Chapter 222
Chapter 222
Fu Yuan believed “Wen Yu” had returned to claim his life and immediately fled toward the door in terror.
But a sudden cold wind slammed the door shut. No matter how hard he pulled, it would not open.
Immediately afterward, the windows to the north and south closed in succession.
At this display, Fu Yuan’s legs went weak. He dropped to his knees and began begging for mercy.
“Yu’er, Yu’er, I wronged you!”
With those words, he cast aside all the dignity of the Fu Family’s eldest young master and every shred of masculine pride.
He repeatedly knocked his forehead against the floor and confessed, “I, Fu Yuan, wronged you! I broke the engagement in a moment of anger!”
“I never truly wanted to marry Zuihuan. I… drank too much and was urged on by others!”
“You know how much I care about appearances. Once they started goading me, I could not back down. I had no choice but to go through with it!”
Fu Yuan wept bitterly. His words did not sound entirely false.
He truly appeared consumed by regret.
“To tell the truth, I regretted marrying her. We quarrel almost every other day. I have not known a single peaceful day since.”
He complained about his wife without the slightest shame. “I kept thinking how wonderful it would have been if I had married you. You were gentle, educated, and sensible…”
“I called you ‘dull’ back then. I truly failed to appreciate my blessings!”
“Only several lifetimes of accumulated fortune could have earned me such a virtuous wife!”
“But I… betrayed your devotion. I was… utterly foolish!”
Young Master Fu’s words made Yu Lang grit his teeth.
Ren Fengjue remained composed, as though he had expected this scene.
“Wen Yu,” meanwhile, laughed wildly and triumphantly at the sight of Fu Yuan.
Clearly, this was what she had truly wanted to see…
In the past, she had been cautious and humble before him, and he had treated her with disdain.
Now he knelt before her, kowtowing and admitting his wrongs. Only then did she understand the feeling.
The easier something was to obtain, the more people disdained it.
Only what seemed forever out of reach inspired people to exhaust themselves in pursuit.
In an unnoticed corner, a red figure emerged from an embroidered sachet bearing a pair of mandarin ducks with intertwined necks and coldly surveyed the scene.
No one in the room appeared to notice her presence.
Inside the Soul-Ferrying Lantern, Wuyou sensed Xia Ximo’s appearance, immediately poked their head out, and told Ren Fengjue, “Miss Xia is in the room now.”
Only then did Ren Fengjue’s expression change. “Where?”
“In front of the mirror.”
Ren Fengjue hurriedly looked toward the mirror but saw nothing.
Wuyou explained, “Your yang energy is too strong. You cannot see ghosts.”
Though Ren Fengjue could not see her, he visibly relaxed.
The red figure in the corner slowly approached Wen Yu and spoke.
“You have always known in your heart that this is simply the kind of man he is.”
Wen Yu stopped laughing. Her gaze was icy. “Only seeing it with my own eyes could make it perfectly clear.”
* * *
Not long before, after Yu Lang left the dream, the Illusionary Realm had vanished.
Wen Yu’s ghost could only attach itself to the sachet again.
Unexpectedly, the woman in red followed her.
Wen Yu was puzzled. “Did you not enter the dream to save him? Now that he is safe, why continue meddling?”
The woman in red merely gave her a cold glance. “I am not the one meddling.”
The broken lantern from the Underworld Administration was.
Then she asked, “If you were given another choice, would you still marry Fu Yuan?”
Wen Yu paused, not because the choice was difficult, but because no one had ever asked what she wanted…
No one had ever cared whether she wished to marry him.
The woman in red continued, “If you have truly understood, then you should bring matters to a genuine end with yourself.”
They went directly to the Fu Family residence, where Wen Yu witnessed the following scene:
That morning, Fu Yuan and his wife had quarreled over a trivial matter.
“Your mother spoke to me that way yesterday, and you did not defend me once?”
Zuihuan had clearly carried her anger from the previous night into the morning and still looked displeased.
Fu Yuan had slept poorly. Hearing his wife complain the moment he woke, he replied coldly, “Was my mother wrong? Do you not know your own background?”
Enraged, Zuihuan snatched a pillow from the bed and hurled it at him.
It struck Fu Yuan’s arm, and his anger flared. He dressed, washed his face carelessly, and left for breakfast.
Zuihuan had no appetite at all.
She summoned Xiaoyao to style her hair, but no matter how the maid arranged it, she was dissatisfied.
She ordered Xiaoyao to take it down and start again, only for the maid to pull her hair painfully.
Zuihuan immediately found a new outlet for her temper. “Can you not pay attention? Why are you so clumsy?”
Xiaoyao was no meek target. She snorted, threw the comb onto the dressing table, and said, “The eldest young master is far more distinguished than you, yet he is never this difficult to serve. If the young mistress is dissatisfied, find someone else.”
At those words, Zuihuan flew into a rage. She tore down her hair and raised a hand to strike the maid.
But when she saw several people watching from the doorway, she furiously drove them all out instead.
With her hair loose, she sat before the mirror and brooded over her reflection. Before long, she began to cry from wounded pride.
Wen Yu’s soul hovered nearby and silently watched everything.
She had once envied Zuihuan so deeply because of Fu Yuan.
Now, looking at the woman was like seeing another version of herself…
How absurd.
A sachet landed on the dressing table. Zuihuan froze, and in the next instant, she saw a shadow in the mirror.
The shadow approached her side and whispered into her ear, “Let me borrow your body.”
* * *
Now, as Fu Yuan knelt before her to save his life, repeatedly criticizing his wife and proclaiming his regret…
The resentment rising from “Wen Yu” slowly began to subside.
She smiled at Fu Yuan, her tone contemptuous. “Fu Yuan, I do not want your life. But I enjoy seeing you regretful and in pain.”
Kneeling on the floor, Fu Yuan froze. His gaze was complicated as he looked up at her.
Then he declared firmly, “Even so, everything I just said was true. If I had another choice, I would certainly marry you.”
“But you have no choice.”
“Wen Yu” said, “Even if I were given another choice or a hundred choices, I would never marry you.”