The snow fell heavier.
The first snowfall of winter in Beizhou.
Below the mountain, the sea and solitary islands were all crowned white.
At the mountain peak, the Lu Manor blended with the sky, a vast expanse of hazy white.
Before the main gate, Fu Jinglan stood draped in a black overcoat, watching the departing guests board their cars.
Then, he gestured to the guards behind him.
Everyone withdrew and retreated.
Mu Suizhou opened a black umbrella for Fu Jinglan.
“The marriage alliance between the two states is no small matter. Are you truly willing to accept the central government’s proposal?”
Beneath the black umbrella, Fu Jinglan gazed at the endless snow, drifting and swirling.
Reaching out to catch a flake, it instantly melted into a drop of water on his fingertip.
Against the backdrop of the snow curtain, Fu Jinglan withdrew his hand.
“A lifetime is long—through wind and rain, the daily grind of life. It’s easy for two people to share a bed, but to endure hardship together is far too difficult.”
“Those without love scatter after a single quarrel. It’s meaningless.”
Just like his father, Fu Chonghuai, surrounded by an endless parade of beauties.
In Fu Jinglan’s eyes, they all seemed to share the same face. He remembered none of them, not even his own mother.
Then, Mu Suizhou heard Fu Jinglan ask:
“Do you remember when we were kids, if we wanted a piece of meat, the backs of our hands would be whipped raw by the boss’s chopsticks?”
The fighting arena was like purgatory.
Before you proved yourself, you couldn’t even dream of a piece of meat.
The muscles in Mu Suizhou’s cheek twitched faintly.
Unforgettable, damn it.
Damn it!
“So Jinglan, we’ve come a long way to get here. The marriage alliance—whether it brings fortune or disaster remains unknown.”
Those standing at the pinnacle may appear imposing, but in reality, they are watched and schemed against by countless eyes.
Fu Jinglan’s back was ramrod straight.
He raised a hand and took out a matchbox from inside his overcoat.
The box was made entirely of white gold, adorned with sapphires on the outside—luxurious and elegant.
Then, a poplar wood match slid across the striker in the man’s long fingers, and a flame ignited instantly.
Fu Jinglan cupped his hands to light a slender cigarette, then deftly shook out the match flame.
He was a man who preferred using matches to light his cigarettes.
In those twenty seconds of slowed-down calm, he could think of many things.
“Let Jiang Qingyan stay at the manor for now. We must first understand the intentions of the central government and Nanzhou. My father’s opinion also needs to be heard and weighed.”
The people Fu Jinglan was willing to trust were few and far between.
Whoever caused him pain, no matter who they were, he would show no mercy.
Fu Jinglan tilted his head slightly, letting the smoke drift into the wind and snow. “I won’t discuss marriage within a year.”
Because there was now a soft and timid Shen Lingxi in the room.
Timid and prone to tears.
He couldn’t very well keep one in his bed while marrying another to share his pillow.
Just then, “Crunch, crunch…”
The sound of tires pressing through snow came from behind.
Both men turned around to see Aunt Hui rushing down from the manor’s internal car.
So frantic that her feet kept slipping on the snow.
“Governor, it’s not good. Miss Shen and Miss Jiang have gotten into a fight.”
Fu Jinglan’s expression was as cold as the snow, his tone icy.
He asked in a flat, declarative tone, “How bad is it?”
Aunt Hui had hurried to the villa only after hearing Jiang Qingyan’s loud cries and shouts.
It was Shen Lingxi who had come off worse. “Miss Jiang’s servant is quite formidable. She ran over halfway and dragged Miss Shen into the snow, forcing her to kneel and not allowing her to get up.”
After hearing this, Fu Jinglan showed little expression on his face.
“She’s quite obedient, then.”
“Let her kneel a while longer. Let’s see if she can withstand the wind and snow at the mountain peak.”
When it came to kneeling, if anyone was to kneel, it should be by his command.
What right did anyone else have?
He really felt like dragging Shen Lingxi out of the snow and discarding her.
It was irritating.
Indeed, women were difficult to handle.
No wonder Shen Lanting was so desperate to get rid of it, willing to kneel until his knees were raw just to dump it on him.
The more Fu Jinglan thought about it, the angrier he became. He crushed his cigarette and turned around, the hem of his overcoat sweeping up, catching a few snowflakes.
“Let’s go back.”
Mu Suizhou closed his umbrella and quickly followed Fu Jinglan into the car.
Hadn’t he just said to let Shen Lingxi kneel a while longer?
Yet, not even a minute later, they were heading back?
The car started at once, its wheels churning up the flying snow.
But Aunt Hui hadn’t gotten in yet, left alone and forgotten in the curtain of snow.
In the snowfield.
Shen Lingxi was covered in white on her shoulders.
She tilted her head back, letting goose-feather snowflakes scatter chaotically into her eyes.
Behind her ears came the sound of wheels, a door closing, then footsteps, growing closer and closer.
Shen Lingxi turned her head to look in the direction Fu Jinglan was approaching.
Amid the vast, rustling whiteness, the man stood tall and imposing, his cold, stern demeanor blending with the heavy snow, the hem of his black overcoat swaying in the wind.
Beside him was Mu Suizhou.
A man who appeared elegant on the surface but was fiercely determined and effortlessly cool at his core.
Unlike Fu Jinglan, who was cold from skin to bone.
Now, Fu Jinglan drew nearer.
Shen Lingxi could vaguely make out the outline of his face.
She parted her icy lips, full of grievance, “Governor, save Lingxi.”
Pangpang, Jiang Qingyan’s servant, possessed brute strength all over.
He had pinned Shen Lingxi to the snow like a nail.
Thus, this slender figure, swaying in the snow, fell into Fu Jinglan’s gaze.
In the wind and snow, the man narrowed his eyes slightly.
Shen Lingxi’s figure was delicate and frail, kneeling desolately in the snow, her face turned back, two trails of tears sliding down and hanging from her delicate chin.
Precarious and pitifully touching.
Fu Jinglan frowned, disdainful. “What a useless sight.”
It stirred an inexplicable anger within him.
Next time, he’d put her in a rear naked choke, grip her neck, and just fucking end it.
Shen Lingxi also fell into Mu Suizhou’s eyes.
Strange.
Shen Lingxi’s lips had been bleeding earlier, but now there wasn’t a single wound, completely intact.
She couldn’t possibly know some kind of sorcery.
So, whose blood was it?
The Secretary-General of Beizhou was no mere figurehead; he was brave and resourceful enough.
Thus, the blood was Fu Jinglan’s.
Mu Suizhou immediately turned to scrutinize Fu Jinglan.
A handsome, cold, sculpted face was fully visible—features sharp and three-dimensional, lines smooth, with no injuries anywhere.
“Is the blood on Miss Shen’s lips yours?” Mu Suizhou asked Fu Jinglan quietly. “Where are you hurt?”
Where was he hurt…
“Secretary-General Mu—”
Fu Jinglan hesitated, his long legs treading through the snow. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again:
“Mu Suizhou, you should get married.”
Mu Suizhou refused outright:
“No. I don’t want to have sex, no desire or time for it.”
For now, he was solely focused on helping Fu Jinglan build his empire, too busy to even touch the ground, his mind nowhere near such matters.
He had even prepared himself to die a virgin.
“Besides, what does me getting married have to do with you being injured?”
Mu Suizhou then reconsidered and understood.
“Governor Fu wants me to marry a doctor?”
“…” Fu Jinglan. “Suit yourself.”
Marry whoever you want.
As long as Mu Suizhou could keep up physically, even if he married ten doctors, Fu Jinglan wouldn’t interfere.
At most, he’d scold him a few times and fork out nine more wedding gifts.
At this point, the sound of footsteps in the snow stopped.
Fu Jinglan and Mu Suizhou now stood before Shen Lingxi.
“Governor.”
Shen Lingxi pleaded pitifully, “It’s so cold. I want a hug.”
Fu Jinglan looked down from above, like a towering, resilient snow pine.
A faint, cool fragrance emanated from him.
No one expected that he would slowly lower his posture, bending his knees to crouch down, almost at eye level with Shen Lingxi.
“No hugging.”
“First tell me, why are you kneeling?”