Chapter 3
The night wind whipped against my face.
Head bowed, I returned with him to his residence.
The house was silent. Only our shadows moved, one behind the other.
Suddenly, he caught my arm.
“Why are you crying?
“Is a creature like that worth your tears?”
Only then did I realize my face was wet with them.
Comments appeared.
[Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’re making me cry too.]
[Our girl is strong. She’s not crying over that scumbag. She’s worried about her Fortune dropping!!]
[Sweetheart, Lu Hemian gave his life to save you in your previous life. He carries a great store of fortune that belongs to you. Physical contact with him will stop your score falling. Try it!]
I scrubbed the tears from my face with my sleeve.
“Thank you for letting me see what he really is, Commander Lu.”
“As for what I said earlier, about repaying your help…”
I took out a cloud-brocade handkerchief and laid it in his palm, feeling a little guilty.
“I’m sure you have no shortage of such vulgar things as gold and silver.”
“I embroidered this handkerchief myself. Would you accept it?”
As I spoke, I brushed his palm as though by accident.
The Fortune score above my head stopped moving.
My eyes widened.
It really worked?
Lu Hemian raised one eyebrow, took the handkerchief, and tucked it into his sleeve.
“Agreed.”
A trace of a smile touched his mouth. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
The comments supplied the answer.
[Ahhh, sweetheart, you have no idea how obsessed this man is.]
[He picked up one of your handkerchiefs before. That thing gets used every single night.]
[Poor handkerchief. He’s worn every last corner thin.]
[Our girl’s handkerchief must smell so sweet. Damn it, soon it’ll be all crumpled and sticky and wet…]
[With what the second male lead is packing, plus that s*x addiction, I can’t imagine how much she’ll cry when he finally gets a taste.]
[He’ll have her by the ankle. Crying and begging won’t help, and she won’t be getting away.]
What—what were they even saying…?
My ears slowly grew hot. I moved my lips at the comments.
This wasn’t the time for that. Tell me how to free myself from the Fortune score entirely!
[That’s very difficult. You have to meet two conditions.]
[First, break out of the plot’s role for you as a “noble young lady.” Uphold the Jiang family yourself. Stop depending on your fiancé or anyone else, and become the protagonist of your own life.]
[Second, the original male and female leads must be utterly defeated, or even die.]
[Only by meeting both conditions can you escape the plot’s control.]
My thoughts raced. In moments, I had made my decision.
“Commander Lu, I have a favor to ask.”
“Lin Ze wants to marry me because he thinks a woman cannot inherit the Jiang family’s standing in the army, or the weapons and battle formations my father left behind.
“But my family doesn’t need a man to carry on its legacy.
“I can do it myself.”
I gathered my skirts and bowed solemnly.
“My father and brother died too young. I’ve heard your martial skills are unrivaled. Would you teach me how to fight?”
“I, Jiang Zhiqing, would be deeply grateful.”
For one thing, I truly wanted to learn martial arts and military strategy, and uphold my family.
For another…
My ears warmed again.
Now that I knew how to stop my Fortune falling, I needed a reason to touch Lu Hemian.
He studied me for a long moment, then smiled.
“Very well.”
I almost bounced with excitement, barely managing to contain myself.
“There are too many eyes about during the day. I’ll come to your residence every evening.”
“No need,” Lu Hemian said lazily. “There’s a secret passage in the house opposite yours. It leads straight here.”
I stared, then blurted out,
“Why would the house opposite mine have a secret passage?”
Then understanding dawned. I gave him a small glare.
Lu Hemian touched his nose and pretended not to notice.
[I’m dying. Mr. Too Cool built himself a tunnel to spy on our girl.]
[Give it up, second male lead. Knowing you’ll see her every day—you can barely keep that grin off your face.]
[Friendly reminder: he has a s*x addiction. Be careful your little touches don’t set it off, sweetheart. You won’t get away then.]
[Seriously, with what he’s packing, I can’t imagine how much she’ll cry once he finally gets a taste.]
[With Mr. Too Cool helping, our girl should escape the Fortune score in no time!]
Had everything really been settled?
I frowned faintly. Something told me it wouldn’t be so simple.
The jade pendant around Chen Yanyan’s neck kept troubling me. I felt as though I had seen it somewhere before.
Where… where had I seen that pendant?