Chapter 21

Call me whatever you want, as long as it's from you.

...The intense romance projected by those calm eyes made Zhu Bafu's face burn hot. She uncomfortably scooted farther and farther away from him. "You... have the surname Li, wood-and-sun Li, and Chenjing is your name. You remember that, right?"

"Li... Chenjing?"

"Right. Your name. You remember?" She unconsciously softened her voice, her tone even taking on the cadence used to coax a little kid.

He nodded, then suddenly looked up again. "Then what about you?"

"I..." She rubbed her neck. "My surname is Zhu..."

"Why don't I share your surname?"

"Huh?" What kind of logic was this? "How can you take my surname?"

"I don't know anyone surnamed Li. I don't want to be surnamed Li, I want your surname."

"Hey? How can you do that?!"

"Didn't we elope? What's impossible about that?"

"Pfft?! E-, elope?!"

"Our elopement failed, and we got dragged back, right?" He glanced out the ajar bedroom door where quite a few guards stood, and drew a very confident conclusion.

"If you say so, then we did..." Tears streaming down her face... Elope and fail and get dragged back... Young Master, can your imagination be any more melodramatic and absurd?

However... jumping into the Moat and getting chased in disorder by a pack of stray dogs certainly sounded a lot like an elopement, but... Young Master, you can't take things out of context and decide your entire life just because you only remember what happened last night!

"Is it because we're both men?" This reasoning was plenty thorough: worldly perspectives, ethical morals, and all that. That must be why they faced opposition, couldn't be together, and were driven to jump in the river side by side.

"It's probably also because my household is very poor and can't afford to keep you." With the attitude of a broken jar being left to smash, she couldn't be bothered to argue with a brain-damaged invalid whose head was full of water. Whichever nerve had been fried by his fever—once his cold cleared up in a couple of days, his memory might just recover.

"Your household is very poor?" Without picking up on her perfunctory thoughts, his gaze abruptly draped over with a layer of heartache. His guest chamber was luxurious and refined, with rosewood furniture and antique displays all of top quality, yet she sat before him wearing faded coarse cloth garments.

"Yeah. Poor as a rattling bell, poor enough to scrape the bottom of the pot, poor enough to want amnesia. That's why your father would never betroth you to me. You're a pampered young master; once you follow me you'll have to suffer, going meal-to-meal, and sometimes even having to drink the northwest wind! Better part ways right now, we're through." She fluttered her eyebrows and laid it on thick.

He choked, his eyes shimmering with a soft glow as he looked at her.

Seeing him bluffed, she immediately pretended to raise her sleeve to press at the corner of her eye, keeping up the act. "You originally came from a wealthy household, why torture yourself to stay with a poor wretch like me? I won't be able to give you happiness or a future. Look, even the heavens made you forget your memories, so we might as well yield to the will of heaven and each go our own way from now on!"

Trolling her tongue out, she seized the moment to get up and make a run for it.

"No!" With a firm refusal, she was forcefully hauled back by a long arm, her whole body tumbling onto the bed. A chest with slightly parted robes pressed against her cheeks, and two arms locked her securely in an embrace, nearly squeezing the air right out of her lungs.

"Was I arrogant and haughty before, acting like a spoiled young master? Did I boast about having money and act superior? Was I really annoying? Was I... bad to you?"

...The plotline was way too rich! There really wasn't much of a past between them, so why wouldn't he believe her?! Let go, let go, stop gripping me so tight! What kind of picture did two men hugging and tangling on a bed make?! Standing outside were the personal guards who loved him like their very lives, she'd be beaten to dust the moment she walked out the door!

Yet the more she struggled, the more convinced he became that the truth was just as he imagined, and his arms tightened further, refusing in every way to let her leave his embrace.

His rose-colored soft lips twitched slightly, and a slightly damp palm grabbed her hand and pressed it against his cheek. Light kisses fell like a drizzle on the back of her hand, and his dark pupils locked onto her wandering eyes, forcing her with nowhere to escape except to look at him as two lips quietly parted to form a tiny slit.

"I'll change."

"..."

"My young master temper, I'll change it. Arrogance and haughtiness, I'll change them. Having money..."

"Don't change that one!" She eagerly covered his mouth. "That one... can stay." Such a good perk definitely couldn't be casually changed away.

The corners of his lips curved into a smile, and he took the opportunity to affectionately press closer to her palm. "Fine. That one stays. Then being bad to you, should I change that?"

"...You, figure it out yourself." The heartbeat in her chest was so heavy, what was going on? How did a casual sentence or two from him manage to drag her into this non-existent plot as well, making it feel as though... she really used to be that way toward him...

"Alright, I'll figure it out." His eyes held a smile as he turned her head, lowered his head, and moved to...

Author has something to say:

...It was just a slightly ambiguous descriptive style, nothing actually happened, so I just deleted it.

Chapter 21

How could this happen?! Just because the atmosphere was too good and she let her guard down for a split second, she wasn't out of her mind enough to make out with Li Chenjing on a bed!

Her head jerked firmly away, and his approaching lips hit nothing, brushing only against the strands of hair beside her ear. This direct and obvious rejection caused his entire body to stiffen, his mood plunging, his expression cooling as he watched her uneasily shift her body to try and distance herself from him a little. Sighing, he gently tossed a few strands of her hair, smoothly easing her embarrassment by pulling her whole body back into his embrace, holding her tight. He stopped forcing her, resting his forehead against hers instead.

"You're not willing?"

"...Ngh! Don't be like this, your family will see..." Yesterday's dog barks still lingered in the rafters, ringing in her ears. If she took advantage of him, she'd face mortal danger and unwarranted disaster at any moment.

"It doesn't matter if they don't agree, I don't remember them anyway. I've decided, I'm going to betroth myself to you."

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Historical Romance

Woman Dressed as a Man