#4 - Which one is the real him?
The Lu family was not considered a prominent aristocratic clan.
The head of the family, Lu Jingnan, was a Left Counselor of the Provincial Administration Commission, barely squeezing into the imperial court.
If he were stationed in a local area, he would be considered a high-ranking official.
But unfortunately, in this capital city where purple robes were ubiquitous, his fourth-rank official title was simply not impressive enough.
Not to mention comparing him to Wei Xianzhis, who practically controlled all the "dirt" on officials in the court.
However, the Lu family was not entirely unknown, mainly because Lu Jingnan had a daughter who was "proficient in music, fond of poetry, elegant and refined, and devastatingly beautiful."
This was the original text from the book.
The object of reference was naturally Lu Jingyao.
As for why such a proper young lady would develop feelings for Xiao Feng, a commoner, it was not important.
Anyway, in a爽文 (爽文 is a type of Chinese web novel characterized by wish fulfillment and satisfying plot developments) all women who meet the protagonist lose their minds, eager to throw themselves into his arms and pledge their lives to him.
Lu Jingyao was naturally the same.
If things progressed normally, she would be snatched away by Xiao Feng tomorrow, then break with the Lu family, and eventually become Xiao Feng's virtuous helper, living happily with a group of "sisters."
It sounds pretty good, but Wei Changtian was now preparing to intercept.
After all, Lu Jingyao could be considered a female lead with quite a few scenes in the book.
As long as he took her down, and made her follow him wholeheartedly in the future...
Tsk tsk, he would definitely earn a lot of system points.
......
The curtain slowly opened.
Lu Jingyao, wearing only a thin gauze dress, lay motionless on the bed, her jade-like, delicate skin faintly visible, her cheeks full of tears.
She stared straight at Wei Changtian, her eyes filled with resentment, disgust, fear, and despair, but not a trace of goodwill.
No woman would really like this kind of man.
Especially Lu Jingyao, who had some artistic talent, could not accept it at all.
After all, literary and artistic young women are somewhat idealistic.
Thinking that this "good-for-nothing" would lie naked on her body later, Lu Jingyao felt extremely disgusted, wishing she could bite her tongue and commit suicide on the spot.
But unfortunately, she couldn't do it.
Forget it...
Just treat it as using her body, which she originally wanted to save for Xiao Feng, to exchange for the lives of the one hundred and eighty people of the Lu family...
The last tear fell from her beautiful eyes, and Lu Jingyao slowly closed her eyes, not wanting to see everything that was about to happen.
This was her last dignity.
However, at the next moment, Wei Changtian suddenly said something she least expected in the tone she least expected.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I won't touch you today."
......
From Wei Changtian's point of view, he could indeed take Lu Jingyao now.
However, in that case, he would inevitably only get her body, and it was estimated that one day this woman, whose mind was full of Xiao Feng, would have to die to prove her will.
So, complete conquest was the best policy.
Although it was a bit difficult, it was completely worth trying in order to earn more system points.
Noticing that Lu Jingyao's eyelids twitched slightly, Wei Changtian continued in a deep voice:
"Although I have done all kinds of bad things, I will never go back on my promises."
"The reason I came to you tonight is because I have something to talk to you about."
"If you are willing, open your eyes, and I will immediately release your acupoints for you."
"If you still don't open your eyes after five breaths, then I will turn around and leave."
"......"
The evening breeze squeezed in from the unclosed window seam, passing over her ears like smoke, and gently swaying the gauze curtain a few times.
Wei Changtian didn't speak again, his breathing was steady and natural.
On the other hand, Lu Jingyao's chest heaved violently.
One, two, three...
Finally, when counting to the fourth breath, she seemed to muster all her courage and opened her eyes. Although her eyes were still full of disgust, there was a hint of curiosity in them compared to just now.
And Wei Changtian didn't waste any time, reaching out and pointing to several of her acupoints, such as Fengfu, Tongtian, and Yuzhen.
Internal force entered the acupoints through his fingertips, and the Qi and blood throughout her body circulated again.
"Mmm~"
The sudden feeling of smoothness and numbness made Lu Jingyao groan uncontrollably, and then she closed her eyes tightly again.
Filled with shame and anger, the sensation in her hands and feet gradually recovered, and her brain regained control of her body.
In an instant, she was like a frightened little rabbit, sitting up from the bed with a "噌" sound.
Her shapely and smooth long legs were close together, and her lotus-root-like white and tender arms were tightly clasped around her chest.
Lu Jingyao curled up into a ball and looked at the bedside with extreme vigilance, but in the next second, she was suddenly stunned.
Because Wei Changtian's figure was nowhere to be seen around.
The goose-yellow gauze curtain completely covered the bed, and her clothes were neatly folded on the pillow.
"......"
She widened her eyes and was stunned for a long time before spitting softly.
"Bah!"
......
In the hall outside the screen, the two sat opposite each other at a small table.
Lu Jingyao looked at Wei Changtian, who was leisurely drinking tea opposite her, and didn't know what to say for a while. After a long time, she snorted coldly and asked:
"You unlocked my acupoints, aren't you afraid that I will seek death?"
"Seek death?"
Wei Changtian said amusingly: "If you really wanted to die, you would have had plenty of opportunities before, why wait until today."
"You!"
Lu Jingyao's body trembled, and she suddenly took out a jade hairpin from her sleeve, the tip pointing directly at her neck.
"It's not that I dare not! Before..."
"Heh heh."
A disdainful laugh interrupted her argument. Wei Changtian didn't even raise his head, but pointed to the empty tea cup in front of him and uttered two words indifferently.
"Pour tea."
"......"
The air in the room instantly solidified, Lu Jingyao's eyes widened, and her face slowly turned pale.
Wei Changtian, however, was not in a hurry, and simply lowered his head to wait.
It wasn't until the jade hairpin fell to the ground and broke into two pieces, and the light brown tea was poured tremblingly into the teacup, that he nodded lightly.
"Thank you."
"Clang!"
The small purple clay teapot crashed onto the table, and Lu Jingyao's expression of disbelief was even greater than before.
It was clear that in her mind, the man before her should never have said those two words.
"You, how could you...?"
"How am I different from before? Is that it?"
Wei Changtian straightened the teapot and said calmly, "What you see may only be what others want you to see."
"..."
Lu Jingyao was stunned for a moment.
Without a doubt, these words brought a great shock to her heart.
Countless questions flooded her mind, but Wei Changtian didn't give her a chance to ask any more, and instead brought the topic back on track.
"Let's not talk about me, let's talk about our marriage."
"I know that not only are you unwilling to marry me, but you even have a strong dislike for me."
"So the reason I came to find you today is actually to give you another choice."
"Choice..."
Lu Jingyao suddenly looked over, her brows slightly furrowed.
She had never imagined that Wei Changtian would actually give her a choice.
"Yes, you have a choice."
Wei Changtian seemed to have guessed what she was thinking, and raised his head to look directly at Lu Jingyao's slightly flickering eyes, continuing, "Tomorrow morning, I can go to my father and call off this marriage, and I will also try my best to persuade him not to harm the Lu family."
"But ultimately, what he will do, I cannot promise you anything."
"If you want to protect the Lu family, then don't make any more pointless struggles, and obediently cooperate to complete the wedding tomorrow."
"As for what you want to do afterwards, I won't force you, as long as you stay in the Wei family for half a year."
"During this time, we can have the name of husband and wife, but not the reality."
"After half a year, if you are still determined to leave, then I will never force you to stay."
"This can also be considered a presentable explanation to both of our families."
"I've said all I need to say, whether or not to get married, think about it carefully."
After Wei Changtian finished speaking, he lowered his head again and began to drink tea on his own.
Lu Jingyao, however, fell into a long silence, with a look of struggle constantly appearing on her face.
After a long time, she tentatively raised her head and asked in a low voice, "What about Xiao Feng? What do I have to do for you to let him go?"
Xiao Feng?
Good heavens!
Even at this time, she's still thinking about the protagonist!
She's truly devoted, isn't she?
Wei Changtian understood that the reason Lu Jingyao would ask this question must be because she felt that Xiao Feng couldn't compete with him, so she wanted to protect her "lover's" life in this way.
Heh heh, dream on.
Narrowing his eyes, Wei Changtian replied without hesitation, "He must die."
"Wh-what...?"
The color that Lu Jingyao had barely regained on her face instantly turned pale again.
She leaned forward eagerly, clutching a piece of embroidered silk tightly in her hand, her stammering tone no longer containing any arrogance.
"I, I beg you to let Xiao Feng go..."
"I can marry you! I will try my best to be a good wife! And I will never disobey you again..."
"I, I have never had any physical intimacy with Xiao Feng..."
"I said, he must die."
Wei Changtian interrupted Lu Jingyao's pleading in a deep voice.
Hearing his fiancée plead for another man like this, there was no anger in his voice, only a calm statement: "You have no third choice."
"..."
Lu Jingyao instantly closed her mouth, and large teardrops fell on the line of small words embroidered on the handkerchief.
Wei Changtian glanced at it casually, his gaze lingering for a moment.
If you don't betray me, I will never betray you.
"This sentence..."
He withdrew his gaze, knowingly asking, "Did Xiao Feng say it?"
"..."
Lu Jingyao clenched the handkerchief tightly, gritting her teeth and lowering her head in silence.
Wei Changtian suddenly felt that this girl was a bit pitiful.
In the novel, although Xiao Feng later accepted her, he didn't really care about her at the beginning.
Even tomorrow's act of snatching the bride was actually just an accident, and was not originally in Xiao Feng's plan.
So in the end, she was actually just a tool for the protagonist to show off, just like himself.
"Sigh..."
Sighing softly, Wei Changtian didn't say anything more, stood up and turned to walk out of the house.
Perhaps feeling moved, he blurted out a line of poetry that anyone who had received nine years of compulsory education in his previous life could recite as he walked.
"I offer my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon illuminates the ditch."
Wei Changtian's voice was not loud, but it was clearly audible.
And when this poem entered Lu Jingyao's ears, the line of tears like a beaded curtain suddenly broke.
She suddenly raised her head and stared at Wei Changtian's back, her expression somewhat dazed, somewhat astonished, and somewhat sluggish.
There was also a kind of excitement and sorrow that were clearly contradictory, but existed at the same time.
"I offer my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon illuminates the ditch..."
Unconsciously repeating it several times, she looked again, but the figure of the person who said these words was long gone.
Who is the bright moon? Who is the ditch?
The real moon outside the window hung high in the night sky, and the entire Wei mansion was quiet, with only a series of gradually receding footsteps.
Lu Jingyao suddenly inexplicably, for the first time, developed a trace of emotion towards Wei Changtian other than disgust and fear.
This was a human being's instinctive curiosity about mysterious things.
...Why is he so different from the rumors?
...Which one is the real him?
