Lu Qian poured out his feelings with tender devotion.

Yet Ling Jingshu was not moved: “Say nothing more. What I had to say, I made very clear just now. In this life, in this world, I have no wish to be entangled with the Lu Family in the slightest, and I will absolutely not marry into the Lu Family.”

Lu Qian pressed his lips together and said quietly: “My mother will be approaching our maternal grandmother and Fifth Uncle about the proposal very soon. So long as they all nod in agreement, this match will be settled…”

A flash of fury lit Ling Jingshu’s eyes, and she laughed coldly: “Lu Qian, you are always like this — stubborn and inflexible, clinging to your own fixed views. Like a child who will never grow up, always crying and making a fuss over something that does not belong to you, caring only about your own desires without ever considering whether the other person is willing. You were like this in your previous life, and now that you have lived an entire lifetime over again, you still cannot rid yourself of this fault.”

“I have no wish to look at you any longer. Get out of my sight — now!”

The color drained from Lu Qian’s face. Hurt and anguish surfaced in his eyes, yet he still refused to give up. Suddenly he blurted out: “A’Shu, you suffered such terrible harm in your previous life — have you given up on revenge?”

Ling Jingshu’s heart gave a sharp lurch. She snapped her gaze toward Lu Qian, her eyes full of wariness and hostility: “You intend to tell the Lu Family everything?”

“A’Shu, you have misunderstood me.” Lu Qian immediately clarified: “This is your greatest secret — and mine as well. I swear to you, in this life and in this world, I will never tell anyone, and least of all the Lu Family.”

She would never again trust anyone’s sworn oath.

A cold, contemptuous smile surfaced in Ling Jingshu’s eyes: “Is that so? Even if I were to kill Lu An and his wife for revenge in the future, you would not say a word?”

Blazing, frenzied intensity shot from Lu Qian’s eyes: “Yes — so long as you marry me. I will not say a single word, and I will do everything in my power to help you.”

“I know you hate the Lu Family — that you want to kill them. But you are only a delicate, slender young woman without the strength to bind a chicken. If you want revenge, your only opportunity is to marry back into the Lu Family. Elder Brother was faithless and heartless in his previous life — you despise him in your heart and would never be willing to become his wife again. I am your true match and your true destiny.”

“A’Shu, just marry me!”

This Lu Qian had truly gone mad!

Ling Jingshu drew in a sharp breath, regarding Lu Qian with the kind of gaze one reserves for the insane: “Do you even know what you are saying?”

Vicious and ruthless as Lu An and the Ling woman were, they were still Lu Qian’s own birth parents. Yet he showed not the slightest regard for the bond of blood and the grace of upbringing — insisting again and again that he would help her take her revenge.

The boy from before had merely been a headstrong, willful child with no regard for others. The person before her now was twisted and deranged — enough to chill the heart.

Lu Qian looked at the expression of disbelieving shock on Ling Jingshu’s face, and far from feeling displeased, he broke into a smile: “Of course I know perfectly well what I am saying. A’Shu, in my previous life I was far too weak and useless — I had no courage to save you, and could only watch helplessly as you were humiliated. In that final moment before death, I swore an oath to myself. If there was a next life, I would no longer be the coward I once was. I would protect you, and I would help you take your revenge!”

“In the future, Elder Brother will go to the capital. Princess Changping will set her sights on him as her Prince Consort, and he will never return to Jizhou. The position of head of the Lu Family will naturally fall to me. While my father and mother are off their guard, I can poison them both to death in secret. By that time, the Lu Family will belong to the two of us. A’Shu, every humiliation you suffered in the past — I will repay it all a hundredfold.”

The smile was as innocent as a child’s. The words it accompanied were merciless and cruel.

The more Lu Qian said, the more resolute Ling Jingshu’s determination to refuse him became.

But against Lu Qian, outright refusal alone was useless. His stubbornness was frightening — he was simply incapable of hearing what he did not wish to hear. If she wanted to refuse this match, she could approach it from the side of the Old Madam and Ling Wuye. So long as the match was never formally settled, no amount of one-sided wishful thinking on Lu Qian’s part would matter…

Ling Jingshu’s thoughts moved like lightning. She deliberately eased the severity of her expression: “What you have said today has truly caught me completely off guard. Give me a few days — let me think it over carefully.”

The slight softening in her tone sent Lu Qian into irrepressible excitement; a flush of eager color rose across his fair face: “Good, good, good — take as many days as you need.”

Ling Jingshu softened her voice further still: “Before I have thought it through and reached a decision, would you not have your mother propose the match yet? You will still be staying in the Ling household for some time — there is no rush over the next few days.”

This sort of gentleness was exactly what Lu Qian had yearned for through his entire previous life, only to be denied at every turn. Even knowing that Ling Jingshu was deliberately stalling for time, Lu Qian could not bring himself to refuse. Without a second thought, he nodded and agreed.

Ling Jingshu quietly let out a breath of relief.

She had said what needed to be said, and it was time for Lu Qian to leave.

But the opportunity for private time together was too rare — Lu Qian was utterly unwilling to go, and swiftly found a new topic: “A’Shu, when were you reborn?”

Ling Jingshu replied casually: “At about the same time as you.”

Surely this was a match ordained by heaven. What else could explain the two of them waking together, being reborn simultaneously?

Lu Qian’s heart overflowed with joy; his eyes shone with a brilliant light: “You haven’t slipped up and revealed anything, have you?”

Ling Jingshu had no wish to continue this exchange, and answered his question with one of her own: “After you were reborn, did anyone in the Lu Family notice anything unusual about you?”

“No.” Lu Qian replied with confident certainty: “I have been extremely careful the entire time. I have never let slip even a single hint in front of Elder Brother. To this day, he has not harbored the slightest suspicion toward me.”

A flicker passed through Ling Jingshu’s eyes. Without warning, she asked: “He knows about your intention to propose the match, and he still hasn’t grown suspicious of you?”

Lu Qian’s smile faltered.

No suspicion, perhaps — but estrangement between brothers was now unavoidable…

Ling Jingshu fixed Lu Qian with an unblinking gaze, not missing the subtle shift in his expression: “Lu An and his wife had originally been planning to propose the match on his behalf. Before they did so, I had coldly refused him in no uncertain terms. With his pride, he would never be shameless enough to seek my hand again. So when Lu An and the Ling woman brought up the proposal, he must have refused outright. Then, out of nowhere, you stepped forward and wheedled and pestered the Ling woman until she agreed to propose on your behalf instead. Am I wrong?”

As though she had witnessed it with her own eyes — she described the scene with not a single character out of place.

Lu Qian was inwardly thunderstruck, looking at Ling Jingshu as though seeing her for the first time.

The Ling Jingshu preserved in his memory was beautiful beyond compare, supremely talented, gentle as water. It had been precisely that beauty and gentleness that had ensnared him completely — leaving no room in his eyes or his heart for anyone else. After being reborn and seeing Ling Jingshu again, he had been entirely absorbed in the elation and excitement of their reunion. Only now, in this moment, did he wake up to the change that had come over her.

By turns gentle — as she was with Ling Xiao — and then cold as ice — as she was with him and Lu Hong. And now, this sharp and perceptive acuity she displayed was enough to startle the heart.

Ling Jingshu tugged at the corner of her lips and asked evenly: “You are only twelve years old — in Lu Hong’s eyes, you are still a child who doesn’t understand the ways of the world. That you would suddenly declare your intention to marry me — how could Lu Hong fail to grow suspicious? In all likelihood, he has been covertly observing your every move, and suspicion has already taken root in his heart long ago.”

Lu Qian gave Ling Jingshu a long, searching look: “You understand his nature and temperament very well.”

In a previous life, they had been deeply in love. For two years they had shared the same bed and pillow as husband and wife — how could she not understand Lu Hong?

She had refused him with harsh words and had retched at his touch. With Lu Hong’s self-esteem and pride, he would not again be so shameless as to entertain thoughts of taking her as his wife. She had calculated everything — and the only thing she had not calculated for was this “unexpected variable” named Lu Qian.

Extinguishing Lu Qian’s obsessive fixation was not going to be as straightforward as dealing with Lu Hong.

Ling Jingshu said with a composed detachment: “He and I were once husband and wife, and we shared moments of harmony and deep affection. That I understand his temperament is not particularly surprising. In this life, I will absolutely never marry him again. But — I will never come to like any other man either.”

Lu Qian: “……”

That final sentence pierced him like a sharp arrow, striking him squarely in the chest. No blood was drawn — yet the pain cut all the way to his core.

Ling Jingshu lifted her eyes to look at Lu Qian: “Lu Qian, there is one important matter I wish to ask you. You must tell me the truth.”

A faint and unnameable unease stirred in Lu Qian’s heart, though his face revealed not a trace of it: “Very well. Whatever I know, I will say everything without reservation.”

“What I want to ask is — in our previous life, did Lu Hong truly never write me a single letter, and truly never send anyone to bring me word? Did he truly abandon his wife and son without a sound? Did his heartlessness and alienation truly have no other explanation?”

This question had been lodged in her heart for years — an obstruction she could neither cough up nor swallow down. Even though in this life she would allow no emotional entanglement with Lu Hong, she still wanted to understand the truth: “Was there perhaps more to his apparent change of heart?”

Lu Qian’s pupils contracted sharply, and without thinking he blurted out: “No!”

Ling Jingshu, who had been scrutinizing his face without blinking, did not miss this tiny sign of something off. Her heart dropped suddenly.

Lu Qian was lying!

If there had truly been no hidden circumstances — if Lu Qian had truly known nothing — then the natural first response upon hearing such a question should have been “I don’t know,” not “no.”

What was he concealing?

“Lu Qian, you just promised me moments ago that you would say everything without reservation. Are you going to go back on your word already?” Ling Jingshu’s expression went cold, her voice dripping with mockery: “And you claim you want to marry me, that you will treat me well for an entire lifetime. Every single word of it is a deceitful lie!”

Lu Qian secretly clenched his fist; a flash of alarm and unease crossed his heart, though his mouth said: “I am not deceiving you. Elder Brother and Princess Changping became mutually attached — he fell for another woman, and feeling guilty toward you, he simply had no face to write a letter back, and sent no one with any word. It was he who betrayed your deep and genuine devotion!”

The fury in Ling Jingshu’s eyes flared. Her voice grew colder and sharper still: “You are lying! You clearly know the truth of what happened, and are deliberately deceiving me. Do you think I am still the gentle, kind-hearted, weak and easily taken advantage of Ling Jingshu of our previous life? Lu Qian, if you do not intend to tell me the truth, then get out of my sight right now. From this day forward, do not appear before me again!”

Lu Qian had not expected Ling Jingshu to be so perceptive, and had not expected her to fly into such a fury. He could not help but fall into a momentary panic. On instinct, he stepped forward and seized Ling Jingshu’s hand: “A’Shu, listen to me…”