Qian Xingzhi quickly begged for mercy. "I spoke rashly. I won't dare again."
The standing figure clearly hadn't calmed down, watching coldly without a word.
Qian Xingzhi had a feeling that if she left the room now, she would be shut out by Lu Yu forever. Frowning, she slipped into character. "Ouch... ouch, Lord Lu, my head hurts so much..."
Clutching her head, she burrowed back into Lu Yu's bed, pretending to faint.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yu didn't fall for it. "If that's the case, I'll leave."
The door closed with emotion behind her. Qian Xingzhi sighed, got up, tidied herself, and went out to find him.
She wasn't good at coaxing people. After searching several times without seeing a trace, she resigned herself to returning to her own room. Pushing open the door, she found the person she had been looking for inside her own room.
Both were startled.
"So you were here, Lord Lu," Qian Xingzhi began clumsily trying to soothe her superior's feelings. "I looked everywhere but couldn't find you. I was so worried."
Lu Yu, on the other hand, was quite embarrassed. He had thought his bed was occupied and came to borrow Qian Xingzhi's place to rest. Looking back now, he felt he had been blinded by anger earlier, entering the room without asking permission. Seeing a book on the table, he picked it up to pass the time, but had just opened it when Qian Xingzhi came in.
Qian Xingzhi came closer and realized that her unspeakable "world classic" was in the hands of the very person it was about. In the moment of recognition, her soul fled, and she reached out to snatch it.
Lu Yu had practiced martial arts for years; his reaction was naturally much faster than Qian Xingzhi's. Before she could even touch the corner of the page, he had already dodged to the other side of the table.
Dodging was just a reflex. Once he stood still, Lu Yu became curious about the content of the book. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Lord Qian, why are you so nervous?"
Qian Xingzhi rubbed her hands anxiously. "Lord Lu, anything but that. Please don't read it."
The more she acted like that, the more curious Lu Yu became. "Just now you offended me. Now I'll offend you. That makes it even, doesn't it?"
With that, he glanced down and froze.
"It showed Lu Yu rising from the bath, steam revealing his tempting figure, eyes glistening, and he said amorously, 'Seen enough? Come here...'
'My lord, this is against protocol.'
'Protocol?' He sneered contemptuously, his eyes deepening, luring one into downfall. 'In the entire Nansheng Kingdom, what I say is protocol.'
He pulled her into the pool and kissed her lips impatiently..."
Qian Xingzhi covered her forehead in despair. Now her head really hurt. Caught red-handed reading porn starring her boss—what to do?
Lu Yu had never experienced such a shock in his life.
He had originally thought he'd just glance at it and be done. But his eyes uncontrollably scanned too much stimulating content. By the time he realized it, he felt his soul had been severely polluted and needed a wandering Daoist to perform a purification rite.
At that moment, there happened to be a wandering Daoist in front of him, who was also quite shocked but seemed to have given up struggling, standing upright with a deathly pale face.
Dead silence. No one spoke, and no one knew how to break it.
Lu Yu closed the book and tossed it onto the table. The two stood frozen, their eyes meeting for a split second before immediately looking away.
"Cough..." Qian Xingzhi struggled to come up with an excuse, scratching her ears and cheeks. "Let me explain..."
Lu Yu didn't know what expression to wear. Anger? Embarrassment? Nervousness? What was this little brat doing reading such vulgar things in his room? Any fool could see what the book was based on—or rather, naming the male lead "Lu Yu" was clearly a shameless rip-off of himself. Could Qian Xingzhi not see that?
Or perhaps Qian Xingzhi was a sodomite?! Was that why the Third Prince had been bewitched by him?!
But if that were the case, then Qian Xingzhi had a secret crush on him and even hid in his room to read porn about him. What should he do? Refuse sternly? No, that would be too cruel. But he absolutely couldn't agree to such an absurdity.
The more Lu Yu thought, the calmer he became. Now that his secret had been exposed, Qian Xingzhi must be very embarrassed. Although he had kept away from women for years, it was only because of his family vengeance; he had no heart for romantic affairs. In the future, he would have to work closely with Qian Xingzhi, so he needed to handle this properly—neither indulging Qian Xingzhi's feelings nor breaking his heart.
"I understand..." Lu Yu said with difficulty. "It was rude of me. I'm sorry."
Wait, what do you understand? Qian Xingzhi was overwhelmed. She quickly said, "No, no, no, Lord Lu, you've misunderstood. My younger sister bought this book. She must have packed it by mistake when she was helping me with my luggage."
Mentioning the younger sister only made Lu Yu's expression darken further. He had long suspected that this distant cousin of Qian Xingzhi was suspicious. The Qian Mansion had been under his surveillance, and during the assassination attempt last time, he had also paid attention—there were clearly no traces of a woman living there.
He had turned a blind eye before, pretending not to know. But under these circumstances, he couldn't ignore the truth. Besides, the book had a paper cover made from coarse paper, clearly showing signs of repeated reading. If she had no such intentions, why not keep it properly hidden? If she didn't know the content, why was she so flustered?
Now, there was only one possibility—Qian Xingzhi had no younger sister; it was a fake identity she created by dressing as a woman.
Lu Yu believed his logic was flawless. He made up his mind and said, "You don't have to hide anymore. I already know..."
What do you know? Qian Xingzhi was so scared that she swallowed her prepared excuses. Could it be that Lu Yu had long discovered that she was a woman disguised as a man? She thought she had been fooling everyone flawlessly. Now with this mess, Lu Yu must think she was some kind of hopeless romantic who cross-dressed just to get close to him?!
"You really do look like a woman when dressed as one," Lu Yu sighed. "But I did investigate. The Qian Mansion doesn't seem to have any signs of Zhixing living there. Don't worry, I won't think less of you because of this."
Qian Xingzhi was dumbfounded. "...Huh?"
Seeing her dumbfounded, Lu Yu thought she couldn't deny it anymore, so he continued on his own: "You... have feelings for me?"
Qian Xingzhi couldn't hold it together. She waved her hands repeatedly. "Wait, wait, let me sit down first."
She forcefully sorted out the current situation. Lu Yu thought she was a cross-dresser (male dressed as female) and had a crush on him, even reading porn about him in her room.
Oh heavens. What a melodramatic plot...
Qian Xingzhi struggled to lift her head to look at Lu Yu. She saw his face so red it could bleed, exuding an indescribable aura.
The initial embarrassment and desire to die suddenly calmed. Qian Xingzhi always loved mischief. If not now, when? Their young master Lu, over twenty years old, had probably never been confessed to by a man, right?
Thinking of this, she bit her lip, three parts shame and seven parts shyness, and said, "Yes..."
Hearing this tender confession, Lu Yu trembled as if electrocuted, silently backing up five or six steps. "I'm sorry... I don't feel the same..."
Upon hearing this, Qian Xingzhi immediately acted "heartbroken," lowering her brows and eyes, her voice as soft as a mosquito's. "I understand... It was never meant to be between us."
Lu Yu's heart jolted. It was his own doing that had led to this situation. Not knowing how to interact with Qian Xingzhi from now on, he clumsily comforted her. "I... I said you remind me of my younger brother. If you're willing, I'll treat you like a brother. How about that?"