Chapter 18 Face

Xie Yankang glanced at Xie Hanyue, then said indifferently, "Your sister is of marriageable age now. If she can't find a good match, our entire Xie family will be implicated, and even your reputation will be ruined. Alright, go back and rest. Just remember, everything your parents do is for your and your brother's good."

These words weren't just Xie Yankang's attempt to comfort him; they were genuine.

The Xie family had long regarded Xie Hanyue as their own daughter, so naturally they wanted to plan for the child's future. Besides, this marriage was originally proposed by Xie Qingran herself, and no one forced her.

Yingxing Pavilion.

As soon as Xie Qingran returned, she took off her gorgeous clothes. The clothes were beautiful, but they were too cumbersome. After wearing them all day, Xie Qingran felt very tired.

Before the clothes could be put down, Lu Jinzhi suddenly rushed in. Seeing Xie Qingran wearing only her undergarments, his face turned red, and he subconsciously turned his back.

"Xie Qingran, you're not wearing any clothes in broad daylight! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?!"

How could you be so shameless!

Xie Qingran showed no expression, but silently took the outer robe beside her, wrapped herself up, and looked coldly at Lu Jinzhi.

"Breaking into a young lady's room without even a word—who is truly shameless?"

"Is this how the Lu family raises its members?"

Xie Qingran's indifferent voice came over, which made Lu Jinzhi pause in surprise.

He never expected that Xie Qingran, who was usually so timid and submissive in front of him, would speak to him like this.

"Xie Qingran!"

"Don't think I don't know what you said to the Empress. Let me tell you, I absolutely do not agree to this marriage!"

"I'd rather die than marry you!"

Lu Jinzhi's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he stared at Xie Qingran with gritted teeth, as if she were some kind of despicable person.

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingran couldn't help but let out a disdainful sneer.

She stood there with her arms crossed, coldly looking at the self-righteous man in front of her: "Who said I was going to marry you? How can you be so shameless?"

"You still won't admit it?"

Lu Jinzhi was furious. He turned around again and glared at Xie Qingran through gritted teeth.

Everyone knows that Lu Jinzhi is a handsome young man, but Xie Qingran has always felt that this man seems to have some kind of problem. Whether in her past life or this life, whenever they meet, he is always like a firecracker, as if he is about to explode at any moment.

However, Xie Qingran was certain that she had never offended this person in either her past or present life. In fact, in her previous life, she had even felt fond of him and thought about spending her life with him. Unfortunately, the ending was so tragic.

Memories from her previous life flooded her mind like a tidal wave, almost overwhelming Xie Qingran. When she looked at Lu Jinzhi, her eyes unconsciously held deep malice and hatred.

Such a gaze shocked Lu Jinzhi. He almost subconsciously took a step back, feeling an indescribable panic in his heart, as if something that originally belonged to him was about to leave him!

"Sister! Look what I brought you! It's hawthorn cake from the Little Kitchen, isn't it your favorite?" Xie Hanyue's cheerful voice suddenly broke the silence between the two.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Hanyue walked in carrying a plate of pastries. She seemed completely unaware that Lu Jinzhi was there, and stood there with her face flushed.

"Brother Lu, you... what are you doing here?"

Did I interrupt your conversation?

Xie Hanyue stood there, holding the pastries, biting her lower lip, looking incredibly pitiful, almost like a child who had done something wrong.

Looking at Xie Hanyue's pretentious behavior, Xie Qingran felt disgusted.

"Could you please go outside to talk?"

"I'm very tired, I need to rest."

Xie Qingran spoke coldly, interrupting the sparks that were forming between the two as they looked at each other.

Now, both of them were a little embarrassed, especially Xie Hanyue, who put down the pastries in her hand with a flushed face: "Sister, you misunderstood. I didn't know Brother Lu was here. I... I came to bring you hawthorn cakes."

"I can't handle a hawthorn cake filled with laxatives. You'd better make it yourself." Xie Qingran glanced at the hawthorn cake indifferently.

Whether Xie Hanyue herself was out of her mind, or she thought Xie Qingran was out of her mind, the color of the hawthorn cake looked a bit off, yet she still brought it over like that.

"Sister, what...what are you saying? What laxative?"

"I just thought you like hawthorn cake the most, so I specially brought it to you, you..."

Before Xie Hanyue could finish speaking, tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string.

"Since you say you don't have any, why don't you take a bite?"

Xie Qingran stepped forward, took a piece of hawthorn cake, and offered it to Xie Hanyue's lips.

Snap!

Lu Jin slapped Xie Qingran's hand, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he shouted sternly, "Enough! What are you doing?"

"They kindly brought you pastries, and you're not even grateful, but why are you being so aggressive?" Lu Jinzhi immediately pulled Xie Hanyue over, hiding her behind him, and looked at Xie Qingran with displeasure: "You really don't know what's good for you!"

Before he finished speaking, Lu Jinzhi grabbed Xie Hanyue's hand and started walking out.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to glare fiercely at Xie Qingran.

Normally, Xie Qingran would have immediately grabbed Lu Jinzhi's hand to explain and defend herself, but now, Xie Qingran didn't care at all whether this person believed her or not.

She simply took off her outer robe, lay down on the bed, and lazily ordered, "Baozhu, close the door!"

bump!

The sound of the door closing was like a slap across the faces of Lu Jinzhi and Xie Hanyue.

Xie Hanyue was stunned for a moment, then reacted, shook Lu Jinzhi's arm, and whispered, "Brother Lu, I'm sorry, it's all my fault for dragging you into this. My sister is only angry with you because she dislikes me!"

"Hanyue, please don't say that. You haven't done anything wrong. It's just that Xie Qingran is petty and narrow-minded!" Lu Jinzhi's voice was loud, as if he was afraid that the people inside the room wouldn't hear him.

However, Xie Qingran had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Lu Jinzhi's punch was like hitting cotton.

Main courtyard.

Xie Yankang had already tidied up and was lying on the bed, looking at Wang Shi: "You must prepare Qingran's wedding well, especially regarding the dowry. You must not wrong her, nor can you disgrace the Xie family, understand?"