Chapter 446: He Has Come To Propose 1

“More or less, yes.” The edges of Li Ruoxuan’s brows drooped. His gaze deep and solemn, he said, “But I didn’t expect that she would have hooked up with Lu Yan. What a flub.”

Zhu Shen was astonished. He immediately said, “If Qi Qingyao is on good terms with Master Lu, could the young grand master be indirectly used by the Lu family? Maybe become a chess piece of theirs?” This was definitely something the empress would not want to see happen.

“…”

Li Ruoxuan did not say anything, but his gaze was becoming more dim and morose.

After a long silence, a calculative look appeared in Li Ruoxuan’s dark eyes. He said, “Since she likes money, we just need to prescribe the right remedy.”

“??”

Zhu Shen did not quite understand what his Excellency meant by her loving money. Could Qi Qingyao only be fond of Master Lu because of her love for money? Although Master Lu was very rich, he was also not bad looking… There should be no surprise that women would like Master Lu, right?

Li Ruoxuan suddenly said, “Prepare a chest of gold!”

“——!!!” Zhu Shen almost fell to the floor in shock.

Li Ruoxuan continued, “I shall go to the Qi Residence tomorrow morning and propose marriage.”

“Ah!” Zhu Shen could not hold back his voice.

“Why are you so excited?!” Li Ruoxuan snapped, feeling that Zhu Shen was overreacting. He added, “Although our Head Grand Secretariat keeps denying it, I think he fancies Qi Qingyao. It doesn’t matter if he truly likes her or if he just wants to compete with me over this chess piece of a young grand master. Qi Qingyao has now become a piece that is more important than Si Jin.”

‘Oh, he just wants to take Lady Qi as a chess piece.’ Zhu Shen hurriedly played up to him and said, “If you want to have the young grand master follow your orders, you have to please Qi Qingyao. Your Excellency’s idea is brilliant.”

Li Ruoxuan observed the candlelight with a smile and said, “As long as I get Qi Qingyao, the chess piece that is Si Jin will be mine to use as I please in the end.”

Zhu Shen bowed slightly and said, “Your Excellency is wise! This servant will prepare the gold without delay!”

…

…

That night.

Qi Qingyao did not care in the slightest about that little episode where Li Ruoxuan deliberately caused trouble. As a modern person, being nibbled on the lips by an insane man plus the shocking nature of the situation back then was not enough to leave much impression on her.

Since Qi Qingyao did not care about that, Si Jin did not either. He slept very soundly that night.

There were two who were unable to sleep well—one of them was Lu Yan.

Lu Yan tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep. As his maid, Qi Qingyao slept next door to him that night. His mind was filled with the scene of Li Ruoxuan kissing the little maid! Lu Yan felt so angry that he could not sleep.

Even by midnight, he was still wide awake.

Lu Yan eventually sat up, deciding to meditate.

He figured that it was the fact he was weaker than Lu Ruoxuan which resulted in him being intercepted during the crucial moment.

There definitely could not be a second time.

Although he had the protection of the entire Lu family, and Dong Jing beside him, his own strength was more important than anything else.

Lu Yan mulled over these thoughts.

The other person who could not sleep was Jiang Yeqian.

Jiang Yeqian lay in bed thinking about what Li Ruoxuan had said today.

He thought, ‘That guy must have guessed that I fancy Qi Qingyao a little, but so what? That woman was involved with Lu Yan! Wouldn’t she feel flattered to know that the State Preceptor also “fancies” her?’

Considering her personality, she probably would!!!

The moment he thought of this, Jiang Yeqian felt his stomach churn. When it hurt to the point of being unbearable, he sat up and peered around his room that was shrouded in darkness and took a deep breath.

He spoke to himself, with a hint of defeat in his voice.

“Why do I like a woman like this? There must be something horribly wrong with me!”