Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 357 - Two Hundred Fifty-Two: Loss

Chapter 357: Chapter Two Hundred Fifty-Two: Loss

"......."

The conversation fell into silence.

Looking into the murderous intent in Li Qingyan’s eyes, Xu Yuan felt he should be moved.

After all, she was willing to harbor thoughts of killing her own brother for the sake of her fiancé.

But for some reason, Xu Yuan was feeling very calm at the moment, so calm that he even thought Li Qingyan was putting on an act for him.

If it had been Big Ice Lump who wanted to draw a sword and chop Li Zhaoyuan, he would have had no doubts, but Li Qingyan... well, she might as well not bother.

Although the two of them were now being open with each other, even if Li Qingyan were willing to engage in a more intimate exchange with him on this grand red bed, Xu Yuan still wouldn’t trust her.

So regarding this matter, Xu Yuan did not respond directly.

Glancing towards the direction of the main entrance of the barracks, he asked with a smile:

"Vice Commander Cang’s news travels fast? Right after the battle ended, His Highness brought me here?"

Vice Commander Cang’s speed shouldn’t match Li Zhaoyuan’s, even if Li Zhaoyuan claims that deploying the Dao Domain was helped by external forces, that’s still at least pseudo-First Grade.

"How Vice Commander Cang informed this palace is not important."

Li Qingyan slightly shook her head, staring at Xu Yuan, without any intention of skipping the topic: "What’s important is, does my second brother really want to kill you, Prince Consort?"

"......"

Seeing the persistence in Li Qingyan’s eyes, Xu Yuan thought for a moment, his smile unchanging:

"If I say yes, do you plan to exterminate your kin for the sake of righteousness, Qingyan?"

Li Qingyan’s brows slightly furrowed upon hearing this. She seemed unsatisfied with Xu Yuan’s ambiguous answer, and with a faint smile, she replied just as ambiguously:

"Exterminating kin for the sake of righteousness... isn’t exactly rare in the history of my Li Family."

"Not necessarily..."

Xu Yuan sighed softly, enunciating every word: "Qingyan, our relationship shouldn’t have reached that point yet."

"Our relationship isn’t there yet?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingyan glanced over her body and asked with a smiling eye: "Then... Prince Consort, what do you think it would take for our relationship to be appropriate?"

Xu Yuan met her gaze, smiled, but did not speak.

Li Qingyan was indeed very good to him, even to the point of almost causing him to lose his restraint.

But their relationship just wasn’t there,

At least not to the point where she could harbor thoughts of killing her own brother for his sake.

But the biggest lesson those bad women from his past life taught him was not to trust a bad woman’s acting, especially when he wasn’t clear on what the bad woman wanted from him.

Seeing Xu Yuan’s unaffected demeanor, as if a pig unafraid of boiling water, Li Qingyan’s smile faded. Her gaze seemed to penetrate the walls, seeing Li Zhaoyuan standing at the entrance of the barracks:

"Prince Consort... my thoughts of killing my second brother are indeed not because he wanted to kill you."

"...."

Xu Yuan’s cheek twitched.

To kill the second brother...

Was this something you could just say outright?

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan chuckled and, with interest, stared at Li Qingyan:

"You’re quite straightforward."

Li Qingyan’s red eyes swept over Xu Yuan, devoid of previous affectionate ambiguity, her voice as cold as on the battlefield:

"If I lied, with your intelligence, Prince Consort, you surely wouldn’t believe me."

Xu Yuan asked with a touch of curiosity:

"In that case, why does it anger you, Qingyan?"

"Prince Consort, what do you think would be the consequences of your death in Northern Border City?" Li Qingyan asked instead of answering.

"Hmm?"

Xu Yuan voiced his doubt, pondered for a moment, and replied with a smile: "If I were to die in Northern Border City, my father would probably be heartbroken, and if he’s heartbroken... likely many people would die."

A trace of coldness appeared in Li Qingyan’s red eyes:

"Indeed, many people would die, but that’s not important. What’s important is that the cooperation between the Emperor and Minister Xu would instantly suffer a rift."

She paused for a moment,

Li Qingyan stared at Xu Yuan, a dangerous glint flickering in her eyes:

"Prince Consort, who do you think would want you to die in Northern Border City?"

Xu Yuan was silent for several moments, then uttered two words:

"Sects."

"Yes, the Sects,"

Li Qingyan smiled, but the smile around her red lips was as chilling as eternal glacial ice:

"Therefore, my second brother absolutely cannot harbor any thoughts of killing you. If he wants to kill you, it indicates he wants to disrupt the cooperation between the Emperor and Minister Xu, which means he has resorted to unscrupulous means for the sake of competing for the throne by aligning with those Sects."

"......"

As her words ended, Xu Yuan’s thoughts began to spread.

Li Zhaoyuan wanting to kill him, he had at first only considered issues related to the inheritance of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and had not thought deeply about it......

If he truly died at Northern Border, whether it was investigated or not, whether it was Li Zhaoyuan’s doing or not, the Imperial Family would have to bear the blame.

Initially, it was you, Li Yaoxuan, who promised to have me, Xu Yinhè, send my progeny into your military to exchange for mutual trust, but now he’s dead, died right under your noses, care to explain?

And this matter was inexplicable.

Perhaps my father might guess someone was sabotaging from within, yet he couldn’t be certain.

Because although the Sects were a thorn in the side of the Imperial Family, the Prime Minister’s Mansion was no less so.

The alliance of mutual trust between the two parties was as fragile as glass, and his death, Xu Yuan’s, would be the pebble that shattered that glass.

At this thought,

Xu Yuan looked up, his gaze slightly puzzled, observing the stunningly dressed figure in red before him.

Li Qingyan probably didn’t have as much information as he did, and she knew of it later than him.

Sheesh...

Why was this woman not only highly skilled in martial arts but also so clever?

How would that allow him to restore his...

"Prince Consort..."

Li Qingyan’s soft murmur interrupted Xu Yuan’s thoughts.

He looked up.

In those red eyes of hers, the breathtaking elegance shimmered:

"After our grand wedding, outside, I am Wu Yuan, but at home, I am just Qingyan. You... don’t need to worry about restoring any patriarchal authority."