His tone was tinged with helplessness and exhaustion, and his voice was much lower.

"Wanwan."

"Others only see the brilliance in me and want to take a piece of my flesh."

"Only you know my vulnerability and fear, and you've always been thinking of my best interests."

"Only in front of you can I relax and be myself."

As he spoke, his throat tightened and his voice became muffled.

"How could I possibly change my mind and fall for some lousy horse girl or cow girl?"

Su Wanwan couldn't help but shed tears.

"What you're saying is being touched, it's just that you feel safe with me, it's not that you like me."

Lu Xingjian burst into a sneer.

"I'm not so stupid as to not be able to distinguish between being touched and liking."

"If you think I did something wrong, tell me, and I'll change, okay?"

Su Wanwan is determined to fight Ma Ji to the death today.

"Maggie, what are you going to do?"

It was stabbed too deep and hurt too much.

If we don't pull it out, we won't have peace in the future.

Lu Xingjian spoke calmly, clearly having given it considerable thought.

"She's no longer of any use to us, and she'll have nothing to do with us from now on."

Su Wanwan, however, did not believe it.

"Then why did you buy her a house and land?"

Lu Xingjian frowned. "Her brother captured a lot of White Lotus Cult members and received bounties, which he used to buy houses and land. What does that have to do with me?"

"A reward?" Su Wanwan was completely confused, not knowing which was real and which was fake.

"Didn't you offer a bounty for capturing members of the White Lotus Sect? That was a good idea, so I had people promote it in Shanxi. It cost a lot of money, otherwise how could the White Lotus Sect have collapsed so quickly?"

Su Wanwan knew about this, but she didn't know that Ma Ji's brother, Ma Ang, was also involved.

The only news circulating outside was that the Emperor had bought a house and land for Consort Ma; nothing else was mentioned.

After a long while, her mind was in turmoil, and she finally spoke.

"You were willing to risk your life to save her, how can that not mean you like her? Why won't you admit it?"

Lu Xingjian let out a long sigh of helplessness.

"If an infant crawls into a well, it is not the infant's fault."

“To not help one’s sister-in-law who is drowning is to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

"Wanwan, I am a human being, not an animal."

The phrase "an infant crawling into a well" is an allusion from Mencius.

If a baby is about to fall into a well, anyone would rush to save it.

Saving this baby is not out of "universal love," but out of "nature," the "compassion" that everyone possesses.