Chapter 98: What’s next?
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
But Yuwen Chu didn’t seem to believe her at all, “You’re deliberately trying to provoke me. As for saying you want to eat my flesh…” he toyed with the teacup, looking at Mingzhu with an extremely ambiguous expression, and laughed heartily.
Mingzhu didn’t understand what he meant exactly, but she could guess that it definitely wasn’t anything good, and couldn’t help but become angry again, “You cunning and malicious person, what are you plotting again?” This person really couldn’t judge by appearance. She had known Yuwen Chu for so many years, but now she realized that he was such a despicable person.
Yuwen Chu smiled and said softly, “Alright, let’s not argue anymore. Look, that incident was purely accidental. I didn’t know you would go find Shen Ruilin, nor did I know Shen Ruilin wouldn’t be there, let alone that you would be so bold. Besides, I was really drunk and confused. I’m just a normal man…”
See, she knew it. When it comes to arguing with him, she never gains the upper hand. He can just brush it off with a single sentence. Mingzhu could only glare at him, “Are you suggesting that I brought this upon myself?”
“It’s not like that, I’m also at fault. I was intoxicated and lost control for a moment, offending you.” Yuwen Chu lowered his eyes, his expression gentle and sincere, as if it were true: “After sobering up, I didn’t expect myself to do such despicable things, so I couldn’t accept it for a while, which affected my tone and attitude. I made you unhappy, that’s my fault. By the way, I didn’t do anything too outrageous to you, right? For example… that thing…”
Mingzhu immediately blushed and widened her eyes, saying, “Bah! How dare you! If you dare, I’ll make you a eunuch!”
Yuwen Chu lowered his head in a pleasing manner, “Anyway, it’s all my fault, let me apologize to you.” With that, he tidied up his clothes, bowed respectfully to Mingzhu.
Mingzhu had a soft spot; if someone was harsh with her, she would definitely try to be even harsher, but once someone softened, she couldn’t say anything more vicious. She deserved this apology, but she still felt uncomfortable.
She complained bitterly, “After everything that happened, you’re just apologizing? If I chopped off one of your hands, would an apology suffice? You said it was my fault, I accepted it, and I didn’t intend to pursue it further, but you still had to go and tell my father, tell the Great Empress Dowager? Making me unable to hold my head up in front of Jiang Shanshan, feeling ashamed and despicable, stealing someone else’s fiancé… How could you do this to me?”
“Otherwise, would you have come back? I definitely wouldn’t chop off your limbs.” Yuwen Chu smiled, “You don’t need to keep your head down in front of Jiang Shanshan. All along, I never promised to marry her. The one who was pushing for this marriage was her and her father, and it was my mother who agreed to this marriage, decreed by the Great Empress Dowager, it had nothing to do with me. As for apologizing to Prime Minister Fu, you can’t ask me to be a deceitful person. If I did something wrong and intentionally concealed it, would that still make me a human being? Truly despicable.”
You were never human! Mingzhu had her opinions about him, so naturally, she found his words offensive and couldn’t help but widen her eyes, “I understand what you mean. It’s just like Yuwen You, the scheming was done by me, decreed by the late emperor, pressured by the Great Empress Dowager and my father, it had nothing to do with him. But when I wanted to annul the engagement, he also felt it was a great humiliation, even wanted to kill Ban Jian, just because I talked to Ban Jian a few more times…”
“In that case, we’re a perfect match of heartlessness and treachery.” Yuwen Chu remained calm, “You don’t need to worry about your reputation being damaged. This was something I did myself, and I won’t let you suffer.”
Mingzhu felt he was being stubborn, couldn’t help but become anxious, “But I don’t want to marry you!”
Yuwen Chu calmly looked at her, “I know. You don’t like me.”
Mingzhu nodded vigorously, trying to appeal to his emotions and reason, “It’s not that you’re bad, it’s just that we don’t have any fate. You know, it’s like how you didn’t want to marry Jiang Shanshan, it’s not because she’s not good. Ai, Jiang Shanshan is really amazing, not only proficient in various arts, but also fluent in the language of the Wusun, and knows how to conduct herself. Everyone likes her. Unlike me, unruly and wicked, with a bad reputation, only good at eating, drinking, and having fun, and nothing else. If you were to marry Jiang Shanshan, she would definitely manage your mansion well, without you having to worry…”
Yuwen Chu remained silent from start to finish, lazily leaning on the table, watching her calmly.
Mingzhu felt that familiar feeling of being seen as nothing but weeds in his eyes, which made her very uncomfortable. The more she spoke, the more incoherent she became, so she gave up, breaking down and saying, “In short, she is the epitome of women in the capital, and compared to her, I’m just a malicious and poisonous woman. Why would you abandon pearls* and go for fish eyes?”
* her name also but could also refer to pearls/jewels etc
“You’re called Fu Mingzhu, not Fu Fish Eyes.” Yuwen Chu finally withdrew his gaze, calmly refilling her tea cup, and said lightly, “What did that envoy from the Wusun say to you? They, the people of the Wusun, love to tame unruly beasts and women the most. I’m probably the same.”
Not a word of truth.
Mingzhu smiled maliciously, “Your Highness’s preferences are quite special. Do you want to be infuriated by me every day? Stop pretending, I know what you want. You’re just like Yuwen You and Yuwen Long, you don’t actually like me, you secretly despise me, but because you’re afraid of the Great Empress Dowager and don’t want to offend my father, you pretend to like me, pretend to want to marry me.”
“And then?” Yuwen Chu smiled and said gently, “I thought you were quite stupid, but you’re actually quite clear-headed. It’s not easy.”
Mingzhu was suddenly struck hard, thinking of her naive and wishful self in the previous life, who pursued Yuwen You and love. Tears were about to come out, but she held back and forced a smile, saying, “And then, you all asked for various benefits from the Fu family. When we couldn’t help you anymore, you helped others stab us in the back.”
“Hmm, that’s a good suggestion,” Yuwen Chu rubbed his chin, looking pensive. “But how did you know? Did Fu Xiang tell you? Or was it the Great Empress Dowager?” Without waiting for Mingzhu’s answer, he continued, “They are all smart people and wouldn’t say such stupid things to you, so did you come up with it yourself? Is this the real reason you insisted on breaking off the engagement and wanting to marry Shen Ruilin?”
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
