Chapter 53

“Your Highness?” The personal guard outside stepped forward, waiting for instructions.

Yan Yuanhua lowered the curtain and said, “Stop the carriage at Minghua’s gate.”

The guard obeyed, and the carriage quickly stopped at the gate of Lu Minghua’s villa.

“Heir, let’s go back,” the servant was persuading Wei Yuntai. The people inside had no intention of seeing them, and it was pointless to stand there all day.

Wei Yuntai remained motionless, still standing there. If this could appease Lu Minghua, he was willing to do it. He owed her that much. Hearing the sound of a carriage approaching, he didn’t pay much attention, but then he felt the carriage stop behind him.

Wei Yuntai instinctively looked back and met the calm eyes of the person inside the carriage. He was startled and stepped forward to salute.

With a glance from Yan Yuanhua, the guard immediately stepped forward to stop him, whispering, “His Highness is here incognito. Please do not make a scene.”

No wonder he hadn’t heard about Prince Rui being here, Wei Yuntai thought. Given the prince’s status, his presence in Yunshan would have caused a stir. But why was he here instead of his palace halfway up the mountain?

Although he couldn’t salute, Wei Yuntai still bowed his head slightly, showing respect.

Yan Yuanhua ignored him, got out of the carriage, and personally knocked on the gate.

“I said no visitors, Heir. Please leave,” the servant inside said directly.

“It’s me, open the gate,” Yan Yuanhua said.

There was a moment of silence inside.

“Young Master Yuan?” The servant opened the gate, saw him, and said with surprise, “Please come in. I’ll inform Miss right away.”

Yan Yuanhua smiled lightly, turned to send the guards back, and then entered the villa, never once looking at Wei Yuntai.

The guards drove the carriage away, and the gate slowly closed. Wei Yuntai stared at the gate in shock, unable to recover for a long time.

Prince Rui, how did he enter Lu Minghua’s villa???

He suddenly remembered that the first time he saw her in Yunshan, she had entered the courtyard next door. Later, he thought he had been mistaken, but now it seemed he was right!

The courtyard next door belonged to Prince Rui, and Lu Minghua had entered his villa. What was their relationship???

“Heir.” The personal guard who had been with Wei Yuntai hadn’t left and called out when he saw his expression change.

Wei Yuntai looked over.

“Heir, you must keep the prince’s identity a secret. No one should know,” the guard said solemnly.

A secret? The people in the house had called him Young Master Yuan? And Lu Minghua? Did she know he was Prince Rui? Was she deceived, or did she willingly become Prince Rui’s beloved?

Wei Yuntai’s lips trembled, and he finally asked, “Does the lady in the house know the prince’s identity?”

“This has nothing to do with you, Heir. Just remember, you saw Young Master Yuan today, and no one else should know,” the guard said, his tone warning.

“…” After a moment of silence, Wei Yuntai quietly said, “Yes.”

“Remember, you saw Yuan Ji’an, Young Master Yuan. Whoever asks, say the same,” the guard reminded.

Even if Lu Minghua asked? Wei Yuntai couldn’t help but think, forcing a stiff smile, and said, “Yes.”

The guard was satisfied and left with his men.

A servant who had been kept at a distance hurried over and was shocked to see their young master’s grim expression.

“Heir? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Wei Yuntai shook his head absentmindedly, looking back at the villa.

After a while, as the servant was about to continue persuading him, their young master suddenly stepped forward and knocked on the gate. He was immediately surprised. These past few days, even when his young master was refused, he just waited. But today?

“My lady said, no visitors—”

“Go tell Lu Minghua that I have something to discuss with her. Once I’m done, I won’t come again,” Wei Yuntai made up his mind and knocked on the door.

He had already wronged Lu Minghua and couldn’t just stand by and watch her be deceived. He needed to see what was going on. If Prince Rui had ill intentions, he would warn Lu Minghua, even if it meant displeasing him.

“Ji’an.” Knowing Yuan Ji’an had returned, Lu Minghua felt a bit uneasy when she went to see him.

Wei Yuntai was still waiting outside, and she didn’t know…

“Minghua,” Yan Yuanhua smiled as soon as he saw her.

Seeing his smile, Lu Minghua’s heart suddenly settled.

“You’re back,” she smiled lightly, a mix of sigh and complaint.

“I came back late,” Yan Yuanhua said, glancing at the people outside the gate, “If you don’t want to see him, I’ll send him away, okay?”

“You,” Lu Minghua was stunned, not expecting him to be so calm when mentioning Wei Yuntai, nor would he talk about sending away a marquis’s heir so casually. At that moment, she suddenly felt a bit flustered.

Seeing the panic in her eyes, Yan Yuanhua’s breath paused, and he smiled, “As your fiancé, it’s my duty to send away your pestering ex-husband. Even the Ningguo Marquis’s Mansion can’t say anything about that.”

“What fiancé, don’t talk nonsense.” Ignoring the fleeting subtlety in her heart, Lu Minghua blushed at his words.

“What, Minghua doesn’t want to acknowledge it now?” Yan Yuanhua looked aggrieved, then smiled brightly, “You’ve accepted my phoenix pendant and longevity jade. It’s too late to regret it now.”

“My mother said long ago that those were for my future wife. Since you’ve accepted them, you’re naturally my fiancée.”

“No, it doesn’t count. I didn’t know before,” Lu Minghua couldn’t help but widen her eyes in surprise and hurriedly said.

“Too late.” Yan Yuanhua leaned back in his chair, smiling at her, “Accepting my jade means you’re mine.”

“You can’t count it like that, you’re just being unreasonable,” Lu Minghua felt both embarrassed and flustered, speaking incoherently.

“I also have the sachet Minghua embroidered,” Yan Yuanhua lowered his voice, whispering in her ear.

“Ah,” the warm breath on her ear made Lu Minghua gasp lightly and quickly move away, but she still felt as if that spot had been burned.

“You, don’t mess around!” Lu Minghua glared at him.

Her eyes were watery, and her cheeks flushed, making her look incredibly charming.

Yan Yuanhua’s heart burned, but he forced himself to restrain, not daring to move.

“Alright.” He finally settled down, but his eyes couldn’t leave Lu Minghua.

Being stared at like that, as if he wanted to devour her, Lu Minghua couldn’t help but turn away.

“You’re teasing me again.” She finally regained her composure, complaining and regretting that she had been too flustered earlier to see through it.

“I’m not teasing you,” Yan Yuanhua lowered his voice, chuckling, “Those things, I only give to you.”

Lu Minghua’s heart stirred, and she looked back. Only for… her?

“I just hope that one day, Minghua will be kind enough to give me a title,” Yan Yuanhua looked at her intently.

A title! Lu Minghua’s face burned. She had always heard of women asking for titles but never men. She was about to speak when a servant came to report.

After hearing the servant relay Wei Yuntai’s words, Lu Minghua’s shyness vanished, her smile faded, and her expression turned indifferent.

“I have nothing to say to him. Tell him to leave,” she said, her patience with Wei Yuntai exhausted.

It was rare for her to show such anger, and the startled servant quickly obeyed and left.

Beside her, Yan Yuanhua’s eyes flashed coldly. Interrupting his conversation with Minghua, and she hadn’t even said when she would give him a title!

“Wait, tell him one more thing. Ask if he remembers my question before I left on the day we divorced?” Lu Minghua frowned slightly and called the servant back.

The servant carefully memorized the message, repeated it to ensure accuracy, and hurried out.

“Heir, tell me, all these years you’ve been thinking about, is it the missed love or the resentment and anger of being deceived?”

After hearing the servant’s words, Wei Yuntai remembered the question. He was stunned, then bitterly smiled. So she had known all along, Lu Minghua had seen through him from the beginning.

Did she see him as a joke? Wei Yuntai couldn’t help but wonder. And now, his actions, which he thought were sincere attempts at redemption, how did she see them?

She probably found him laughable and annoying, hating him even more.

But he was sincere. He truly recognized his mistakes and wanted to make amends. However, Lu Minghua no longer wanted to give him that chance.

Uncontrollably, he bent over and coughed, his chest aching. Wei Yuntai turned, feeling dizzy and almost falling, but he straightened up and walked away step by step.

After days of cold wind and emotional turmoil, Wei Yuntai fell ill upon returning to the villa. He lay on the bed, burning with fever, murmuring ‘Minghua’ in his delirium. He had been wrong, blind. He asked for nothing but for her to look at him and give him a chance to atone.

To atone for the years he had hurt her.

“What a tragedy,” Madam Sun sat by the bed, holding back tears, her hatred for Lu Mingxi growing even stronger.

If it weren’t for her malicious scheming, how could her good son Yuntai have ended up like this?

Seeing the servant leave, Yan Yuanhua didn’t dwell on the missed opportunity to continue discussing the title and instead curiously asked, “What did you say?”

Lu Minghua didn’t rush to answer.

“When did you know my identity?” she asked first.

“I knew it very early,” Yan Yuanhua began thinking about how to explain seeing her at the Ningguo Marquis’s Mansion.

“Of course, in the capital, who doesn’t know me?” Lu Minghua smiled faintly.

“Minghua,” Yan Yuanhua called softly, feeling pity.

Lu Minghua repeated her words and then smiled, saying, “I kind of regret not going out to say it myself.”

Thinking about it, Wei Yuntai’s reaction to hearing that must have been interesting.

But this thought quickly passed, and she added, “Forget it. It’s better not to see him. Those people, even one more glance is annoying.”

“I also have someone I love,” Yan Yuanhua, uninterested in Wei Yuntai, looked at Lu Minghua with bright eyes, trying to steer the conversation back.

Lu Minghua looked at him, her heart skipping a beat.

“I want to marry the one I love. But she’s too stingy, not even willing to give me a title,” Yan Yuanhua said, smiling at Lu Minghua.

A title was naturally impossible to give.

Lu Minghua blushed, her heart racing, not knowing what to say. She happened to see the pastries on the table and picked one up, feeding it to Yan Yuanhua.

Shut up, you.

Yan Yuanhua, never having experienced such treatment, opened his mouth in a daze.

After feeding him the pastry, Lu Minghua withdrew her hand.

Soon, Yan Yuanhua finished eating and wanted to speak again, but she fed him another one. By now, he had regained his senses but didn’t mind, deliberately enjoying it, coaxing Lu Minghua into feeding him several more pastries.

Lu Minghua noticed he had regained his senses but preferred feeding him pastries over listening to him talk about titles.

Thinking about it, her jade-like cheeks were already flushed.

Having been fed pastries by the one he loved, Yan Yuanhua finally settled down, deciding not to ask today, happily eating the pastries.

By the time he finally left, the plate of pastries was almost empty.

Watching his figure disappear outside the door, Lu Minghua turned back inside. Once she returned to her bedroom, she remembered that she had originally wanted to ask Yuan Ji’an if he minded, but he had distracted her so much that she forgot. However, seeing how much he wanted a title, it didn’t seem like he minded at all.

Thinking about it, Lu Minghua suddenly smiled.

*

After a few days, the news of Lu Minghua staying at the Yunshan villa eventually reached the Earl’s Mansion, along with the news that the Heir of the Ningguo Marquis’s Mansion was standing at her gate, refusing to leave. It was said that he finally stopped because he caught a cold after standing there for several days.

This news quietly spread, with some people feeling disdain, thinking Wei Yuntai was ridiculous. Others speculated, wanting to know the inside story of the divorce and dismissal. And some were just there for the spectacle.

With a series of crashes, Lu Mingxi smashed the entire tea set on the table, unable to vent her anger. She stood up, crazily pushing over the table and chairs, making the room a mess. When nothing was left to break, she stood there, clenching her fists, gritting her teeth, and muttering Lu Minghua’s name.

Lu Minghua, Lu Minghua, Lu Minghua!!!

Why did she have to oppose her?! Why didn’t she die, die, die! If it weren’t for her, if it weren’t for her—

Why did she have to exist?! Lu Mingxi thought of this question for the umpteenth time. After venting, she sat on the only intact couch, expressionless, thinking she wasn’t surprised by this outcome.

Wei Yuntai was always someone who loved intensely and hated intensely. The more he hated Lu Minghua before, the more he regretted it after learning the truth. The more he regretted, the more he focused on Lu Minghua, and over time, he would carve her into his heart. But why, when she had nothing, could Lu Minghua still have Wei Yuntai’s admiration?

Lu Mingxi sat there, sneering, her beautiful face twisted. After a while, she got up and went to Lu Chengsong’s courtyard.

Lu Chengsong was probably still dreaming of marrying Lu Mingxi back into the Marquis’s Mansion, continuing to be the father-in-law of the Heir of the Ningguo Marquis’s Mansion. He didn’t even consider—

With what he had done, given Lu Minghua’s temperament, he couldn’t take advantage.

In the room, Lu Chengsong’s joy was shattered by Lu Mingxi’s short words.

His expression changed, and finally, he looked at Lu Mingxi and asked, “What do you want to do?”

Since returning to the mansion, Lu Mingxi had been avoiding him. This time, she must have a plan.

This daughter had always been ruthless, and now she must have an idea.

“Doesn’t Prince Changping like Lu Minghua? We can help him,” Lu Mingxi said, eager to see the proud Lu Minghua fall into the muddy waters of Prince Changping’s mansion.

Lu Chengsong looked at his daughter and realized he had underestimated her ruthlessness. But it didn’t matter, he had nothing to lose—

“Come, good child, tell your father, what you want to do?”

Since he couldn’t build a good relationship with Wei Yuntai, if Prince Changping were willing to help, it would be much better than the Marquis’s Mansion’s heir.

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