It was Maggie, whom she hadn't seen for several years.
Maggie was also shocked and pale as she realized she would run into Su Wanwan here.
"The Duchess of Zhenguo?" Ma Ji's voice drifted over, each word seemingly ground between her teeth, "What a grand display."
She took a step closer, the curve of her lips sharp as a knife. "Su Wanwan, even if your face were reduced to ashes, I would still recognize it!"
The other ladies were all taken aback.
The Duchess of Zhenguo is actually the deposed Empress Su Wanwan?
Who is that Duke Zhenguo?!
Su Wanwan's fingertips were icy cold, but her face remained impassive. She raised her eyes to meet that venomous gaze, and a faint smile even curved her lips.
"Madam Ma, how have you been? The wind and sand are strong in the borderlands; be careful not to get them in your eyes."
"Are you alright?"
Maggie seemed to be burned by those two words, and suddenly burst into a shrill laugh, causing the gold hairpins at her temples to tremble wildly.
From the moment she was sent to the Prince of Anhua's mansion, her life became precarious.
Initially, they planned to use her son as a prince, under the pretext of purging corrupt officials from the court, to plot the usurpation of the throne.
Unexpectedly, the rebellion of the Prince of Anhua was quelled by Qiu Yue in just eighteen days.
Its short lifespan was so sudden and unexpected.
She and her son were taken to the grasslands, where they fell into the hands of the grassland people.
After Dayan Khan unified the grasslands, he was ambitious and naturally did not want to let go of her as a pawn that he could use. So he sent her back to the Ma family and made her socialize everywhere.
These ladies outwardly appeared to be chatting and laughing with her, but behind her backs, they were secretly mocking her.
"Su Wanwan, my current predicament is all thanks to you," Maggie gritted her teeth. "Who will have the last laugh is still uncertain."
Su Wanwan looked at Ma Ji with a complicated expression.
Is this woman still obsessed with Lu Xingjian?
What exactly does she want to do?
That evening, she told Lu Xingjian about it.
Lu Xingjian's eyes narrowed slightly: "Is she still jumping around?"
Su Wanwan smiled faintly, "Feeling sorry for him?"
Lu Xingjian pinched her waist and tickled her: "If you keep teasing me, see how I punish you!"
"A wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a stolen lover, and a stolen lover is not as good as one that cannot be stolen."
"You men just want what you can't have," Su Wanwan said, playfully punching him.
Lu Xingjian's expression turned slightly cold. "That was an ordinary man. Am I, your husband, an ordinary man?"
"It would be so easy for me to have three palaces and six courtyards."
He gestured with his lips.
"But you little vixen, you can make all the women in the world pale in comparison."
"With such a sweet tongue, are you feeling guilty?" Su Wanwan scrutinized him.
Lu Xingjian felt utterly speechless.
"Then tell me what I should do, and I'll do it, okay?"
Su Wanwan didn't really intend to do anything.
Some of her memories have not been restored.
Her memory of how Maggie provoked her in the past is vague.
But the general impression is still there.
It's like a fishbone stuck in my throat.
"Whatever you say." She sounded a little downcast.
How could Lu Xingjian dare to let her spend the night in anger?
He didn't want to go through those days of cold war and bickering again.
"Shall we try something different?"
"No." Su Wanwan refused outright, showing absolutely no interest.
Lu Xingjian picked her up and placed her on the couch by the window.
October in the border region is already quite cold, but the moon is big and round.
He lowered his head and kissed her collarbone, chuckling softly, "So big."
Su Wanwan had drunk some alcohol at a business dinner, and her breathing was weak, her limbs were limp, and her head was spinning.
Her neck was slightly raised, her eyes unfocused.
"What?"
The man pulled out her hairpin.
Her long hair fell down like silk.
Lu Xingjian stared at her for a few moments.
Her hair was as black as ink, her skin as white as snow, and her eyes as alluring as silk—a beauty that could topple kingdoms.
He couldn't help but say, "A hundred Maggies are not worth a single finger of Wanwan's."
Su Wanwan assumed he was just trying to coax her and didn't believe him at all.
“That Maggie isn’t stupid; she can tell whether your feelings for her are genuine or not.”
The man's breath hitched. His thin lips gently brushed against her earlobe, his warm breath brushing against the back of her ear.
"Do you really have to mention her when we're doing business?"
“My little darling, you are the only woman I’ve ever loved in my life, from childhood to adulthood.”
"Please don't wrong me, okay?"
Su Wanwan was caught in a dilemma by his teasing.
In this unfamiliar place, with the window slightly ajar, the atmosphere was fresher and more exciting than the palace I was used to living in.
A change of environment can make people more excited.
Let alone people?
She didn't believe he was completely heartless towards Maggie.
Just like she wasn't completely heartless towards Xiao Bin.
It was just her own choice; she simply gave up on Xiao Bin back then.
Su Wanwan decided to take the initiative, grabbing his collar and looking into his eyes, saying, "Is it so hard for you to admit that you once wanted to sleep with Maggie?"
Lu Xingjian lowered his head slightly and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"How could the palace lack beautiful women?"
“I grew up surrounded by beautiful women. Is beauty something rare?”
"If I wanted to sleep with every beautiful woman I saw, would I still be alive today?"
"When I saw them, my first thought was that they wanted to get something out of me?"
"Fame, fortune, children?"
"You see them as beautiful women. But I see them as pale skeletons, capable of killing without shedding blood."
Su Wanwan's expression froze.
Maggie's unexpected appearance today certainly made her very jealous.
From the moment she was forced to marry far away to Jinling, she withdrew her trust in Lu Xingjian and was always ready to accept his romantic affairs with other women.
All these years, I've been waiting for that knife to fall.
She was mentally prepared for both Xia Xueyi and Ma Ji.
Even today, he continues to defend his innocence.
That's absurd.
It also reveals a mysterious truth.
Su Wanwan sighed softly.
"You're right about everything, but I just don't believe you. What should I do?"
"It's alright." Lu Xingjian didn't insist too much. "We're fine as we are now."
“You don’t believe me, which means you care about me.” Lu Xingjian had his own set of logic, and was a little smug. “Why don’t you question whether Xiao Bin has other women? Isn’t it because you don’t care about him that much?”
Su Wanwan looked at him.
No wonder he was able to become emperor.
This self-consistency in logic is what makes it different from ordinary people.
Lu Xingjian hugged her and gently nuzzled her neck with his face.
"My wife, do you remember the first time we met in Xuanfu?"
"That night, right here, I really wanted to keep you here."
Su Wanwan felt a pang of sadness.
She vaguely remembered the dim lighting that night.
To avoid being seen, she hid in this bedroom, giving Maggie a place to stay.
Lu Xingjian put one arm around her waist and used the other to untie her belt.
"You have such a cruel heart, keeping me hooked like that while you're talking about marriage with another man."
His brow was furrowed, and his heart was clenching.
He was just a hair's breadth away from winning her heart.
She never considered him her first choice.
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