Liu Yueti didn’t even blink. She smiled and answered, “Of course not.”
Ling Buzhan leaned closer with a smile. “Really?”
“Couldn’t be more true.” Liu Yueti smiled back. “In the capital, someone like me, with no power or influence, is better off knowing less. The more you know, the easier it is to die. I understood that much even then.”
The two of them stared at each other with identical fake smiles.
Liu Yueti’s face was almost numb from smiling before Ling Buzhan finally took the letter.
Right in front of her, he opened it without bothering to hide what he was doing.
Liu Yueti didn’t hold back either. She picked up a rib and gnawed on it while watching his expression change.
As expected of the male lead. Even after seeing a letter containing such explosive information, he could still keep his expression under control.
Liu Yueti marveled at him for a moment, though her eating never slowed down.
Ling Buzhan’s face remained calm, but inside, his thoughts were in turmoil.
He had always known he wasn’t truly a member of the Ling family.
He had been intelligent from a young age. His adoptive parents would occasionally look at him with a hint of worry, as though seeing someone else through him. They had repeatedly warned him never to come to the capital, while his older brothers in the Ling family had always treated him strangely.
All of it was enough to tell him that he wasn’t really a member of the Ling family—and that he had originally come from the capital.
But he had always pretended not to know.
If they refused to tell him, they must have had their reasons.
His adoptive parents had treated him with immeasurable kindness, raising him as their own son. He regarded them as his true family as well.
But on the day of Ling Qingyun’s birthday celebration, the entire Ling family was slaughtered.
Only he survived.
Shortly before that, he had quarreled with his elder brother and left home in a fit of anger, refusing to return. He had asked his close friend, Xie Anshi, to deliver his birthday gift on his behalf.
As a result, he alone escaped the massacre.
And Xie Anshi had died in his place.
Everything had happened because of him.
Ling Buzhan slowly tightened his grip.
He had never understood why the Ling family had been targeted.
But after reading the letter Ling Qingyun had written to Princess Pingyang, he finally understood most of it.
Princess Pingyang was also the biological daughter of the current Empress Dowager, Shen Jingzhi. She was the younger emperor’s full sister.
But according to rumor, Empress Dowager Shen had once had another child.
The Third Prince, who had supposedly died before reaching one month of age.
Judging from the contents of this letter…
He was actually that supposedly dead Third Prince.
How had he left the capital and ended up thousands of miles away in Yunzhou?
And the person who slaughtered all thirty-four members of the Ling family…
Had they been after him?
Who was behind it?
The Regent, Shen Hanzhi?
The Empress Dowager?
Or perhaps…
The emperor himself?
As countless thoughts raced through his mind, Ling Buzhan suppressed his emotions and maintained his usual expression.
He had originally intended to use the letter to test Liu Yueti.
He hadn’t expected to uncover something this shocking instead.
Liu Yueti was still gnawing on her rib when she secretly studied his expression.
“You’re not eating?”
Ling Buzhan came back to himself and smiled.
“Of course I am.”
He took a bite of his food, though he could barely taste it.
Lowering his eyes, Ling Buzhan lightly tapped the letter with his fingers.
“Miss Liu, would you like to take a look at this letter?”
He watched her face closely.
A secret this important…
If she read it, there was no way she would show absolutely no reaction.
Liu Yueti shook her head.
“I haven’t lived long enough yet.”
Ling Buzhan chuckled.
“Then what were you doing in that secret chamber that day?”
“I didn’t know there was a secret chamber.”
Liu Yueti looked completely innocent.
“I just thought the arrangement of those stone tablets was interesting. I pressed them in order a couple of times, and then I fell straight inside!”
“Is being too clever my fault?”
Ling Buzhan stared at her with a half-smile.
“Then why didn’t Miss Liu ask why I was inside?”
“Nope, not asking.”
Liu Yueti shook her head repeatedly.
“Why would I?”
“I’m not getting paid for this. Why should I stick my nose into other people’s business?”
“Then…”
Ling Buzhan glanced at the dishes on the table.
“Did you really come here today just for the food at Mingyue Tower?”
He clearly didn’t believe her.
“Ahem.”
Only then did Liu Yueti put down her chopsticks. She looked slightly embarrassed.
“Well, I did have another reason.”
She knew that after reading the letter, Ling Buzhan would inevitably be on high alert.
If she truly had no ulterior motive whatsoever, that would actually make her seem even more suspicious.
Ling Buzhan smiled.
“Then, Miss Liu, please tell me.”
Liu Yueti cleared her throat and leaned slightly toward him.
“Master Xie…”
“You…”
“Do you need a wife?”
Ling Buzhan: “…”
“Hmm?”
He blinked.
The abrupt change of subject had completely caught him off guard.
Liu Yueti pointed at herself and suggestively raised an eyebrow.
Ling Buzhan couldn’t help laughing.
“Miss Liu.”
“If you want to propose marriage, shouldn’t you at least hire a matchmaker?”
“Why waste money on that?”
Liu Yueti looked at him expectantly.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I just asked you myself?”
Ling Buzhan: “…”
“Miss Liu, marriage is a major matter. It requires the permission of one’s parents and the involvement of a matchmaker…”
“That’s for prestigious families.”
Liu Yueti waved a hand dismissively.
“My family doesn’t have so many rules.”
“If we get married, you could even teach my father how to study!”
“Maybe he could make it one step further in this life and pass the provincial examination…”
Ling Buzhan couldn’t help laughing.
“You!”
“You really are…”
“Don’t laugh.”
Liu Yueti leaned closer and looked him over.
“Just look at me. I’m pretty decent-looking!”
“And think about it. You have so many secrets, and although your official rank isn’t high, the things you deal with could get you killed.”
“If you marry the daughter of some prestigious family, you’d also have to worry about her family’s connections in court.”
“But I’m different.”
She looked rather proud of herself.
“My father still has a very long road of imperial examinations ahead of him before he has anything to do with the court.”
“Fair point.”
Ling Buzhan nodded slightly, a smile playing on his lips.
“But I have no intention of marrying.”
Liu Yueti still tried to negotiate, gazing at him hopefully.
“Not even a little?”
Ling Buzhan: “…”
He had no interest in romance at present. Besides, although Liu Yueti didn’t seem malicious, she was still highly suspicious.
He hadn’t completely lowered his guard around her.
And yet, even so, seeing her like this inexplicably made him…
pleasant to look at.
A beautiful woman was simply a beautiful woman.
He merely happened to have eyes.
Ling Buzhan convinced himself of this.
He leaned closer as well and answered firmly.
“Not even a little.”
Liu Yueti seemed to deflate. She turned away with a sigh and picked up her chopsticks again.
Ling Buzhan raised an eyebrow.
“That’s it?”
“I’ll think of something else.”
Liu Yueti stuffed food into her mouth, her cheeks puffed up as she casually asked,
“What if I threaten you? If you refuse to marry me, I’ll go tell Princess Pingyang everything. Would that work?”
Ling Buzhan smiled at her.
“What do you think, Miss Liu?”
Liu Yueti narrowed her eyes.
“Never mind.”
“I feel like I’d be dead before I even reached Princess Pingyang’s residence.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Ling Buzhan smiled pleasantly.
“I’m an official of the imperial court, not some vicious bandit. Why would I kill someone for no reason?”
Then he lowered his voice and added ominously,
“But the princess definitely would.”
“She doesn’t want you to marry me, and she certainly won’t tolerate anyone using her as a weapon.”
Liu Yueti shuddered.
Then, unable to resist her curiosity, she asked,
“Then would you become the princess’s consort?”
Ling Buzhan was speechless.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
He had wondered about it himself before. After all, Princess Pingyang did treat him differently from everyone else.
But after reading that letter, he understood.
The princess probably saw the shadow of someone from her past in him.
Perhaps there was some inexplicable connection through their bloodline…
Wait.
When he had been sent away, he had only been a swaddled infant.
Surely the princess wouldn’t recognize him now?
Ling Buzhan’s expression became strange.
Then why had she treated him with such care?
Could it really be…
Liu Yueti watched his expression and immediately realized that she’d successfully sent his thoughts in the wrong direction.
She seized the opportunity and leaned closer to sell herself again.
“If you don’t want Princess Pingyang forcing you into a marriage, why not consider me?”
Ling Buzhan didn’t hesitate.
“No.”
Liu Yueti: “Tch.”