It’s unclear whether he was deliberately probing or just casually mentioned it.
In any case, the marriage ultimately wasn’t settled.
The palace banquet ended uneventfully, but the atmosphere between the two remained somewhat silent.
Like a couple who met halfway through life, there are always some sensitive areas that can’t be touched lightly.
Xie Wanqing didn’t want to remain in a deadlock; she genuinely wanted to live well with this man and walk the rest of her life hand in hand.
But many things had already happened, and she was powerless to change anything.
What’s done is done. If he continues to hold a grudge, she doesn’t know what to do.
On the way back to Guanju Palace, it was nearly midnight, and the sky suddenly started to snow.
This was the first snow of the new year.
Xie Wanqing reached her hand out of the carriage, snowflakes landing in her palm.
In their past life, neither of them saw this snowfall.
How great a fortune it is to have a chance to start over.
Thinking this, her heart involuntarily softened.
"It’ll be cold..." Her hand was held, their palms touching, as Lu Ziyuan softly said, "If you want to play in the snow, get up early tomorrow, and I’ll play with you."
He still thought of her as the little girl who got ecstatic at the sight of snow in her teens.
Xie Wanqing’s nose inexplicably turned sour, and she blinked quickly, "Let’s bring Ran’er too."
Reminded by her, Lu Ziyuan seemed to remember they had a son.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, gently agreeing.
"...Lu Ziyuan," Xie Wanqing held back her tears, burying her face in his neck, her voice muffled, "Let’s not fight, okay?"
Lu Ziyuan chuckled, "Why would you say that? Who would bear to quarrel with you?"
He lifted her chin, and even in the dim night, he could still see her reddened eyes.
"Don’t cry, Wanwan," Lu Ziyuan gently kissed her eyes, his tone soft, "Why are you getting so sensitive?"
Xie Wanqing also felt she was becoming a bit sensitive.
Especially after returning to the Capital, her emotions were sensitive, growing even more delicate.
She no longer seemed like a mother.
She sniffed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
Lu Ziyuan swallowed, raised his hand to encircle her waist, holding her seated on his lap, his hand gently bracing the back of her neck, slightly leaning his head back against the carriage wall, letting her kiss him.
Until the carriage stopped, this tender and affectionate kiss was forced to an end.
Lu Ziyuan slightly narrowed his eyes, deeply looking at the girl who took the initiative, and after a long pause, a hint of a smile played at his lips: "The weather’s too cold; we can’t do this here."
"..." Xie Wanqing doubted her ears, her eyes slowly widening, "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Not daring to tease her further, Lu Ziyuan laughed and carried her off the carriage.
That night, he held her beneath him, abandoning his usual fervor, acting very gently.
In the ebb and flow, he leaned down to kiss her eyes slowly losing focus, coaxing her to call his name over and over.
From Lu Ziyuan at first, to finally calling him husband...
In the end, he gently tormented her, leaving her without temper, unconsciously clinging to him, sobbing and pleading.
"Brother Ziyan... hurry..."
Lu Ziyuan, with flushed eyes, promised.
......
Afterward, he held her in his arms, tidied her sweat-dampened hair, and softly spoke beside her ear, "I just feel a bit hurt, Wanwan. Look at me more, always look at me, and I’ll be fine."
The one thing he was concerned with, from beginning to end, was only one thing.
The girl he held dearly in his heart had shifted her affections to someone else.
He was too deeply wounded, needing her unreserved and complete love to heal.