Chapter 169: What Kind of Joke is this Marriage Proposal?
Huh?
Strange, too strange! The one who hugged her to sleep last night was clearly Shū’er. The face and clothes hadn’t changed, but why did he seemed to be a completely different person upon waking up? The look in his eyes and expression on his face clearly belonged to the Alliance Head Yu Kuang who had rescued her!
What’s going on? Had the two brothers switched in the middle of the night? Then hadn’t she… She quickly covered her chest with the covers and probed him with some panic, “Shū’er?”
Yu Kuang was already standing on the floor when he turned back and saw the small stain on blood on the bed. His expression finally changed, taking on a bit of a fluster. He adjusted his collar with his back facing her and asked, “Name?”
“Urk, Bai Xiangxiu.”
“Yu Kuang. Tell me where you live, I’ll send someone over with a marriage proposal.”
“A-ah? Wait a minute, what do you mean? No, that’s not right, why are you Yu Kuang? Where did Shū’er go?” Bai Xiangxiu had gotten off the bed and taken a few steps in pursuit before her brain caught up to her words. After all, all sorts of bizarre and motley things existed in the present day, including dual personalities like his! It was a common trope in TV shows as well as novels.
Still, the novel had never brought up such a thing. Even the character of Yu Kuang had only mentioned in passing at most, so why would it even talk about his other personality? And now, she’d fallen into the trap and even gotten herself a marriage proposal. Of course she couldn’t accept him, so she caught up to him and said, “Wait, Yu Kuang, I… I can’t marry you!” Why was he proposing marriage as soon as he woke up? What had urged him on?
He clearly looked like an ascetic, so why was he asking to marry her after sleeping overnight? That kind of proposal didn’t match his calm expression at all, all right?
Yu Kuang was currently washing and wiping his face. When he finished, he turned to look at Bai Xiangxiu with furrowed eyebrows. “I, Yu Kuang, am not someone who doesn’t take responsibility. Since we’ve already… Tomorrow, I’ll send over betrothal gifts. We’ll marry before the end of the year. There are some things I need to do next year.”
Well dang, isn’t he straightforward!
“I say, have you ever asked for my opinion?” Bai Xiangxiu placed her hands on her hips, angry enough to crease her brows and narrow her almond-shaped eyes. This was her first time playing the part of a shrew. Unfortunately, this didn’t have any effect on Yu Kuang, who replied, “Things have already come to this point. As for Yu Shū, if I hear you spreading a single word…”
His hands slowly dropped to the iron washbasin, and twisted. The iron washbasin flowed like putty beneath his hands as it was molded into a distorted mess.
The hell! This was a clear threat. How frightening! Bai Xiangxiu definitely cherished her life. She still wanted to make it home alive! She made the smart choice to shut up and watch Yu Kuang leave the room. There was a strong sense of helplessness pervading her being as she sat down wordlessly on one side. “How am I supposed to wash my face now?”
Despite this, her heart was still thinking of whether Long Heng was worried for her sake. Would he come look for her? Right now, she dearly wished to go back to the manor and Winter Garden, to be by his side.
At the very least, she wouldn’t lose her temper anymore, but seriously ask him what he was thinking. If he really wanted to marry the eldest Miss Lin and simply treat Bai Xiangxiu as a plaything, then she’d think of ways to go back to her world in modern times. But the problem right now was how to return to the capital!
When she walked to the bed, she saw the few drops of blood on the sheets. A man and a woman had shared a bed and pillow before leaving a few drops of blood on its surface. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like something had happened between them. What a tragedy. She pursed her lips. No wonder that Yu Kuang had misunderstood. It was because he’d seen the blood that had come from the cut on her finger. It looked like his two personalities didn’t share the same memories.
Was that why he’d tied and gagged himself up on the bed? But how did he know when Yu Shū would appear? Since the two of them didn’t share memories, he shouldn’t have any idea. Aside from Bai Xiangxiu’s conflicts, Yu Kuang had his own share of gloomy thoughts as well. He never thought that the simple-minded Yu Shū would do such things to another woman. Even if the woman had tried to seduce him on purpose, he still needed the intelligence to know what was going on. But somehow, he and she had ended up doing that together. Since that was the case, he had to acknowledge the deed. There was no choice but to wed this woman.
Beyond affairs of martial arts and the jianghu, he was indifferent to matters between a man and a woman. He had never purposely chased after anyone, either. When he first started out in the jianghu, there were a few lady heroes who’d been interested in him, but he was too absorbed in practicing martial arts to pay them any mind. By the time he thought of getting married, he discovered that there was no one left. Thus, he’d given up the idea. In any case, he was always busy from morning until night. How could he have the time to bother with anyone else?
Yet it was during this time that he saved this mysterious woman. Then Yu Shū had slept with her in the span of two to three days. He could even tell that the woman was unwilling, which meant he must have done something wrong. No matter what kind of mistakes he made, he’d only find out in a few nights. The events of one night typically took multiple dreams to piece together before he got the entire picture. Still, since he’d taken advantage of her, then he had to marry her.
He was an orphan who’d grown up in Whitecloud Mountain since his youth. Under his master’s tutelage, he dedicated his heart to the wulin. He had no family, nor did he know what it felt like to have a home. Still, he was a responsible man. Since the deed was already done, he should ask for her hand in marriage from her family!
Thus, he went to explain things to the people of Whitecloud Mountain before returning to find a despondent Bai Xiangxiu. She creased her brows and spoke as soon as he entered. “Can you release me so that I can go back to the capital?”
“We’ll set out tomorrow.” Yu Kuang simply told her his motive for coming in before turning to leave. Bai Xiangxiu was secretly happy in her heart. Even though he had used ‘we’ instead of her, she’d be glad as long as they could go to the capital. At least it’d be easy to explain everything once she found Long Heng and returned to the Prince Li Manor!
They really did set out on their journey the next day. She thought that Yu Shū would show up again when night fell. Strangely enough, even after Yu Kuang went to sleep in the middle of night in that little room, there was no additional movement from the room.
Why did she know?
Because she’d been sneakily standing outside the door to listen. Before long, a voice from inside said, “Rude, go back.”
“…..” A crestfallen Bai Xiangxiu went back to sleep. She felt that Yu Shū wasn’t someone who showed up nightly, so she had a good sleep while Yu Kuang tossed and turned in his dreams.
First, he dreamed that the woman had treated Yu Shū very well. She’d stroked his head and even taken him to see the moon. Even though he disliked Yu Shū and wanted to deny his existence, he was him, and he was him. That was impossible to ignore. Moreover, there was the fact that they felt the same way in their hearts towards people who left a good impression on them.
For example, even though this was a dream, it counted as a flashback as well. He even experienced a never before felt thread of warmth flow through his heart. So there, he had a different feeling in his heart when he saw Bai Xiangxiu again the next day. Still, he forced himself to suppress the joyful delight in his heart and had her get in the carriage.