A full six people sat at a square table.

Duan Changchuan and Bai Su sat on one side, Yun Xie sat on the opposite side, and Feng Yao sat at the side table on Duan Changchuan’s side, leaving the side next to Bai Su to Lin Qing and the scholar.

Although the young man had changed his appearance and no change in expression could be seen on his face, the pressure he exuded was obviously much heavier than before.

Yun Xie had seen enough of the commotion and smiled as he put away his folding fan. He picked up the teacup with his index finger and gently took a sip. He motioned for the disciples he brought to stand guard outside and not let anyone get close. Only then did he raise his eyebrows and look at the scholar who had been silent since he sat at the table.

He asked, “Does Zhuang Yuan know what it means for you to sit at this table today?”

“This scholar knows.”

As Lin Qing spoke, he retracted his gaze from the woman and turned around to bow slightly to Yun Xie. His voice was gentle, but it carried a stubbornness that was neither servile nor overbearing.

“Mu Zhi wants to find an answer.”

Yun Xie’s gaze seemed to sweep over Bai Su and Duan Changchuan. His thin lips parted slightly as he let out a low sneer, “Gambling on your career?”

He nodded heavily, “No matter what.”

“Is this answer so important? If my guess is correct, whether this answer is yes or no, it seems to be meaningless to you.”

This sentence made the eyes of the person who had always been calm and capable of strategizing everything turn red.

The veins on his fair neck bulged …

The scholar’s adam’s apple moved slightly as he squeezed out a sentence from his throat, “It is meaningful. This answer will be meaningful for Mu Zhi’s entire life.”

He said, “Mu Zhi is untalented. He was born lowly and his words carry little weight. He can’t become a man she can rely on and can’t save her from her troubles.”

He said, “Lin Muzhi exists in this world like an ant. Looking at the history books, he is but an inconspicuous grain of sand among millions of stars … She is the only one who worships this grain of sand as a god.”

“If she has feelings for him, it’s fine even if Lin Muzhi gives his entire life to her.”

These words were too heavy …

It made everyone present fall silent.

On the lake in the distance, a string of laughter could be heard from the young masters and ladies who were boating. The small garden nearby was filled with chaotic conversations. The noisier the surroundings were, the quieter their table seemed …

After a long time …

Bai Su, who had been silent all this time, finally called out his name, “Lin Qing.”

As she spoke, she turned to look at him. Her gaze was cold as if she was looking at a stranger.

“You already have the answer in your heart, don’t you? Forgive me for being blunt, but your visit today is reckless and unnecessary.”

The young scholar was stunned. He looked at her with surprise and confusion. It was as if she couldn’t accept that her former lover had said such words.

The person who had been silently drinking tea beside Lin Qing suddenly let out a disdainful laugh, “I knew your infatuation would only feed dogs.”

Lin Qing stopped him, “Shu Ze, don’t say that …”

“What’s there to hide? What’s the use of studying day and night, tossing and turning without sleep? She had already ascended to the top of the tree and become a phoenix. Not to mention being a Zhuang Yuan, even if you were conferred the title of Marquis or Prime Minister, would you be able to compete with other people of noble birth? Haish, love is the most useless thing in the world.”

“Shu Ze, it’s not what you think …”

“It’s not what I think? Then ask her. Ask her what it is like. Let me, a bystander who doesn’t understand anything, also hear it.”

As the two quarreled, Bai Su had been quietly listening.

She was deliberating … how to broach this matter. What should she say so she wouldn’t seem heartless or hurt Duan Changchuan?

If she and Lin Qing got a little closer, it would seem affectionate; if she retreated too much, it would seem too heartless. But she couldn’t be indifferent.

Because, in the end, she was a bystander who couldn’t stay out of it.

[This damn being in the middle of it …]

Thinking of this, Alpha, who came from the outer world, let out a long sigh and called him, “Lin Qing.”

However, before he could say the rest of his words, he was interrupted by the person beside him.

“His infatuation was fed to dogs? What’s done can’t be undone. Don’t tell me you want her to continue seeking death?”

The young man said in a deep voice and forcefully pulled her wrist. He probably wanted to pull up her clothes and let these two people see the scar on her hand.

But after a long time … that pair of fair and beautiful hands just stayed on her wrist in a daze … and didn’t move any further.

The kind-hearted child was concerned. He was concerned about her self-esteem as a woman, and he was also avoiding the scars left on her by those unbearable pasts.

The gaze in Bai Su’s eyes softened in an instant. She patted the back of the young man’s hand comfortingly and said softly, “It’s okay.”

Then she directly pulled up the sleeve on her wrist, revealing the scar left behind by the cut wrist.

The moment the young man saw it, his eyes immediately turned red. His upper teeth bit his lower lip tightly and he couldn’t make a sound for a long time.

At this moment, the people around them had been driven away, and the group of young masters and young ladies outside couldn’t see the scene here clearly. But the child still stubbornly helped her cover her sleeves carefully.

“She’s finally thought it through and wants to live a good life. Is that wrong? Do you have to wait until she’s dead and gone forever before you feel that your infatuation was worth it? If you’re really infatuated, you should hope for her to be well instead of coming to speak ill of her when you see that she wants to start over. Lin Muzhi, you’re just so-so.”

The young man maintained the composure of an emperor, and his speech was not as casual as it was in private. His voice was habitually lowered, and there were very few fluctuations in his speech.

He was like a little lion in the sub-adult stage. Clearly, his fangs had not grown well and everything was not mature yet, but he had already started to show his dignity as the king of all beasts in his territory in a serious manner.

Bai Su’s hand under the table was tightly intertwined with his.

“Lin Qing.” She turned her head and slowly said, “What’s done can’t be undone, but at least your infatuation wasn’t wasted.”

“She loves you very much.” She said.

[Your infatuation has not been let down.]

[She loves him very much.]

That person was born in a noble family but had lost her mother when she was young … living alone in the deepest courtyard of the Prime Minister’s manor for more than ten years.

She endured the frost of winter and the scorching sun of summer … had seen the rain in spring and the leaves in autumn, and finally met her destined gentleman.

Whether it was psychological affection or love at first sight, she fell deeply in love with him and worshipped him like a god.

That naive, kind, stubborn, tenacious girl who lived very hard … In the lonely and cold Prime Minister’s manor, she used her unfinished life to pledge her undying loyalty to him.

With red eyes, the Golden Zhuang Yuan drank a cup of strong wine. His voice trembled as he said, “But I … would rather she let me down.”

Blue veins popped out on the hand that was holding the wine cup, “My apologies, Mu Zhi will excuse himself … In the future, I will definitely send a respect notice to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.”

After a long time, the scholar staggered to his feet. He clasped his hands in front of his chest and made a big bow, saying, “Yun Daren, Miss Feng. And … Mu Zhi will be leaving now.”

Shu Ze, who had listened to the entire process, also slowly got up. His gaze towards Bai Su was filled with guilt and bewilderment.

Finally, he clasped his hands and said, “It was this scholar who was at fault.”

He also hurriedly left.

–

After Lin Qing and Shu Ze left, Yun Xie looked at Duan Changchuan then at Bai Su. He yawned lazily, “Hey, I suddenly want to go see the little rabbit. Auntie, are you coming?”

Then, without waiting for Feng Yao to agree, he grabbed her arm and left. As a result, only Bai Su and Duan Changchuan were left at the ‘lively’ square table. The disciples of the Bureau were still guarding the periphery, and no one approached.

They held hands and sat at the table. From afar, they looked like an intimate couple, and it didn’t look out of place.

Except … the person in her hand kept slipping out of her palm.

“Who allowed you to hold me? Let go.” The young man warned in a low voice, his beautiful eyes glaring at her.

The more he ran, the tighter she held him.

She pushed the snacks in front of him and said, “Not letting it go, what if you run away?”

“None of your business!”

It was obvious that he was angry, and it was also obvious that he was jealous.

When Bai Su thought of her little Omega, who was about to drown in jealousy, but still didn’t forget to defend her in front of outsiders, she felt that he was so cute!

If it weren’t for the wrong occasion, she would have taken action. Therefore, she only held him closer, and a seductive pheromone emerged from the back of her neck.

A pair of eyes looked at him without blinking, “Are you angry, Duan Xiaochuan? You defended me just now, I thought you weren’t angry.”

The poor Little Omega, who was confused about what pheromones were for after losing his memory, was so triggered by the smell of the peony that blood rushed to his face, and he didn’t know why.

He even confronted her angrily, “I’m just angry because what he said was too much. As the second rank in this year’s Spring Imperial Examination, he only knows how to vent his anger and doesn’t know how to think. Of course, I have to teach him a lesson! I didn’t want to defend you!”

Bai Su, “So you’re actually very jealous?”

Duan Changchuan, “…”

His jet-black eyes were startled. He didn’t expect her to be so straightforward.

After being stunned for a long time … He finally exploded.

“Yes, I’m jealous. Can’t I be jealous? Listen to what you were saying! I was here. When I was here, you dared to be like this. When I’m not here, what will you do? If I hadn’t bumped into you that day, would you have hugged each other?”

The more the young man spoke, the more aggrieved he felt. When he blinked, small droplets of water stuck to his eyelashes.

The pregnant Omega couldn’t control his emotions in front of his Alpha. Because of sadness, his eyes were red like a little rabbit’s. He was very jealous and felt very uncomfortable in his heart, but he still held it in.

Bai Su’s heart ached when she saw this. She quickly took a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his eyes.

With a gentle voice, she coaxed, “No, didn’t I hug you that day? Since when did I hug him? There’s nothing between me and him. Didn’t you see I didn’t talk to him much today?”

The young man sniffed softly and pushed her with all his might, “You only said a few words, but you said you loved him.”

“I said she loves him.”

“… What’s the difference? You are just brushing me off!”               

Damn … The more she tried to coax him, the angrier he got.

Alpha’s heart tightened, and she hurried to remedy the situation.

“No, I really didn’t. Let me give you an analogy. My conversation with Lin Qing is the same as your conversation with Bai Jinzhi. Will you fall for Bai Jinzhi? You won’t, right? My feelings for Lin Qing are the same as yours for Bai Jinzhi.”

Bai Jinzhi was the legitimate daughter of the prime minister’s residence whom Duan Changchuan was supposed to marry. She was supposed to marry Lin Qing.

Bai Su felt that this analogy was very consistent.

Unfortunately …

The young man didn’t appreciate it. Not only did he not appreciate it, but he became even angrier.

“How can it be the same! I don’t even know Bai Jinzhi! You and that Lin Qing, don’t you know how much you like him?! You hug me skilfully, and you … you kiss me skilfully. Is it because you have experience?!”

Bai Su, “…”

She really couldn’t clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River.

If it weren’t for the fact that she was afraid of scaring children, she even wanted to self-destruct, “Yes, I’m very skillful. Very skillful at hugging and kissing, and I’m even more skillful at dealing with you! Didn’t you give me all my experience?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you feeling guilty?” The young man looked even more aggrieved than before when he saw her silence.

Bai Su, “…”

“I don’t know Lin Qing either.” She also went all out.

“He has nothing to do with me. You already know that I’m Alpha. Have you never thought that the soul of this body has long been changed?”

“I’m not the Bai Su from before. That Bai Su had died a long time ago.”

She already understood that if she didn’t completely explain Lin Qing’s problem, there would always be a thorn in Duan Changchuan’s heart.

One had to know that Omega sensitivity during pregnancy was very high, and pregnancy depression was common. If her Omega was depressed because of Lin Qing, who she didn’t know at all, it would be too late for her to cry.