Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I didn’t think Jun Qingyu was handsome just because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

He was simply a natural beauty; anyone with eyes could see that.

One day, as I was returning from a hunt, I spotted someone straddling the top of my courtyard wall from a distance, peering inside with a shifty, rat-like expression.

I recognized him as the village’s notorious scoundrel, Zhang Pizi.

“What are you doing?” I barked.

Zhang Pizi flinched in fright. Before he could react, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him to the ground.

He let out a muffled groan and, disregarding everything else, scrambled to his feet and limped away as fast as he could.

The door to the house opened. Jun Qingyu stood there in plain white robes, his long hair dripping and his eyes misted with moisture.

He had just been bathing.

“How can things go on like this?”

The Village Chief sighed deeply. “Master Jun’s appearance is far too enticing. Before, it was the young ladies peeking at him, but now even the men are…”

Hearing this, I felt a surge of indignation. “When did this happen? How come I didn’t know?”

“It happens whenever you go out hunting,” the Village Chief said. “The fact that you eloped with him is common knowledge, but since you haven’t made things official yet, you can’t blame others for harboring ulterior motives.”

It’s not the thief you should fear, but the thief who keeps watching you.

I understood the logic.

The solution was also simple.

“Marriage!” I said without a second thought, getting straight to the point. “We’ll get married immediately!”

I turned to look at him, but he remained as cold and indifferent as ever.

“…Are you unwilling?” I asked tentatively, my heart filled with unease.

“It is not that I am unwilling,” he said, his frost-like eyes turning toward me. “I only fear that you are acting on an amnesiac impulse and will regret betraying me in the future.”

“How could I!” I patted my chest in a solemn promise. “Before I lost my memory, I was willing to die for love of you. After losing my memory, I’ve fallen for you all over again. In this lifetime, I’ve set my heart on you and you alone.”

“Is that so…”

He murmured softly, stepping slowly toward me and bowing his head slightly.

His voice was as elegant as the wind and the moon:

“In that case, make a vow. Say-

“If there comes a day when you go back on your word, let the mountains and rivers crumble, the heavens and earth be overturned, the country fall into ruin, its people perish, and blood flow for a thousand miles.”