The Favored Heiress
Chapter 460: What Matters is What You Think

Chapter 460: Chapter 460: What Matters is What You Think

As noon approached, Li Qiao had wandered about a third of the Secret Hall, her pace becoming increasingly listless.

Shang Yu hooked his arm around her waist, his tall figure enveloping her as he looked down and asked, "Tired?"

"Yeah, a little."

The Secret Hall was too vast, beyond her expectations.

Shang Yu tightened his embrace and arched his thick eyebrows, "Shall we go back to rest?"

Propped against his shoulder, Li Qiao nodded slightly, "OK, we can come back another time."

The Secret Hall assessment... when the time was right, she could indeed give it a try.

A few of them walked back towards the entrance along the air-raid shelter, Li Qiao lazily leaning on the man, and before long, they had returned to the valley.

Zuo Xuan and Zuo Tang stood outside the iron gate, watching them leave. As the helicopter slowly ascended, the wind from the rotors tousled their hair.

Zuo Xuan lowered his gaze to look at Zuo Tang, who was still looking up, and after a few seconds, he pondered, "What did you and Miss Li talk about?"

Zuo Tang slowly diverted her gaze, meeting Zuo Xuan’s, "Not much."

While speaking, she once again touched her left leg, a slight frown on her brow, seeming uncomfortable.

Zuo Xuan tugged at the corner of his mouth and sighed, "I’ve told you before, she’s not that narrow-minded, why did you have to remove your prosthetic limb?"

In fact, Zuo Tang hadn’t used a wheelchair for a long time, but for some reason, she had insisted on presenting herself in this way before Li Qiao.

Zuo Tang, facing Zuo Xuan’s disapproving expression, furrowed her brow and took a long time to ask, "Brother, you don’t think I sat in the wheelchair in front of Miss Li to feign weakness, do you?"

Zuo Xuan didn’t respond, but his silence implied agreement.

Zuo Tang immediately stretched out her right leg and gave him a light kick, "What are you imagining? I did it only to avoid a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Zuo Xuan, with his straightforward male way of thinking, clearly could not grasp her intentions.

Zuo Tang, holding the handle, moved her wheelchair into the tunnel. As the gate closed behind her, she spoke softly, "Miss Li is very smart. She must have heard something about me. You don’t understand women. In sitting in the wheelchair before her, I simply wanted to clarify my position."

"What position?" Zuo Xuan furrowed his brows, even more perplexed.

Looking straight ahead, she said with a slight smile, "That I’m a disabled person, unsuited to be the heroine’s match."

Zuo Xuan’s gaze faltered, pricked by her candid statement.

She was, after all, his sister, and he had long been aware of her feelings, "I thought today you wanted to..."

Before he could finish, Zuo Tang looked up at him, "You thought I wanted pity and sympathy?"

Zuo Xuan fell silent again, and she couldn’t help but laugh softly to herself, "What do I need those for..."

If the heroine was the type to feel pity for her, she wouldn’t have let the Family Master take her as his adopted daughter in the first place.

As an adopted daughter, in name, she was the heroine’s sister.

This status, seemingly noble, in fact, shattered all her fond dreams.

At that time, the seriously injured Zuo Tang recognized a truth—

When a man doesn’t love you, even if you risk your life for him, he still won’t love you.

Moreover, she was just a subordinate. With this in mind, why would she demean herself?

...

Twenty minutes later, Shang Yu and Li Qiao returned to the Mansion.

In the living room, Li Qiao nestled in a single sofa and rubbed her temples, as the time she spent in the wind at the training ground atop the mountain had left her with a slight headache.

"What’s wrong?" Shang Yu entered the living room and saw her frowning, his thick eyebrows rising slightly as he approached and gently stroked the top of her head.

Li Qiao, lacking energy, drooped her eyelids, "I have a bit of a headache."

The man sat down beside her, crossed his long legs, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lie on his lap. His rough, warm fingers gently pressed against her forehead. "Do you have any questions?"

Li Qiao lifted her eyelids and looked at his raised eyebrows, her own eyes half-closed and lips pursed with a hint of a smile, "No."

This was the second time he had asked her that question today.

His massage technique was very meticulous, and perhaps it was a psychological effect, but Li Qiao felt that the throbbing in her forehead had eased considerably.

At this moment, hearing her response, Shang Yu leaned in slightly and half-embraced her in his arms, lowering his handsome face teasingly, "Really none?"

His crisp breath sprinkled on her forehead, and Li Qiao, resting in the crook of his arm, slowly relaxed her eyebrows, her fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt, "Before going to the Secret Hall, I did have some thoughts about Zuo Tang.

However, after meeting her today, although my feelings are a bit complicated, she’s not He Xi, and she’s not Shang Fu, she’s much smarter than them."

A subordinate who kept everything within a reasonable scope, faultless and even very low-profile.

Li Qiao was well aware that Shang Yu had taken her to the Secret Hall; the tour was just a pretext, mostly to dispel any grudge she held against Zuo Tang in her heart.

Then, the man kissed her forehead, one arm holding her while the other continued to rub her temples, his gaze deeply fixed on her face, his voice low and slow, "It doesn’t matter who she is, what matters is what you think."

As he spoke, his thumb gently caressed Li Qiao’s cheek, his hold around her arm tightened a bit more, "He Chen says that because I have assigned Luoyu to Parma all year round, leaving only Zuo Tang as a female subordinate in South Sea, it led to his misunderstanding."

Moreover, Zuo Tang’s leg was indeed broken for his sake.

He Chen’s exact words were, "She broke her leg for you, aren’t you moved at all?"

He had responded with just three words, "Is it necessary?"

At this time, Li Qiao gazed unblinkingly at Shang Yu, whose eyes were dark and profound as he spoke in a calm and deep tone.

His words were mixed with a serious explanation from his heart.

People with paranoia often hold stubborn views due to a longstanding lack of security.

He might have always believed that Zuo Tang could become a thorn in her side, potentially affecting their relationship.

Therefore, regardless of everything, he had to take her into the Secret Hall to dispel any superfluous thoughts in her mind.

Li Qiao sighed deeply and turned her head to bury her face in his chest, her fingers clutching his shirt, silent for a long time.

She had never felt that Zuo Tang was that important; if there were indeed any issues, he wouldn’t have arranged for them to meet so easily.

And Zuo Tang’s performance only proved that she wasn’t a thoughtless subordinate.

Li Qiao mumbled into his chest, then after a while raised her head again, a teasing glint covering her eyes, "Are you afraid I’ll be jealous, or are you worried I’ll overthink?"

Shang Yu looked at her teasing demeanor, lowered his head to brush his lips against the corner of hers, his deep voice containing a thin thread of laughter, "She’s not qualified to make you jealous, but if you overthink, I’ll have to transfer her away from South Sea, never to appear again."

Love declarations are truly pleasant to hear.

Li Qiao was held by him like that, the corners of her eyes curved, her heart burning hot.

She lifted her chin and pecked his lips, her fingers lingering on his cheek, "I’m so busy every day, I don’t have time to overthink, missing you is enough."