“His Highness, the Crown Prince?” Seeing how frigid the brothers were to each other, Fu Rou did not expect this. “He saved your life?”
Prince Zhou’s gaze became distant. “That was when we were young. At that time, I still called him Elder Brother and he called me Third Brother. When he saw me fall into the water, he did not hesitate to jump into the water to save me. He almost drowned as well. Sometimes I think that if I had drowned then, he would have remembered me as his obedient and cute third brother and not the Prince Zhou that is forever posing problems for him.”
“Then why…” Fu Rou could not understand.
“Because of what Master Yuan said.” His life changed completely since then.
“The Master Yuan that is renowned for physiognomy and received His Majesty’s recognition?” Fu Rou remembered him.
“Yes, that person. He looked at me and said that my fate was noble beyond belief.” Prince Zhou wanted to laugh. “Noble beyond belief. To the Royal family, these words are fatal! From that day onwards, I unknowingly became the Crown Prince’s opponent. He was no longer my Elder Brother and I was no longer the Third Brother he would risk his life to protect. Fu Siyan, you feel pain because of that palace maid’s death. But do you know the true pain?” It is to be blood related yet ruthless.
Fu Rou looked at the paper boat that was slowly sinking into the water. “I thought Your Highness was here to comfort me. However, the more you speak, the more heavy I feel.”
“Fu Siyan, your feelings are all on Sheng Chumu. I will lose out if I comfort you. I won’t be able to get my deposit back.” Prince Zhou smiled slightly. He was the one that wanted her comfort. “I am just treating you as my verbal bin. Whenever I don’t feel comfortable, I will dump all my troubles on you. That way, I will feel more at ease.”
“On what basis are you to treat me as your verbal bin?”
“You feel wronged? Then that’s easy. Ditch Sheng Chumu and come with me. I promise that I will never bother you with my troubles anymore. If you have troubles, I will even cheer you up and help you solve them.”
Fu Rou was speechless and turned to leave. However, Prince Zhou held her back. She anxiously turned around. “What are you doing?”
He asked, “Did you know when I started admiring you?” Fu Rou shook her head.
“It was when you helped Official Situ in the Eastern Palace. After that, the Crown Princess approached you in the Imperial Garden and asked you why you helped Official Situ. You then replied to her with one sentence. You were not that kind of person and will not help with that kind of thing.” Prince Zhou remembered everything.
“That is nothing. I am simply stating the truth.”
“You are wilful and are not willing to be changed by the world. However, this world has a lot of temptations and a lot of obstacles. When facing temptations and obstacles, it is extremely extremely difficult to remain like oneself from the start to the end. Therefore, there are many that cannot persist and will unknowingly lose themselves. They will do things that they would never do in the past.”
Prince Zhou’s gaze deepened. “Continue being yourself. Although you may seem rigid and indiscreet by refusing to be changed by the world, I like you. I really really like you.” He finally confessed.
The Palace was as deep as the ocean. So was the Lu family. On this night, the Duke Chen Residence was eerie.
Fu Yin was walking in the garden by herself. The wind felt cold through the thin clothes she was wearing. Ling Long had suddenly complained of a stomach ache and angrily chased her out, demanding that she find Housekeeper Wu.
Her surroundings were pitch black, with only a few lanterns swaying in the corridor. The candles in the lantern suddenly extinguished, making it even more strange. She was cowardly and her footsteps quickened. She wanted to quickly get through the garden. Suddenly, she felt herself brush past a black figure. The black figure pounced on her and covered her mouth, pulling her along into a junk room.
The moonlight illuminated that person’s face. Fu Yin starred in fright. It was Lu Hanxing. She cried out and struggled, realising that she had fallen into a trap.
Lu Hanxing smiled evilly, his gaze was like a wolf. “Don’t be scared, beautiful lady. Tonight, I will show you what bliss is like--”
Shashashasha! Lu Hanxing heard a noise from outside the door and could not help but be startled.
A moment later, a cat meowed.
Disappointment flashed through Fu Yin’s eyes. She could not move under Lu Hanxing’s grip and could not stop him from tearing apart her lapel and taking advantage of her snow-white neck. At this moment, Fu Yin took the chance to bite Lu Hanxing with all her might and managed to free herself as she ran to the window and shouted for help.
Lu Hanxing pulled her back and slapped her, causing her to fall to the ground. “Bitch. You will only behave when I am harsh on you. See how I will punish you!”
Chapter 36.2: Bidding Farewell
Lu Hanxing sat on her as his gaze was menacing. Both his hands were ready to tear apart her already torn lapel. Fu Yin used all her energy to grab onto Lu Hanxing’s hands, refusing to let go.
The door suddenly opened. Lu Qi rushed in and roared, “What are you doing?!” He took one step forward and pulled Lu Hanxing up. With one kick, he sent Lu Hanxing flying out of the door. Lu Qi then followed up with a punch.
Fu Yin was disheveled as she got up, gripping tightly onto her lapel. She saw Ling Long poke her head in, her face delighted by what she was seeing.
“I was thinking why you were not sleeping at such a late hour and went out without saying anything? Young Master treats you so well, yet you fool around with other men. Slut.”
Fu Yin pounced onto Ling Long furiously. “I did not! You were the one that set me up!” Why? She had nothing against Ling Long. Why did Ling Long want to hurt her?
Ling Long did not back off but instead fought back. She pulled Fu Yin’s hair, frantically slapping her. Meanwhile, Lu Hanxing had taken a few of Lu Qi’s punches and was furious. He started to fight back.
“Lu Hanxing, you touched my servant and you dare to retaliate?” Lu Qi was not paying attention for a moment and got hit. He was in disbelief.
“Lu Qi, all you got is a good father. What is so impressive about you? You can’t even secure your own servant and you are blaming me? If you are capable, she would not have come to find me in the middle of the night. You cannot do anything if we are both willing!” Lu Hanxing threw caution to the wind.
Lu Qi was burning with anger and did not hold back. All of a sudden, Fu Yin’s heart wrenching wail caused him to stop punching Lu Hanxing for a moment and dash to the room.
Fu Yin and Ling Long were fighting and Ling Long had pushed Fu Yin down. Fu Yin's bracelet was smashed.
Lu Qi turned back to see that Lu Hanxing had escaped. He snorted and turned to Ling Long. “What is going on?”
Ling Long pretended to cry. “This slut was in the wrong and became angry to hide her embarrassment. She even scratched my face. You have to stand up for me.”
Lu Qi threw Ling Long’s hand off. “It is the middle of the night, what is there to stand up for? If there is anything, we will settle it tomorrow. Go back and sleep.”
Ling Long bit her lip and glared at Fu Yin before turning to leave.
Lu Qi looked at Fu Yin. Her hair and clothes were in a mess. The skin at the corners of her lips were torn and fresh blood flowed. It caused the coldness in his eyes to dissipate.
He took off his own outer coat and gently placed it on Fu Yin. He never knew that he could behave so gently. However, his tone remained icy, “Hurry up and get back to your room. You have no sense of shame and made me lose face. Are you going to sit like this until the sun is up so everyone can see you?”