Su Mian raised a hand and fanned the air in front of her face. "The shit smell is leaking out."
"..." To keep his anger in check, Lu Zhou hurriedly took a deep breath.
Su Mian said, "Are you trying to breathe in the shit smell?"
"..." Now Lu Zhou didn't even dare breathe.
Fine. He would hold it in for now.
Some of the rich second-generation heirs in their circle took revenge on women by buying them loads of luxury goods.
Once they dumped those women, the women would have grown accustomed to lives of glittering extravagance and could no longer live ordinary lives.
In the end, to maintain their socialite lifestyles, they would keep taking out loans until they were beyond redemption.
He would do the same to Su Mian today.
Once Su Mian could no longer stand an ordinary life, she would definitely come crawling back on her knees, begging him to get back together!
Lu Zhou soothed his emotions and didn't lose his temper at all.
He even personally drove Su Mian and that pile of purchases back to where she lived.
Su Mian planned to put everything away at home before going to the hospital to see her mother.
Soon, carrying bags large and small, Lu Zhou followed Su Mian back to her rented apartment.
As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they actually saw Duan Xuanyu there too!
Lu Zhou felt an inexplicable hostility toward him. Suddenly wanting to show off, he lowered his head and said to Su Mian, "If you like these things I bought you, I'll buy you more next time."
Su Mian said, "Sure, sure."
Duan Xuanyu walked over expressionlessly, snatched the bags from Su Mian's hands, and tossed them at Lu Zhou's feet. "Take your paltry scraps and get lost."
Su Mian immediately picked everything back up. "No, the paltry scraps stay. He can get lost on his own. He owes me all this from those three years."
"..." Holding back his anger, Duan Xuanyu grabbed Su Mian's hand and pressed her finger against the fingerprint lock to open it.
He led her inside and slammed the door shut.
Outside, Lu Zhou gritted his teeth.
It was fine. The Duan Family wasn't a household just anyone could marry into.
The Duan Family was a complete mess.
Su Mian would never get through their gates.
Otherwise, why hadn't Duan Xuanyu taken Su Mian to the Duan Family home, instead of coming to this cramped rental of hers?
There was absolutely no chance for those two.
Having reassured himself, Lu Zhou went home to wait for Su Mian to regret it and come begging him!
Su Mian casually set everything on the table and sat down on the sofa. "Why did you come back?"
Duan Xuanyu sat beside her, staring straight at her.
He had chatted with his grandson last night and suddenly understood many things.
Su Mian had dunked her ex-boyfriend's head in water on the show.
At the time, he hadn't understood what "ex-boyfriend" meant.
Only now did he understand: someone she had loved before.
The show Su Mian had brought him onto was apparently called a dating show.
At first, he hadn't understood what a dating show meant.
Only now did he understand: going on a show to find someone to fall in love with.
Duan Xuanyu wrapped an arm around Su Mian's waist and pulled her into his embrace. "Am I alone not enough? You want to go on a show to find male pets too?"
Su Mian looked up at the handsome face so close to hers, a wild, fierce little wolfdog.
Sob, sob, sob...
She was exactly the sort of person who told wicked temptations to come right over.
No, stop!
Since he now had a thorough understanding of this era, there was no need to keep deceiving him.
Time to come clean about everything!
Su Mian gently removed his hand and asked him seriously, "Let me ask you. Is this era good?"
Duan Xuanyu nodded. "Yes."
Su Mian said, "Then why should I give up my life now and go back to Northern Liang with you? Just because I love you?"
Duan Xuanyu choked, then immediately said, "I can develop Northern Liang to be just like this place too."
Su Mian smiled and shook her head. "If you can eradicate illiteracy in Great Liang and reduce warfare within your lifetime, you'll already be remembered as a wise ruler for the ages. Northern Liang's literacy rate is less than 0.01% right now, isn't it? How are you going to modernize it?"
"Besides, to consolidate imperial power, feudal society suppresses economic development. Scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants-commerce ranks last. Without an economy, what technology is there to speak of?"
"Unless you're willing to voluntarily give up your throne and change the nature of society... can you do that?"
Duan Xuanyu was speechless.
So time-travel novels were something to read and leave at that.
An ancient emperor couldn't possibly give up his supreme power for a woman he liked.
Nor could a modern woman give up a life of modern civilization, equality, and technology for a man she liked.
Su Mian had traveled through time. She understood how hard life was for women in ancient times.
Never mind having no phone or internet, never mind having no water heater for a convenient shower, never mind having no flush toilet... the real problem was that there weren't even sanitary pads.
Menstrual belts were filled with plant ash.
You couldn't even get pain relief during childbirth.
Not to mention the rigid, clearly defined hierarchy of ancient society.
She had won Duan Xuanyu's heart through deception while he was still a youth, then stayed by his side as he fought to conquer the realm, and only then had she gained equal standing with him as a person.
She didn't have to kneel before him, their marriage was monogamous, and she didn't have to humbly refer to herself as "your consort" when speaking.
Yet these were plainly rights that women in the twenty-first century were born with.
She had needed to risk her life to obtain them.
So no matter how much she loved a man, no matter how much she lusted after his body.
She could never go back to ancient times with him.
Su Mian took a deep breath.
Since they had already spoken so openly.
She might as well be honest and explain everything.
"Actually, when I traveled back to ancient times, I treated you so well to farm your Affection Points, because I had to max out your Affection Points before I could return to modern times."
"I know deceiving you emotionally was wrong, but I also saved your life many times. I helped you ascend the throne, helped you consolidate your rule, and helped you eliminate external threats and internal troubles. You could say we both benefited..."
Duan Xuanyu knitted his brows slightly. "So you're on this dating show now to farm those other two people's Affection Points too?"
Su Mian said, "No."
Duan Xuanyu breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, then."
I don't want Su Mian treating other men the same way she treats me...
Su Mian said, "Wait, I told you all that, and all you care about is whether I'm farming their Affection Points?"
Duan Xuanyu stared straight at Su Mian's lips as they opened and closed.
Forgot the beginning, forgot the end.
My empress is so beautiful.
As if unable to control himself, he wrapped his arms around her waist again, pulled her firmly into his embrace, and lowered his head to kiss her deeply.
Su Mian shoved him away, raised her hand, and slapped him!
"Duan Xuanyu, are you insane! Do you still think you're an emperor in feudal times who can do whatever he wants? I can report you for sexual harassment and have you arrested and shot!"
Duan Xuanyu's cheek burned with pain, yet his eyes held a smile.
He took her hand and gently rubbed his slapped cheek against her palm.
"Su Mian, you don't have to tell me all that. I don't understand."
"Anyway, you're my only empress."
His dark eyes were clear and sincere, without a trace of impurity, holding only endless love and longing for her.
Like a puppy looking at its owner.
Su Mian instinctively shrank back.
Get away from me, quick...
You wicked temptation...
By the time Su Mian finally reached the hospital to see her mother, the delay had brought her arrival to nearly noon.
Duan Xuanyu had insisted on coming along too.
But when Su Mian reached the ward door, she still wouldn't let him in, telling him to wait outside.
Su Mian went in alone.
The moment she pushed open the ward door.
Her sickly mother was leaning against the bedside, looking at her with a beaming smile.
"Oh, you're here. Why didn't you wait until the seventh day after my death to visit me?"