Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 248 No Fate

Tonight, the moonlight, like water, gently spills over the earth, shrouding everything in a thin veil. This atmosphere is especially suitable for opening one's heart and pouring out one's heart.

However, Lu Jing knew very well that Su Qingwan's words implied a desire to send him away from Huainan. Although he had expected it, he still felt a pang of discomfort when faced with this situation.

"Xiao Wu, back in the Southwest, I made a promise to marry you, and that promise has never changed." Lu Jing's voice was deep and firm, carrying far in the quiet night.

"Is it because of the life-saving grace?" Su Qingwan raised an eyebrow slightly, her gaze carrying a hint of inquiry. "I didn't expect you to be so... honest!"

"I'm not the kind of person who would easily give myself to someone just because they saved my life." Lu Jing shook his head, his eyes full of seriousness.

"That's even more puzzling. You were blind back then, so you couldn't see my face or figure out my personality, yet you insisted on marrying me. That's really strange!" A hint of doubt flashed in Su Qingwan's eyes, and her tone was filled with curiosity.

“Some people, even after knowing each other for many years, remain as strangers as if they were meeting for the first time; while others, upon first meeting, seem to have been companions for a lifetime. That kind of affection is hard to describe in words.” Lu Jing spoke slowly, this being the first time he had spoken so deeply with Su Qingwan about that past. “Though my eyes are blind, my heart is bright. I know who the person in front of me is, I can hear the voice in my heart, and I understand what I truly want. Xiao Wu, I want to walk hand in hand with you until we grow old together.”

He stood on the bridge, bathed in moonlight, with the lights on both banks shining brightly, as if cheering on and adding color to his heartfelt vow.

As Su Qingwan listened, a slight bittersweet feeling welled up in her heart, mixed with a quiet surge of emotion. "A woman like me, whose heart and eyes are only on Huainan, and whose only goal is to revitalize Huainan, is really not worthy of your affection." She lowered her eyes slightly, her voice tinged with melancholy.

"Whether it's worth it or not is for me to decide!" Lu Jing frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on Su Qingwan's cool and aloof eyes. "Furthermore, I never weigh so-called values. Once I've made up my mind, I won't change it!"

Listening to the murmuring water, Su Qingwan's heart, which had been pounding with fervor because of Lu Jing's vow, gradually cooled down. "Lu Jing, power is what you've pursued all your life. If you truly loved me, you should have waited for me peacefully at the villa after you returned from your mission. There was an emergency at the manor, and I was simply unable to attend to you, but I was worried about your blindness, so I sent someone to look for you, but you were no longer at the estate. At that time, I assumed you had left on your own after recovering from your illness. Later, I made a special trip back to that estate, but you were still nowhere to be found. If you truly wanted to be with me forever, even leaving a letter would have allowed us to reunite long ago."

"But afterwards, you returned to the capital and rose rapidly through the ranks of officialdom, becoming the emperor's trusted minister. You were promoted three ranks in quick succession, wielding immense power. Power was the most attractive goal for you. You won the late emperor's absolute trust and were willing to become his weapon. The late emperor had suspected the eldest princess, but he never harbored any suspicion towards you. The tacit understanding between you and your subject was truly a beautiful story. You already knew that the emperor's health was deteriorating and that the royal family had few heirs, so you frequently traveled between the southwest and the capital, gathering information and planting spies to pave the way for the late emperor and Fen'er's future. At that time, you already knew that I was the Grand Princess of the Southwest, but in your heart, loyalty to the emperor was the top priority. The Southwest King's entry into the capital was also the result of your and the emperor's careful planning, and even that palace coup... you actually knew about it all along. You gradually pushed the southwest into a desperate situation, forcing it to cooperate with you and your subject with no choice. If you truly cherished me and genuinely liked me, you should have been honest with me long ago and told me everything."

Su Qingwan took a deep breath, a faint smile appearing on her face, a smile tinged with complexity. "I've never blamed you; it's all only human nature. I'm just a woman, how could I compare to your soaring career? After the late Emperor fell seriously ill, although you protected me, you never hid anything from him. The late Emperor was meticulous; he knew your loyalty and understood that we would check and balance each other, so he wanted to use me to restrain the Southwest. Therefore, when he entrusted Fen'er to me, in reality, the person he trusted most was still you. And you haven't disappointed him, clearing many obstacles for him and Fen'er, even successfully quelling the hidden dangers in the Southwest. Lu Jing, when you left me in the palace, did you ever imagine I would be killed by Consort Lu?"

Lu Jing was about to speak in his defense when Su Qingwan raised her hand, her gaze calm and almost indifferent. "I'm not trying to dredge up the past, nor have I ever resented you. Put yourself in my shoes; if I were in your position, I might have made the same choice. Back then, you were overwhelmed with affairs and couldn't spare the time for me. So, power was your lifelong pursuit. Before you had power, neither I nor your family held much weight in your heart; we could be discarded at any moment. Now you've chased me to Huainan, confessing your feelings and saying you want to spend your life with me—it's only because you now hold power that you want to pursue love again. If the late emperor were still alive, and you were still firmly controlled by him, power would undoubtedly remain your sole pursuit; how could I possibly be considered?" In short, now that you have power, you want the company of a beautiful woman.

"Xiao Wu, have you always been this calm and rational?" Lu Jing looked at her, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

“If I hadn’t remained calm, I probably would have been dead long ago when my clan was exterminated in Huainan; if I hadn’t remained calm, after witnessing my sister’s tragic death, I would have directly sent Chen Feng to assassinate Lu Feng and Li Xueying, instead of going through all the trouble of impersonating my sister to enter the Lu family. If I want revenge, I need to use my sister’s identity to act in the capital, so as to avoid arousing suspicion.” Su Qingwan said slowly with a firm gaze, “Only by remaining calm can a person burdened with a blood feud preserve their life.”

"So, you don't believe in my feelings, is that it?" Lu Jing's voice sounded somewhat sad. "I made the wrong choice back then. Should I have been completely honest with you from the beginning and always put you first?"

“I never thought that way. Everyone has something most important in their heart, and what’s most important to me isn’t you. It’s Huainan, it’s my sister, it’s Nianqing. How could I expect you to always put me first?” Su Qingwan said slowly. “Lu Jing, I just want to say that you don’t love me that much. It doesn’t matter who you marry. You became the Regent because you risked your life. You shouldn’t have given up, and I also hope that you will always be the Regent. We just weren’t meant to be.”