Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Each Taking What They Need

Liang Wan clutched the fox-fur cloak, standing on the couch in a flustered rage.

"Get out! I need to get dressed!"

"I took them off, so I’ll put them back on."

Lu Xiu wasn’t the least bit annoyed. He pulled her over with good-natured patience.

Liang Wan didn’t have a free hand to hit him, so she could only glare daggers at him.

’I was just mad and trying to blow off steam, but who knew...’

Lu Xiu softened his tone. "I really didn’t know there were so many people in the courtyard."

The mention of it made Liang Wan even more furious. How could she possibly face them now to clean up the mess?

’So irritating!’

Lu Xiu pressed her down to sit on the bed.

"It’s not my fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s them."

"Blame them?" Liang Wan laughed in anger.

"Mhm. We’re in our own home. It’s perfectly normal for a husband and wife to have some fun. But now that an outsider is living here—"

He didn’t look at her, his brow furrowed in concentration as he helped her into her undergarments. His movements were clumsy as he tried to tie the sash.

Liang Wan tried to do it herself, but he blocked her. "Let me try this once. Then I’ll know how to do it next time."

’Next time?’

Remembering something else, she couldn’t be bothered to argue about it. "What do you want me to say to him?"

Lu Xiu’s hands paused from tying the sash. He looked up at her. "As you wish."

After speaking, he resumed his task, seemingly unconcerned.

Gao Qian was quite similar to Liang Cheng in some ways. He wanted to use a knife but was afraid of cutting himself.

"I just want to kill him," Liang Wan sighed.

"And after you kill him, what then?" Lu Xiu didn’t even look up. "Do you want to become the next him? To be drawn and quartered by five horses?"

Liang Wan’s heart clenched. He had stated the most gruesome and cruel fact in the most nonchalant tone.

Lu Xiu added, "Just to pave the way for someone else?"

Liang Wan grasped his hand. It was very cold.

Yuan Shaoyu had successfully assassinated the emperor, but he had also died a horrific death.

Liang Wan understood what he meant. Her gaze met his. "But your current situation is also very dangerous. You’re a threat to both sides. No one can keep a foot in both camps forever."

She had never asked, and he had never brought it up, but...

Lu Xiu’s lips curved. "Aren’t you the same?"

Liang Wan said, "I’m different. I’m all alo—"

The rest of her sentence was swallowed by his dark eyes.

Lu Xiu looked away from her and went back to studying the clothes.

Liang Wan let out a long sigh.

For a while, no one in the room spoke. Liang Wan just quietly watched as Lu Xiu dressed her, one garment at a time.

"There."

He straightened up, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her, a hint of pride hidden in his eyes.

Seeing his smile, a sudden surge of anger shot through Liang Wan. "I truly hate you!"

All she wanted was revenge, yet she was being forced into all these conflicts.

Lu Xiu took her hand, remarking casually, "I know. You said you came to collect a debt. You can collect it however you wish. It’s up to you."

Liang Wan’s gaze fell on his hand. She gritted her teeth. "What if I want your life?"

Lu Xiu looked at her and simply smiled without a word.

His gaze made Liang Wan feel a bit flustered. She glared at him irritably. "As if I have that ability."

Lu Xiu smiled nonchalantly. "You do. In this world, no one can kill me but you."

Their eyes met, a battle of wills.

"My Lord, Liang Ji, someone from Beixuan has come to invite you there for lunch."

Gu Yu’s voice sounded from behind the rosewood screen painted with silk tree flower patterns.

Liang Wan was the first to look away. She called out a response.

Beixuan was where the Grandmaster resided.

When they went outside, snowflakes had begun to drift down again. The wind was gentle, the snow unhurried. Sporadic flakes of white twirled and spiraled, slowly making their way down.

As they passed through the courtyard, Liang Wan shrank her neck deeper and deeper into her collar.

Lu Xiu noticed the subtle movement. Knowing he was at fault, he pulled her closer to shield her from the wind, only to receive an eye-roll in return.

In a room in Beixuan, only the Grandmaster was present.

Since the beginning of winter, his health had been fluctuating. He rarely concerned himself with court affairs anymore; his spirit was willing, but his body was weak.

There wasn’t much conversation at the dining table, only a few simple words exchanged.

After the meal, the Grandmaster and Lu Xiu played chess while Liang Wan prepared tea by their side.

The room was warm and cozy, and snow drifted past the window outside.

Lifting her eyes, Liang Wan felt a wave of emotion. The Grandmaster had so many children, yet the one who stayed by his side was not his own flesh and blood.

She still remembered meeting the Grandmaster on the street in late spring, and how Lu Xiu had been carrying the pills the Grandmaster usually took.

’One never knows what they’ll experience in life until the very end.’

Liang Wan lowered her head and sighed silently.

"Sighing in front of an old man like me, this child. Putting on such a profound act."

Liang Wan froze. She looked up to see the Grandmaster looking at her, a white chess piece in hand.

"Are you tired of going to the palace every day?" The Grandmaster placed his piece on the board and no longer looked at her.

Lu Xiu didn’t raise his eyes, his focus remaining entirely on the chessboard.

’Just because the Grandmaster has let go of many things doesn’t mean he knows nothing. The same goes for the rumors outside.’

’When I first arrived, the Grandmaster had hinted that I should be more tolerant, but that scoundrel Lu Xiu...’

’And seeing the Empress and the Empress Dowager acting in perfect concert, weren’t they also trying to force me to yield?’

’The Cao Family and Mrs. Zhou are part of the Crown Prince Faction. Although Lu Xiu is on good terms with Zhou Yun, it doesn’t mean he has to side with the Crown Prince. Yet the Lu Family pushed him toward the Cao Family...’

’His parentage is already a hidden danger. Are the other members of the Lu Family truly ignorant of it? Or are they doing this precisely because they know?’

Liang Wan lowered her eyes meekly and offered a cup of tea. "My Lord goes to court every day before dawn. I merely enter the palace to chat with the Empress Dowager. How could I dare say I’m tired of it?"

Her words were tantamount to saying nothing at all.

The Grandmaster glanced at her and picked up another piece.

"A member of the Cao Family came to Beixuan this morning."

’To complain? Or to plead for mercy?’

Liang Wan poured another cup of tea and placed it before Lu Xiu, her expression unchanged, her heart steady. "I punished a few gossiping servants before I left."

The Grandmaster placed another piece. "They were from the Prime Minister’s Mansion."

’So I’m supposed to consider the master before beating the dog?’

Liang Wan said, "Anyone who enters through these doors is a person of the Grandmaster’s Mansion."

The Grandmaster picked up his tea. "Because they slandered you?"

’Is he asking if I used my position to settle a personal score?’

"Plenty of people out there slander me. A few more of them hardly make a difference."

The Grandmaster just sipped his tea.

Liang Wan continued, "A centipede doesn’t collapse even in death. A thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole. Before fending off external enemies, internal strife arises. When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits."

The Grandmaster smiled and handed her his empty cup.

Liang Wan took it and refilled it.

The Grandmaster picked up another chess piece. "Once you finish embroidering that image of the Buddha, you don’t have to go anymore."

Liang Wan showed only a flicker of surprise before nodding in agreement.

When the game ended, the Grandmaster said he was tired, so the two of them left Beixuan.

The path, which had been swept just that morning, was now covered in a thin layer of snow, making it wet and slippery underfoot.

Lu Xiu held Liang Wan’s hand. "Well, you certainly didn’t eat that meal for nothing."

Liang Wan glanced at the courtyard. "Are you sure it wasn’t a trap?"

Lu Xiu shook his head and smiled. "It wasn’t that serious."

It wasn’t that serious. Liang Wan knew that perfectly well.

It was precisely because she understood the Grandmaster’s and Lu Xiu’s methods that she had handled it that way. Or rather, it was the outcome they had been delighted to see.

Sometimes, things that were inconvenient for them to do or say had to be done or said through her hands and her mouth.

Liang Wan shot him a glare. "If I’m not mistaken, four people were at that meal."

Laughter was hidden in the depths of Lu Xiu’s eyes.

Liang Wan sighed. None of this really mattered.

She was more concerned about the future now.

In her dealings with Gao Qian, if she didn’t act like she was desperate to climb the social ladder and that there was something in it for her, he probably wouldn’t believe her.

Alas, the path to regicide was becoming more and more convoluted...

Liang Wan rubbed her temples.

’My head hurts!’

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