Chapter Forty: I Took It—What Can You Do About It?

The two stood quietly side by side before the fiery snow lotus, their shoulders separated by no more than a fist’s width.

Qiu Yeqing gazed intently at the icy lotus before her, so focused that she paid no mind to Li Fu standing beside her.

Li Fu, too, stared woodenly at the lotus blossom, neither of them uttering a word.

...

Sensing the awkwardness in the air, Qiu Yeqing took the initiative to break the silence. “My name is Qiu Yeqing, only daughter of the Marquis of Shangyuan. And you?”

Li Fu gave a wry smile. “Disciple of the Grand Tutor, Li Fu.”

“So you are Li Fu? Was it you who wounded Shangguan Qi’s arm a few days ago? I heard his right arm’s bones were shattered by the force of your sword.” Qiu Yeqing smiled lightly, showing no trace of dislike for Li Fu despite her engagement to Shangguan Qi. On the contrary, there was a hint of mischievous delight in her tone.

“I injured him—doesn’t that make you angry?” Li Fu asked.

The words had barely left his lips before he regretted them, wishing he could slap himself twice.

How could he have said something so utterly foolish!

But Qiu Yeqing took no offense. She beamed. “Not at all. In fact, I should thank you. If he hadn’t been injured, he’d have come pestering me at home again. He’s such a nuisance—ever since I returned to the Eastern Capital, he’s been buzzing around me like a fly.”

Li Fu recalled Yang Zixu mentioning that Qiu Yeqing’s engagement to Shangguan Qi had been arranged by their elders, and that while Qiu Yeqing disliked Shangguan Qi, he was utterly devoted to her.

“If you don’t like him, why not break off the engagement?” Li Fu asked.

“I’d like to, but Grandfather would never allow it, and Father is powerless. After all, Grandfather is the head of the family.” At this, Qiu Yeqing’s expression dimmed.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she would have to marry Shangguan Qi when she turned twenty—a fate she was unwilling to accept.

Li Fu wanted to speak, but held his words back.

“Oh! It’s truly blooming—look! Red veins are appearing on the petals. How beautiful!” Qiu Yeqing kept her eyes fixed upon the icy lotus. Just as Li Fu had expected, red lines began to emerge across the blossom’s crystalline petals, and then, the lotus unfurled in full bloom.

It was like the first blush of dawn, the ice crystals on the petals reflecting both sunlight and moonlight upon still waters—a convergence of two distinct beauties. The delicate fragrance wafted gently, soothing every pore in the body.

Qiu Yeqing crouched down, unwilling to tear her gaze from the icy lotus even for a moment.

The fiery snow lotus bloomed only briefly, much shorter than the night-blooming cereus. Rare to begin with, it was often mistaken by alpine herbalists for an ordinary snow lotus. Thus, only the fortunate few had ever witnessed its flowering.

Qiu Yeqing was overjoyed, like a little girl receiving her favorite sweet, her smile radiant.

That smile, so warm and gentle, complemented the flawless lotus before her, whether in bearing or in beauty.

A single glistening petal drifted down, and Qiu Yeqing’s slender, jade-like fingers swept gracefully to catch it in her palm.

“Thank you for letting me witness the snow lotus in bloom. This petal is for you,” Qiu Yeqing said, extending her hand and offering the petal to Li Fu.

As her delicate hand drew near, Li Fu felt a rising tension.

It was as if all the troubles that had clouded his mind in recent days suddenly melted away, replaced by a surge of strength. In Qiu Yeqing’s eyes shone a pure light.

Li Fu did not dare meet her gaze, but he felt warmth creeping up his cheeks as he carefully pinched the petal from her palm, intending to tuck it away in his robes.

“Take your filthy hand off hers!”

A harsh voice, brimming with hostility, rang out and shattered the moment.

Shangguan Qi stood before them, his right arm in a sling, glaring furiously at the two.

One was the disciple of his father’s killer, who had run him through the arm with a sword on the streets of Chang’an, disgracing him in front of all the Eastern Capital.

The other was his fiancée. Though Qiu Yeqing didn’t care for him, as long as their engagement remained, she was bound to be his bride in time.

But now, the very man who had humiliated him was standing with his hand in Qiu Yeqing’s palm, the two chatting happily.

If word of this got out, not only his reputation, but that of the entire Shangguan clan would be ruined!

How could he tolerate this?

Shangguan Qi’s expression was as dark as thunder, fury written plainly across his face.

“You again? What, do you want to lose your left arm this time?” Li Fu said coldly, not out of old enmity, but because Shangguan Qi’s outburst had startled him into dropping the petal, which shattered on the ground like ice.

“You go too far!” Shangguan Qi’s chest heaved, lips twitching with rage.

“Shangguan Qi, my affairs are none of your concern. I do not like you. Please stay away from my new friend,” Qiu Yeqing said softly, her brows gently knit, her gaze calm and distant, revealing nothing of her inner thoughts.

“You heard her. She doesn’t like you. Leave,” Li Fu said coolly.

“Qing’er, I am your fiancé. Is it proper for you to carry on with an outsider like this?” Shangguan Qi narrowed his eyes, lips pressed in a cold sneer.

“I will not be my family’s pawn, nor do I care for you. I will not marry you. And you would do well to show some self-respect,” Qiu Yeqing answered after a brief silence, her words gentle but firm.

Shangguan Qi’s gaze grew sharper, his long dark hair falling over his shoulders as he swept his eyes across the pair before him.

“Li Fu, do you dare face me in a duel?” His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly across the entire garden.

“Duel you? I have no interest in defeating the same loser twice,” Li Fu shrugged, declining with a touch of mockery.

Of course, there was another reason—Yang Zixu and Chu Ge were not present. Alone, Li Fu could not kill Shangguan Qi, so why bother humiliating him with another fight? A well-placed barb was far more efficient.

“Again, Shangguan Qi? You really are persistent as a ghost. Why are you everywhere?” Chu Ge forced his way through the crowd, frowning in displeasure as he came upon Shangguan Qi.

Shangguan Qi’s outburst had drawn a crowd of flower-viewers to the garden, most of them scions of the great families of the Eastern Capital, all well aware of the situation between Shangguan Qi and Qiu Yeqing.

“This is none of your concern. Stay out of it,” Shangguan Qi snapped coldly, not even sparing Chu Ge a glance.

“Qiu Yeqing and I are bound by parental arrangement and the word of a matchmaker. As long as I do not renounce the engagement, she remains my future wife. Yet today, right before my eyes, you dare behave so intimately with her. Li Fu, even if I were to kill you, Lord Wine Master would have nothing to say,” Shangguan Qi declared, his gaze sharp as willow leaves, a murderous intent far more potent than at the gates of Shanglin Garden.

“Shangguan Qi, how dare you say such things!” Qiu Yeqing’s long lashes quivered, her face pale as snow as she cried out.

“You want to kill me?” Li Fu was incensed. He and Qiu Yeqing had merely admired a lotus together, nothing more—yet to hear Shangguan Qi, he was a wife-stealer!

It was true he admired Qiu Yeqing, but what young noble in the Eastern Capital did not? Besides, Qiu Yeqing had no affection for Shangguan Qi.

“A man who steals another’s wife must die!” Shangguan Qi said coldly, taking a step forward.

...

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“Again with you? Shangguan Qi, you really are like a lingering shadow. Why are you everywhere?”

A brash, mocking voice rang out from the crowd. A head popped up among the onlookers, eyes slanted in disdain at Shangguan Qi.

It was Yang Zixu, with Yang Ning close behind.

“What’s going on here?” Yang Zixu yawned and rudely dug at his ear.

Chu Ge whispered something in Yang Zixu’s ear.

Yang Zixu’s expression turned odd, and he said impatiently, “So, just because he says she’s his fiancée, that makes it so? If I called him my son, would he have to call me father?”

“Say that again.” Shangguan Qi enunciated each word coldly, his lips pale with fury.

Yang Zixu looked at Shangguan Qi as if he were an idiot and replied, “I’ll take her if I want—what can you do about it?”