The concubine's favorite? Break off the engagement and marry another prince, please respect you

Chapter 196

Thinking of that night, Xie Wan Ning's smile faded a little. Lu Ziyan told her that Pei Yuxuan and Pei Lin were fine, but Pei Er was dead.

He also told her that Pei Lin herself was involved in this matter.

Xie Wan Ning could not forget the scenes of those maids being raped, and she hated the mastermind behind all of it even more.

She collected her thoughts and asked the person next to her, "By the way, were you seriously injured that night?"

Ming Feng paused and replied, "It's just a minor injury."

Small injury?

"Really?" Just as they reached the gate of the courtyard, Xie Wan Ning stopped, tilted her head to look at him, and said with a smile: "I think those Jin people are very skilled in martial arts."

But she remembered that day on the boat, he seemed to be a little exhausted, and Jin Wuji took the opportunity to escape.

Mingfeng didn't answer anything else, just nodded lightly.

He seems to be extremely bad at speaking.

They had already reached the door, but Xie Wan Ning had no intention of going in. Instead, she just stood at the entrance of the main courtyard, looking at him with her head raised.

As a trusted and beloved general who has followed Lu Ziyan since childhood, Ming Feng's personality is very similar to his, just as cold, just as frugal with words, and even their appearances are somewhat similar upon closer inspection.

After thinking for a while, she said, "You protected me with your life that night. I should thank you."

She suddenly thanked him, and Mingfeng was obviously a little surprised and looked over.

Facing his gaze, Xie Wan Ning continued: "If it weren't for you, I might have become..."

"No," Mingfeng interrupted, "Nothing happened to you."

Although he was still very frugal with his words, Xie Wan Ning understood what he said.

She raised her eyebrows slightly and was about to say something, but she saw the man in front of her looking straight ahead, his posture suddenly solemn, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Lu Ziyan stood at the door of the study room at some point, looking over here across the long courtyard.

The distance was too far, and Xie Wan Ning couldn't see the expression on his face, but the person next to her was different.

Mingfeng took two steps back to the side without leaving a trace, handed the things in his hand to the maid who came over, bowed and took his leave.

Xie Wan Ning blinked, as if she was completely unaware of the stagnant atmosphere around her, and walked leisurely into the yard.

She ignored the person standing there stiffly and went straight back to her room. When she passed by someone, her wrist was firmly grabbed.

"What do you mean?" Lu Ziyan lifted her chin and asked, "What do you want to do?"

He could see that she was performing this act in front of him on purpose.

"What can I think of?" Xie Wan Ning smiled and pursed her lips. "I just think he's quite interesting."

"Oh?" He lowered his head and moved closer, seeming to be extremely curious and asked, "What's so interesting about it?"

The servants in the yard had disappeared without anyone noticing. As night fell, the cold wind kept blowing on their bodies. They just stood under the eaves, staring into each other's eyes.

She didn't answer for a long time, and her slender fingers couldn't help but clench. Lu Ziyan asked in a low voice, "Tell me, what's so interesting about him?"

Xie Wan Ning stopped smiling and said with a straight face, "Do you think Ming Feng Ming Jian looks like Er Qing and Er Xia who were by my side in my previous life?"

When she mentioned the name Jiuyuan again, Lu Ziyan was stunned.

"Didn't you say that I will do everything for you?" Xie Wan Ning continued, "Then let Ming Feng follow me and be my personal bodyguard, how about that?"

"No!" He refused without thinking, stretched out his hands to pick her up and carried her into the study.

"Why not?" Xie Wan Ning nestled in his arms and said persistently, "He has been with me these past two days, and I've been using him quite well."

Lu Ziyan held her on his lap and looked at her sullenly, "You don't need a personal bodyguard."

"But Mingfeng is a skilled martial artist and a reliable person. He helped me escape from Hot Spring Mountain that night... um..."

Her lips were kissed and she couldn't utter the rest of the words. She could only stare at him.

After kissing for a while, Lu Ziyan kissed her lips and said vaguely: "If you dare to deliberately anger me again, I will continue here."

Xie Wan Ning achieved her goal and was very smart to stop while she was ahead.

But she stopped talking, but Lu Ziyan didn't give in. He pressed his forehead against hers, looked into her eyes, and reminded her word by word: "He saved you on my orders, and I am the only person you can trust."

Xie Wan Ning: “…”

"Did you hear that?"

Xie Wan Ning hummed softly. Lu Ziyan's expression eased a little, and he said, "Don't make me angry again."

Xie Wan Ning remained silent, and continued to nod before his eyes darkened.

"Erxia..." When Lu Ziyan mentioned this name, his voice suddenly became hoarse. "I was wrong about Erxia, but I never thought she was interesting. You should not think Mingfeng is interesting either."

The corners of Xie Wan Ning's lips twitched, and she had a deeper understanding of this man's jealousy.

She thought for a moment and asked him, "Is Mingfeng married?"

Then, the man's face turned pale. "You are showing your curiosity about other men in front of me. What do you want to do, Wanwan?"

"I don't want to do anything, don't get me wrong," Xie Wan Ning sighed softly, and said meaningfully, "I'm not like you, eating grass beside the nest and taking your wife's maid as a concubine."

Hearing this, Lu Ziyan's livid face froze and looked even uglier.

In his dream, he saw with his own eyes the girl standing outside that door, and the affection in her eyes for him faded away bit by bit.

He gathered his arms, hugged the girl tighter, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Maybe her mentality had changed. He had apologized so many times before, and Xie Wan Ning was always calm. But this time, she was stunned when she heard it.

"I'm sorry for hurting your heart," Lu Ziyan said in a low voice, "We'll be fine in the future. I promise I won't look at other women. I only want you for the rest of my life."

The corners of Xie Wan Ning's lips twitched suddenly, and for a moment she felt that these love words were too scary.

She couldn't escape in this life, so why would she go through all these lives...

But she couldn't say that.

In fact, she didn't even dare to mention Pei Yuqing these days.

She also knew that when this person said "fine", he was assuming that Pei Yuqing had completely disappeared.

This is a dead end.

Perhaps only her departure can break the deadlock.

…………

The next day, when Xie Wan Ning went out again, Ming Feng was gone, and even Ming Jian was not there. Only a few guards followed him.

Another day passed like this, and Xie Wan Ning's plan had gradually been perfected. After counting the days, she decided that it was better to leave as soon as possible to avoid more trouble.

That afternoon, she returned home a little early and happened to meet Lu Ziyan who came to look for her after finishing his official business.

Seeing her come back, he first raised his eyes to look at the sky, then looked at her and smiled: "It's rare that you didn't stay outside until dark today."

As he said that, he grabbed her wrist and ran straight to the stable, "I'll take you somewhere."

Xie Wan Ning was pulled away by him and asked curiously, "Where are we going?"

"There is a natural hot spring in the back mountain. When you came a few days ago, I asked someone to build a pool. It's already been built."

It’s freezing cold now, so you have to hurry up when taking a bath, fearing that the water will become cold. But you don’t have to worry about this when taking a hot spring bath.

He carried her onto the horse, wrapped her tightly in his cloak, and galloped out of the house with the horse's hooves trampling the early winter snow.

The two men rode their horses through the long street, onto the mountain trails and the barren wilderness.

Finally, when it was getting dark, we stopped.

Xie Wan Ning was held in his arms all the way, feeling warm all over and not feeling cold at all. After getting off the horse, she stamped her feet.

In front of me is a slightly simple hot spring pool, with no jade steps and no inlaid pearls, but it is warm like spring and surrounded by fairy mist. There are only a few bluestone bricks piled around it, and it is even open to the sky, with no traces of human intervention at all.

Xie Wan Ning felt it was very fresh and trotted towards the hot spring where hot mist was rising.

She looked around and asked the people behind her, "No one is coming, right?"

"The area within a ten-mile radius is my private territory," Lu Ziyan said, "without my permission, no one can enter."

He pointed to the tent that had been set up not far away and said with a smile, "How about we sleep here tonight?"

As he spoke, he reached out and untied her cloak.

At this moment, Xie Wan Ning hadn't realized his intention until he put his hand to her waist and took off her coat in a few seconds. Then she took two steps back in shock, protecting her chest with her hands, "What do you want to do!"

"Why are you like this, Wanwan?" Lu Ziyan tilted his head and smiled at her, saying slowly, "What else can I do to you?"

His smile was very beautiful, as if it was harmless, but Xie Wan Ning understood what he meant, and her face immediately turned red. She shouted, "No! This is not the place to mess around!"