Lotus in a Bottle - Chapter 24

Section 40

So he really had lied to Shen Huaihuan back then, tricking him into coming to protect me during that critical period.

I’d already suspected as much, but now that I had confirmation, I couldn’t bring myself to feel happy.

“So you planned all of this from the start. Shen Huaihuan, the Xie Family… Was arguing with me and making me go home part of your plan too?”

Or, looking even further back, had everything he’d ever said to me merely been another move in his game?

Tan Lian didn’t deny it. He merely lowered his eyes and looked at me.

I pressed my lips together and slowly tried to rise.

“Tan Lian… you’re terrifying.”

I was just an ordinary merchant.

The only skill I could truly boast of was making incense. I wasn’t particularly clever. I couldn’t keep up with his thoughts, nor could I understand his schemes.

All I knew was that I was afraid.

It turned out Zhou Luoyue and the others had been absolutely right at Fengguo Temple.

Tan Lian and I belonged to different worlds. Forcing ourselves to stay together could never end well.

“You’re the Emperor now. You can have all the wealth and beautiful women you could ever want, so stop wasting your time on me.”

At that, I suddenly felt like laughing.

I remembered the original novel I’d seen in my dream.

Tan Lian was the kind of man everyone fell for. With so many people in love with him, he certainly wouldn’t miss me.

I shook off the hand gripping mine and prepared to leave the boat.

But the instant I pulled free, I heard a muffled groan. He had clearly tried to suppress it, but the sound was still unmistakable.

I turned around instinctively and saw a crimson stain rapidly spreading across Tan Lian’s shoulder blade.

It was that old wound from Xiangyang.

But so much time had passed that even a child born back then should have been weaned by now. How could the wound still not be healed?

“It’s a new injury from when the Second Prince ambushed me. It just happened to be in the same spot as the old one.”

The nonchalant way he spoke of the old wound only made me more uneasy.

After all, he really had saved my life in Xiangyang…

I slowly edged closer, wanting to take a look at his injury.

But Tan Lian moved away.

I froze where I stood.

With his eyes lowered, Tan Lian lightly tapped a finger against the tea table.

“Didn’t you say I was terrifying and that you were going to find that idi-find Shen Huaihuan? Hurry up and go. Don’t worry about me. A terrifying man like me probably won’t die anyway.”

I was speechless.

He still had the energy to put on an act, so he was probably fine.

I obediently stood up. “Is that so? Then I’ll be going.”

Tan Lian’s expression changed in an instant. His face darkened as he seized the hand I had raised toward the curtain.

“Damn it, get back here!”