When Yu Shu returned to Wangji Tower, it was already late at night. She was holding the sandalwood brocade box with the gold jade hibiscus in her hands. Her good mood was ruined by Jing Chen on the way. Plus the twists and turns of the night, she felt tired.
However, when she entered the backyard and saw the figure waiting in the corridor downstairs, she couldn't help but smile and quickened her steps.
"Brother is waiting for me?"
Xue Rui smiled as he nodded, and he stared at her as she walked over to stand before him before stretching out his hand to pluck off the crystal flower that was on the verge of falling from the side of her ear, and he rubbed it in his hand before passing it back to her.
"Isn't this dress heavy? Go back to the room and change. I'll wait for you to have supper. I have something to tell you."
Yu Shu rubbed the back of her stiff neck. She thought that if it weren't for the shining silver, she wouldn't have suffered like this. However, she said proudly,
"Isn't this beautiful? I looked in the mirror before I went out and was shocked by myself. Tut, clothes make the man. If I really dress up, I can be considered a beauty."
After saying that, she raised her eyebrows and smiled at him. She didn't know that such a coquettish look was enough to make people's heartbeat go crazy.
Xue Rui's eyes were a bit deep. He raised his hand and gently pinched her face. He said with a low smile, "I don't care about beauties. But a beauty with such a thick face is rare."
"Hey." Yu Shu hit off his flirting finger. Looking at his handsome face with peach blossoms, she thought of several cases of him. She smiled coldly and poked his chest with her finger.
"I'll settle accounts with you later."
She turned and went upstairs to change clothes, leaving Xue Rui confused. He wondered what he did to provoke her.
.....
After Yu Shu freshened up and changed into a fresh silk dress, Xue Rui still couldn't figure out what he had done wrong tonight and why she needed to "settle accounts" with him.
Yu Shu, who didn't wear any makeup, didn't have the eye-catching cold appearance at the banquet. However, her momentum was still there. She put the brocade box on the table and sat opposite to Xue Rui. After staring at him for a while, Xue Rui felt his right eyelid twitching. He had a slight bad feeling.
Sure enough, Yu Shu tapped on the table with one hand and asked expressionlessly,
"Commandery Princess Xi Wen is fine. What about Miss Rui from the Earl's Mansion? Could it be that Big Brother has forgotten something that he needs to tell me? "
Rui Zizhu had leaked the marriage between the Xue family and the Earl's Mansion. When Yu Shu first heard about it, she was very angry, but she didn't lose her mind. She thought about it calmly. First, she had to ask Xue Rui to see if he knew about it.
If he was also kept in the dark, it would be forgivable. But if he knew about it and deliberately hid it from her …
Yu Shu clenched her fists on her knees.
The moment Xue Rui heard her question, he felt a headache coming on. He immediately guessed that she must have heard about the marriage proposal between the Xue Rui family and the Xue Rui family. When he saw the calm look on her face as if a storm was brewing, he knew that she would not hide the sand in her eyes. If he could not give her a good reason tonight, this little ungrateful wretch might turn against him.
As Xue Rui thought about it, he got up and sat next to Yu Shu. Regardless of whether she was willing or not, he grabbed her hand first.
"Shu, it's my fault. I'll tell you the truth. You can't keep a distance from me."
Yu Shu's heart skipped a beat. From his words, it was obvious that he knew about it. Her face suddenly darkened and she said,
"So, you really have an engagement with Miss Rui?"
"No," Xue Rui denied it without thinking. Seeing her pale face, he was afraid that she would misunderstand, so he quickly explained, "My grandfather intends to marry the Earl's Mansion.
He's interested in the young lady of the Rui family, but the marriage hasn't been decided yet. The elders of the two families just informed each other, and they haven't formally discussed the marriage. "
Yu Shu laughed angrily and shook off his hand. She said, "Your family has arranged a marriage for you, but you're hiding it from me. If I hadn't heard her say it tonight, were you going to wait until the marriage was settled before telling me? At that time, you'd coax me, so that you could have two beauties and enjoy the happiness of having two wives, right? "
"Nonsense," Xue Rui listened to her speculation, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He grabbed her hand back and held it firmly, lest she ran away.
"Listen to me first. It's not too late to be angry with me. First of all, it's not my wish to marry the Earl's Mansion. You know what happened between me and the Tenth Princess. Outsiders thought it was because of the death of my Xue family. My grandfather didn't want to hurt the Emperor, so he didn't talk about marriage with me for the past few years. The Tenth Princess is also the Empress's daughter. If someone wants to claim kinship with the Xue family, they have to think twice. The Earl's Mansion is the Empress's mother's family. My grandfather intends to marry the Earl's Mansion. On the one hand, he also wants to repair the relationship with the Rui family. However, whether this marriage is successful or not, it's not up to the two families to decide.
"Therefore, I thought that this marriage couldn't be done overnight, so I was thinking about how to make my grandfather give up. At that time, you still wholeheartedly regarded me as a big brother. How could I mention this to you, so I hid it from you."
After listening to his words, Yu Shu's anger also dissipated. She sorted out her thoughts and said with a straight face,
"It's fine if you didn't tell me before, but why didn't you discuss it with me later? Am I that unreasonable?"
She didn't believe that Xue Rui would be a fickle person. Moreover, she saw with her own eyes that he jumped into the unpredictable depth of Dingbo Lake. He was willing to take risks for her words. There was no doubt that this man's feelings for her.
She could only blame herself for hearing it from Rui Zizhu. When she thought of the delicate Miss Rui's shy appearance, she couldn't help but feel angry. A mouthful of sour water was choked in her throat.
Seeing that her attitude had softened, Xue Rui secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He said, "If you want to blame someone, you can only blame God's will. Do you know what my original plan was?"
Yu Shu shook her head. For a moment, she couldn't think of any good way for him to reject this well-matched marriage.
"I've been eyeing this year's Gentlemen's Hibiscus Banquet for a long time." Xue Rui said in a low voice.
Yu Shu was stunned. After thinking for a moment, she understood what he meant. Her mood suddenly became complicated.
"I originally thought that if I fought for the Golden Jade Hibiscus, I'd present it to you in front of everyone to show my sincerity. Then, we'd get married. Grandfather wouldn't be able to force me. Naturally, the marriage with the Earl's Mansion would be left unsettled. Who knew …"
"Who knew that I'd become the Life Breaker. Not to mention one Golden Jade Hibiscus, even if there were a hundred of them, it would still be difficult to achieve anything good." Yu Shu's voice was heavy.
From the moment Jing Chen determined that she was the Life Breaker, a rope was tied around her neck. The other end of the rope was held in the hands of the Emperor of the Da An Dynasty. Wherever he led her, she had to go. If she ran in the opposite direction, that rope could take her life.
She was such a big trouble. It was hard for Xue Rui to have the guts to accept her.
Xue Rui noticed the changes in her expression and guessed why she was worried, so he sighed in his heart before pulling her hand to his chest and rubbing her slender and icy cold fingers as he said slowly,
"When the boat reaches the bridgehead, it will straighten out. You must not worry too much. With the two of us working together, we will definitely find a perfect plan."
"Hmm." Yu Shu didn't want Xue Rui to worry. She restrained her negative emotions. She frowned and said,
"Then what about your marriage with the Rui Family? The Miss of the Rui Family can be provoked by a few words from Xi Wen to deal with me. It seems that she has set her mind on you. If this marriage doesn't go through, will it backfire and make the Empress's misunderstanding deeper? "
The Empress had no children. If the Xue family intended to support Liu Tan to ascend the throne, it would be best to get the support of the Rui Family. Otherwise, it would not be good for the future if the two families became enemies.
Yu Shu's consideration was not wrong. However, when Xue Rui heard this, his eyes flickered and he smiled slightly,
"There has been a conflict. It is not necessarily a bad thing not to do this."
He was vague and evasive. It seemed that he didn't care about the hatred with the Earl's Mansion. Yu Shu couldn't help but be curious, "What do you mean?"
Xue Rui didn't answer. He pulled her curled finger in front of him and kissed it. He avoided the important point and said, "I have another way to cancel this marriage. You don't have to worry about it. But where is the other half of the gift you said you would give me? I have worked hard to get the Golden Jade Hibiscus. I am waiting to exchange it with you as a token of love."
Yu Shu couldn't stand his intimate behavior. She pulled her hand back and glared at him,
"You have the nerve to mention it to me. I asked you to exchange it with the Golden Jade Hibiscus. I didn't ask you to exchange it with your life. You are not a good swimmer and you dare to jump into the middle of the lake. If something bad happens, where should I go to cry?"
Xue Rui laughed. He didn't care about her cold expression, and he raised his hand to pinch her soft and fine chin as he said,
"If I am so useless, I am not worthy of you, a female fortune teller who can determine life and death."
After saying that, he got up and went into the bedroom. After a while, he came out with the purple jade hairpin in his hand and gave it to Yu Shu.
"This year's Golden Jade Hibiscus is made of ice chiseled from the Great Snow Mountain. It will become cold when it is hot. It is very rare. Recently, it is stuffy. Put it on the bed and you will have a good night's sleep."
Yu Shu took it and looked at it carefully. It was a marvelous work of nature. The hairpin carved from purple jade was only one-third the size of a real hibiscus flower, but inside and outside, it was stacked with hundreds of layers of petals. It was as thin as ice gauze and as transparent as silk clothing. When it was in full bloom, it was a faint purple, very moving.
She played with it for a while. Then she looked up at Xue Rui and said,
"Have you opened the other half of the gift that I gave you last night?"
Before Xue Rui went into the lake to look for the lamp, Yu Shu gave him a brocade bag. Inside it was a purple crystal fan pendant that had been nourished in the wind pond.
"I didn't have time to open it." Xue Rui took out the brocade pouch from his clothes. Just as he was about to open it to take a look, without paying attention, Yu Shu reached out and snatched it away, stuffing it into her sleeve.
"Hey? What are you doing? "
"I said that I would give you the other half. It will take a few days to finish. I will keep this half for you and give it to you later. Brother, wait for me. I am sure you will like my gift."
If he saw the fan pendant, he would definitely guess that she was going to give him a fan. Then there would be no surprise.
Xue Rui looked at her shameless behavior. He narrowed his eyes and bent down with his hands behind his back. His handsome face approached her.
"I've been busy all night, but in the end, I've come up empty-handed without any benefits. If it were you, would you be happy?"
Yu Shu admitted that she was wrong. She laughed dryly and subconsciously shrank her neck. She rolled her eyes and tried to fool him. "It is just a few days later. I didn't say that I won't give it to you. Why are you so anxious …"
