Chapter 97: Can’t Help Wanting to
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Yuwen Chu said lightly, “I’m afraid of tarnishing Miss Mingzhu’s reputation.”
Mingzhu felt like he was mocking her. What reputation did she have? And what was reputation anyway? In this matter, people would probably accuse her of scheming to seduce Yuwen Chu, shamelessly stealing Jiang Shanshan’s fiancé. No one would think of any other reason.
Before she could finish her thoughts, Yuwen Chu impatiently tapped the carriage table a few times, “Are you coming or not?”
Mingzhu glanced at Hei Mo, who was still watching from behind, “Are we really going to ignore Yuwen Xue?”
Yuwen Chu smiled faintly, “When did you become so kind-hearted? I don’t recall you having any dealings with Yuwen Xue.”
Mingzhu fell silent. Yuwen Chu wanted her to explain when he brought this up, but she couldn’t. So she reached out and said, “Lend me some money.”
Seeing that she was unwilling to speak, Yuwen Chu didn’t force her. He instructed the coachman again, “Let’s go.”
This person was really annoying, always using this tactic to threaten her. Mingzhu, relying on her agility, suddenly lunged forward and grabbed his sleeve tightly, “Lend me some money.”
Yuwen Chu lowered his gaze to her fair hand and rosy cheeks, his lips curling slightly. He instructed his attendant, “Pay the coach fare for Miss Fu.”
Mingzhu glared fiercely at Hei Mo, quickly climbed into the carriage, and complained, “You’re the stingiest man I’ve ever met. I just wanted to borrow a little money from you, and you make me say it several times before agreeing. Last time you took so much money from me, I didn’t even argue with you.”
Today she wore a pale yellow dress, embroidered with large light green peonies on the cuffs and hem, originally luxurious fabric, but now it was wrinkled and dirty; her originally neatly arranged hair bun was also slightly messy, with a few stray strands of hair hanging down playfully, softening her features. It didn’t quite resemble her usual arrogant and proud demeanor, looking down on everyone.
Yuwen Chu quietly watched her for a while, a faint smile appearing on his lips, “How does it compare to Yuwen You?”
If someone mentioned Yuwen You before, Mingzhu would naturally have a lot to say, but after all the chaos, she didn’t want to say anything anymore. Saying so much was just because she was unwilling, but now she no longer loved that person, so she didn’t want to say anymore, didn’t even want to mention it.
Mingzhu adopted Yuwen Chu’s tone and said lightly, “I’m not familiar with him.”
Not familiar? This answer was unexpected. Yuwen Chu smiled and poured her a cup of tea, “After all this commotion, you must be thirsty.”
His hands were very good-looking, fair-skinned, with well-proportioned and long fingers, not the kind of delicate and rounded beauty of a woman, but the masculine and symmetrical beauty of a man, slender and powerful.
Mingzhu withdrew her gaze from Yuwen Chu’s hands, absentmindedly took a sip of tea, and asked again, “How did you end up here? I remember you were with the envoy from Wusun.”
“You saw me?” Yuwen Chu smiled gently and filled her tea cup again, his tone somewhat resentful, “I thought you never cared about me. Even if you saw me, you wouldn’t remember that I exist.”
Impossible.
Maybe it was like that before, he would come back and forth in front of her thirty times, and she would still find it strange why he always did that. But after the incident at the Jade Emperor Temple, she couldn’t ignore him anymore, not to mention the embarrassing incident of Yuwen Long’s affair, and the unlucky incident from a few days ago.
Mingzhu thought of that incident and felt so angry that her teeth itched, “How could that be? Someone as formidable as Your Highness, who wouldn’t respect you? If they’re on guard against you, they might be completely destroyed without realizing it. Are you here just to cause trouble again when you see me?”
Yuwen Chu glanced at her, casually saying, “How can you say that? Have I ever done anything bad to you? Have I ever plotted against you? I only remember helping you several times: once putting out a fire for you, once helping you get rid of an unfavorable engagement, and another time helping you escape from Yuwen Long’s clutches. Today, I saved you from the hands of the Wusun envoy and even paid for your carriage fare. What more do you want?”
“You…” Mingzhu couldn’t repeat that incident in front of him, so she said bitterly, “You know what you’ve done. You know it in your heart.”
Yuwen Chu looked at her meaningfully and smiled, then his gaze lingered on her lips, with a hint of ambiguity in his expression. Mingzhu felt belittled by his gaze, feeling both embarrassed and angry.
She slapped the table hard, venting, “You shameless person, eating from the bowl and looking into the pot…”
“I didn’t. Three thousand rivers, but only a ladle of water is taken for drinking*.” Yuwen Chu raised a finger, gently pressing it on her lips, and said softly, “You’re not a good person either, why be so harsh on me? If you don’t have any malicious intentions first, even if I have the ability to turn the sky upside down, there’s nothing I can do. Since we get along like this, let’s not say anything about each other, okay?”
* meaning to take only what is necessary or essential
“Who said we get along?” Mingzhu couldn’t argue with him, feeling extremely frustrated. She raised her hand, wanting to hit him, but Yuwen Chu was quick to grab her wrist, lowering his gaze to look at the mole on her wrist for a while before smiling, “Your hands can’t be considered beautiful.”
“My hands are just for hitting shameless people like you!” Mingzhu couldn’t win against him, feeling so angry that she was trembling.
She wasn’t a good person or a gentlewoman anyway. He had seen through all her ugly and evil deeds, so what was the point of pretending to be gentle and dignified in front of him? What beauty or not, it had nothing to do with him.
“I heard Prime Minister Fu hit you, did it hurt?” Yuwen Chu showed no signs of letting go of her hand, instead firmly holding onto it, staring into her eyes and saying softly, “You hate me this much, don’t like me?”
Of course she did! Mingzhu was about to blurt out, but Yuwen Chu gently pressed her lips again, whispering, “Don’t be angry, think about it carefully before you speak. Am I really that bad? Am I not even as good as Linan Wang and Anyang Wang?”
Mingzhu tightly closed her mouth. Did she really hate him? Hard to say. Did she and him have deep-seated grievances? On the contrary, he had helped her several times. At most, she could only dislike and not like him, and she was even a little afraid. What was she afraid of? She couldn’t say for sure, just felt that she couldn’t get any advantage over him, couldn’t gain the upper hand, and especially didn’t like how he always caused trouble for her and took advantage of her, refusing to let her have her way.
Seeing her silent and contemplative, Yuwen Chu’s eyes gradually lit up, “Since you’re willing to think it over carefully, it means you don’t hate me anymore. Or maybe you don’t even know it yourself, so you need to think it over carefully.”
Mingzhu couldn’t stand his self-righteous clever look, and retorted, “Who said that? I can’t help but want to eat your flesh!”
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