Chapter 181: Chapter 182: Is He Being Delusional?

Liao Ruyan saw Zhao Xiyan staring at her unrelentingly, and a flush of color immediately rose to her already pallid face.

“Cousin, Ruyan knows that what you said just now wasn’t sincere…”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Shut up, this Marquis asks you, where did the hairpin on your head come from?”

Zhao Xiyan’s handsome brows and eyes seemed to sharpen into knife blades, chilling to the bone with just one glance.

Liao Ruyan was struck dumb, not daring to utter another word, she tremulously said, “I carved it myself, I carved it myself!”

“The Marquis is asking you, where did this hairpin’s design come from? And, why did you choose to carve a Bai Shao hairpin out of white jade?”

“Bai Shao naturally pairs well with white jade because it looks good, symbolizing a woman as pure and charming as Bai Shao…”

“Shut up, if you spout nonsense again, this Marquis will have your parents carry you out.”

Carry out?

Isn’t that tantamount to death?

Liao Ruyan knelt on the ground with a thud.

“I’ll speak, I’ll speak!”

As it turned out, Liao Ruyan had long cherished deep feelings for Zhao Xiyan, yet she never found the opportunity to get close to him over the years.

Later, when Zhao Xiyan was bedridden, she felt regret, but she would not marry a bedridden man.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Xiyan miraculously stood up and even became the Great General King.

Although he declined official positions, he was still a Marquis, the man fought over by all the ladies of the Capital City.

Hence, Liao Ruyan started scheming once more.

She believed that, due to the kinship between the Zhao Family and the Shen Family, she naturally had an advantage in approaching Zhao Xiyan.

Indeed, the opportunity came for her.

Once the old master of the Shen Family was no longer able, she immediately stayed at Shen Family’s home without leaving, and her wish to meet Zhao Xiyan was fulfilled.

Seeing him more elegant and majestic than ever, her heart had already sunk deep into infatuation.

But she could also sense Zhao Xiyan’s deep aversion to all the ladies, so she decided to start from a different approach.

Since Zhao Xiyan was at the old master’s side every day, she made three trips daily to make her presence felt.

Many times, she saw Zhao Xiyan holding a Bai Shao hairpin, seemingly lost in thought.

At that time, she thought to herself, if she also had a Bai Shao hairpin identical to that one, perhaps Zhao Xiyan might spare her a glance.

Finally, her chance came quickly.

That day, the old master was unconscious, and many doctors were called, creating a chaotic scene. By chance, she saw the Bai Shao hairpin forgotten by the bedside. While nobody was paying attention, she quickly picked it up, memorized the design, and went back to carve one just like it.

Her father made a fortune in jewelry and possessed superb skills.

She liked this craft since she was young, and hence learned quite a lot from him.

Carving a hairpin head was just a trivial matter for her.

Zhao Xiyan, having listened to her confession, had a face cold as millennia-old ice.

Without a word, he waved into the air and the hairpin on Liao Ruyan’s head flew out, striking a nearby stone pillar with force.

With a “ding”, the hairpin fell to the ground, instantly breaking into four or five pieces.

Looking at Liao Ruyan again, her hair came loose with the loss of the hairpin, looking like a disheveled white-dressed ghost.

“If there’s a next time, this Marquis will not be lenient. Take your things and get out!”

Liao Ruyan was scared out of her wits.

She had never expected that, after painstakingly making pigeon soup for half a day, she would end up in such a plight.

She felt both shame and anger, wishing she could be like that hairpin, crashing to her death against the stone pillar.

Yet she didn’t dare and could only leave, trembling.

As the season’s night approached quickly and urgently, the delay of this little while had already brought darkness down.

Two attendants immediately fetched lanterns to light the way ahead.

“My lord, we can leave now.”

Strangely, the person who had been in a hurry to leave was no longer in a rush.

Zhao Xiyan stood still under the corridor eaves, looking blankly toward the sky, the hand hidden in his sleeve twitching slightly, as though rubbing something.

The two attendants in green didn’t dare to urge him and stood still with him.

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze, and from between his lips escaped a pleasing sigh.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes, Marquis.”

A lamp flickered as it moved toward the brightly lit front courtyard.

At the same time, Qi Yue was still galloping her horse furiously.

It had been more than a shichen, and all she wanted was to get as far away from that place as possible.

The night deepened, and the world seemed to be covered by a giant ink dropper, with black liquid dripping everywhere, just like Qi Yue’s heart.

“Yueyue, Yueyue….”

Qu Wei, fearful that she might come to harm, had been driving his horse to follow close behind her.

With bandits rampant everywhere, there could be numerous trip ropes and such on the road. Galloping in such dark conditions could lead to an accident!

“Yueyue, stop quickly!”

“If something’s wrong, just tell me, and I’ll stand up for you. You’ll get into trouble running like this!”

“Yueyue….”

Seeing Qi Yue as if she had lost her senses, Qu Wei could no longer care about the consequences and spurred the horse beneath him with a stab.

“Hyah….”

With a pained cry, the horse leapt forward as if flying, and Qu Wei seized the opportunity to recklessly throw himself onto Qi Yue’s horse’s back.

The horse, running smoothly, suddenly had an uninvited guest on its back and immediately reared up, whinnying incessantly.

Qu Wei struggled mightily before finally getting the horse under control.

When he looked at Qi Yue again, he saw her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks were slick with moisture.

Having known her for so long, it was the first time Qu Wei had seen her like this, and for a moment, he hardly knew what to say.

“Yueyue, it’s too dark to travel safely now. Let’s find a place to rest.”

Seeing that Qi Yue offered no resistance, he hurriedly pulled her to sit down by the trunk of a roadside tree and took off his travel bag to fetch a water flask for her.

“Yueyue, whatever happened, you must think of your own safety. Don’t do this again. You scared the life out of me.”

Qi Yue did not accept his water nor did she speak, her small face remained tensely drawn.

Qu Wei was a straightforward man and in his urgency, he blurted out his suspicion.

“Yueyue, did that Zhao Xiyan do something to you? I’ll go back and settle accounts with him right now!”

As he said this, he pretended to go lead the horse, as if he intended to return to the Capital immediately.

Just as he was about to mount the horse and leave, Qi Yue suddenly stood up.

“Come back, it’s not his fault!”

Qu Wei reluctantly dismounted from the horse, his face a picture of unwillingness.

“If not him, then who? Who else could cause such a strong emotional reaction in you?”

“I said, it’s not about him. And you didn’t intend to really go back to the Capital just now either.”

As she spoke, Qi Yue pulled a handkerchief from her chest and boldly wiped her face, cleaning her eyes without any embarrassment about showing others she had been crying.

“Sister, can’t you speak without being so heartless? I’m only thinking of what’s best for you,” Qu Wei protested weakly.

At this late hour, he wouldn’t return to the Capital! If he ran into some bandits, he would be done for!

Qi Yue glanced at him.

“If I were heartless, I would have pushed you off the horse the moment you jumped on. I was riding just fine, why were you seeking death?”

Qu Wei was completely speechless, wanting to mention her crying and her frenetic search for Zhao Xiyan but not daring to say it, only managing a weak expression.

“If it weren’t for me, you would probably have…”

“What?” Qi Yue snorted coldly. “Probably what? What do you know? If it wasn’t for you, we would have reached the inn in the village ahead by now and wouldn’t need to be out here in the wilderness.”

“Now great, you’ve lost your horse, and we have to walk for a shichen!”

Qu Wei’s eyes bulged, and his mouth hung open, but he didn’t know what to say.

Is that the truth?

Was he being overzealous?

After a long time, he couldn’t stand it anymore and said resentfully, “Then why were you crying?”

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