Chapter 211 Becoming the Second Shen Ci'an

Even though the two of them hadn't done anything yet, Jiang Zhi already had the illusion that she had been completely taken advantage of from head to toe.

My palm was burning hot.

The items on the desk were scattered and lying on the floor.

Even the desk seemed to be screaming in despair under the weight.

Jiang Zhi's face flushed, her eyes filled with tears, and her words were broken and incoherent, "Go, go to the bed, don't do it here..."

Lu Yuan chuckled softly, "Don't rush, tonight will last a long time."

Jiang Zhi felt completely insecure with her feet not touching the ground, fearing that the desk beneath her would collapse. She could only try her best to distract him.

When are you going back to Kyoto?

Lu Yuan paused in his work, seemingly displeased that she brought this up at this time. He bit her lip hard, eliciting a soft moan of displeasure from her, before speaking in a hoarse voice, "The fleet is ready, and we can depart as early as tomorrow."

He suddenly gritted his teeth and groaned, as Jiang Zhi's fingernails had scratched him.

"So fast..." Jiang Zhi muttered.

Lu Yuan thought she was reluctant to part with him, and couldn't help but offer himself to her, saying, "After I return to the capital and finish reporting to my superiors, I will hand this case back to Yu Jun, and I will come to Xuzhou to find you right away."

"But you have official duties to attend to, so even if you go back to Xuzhou, you won't stay for long..."

Before Jiang Zhi could finish speaking, her lips were once again sealed by Lu Yuan's.

He didn't like talking so much during intimate moments, especially such unpleasant things.

He picked Jiang Zhi up and placed her on the couch.

We need to make sure she can't make any other sound anymore.

...

The moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, making the light inside the room even dimmer.

Jiang Zhi was covered in sticky sweat, her hands were firmly held by Lu Yuan, their fingers interlocked, and she was imprisoned above her head.

His gaze in the darkness was even more unsettling, as if he wanted to skin her alive and tear her apart, sending a tingling, itchy sensation through her entire body.

Lu Yuan stared intently at her, beads of sweat dripping from his neck, sliding down his well-defined waist and abdomen, and disappearing into the dark shadows.

"Ah Zhi," he whispered, his voice seemingly coming from the depths of his soul, blurring into a dark sea within the swaying bed curtains, "Will you marry me?"

His words were interrupted by the rain during the day, and he desperately wanted her answer.

However, Jiang Zhi simply clung to his strong arm, her confused pupils quickly regaining their senses, revealing a final glimmer of clarity in her moist eyes. "But I... I don't want to go back to Kyoto."

The swaying sea abruptly stopped.

Lu Yuan endured the pain with difficulty, the veins on his forehead throbbing. "If you can't bear to leave here, after we get married, I'll accompany you to Xuzhou for a short stay every year..."

Jiang Zhi interrupted him with a wry smile, "Lu Yuan, I've said it before, I don't want to go back to Kyoto."

Looking into her solemn and unwavering gaze, Lu Yuan felt a sudden surge of panic.

"You never intended to go back with me, did you?" His voice was still hoarse, his muscles tense, and the only sound in the quiet room was his low breathing, like a beast cornered.

Jiang Zhi nodded slightly under his sharp gaze.

The hands that were intertwined with hers gripped even tighter and pressed even deeper.

The intense bitterness in Lu Yuan's heart almost burst through his chest and burned away his reason.

"And what about us? What are we—" His gaze lowered, "what are we?"

Jiang Zhi endured the pain in her eyes as she asked him, "Lu Yuan, would you leave the capital for me and spend the rest of your life in Xuzhou?"

“I—” Lu Yuan paused for a moment.

The Emperor has been kind to him, and if he really abandons everything in the capital and puts down his sword, how will he protect her and give her the life she wants in the future?

Jiang Zhi gave a weak laugh. "You see, I don't want to go back to the capital, and you don't want to stay in Xuzhou for me. There's no way we can reconcile, so how can we talk about marriage?"

"You've never had me in your heart, have you?" Lu Yuan gritted his teeth, feeling as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, his surging passion instantly vanishing.

He pulled away, staring intently at her, as if trying to see through her eyes to understand what kind of person she was, what her heart was made of, and how she could be so cruel and cold-hearted.

Jiang Zhi bit her moist lower lip, "No, of course I have feelings for you, it's just... it's just..."

She couldn't continue.

But that meager affection paled in comparison to the life she desired.

Lu Yuan finally understood the meaning behind her previous words.

In order to have more freedom, she chose to marry Shen Ci'an.

In order to escape the Eastern Palace, she resolutely abandoned the unsuspecting Shen Ci'an.

Now, he is about to become the second Shen Ci'an.

"You had already planned it all along: once I returned to the capital, we would part ways." He made his final judgment, the surge of bitter emotions in his chest bringing a touch of crimson to the corners of his eyes.

Jiang Zhi forced herself to explain to him, "If you can stay in Xuzhou, we... we can still be together."

But her feeble explanation only elicited a cold laugh from Lu Yuan. "So this is your plan: if I stay, you'll be with me; if I return to the capital, you'll abandon me and live with Ye Liangze or someone else, is that right?"

“I am not your only choice, not even your first choice. In your heart, I am nothing more than someone you can do without and discard at will.”

Lu Yuan's gaze finally turned icy cold, as if frozen solid.

Despite his disheveled clothes and bulging muscles radiating heat, he had reverted to his aloof and unapproachable demeanor, looking at her from head to toe with a stiff jawline.

Jiang Zhi's secret was exposed by him, and she couldn't find any words to refute him. She just stared at him blankly.

What he said wasn't wrong; she didn't necessarily need Lu Yuan.

After a long silence, Lu Yuan, his face dark and his thin lips pressed tightly together, bent down and picked up the clothes scattered on the ground one by one, handing them to her.

"Get dressed, I'll take you home."

Jiang Zhi was still in shock from her earlier emotions. "Huh? It's over?"

Lu Yuan let out another short, cold laugh. "Do you think we can continue under these circumstances?"

If this person weren't Jiang Zhi, he would have thrown her out of the mansion long ago.

But if she really wasn't Jiang Zhi, how could she have driven herself to this point?

“But you clearly still…” Her gaze shifted downwards.

Even in the dark, it is very conspicuous, baring its fangs and claws.

Lu Yuan's face grew even uglier, and he turned around to pull his outer robe over his chest to cover his bruises.

Jiang Zhi stopped talking and took the clothes, putting them on one by one.

This was the silk dress she had specially changed into today to see Lu Yuan; its texture was soft and slightly cool to the touch.

Lu Yuan had been in a hurry, and his skirt had been torn open, and his clothes were ripped and unwearable.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan's usually stern face showed embarrassment. He took a cloak from the clothes rack and covered her head with it. "Let's go."

The journey home with Jiang Zhi remained silent.

Lu Yuan waited for her to speak.

As long as she says she wants him to stay, that she wants to spend the rest of her life with him.

So even if he had to abandon everything, even if he had to be an ungrateful person, he would stay in Xuzhou regardless of the consequences.

But she didn't say a word.

Lu Yuan's eyes dimmed, leaving only a lonely coldness.