Chapter 7: My Wife 07: Playing Straight and Hypocrisy
Huaiyuan came here just to ask him this question?
The book he had been engrossed in just a moment ago was placed to the side of the stone table. Lu Huai's hands, clenched beneath his wide robe, trembled slightly, just like his stunned and shaken mood. Then he clenched them tightly until his palms turned red, as if to give himself some strength.
He thought almost out of his mind that Pei Yu must know that he rejected his appointment in order to meet Miss Shen San tomorrow.
Pei Yu knew that he wanted to compete with him for his beloved girl. He asked him to choose one, intending to make Lu Huai make a choice between friendship and love.
If he gave up his hopeless love for Miss Shen, they could still be close friends who could talk about anything; if he insisted on competing with him for his beloved, it was likely that they would not even be able to become friends.
But Huaiyuan... he clearly knew that his current engagement was with Shen Meng. If he was attracted to Chenchen Sheng, would he really ignore the change in this marriage?
But if he really didn't care about Shen San, why would he go through all this trouble to warn him? Moreover, if he hadn't known that Shen San had nothing to do with Huai Yuan, how could Lu Huai have come up with such a delusion?
For the first time in his life, Lu Huai felt resentful towards his friend. He resented him for using his friendship as leverage despite knowing how much he valued it. He resented him for treating love as a game to be traded. He also resented him for...
He blamed Pei Yu for knowing Lu Huai's character thoroughly. He knew he wasn't the type to prioritize love over friendship. He was certain he couldn't let go of this close friendship that had grown from a moment's familiarity. He was gambling, betting that this good friend of his was even more important to him.
However, this was the woman that Lu Huai had fallen in love with since he first became enlightened in his life. How could he let her go so easily?
Lu Huai sighed in his heart: Huaiyuan...you think it's easy, how do you know that my heart won't ache?
"Huaiyuan, why are you acting so recklessly this time, comparing yourself to women? I'm afraid you've learned bad habits from that Prince Cai." After a moment's silence, Lu Huai did not respond directly, but continued indifferently.
Prince Cai is a notorious idler in the capital. He spends his days doing useless things like visiting prostitutes, fighting crickets and playing Cuju. Now he has become a synonym for a dandy.
Lu Huai had always been kind and measured in his dealings with others, rarely saying such harsh words to those he was close to. If Pei Yu had been in his element, he would have noticed that Lu Huai had used this word without the usual careful consideration and apology, which really angered him.
Seeing that Pei Yu remained silent despite being scolded by him, he did not respond to his attempt to change the subject.
His eyes, which were always as bright as stars, were filled with complexity. Lu Huai, who was very familiar with him, of course understood that there was only one clear answer to what he wanted.
It's really heartbreaking...
"Of course I choose you."
Even though Lu Huai's mind was full of thoughts, he managed to restrain himself and not show them on his face.
He replied somewhat gloomily, then turned away, not wanting to bother with Pei Yu anymore. Actually, he shouldn't have been so flustered. He just didn't expect that he had been secretly thankful that his friend hadn't gotten angry for the same person, but this time the outburst came so suddenly and violently.
Although he received the ideal response, Pei Yu was not as happy as he expected.
He held Lu Huai's shoulders, but his friend, very rarely, did not react to his touch. He just immersed himself in the ocean of emotions, silent and quiet.
Alas... Lu Huai must think he is being unreasonable...
Just as Lu Huai knew clearly what Pei Yu wanted, he also understood that his friend's current bad state was due to his childish entanglement and unreasonable behavior.
Even when he was rational, he felt that it was really ungraceful for him to suddenly use the difficult question of choosing between two options and point the finger at his friend's sweetheart.
The tracks are all different, yet they are still competing for favor here.
He also felt that he was really ridiculous, like a concubine who was about to fall out of favor, relying on the respectful relationship they had in the past to desperately win back the heart of her noble husband, so that she could appear more dignified in front of the young, beautiful and more suitable newcomer.
Although the old man's begging appearance still attracted the attention of the open-minded husband, it actually only delayed the time when he was completely eliminated.
But he also knew that he was only relying on the convenient identity of being a good friend to gain an advantage over his rival.
A noble and upright man like Lu Huai must only like women and would never get involved with a rough man like him. However, his integrity and demeanor are destined not to allow him to have excessive contact with women before marriage, so he still has many opportunities.
Even if today's move was not brilliant, or even too abrupt, it was at least possible to extinguish Lu Huai's feelings for Shen Chensheng before the spark started, and he would have won.
Shen Sansheng was indeed beautiful, and even if he didn't feel attracted to her, he had to admit the objective fact, but in the end, he was not worthy of this bright moon.
But there are few extremely beautiful people after all, so it would be difficult for Lu Huai to fall in love with someone from another family.
So as long as he was careful to hide his feelings and didn't reveal them, he still had a chance to get the upper hand. Maybe one day, they would fall in love with each other. What if Yan Jin realized that he couldn't find anyone who was more in tune with him than Pei Yu, and took him in?
Pei Yu does not need worldly recognition. As long as he has a mutual understanding with others, everything is enough.
With such rosy fantasies, and believing Lu Huai had already seen his dislike for Shen San, and that, given his gentlemanly character and his commitment to keeping his word, he wouldn't continue contacting her, Pei Yu's mood slowly cleared up.
He took out some good wine and poured it for both of them. He didn't bother to hold on to Shen San anymore, but instead told Lu Huai about how the reforms that the emperor had taken the lead in vigorously promoting, but which were considered thankless by many conservative officials, had finally reversed the public opinion.
Although Lu Huai was one of the few loyal ministers who had not been wooed by the aristocratic families, he was indifferent to everything and just stood by and watched. He had his own political views and ideas.
Even though the debate between the conservative and reformist factions became increasingly fierce, and many negative voices emerged during the initial implementation of the new law, he remained a staunch supporter of the reformist faction, and remained unmoved even if this incurred the hatred of vested interests and those who did not understand.
Therefore, although Lu Huai was young and inexperienced, and his official position was not high, he was highly regarded by His Majesty Chu Yuanting.
When talking about reforms that benefit the people, Lu Huai's interest was obviously piqued, just like a cat slave whose favorite place was touched, which aroused his desire and made him unable to even control himself as usual.
Pei Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lu Huai's face finally looking better. The more he thought about how he had angered Yan Jin today, the more he felt he was a jerk. He wished his friends would whip him with the thick whip used in the military, beating him until he couldn't stand up.
He also knew there was no way to vent his anger. Even if he made further demands, Yan Jin would only think he was a little weird. Furthermore, giving in so quickly would defeat the purpose of disrupting a marriage. He had finally managed to be that "fox charmer," and he couldn't let it go so quickly.
I had to use all my brain, thinking of talking to my sweetheart about things he liked to make him happy.
The two put aside the awkwardness when they first met and started talking about their political views, thinking about where the superstructure of Dayong could be improved.
Even though the purpose of this conversation was not pure at the beginning, the two people's compatible ideas made Lu Huai and Pei Yu gradually immersed in it, and they tacitly stopped thinking about other things.
As the moon gradually rose above the branches, the clear light shone on the two people whose cheeks were red but not dampened their spirits, Pei Zhi suddenly came to the house and took Pei Yu back.
It turned out that he had not informed anyone that he was going out this time. General Pei had an important matter to discuss with him but couldn't find him for a long time. He asked the young master serving in the mansion where he liked to go and looked in several places he often went to but couldn't find him. Unexpectedly, he came to Lu's mansion to investigate and caught him.
"This kid, he left without a trace. I'm sorry for causing trouble to my nephew by coming here so suddenly."
Lu Huai sobered up immediately and politely said it was no trouble. He stood up and tried to escort the Pei family father and son out. However, Pei Zhi stopped him, saying that the strong wind at night might harm his health and told him to go back and put on more clothes first.
Lu Huai had no choice but to call the guard Chi Feng to lead them out. As he walked into the study, he wondered whether he looked very thin and needed to exercise more.
As the effects of the alcohol wore off, the night wind did make him feel a little cold. After knowing the answer, he silently put exercise on his schedule.
Moonlight shone on Lu Huai's receding figure, dreamily outlining his slender frame. He didn't notice a pair of eyes gazing at him for a long, scorching moment, a gaze that only disappeared completely after he was dragged out of the situation by his father...
At night, 0359 quietly showed up and asked, "Huaihuai, are you going tomorrow or not?"
"Today's incident didn't appear in the original plot. Could something have gone wrong on Pei Yu's end?"
Learning from the previous experience, it had to be alert when it saw Pei Yu interacting with Lu Huai too eagerly, just like some strange characters in the previous two worlds.
"We still have to go. After all, it's an important plot point, and that thing should happen soon. If we don't have this meeting to confirm some things, then it's very likely that we won't achieve the expected results."
Lu Huai pondered for a moment, poked 0359's little head and explained.
"It's just that my attitude may need to change a little. After all, it's impossible for the current 'me' to be so attentive to Shen Chensheng after Pei Yu's communication."
"Xiao Jiu, your suspicion is justified. At this stage, Pei Yu's concern for the protagonist is indeed too obvious, to the extent that it goes beyond the original plot line. The breakup with the original owner may happen even earlier. How to pull and delay this plot is an important issue." Lu Huai sighed, feeling that life is not easy.
"It seems we still have a long way to go in controlling the plot."
After all, the occurrence of that incident completely pushed Shen Chensheng into Lu Huai's arms.
And if Pei Yu knew that he was pretending to obey but actually disobeying her, not only did he not stay away from Chen □□ but he was even more inseparable from her, he would probably hate her so much that he would want to kill him immediately for muddying the waters.
It seems that he still needs to strengthen his brotherhood with Pei Yu during this period, while the protagonist is still not bound to him, the second male lead. This will make Pei Yu reluctant to kill him and increase the probability of him choosing to be distant and cold as in the original plot.
Lu Huai's analysis was so coherent that even Xiao Jiu was convinced. Although it still felt something was amiss, for example, the person Pei Yu cared about seemed more like the host than Shen San...
The next day, Lu Huai arrived as promised, much to the delight of everyone at the Duke's Mansion. Although they had heard that the number one scholar was a man of his word, their family had been in such an awkward situation the previous two days, and many had refused to keep appointments without replying, so they didn't dare to hope that this gentleman would come.
In the past few days, Madam Liu's mood has been like a roller coaster, from a smiling face at the beginning to unhappy and angry later. Not only did she smash a lot of things, but everyone in the mansion was also deeply affected.
When she was a concubine, she coveted the position of madam and treated the servants kindly and easily, winning many people's hearts. However, once she ascended to power, and her cousin was appointed as the housekeeper, she realized that the harem was under her complete control, which exposed the short-sightedness and greed of this girl from a humble family.
Changing her gentle and virtuous image in front of the master, Liu first snatched away the third daughter's engagement and gave it to the fourth daughter. Now she was trying to trade the third daughter's marriage. After realizing that she could not gain any benefits, she began to insult and torture them at every turn.
After that incident with Young Master Liang, whoever dared to come to the door after that incident would probably be a bunch of ugly people. The waiter on that day was so secretive because he was afraid that the top scholar would get wind of it and chase away the last big fish that Chen Chensheng could catch.
"Sure enough, the most outstanding among these reserve sons-in-law is still extraordinary!"
"It's a pity that compared to General Pei, my family background is indeed a bit weaker. However, this dynasty values literature, and if I can become a powerful figure in the future, I might be able to rival the General's Mansion."
"Don't think about these things anymore. General Pei is now the future fourth uncle. It's a pity that the third young lady will never be as good as the original one no matter how she marries..."
Lu Huai stood in the small pavilion in the backyard, waiting quietly. Outside, he could vaguely hear the servants and maids whispering to each other. He didn't care what they were talking about, but was thinking about how to face Shen Chensheng later with mixed emotions.
This was a beautiful and exquisite pavilion, but it was surrounded by gauze curtains on all sides. Although the gorgeous scenery in the courtyard could be seen through the semi-transparent curtains, it was not very clear.
Just as Lu Huai was immersed in his own world, a white and graceful hand lifted the curtain, but a careful person might still find that the hand was more bony than that of an ordinary woman.
But when he saw this face, a face that looked like a work of art, all his doubts vanished. He felt as if he were lost in a mist, his gaze fixed solely on the beauty's dazzling features. Lu Huai was stunned for a moment, secretly cursing himself for being a scoundrel.
Lu Huai thought, no wonder that Master Liang from the Shangshu Mansion was so angry and wanted to make things worse. After seeing such a stunning girl, it would be difficult not to be moved. And to eradicate this love, it must have been a great stimulation.
As the saying goes, when love is deep, it is easy to take extreme measures. When love is too strong, it turns to hatred, and if you can't get it, you will destroy it. This is probably what he did.
This Chen San is really a wonderful person. In the original plot, he did the same thing and confused everyone, which made his stepmother very angry.
However, among all the lickspittle tools, except for being slightly nicer to the original owner, he seems to be indifferent to all the other playboys.
Although Chen Chensheng is scheming, he is proud and does not really want to do anything at all costs.
He is destined to stand on the top of the world and look down on all living beings. Therefore, even if he wants to cling to others or take advantage of others, he is just borrowing the "good wind" of the best among people.
At this moment, he too was looking at the elegant young man, not missing the tenderness and concern in his eyes. He nodded slightly at the man's humble and polite greeting, and a smile spread across his face like melting snow.
Her long eyelashes concealed a hint of dark amusement that flashed across her eyes.
Interesting, this elegant young man really has some feelings for me.
But why doesn’t he dare to look me in the face?
It is clear that in this meeting, only "I" Chen Chensheng is in front of him, right?
The author has something to say:
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Mini-theater: Everyone Thinks They Are Intruders
Pei Yu (angrily): You are so good to me, how could you still take the initiative to get entangled with her? It must be that hateful woman who seduced you!
Chen Chensheng (raised eyebrows): General Pei is just a friend of Ah Huai. He wants to interfere with the normal relationship between me and Lu Lang. I am afraid that he has ulterior motives.
Lu Huai: (He only wants Pei and Shen to be completely dead, so he hides his achievements and fame)
There will be new characters coming soon, so stay tuned~
(2.17, 3.10 bug fix version)
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