Favoring a Hidden Mistress? Engagement Broken-Chapter 62 - 60

"Did he go to your room in the middle of the night just to reminisce with you?"

His tone was unusually mocking.

Xie Wanqing’s eyebrows slightly raised as she carefully observed his expression and tentatively asked, "Are you upset?"

Pei Yuqing: "...No."

"You are upset," Xie Wanqing glanced at him and explained, "Don’t be upset. He didn’t do anything too outrageous to me."

"Too?" Pei Yuqing slowly repeated, his expression unclear.

Xie Wanqing was momentarily stunned and finally grasped the nuance.

A curve formed on her lips as she spoke: "Indeed, nothing too outrageous. He just held me the way you’re holding me now."

Pei Yuqing’s breath hitched, and he didn’t speak for a long time.

Since she had decided to speak, she intended to be honest.

Xie Wanqing continued, "He also asked me to wait for his return, saying he’d seek my parents’ consent and propose again, asking me to stay away from you and all other men."

"At that time, he was aggressive, as if he wouldn’t leave unless I agreed..."

"In that situation, I didn’t dare to provoke him and had to endure it and agree."

Recalling that night when Lu Ziyuan cornered her on her bed, Xie Wanqing still felt an unresolved hatred. Grabbing his lapel with sudden force, she said fiercely: "It was after that day that I decided to find someone to marry and thoroughly rid myself of him." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Being barged in on by a man at night, forcibly hugged, and coerced into waiting for him...

Just from her description, Pei Yuqing could imagine how much grievance the girl suffered at the time.

He gently patted her on the head, speaking with lingering fear, "It’s all my fault."

It was all his fault for not foreseeing that person would be so deranged, and he had confidently claimed he could protect her.

If that person had indeed wanted to do something to her that night, no matter how he tried to remedy it afterward, it would have been too late.

"You’re indeed at fault," Xie Wanqing huffed, still somewhat resentful: "Making a girl propose twice, yet you keep saying you like her."

Pei Yuqing smiled wryly: "...I was wrong."

"You were the first person I wanted to marry, but if you didn’t agree, I couldn’t force you to wed me," Xie Wanqing said. "Do you know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped me just now?"

"I would have gone off to marry someone else, whether it be any of my cousins from my grandmother’s family or one of my uncle’s disciples. As long as they could marry me within three months, I would wed whoever."

In any case, marrying a pig or a dog was better than waiting obediently for Lu Ziyuan to return to the Capital City.

Pei Yuqing was stunned at her words.

Only now did he truly understand how much this girl resisted rekindling her relationship with Lu Ziyuan.

Before this, Pei Yuqing’s thinking was quite similar to Lu Ziyuan’s. He always thought she only turned cold because Lu Ziyuan had long been indifferent, especially after he kept a mistress just before their wedding date.

They believed that their feelings couldn’t be faked; as long as Lu Ziyuan said sweet words and coaxed her patiently, perhaps she would still end up marrying him after some twists and turns.

He didn’t dare hastily agree to marry her, not just because of concerns about his health, but more because he feared she would regret it in the future.

He couldn’t bear to let her regret it, but if they truly got engaged and married, he couldn’t bear to let her go.

Just as now, having her in his arms, he couldn’t bear to let go.

He tightened his arms, lowered his head, and kissed the girl’s hair in his embrace, gently saying: "Wanwan, I won’t let you regret your choice."

Even if the marriage was used to rid herself of other men, it was enough that he was the first one to come to her mind.

To find joy in a hunt, that is still joy.

She liked him.

Xie Wanqing smiled warmly, burying her face in his chest, inwardly pondering the oddity of it all.

Despite the intimacy between them, she didn’t feel the slightest discomfort.

During the time she liked Lu Ziyuan the most, she loved to cling to him, missing him even if they didn’t see each other for a day. As long as he was in the Capital City, she always couldn’t resist running to see him.

But he always wore a long, cold face, and she didn’t dare to get too close. When they were alone, there was little warmth between them.

At the time, she thought he was just not considerate enough, but looking back, during their time as childhood sweethearts, the most intimate moments were actually after she proposed breaking off the engagement...

The young man who held a spear indeed restrained himself when they were an engaged couple.

Perhaps being an observer who had stepped out of the mire clarified things, and Xie Wanqing suddenly found herself understanding a sliver of Lu Ziyuan’s feelings.

His repeated entanglements weren’t entirely due to unwillingness; as he said himself, he did have some genuine feelings for her.

Thinking back carefully, during those years when she loved being around him, she rarely found him absent when she sought him, even though he was a busy man with many responsibilities.

Unless he was on duty or training soldiers at the Capital Suburb Camp, if he was at home, whether entertaining guests in the study, chatting with friends, or discussing important matters with staff, he would always send Mingjian to let her know and ask her to wait if he couldn’t step away immediately.

She would always get to see him, even if he was stern and indifferent.

Xie Wanqing thought, perhaps that was why she could persist with such passion for so long.

After all, she wasn’t foolish. Even if she didn’t mind gains and losses, she would still feel tired. If he had truly shown her no special regard, she might have woken up much earlier.

There’s no need for...

"What are you thinking about?" He asked gently after she had been silent for a while, "Are you sleepy?"

Xie Wanqing nodded with her eyes closed, taking a deep breath, smelling the cool, light fragrance on him, and curiously asked: "I’ve always wanted to ask, what fragrance are you wearing? It smells so comforting."

She didn’t know how to be reserved, earnestly lowering her head to sniff the scent on a man and saying it was pleasant.

Pei Yuqing’s body turned hot, momentarily unsure if she was teasing him again.

"Stop smelling," he said, gripping the back of her neck to stop her restless little head in his arms, his voice slightly hoarse: "It’s Buddha Hand Fragrance, made from Lotus and some herbs. If you like it, I’ll give you some tomorrow..."

"I don’t want it," Xie Wanqing didn’t notice his discomfort and looked up from his arms, her eyes falling on his jaw as she smiled, "Such a mild, calming fragrance suits a gentleman like you. I’m happy just smelling it."

As she finished speaking, she watched the slightly protruding Adam’s apple on his long neck move slowly.

Xie Wanqing: "..."

She was greatly astonished, and without thinking, reached out to poke it.

The next moment, her wrist was caught and restrained.

"Wanwan..." Pei Yuqing’s voice was deeply low, "Don’t tease me."