Chapter 233 Do You Really Like Her?
On the tenth day, many ceremonial officials and several women arrived at Mingluan Hall early in the morning. These women must have been wealthy families in the area, and their husbands had gained some honorable status because of their loyalty to Liang Jinxian.
At this moment, the ceremonial officer was talking to Zhuang Wan about the wedding ceremony three days later, but Zhuang Wan was listening absent-mindedly.
She looked outside the hall from time to time.
Today was the day she had an appointment with Pei Xingju. It was already 9:00 a.m., but these ceremonial officials were still chattering away.
"I understand." After the ceremonial officer spoke for a while, she spoke.
"You remember everything?" The ceremonial officer was surprised and asked, "Do you know where you are going after offering sacrifices to heaven?"
“........”
Zhuang Wan's face darkened. "Do I have to remember every step of the way myself? Shouldn't you, the ceremonial officers, lead the way? If I have to do everything, what's the point of keeping you around?"
The ceremonial officer choked. But what she said made sense. The wedding agenda was indeed led by the ceremonial officer. He came today just to check with her in case something went wrong.
Unexpectedly, the moment she spoke, she had the majesty of a queen. She didn't dare to say anything else and shut up awkwardly.
"You all should leave. I'm feeling a little unwell and want to rest for a while."
Upon hearing this, everyone dared not delay any longer and hurriedly bowed and left.
As soon as everyone left, Zhuang Wan immediately ran to the inner hall to take off her cumbersome dress, and then simply put on her makeup.
But just as he was about to go out, he heard the sound of greetings outside.
Zhuang Wan's heart skipped a beat and she turned around to see Liang Jinxian walking in lazily in a moon-white robe.
"You...don't have to go to training anymore?" she asked.
Liang Jinxian curled his lips: "Are you surprised to see me?"
Zhuang Wan was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Of course, with the war imminent, I thought you would go all out."
"Training is important, but our wedding is in three days," he said cryptically, "marrying you is more important."
“........”Zhuang Wan smiled and cursed in her heart.
She didn't have much time left, but Liang Jinxian, the troublemaker, came to stop her.
At the same time, I felt a little uneasy. I didn't know why he suddenly appeared here today. These days, he was so busy that he was nowhere to be seen every day, but today he was free, which was very strange.
"What do you want from me?" she asked.
Liang Jinxian looked her up and down and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Oh, you've come just in time." Zhuang Wan pretended to be nonchalant. "I want to go out of the palace for a while, maybe I'll be back later."
"What are you going out for?"
"Go check out the shop."
"It's just a shabby shop, why bother?"
"It's worthless in your eyes, but in my eyes, Zhuang Ji is my career." Zhuang Wan said, "Do you understand what career means? You men talk about careers all the time, but women have their own careers, too."
Liang Jinxian sneered: "Your main goal is to make money?"
"certainly."
"Why bother? I'll give you whatever you want."
"That's different."
"What's the difference?"
Zhuang Wan said, "Every penny earned with my own hands brings a greater sense of accomplishment than money given by others."
Liang Jinxian smiled faintly after hearing this. He sat down on a chair in the hall and looked at his hands casually.
"Zhuang Wan..." he asked slowly, "Do you want to escape?"
Zhuang Wan's heart skipped a beat and she suddenly became nervous.
She forced herself to remain calm as she studied his expression, unsure if he had discovered her plan.
Liang Jinxian raised his eyes and looked at her straight in the eye: "I understand that you don't really want to marry me. We're getting married in three days. If you don't run away now, when will you run away?"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Wan felt relieved. It turned out that it was just his guess.
"What are you talking about?" She walked over. "If I didn't want to stay here, why would I waste money opening a shop here?"
"Don't forget..." Liang Jinxian said slowly, "You borrowed the capital to open your shop from me."
"...What do you mean? Are you here to collect a debt from me?"
Liang Jinxian smiled softly, and a strand of hair on his forehead fell on his eyebrows, charming everyone.
"So, you really plan to stay and get married?"
"What else?"
"I don't quite believe it, unless..." He stood up, took two steps towards Zhuang Wan, and suddenly put his arm around her waist: "Prove it to me."
Zhuang Wan was filled with anger, but she forced a smile and met his eyes.
I saw his charming and delicate face slowly approaching...
At this moment, she was conflicted. She wanted to get rid of Liang Jinxian and leave the palace as soon as possible, but now to get rid of Liang Jinxian, she would have to endure the test.
And this test...
Seeing his slightly lowered eyes filled with scrutiny, Zhuang Wan hesitated for a few breaths and slowly closed her eyes.
Liang Jinxian's eyes moved slightly, but when he moved close to her lips, he paused for a moment.
However, he only paused for a moment, the scrutiny in his eyes turned into tenderness, and he slowly closed his eyes.
His hot breath sprayed on Zhuang Wan's face, causing her heart to beat like thunder and her hands to clench in her sleeves.
At this moment, someone suddenly came from outside to report.
"Master, we have found traces of Pei Xingju."
Zhuang Wan suddenly opened her eyes and met Liang Jinxian's half-smile.
"Not acting anymore?" He raised his lips wickedly, clearly seeing the worry and panic in her eyes.
Without waiting for Zhuang Wan to answer, he let go of her arm and strode away.
After leaving Mingluan Hall, Liang Jinxian ordered: "Seal off the main hall. Not even a fly is allowed to fly in."
"yes."
"Capture Pei Xingju immediately!"
"yes."
.
Zhuangji Shop.
Across the wall from the accounting office, Pei Xingju sat quietly on the couch, slowly playing with a dagger in his hand.
"It's almost past two quarters past noon," Xue Gang said, "Should we still wait?"
"Wait." Pei Xingju said.
Upon hearing this, Xue Gang turned around and said, "If we wait any longer, I'm afraid the person we'll be waiting for will be Liang Jinxian."
He said, "It's impossible for Miss Zhuang not to remember such an important day, but she hasn't shown up yet. She must have been stopped by Liang Jinxian."
"We've been making quite a bit of noise in Shuzhou lately. He must know you've been here. Liang Jinxian is incredibly scheming and intelligent. How could a woman like Miss Zhuang possibly hide this from him?"
Pei Xingju said nothing, but stroked the dagger a little anxiously.
"Yuzhi, we can't wait any longer. We must withdraw from Shuzhou first. Otherwise, not only will we fail to save Miss Zhuang, but even our deployment in Shuzhou will fail."
"Wait." Pei Xingju closed his eyes: "Take your people away first, I'll wait here for a while."
"You——" Xue Gang was furious: "You are simply crazy!"
She was just a woman, she could marry anyone she wanted. Risking his life for a woman was really unlike the Pei Xingju he knew.
On this side, Liang Jinxian arrived at Zhuangji Shop and quickly ordered his men to surround the area within a few miles.
"Pei Xingju..." His eyes flashed with excitement: "Today, I, Liang Jinxian, want you to die here!"
"Take people in to search!" he ordered.
"yes."
Xichang and Xizhu flew up, one passed through the western eaves, the other jumped in from the eastern wall, and the rest rushed into the house with bows and arrows.
Liang Jinxian followed closely behind and strode in.
"Master," Xichang said, "the person is inside. This house was bought ten days ago. And two quarters of an hour ago, I saw someone secretly enter. Judging from his figure, it was Pei Xingju."
Liang Jinxian smiled crazily, "It was effortless to get it. I've been looking for it for so long, and it turned out to be hiding here."
"Pei Xingju!" He stepped forward with his hands behind his back. "Are you coming out, or should my people go in and fetch you?"
After waiting for a while, no one in the room made a sound.
Liang Jinxian narrowed his eyes and waved his hand: "Go in."
"yes."
Xichang obeyed the order and broke open the door with his sword. After a few crackling sounds, the door shattered.
However, the next moment, when Liang Jinxian saw the situation inside clearly, his face changed drastically.
"Oh no!" Xichang looked at the empty house and shouted, "He escaped!"
He walked out and said, "Master, I am sure I am not mistaken. That person is Pei Xingju."
"Immediately seal off Shuzhou City." Liang Jinxian thought of something and quickly ordered, "Capture Pei Xingju, dead or alive!"
.......
Pei Xingju had extraordinary hearing. As early as when Liang Jinxian led his men into the alley, he heard something was wrong and immediately evacuated the house with Xue Gang.
Just as they were about to escape, Liang Jinxian surrounded the house.
At this moment, the two of them were running quickly along the streets of Shuzhou towards the city gate.
After leaving the city, Xue Gang asked, "It seems we have alerted the enemy. What should we do now?"
Seeing Pei Xingju remained silent, he asked, "Are you still thinking of going back to find Miss Zhuang?"
"Where is the Pei family army heading?" Pei Xingju suddenly asked.
Xue Gang was startled and turned to look at another person.
The man said, "Sir, the army has reached Quzhou and will reach Shu in six days."
Xue Gang was embarrassed when he heard this: "It's too late to say that."
"Too late for what?"
"The original plan won't work. I know you want to use war to force Liang Jinxian to give up the wedding. But..." Xue Gang said, "Liang Jinxian is getting married in three days. How can it be too late?"
"I have my own plans."
"What's the plan?"
Pei Xingju said nothing, but looked solemnly in the direction of Shuzhou City, where Liang Jinxian's men arrived late and blocked the city gate.
.
The palace was sealed off, and Zhuang Wan sat inside the palace with her fingers pinched together for the entire day until Liang Jinxian showed up in the evening.
He was still wearing the same moon-white robe, but the difference from this morning was that the robe had more wrinkles and his expression was more sinister.
Across the hall, Liang Jinxian smiled sinisterly, his pale eyes cold and without any warmth.
Zhuang Wan raised her neck and smiled slowly, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
"I guess you didn't catch Pei Xingju, right?" she said.
Liang Jinxian walked up to her without saying a word, then slowly bent down and placed his hands on the armrests on both sides of the chair.
Look at Zhuang Wan from a close distance.
"Not acting anymore? My queen?"
Zhuang Wan tutted, "Just a reminder, we're not married yet."
"No problem, you will be my queen in three days."
"Then let me remind you again, you may not be able to get married in three days. Pei Xingju will never let me marry you."
Liang Jinxian's smile froze on his lips.
His lips are very thin, and when they are slightly raised, there is a sense of cynicism and ruthlessness towards everyone.
Just looking at her at this moment makes one feel a chill.
After a moment, he slowly raised his hand and pinched her chin: "I said, don't irritate me."
Zhuang Wan frowned.
Although Liang Jinxian's hands were slender, they were very powerful. When he pinched her chin, she was unable to move.
It was visible to the naked eye that the pinched area gradually turned red.
Liang Jinxian looked at the blush, a mixture of tenderness and excitement. "You've been raised in the boudoir for many years, so your skin has always been delicate. I still remember two years ago when you went to the temple to pray and fell. It was clearly just a scratch, but it was so red it almost bled."
He asked, "Do you know who gave you the medicine?"
Zhuang Wan glanced at him without saying a word.
"It's me." He said, his tone tinged with nostalgia: "At that time, your face was red and you lowered your head and didn't dare to look at me."
"But in just two years, you actually forgot."
There was a hint of loneliness in his eyes, and his smile became even colder.
Zhuang Wan knew that he was talking about the story between him and his original self, but she really had no idea what had happened between them.
"People always change." She said ambiguously.
Liang Jinxian smiled: "Really?"
"You're right." He slowly let go of her, his fingers stroking the red spot: "People's hearts will change. As long as you become my woman, will Pei Xingju still want you?"
His fingertips were slightly cool, and when they touched Zhuang Wan's skin, it felt like a snake coiling up. His dark eyes were like the tongue of a snake oozing with poison.
Zhuang Wan was horrified.
"What...what do you want to do?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was suddenly pulled up by Liang Jinxian.
"Liang Jinxian, what are you going to do?" Zhuang Wan was panicked.
"You'll know what I'm going to do in a moment." Liang Jinxian held her tightly. Zhuang Wan struggled desperately, feeling that she had really angered Liang Jinxian this time and secretly regretted it.
Unable to struggle, she suddenly lowered her head and bit his shoulder.
Liang Jinxian felt pain in her heart, and a malicious light flashed in her eyes. He simply picked her up and carried her horizontally, heading towards the inner hall.
"Liang Jinxian, are you crazy?"
Liang Jinxian didn't say anything.
Soon, he came to the inner hall and threw Zhuang Wan on the couch.
He threw it without mercy, hitting Zhuang Wan's old waist so hard that it hurt and she almost burst into tears.
Zhuang Wan backed away repeatedly until her back was against the railing of the bed.
"Liang Jinxian, you are crazy! Crazy!"
"That's right! I'm a lunatic..." Liang Jinxian slowly approached: "You forced me to do this."
Zhuang Wan's heart hardened, and when he pressed down on her, she quickly pulled out the hairpin on her head and pressed it against her throat.
"Liang Jinxian!" she said sternly, "If you dare to touch me today, you'll marry my corpse!"
Liang Jinxian paused and stopped moving.
He stared at her silently, his eyes full of hurt, but he still smiled stubbornly.
"How much do you love Pei Xingju? Are you willing to die for him?"
"It's not because of Pei Xingju, but because of dignity."
Liang Jinxian narrowed his eyes: "Dignity?"
"Who do you think Zhuang Wan is?" Zhuang Wan asked from her original self's perspective, "Do you really like her? Do you use force to possess her, regardless of her will?"
"If you're really like this, you're not even a man! You're not worthy of loving her!"
The smile on Liang Jinxian's face faded.
"Liang Jinxian," Zhuang Wan said decisively, pushing the hairpin a little closer. A stream of bright red flowed out, and she said, "You'd better think it over. Do you really want to do this?"
Liang Jinxian stared at her, and after a while, he suddenly gently held her wrist and forced her hairpin away from her neck.
Then he slowly stood up, turned around and left.
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