jue so serious. Shen Ruoxi looked at him with a gentle arch to her brows and eyes, "Cousin Jue, I might be being willful because it seems I just need you to understand me."

Lan Jue’s eyes were instantly covered with a layer of mist, his fingers tightened, his throat constricted, and after a long moment, he said, "Ruoxi, I was wrong; you really do understand me too well, I lost."

Shen Ruoxi suddenly changed the topic, "Cousin Jue, let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about you!

I heard that Prime Minister Lin’s granddaughter is deeply in love with you. Haven’t you ever considered your own lifelong matters?"

Lan Jue responded indifferently, "It doesn’t matter who I marry."

Shen Ruoxi pressed on, "So you’re saying there’s no chance at all?"

Lan Jue was stunned by her seemingly nonsensical question, "Ah?"

Shen Ruoxi smiled, "Cousin Jue, do you think Ji can keep a secret for you about the unrequited love you told him?

I’m really curious, how great is the disparity between your statuses? Is there really no possibility at all?"

Lan Jue’s fingers slightly curled, and the words he spoke were tinged with bitterness, "Actually, it’s not that disparate, it’s just that I’m unworthy."

Shen Ruoxi exclaimed, "Ah! You’re unworthy? Who on earth could it be! Even if she were a princess, you would be worthy! Cousin, saying that really piques my curiosity!"

Lan Jue quietly looked at her, his heart tinged with sourness, "She might long for a freer life, unwilling to be confined by the high walls and courtyards for a lifetime."

Shen Ruoxi mused, "Why does the woman you described sound so much like my senior sister? You’re not like Pei Xuan and fond of my senior sister, are you?"

Lan Jue gently tapped her forehead, half laughing, half exasperated, "Don’t talk nonsense, I don’t know your senior sister, what on earth are you thinking?"

Shen Ruoxi rubbed her head, "Oh oh! Cousin Jue, stop tapping my head, I’m not a little girl anymore."

Lan Jue chuckled softly, "Why, have you grown up that your cousin can’t touch you anymore?"

Coming out really was the right choice, Shen Ruoxi felt entirely relaxed, "It’s a good thing I was born into a military general’s family, otherwise I would have been criticized for not learning how to be virtuous and gentle after two years. It’s better to be carefree outside."

Lan Jue gazed at her uninhibited expression, somewhat entranced, "Ruoxi, you are who you are, there’s no need to change."

"Not in the future! I am who I am!"

Lan Jue stared at her confident and poised face, his heart softening completely.

As the sun set in the west, everyone began to prepare to return, the three children reluctant to leave, their eyes filled with longing, repeatedly asking when they could go out again.

Seeing this, Shen Ruoxi gently promised that she would definitely take them out to play whenever there was free time.

Lan Jue’s calf was bitten by a snake, and he initially wanted to hide this from his mother, Princess Consort Xu Jingwan, to avoid causing trouble.

However, Xu Jingwan still found out.

When Xu Jingwan entered Lan Jue’s room, he was already in bed and was about to get up to greet her when his mother stopped him.

She simply lifted his trouser leg, and Lan Jue attempted to resist, but she held him down.

She grimly stared at the remaining tooth marks on his leg, and only released his trouser leg when Lan Jue frowned.

She wore a mocking, cold smile, "Yesterday you refuted me so confidently, and now, am I wrong?

Whoever is with her suffers one calamity after another; you were bitten by a snake simply by grouping with her, weren’t you?"

Lan Jue’s gaze turned cold, and he replied solemnly, "Mother, there’s no need to speak so harshly."

Xu Jingwan continued coldly, "Jue, I’m simply trying to tell you that leaving her is the right choice.

Look at her, she disappeared since young, tossed about, and after finally returning home, there wasn’t a single relative left and was even abandoned as an outcast.

Her fate is so rugged, I just want you to recognize this reality." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Lan Jue’s lips curved into a slight smile, "Recognize what? Mother, do you think your son can be outdone by a snake?

I did it intentionally; I let the snake bite me on purpose so she would take care of me, carry me, Mother, do you understand?"

Xu Jingwan looked at Lan Jue incredulously as if she were looking at a lunatic, "What did you say? You let a venomous snake bite you on purpose? Are you crazy?"

Lan Jue lowered his eyes, carefully hiding the emotions in them, and spoke lightly, "All my life, I’ve been the epitome of understanding and etiquette, following rules diligently, without a single inappropriate act.

In the Capital City, when people speak of Prince Lan, they praise me for being well-mannered, intelligent, a genius.

The elders of prestigious families in the Capital City always use me as a model to educate their younger generations.

But who knows my true inner thoughts?"

He looked up calmly at his mother again and said, "I envy Pei Xuan’s antics, and I envy Xu Ji’s carefree freedom even more.

They can do what they like, but I cannot.

Today, I guess I went mad; it was my one and only moment of madness for myself.

As I lay on her back, I even wished this road would go on forever, that we could continue on for a lifetime.

But upon returning home, I’m still that Prince Lan, unchanged.

She’s just my cousin, and I will cherish this bond.

Mother, don’t you quite admire Lin Xuening? She’s Prime Minister Lin’s granddaughter, well-versed in etiquette, proficient in the four arts, and matches your son well.

If you find it suitable, you can have a matchmaker inquire about her intentions, and if she’s willing, I’m willing to marry her."

On any other day, Xu Jingwan would have been genuinely delighted if he pledged to marry Lin Xuening.

However, at this moment, hearing him say this caused a chill to surge through her heart. Such a son left her feeling deeply uneasy, even slightly shivering!

Was this still the same son she had once been so proud of? Why did he feel so unfamiliar now?

"You seem a bit tired, you’d better rest early. We’ll discuss marriage matters another day. Mother will go back first." Xu Jingwan said softly.

Lan Jue lowered his head and respectfully responded, "I bid farewell to Mother."

As Xu Jingwan stepped out of Lan Jue’s room, a gust of night wind swept over her, causing her to shiver uncontrollably, her body swaying slightly.

"Princess Consort, what’s wrong?" Her maid beside her asked anxiously, seeing this.

Xu Jingwan waved her hand, barely steadying her mind, "It’s nothing, let’s go back."

She truly hadn’t expected her son to become so wild, which both terrified and angered her.

In her heart, the root cause of all this was Shen Ruoxi, who had transformed her once-proud son into this current state!

When Shen Ruoxi and her group’s carriage halted at the family’s residence entrance, it was already getting dark, and the surroundings appeared somewhat dim.

Just as Shen Ruoxi had disembarked and settled the children, preparing to enter the residence, two people suddenly charged out from the side, shouting to her, "Ruoxi, you’re finally back!"