She fiercely said, "Remember the pain, stop acting like your life doesn’t matter."
Look at what he’s done to himself.
So young, yet his hair has turned white, suffering from a heart condition, always coughing up blood. He looks nothing like someone in his early twenties, more like an old man.
But given his current sensitivity, Xie Wanqing certainly wouldn’t say such things.
Lu Ziyuan made a move.
He held her waist and looked down into her eyes, "Reluctant for me to die?"
Xie Wanqing nodded honestly.
Lu Ziyuan’s lips curved into a smile, "Do you feel sorry for me?"
"Of course," Xie Wanqing admitted naturally. "It’s not anything unbelievable that I don’t want you to die and I feel sorry for you."
They had known each other since childhood, without any secrets, they spent the most innocent and sincere years of youth together.
In the past life, his favored concubine harmed his wife, which hurt her deeply.
But once reborn, she only sought to escape from him.
She never thought about exacting harsh revenge.
Nor did she wish for him to die.
"You need to take better care of your body."
Thinking about his frequent episodes of coughing up blood, Xie Wanqing frowned, "Since you wish to bring me and Ran’er back to the palace, you need to protect us. Don’t die young and leave us as orphaned and widowed, vulnerable to insults."
To say the Emperor would die young was, indeed, extremely disrespectful.
But His Majesty the Emperor, known for being bloodthirsty, showed no sign of anger. Instead, his eyes brightened astonishingly.
He stared at the girl in his arms, a ripple forming in his gaze.
Xie Wanqing, feeling puzzled by his look, was about to speak, when she saw his lips move.
"Wanwan..." Lu Ziyuan said, "You still love me, don’t you?"
Once spoken, the tent fell silent for a moment.
By then, it was already dimly light outside the window, but the room remained incredibly dark.
Yet, with Lu Ziyuan’s eyesight, he could clearly see the girl’s reaction in front of him.
Xie Wanqing’s expression froze for a moment, seemingly caught off guard by the question.
"Wanwan," Lu Ziyuan said, "Answer seriously, don’t dismiss me, and don’t lie to me."
His voice was calm and gentle, yet particularly earnest.
This made Xie Wanqing, who originally intended to respond casually, press her lips together and ask in return, "What do you think?"
"I don’t know," Lu Ziyuan smiled bitterly, his forehead against hers, his voice filled with bitterness, "I used to be convinced you loved me, but later, I no longer had that confidence."
The girl had been too heartless to him.
So heartless that now, even while they were naked and embraced together, he felt that everything was forced upon.
It was because he suddenly appeared, breaking her secret of being alive and living intimately with a man in a small town.
And she chose to submit due to various considerations.
But the girl’s sweet-talk was indeed enchanting, which nurtured a sliver of hope deep within Lu Ziyuan’s once-desperate heart.
Maybe...
Maybe, what she said was true?
If he hadn’t found her, she might really choose to return to the Capital.
See, she had even packed her boxes.
Could it possibly be to continue running away?
Xie Wanqing didn’t know what he was thinking, but she also felt bitter, "You mind my marrying another, breaking the vow of our exclusive bond."
"Yes," Lu Ziyuan said, "I mind very much."
To say he didn’t care would be a lie.
That girl was his obsession, his most precious treasure, loved as life itself.
How could he not mind?
"But I know, I can’t blame you for it."
In their two lives, many things had happened between them.
It’s already hard to say who was right and who was wrong.