She was speaking the truth; these past few days, she has indeed been restless and inexplicably uncomfortable.
But to Lu Ziyuan, it sounded like she was giving him the cold shoulder because of the Pei family.
She wouldn’t even let him kiss her.
His heart instantly felt so sour that he couldn’t bear it; he wanted to kiss her without a care.
He had to make her know whose woman she was.
However, seeing her slightly furrowed brows and the undisguised irritation in her eyes, the urge to forcibly kiss her dissipated half away.
Reaching out to caress her reddened eyelids, Lu Ziyuan’s tone softened further.
"I’ll have Zhao Rui leave Capital City tomorrow, give him a minor official post, send him away from the Capital. Can we stop this nonsense?"
As he spoke, he pressed his lips onto her eyelids, gently kissing them, and couldn’t help but add, "Pay less attention to that family, it doesn’t make me feel good."
He was striving to put the past behind him, to forget that this girl once gave herself, heart and all, to someone else.
So, ... don’t remind him again.
He was so close that the adult male’s warm breath completely enveloped her, hard to dismiss, undeniably overpowering.
Yet his tone was so aggrieved.
This contrast made Xie Wanqing feel a touch of guilt.
So, even though his closeness made her uncomfortable, she continued to endure it.
Until the kiss on her eyelids gradually slid down, landed on her nose, and wanted to continue downward, she could no longer stand it and pushed him away.
She bent over, covering her lips, "Ugh..."
Suddely being pushed away, Lu Ziyuan’s face darkened, but seeing her dry heaving continuously in a seemingly genuine manner, he was startled.
"What’s wrong?" He hurriedly ordered palace servants to summon the Imperial Physician and, speaking, raised his hand to pat her back.
But Xie Wanqing seemed to have eyes on her back, immediately waving her hand, "Don’t touch me, I really feel sick."
Lu Ziyuan: "..."
He said nothing more.
So when Xie Wanqing managed to calm the discomfort and raised her head, she saw a cup of warm tea pushed towards her, and his face was dark and expressionless.
She paused, first taking a sip of tea before speaking, "Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to reject you."
Lu Ziyuan fixed his eyes on her, indifferent, "Really?"
"..." Xie Wanqing had a vague suspicion in her mind, seeing his awkward expression, she became a bit angry too, "Forget it if you don’t believe me, think what you want."
"Xie Wanqing!" Lu Ziyuan suddenly stood up, unable to bear it any longer, and said angrily, "You don’t even pretend now, do you!"
He had agreed to deal with Zhao Rui directly, standing up for the Pei family.
How much he’d compromised!
How much humiliation he’d endured!
She refused closeness, was nauseous at his approach, and now so impatient!
Too much!
Facing those eyes full of complaints, Xie Wanqing was speechless.
She rested her chin on her hand, weakly said, "I’m really uncomfortable, stop giving me trouble."
Causing a fuss over nothing, isn’t it annoying.
But thinking about his direct action against Zhao Rui, the fact that he knew how to compromise, there was indeed progress.
Moreover, from his perspective, he might actually be feeling wronged; Xie Wanqing felt a headache coming on again.
"Stop being jealous; I have no concern for the Pei family. It’s just the Commandery Princess’ divorce causing such a stir that I’ve heard about it, who has the time to care about all that."
She patiently coaxed him, "As for Zhao Rui... you know he’s a scoundrel, not giving him attention is the right thing to do. What’s the grievance in that?"
Lu Ziyuan just looked at her without speaking.
"..." Xie Wanqing sighed, "Alright, alright, you’re feeling wronged, how about I apologize to you?"
Saying this, she took his hand and placed it on her belly, "A child to accompany you."