Chapter 302 You Have No Heart at All

"You don't want me to stay here?" Jiang Zhi asked him.

But back in Xuzhou, Lu Yuan wanted him to go back to the capital with him.

Lu Yuan didn't know how to explain his worries to her, so he just shook his head and said, "No, I'm just a little surprised, after all, you kept saying that you would leave the capital after things were over."

Jiang Zhi thought Lu Yuan was blaming her for not discussing it with him beforehand, so she shook his arm and said, "I haven't decided yet either. At present, besides the Crown Prince, only you know about this matter."

Lu Yuan's expression softened slightly. "Really? You're not just trying to comfort me, are you?"

“How could that be?” Jiang Zhi softened her tone. “If I don’t leave in the end, you can stay in Kyoto without having to give up everything. Wouldn’t that be a win-win situation?”

"Fine, whatever makes you happy," Lu Yuan sighed softly, reaching out to pinch her cheek. "Anyway, I can't control you, so I can only follow your lead."

Jiang Zhi was taken aback when Lu Yuan said such a thing, and a look of surprise flashed across her face. "You..."

This is the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a figure who holds absolute power in the capital.

No man would condescend to say something so undignified.

Lu Yuan, however, remained completely unfazed.

“What can we do then?” Lu Yuan said helplessly. “It seems that my bottom line keeps getting lower when it comes to you.”

Jiang Zhi felt a stinging sensation in her chest, a dense, itchy feeling.

"Since Lord Lu is so virtuous, I wonder if he could help me analyze these account books?"

She placed the Qifenglou account book in front of him.

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, sat down next to her, and flipped through the pages with her.

Having spent years investigating cases and confiscating property, he was adept at handling account books. After looking at them for a while, he asked her, "A-Zhi, have you figured anything out?"

Jiang Zhi frowned. "Something's not right."

"Although the ledger shows that Qifenglou has a lot of daily revenue, based on the number of people coming and going and the amount of money spent here every day, it should be more than that."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He travels around handling cases all year round, and can quickly see the tricks of the trade when he gets his hands on a ledger.

However, Jiang Zhi, being confined to the inner quarters, could not possibly discern the secrets of an unfamiliar industry so quickly, no matter how intelligent she was.

"Ah Zhi seems to be very familiar with brothels?" he couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Zhi was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant.

She trusted Lu Yuan so much that she forgot to hide her true feelings from him.

Having spent so much time at Qifeng Tower in her past life, she was naturally very familiar with it.

But this was only her second time here, and Lu Yuan, being naturally perceptive and suspicious, immediately noticed her unusual behavior.

Jiang Zhi made an excuse, "It was after I met Jiang Xue that day that I asked her in detail, so I have some understanding of it."

"Is that so?" Lu Yuan remained noncommittal, clearly not believing her words.

On the way back to Beijing, she had a high fever and fell into a coma, talking nonsense.

It mentions terms like "brothel madam" and "brothel".

However, according to his understanding, Jiang Zhi had never been to a brothel before.

Add to that the entanglement between the crown prince and her...

Jiang Zhi glared at him. "What are you trying to say?"

“I didn’t say anything,” Lu Yuan said calmly, looking at her. “If you’re unwilling to tell me, I naturally wouldn’t dare to ask any more questions.”

His tone was quite resentful.

Jiang Zhi lowered her head and bit her lip in a conflicted manner.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to tell Lu Yuan about her rebirth?

If he truly dislikes her, it's better to end things sooner rather than later, rather than continuing this entanglement.

After all, Lu Yuan also has the right to know the truth.

She took a deep breath. "Lu Yuan, there's something I need to ask you."

Seeing her so solemn expression, Lu Yuan straightened his posture, his brows furrowing coldly. "Speak."

"If I really came from a brothel, would you look down on me?"

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yuan said coldly, "Impossible. As the legitimate daughter of the Minister's family, your identity is genuine. I have investigated all your activities from birth to the present, and there is nothing suspicious about them."

Back when Jiang Zhi helped him find the assassin who tried to kill the crown prince, he had already sent someone to investigate Jiang Zhi's background. She was just an ordinary young lady from the inner quarters.

His brow furrowed. "Why would you ask that?"

"Never mind all that. Just tell me, will you look down on me because I come from a brothel?"

Lu Yuan found it absurd. "I don't accept such unfounded assumptions. You are you. Your experiences from the past to the present have shaped you, and I admire you as you are now. Why do you need to belittle yourself to prove my feelings for you?"

He believed the evidence before him more than unfounded assumptions.

Jiang Zhi felt a sharp pain in her chest for a moment, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

As long as Lu Yuan says he doesn't mind, she's determined to tell him everything from her past life and let him decide.

But now he says she's belittling herself.

It is clear that he looked down on courtesans from the bottom of his heart.

What exactly is she hoping for?

What man in the world could accept that his woman came from a brothel?

Given Lu Yuan's keen insight into people's hearts, if he were to spend a long time with him, there would inevitably be times when he would let his guard down like today, and Lu Yuan would surely be able to detect the clues.

If you get bogged down in it, you won't be able to extricate yourself easily.

It's better to make a clean break now.

She calmed down and said, "Okay, you're right, I won't ask anymore."

She turned her attention back to the ledgers.

However, the words on the page seemed to have grown legs, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't read them.

She slumped down and closed the ledger, finding herself having some difficulty breathing.

Lu Yuan noticed something was wrong with her, took her hand, and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Given my current agitated state, I really couldn't discern anything.

She put away the account books and stood up. "I'm a little tired and want to go home first."

Just as she was about to leave, Lu Yuan pulled her back and made her sit on his lap.

With her body held captive, his brows furrowed even more as he cupped Jiang Zhi's face and examined it closely, scrutinizing every trace.

"How could you be tired after just getting out? If you don't want to look at the accounts, there are plenty of places to have fun in Beilifang. I'll take you there."

Jiang Zhi lowered her eyelids. "I'm not in the mood. Let's talk about it next time."

She tried to break free from his embrace, but Lu Yuan only held her tighter.

"Something's not right with you. I won't let you go until you explain yourself clearly today." He felt a strange sense of panic.

It seems that if we let her leave like this, we will lose her again, just like before.

He will not allow himself to repeat the same mistake.

"Is it because I mentioned earlier that you are familiar with brothels?" He thought of a possibility. "Then I apologize. I don't suspect that you come from a brothel, it's just that I'm always suspicious and prone to overthinking because of my work habits."

Lu Yuan pulled her into his arms. "If you don't like it, I won't ask anymore. I'll believe whatever you say."

"Ah Zhi, don't ignore me."

The suffocating feeling in his chest almost overwhelmed him; he could only catch his breath by clinging tightly to the person in front of him.

“There’s nothing to say,” Jiang Zhi said, her face cold and numb. “Lu Yuan, let’s end this here. Let’s not see each other again.”

"What?" Lu Yuan almost thought he had misheard.

He didn't understand how things had gotten to this point when the two of them had been fine just moments before.

His eyes were bloodshot, his lips were pale, and his jawline was sharp and angular. "Say it again."

The stinging pain in Jiang Zhi's heart surged up again, but she kept a cold face and repeated, "I said, it's over between us."

Lu Yuan stared at her blankly for a long time, then suddenly let out a cold laugh, "You think it's over just like that?"

"Jiang Zhi, what do you take me for? Someone you can just take and discard as you please?"

Jiang Zhi gritted her teeth, "Lord Lu holds a high position and wields great power, do you intend to pester me relentlessly?"

Lu Yuan was enveloped in immense anger at this moment, and even his breath was filled with scorching fury.

A thousand words stuck in her throat, finally turning into a very soft, gritty sneer, "Jiang Zhi, I always thought your heart was made of stone, but now I realize how wrong I was—because you don't have a heart at all."