Chapter 1681: Chapter 1681

When Lin Yuan returned to Dong Tian, Xia Zheng was already waiting for her there.

Seeing Xia Zheng slouched bonelessly in the chair, Lin Yuan couldn’t help but laugh.

However, recalling what she had just said to Madam Ming, she deliberately put on a stern face, pretended she didn’t see him, and walked straight to the desk where she usually calculated accounts and sat down.

Xia Zheng, with one hand propping up his chin and the other teasing his bangs, had thought his effortlessly charming pose would surely catch someone’s eye. Yet, realizing it hadn’t earned her attention, he muttered to himself in disbelief.

It seemed she had heard the rumors outside too.

He forced a sheepish grin and shuffled over to Lin Yuan, step by hesitant step, blinking his bright eyes: "My dearest Yuanyuan, what’s wrong? Are you upset? Who’s troubling you? Come, let your husband deal with it for you!"

Lin Yuan couldn’t help shivering, feeling that her goosebumps could fall all over the floor.

She raised her head, looked at Xia Zheng still blinking his eyes, suppressed a laugh, and asked, "Your eyelids are trembling as if afraid, yet you still think you can stick up for me? Better let me handle it myself!"

Xia Zheng nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto Lin Yuan’s face: "What do you mean trembling as if afraid? I’m winking here, winking, okay!"

Winking so energetically that it looked like a muscle spasm—only Xia Zheng could pull off something so ridiculous!

Quietly rolling her eyes, Lin Yuan straightened her posture and flirtatiously winked back: "Well then, don’t you have anything you ought to confess to me?"

Xia Zheng was rendered speechless by her choice of words: "Don’t use ’confess,’ alright? I didn’t do anything wrong. How could you insult me with such a term?"

"Fine, fine, not ’confess.’ What should I use then?"

Lin Yuan pursed her lips, readily accepting Xia Zheng’s suggestion. But before she could finish, Xia Zheng’s response already had her laughing uncontrollably.

"Use ’admit,’ then! If you’re honest, I’ll go easy on you. Resist, and I’ll deal with you harshly. If that’s not enough, I’ll resort to torture!"

Looking at Xia Zheng with his playful grin, Lin Yuan reined herself in from joking further, tossed him another eye-roll, and got to the point.

"I heard that Miss Su is seriously ill, and Prime Minister Su came to see you personally?"

Xia Zheng nodded, moved closer to Lin Yuan, and pulled her into his embrace, settling her comfortably on his lap.

"That old fox surely has some nerve! Do you know what he said to me? He claimed that if I agreed to marry Su Qiuyu, he could guarantee that the Little White Rabbit would become Crown Prince. Ha! Does he think the Dayong dynasty is surnamed Su? Forget whether I’d ever agree—showing enough restraint to not relay his words further was already me being merciful!"

Seeing Xia Zheng’s expression filled with disdain, Lin Yuan fell silent. She had expected Su Zhe to try persuading Xia Zheng with Su Qiuyu’s name or the years of shared past between them. She hadn’t anticipated that his opening remark would involve the throne!

Even though Su Zhe held a prominent position in the court, for him to make such an audacious promise, he must have weighed things carefully before coming forward.

Xia Zheng’s response was as she had imagined. He could engage in commerce to help his older brother vie for the throne, or travel all the way to Xiliang to secure better resources for him.

But he would never give up his woman for the throne.

"What a pity. If you’d agreed to the Prime Minister’s terms, and Su Qiuyu found out about it someday, her heart would probably shatter, wouldn’t it?"

No one knows women better than women. Lin Yuan understood Su Qiuyu well—she might even love Xia Zheng more than she herself did.

However, she and Xia Zheng simply belonged to different worlds.

Xia Zheng cherished freedom, preferring to do as he pleased. But Su Qiuyu had too much weighing on her—concern for how the noblewomen of the Capital city viewed her, the restraints of being a proper lady, and her disapproval of Xia Zheng’s involvement in commerce.

These two, with their fundamentally incompatible paths, were destined not to be together.

"Yuanyuan, rest assured. Forget the throne—even if the entirety of the world’s wealth were placed before me, I wouldn’t be swayed."

Xia Zheng’s slightly low voice pulled Lin Yuan out of her thoughts. She smiled faintly and leaned her head on Xia Zheng’s shoulder. In the stillness of the room, only her gentle, breeze-like voice floated softly.

"I understand your heart."

No matter how alluring riches may be, no matter how vast the treasures of the world, they would never compare to her smile.

Prime Minister Su’s visit and the rumors spreading outside had not swayed Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng from their engagement. The nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month would be the day Anle Princess and Lady Liu had settled for their betrothal ceremony.