Chapter 80: Grievance

Su Qingwan’s long eyelashes trembled slightly, his fascinated gaze staring blankly at the place his hand was touching, with obvious loneliness and loss in his ink-black eyes.

As Xiao Yuan had said, there were indeed quite a few women around him who were fond of him, and he was confident enough in his own looks and figure.

But now… as he had worried before, he knew that elder sister Yuner was different from other women, with her own unique ideas.

Elder sister Yuner did indeed like him, but when facing him, she always maintained a bit of rationality.

He understood that they couldn’t go all the way before getting married, but apart from simple kisses and hugs, there was no intimate skin contact.

Her hands were always well-behaved and honest. Even if he undressed and acted coquettishly in front of her, elder sister Yuner would never reach inside his clothes, but instead carefully help him tidy up his clothes.

Xie Nanxi had told him before that all women in the world are the same, except for those who have seen through worldly affairs and cut off emotions and love to become nuns. Even women who look serious on the outside, once they get a taste of the sweetness of male-female love, they become a different person in bed, their whole body full of restless desire, like a hungry tiger pouncing on food.

Desire is human nature, passion is human instinct.

When being intimate and sweet with elder sister Yuner, her tender and gentle eyes were always so clear and transparent. He couldn’t help wanting to “touch” her several times, but each time was stopped by her in the name of propriety between men and women.

Before, when they hadn’t yet understood each other’s feelings, keeping distance was normal. But now that they were lovers, there wasn’t much difference from before.

Such self-control might be fine when facing other men outside, but he was clearly elder sister Yuner’s beloved.

Facing a loved one, both being young men and women at the passionate age, yet she seemed to have little interest in him and rarely took the initiative to be intimate with him.

It was still the same as before – elder sister Yuner was moved by him, but had not completely fallen for him.

Everything was uncertain in the future. Since ancient times, it has been normal for women to have three husbands and four attendants. If elder sister Yuner wanted to take male concubines in the future, he would not be able to stop her. At least now he needed to firmly grasp elder sister Yuner’s heart. It seemed he still needed to consult Xie Nanxi.

Qin Mansion.

Qin Jin sat heavily on the soft couch, her eyes tightly closed, speaking coldly: “As soon as the person returned, they went to Yun Qinwang’s mansion?”

“Yes.” A woman in black was frowning, her panicked expression tinged with a hint of cautious unease in the face of the failed mission.

Qin Jin slowly opened her eyes, revealing a vicious glint. Her lips curled slightly, exuding an arrogant flavor. The whole person looked particularly brutal and feminine. She casually swept the teacup on the table, smashing it violently on the black-clothed woman, “Useless!!! You actually let her return to the capital!”

Xia Yu’s face looked somewhat unpleasant. She lowered her head motionlessly, gritting her teeth and enduring the pain of the teacup smashing heavily, explaining: “This subordinate was originally going to make a move, but unfortunately they had someone secretly accompanying them. Lu Yuner and the young master Su were always together, and you had previously ordered not to harm the young master Su, so this subordinate had no way…”

Xia Yu said this far, feeling a piercing chill coming at her face, not daring to continue speaking.

Her life was given by Qin Jin, so for everything Qin Jin ordered, she spared no effort to do it for Qin Jin, working for her for ten years to repay the favor.

These years under Qin Jin’s command, she had done many things for her. Her hands were already stained with blood. She knew better what kind of person Qin Jin was, with only the word “benefit” in her heart.

In her eyes, Qin Jin was just an employer. She only had one master to this day.

Qin Jin was middle-aged. Although she held the position of Minister of Rites, she was clearly unworthy of the position. But this rear courtyard had a crowd of male concubines. This person was quite heartless even to her closest relatives, only having a strange obsession and indescribable feelings for this young master Su.

These years, Qin Jin had secretly observed the young master Su’s whereabouts, but was frustrated by Yun Qinwang’s people protecting him, unable to get close even half a step.

Last time when the young master Su and Lu Yuner fell into the Liusu River, learning it was the young miss who deliberately sent people to do it, she disregarded the mother-daughter relationship and personally slapped the young miss hard, locking her up for three days and nights without food or water.

And this time because of the account book matter, it was unexpected that the young master Su was with Lu Yuner. After the deed was done, Qin Jin actually went back on her word, moving to kill the assassin, seemingly to silence them, but only she knew it actually had other purposes.

Qin Jin raised her eyes and glanced at her coldly, her eyes cold and murderous. The next second her eyes narrowed slightly, “I thought even if Lu Yuner didn’t die from the poison, she would become a useless person. It was meant to teach her a lesson for meddling. I didn’t expect Yun Qinwang to intervene.”

“Lu Yuner and the young master Su stayed at Changyun Mountain for so long, and as soon as they returned to the capital they went to Yun Qinwang’s mansion. Obviously her relationship with Yun Qinwang’s mansion is unusual. Tell people not to move against her for now.”

“The account book matter has been cleaned up. If she still has evil intentions and continues to investigate the account book matter, you must find a way to get rid of her!”

Qin Jin’s lips curled into an evil smile, her eyes flashing with bottomless darkness, “Regarding the young master Su, continue with the original plan and keep watching him for me.”

Xia Yu obeyed the order, her lowered eyes flashing with something unclear, replying: “Yes.”

In the next few days after Lu Yuner returned to the capital, she got engaged to the young master Su. This news soon spread throughout the capital. Some were happy, some were sad, and everyone had different opinions about it, but fortunately Lu Yuner didn’t care about outsiders’ views.

Because of the account book incident, there were changes in the personnel appointments at the Imperial Academy. Han Ranzhi succeeded to the position of Chancellor, while the position of Vice Chancellor was assigned by the Ministry of Personnel to Guan Li. Lu Yuner was also transferred from teaching at the men’s college to teaching at the women’s college in the Chengxin Hall, and Wan Ling also came to teach at the martial arts hall. Everything at the Imperial Academy returned to normal.

Today after finishing class in Chengxin Hall, while the others had all left, Lu Yuner was still in the classroom discussing and exchanging ideas with several studious female students, two of whom were female students she had met twice before, Lin Ruoyi and Guo Langzi.

Su Qingwan did not leave the Imperial Academy after class, but stood quietly outside the women’s college, naturally attracting the attention of many female students coming and going. However, due to the young master Su’s status, they could only watch secretly.

Su Qingwan had regained his previous nobility, with his usual cold aloofness towards strangers. He was oblivious to his surroundings, his heart and mind focused solely on seeing elder sister Yuner soon.

At this time, Wan Ling, who had just come out of the martial arts hall, casually glanced around and unexpectedly saw a familiar figure not far away. Her eyelashes trembled, and following his gaze towards the women’s college, her expression suddenly changed. She immediately strode towards him and softly said, “Qingwan, don’t keep waiting. She may have already left. It’s getting late, and the students of the Imperial Academy have all gone home. Let me take you back to the mansion.”

Su Qingwan turned his gaze to the newcomer, smiling, “Elder sister Ling, there’s no need. I’ve been waiting here the whole time and haven’t seen elder sister Yuner leave. Perhaps she was delayed by something. You go ahead! Don’t worry about me.”

Wan Ling frowned, saying displeased, “Qingwan, if she really cared about you, she wouldn’t let you wait so long…”

“Elder sister Yuner actually doesn’t know about this at all.” Su Qingwan interrupted her, explaining, “It’s my own willingness to wait for her here.”

“Qingwan, actually I…” A trace of sadness flashed through Wan Ling’s eyes, about to express her feelings for him.

Sensing what Wan Ling was about to say, Su Qingwan’s smile faded as he spoke seriously, “Elder sister Ling, I only have elder sister Yuner in my heart, and you… I’ve always seen you as a real elder sister.”

Having grown up with elder sister Ling, he had never noticed before that she had other feelings for him. It was only recently that he learned elder sister Ling liked him.

But he had always treated her as family, and moreover, he already had someone he liked. He didn’t want elder sister Yuner to have any misunderstandings about him.

“Then I’ll go first.” After hearing this, Wan Ling’s expression froze for a moment, her lowered eyes concealing any emotion.

Su Qingwan watched Wan Ling leave with a pained gaze. Because he had experienced the taste of being rejected by someone he liked, let alone elder sister Ling who had particularly doted on him since childhood and always indulged him. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he already had someone he liked.

“A-wan.” By now the Imperial Academy was empty, and Lu Yuner came out of the women’s college to see Su Qingwan at a glance, slowly walking up to him, thoughtfully gazing at the departing figure in the distance.

“Elder sister Yuner, you’re finally out!” Su Qingwan’s eyes instantly lit up with a smile.

“Mm, but… have you been waiting here for me the whole time?” Lu Yuner’s expression tightened slightly as she asked in a flat tone, “Has A-wan forgotten what I told you again?”

“I…” The joy that had been radiating from Su Qingwan instantly dimmed, looking at her at a loss.

“Alright, we’ll talk when we get back. Come with me first.” Because the bedding in the small courtyard had not been used for a long time, if they were to stay at the Imperial Academy in the future, it would need to be washed anew. Lu Yuner took Su Qingwan back to her own small courtyard.

Lu Yuner said, “Wait for me over there first, I’ll go change the bedding.”

On the way, Su Qingwan thought about recent days, feeling unsettled.

Before, he hadn’t forgotten and had always been well-behaved at the Imperial Academy. But now that they were engaged, what was wrong with waiting for his fiancée?

Moreover, in recent days, elder sister Yuner had transferred to the women’s college, and with her busy coursework, opportunities to see her had become very few. It was bad enough that she didn’t take the initiative to find him, but she also wouldn’t allow him to come find her.

The more Su Qingwan thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. His lips pouted and tears began to fall uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Lu Yuner who was about to turn around stopped in her tracks. The young man’s moist eyes were misty, looking pitiful and very aggrieved. Lu Yuner pulled him to sit on the bed, using her slender fingers with prominent knuckles to gently caress his face, preparing to wipe away his tears, “What’s wrong?”

Su Qingwan let out a light huff in a fit of pique, turning his face away petulantly.