Wuyan smiled bitterly. She had promised him then.

She wasn’t someone who broke her word. Other things, even if they cost her life, as long as she could say it, she would certainly do it. But this matter… truly broke her principles of conduct.

If she had known, she should have stayed at Lian Yu’s place. But Lian Yu was still recovering and had others caring for him. With her emotions in turmoil, she had requested separate quarters. She shouldn’t have dismissed the serving maids – at least they could have provided some protection.

Seeing her stubborn, cold stare at him while her whole body trembled slightly, Huo Chang’an was enraged: “Do you despise me this much? Who was it that said she’d grow old with me in this life?”

Hearing this, Wuyan laughed: “Marquis Huo, and who was it that said ‘Of three thousand weak waters, I’ll take only one ladle’?”

Huo Chang’an gripped her wrist and said through gritted teeth: “How many times must you force me before you’re satisfied! I told you, I explained to you repeatedly – I was drunk then and drugged with an aphrodisiac by one of my lieutenants who wanted to offer his sister as my concubine… I had no choice but to have someone find a camp prostitute, but who knew it would be Lian Yue… I only learned it was her when I woke the next day…”

“Then did you think about why it was Lian Yue? If you hadn’t been intimate with her before, would she have left the capital to find you at the frontier commander’s tent? Would you two have…”

“So what about Lian Yue? When I had dealings with her, you and I hadn’t yet confirmed our feelings. I did have some fondness for her, and she was willing to marry me. Though I was close to her and occasionally intimate, I still treated her with propriety. Once I was certain of my feelings for you, I dismissed all concubines from my manor and cut off relations with Lian Yue, devoted only to you, wanting only you as my woman. Isn’t that enough? How can you condemn me for my past mistakes? I didn’t know I would love you so much later. I, Huo Chang’an, was originally a aristocratic young master – playing with women was nothing unusual!”

Looking at this face filled with hatred and tears, Huo Chang’an felt as if something stabbed viciously at his heart. He suddenly increased the pressure on her wrist and began questioning her fiercely.

Wuyan’s wrist was nearly broken by him, but she remained stubbornly defiant, even raising her chin to smile: “Yes, so you two were destined for each other. Destined people should naturally be together. You did nothing wrong – I was wrong. I shouldn’t have attracted you or provoked you. Are you satisfied with this explanation, Marquis Huo?”

“That’s right, you shouldn’t have provoked me, then married yourself to Lian Yu afterward,” Huo Chang’an laughed loudly, his gaze sharp and cruel.

“Mm, so your hatred for me is justified.”

Wuyan said softly, her wrist aching so much she was willing to bite her lips to endure it, refusing to submit or make the slightest sound.

Instead, Huo Chang’an yielded first. His fingers slowly loosened one by one. He still held her hand but without the previous force – just gripping tightly.

He looked at her face inch by inch, at her eyes – deep, mocking, self-deprecating. Wuyan had thought she could never feel heartache for this man again in this lifetime, but her heart clearly and cruelly contracted at this moment.

That year’s scene suddenly appeared before her eyes through his gaze.

In his villa. In the quiet villa, he gripped her shoulders, his voice hoarse: “Wuyan, forgive me. I’ll never drink again. Lian Yue… I must marry her. I ruined her purity. She’s a princess with a proud nature – she could never marry anyone else. This is my responsibility.”

Wuyan felt her heart and eyes filled with desolation.

She had once liked a young man with clear, handsome features but hiding rebelliousness in his eyes. Unfortunately, the way that young man looked at her friend Gu Xiluo – appreciative and doting – told her she could no longer like him. This person was no ordinary man. He already had a beloved, and in the future, there would be three palaces and six courtyards.

In this life, she could forgo wealth and honor, could forgo health and peace – she sought only someone who would paint her eyebrows for her alone. She had seen too much of her mother’s helplessness.

Cold spring and twelfth month, mid-autumn and New Year’s Eve – receiving a few portions of silver was wealth that common people could desire but not obtain, but afterward it was always just mother and daughter waiting with three sets of bowls and chopsticks until the holidays ended.

The legitimate wife was always in the main hall, new concubines always filled the gates. A concubine’s children being bullied was an unchanging truth.

She had been well-behaved and silent since childhood. If not for a cuju competition at the imperial academy where royal children and officials’ children competed together, and she was hit in the face by his ball, her cheek swelling up, but she endured without a sound, fearing to offend this young master – this wouldn’t have aroused his curiosity to tease and joke with her, and there wouldn’t have been the later entanglement.

She disliked this playboy and treated him coldly.

Who knew this would provoke the young general’s desire to conquer.

This man was romantic but not crude, with great spirit, very pleasing to women – from several imperial princesses to countless officials’ daughters.

Unexpectedly, by the time he had used all his skills to pursue her and she was willing to speak a few more words with him, he had long lost his temper and fallen deeply in love with her.

Afterward came endless doting and cherishing. Often when she wronged him, he would just smile and go along with her wishes.

She said: I can’t be with you – you have multiple concubines. Without a word, he provided large sums of money to dismiss them. Those unwilling were also ruthlessly expelled.

She said: I’m just a concubine’s daughter and can’t enter the Huo family’s main gate. The Huo family won’t agree, and Empress Dowager Xiao’an won’t agree either.

He said: If they don’t agree, let the Huo family line end with me – I won’t marry again.

So when he told her he wanted to marry Lian Yue, she said congratulations and turned to leave. He held her tightly: You and Lian Yue will both be my legitimate wives.

She refused.

He said through gritted teeth: Wei Wuyan, give me a few months – I’ll definitely give you a satisfactory answer.

Later, border conflicts erupted. He had been injured in previous battles and shouldn’t have led troops, but he still took the Huo family army to war.

And she married the young man she had once admired, now a gentleman like jade, completely avoiding him.

“Wei Wuyan, I told you to wait a few months for me, but you married yourself away. Well done, you’re truly excellent…”

Under the lamplight, Huo Chang’an’s bloodshot eyes and the cold smile at his lips pulled her back to reality.

“I once knelt before Lian Yue’s palace gate, saying that though she shouldn’t have secretly entered my military tent that night, ultimately I had wronged her. I begged her forgiveness. I couldn’t marry her, but was willing to be a slave for life. Since she was Princess Chang of the Lian family, I would pacify all enemies for the Lian family. Places even my uncle Marquis Murong Jing dared not attack, I went… That battle nearly cost me my life… But when I returned victorious, what did I see? You had become another’s wife, an imperial consort!”

Wei Wuyan smiled. Yes, she didn’t know he had knelt before the palace gate and made such promises. But she knew they would always be separated by Lian Yue afterward – they could never return to the past. He was a young general who shook the world, with his aspirations for country and realm. She couldn’t let him wrong a woman and be mocked and cursed by the world.

Moreover, this woman had the Lian family behind her!

As long as Lian Yue said one word, imperial dignity must be maintained. No matter how much Empress Dowager Xiao’an loved this nephew, the royal family and court couldn’t help but strip him of military power, and his life’s ambitions would be wasted.

Yes, he could retreat with her to the countryside and ignore worldly affairs. For a year or two he might still be happy, but what about three or five years, ten years later?

A man with aspirations for country and great ambitions wouldn’t be content to grow old in a remote village.

Then he would regret it.

She, Wei Wuyan, didn’t want such an ending.

Since he had once treated her like a treasure, she would repay him with the best ending.

If in this life they couldn’t both be happy, she was willing to guard loneliness unto death.

If only we hadn’t casually fallen in love or casually gotten involved with others before determining who to spend our lives with – how wonderful that would have been.

Lian Yue had once sought her out, smiling as she described that night’s romance and Huo Chang’an’s tenderness. Actually, Lian Yue needn’t have said anything – she had already made her decision.

It was just that after hearing it, she fell ill for another month.

Finally, later, she sought out Lian Yu.

Lian Yu said indifferently: Wuyan, have you really thought this through? Isn’t it a pity about you and Chang’an?

She shook her head: I’m just sorry to you, Sixth Young Master. Your friendship with Huo Chang’an will probably be affected by this… I have no other choice. Besides seeking your help, besides this imperial palace, he’s heaven’s favored son – there’s nowhere else under heaven I could hide from him.

After brief consideration, Lian Yu agreed: “Given Huo Chang’an’s nature, as long as enemies invade, as long as Great Zhou’s people need him, he won’t hesitate to don armor and take the battlefield. Between him and me… it won’t matter. You’re Aluo’s best friend – Lian Yu will certainly help you.”

For Aluo’s sake. Wuyan suddenly smiled. Yes, in this life she had no destiny with Lian Yu, nor with Huo Chang’an.

She couldn’t share one husband with Lian Yue. With her parents still living, she couldn’t end her own life, so she could only live on in compromise.

Later, he returned victorious from near-death, while she became Lian Yu’s consort.

She told him she had fallen in love with Lian Yu again. She herself didn’t know if this was true or false. Perhaps not, perhaps she truly had fallen in love with Lian Yu. Because before deciding to be with Aluo, Lian Yu had always maintained distance from every woman. Lian Yu actually wasn’t as gentle as he appeared – he had his calculations.

Because of Aluo, she withdrew. Aluo told her she had fallen in love with Lian Yu. She said: Good, I bless you both. In this life, she sought a kind of pride.

“Huo Chang’an, you and Lian Yu are brothers. I beg you, don’t…”

Finally, she wept and pleaded with him.

“Lian Yu? I love you like my life, yet you’ve fallen in love with Lian Yu. No, tonight your man is me, Huo Chang’an…”

Seeing her tears streaming down, Huo Chang’an felt something in his chest about to explode, his body burning unbearably. This woman he had never dared touch lightly before, whom he loved so much he feared defiling her – now he hoisted her entire body onto his shoulder and walked toward the bed.