I put my arm around the strong man's slender waist

Chapter 69

"It's nothing. I've been wanting to ask but haven't had the chance." He said casually, "We're just having a casual chat today, and I'd like to know what kind of person Lu Ning is in your eyes."

Lu Mingxiu picked up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth. After thinking for a moment, she said, "It's pretty silly. I think my eldest sister is the kind of optimistic person who's a bit dim-witted. She seems to be able to be happy about anything for half a day. She doesn't seem to have any worries. Every time I see her, she's smiling. Even when she argues with my second sister, I don't think I've ever seen her get angry..."

Suddenly remembering something, she added, "Once, once! I don't know why, but my second aunt and my mother had a big fight. My father slapped my second aunt, and she got angry and started biting him like a madwoman. She wouldn't let go and was so fierce and scary! She was only about ten years old at the time... My mother was terrified and never let her play with her again after that."

"Really?" Ruan Bicheng chuckled softly. "So Lu Ning has always been this mischievous and ruthless since he was a child. He's hidden it so well; I didn't even notice."

“Hmm.” Lu Mingxiu frowned and thought for a long time before saying, “When she was little, she lived in the small courtyard on the west side. Dad didn’t like her much, so he didn’t see her come over often. My older sister and I only started to get to know each other better in the last two years. It was only after you chose her that she started to come over often to have meals with Dad. If you ask me what kind of person she is… she’s just an ordinary person, neither good nor bad.”

Neat and upright, that's Lu Ning.

Ruan Bicheng chatted with him casually for a couple more minutes. When he insisted on having dinner, she saw him out. A moment later, she returned, walked around the screen, and looked at me with a faint smile, saying, "I thought you must be homesick, so I brought Mingxiu here to talk to you."

I sat on the couch, gazing at the apricot blossoms on the screen, which looked like snow and clouds, without saying a word.

He sat down beside me, gently stroking my hair, and said softly, "Lu Ning, what kind of person are you really? Perhaps I've never truly understood you from the beginning. How long have you kept your true nature hidden..."

Even I don't understand myself. Just like I can't tell whether I loved Ruan Bicheng more or the title of martial arts leader more in the past.

No one knows how happy I was during the time I was the leader's betrothed.

I can come and go from the Lu family home at will, and I can sit in the main hall and have meals with my father. He will occasionally put food on my plate and ask me expressionlessly, "How are things going with the Alliance Leader lately? Have you had any trouble?"

Ruan Bicheng was once my glory, an indescribable glory.

"Lu Ning." Ruan Bicheng held my face, making me look at him, and asked me softly, "Are you willing to abandon your mother? Let me make it up to you slowly, we'll take it slow..."

I looked at him and could hardly recognize his features. After a long while, I croaked out, "I'm tired."

He smiled and released me, saying, "You must be tired after traveling so long. I'll have the maid help you get ready. You should rest well, and I'll take you to see that thing tomorrow."

As he got up to leave, I asked again, "Where is Yan Shu?"

He paused, stood in front of the bed, turned to look at me, frowned slightly and then relaxed, and said calmly, "He's fine. I'll have someone arrange for him to stay in another room."

"What about the antidote?"

He finally frowned and said to me in a low voice, "What if I let him wake up and go crazy in his current state? This is the Central Plains, and he is a priest of the Demonic Sect. It will always be troublesome if someone sees him." He sighed and added, "Don't worry, I promised to release him, and I will definitely do it."

Without waiting for me to speak, she turned and left the room.

Before long, a maid brought hot water to wash me, change my clothes, help me into bed, and then brought me a bowl of medicine to feed me.

I tilted my head slightly and asked, "What is this?"

"It's medicine that the young master instructed me to brew for you, to calm your nerves," the little maid replied with a clear, crisp laugh, blowing on the medicine to cool it down before feeding it to my lips. "It's not hot anymore, you'll sleep well after drinking it."

I glanced at the dark, heavy medicine, then opened my mouth and drank it all in one gulp.

The young maid cleared away the soup bowls and asked me, "Shall I help you lie down, young lady?"

I nodded, and she helped me lie down, covered me with the blanket, and then asked, "If you have no further instructions, Miss, I will take my leave now."

I responded, turned my back, closed my eyes, and went to sleep.

I heard her tiptoe out of the room, close the door, and wait a while. Then I lay on my side by the bed and spat out most of the medicine in my mouth.

Author's Note: Want to guess what Ruan Bicheng went to such lengths to show her? What was her plan? It's easy to guess! Very easy!

81

"I told you to get up early! You have to greet Madam every day, how come you can't remember! Madam hates people who don't follow etiquette the most, wait till it's late and she'll skin you alive!"

"It's not too late, it's not too late..."

"If we're late and upset the madam, the young master will get angry again!"

…………

Morning consultation and evening reflection.

Yes, yes, Ruan Bicheng had told his mother that there were many rules of etiquette, and that he should go and greet her in the morning, otherwise she would be angry. He couldn't be late, he couldn't be late...

I sat bolt upright, gazing at the bright morning light streaming through the window. My bare feet, trembling with anxiety, landed on the bed. What time is it? What time is it now? I can't be late, I can't be late…

I hurriedly went to the dressing table to tie my hair up, and a figure was reflected in the bronze mirror. I was suddenly stunned—Su Xie.

Now I am Su Xie.

The icy cold sensation under my feet instantly spread throughout my body, and I slumped into a chair, burying my burning forehead in my hands.

As dawn broke, the flowering trees outside the window burst into bloom, their sweet fragrance wafting in. Hurried footsteps echoed beneath the trees, and the voices of two little girls faded into the distance.

"I told you to help Miss Biyun with her washing and dressing earlier, but you wouldn't listen. Now if it's late, Madam will say you didn't serve her properly, and that will implicate me too!"

"How can you blame me... It's clearly Miss Biao who can't get up on her own..."

"Shut up! You deserve to be slapped for that mouth of yours! I won't plead for you next time!"

"Sister, I was wrong..."

It's terrifying. This habit terrifies me. This house holds too many memories from the past, weighing me down and making me unable to move.

I peeked through my fingers at the person in the mirror. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his eyes were fixed on me. I thought, "I'm going to die here, or suffer unbearable pain."

A young maidservant greeted him from outside the door, "Good morning, young master."

I looked up and saw a thin shadow reflected on the door. I quickly jumped back onto the bed, covered myself with the blanket, and lay down.

The door opened with a click, and Ruan Bicheng, bathed in the warm morning light, stood in the sunlight, leaning against the door, looking over with a faint smile on her lips, "Awake?"

I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Afraid you weren't awake and I'd disturb you?" He closed the door, dressed in a light blue robe with a jade hairpin and soft belt. He sat down beside me, looking at me and asking, "Why are you sweating so much?"

He got up, wrung out a handkerchief, and wiped my face. I lay there obediently, looking at him and asking, "Weren't you going to take me to see that important thing?"

"No rush." He carefully wiped my face and hands, saying, "I've asked someone to prepare breakfast. We'll go after we eat and take our medicine."

Is it another tranquilizer? Ruan Bicheng seems so worried about me.

I moved my fingers and said, "I'm not hungry, let's go now."

He paused, and I stared at his fingers before saying, "I don't want to take any more medicine. Don't wait any longer, just now."

"Lu Ning." He gently wiped my fingers without looking at me, his voice as faint as a wisp of smoke, "I just want to keep you here..."

"I understand, you have no choice." No one understands this better than me. I know these reasons by heart. I said wearily, "Go now. I also want to see what your ulterior motives are."

He folded the handkerchief neatly, placed his hand on the copper basin, and said calmly, "Alright, let's go now."

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After descending the corridor, we walked around the garden. He had specially brought a cloak and carried me through most of the garden. Along the way, we heard maids and servants calling out "Young Master" repeatedly.

Gradually, the sound of voices faded away. I peeked out from under my cloak. The surrounding area was overgrown with grass and trees, with withered trees and deep shadows. It was so desolate that it seemed to be outside the Ruan Mansion. It was a place I didn't recognize.

There was no sign of human habitation. After walking for a while, amidst the lush vegetation, there came a small stone house with many guards standing at the door.

"Where is this?" I've been in the Ruan family for three years and am familiar with the place, but I never knew there was such a stone house.

Ruan Bicheng pulled her cloak tighter around herself and whispered, "It's an ice cellar."

"Young Master." The guard at the door bowed and unlocked the door. The moment he pushed the door open, a chill swept over him, causing Ruan Bicheng's hair to flutter.

"It'll be a bit cold." He wrapped me up even tighter and carried me into the ice cellar.

After descending the stone steps, I saw that the rather large stone house was filled with glittering ice blocks, and my breath turned to frost. Through the hazy frost, I saw a person.

He lay on the icy bed within the towering ice walls, as if he were dead. I couldn't see his face clearly, only a blurry shadow in the piled-up frost.

Ruan Bicheng put me on the ground, supported me, and asked me softly, "Can you walk?" She helped me walk inside.

I stood still, unwilling to take a single step.

"What's wrong?" he asked me, looking down at me.

What's wrong? In this frigid ice cellar, my mind felt like it was covered in frost, dull and inexplicably resistant to moving forward.

Ruan Bicheng squeezed my icy hand and sighed, "If you're not feeling well, we can try again another day."

"No, no, no..." I stammered, each word short and sharp, as I reached out and grabbed his sleeve, exhaling a puff of frost, and said, "Help me across."

Ruan Bicheng didn't say anything, but helped me walk over.

After bypassing the ice wall, I saw a sleeping face amidst the frigid ice, a face so ordinary yet so familiar to me.

Lying on the icy bed, his temples were frosted with white, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his face was deathly pale.

Who is it?

I stood there, stunned, my fingers resting on the ice, feeling as if my whole body was frozen. I stared at it for a long time, not daring to confirm it.

It's me? It's Lu Ning, who's already dead...

What a wondrous encounter! After a long, long time, I stood within this ice wall of light and shadow, seeing my former self in a completely different guise.

Lu Ning's body.

"Lu Ning..." Ruan Bicheng called out the name in a breath, it was hard to tell if she was speaking to me or to the sleeping woman, "Do you know what my purpose was when I stormed the Demonic Sect, besides rescuing Gu Shaoting?"

Are you asking me?

Before I could answer, he continued quietly, "Have you ever heard of the Demonic Sect having a medicine that can bring the dead back to life?" He reached out and touched my face, making me look at him, and said each word seriously, "I wanted to save you, Lu Ning. I sealed your body in this ice cellar and personally broke into the Demonic Sect, all to save you."

A thin layer of frost on his temples and eyelashes glittered as he looked at me.

Is this his selfish motive?

“I love you, Lu Ning.” He looked at me and said, “This is my selfishness. After being oblivious for three long years, I suddenly realized at the moment you died that I love you, I don’t know when or where it started.”

After all this time, so long, he suddenly told me... he loved me. It's utterly absurd. After going through all this trouble, it turns out he loved me?

"Lu Ning." He cupped my face in his hands, let out a heavy sigh, and said, "I've been waiting for you to come back... I've been waiting for you to come back all this time."

I suddenly burst into laughter, unable to stop myself, and collapsed onto the edge of Hanbing's bed. Ruan Bicheng hurriedly reached out to help me up. I grabbed his arm, looked up at him, my eyes misty with laughter, and asked, "Ruan Bicheng, don't you think it's ridiculous? It's like traveling thousands of miles to see someone, only to find that person doesn't even exist. It's like... you went to great lengths to take revenge, finally killing that person only to find you'd made a mistake, a mistake from the very beginning. The one you were supposed to kill wasn't him, the one you were supposed to find wasn't him, and it was all for nothing..."

I was speaking incoherently and laughing painfully.

Ruan Bicheng suddenly reached out and hugged me, wiping away the tears that had turned to frost on my face, and patted my back, saying, "Lu Ning, we can start over and start all over again. Believe me, I'm looking for a way to return your soul to your body. There will be a way. When you become the Lu Ning you used to be, I can marry you openly and honorably and bring your mother to live with us."

He patted my back gently, assuring me, "The miracle cure is already being developed. Why don't you stay and we start over?"

He laid out an incredibly bright future before me, and I grabbed his collar and looked up at him, "What about Yan Shu?"

“I will let him go.” He took out a small celadon medicine bottle from his pocket. “This is the antidote. He is currently insane. After I detoxify him, I will make proper arrangements for him. If you are worried, I will let you watch over me to make sure he is settled.”

He was so meticulous, planning every step carefully, even arranging things for Yan Shu.