Hearing this, Lu Ziyuan was taken aback for a moment, then he laughed too.
"It’s nothing," he said, holding her waist to pull them closer, smiling with a hint of meaning, "There will come a day when you believe me, just don’t cry then."
Xie Wanqing: "..."
The girl in his arms remained silent. Lu Ziyuan, thinking she was truly overthinking, furrowed his brow and said, "Don’t falsely accuse me in your heart. Just one Liu Manrou has made me suffer enough. How would I dare have even the slightest entanglement with other women?"
For five years, he lived like a lifeless shell. Which lifeless shell would have any interest in women?
Let alone touch them, he didn’t even glance at another woman.
He explained sincerely, yet Xie Wanqing seemed indifferent and unconvinced.
"Anyway, I don’t believe it," she said blandly, "You’re the Emperor, right? In the past few years, there must have been plenty of girls offering themselves to you. I don’t believe you could abstain for five years."
His previous jealous and thoughtless words were returned to him by her in another unrestrained form.
Lu Ziyuan’s face turned blue. "I said no, so there’s no such thing."
"Oh..." Xie Wanqing slowly acknowledged, and then said, "Then if I say there’s nothing, would you believe me?"
Lu Ziyuan was momentarily speechless, his hand moved up from her waist along her back, gripping her neck to lift her head.
Their eyes met, carrying a hint of confrontation.
After staring at each other for a long time, it was Lu Ziyuan whose gaze softened first.
"I believe!" he kissed her eyes, "I believe you had no one else in these five years."
It seemed he thought of something, as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, "After all, our Wanwan..."
Xie Wanqing’s eyebrows twitched rapidly, knowing he probably had nothing good to say, she quickly covered his mouth with her hand, silencing him.
The girl, regaining some strength, cupped his lips with her hand, glaring daggers at him, "Do you still dare to get jealous indiscriminately and wrong me?"
Lu Ziyuan wanted to respond, but with his lips covered, he couldn’t make a sound.
Soon, his tongue swept across her palm, the wet sensation made Xie Wanqing quickly withdraw her hand, continuing to glare at him.
"How is that indiscriminate jealousy," Lu Ziyuan smiled at her, his smile cold.
He said, "If there was someone by my side for five years, would you believe me?"
Xie Wanqing was rendered speechless.
Lu Ziyuan’s smile grew colder.
Suddenly, he grasped her wrist and pinned it above her head, pressing closer, his deep gaze unblinkingly fixed on her face.
After a long silence, he struggled to open his mouth, "Did you ever get moved?"
Those scholars, reading a lot of sage books, had ingrained restraint and propriety into their very being.
Physical intimacy didn’t mean much to them, they pursued soul resonance.
So, with such a gentlemanly scholar, restrained and proper, by her side for five years, did she ever get moved?
His gaze was too intense, Xie Wanqing swallowed and shook her head, "No."
Lu Ziyuan gave a low hum, resting his forehead against hers, his voice growing more tender, "If I hadn’t come looking for you, would you have stayed together for a lifetime?"
Even if now she hadn’t moved, constant exposure could eventually lead to something...
Would she be moved?
Or perhaps, she was already moved?
Knowing that if it wasn’t explained clearly, this person would get caught in a pointless obsession and unable to move on from this matter.
Xie Wanqing reached out to cling to his shoulder and neck, "No matter what, I wouldn’t spend my life with him."
"Really," she lovingly kissed his chin, "I’ve always thought of you, missed you a lot."