Lu Liangwei pouted. “You seem pretty clear about whatever happened with Miss Li. Did you meet her in private? Miss Li must have felt such regret after meeting you.”
Long Yang rubbed her head. “What did you fill your mind with? I’ve never met Miss Li in private before, but I’ve seen her portrait when it was presented to me by the officials from the Ministry of Rites. And I don’t need to go out of my way to find out more about her; I have people under me to do that.”
Lu Liangwei grunted. She was still feeling uncomfortable about this.
Even though this was something in the past, for some reason, it still particularly bothered her.
If not for the fact that he had issues with his health, surely he would have happily made Miss Li ‘wait’. After that, Lu Liangwei would no longer have been involved with anything.
Moreover, aside from treating Lu Liangwei with utmost gentleness, His Majesty had never shown his soft-hearted or benevolent side to any other woman.
It looked like this Miss Li was quite the special woman!
What did he even mean by allowing lovers to come together?
He had not allowed Miss Li to enter the Palace because she was already in love with someone else. On top of that, he was not healthy at the time, so he chose to give her the opportunity to be with the one she loved.
It was true when people said that all men were pigs!
She had believed that His Majesty had never fallen for anyone in his life, when in fact, he most likely had.
Even though he did not admit to it directly, Lu Liangwei had a suspicion that His Majesty must have been moved when he saw Miss Li’s portrait.
She knew that there was no evidence, but she could not stop her imagination from running wild.
When Long Yang saw that she was splitting her hairs over such an insignificant matter, he massaged the spot between his eyes and cajoled her in a gentle voice, “It’s not what you think it is. I don’t fancy Miss Li at all, which is precisely why I created the opportunity for her to run away with her lover. If I had a thing for her, I would not have been so generous even if my health was failing. Like how it was with you.”
“Me? What has this got anything to do with me?” Lu Liangwei said huffily.
“Have you forgotten how you entered the Palace?” Long Yang lowered his head and pressed it against her clean, fair forehead, urging her to remember.
Lu Liangwei naturally gave it some thought, but when she compared both instances, she found herself feeling even more unhappy, and the words spouted out of her mouth became even more ridiculous.
“Just as I thought. I don’t compare to Miss Li at all. At the very least, Miss Li won your gentleness and pity, but for me, you resorted to force and trickery. You did not consider my feelings at all.”
Long Yang, “…”
He finally understood why people would claim that women were the most difficult creatures to deal with.
He coughed lightly and said good-naturedly, “Of course, Miss Li could not be compared to you. I’ve only ever desired you from the very start.”
With that, he pulled the girl forcefully into his arms and his voice got even softer. “It’s only for you that I would put in so much effort. If I ever let someone go, it would only prove that I don’t like them as much. However, it is the complete opposite with you. I like you and I will not allow you to marry another. Even if I have to use underhanded tactics, I would marry you and drag you into the Palace.”
He paused and a bitter smile appeared on his lips. “Actually, before I made the decision to marry you, I wasn’t able to sleep at all. I was thinking about you so much… Ah, my heart ached.”
During that time, the Dowager Duchess and the Grand Duke had objected to Weiwei marrying him. In order to make Weiwei his, His Majesty had acted more doggedly than he ever did in his life.
Lu Liangwei’s face burned when she heard his confession of deep feelings for her. She was unnerved by it and quickly changed the topic. “Urm… I’m feeling a little hungry…”
Long Yang knew what she was trying to do and was not about to let her off so easily.
“You’ve just had two bowls of fish soup, how is it possible you’re already hungry? If you have any doubts about me, you should spill everything out today and let us talk it out. I don’t want to find myself one day facing you when you decide to suddenly… hmm… settle some old scores.”