Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Truth Be Told

Zhou Yun chuckled softly, pushing the dumbstruck woman toward the low table. "Didn’t the Grand Commandant want someone to drink with? Well, as luck would have it, there was a stray who brews an excellent hangover tea, so I brought her along for you!" He winked and grinned as he spoke.

Liang Wan didn’t even dare to raise her head. Cold sweat soaked her back. She remembered clearly that Lu Xiu had warned her never to seek him out without his orders. She gritted her teeth and shot a stealthy glare at Zhou Yun. True, he hadn’t taken her to the Master’s Mansion, but bringing her directly to see Lu Xiu wasn’t any better.

"Tomorrow, I still have to attend morning classes with the Crown Prince. After all, I’m not a man of leisure, so I won’t keep you company," Zhou Yun chattered on, ignoring how the man at the table kept his eyes lowered, pouring and drinking his own wine. Perhaps unable to watch him down cup after cup, Zhou Yun simply bent over, snatched the wine pot and cup from his hands, and set them aside. Then, he looked back at the woman standing with her head bowed. "Third Lady, I’m leaving him in your hands!"

Liang Wan’s eyes widened, completely speechless.

Zhou Yun straightened up. As he walked past her, he didn’t forget to flash a meaningful, toothy grin. The door closed heavily behind him.

Only the two of them were left in the room, one standing and one sitting. The scent of tea mixed with the smell of alcohol, creating an indescribably bizarre atmosphere. Liang Wan’s palms were already slick with sweat. Her intuition told her that Lu Xiu was in a bad mood, and it also told her that when he was in a bad mood, he didn’t want outsiders to see him!

Yet here she was, recklessly walking right into the lion’s den...

"Please wait a moment, My Lord. The hangover tea will be ready shortly." Without waiting for Lu Xiu to speak, Liang Wan ignored the pain in her ankle, turned cleanly on her heel, and ran for the door.

Outside the room, Liang Wan’s heart hammered wildly in her chest, THUMP THUMP THUMP. After brewing the tea with the help of a maid, she carefully carried the tray back inside.

Flushed from the wine, Lu Xiu reclined sideways, his head propped on one hand. His white robe was slightly open, and his fox-like eyes were lightly closed. Liang Wan quietly placed the tea on the low table.

As the saying goes, you don’t smack a smiling face. Liang Wan sighed heavily inwardly, wondering if it would be better to take the initiative and apologize rather than passively wait to be scolded. But speaking up rashly would disturb his rest.

Just as she hesitated over whether to retreat, the man feigning sleep let out a scoff. "You ran away quite fast."

His thick eyelashes fluttered lightly like butterfly wings, casting shadows over his porcelain-white face. Much like his current mood, he was volatile and unpredictable.

Panic seized her. She hurriedly raised her hands to her eyebrows and, fighting the pain, bowed low to the floor. "Please forgive me, My Lord. I didn’t intentionally disobey your orders by seeking you out. It was really Young Master Zhou—"

Lu Xiu opened his slightly bloodshot eyes, a trace of drunkenness in his gaze. "You went to the Cao Residence?"

Perhaps due to the alcohol and not having spoken for a long time, his voice came out husky and low. It was the kind of tone that would usually make a person’s heart race, yet his frigid demeanor sent an abrupt chill through her instead. It made her feel as if she had gone not to the Cao Residence, but to the underworld itself.

"Yes." Liang Wan didn’t rise. She merely lifted her eyelids slightly to peek at him, unable to help but wonder how he knew she had gone to the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

"Come here."

Her expression stiffened. Holding up her sleeves, she slowly stood and shuffled two steps closer to him.

"Why do you look so guilty?"

She had barely steadied herself with her head bowed when his soft mockery reached her ears. Looking up, she was met squarely by the sharp, piercing gleam in his eyes.

Panic flared within her. Did he think she was being disloyal and trying to defect to the Cao family? Gripping her sleeves tightly, she said, "You misunderstand, My Lord. I didn’t go to the Cao Residence with any intention of betraying you."

"Oh?"

If a man like Lu Xiu truly grew suspicious, he would undoubtedly rather mistakenly kill a thousand than let a single one slip away. Liang Wan immediately explained, "I went to the Cao Residence to give Chancellor Cao evidence of Wang Su privately minting coins, hoping to bring Wang Su down as soon as possible."

He let out a low chuckle. "Since you had such evidence, why did you seek out the Cao family instead of our Lu family?" He narrowed his eyes at her. The icy glare within them was enough to freeze a person to the bone.

Liang Wan steadied her nerves. "The Lu family and the Wang family are both part of the royal family, and both are heavily relied upon by His Majesty. Even with the evidence, the Wang family’s status in the imperial court cannot be underestimated. Wang Su is full of tricks; having evidence doesn’t guarantee he can be crushed in a single blow. I absolutely could not risk exposing you and the Lu family to danger just for my own selfish desires.

"Moreover, the Lu family has no historical enmity with the Wang family, but the Cao family is different. Setting aside their old grudges with the Wangs, His Majesty is currently using the two families to keep each other in check within the court.

"Fortune and disaster are intertwined. Once the Wang family falls, the Cao family will also be in danger. His Majesty is deeply suspicious and heavily guards against any single faction gaining too much power. In the end, he will inevitably turn to the Empress Dowager for help, which will ultimately benefit the Lu family in taking control of the entire situation."

Having said all this in one breath, Liang Wan carefully observed the man across from her. Seeing no signs of displeasure, she continued, "Furthermore, if the Cao family fails to bring down the Wang family, they will inevitably implicate themselves, allowing the Wangs to grow even more powerful. This wouldn’t be something His Majesty wants to see either. Therefore, he would definitely favor the Lu family in the future to restore balance.

"Because of all this, it isn’t suitable for the Lu family to get involved. That is why I didn’t dare to come see you, My Lord."

To her surprise, upon hearing her out, Lu Xiu merely closed his eyes and laughed deeply. "Listening to you, it sounds like you’re completely devoted to my Lu family?"

She didn’t think he was laughing out of joy. On the contrary, the more he laughed, the more her skin crawled. What seemed like a casual question could easily be a fatal trap when it came from Lu Xiu.

Not daring to let her guard down, Liang Wan answered, "Of course not. I only consider the Lu family’s interests because they are intimately tied to you, My Lord. In my heart, I am loyal only to you!" She hadn’t forgotten Lu Xiu’s previous warning not to entertain improper thoughts. If she truly showed any intention of clinging to the Lu family for power, she would undoubtedly die.

Lu Xiu looked at her. Her hair was disheveled, and she appeared entirely wretched. Her pale face was slightly flushed from nervousness, yet her dark eyes were bright with stubborn resolve. The moment she finished speaking and prepared to bow, he reached out and yanked her forward. Pain shot through her ankle, and she instantly crumpled at his feet.

He sneered coldly. "Feigning compliance! When you first pestered me, why didn’t you consider whether it would make enemies for me?"

Wincing in pain, she didn’t dare make a sound. She had no idea what she had said to trigger his drunken rage. Unwilling to argue right and wrong with a drunkard, she simply kept her head down and reached to check her ankle. After all the running around she had done tonight, she wondered if she would suffer permanent damage and actually become a cripple...

Suddenly, a hand clamped onto the back of her neck. It was so hot that a shudder ran through her entire body. She jerked her head up to see Lu Xiu leaning over her, his dark eyes like the dead of night, staring intently at her neck. Even harder to endure than his gaze was his scorching palm. Everywhere it touched felt as if it were being roasted by fire, searing and unbearable.

"My Lord—" Liang Wan gritted her teeth, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Lu Xiu seemed oblivious to her discomfort. With his eyes lowered, he stared at a ring of deep teeth marks on her pale skin. Dark purple bruising from being choked alongside blood-red bite marks painted a shocking, grisly picture. He rubbed his thumb forcefully over the wound, causing the coagulated blood to well up into fresh crimson beads. Liang Wan sucked in a breath with a sharp HISS.

"This time, the blood is your own." He released her and rubbed the dark red wetness between his fingertips. His voice was cold enough to freeze water.

It had finally stopped bleeding, and he just had to rub it open again. Liang Wan lightly touched her neck, grinding her teeth in annoyance, yet she also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back at Lu Xiu, she saw he had leaned back as if nothing had happened. He narrowed his eyes at the blood on his fingertips. "Don’t you know how to use a hairpin?"

Liang Wan stared blankly for a moment. What did he mean? Was he asking why she hadn’t killed Wang Su the way she killed Zhang Shi?

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