Chapter 146: Planning to Move in Permanently, Are We?

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Your Highness, Wanwan was wrong, Wanwan spoke out of turn. Please, Your Highness, do not send Wanwan away." Lin Wanwan instantly realized that Xiao Jingxuan had done all this to please Su Jingluo, and hurriedly dropped to her knees at Su Jingluo's feet, pleading bitterly.

...This Lin Wanwan must have something wrong in the head. It was clearly Xiao Jingxuan who told her to leave, yet the way she put it made it sound as though Su Jingluo was the one driving her out.

"I didn't say a single thing. Stop acting pitiful and trying to throw mud at me. What did I even say? I didn't say anything, alright?" Su Jingluo glared at Xiao Jingxuan. It was all his fault for provoking such a lunatic. He better hurry up and pacify her; dropping to her knees at the drop of a hat made it look like she was bullying the girl.

"Enough said, go back." Xiao Jingxuan saw Su Jingluo glare at him and assumed it meant he should hurry up and deal with the situation.

"Your Highness, where can Wanwan go? My father does not cherish me at home, and my stepmother considers me a burden. Because of my foolish infatuation with my cousin, I have remained unmarried for years, causing my father and stepmother to despise me even more. Your Highness, please, do not drive Wanwan away, won't you?" Lin Wanwan crawled forward on her knees for a few steps and grabbed Su Jingluo's ankle, her voice extremely mournful and pathetic.

Not this trick again. She refused to marry of her own accord, yet made it sound as though Xiao Jingxuan were some heartless scoundrel.

"Did your cousin ever promise to marry you?" Su Jingluo stepped back to keep her distance from Lin Wanwan, her voice chillingly cold. Xiao Jingxuan felt a sense of impending doom—was Su Jingluo getting a bad impression of him? Was his newly won wife about to have a change of heart?

"Well, no, but since we were children—" Lin Wanwan did not know why Su Jingluo was asking this, but she still tried her utmost to make it sound as though her relationship with Xiao Jingxuan was exceptionally close.

"Since he never did, do not ever blame Xiao Jingxuan again for your delayed marriage. Whether you adored him or waited bitterly for him, that was entirely your own choice. Never bring this up again. He is my husband, and no matter how much you fancy him, I must ask you to restrain yourself in my presence." Su Jingluo looked at Lin Wanwan, who was weeping uncontrollably, without a shred of pity. This was a classic case of giving an inch and taking a mile, and Su Jingluo had no intention of spoiling her. Besides, since Xiao Jingxuan had promised to grow old together under the snow, she was going to defend that promise of a lifelong bond.

"Yes, yes, yes, Wanwan won't say it anymore. Then can Your Highness allow Wanwan to stay in the Manor?" In truth, Su Jingluo had said similar things to Lin Wanwan before, but voicing them today right in front of Xiao Jingxuan was meant to snap him out of letting himself be driven by misplaced guilt. Furthermore, when she said it last time, it was not as Xiao Jingxuan's wife; today's words were practically a declaration of sovereignty.

"Lin Wanwan, do you think we are trading conditions? Because you don't pester my husband, I am supposed to keep you in the Manor? You had no business pestering Xiao Jingxuan in the first place, and I am under no obligation to keep you here. As for whether Xiao Jingxuan wants to keep you, that is his affair. It's just one more pair of chopsticks and an extra quilt. Go discuss it with your cousin." Su Jingluo was so utterly exasperated by Lin Wanwan's twisted logic that she didn't want to say another word. She turned around and walked straight back to Luojing Pavilion.

"Cousin!" Seeing Su Jingluo leave, Lin Wanwan spun around, dropped to her knees before Xiao Jingxuan, and cried out his name in a pitiful, plaintive voice, her eyes shimmering with pleading and yearning.

"Jingluo is right. It is time for a proper conclusion between you and me. Go back. The Princess and I will have a fresh start, and you are an obstacle to that." Xiao Jingxuan had always felt guilty toward Lin Wanwan, feeling that her waiting was a result of his own betrayal. Even when he knew Lin Wanwan was conspiring with the Empress against him, he still couldn't harden his heart. Yet Su Jingluo's words had awakened him with a single stroke. What had he done wrong? With no promises and no ambiguous behavior, had the mutual warmth of their youth simply become a pair of shackles?

Besides, he absolutely could not let the wife he had worked so hard to win be driven away by Lin Wanwan's meddling.