The Attack of the Wastrel

Yuan Zheng forced himself to say what he had witnessed earlier, without biasness.

Since he was standing quite a distance away from Ding Rou’s guards, he could not hear the conversation between the two. However, he saw clearly how Ding Rou almost fell when she had grabbed onto Gu Lingzhi’s hand and Gu Lingzhi had brushed her off. This, he was able to narrate in detail. He was also able to regurgitate the conversation they had thereafter, especially the sentence in which Ding Rou had spoken louder for him to hear.

Rong Yuan remained standing where he was, without any change in his facial expression, but his heart was hurting. Seeing the person he wanted to protect being bullied by others caused him to develop an urge to just carry her home and shield her from everything that everyone was saying. However, upon considering the information he had gotten earlier, he forced himself to be determined. Looking at Gu Lingzhi, he asked doubtfully, “ Lingzhi, is what Yuan Zheng saying true?”

“Yes.” Gu Lingzhi did not think that there was anything to hide. “I merely brushed her hand off. As for how she fell, I am not sure.”

“Are you saying that I pretended to fall?” Ding Rou looked at her incredulously, “Do I look like I’m tired of living? Why would I hurt myself on purpose?”

She then burst out into a coughing fit, causing Rong Yuan to pat her back lightly. He then looked at Gu Lingzhi unhappily, “Ding Rou is not that kind of person. Lingzhi, you are too careless.”

“Rong Yuan, don’t go overboard!” Without waiting for Gu Lingzhi to respond, Yan Liang glared at Rong Yuan, “You are actually blaming her based on what other people are saying? Are you stupid?”

It was rare that Yan Liang would actually say such bold words. Gu Lingzhi really wanted to burst out laughing.

Rong Yuan’s face darkened, “Who do you think you are talking to?”

That sudden burst of anger threw Yan Liang off. He then growled angrily, “If Ding Rou is not that kind of person, are you accusing Gu Lingzhi of being scheming? Don’t forget who is actually your fiancée!”

“I don’t need you to remind me.” Rong Yuan said plainly, “It is precisely because Lingzhi is my fiancée that I am reminding her to be careful.”

“That’s enough, stop quarrelling,” Ding Rou stopped coughing and leaned on Rong Yuan. Her face was pale and she looked extremely weak, “It’s entirely my fault. I was not careful and fell. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Rong Yuan, I think my injury has reopened, please send me back to rest.”

“Okay,” Rong Yuan replied as he carefully brought her back towards her dorm.

Tianfeng Jin moved and was about to hold them back when Gu Lingzhi stopped her.

“Let him go. Those that are meant to go will eventually leave and you can never chase away those that are meant to stay.”

Gu Lingzhi then turned and left. She did not notice that Rong Yuan, who was holding Ding Rou had stopped in his tracks and turned around. He was gritting his teeth so hard his teeth were about to fall out.

This silly woman!

He felt that ever since Gu Lingzhi had been with him, she would always worry about the consequences of his actions. He had initially thought that he could use this chance to force her to take more initiative and be more sure of their relationship. Who knew that she would end up saying something like this?

Did it mean that she was ready to give up on him?

The minute this thought flashed through his mind, Rong Yuan started to suspect that his mother had done this on purpose when she told him about this plan. She must have been angry with him for causing her to feel happy for no reason and thought of this plan to make him suffer.

“If your heart is aching for her, you should go to her. I’ll be fine on my own.” Seeming to sense the change in Rong Yuan’s emotions, Ding Rou pretended to be magnanimous. Her smile was so big and wide that it would make anyone believe that she was genuine.

“There is no need. It is just a small issue and she is already acting up. It is time for her to reflect.” Along with his leftover resentment, his act of unhappiness was even better than Ding Rou’s act. This caused the happiness in Ding Rou’s eyes to flash as she gripped his hand even tighter.

Nightfall.

Just like the previous few times, under Yuan Zheng’s cover, he sneaked out of the Dayin Kingdom’s dorms and went to the small loft that he and Gu Lingzhi stayed at. Unfortunately, he bumped into someone he did not want to see.

“Xin Yi?” Rong Yuan raised his brows as he already guessed what Xin Yi wanted. Before Xin Yi said anything, Rong Yuan rushed to say, “All’s good, I was about to find you if you did not come to find me.”

“Find me?” Xin Yi froze as he looked at him tauntingly, “If you want me to put in some good words for you in front of Lingzhi, you can forget about it. I am…not close to her.”

When he said those last few words, frustration filled his eyes. After knowing the relationship between Gu Lingzhi and his family, he had wanted to find an opportunity to get to know her better. Who knew that Rong Yuan would appear out of thin air and prevent everyone from getting close to her? In addition, he was at the critical juncture to breakthrough to become a Martial Practitioner at that time and hence, had to push back the task of getting to know Gu Lingzhi.

When he had advanced to a Martial Practitioner, he tried once again to get to know Gu Lingzhi but was met with the shocking news that she was living together with Rong Yuan. It was now more difficult to get to know her. This issue had procrastinated until the Inter-school Competition.

Thankfully, it was not too late and he could still help Gu Lingzhi get rid of the Third Prince’s grasp.

“There is no need for that. I don’t need anyone to help me with matters regarding my relationship with her. I am looking for you regarding another matter.” Looking into Xin Yi’s eyes, Rong Yuan slowly stated what he wanted.

After hearing what Rong Yuan wanted from him, Xin Yi’s eyelids twitched.

“…So the reason why you have been keeping Lingzhi away is to trigger her and… put on a show for others?”

“Yes,” Rong Yuan nodded in a rare show of embarrassment.

Not only did he not achieve the results he wanted, he had caused a completely different outcome. To an outsider, it certainly required a lot of courage to do something like this.

Xin Yi looked at him as if he was looking at an idiot.

“Don’t you know that Lingzhi is someone who is very guarded? In the first ten years of her life, she has always lived under the shadow of others and had been neglected by her own family. This has caused her to become very insecure. With what you just did, are you trying to force her to never believe in relationships?”

Rong Yuan was rendered speechless. He did not want to admit that he did not understand Gu Lingzhi as well as Xin Yi did. Maybe even Gu Lingzhi herself does not understand herself as much as he did. This made Rong Yuan start to blame himself endlessly.

In the end, he has been too impatient!

Since Gu Lingzhi had already shown that she was interested in him, he should have waited patiently instead of trying all sorts of tricks to force her to like him quickly.

After taunting Rong Yuan for a while more, Xin Yi observed that Rong Yuan was accepting his taunts with a good attitude and left thereafter. Rong Yuan, who was left behind, was conflicted as he stared at Gu Lingzhi’s window. He then stepped lightly and jumped onto her window, trying his luck.

Creak!

A small creaking sound could be heard as Rong Yuan jumped into the room through the window.

As per normal, he silently headed to Gu Lingzhi’s bedside. After observing her sleep for a long while, he then extended one hand onto her shoulder.

The second his hand landed onto her shoulder, Gu Lingzhi’s eyes shot open and looked at him calmly. She did not look at all like she had been asleep.

“Lingzhi? You haven’t slept?” Rong Yuan was stunned at the sudden turn of events. Staring into Gu Lingzhi’s clear eyes, he completely forgot what he wanted to say. He suddenly felt a sense of guilt as if he had been caught in bed with another woman.

Gu Lingzhi slowly rose and said, “If I was really asleep, were you just going to leave as you always do?”

She knew? Rong Yuan was surprised. He collected himself and thought that Wei Hanzi must have told her about him coming every night.

As he thought of this, Wei Hanzi’s voice came from outside Gu Lingzhi’s door, “…I- I could not disobey the Mistress’s orders.”

“…” He should have ordered that if he and Gu Lingzhi both gave orders, Wei Hanzi had to listen to his first!

“Don’t blame Hanzi, I forced her to tell me.” Gu Lingzhi’s voice was calm but to Rong Yuan, it sounded like she was threatening him. If he dared to blame Wei Hanzi, then he could forget about ever coming into Gu Lingzhi’s room.

Rong Yuan’s intuition was right about what Gu Lingzhi had been troubled about. As she thought of how she had been suspicious and full of remorse due to Rong Yuan these past few days, she felt the urge to beat him up.

“It’s very late. Your Highness, please go back. We wouldn’t want the Princess to feel upset when she wakes up in the middle of the night and you’re not there.”

However, Rong Yuan being Rong Yuan, managed to compose himself after his initial surprise. A fawning smile appeared on his face as he pulled Gu Lingzhi into his embrace.

“This is my house and if I were to return anywhere, it would be here. Lingzhi, why are you chasing me away?”

Caught by surprise, Gu Lingzhi tried to pull out of his embrace but failed. She then said coldly, “Oh really? I thought that your house was somewhere else.”

Knowing that Gu Lingzhi was trying to settle scores, Rong Yuan started to explain himself first, “Lingzhi, don’t be angry, I had no choice but to do this. If I did not hide this from you and other people are able to see through my act then my efforts will be wasted.”

“Oh? I guess I am not very capable in your eyes. I certainly cannot be compared to Ding Rou, the valiant and elegant Princess of the Dayin Kingdom.”

Thinking back on what she had witnessed today, Gu Lingzhi’s heart felt constricted and she could not breathe. If not for Rong Yuan’s performance seeming too perfect, causing her to realise something was off, she would also not have said such dejected words and rushed back to the dorm to question Wei Hanzi.

She finally got the truth from Wei Hanzi and confirmed that she had guessed correctly. Rong Yuan… must have some unspeakable reason for him to treat her in this manner.

Although she understood why he acted that way, forgiving him was another matter altogether. Hence, after her bath, Gu Lingzhi acted as per usual and pretended to sleep, waiting patiently for the person that had visited her every night.