Chapter 160: A Perfect Match Made in Heaven, Not Just for This Lifetime.

Yue Yining's legs were still weak from the jolt, and she was panting with a flushed face from her neck down.

"...You clearly like me so much, why are you still going against me?" Yue Yining said in a low voice.

Her words contained a subtle probing, seemingly both a temptation and a threat, like a hook that had caught his pounding heart.

If I told you I hate you, would you be so sad you want to die?

"Yes." Xie Qingyu immediately gripped her hand tightly.

Yue Yining's movement of raising her waist faltered. Sweat dripped from her forehead, dampening his chest.

Seeing the unease and panic in his eyes, she moved her other hand and reached out to touch the faint red mark on the jade mountain.

"Then why won't you give up? I'm giving you this chance now." Yue Yining said slowly, teasing him with her fingertips, her movements incredibly skillful.

A few heavy breaths reached her ears. Yue Yining's eyes swept over every part of Xie Qingyu exposed to her, watching his involuntary reaction, and continued, "You said you hate court intrigue and that you're not taking sides for personal gain, so why are you supporting the Seventh Prince?"

"I don't understand, which of your statements is true and which is a lie?"

"No, it's not a lie..." Xie Qingyu was almost pushed to the edge, and managed to say with difficulty, "Miss... no, don't touch it..."

"Huh?" Yue Yining didn't hear what he said, so she bent down and looked down.

With that slight lean, her already precariously fastened dress came undone completely, sliding down her waist.

Her soft, fair upper body was completely exposed, bathed in the dim moonlight filtering through the paper window. She sat on his waist, her entire body radiant and fair.

Before Yue Yining could see anything, Xie Qingyu had already flipped over and pinned her down, grabbing her wrist tightly.

He buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, murmuring and kissing her haphazardly, like a mad dog with a predatory bite, his movements growing increasingly forceful, losing all control, "Miss... Miss..."

Yue Yining gasped for breath and grabbed his taut arm in the raging storm.

The two made love until the wee hours of the morning.

There were still a lot of important matters waiting for Yue Yining to handle at the Princess's residence, so she didn't stay any longer. The next morning, after dressing properly, she prepared to leave the Xie residence.

Before leaving, Xie Qingyu personally retrieved the ointment that she had previously asked the physician in the manor to prepare for her, in order to relieve her back pain.

He returned to the room with the ointment and happened to see Yue Yining emerge from behind the screen, her steps somewhat hurried. Judging from the direction she was coming, she wasn't coming from the bedside or dressing table, but rather from near his desk.

Yue Yining hadn't expected to run into him so easily. Her eyes darted around, and she seemed rather guilty. "Let's go. The princess's carriage should be arriving soon."

Xie Qingyu took her hand and said gently, "Okay."

Xie Qingyu didn't pay any attention, assuming she was just looking through the documents on his desk. It wasn't the first time; he knew that last time she had not only looked through the paintings in his drawer but also the letters he exchanged with the Seventh Prince and others.

From that day on, he deliberately placed some unimportant documents on his desk as a cover.

Even if Yue Yining sees it, it won't affect anything.

Xie Qingyu escorted the person to the gate of the mansion and watched her get into the carriage before leaving.

He turned back to his own courtyard, and as soon as he entered the gate, he saw Xie Yunying dressed in orange.

She had arrived at some point and was now standing under the eaves waiting for him.

Xie Yunying watched Xie Qingyu walk in, her eyes fixed on him with a complex expression.

Xie Yunying has experienced too many shocks these days, her dark circles have deepened, and she looks much more haggard.

She accidentally stumbled upon Xie Qingyu and Yue Yining's affair and was in a daze for many days. After finally accepting the fact, she began to try to spy on their progress every day. However, every time she used the live streaming tool, the main system warned her that it "involved pornographic and prohibited content" and prohibited her from watching.

Xie Yunying: "..." This warning seemed to say nothing, but in fact it said everything.

After using the live-streaming props for several days in a row, even during the daytime, she was warned. Xie Yunying was at her wit's end. She was so shocked by this fact that she couldn't recover and couldn't take it anymore.

The system hesitated, then said, "...Host, it's not necessarily about daytime debauchery. Our main system has strict regulations; anything below the neck is considered pornographic and prohibited content."

Xie Yunying cursed, "Are you all sick? You might as well make having children illegal too!"

system:"......."

System: "Host, may I interview you? What is your mentality behind your persistent spying every day, and your anger and embarrassment when you fail to spy?"

Xie Yunying said solemnly, "Even if I told you, your AI wouldn't understand. Although I really ship them as a couple, I'm still essentially a Yue Yining solo fan, you know? Although not to the point of being a die-hard solo fan."

“I like to see her being loved, so I will occasionally climb over the wall to steal a bite of candy, but I can’t accept that my cabbage has actually been taken away.”

system:"........"

Xie Yunying quickly changed her tune: "But if it's a done deal, I'll accept it, because I unconditionally trust my Ningning's judgment, and I believe she knows what she wants."

"But, I can't help but feel a little disgusted with Xie Qingyu. On one hand, I hate seeing him monopolizing Yue Yining every day, but on the other hand, I can't help but scrutinize his true feelings for Yue Yining with a magnifying glass. I want to see them together, but I also don't want to see them together."

"Anyway, I have mixed feelings, so it's hard for me to explain it to you clearly."

System: "........" Such a complex bunch of humans.

When Xie Qingyu saw Xie Yunying, she gestured for her to go inside and talk. Xie Yunying, who had just opened her mouth, closed it again and obediently followed her inside.

The atmosphere between the two was awkward. The observant maids brought up a table of tea and snacks and then immediately left.

The door had barely closed when the two of them spoke almost simultaneously:

"Why did you suddenly come to see me?"

What exactly is your relationship with Yue Yining?

As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell into an eerie silence.

Xie Qingyu narrowed her eyes: "How did you know?"

Xie Qingyu's gaze was intensely intimidating, but Xie Yunying forced herself to remain calm: "I have a system, and of course I'll know about the female lead's affairs."

"But you, you clearly told me before that we were on the same side and that you wouldn't hide anything important from me, but you actually lied to me! You and Yue Yining clearly didn't just meet in Yanjing; you had already met before she came to the capital, right?"

Although Xie Yunying was warned nine out of ten times for spying, she still managed to succeed two or three times occasionally.

It was during those two or three eavesdropping sessions that she found some clues in the conversation between Yue Yining and Xie Qingyu.

Xie Qingyu never called Yue Yining by her name; when only the two of them were present, he would simply call her "Miss".

Miss.

Xie Yunying: "So what exactly happened? When did you and Yue Yining first meet?"

Seeing that Xie Yunying had seen through him, Xie Qingyu's expression relaxed. He pinched his brow for a while, then lowered his fingers, his gaze no longer piercing, and said in a calm voice, "Summer of the twenty-first year of Jiahe, in Jinling."

Xie Yunying almost slammed her hand on the table and exclaimed, "So early?!"

Xie Yunying: "System, system, do you remember when I transmigrated? Could it be that Xie Qingyu was already possessed before I transmigrated?"

The system paused electronically for a moment: "Hmm... As far as I remember, the time you were deployed, host, was in the summer of the twenty-first year of Jiahe. It seems that you and Xie Qingyu arrived in this book one after the other."

Xie Yunying understood.

So they all just arrived, but Xie Qingyu got incredibly lucky and ran into the female lead first.

She looked at Xie Qingyu, then asked hesitantly, "So how did you two...?" She still didn't understand. Even if Xie Qingyu was lucky enough to run into Yue Yining, how did the two of them become acquainted?

Xie Qingyu: "Yue Yining lived near Jinling a year before I went to the capital, and I was sold to Jinling. It was a coincidence that I was being beaten and scolded by slave traders at that time. She happened to be passing by and, out of kindness and soft-heartedness, she bought me and took me home."

Xie Yunying's eyes widened in disbelief, her face practically screaming: "Your luck is just too good!"

"So you recognized her as Yue Yining and decided to stay with her?" Xie Yunying couldn't help but let her imagination run wild, watching Xie Qingyu's expression change repeatedly. "You...you wouldn't be...a pawn in her..."

Xie Qingyu only needed to glance at her to know what filthy things she was thinking.

Xie Qingyu chuckled: "Even if I thought about it, she wouldn't be that kind of person." Besides, at that time, his feelings for Yue Yining were purely admiration and affection, and he wouldn't allow himself to tarnish her moon.

“She originally intended to buy me and then release me, but I lied and claimed to have amnesia, which gave me the opportunity to become her servant. At first, she was very wary of me, but later, when she was being chased by the Fourth Prince's men, I took a fatal poisoned arrow for her, and she lowered her guard against me and treated me very well. She even took me into the city to buy medicine, and that's how I was recognized,” Xie Qingyu said slowly. “You know what happened after that.”

He returned to Yanjing and became the renowned eldest son of the Xie family.

Xie Yunying nearly dropped her jaw: "No way?! If this gets out... the eldest son of the prestigious first family, actually worked as someone else's servant..."

"So as soon as I returned, Xie Zhi killed everyone who knew. Not only the people who sold me, but also all the other slave traders on that street, he didn't spare a single one," Xie Qingyu said. "In the tradition of Dongxi, the reputation of a noble family is more important than life. I understand this, so I concealed from Xie Zhi the fact that I had been Yue Yining's servant, which is why he didn't cause trouble for Yue Yining."

Xie Yunying recalled last year's Spring Festival Banquet with a hundred flowers.

That day, in the peach blossom forest where clouds and mist rose, she saw Xie Qingyu standing with Yue Yining in the distance. He looked at the person in front of him with eyes more tender than the spring sunshine in March.

That was the first time she could remember seeing Yue Yining and Xie Qingyu together.

Although she didn't want to admit it, Xie Yunying thought to herself at that moment that the two of them seemed to be a perfect match made in heaven.

"So Yue Yining didn't know about your restoration of identity. You two only recognized each other at the Hundred Flowers Welcoming Spring Banquet." Although Xie Yunying was asking him, her tone was almost certain.

Xie Qingyu replied, "Mm."

"So how... how did you two..." Xie Yunying held up her finger, embarrassed to say it directly, "...how did you end up in this kind of relationship?"

Xie Qingyu raised an eyebrow: "What kind of relationship?"

Xie Yunying was a little embarrassed: "Oh dear, you know perfectly well what kind of relationship I'm talking about, right?"

The teapot on the stove gurgled and bubbled. A long silence followed, enveloped in the rising steam.

"...I confessed my feelings to her." Xie Qingyu lowered her eyelashes, her voice soft and steady. "She accepted me, that's all."

Xie Yunying originally wanted to ask him something, such as why he went from admiring Yue Yining to falling in love with her, but looking at Xie Qingyu's expression, she suddenly felt that asking anything would be superfluous.

This was the first time she had ever felt such intense emotion from this cold and aloof man.

Xie Yunying was a little stunned by her own thoughts. She opened her mouth and said, "Then, if you go back later..."

In a flash, Xie Yunying thought of Yuan Nanjie.

These days, besides trying to spy on Yue Yining and Xie Qingyu every day, she also has to go to Yuan Nanjie's place to "check in" every day.

She had been pursuing him for a long time, from spring to winter, and his attitude towards her had changed dramatically.

Previously, Yuan Nanjie felt like he was dying every day, without any vitality. Xie Yunying couldn't sense any desire to live from him. But recently, Yuan Nanjie's condition has been getting better and better. He would take the initiative to suggest going out with her, laugh without restraint in front of her, and sometimes there was an indescribable haze in his eyes when he looked at her.

Xie Yunying couldn't help but wonder what would happen to Yuan Nanjie if she left him now.

She changed him, giving him renewed hope and motivation to live, only to abandon him soon afterward, which was even more cruel than not saving him in the first place.

Xie Yunying shook her head, trying to clear her chaotic thoughts, but failed.

Even if it would hurt him, she still longed to return to the real world. There were her dearest parents, her friends, her familiar life, and everything she cared about and couldn't forget.

This will never change, no matter what.

Even if she falls in love with someone in this time and space, that love could never surpass her love for her parents.

Xie Qingyu answered her as she expected: "I'm different from you. You have a system that allows you to return to the real world, but I can't."

"But haven't you thought about going back?" Xie Yunying looked at him with some confusion.

Xie Qingyu smiled and said, "I hadn't thought about it."

"Why? Didn't you say you have a younger sister? It was your sister who showed you the book 'Yining'. Don't you want to see her again?"

"My sister is dead."

Xie Yunying thought she had misheard: "...Dead?"

“Yes, my family was in a car accident and they all passed away a long time ago. At that time, my parents and my sister went to another city to attend a relative’s wedding. I was too busy with work and didn’t go with them, so I escaped the tragedy. Because it was a collision with a large truck, all three of us died on the spot,” Xie Qingyu said. “I experienced the destruction of my family three months before I transmigrated into this book.”

Xie Yunying never expected to receive such an answer.

She was stunned.

But Xie Qingyu continued speaking slowly, her expression indifferent, and her voice revealing no sadness or grief: "My younger sister is only in college and not married yet. My parents only have my sister and me as their children, and their elders have all passed away."

“I handled the funeral arrangements by myself because I had no one to help me, so I took a long leave of absence. In addition to burying my family, another reason was that I had a mental breakdown and was unable to continue working for a while.”

"When I returned to the research institute after my vacation, I was told that the leadership had changed and I was to be transferred from my original position," Xie Qingyu said. "Actually, I know why. It's because the research results I submitted during those six months contradicted the mainstream viewpoints of historical reconstruction research, which aroused dissatisfaction and questioning from many experts. My stance was problematic, and coupled with my long-term absence from my post due to personal reasons, all these factors combined made it impossible for me to continue staying on the front line."

The post I was transferred to had nothing to do with historical research, and I could no longer access first-hand historical materials about the Eastern Yuan Dynasty.

Once he complies with the transfer, his research will have to stop, thus ending his ten-year career as a history researcher.

"So I resigned," Xie Qingyu said. "I originally thought I would find a job that would allow me to make a living and do research in my spare time. The mainstream views in the historical community are constantly changing, and if I have fruitful results, I may still have a chance to return to the front line."

"But not long after, I transmigrated into this book."

After transmigrating into the book, Xie Qingyu always felt that perhaps this was a destiny predetermined. The tragic pain and frustration he had experienced were meant to allow him to sever ties with his past and be reborn.

"I'm sorry..." Xie Yunying said cautiously, she really regretted her words. "I... I don't know, I shouldn't have asked you."

Xie Qingyu smiled: "It's alright, it's all in the past."

After seeing Xie Yunying off, Xie Qingyu returned to the house and, remembering the official business that had piled up on her desk, slowly walked to the table.

He truly felt everything was alright. The loss of a loved one and the shattering of one's dreams must have been extremely painful. At that time, his mental state was very poor, and he had suicidal thoughts for a long time.

But he has truly moved on now.

Since coming into this book and meeting Yue Yining.

Gaining Yue Yining's love was an accident, and her favor is the most precious thing he received in this book, without exception.

He originally thought he would be happy, but what followed that happiness was a deep fear and unease, making him restless and unable to find peace.

He couldn't help but wonder if it was because he was too despicable, or because he had lied to her that he was able to get to where he was today.

In the original book, Yue Yining never loved anyone; she only had the greater good of the common people in her heart, and she was willing to die for it.

She would never have fallen in love with Xie Qingyu.

She never knew that the Xie Qingyu in front of her was not the real Xie Qingyu.

Because he knew the plot's development and interfered with fate, he became the special one. Fate will eventually discover that he was the one causing trouble in the dark, and all deviations will eventually be corrected. Yue Yining will one day know that he was just a shameless thief who used dirty means to gain her meager affection.

Once an idea arises, it expands uncontrollably.

People are truly complex. On one hand, he told Yue Yining that he was already satisfied, incredibly grateful, and dared not hope that she would give him more love. On the other hand, he secretly longed for her to love him forever and hoped that she could see through his pretense and insincerity.

Desires grow stronger with each passing day; the more they are suppressed, the more rampant they become; the more they are restrained, the more they flourish.

His greed disgusted even himself, so how could he dare let her hear it?

If he had never received her love, he could forever keep to the boundaries, never cross the line, and remain her most loyal follower, willing to die for her without any resentment. But if she had loved him, if he had ever truly experienced her tenderness and indulgence, her favoritism and exclusivity, he could never give up her love, just as a raindrop can never return to its original cloud, he could never go back to the way things were.

Once she stops loving him, he can't imagine how he'll spend the rest of his life. Even if he doesn't commit suicide, he'll only live like a walking corpse.

The sun shone brightly, and outside the window, spring branches were just sprouting new leaves, still glistening with the dew from melting snow. Xie Qingyu sat down at the desk, but unexpectedly saw an unfamiliar sealed document lying in the center of the desk, weighed down by a black jade paperweight.

He paused, several suspicions flashing through his mind, but they vanished abruptly after he saw the words clearly.

That was Yue Yining's handwriting.

Xie Qingyu paused for a moment, then reached out and brought it to her face.

A gentle breeze from behind him ruffled his long hair, the soft ends brushing against his fingers and onto the elegant, graceful characters in small regular script.

This is a betrothal letter, not made of high-quality material, but just plain white Xuan paper, with some jagged edges from tearing, showing that the owner prepared it in a very hasty and careless manner.

The marriage compatibility chart is a traditional eight-character marriage compatibility chart, written in neat and elegant language.

Xie Qingyu's breath hitched.

He was incredulous and could hardly believe what he was seeing.

The reason is that the birth chart of the man on that marriage certificate was not that of Xie Qingyu, the eldest son of the Xie family, but rather that of Xie Qingyu, a modern historian from a thousand years later.

That's his real birth chart.

Xie Qingyu's fingers trembled slightly as she held the birth chart. In a daze, she realized that she had already opened the birth chart. Her eyes swept over the lines of analysis and annotations on the Ten Gods, Five Elements, and Divine Influences, and stopped at the final assertion.

Different paths lead to different destinations; each has its own way.

If fate has no connection with someone, forcing a union will only bring harm.

Just two lines of text were enough to pierce his heart.

Xie Qingyu felt a sharp pain in her forehead, her body swayed, and her trembling fingertips tightened their grip on the marriage certificate.

He had already guessed that this was a compatibility analysis of the birth charts personally calculated by Yue Yining. She was an exceptionally talented celestial master, and this result was absolutely correct.

But the next moment he saw that the two lines of text had been heavily crossed out with a brush.

Next to the crossed-out comments, the familiar small regular script was still written neatly, conveying a sense of determination and conviction between the lines.

A perfect match, a union of phoenix and unicorn, a match made in heaven.

Our karmic connection is deep, extending beyond this lifetime.

-----------------------

The author's note: It is preordained by fate that these two people have neither a past life nor a present life.

But Ningning personally crossed out what Heaven had decreed as destiny.

This is actually one of the reasons why Ningning made up her mind to accept Xie Qingyu and love him. That night, she calculated that Xie Qingyu came from the future and that their lives should not have intersected.

To her, his existence was a crack in the natural order, an unexpected twist of fate in the seemingly infallible natural order.

Ningning's decision to love him is also a form of rebellion against the so-called natural order; she sees this relationship as one of the ways to break the natural order.

"Resisting predetermined fate"—this belief has guided Ningning throughout her life and will continue to guide her in the future.

This is destined love [please]. I thought about it for a long time, and finally wrote down this plot. It was written in a bit of a rush, I'll continue revising this chapter tomorrow [please].