Cheng Muyun withdrew his hand, rested his elbow on his knee, and rested his chin on his clasped fingertips, his posture both languid and dangerous.
He looked up at Luo Yunqiao, his dark pupils surging with undisguised contempt: "You know perfectly well why I'm asking."
The four words landed lightly on the ground, mingling with Luo Yunqiao's suppressed gasps, stirring up an undercurrent in the deathly silent room.
Luo Yunqiao was furious. No one had ever ignored her like this before. She stretched out her slender finger and questioned, "But haven't you already broken up? Xu Zhuohua went to Dongzhou and disappeared for three months. What's the point of her coming back? Doesn't she think she's caused you enough trouble?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhuohua raised her head and looked at Cheng Muyun. What impact? What impact would she have on Cheng Muyun?
Cheng Muyun didn't speak. He moved his large hand from Xu Zhuohua's head to her cheek, the calluses on his fingertips brushing against her delicate skin, and gave her a light pinch.
"Who told you we broke up? Zhuohua just got back and we were already in bed. Does that look like we've broken up?"
Cheng Muyun's words were a wake-up call for Luo Yunqiao.
Because the mourning period for Old Master Cheng had not yet passed, Luo Yunqiao's marriage to Cheng Muyun was not even a simple ceremony. There was no wedding procession or bowing to heaven and earth; it was as if she had been secretly married off, yet the whole city knew about it.
The wedding should have been filled with joyous celebrations and showered with sweets, but this wedding, which didn't even have a matchmaker, was more glaringly imprinted on everyone's eyes than any grand celebration.
The storytellers in the teahouses throughout the city struck their gavels, spittle mingling with tea as they splattered: "While the young marshal's wife was away from the city, the Luo family's daughter secretly boarded the bridal sedan chair..."
Rumors are like frost in the twelfth lunar month; they freeze into ice crystals as soon as they touch Luo Yunqiao's ears.
Luo Yunqiao originally thought that everything would be taken for granted after marrying Cheng Muyun, but who would have thought that Cheng Muyun would not even touch her once.
Despite her best efforts, Cheng Muyun refused to step into the villa unless Cheng Yuguang forcibly pressed her mind.
Late at night, she practiced various seductive poses in front of the dressing mirror. Her silk nightgown slipped off her shoulders, and the person in the mirror had red eyes but laughed maniacally—as long as Cheng Muyun was willing to touch her, what did it matter if she became the most despicable dancer in the brothel?
What Xu Zhuohua could obtain with ease, she could not obtain no matter how hard she tried.
Therefore, Luo Yunqiao went mad with anger and jealousy.
She could get Cheng Yuguang to tie Cheng Muyun up and take him to another courtyard, but she couldn't force him to stay.
"Brother Mu Yun, why? You don't want to touch me, so why do you still want to marry me? Is it really for the power behind my father?"
Cheng Muyun took a half step back, his Adam's apple bobbing impatiently, the frost between his brows almost falling over him: "I don't care about the power behind Chairman Luo at all, I just don't want to be bothered by anyone anymore."
The moonlight slanted across his disgusted expression, casting a hideous shadow on Luo Yunqiao's pale face.
"Am I just a tool for you to consolidate your power?" Luo Yunqiao suddenly screamed out of control, his nails digging deep into his palms until blood seeped out.
Cheng Muyun waved his hand, "The power behind Chairman Luo is a stain on my reputation. I have never thought of winning over those people. As for you, I asked you a long time ago, and you said you would marry me no matter what. Why wouldn't I do it if it would keep the Si family from causing me trouble?"
Luo Yunqiao's fingernails dug deep into the silk handkerchief, cold sweat soaked his back, the silk cheongsam clung tightly to his spine, and the chill ran up his tailbone straight to the top of his head.
Memories suddenly surged—the night before his marriage to the Cheng family, Cheng Muyun leaned against the carved door frame, his military cap pulled low, revealing only his icy eyes: "I won't fall for you. This is just a transaction of interests. Are you still willing?"
At that time, she was almost filled with the ecstatic joy of finally getting what she wanted.
She looked up at the man she had been longing for, her voice louder than thunder: "I do! A million times over!"
These words, however, felt like a red-hot branding iron, burning repeatedly in my ears.
"What is it about me that I don't compare to her?" Luo Yunqiao suddenly screamed hysterically. "You were framed because of the Xu family's arms smuggling, and it was my father who ran around trying to clear your name. She only brings you trouble, so why do you insist on having her?"
Xu Zhuohua's hand, which was gripping the corner of the blanket, trembled violently.
Cheng Muyun's figure in the interrogation room, and the way he, covered in wounds, still bravely shielded her behind him late at night...
She opened her mouth, but her throat felt like it was blocked by rust.
Cheng Muyun's temples throbbed, and his knuckles turned white from clenching his fists.
He raised his hand and rubbed his temples hard, as if that would erase those bloody days from his mind.
His voice was as cold as ice: "Enough! And you? Yunqiao, why is it that you can't live without me?"
Luo Yunqiao was stunned. Sometimes love doesn't know where it starts, but it goes deep. She was used to chasing after Cheng Muyun. Among the eligible men in Xinhai City, only Cheng Muyun was responsible and principled, and he was also handsome and dashing.
Always wanting only the best, Luo Yunqiao only had eyes for Cheng Muyun himself.
"I love you, Brother Mu Yun. I'm willing to marry you, even as a concubine. Doesn't that prove it?"
Cheng Muyun frowned. "Yunqiao, there's no possibility between us. I've always considered you a friend."
"Why? In what way am I inferior to Xu Zhuohua in terms of looks, family background, and experience? Yet you treat her so well!" Luo Yunqiao had already gotten stuck in a rut.
Cheng Muyun said coldly, "If you don't like someone, you don't like them. There's no such thing as being better or worse. Don't blame it on Zhuohua. Even if Zhuohua hadn't appeared, I still wouldn't like you."
Luo Yunqiao's fingernails almost tore the silk handkerchief to shreds, but the stinging pain in his palm was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
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