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The cold winter night was deep and quiet, the occasional sound being the falling of snow from branches. In the Dingbei Marquis's mansion, the patrolling guards dutifully walked through it twice before finally retreating to the warm room to enjoy a bowl of hot soup while waiting for their shift to end.
A silent figure quietly flashed past after the thick fur curtain fell, and lightly entered Chunhui Hall.
The study was so quiet that not even a candle was lit, as if the only sounds in the world were her tinnitus and heartbeat. The visitor carefully avoided the antique shelves inside and quickly searched for the brocade box on the bookshelf.
She checked everything one by one, put it in its place, and found many priceless treasures, but nothing she wanted. The cold moonlight shone in through the window, vaguely illuminating the pale face of someone. It was Aruo.
"Could it really be on him? Or... in the dormitory?" Her fingers groped for a small box, she leaned in and smelled it, and a familiar fragrance filled her nose.
Aruo was slightly surprised by the tail note of ylang-ylang fragrance, and his dark eyes darkened with a hint of coldness.
He reached to his waist to feel for the lighter, and the faint flame suddenly went out as if it was blown out by the wind.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up instantly, and Aruo rolled his eyes alertly. It was pitch black all around, and he couldn't see his hand in front of him.
She is not afraid of ghosts and gods, but she is afraid of people.
Cold sweat seeped down her back, making her feel incredibly uncomfortable in this harsh winter night. Her soft-soled silk shoes slowly retreated. An overwhelming sense of dread enveloped her, her mind numb and unable to conceive of any possibility.
Was it an ambush, or a trap? Who… Could it be that Luo Ziran had noticed? No, Luo Ziran and his mother were both in the palace for the palace banquet tonight. They wouldn't be back at this hour. She had observed for a long time before figuring out the patterns and gaps in the patrols. There was no way they'd been caught.
Then, it felt like something was approaching from behind, and the heavy feeling of oppression made her tremble.
Her brain raced as if awakened. In the darkness, no one could see each other. She stood quietly in a corner, making a quick decision: retreat first. Slowly, she pulled a hairpin from her sleeve pocket. It was something she had brought with her on her way out earlier, especially to avoid encountering anyone. The end of the hairpin was sharp, and with a single slash, it could become a weapon.
If I were to strike, no matter who the opponent was, I had to hit him with one strike...
Thinking of this, Aruo calmly clenched the brocade box in his hand and secretly gathered strength.
She suddenly threw the brocade box to the right, and at the same time she quickly turned and ran to the left and back.
Just one step! Just one step and she bumped into something hard. Solid, elastic, and slightly warm... like a human chest.
Aruo was horrified. She was so close to him, yet she was completely oblivious and was still stealing the hairpin! She even had a strange thought: this person had anticipated all her moves and was trying to catch her in the trap!
Her thoughts raced, and Aruo quickly raised the hairpin in her hand. However, the man reacted faster than her, grabbing her wrist before she could raise her hand. Her waist tightened, and her whole body was pinned to his chest, tightly fitting.
All the movements were done in one go, leaving her almost no time to react.
He was even taller than her, and the lines of his chest alone revealed the power within. A subtle breath of air brushed against her hair, a warm, hazy scent, and an inexplicable sense of familiarity washed over her. Her dark eyes fluttered open, and Aruo looked up sharply, trying to discern the outline in the darkness.
An unreasonable pressure came over me, and my lips felt cold, with a hint of wind and frost.
Mo Tong trembled slightly. The large hand holding her wrist squeezed it restlessly, as if to confirm something, rubbing her wrist bone. The grip on her waist became tighter and tighter, and the heat from the palm of his hand burned through the thin silk and burned her waist and back.
The man who flirted with her held her tighter and tighter, but he didn't dare to press hard on her lips, just lightly, not even daring to open his lips.
She wanted to confirm it, but was afraid it wasn't what she wanted. She was reluctant to let go, but she didn't dare go deeper. This conflicting feeling, coupled with the other person's stiff movements and the tight grip he held her in, quickly melted the coldness in his dark eyes.
His unique scent was as clear as pine resin, the kind of dry and pleasant smell that was dried by the sun. Aruo's heart softened.
The tip of his small tongue gently darted out, her compromising softness causing him to stiffen and breathe heavily. As soon as her lips opened, he eagerly drove in, crushing her tender lips between his teeth. With a hint of obvious anger, he entangled her recklessly.
The ambiguous sounds were too vivid in the darkness. The intense kissing made Aruo's ears burn, and even her back was covered in sweat. Her whole body trembled in his arms like a falling flower. The man, who was getting more and more aggressive, tightened his grip on her body, pressing down on her, leaving her with no way to retreat but to cling to his shoulders. Her hand was released, and the coolness from her raised neck slowly fell into her clothes. His long fingers hooked the red string she had been wearing.
The sudden kiss ended with her lower lip being bitten before she collapsed.
The two of them leaned against the window. Under the moonlight, the man in front of her had a few wrinkles on his black brocade robe due to his previous emotions. His face was as white as jade, and his cold eyes filled with anger stared at her.
Those terrifying eyes stared straight at her, and she felt a little timid and wanted to retreat. Her panicked gaze shifted to the red rope in his hand. At one end of the red rope was a small jade ring, translucent green, and seemed to be gilded.
"Qi Ruoyu, is this what you meant by yesterday's events being like yesterday's death?" Su Zirui narrowed his eyes, his face half hidden in the darkness, his eyes growing more angry, as if a storm was about to come.
Aruo looked at the ring on his finger that she had always worn on her chest. No one knew what it meant except him.
That aggrieved and stubborn expression made Su Zirui almost angry to death. Even the most vicious criminals were not as troublesome as her.
At the winter banquet, her suddenly frantic pulse, so different from her outwardly calm demeanor, subconsciously gave rise to a false belief. However, as this delusion was gradually confirmed, resentment quickly replaced that glimmer of luck, overcoming all his rationality. The rage burned in his chest, but he found no outlet.
When we were in Sizhou, she clearly said that if she got lost she would wait for him to find her.
When I was in Yangzhou, I clearly promised not to do anything rash or put myself in danger.
I clearly promised in the capital... that I would not give up on him.
What's the result?
When Shen Nan’s incident happened, she followed others without thinking, went deep into the tiger’s blood alone, and did what she wanted to do alone, even he... was no longer needed.
The fiery passion within him suddenly cooled, and he couldn't help wondering, to her, who was more important, Shen Nan or him? This irrational thought filled his mind, and the answer was so obvious, causing the resentment and resentment in his heart to take root like a seed, and then grow wildly into a barren land of reeds.
"Why are you crying..." Su Zirui murmured in a low voice, "You are really good at hiding it. You are good at playing the piano and dancing, and you are cold and noble... You are worthy of being taught by Shen Nan. You are as cruel as her."
There was a hazy look in those black eyes, and tears fell from them one by one. Su Zirui suppressed the urge to wipe away the tears and stared at her coldly.
How could she still cry? She was the one who had acted so stubbornly, and she was the one who had abandoned him after having an affair with him… He should have scolded her harshly and then… Cruel thoughts swirled in her mind, but she looked at him with tearful eyes, unable to bring herself to say any harsh words. Those tears fell like drops into his heart, extinguishing all the anger.
"Stop crying..." Su Zirui felt frustrated. The person was right in front of him. He didn't even want to let go of her hand. What could he do to her?
Wiping away the tears from her face with his hands as if giving up, and resting his head on her shoulder, Su Zirui gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice, "What can I do to you?"
The ecstasy of regaining what he had lost made him not even want to care about her arbitrary abandonment of him, as long as she was still herself, still the girl who would jump into his arms with a smile.
Aruo wasn't afraid of the interrogation, but she was most afraid of his conciliatory policy. The guilt that had been weighing heavily on her heart surged wildly. She clung to his clothes, buried her face in his arms, and whispered softly.
"I promised to let her rest in peace and make sure that no one in this world can restrain her..." Aruo said in a hoarse voice. This was her goal and also the motivation for her to live to this day before him.
"Am I dead? You don't need to do these things by yourself." Su Zirui leaned close to her ear, his hot breath blowing across her crimson earlobe, his voice low and hoarse, "Whatever you want, I will give it to you... Ruoruo, you don't have to face it alone."
Aruo closed his eyes and shook his head, "If you get involved, what you want to do will be discovered... There's more than just the Luo family behind him."
Su Zirui might be able to bring down the Luo family, but that would require a long period of planning and planning, and she… no, her sister, couldn't wait. Her heart longed for him, but in the end, reason took over. This matter should be handled by her.
Abandoning him just for such a superficial reason? She would rather mess around with Qi Shaozhen than reach out to him... Su Zirui gritted his teeth and asked indignantly, "Ruoruo, what's in your heart..."
Is it him, or the ghost, or is it all stone?
Aruo chuckled, looking at him with eyes as gentle as water, "Didn't I say so?"
[If she has you in her heart, then the person standing in front of you today cannot be Shen Nan.]
Su Zirui pursed his lips. This tight, enveloping restraint was gentle yet powerful, easily controlling all his cold anger. He didn't want to admit it, but those words did give him a glimmer of hope. Even if his suddenly disordered pulse might be an illusion, it made his deep despair blossom into a flower of hope.
"Aren't you afraid that I will really ignore you?"
She was afraid, but... she didn't have much time to dwell on it. With a slight sigh, she quietly put her hand on his chest. "If you really don't care about me, why did you do so much after returning from Sizhou?"
Su Zirui's breath caught in his throat. The anxiety and fatigue he had felt for the past few days were easily soothed by her words. "Come with me, Ruoruo..."
She paused, raised her head slightly, and smiled, "Everything will be over before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."
Suddenly, footsteps approached from afar, and Aruo's soft voice was so soft that only lovers whispering in each other's ears could hear it. The next moment, she pushed him away and jumped back quickly, disappearing into the darkness of another corner in his surprise.
The steady footsteps were not loud as they slowly passed the door. Moonlight shone in through the thin window grilles. Su Zirui had no choice but to retreat into the darkness, his gaze coldly fixed on the person who was staring back at him from afar.
Come here. He stretched out his hand and said silently, his black eyes vaguely revealing a sinister chill. His originally cold temperament now became perverse and chilling.
Aruo shook her head. She had her reasons for staying. Her vision wasn't clear, but she could still feel the gaze that threatened to devour her. She could sense his anger and helplessness, but...
Whatever Shen Nan wants, she will definitely do.
Her sigh was so faint in the darkness that it was almost inaudible. Her eyes held undisguised nostalgia, yet she stepped back. Suddenly, she threw the brocade box she had just discarded.
A crisp sound suddenly rang out in the dark night, and a clear but alluring fragrance rose faintly. Su Zirui was startled, and his black eyes suddenly passed through him.
"Who is it?" The footsteps suddenly became chaotic. The next moment, the study door was heavily opened, and several guards in armor walked in quickly, and the lights were lit.
Outside the Marquis' Mansion, Su Zirui looked coldly at the lights gradually lighting up in a corner of the house. He snorted and just stood up from the darkness, but found something unusual in his chest and abdomen.
Reaching inside his clothes, he was stunned with a cold expression. When did she...slip the letter into his robe?
She lowered her head and read the words on the letter clearly, her eyebrows raised. Is this the reason why she joined the game?
The heavy snow had just stopped, and the dark night seemed to pour down on the sky like thick ink. Even the stars and the moon were dyed black, unable to emit any light.
The door was opened silently, and a figure walked in quickly, carefully examining every corner of the room. Their soft-soled silk shoes made no sound on the carpet, and they finally gently lifted the gauze curtains.
Suddenly, the light behind her suddenly became bright, illuminating the empty bed and her slender figure cast on the wall.
"What are you looking for, Nan'er?" A voice so soft and almost coaxing sounded behind her.
Surprise flashed across her cold black eyes. Aruo turned around, her delicate face showing anxiety and fragility, her large, radiant eyes misted with moisture. "Brother Achu... I dreamed of Aruo and Daddy..."
Luo Ziran paused, casually threw the night pearl in his hand on the table, walked over and wanted to touch her face, "Don't be afraid..."
Aruo turned her head to avoid his hand, "It's all my fault..."
"No!" Luo Ziran suddenly grabbed her hand. "This matter is a foregone conclusion. How long are you going to resist me for this matter? Nan'er, I have waited for four years. It's not easy to have you again. Can't we just let go of these people?"
He had accepted his wife, whose appearance had completely changed, so why couldn't she accept him? Luo Ziran's expression was filled with a somewhat morbid madness, as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was swearing an oath, "No matter what, I won't let you go."
His voice echoed in the air, carrying a strange aura, and his hands gripping her shoulders tightened, trying to pull her into his arms.
"Don't force me, Brother Achu!" With his cold brows furrowed, Aruo struggled hard as if stimulated.
"Force you? Nan'er, I am your husband!" Her repeated resistance over the past few days finally broke out at this moment. Luo Ziran's eyes became fierce, and he grabbed her with both hands and moved closer to her.
Frightened by his strength, Aruo couldn't help but step back, tripping over the bed step and falling onto the bed, her heart trembling. Luo Ziran naturally pressed her down on the bed, bending his legs to clamp her kicking legs.
"Nan'er... accept me." Luo Ziran said emotionally, looking at the person beneath him, whose cheeks and eyes were red with anxiety. The face was red with anger, and the eyebrows and eyes were familiar to him, overlapping with the ones he loved deep in his memory.
He reached out and gently stroked the red on her lips, a hint of cruelty flashing in his eyes.
"Let go!" Aruo blocked him with her hands, staring at him with her big eyes, "Don't make me hate you."
As if stung by these words, Luo Ziran's eyes were filled with pain, "Then hate it... Nan'er."
Whether it was Shen Nan or someone else, it didn’t matter whether they hated him or not, as long as the person belonged to him.
Aruo's heart trembled, and she struggled even more violently. Suddenly, with a hiss, the collar of her silk undershirt was torn, and her black eyes suddenly turned cold.
The struggle of his men suddenly stopped. Luo Ziran looked into a pair of silent black eyes in astonishment. The despair and tears in them made the images buried deep in his memory, which he dared not think about again, suddenly surge. His lips trembled, and his voice broke hoarsely, "Nan, Nan'er..."
"Brother Achu, are you going to force me again?" A Ru looked up at him blankly and whispered softly.
At that moment, the image from his memory filled his vision. The person he loved so deeply, her hair disheveled, lay before him in despair, her cold eyes filled with disdain. Her pale skin was covered with traces of him, but her eyes held no trace of love.
"No! Nan'er... forgive me, I'm not..." Extreme panic suddenly swept over him. Luo Ziran's trembling hands gently reached out to Aruo's face, but he didn't dare to touch it. "I just love you too much..."
"No," the knife moved up and down rapidly, and Luo Ziran's face froze in shock, and he covered her with his whole body. Aruo said indifferently, "You don't deserve it."
Unexpectedly, after so many years, it was the moves she first learned in the village that saved her at the critical moment... Bending her legs and kicking the man to the side, Aruo climbed up panting and gave him a hateful look, "What do you mean by deep affection? It's all just a character setting."
Casually pushing her messy black hair back, Aruo looked down at the handsome yet fragile man in front of her with his eyes closed. "Since there's nothing else in the entire Marquisate, I can only rely on you. Lord Marquis, I'm sorry."
She apologized politely, and her slender white hands reached out to his collar, unzipping his belt without hesitation, revealing his white chest.
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