Chapter 54: He was torn—should he continue to pester her, or let her go? ...

The carriage passed through the bustling city. A street performer in the distance drew cheers. Everything that had happened these past few days flashed through Lou Yanxu's mind. She calmed herself down and said, "You can lie to me about anything, as long as you tell the truth, I will forgive you."

Lu Hengzhi was not lacking in money, but as for feelings... she knew the truth in her heart, and couldn't understand what he could possibly lie to her about.

The gongs and drums beat loudly, and Lu Hengzhi shuddered. For a moment, he wanted to tell the whole story, but he had always been upright and honest, and prided himself on being a paragon of virtue. So, he found it difficult to speak and finally lowered his head to hide his thoughts.

"No, I was just joking."

"Really?" Lou Yanxu peeked out suspiciously. She didn't believe he would make such a joke for no reason, but since he was unwilling to tell her the truth, how could she force him? Seeing him nod, she didn't ask any more questions.

However, the carriage fell silent afterward. Even when their eyes met unintentionally, they would hurriedly look away. She sensed something was wrong and was about to ask again when the carriage suddenly stopped. Qingrui called out from outside the window to remind her.

"Young Master, Second Mistress, we have arrived."

Just then, Wan Qing'an returned on horseback. The two dismounted and entered the mansion together. Upon hearing the news of the great victory, Lou Yunbing rushed back to prepare fine wine and food. Now that they had returned, it was the perfect time to start the celebration.

Seeing that Qingrui seemed hesitant to speak, Lou Yanxu slowed down and lagged far behind the group.

"Second Madam, you sent someone to investigate the whereabouts of that man surnamed Meng three years ago, and there's news." Qingrui's eyes were dark and her gaze was unfocused as she sighed repeatedly, "He wasn't in Suzhou during the days when Madam Xu was in trouble."

“Not in Suzhou…” The bright red glow of the sunset painted Lou Yanxu’s face. She lifted her skirt and stepped over a small puddle, pondering for a moment before shaking her head. “Perhaps I’m overthinking it.”

She had a strong intuition that Meng Lingwei was involved with Sister Rou, but a subsequent investigation left her speechless.

But now was not the right time to dwell on this matter, so they had to put it aside for the time being and the two of them hurried to catch up.

To express his gratitude, Lu Hengzhi ordered someone to retrieve two jars of aged wine from the Duke's mansion and send them over. The four of them sat around a table and raised their glasses in celebration. Wan Qing'an breathed a sigh of relief, her face beaming with smiles. She drank bowl after bowl, proving herself to be an excellent drinker, showing no signs of intoxication whatsoever.

Seeing that the third jar was empty, Lou Yanxu stopped her, "Drink less."

"It's alright, I can hold my liquor perfectly well!" She flicked one hand and slammed the wine jar on the table with the other, shouting, "Lu Hengzhi!"

The others were all startled. She stood up, supporting herself on the table, and pointed her index finger at Lu Hengzhi with her four fingers. "I will be an official in the future. If you dare to bully Yanxu after we get married, I will find fault with you and file a lawsuit against you. I will drag you down into the mud!"

Lou Yanxu was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. This banquet was originally held to celebrate Wan Qing'an winning the martial arts championship, so how did it suddenly involve her? She then pulled Wan Qing'an to sit down.

Before the situation could be calmed down, Yun Bing, who was standing beside him, suddenly straightened up, drank the wine in his bowl clean, and threatened, "You're right! Although I don't hold an official position, if you dare to bully my sister, I will not let you off easily!"

Lou Yanxu playfully punched him in the waist and teased, "You two are getting along really well."

All this unnecessary worrying was something Lu Hengzhi wanted to ignore, but he became even more eager and immediately swore a solemn oath, "Yes, yes, yes, if I ever betray Wanwan, may I be struck by lightning!"

"You're joining in the nonsense too!" She never thought much about these things, just taking things one step at a time. Right now, with these three people making a scene, there was nothing she could do.

After Wan Qing'an stopped in time, the two young men were so drunk that they were unconscious. One was sent back to his room, and the other was put into a carriage and taken to the Duke's mansion.

As night fell and the moon was obscured by idle clouds, Wan Qing'an simply washed away the smell of alcohol, exuding a faint floral fragrance. She had arranged to go out with Wen Jie at 7 PM.

At three-quarters past dusk, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of the Lou residence. Inside, the two men stared at each other. Wen Jie looked Xu Congjing up and down and said, "Aren't you getting off?"

The other person remained silent, tapping their knees lightly with their fingers, their eyes darting around aimlessly, gradually becoming lost in thought.

Wen Jie couldn't stand him anymore and spoke again in a very plaintive tone, "Look at your little scheme, you even went out of your way to see Lady Lou." This man is really shameless! He couldn't think of a reason to come to see Lady Lou, so he damaged his carriage shaft and then gave him a ride. Now, he's almost done with it, but he chickened out.

"What did you say?" Xu Congjing snapped out of his daze, not hearing clearly for a moment, and leaned closer with his right ear.

Well, he lost hearing in his left ear first and was then abandoned by his sweetheart; he's pitiful enough already. Wen Jie turned his head away, got up, lifted the curtain, and got out of the carriage, smiling at Wan Qing'an who was waiting at the door.

A moment later, there was movement inside the carriage. A corner of a blue-purple robe fluttered out. When Wan Qing'an saw the person, she immediately stepped forward and stood in front of the door, asking warily, "What are you doing here?"

The dislike was obvious, but Xu Congjing was indeed shameless, so he still stepped forward to greet her, saying, "Congratulations to Madam Wan on winning the martial arts championship."

"I appreciate your kind intentions, but you are not welcome here. Xu Situ, you should leave quickly." A cold light flashed in her eyes as she glanced back from time to time, lowering her voice in hopes that Lou Yanxu wouldn't hear.

But he was determined to play along, and asked with a calm smile, "May I come in and ask for a glass of water?"

"What water? That's just a clumsy excuse with ulterior motives." Lou Yanxu had finally managed to let go of the past and look to the future, and she couldn't let him ruin her plans. Thinking this, anger gradually welled up in her eyes. "I see you have ulterior motives. Stop your nonsense!"

Since she was so direct, Xu Congjing was too lazy to beat around the bush anymore, so he straightened up and said frankly, "I want to see her."

Lou Yanxu had planned to leave that day. He pondered for a long time, and every time he thought about going his separate ways with her in the future, his heart was torn apart and he could not bear it. He could not accept her leaving and could not imagine a day without her. So he had to see her today.

But Wan Qing'an refuted her, saying, "She doesn't want to see you."

However, Wan Qing'an was not one to be trifled with. Faced with such a rude act, she shouted, "I'll beat you out!" With that, she swept out a horizontal kick, taking advantage of Xu Congjing's attempt to block. Her moves were fierce, causing him to retreat step by step without warning.

There's no reason to fight in your own backyard. It's making quite a commotion, attracting stares from passersby. It's not a pleasant sight. Wen Jie stepped forward to stop them, "Don't be impulsive..."

Wan Qing'an, however, was too angry to care about anything else. She immediately slashed out with her sword, gritting her teeth and coldly saying, "You dare to stop me?"

Wen Jie knew very well how important Lou Yanxu was to her now, and if he insisted on stopping her, the two of them would probably stop there. But if this matter were to spread, wouldn't it give the officials a reason to impeach him? At that time, whether or not he would be granted an official position would depend entirely on the emperor's mood.

If they had stopped in time, they could have argued it out as a friendly exchange. That's why, upon receiving the news, Lou Yanxu rushed out immediately, shouting, "Stop!"

Seeing the two locked in a fierce confrontation, with Xu Congjing refusing to back down, he had no choice but to order Wan Qing'an to leave first.

“Yanxu, he…” Wan Qing’an was naturally worried, fearing that this person would be like a leech that she couldn’t get rid of. Lou Yanxu had expected this, but did not want to implicate her, so she shook her head, “It’s alright, you go.”

Wen Jie met her gaze and pulled Wan Qing'an into the carriage.

As the carriage drove away and the pedestrians dispersed, Lou Yanxu withdrew her gaze and asked calmly, "What do you want?"

"This concerns Rou'er, let's go inside and talk." He knew exactly what she was doing, knowing that she cared most about Rou'er's sister. With just one sentence, he forced her to agree to come inside. "Come in."

She led him to the banquet hall, clearly impatient. She didn't even sit down, staring at him intently, as if she wanted to finish what she was saying and leave quickly.

Xu Congjing touched the tip of his nose, not daring to say anything else. "I have investigated the matter back then. It was Sheng Jin who drugged Rou'er and offered her to Meng Lingwei. Rou'er woke up and refused, so she went to her death."

"?" She paused, realizing that Qingrui had clearly said Meng Lingwei wasn't in Suzhou. However, with the Meng family's power, concealing their whereabouts would be incredibly easy, especially after several years, making the investigation even more difficult.

Knowing he wouldn't joke about Sister Rou's matter, she pondered for a while and murmured, "It really is him..." Her intuition was right. Meng Lingwei must have been severely punished because of the Qi Lou incident, which is why he was so angry that he wanted to cut off the mole at the corner of his eye that resembled Sister Rou's.

Just as her mind was racing, a gentle, soft voice sounded in her ear, "Meng Lingchang is also involved in this matter. You should be careful in the future."

Lou Yanxu nodded. If that's the case, then the woman who forced the coroner to fabricate her brother's cause of death was sent by Meng Lingwei, or even Meng Lingshang herself.

In other words, the elder brother was held underwater and drowned by the Meng family.

Her fingers gradually tightened, her heart filled with mixed emotions. There was joy at getting closer to the truth, but also heartache at discovering it. Her brother and sister Rou had suffered such torment!

She bit her lip until it bled, then turned her head to hide the intense pain in her eyes. After a moment's thought, she suddenly asked, "So, you killed Meng Lingwei?"

"Otherwise, who do you think it is? Lu Hengzhi?" He forced a fake smile, his tone filled with deep disdain, as if to say that only he could handle this matter.

In a flash, Lou Yanxu suddenly understood the deception Lu Hengzhi had mentioned. Originally, she didn't want to owe Xu Congjing anything, which was why she hoped he wasn't behind this. In other words, she didn't want to get entangled with him anymore. Now that Rou-jie was involved, she didn't feel like she owed him anything.

Xu Congjing understood what she was thinking all too well. He stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders, a bitter smile gradually forming on his lips. "Wanwan, do you really think we can really sever all ties after more than ten years of friendship?"

They had been childhood friends, supporting each other through thick and thin, experiencing both love and hate, becoming an intertwined symbiotic entity. Forcibly separating them would only result in mutual destruction and bloodshed. The fear of losing his beloved gripped him so tightly that he became paranoid, believing that, regardless of love or hate, they should remain entangled until death.

But Lou Yanxu insisted on leaving, no matter how painful it was.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Her expression was cold, her tone devoid of any lingering affection, and her eyes devoid of any warmth. "Soon I will marry into the Duke's mansion, and our relationship will be nothing more than that of colleagues."

What a colleague!

Xu Congjing felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, standing rooted to the spot. They were childhood sweethearts, vowing to spend their lives together, but why did fate play such a cruel trick, tearing apart their destiny?

In a short while, Lou Yanxu had already ordered the guests to leave, "You may leave."

She turned and walked towards the inner courtyard. Her slender figure was bathed in the moonlight. He never saw her pure smile again. He stared blankly at her, his heart filled with an intractable dilemma: should he continue to entangle her, or let her go?

He suppressed the throbbing pain in his heart, made a difficult decision, and spoke again, his voice hoarse, asking her...

"Do you really want to marry into the British Duke's family?"