"Childhood affection?" Lu Wanning shook off his hand. "Lord Fu, have you forgotten how you treated me before? Do you think we had any affection? Wasn't it just me chasing after you while you simply enjoyed the feeling of being pursued? Now that I've stopped chasing you, are you feeling unhappy?"
Fu Rongxuan was stunned and instinctively shook his head. "I've never thought like that, Princess. Although I've always regarded you as a younger sister, but..."
Lu Wanning interrupted impatiently, "Stop right there. Regard me as a younger sister? Come on. Would you treat your own sister like this? You have a younger sister yourself. Would you enjoy your sister's kindness every day without being willing to give anything in return?"
Fu Rongxuan was at a loss for words but still insisted, "Please listen to me. I've thought it through. Although I don't have that kind of romantic feeling for you, since we're already engaged, I'm not an irresponsible person. In the future, I'll surely treat you well. I'll make you my principal wife and give you honor all my life. I'll never let you down."
Lu Wanning was shocked. How could someone be so shameless as to say such things?
Seeing that Lu Wanning didn't say a word and didn't seem to be leaving, Fu Rongxuan quickly added, "Ning'er, last time at the He family, you asked me why I agreed to the engagement if my heart already belonged to someone else. I've thought about it for a long time. Now I can tell you that since I've agreed to it, I won't go back on my word."
Lu Wanning was so angry that she laughed. She retorted, "What about your Shi Aohan? Where do you place her?"
Fu Rongxuan explained, "You don't have to worry about this. In terms of family background, she can't compare with you. The principal wife of Fu Rongxuan can only be you."
Lu Wanning finally understood why in the original story, the original owner had been the princess consort for two years. It wasn't until the Lu family completely fell from grace that Fu Rongxuan demoted her from principal wife to concubine. And Fu Rongxuan even thought he had been kind enough just to confine her in the inner courtyard without taking her life.
What a weirdo.
Lu Wanning rolled her eyes. "Fu Rongxuan, make sure you understand this. I, Lu Wanning, am a princess. My father is the renowned General Lu Hongxi who guards the south. Do you think I'll care about the position of the wife of a mere duke's heir? In the past, you were lucky enough to be favored by me and had the chance to be my consort. But you didn't cherish it. Now that you've broken your promise and our engagement is off, how dare you still pester me?"
Fu Rongxuan blushed with anger. "How can you talk like this? You're a woman. You should depend on a man. I see. You've taken a fancy to His Highness, the Prince of Yu, which is why you've been so cold to me, right? Such a fickle woman will surely be despised by the scholars of the world."
Lu Wanning didn't want to talk to this idiot anymore. She turned around and left.
Fu Rongxuan stood there under the tree, stunned. He had thought that since Lu Wanning had liked him since childhood and pointed at him at a banquet when she was six, saying that she would be his wife in the future. Even if they had had some conflicts and she had other thoughts now, as long as he beckoned and said some soft words, she would surely come back to him.
But why...
Was Sheng Jinyu really that much to her heart? Had she forgotten him so quickly?
After returning to the mansion, Lu Wanning had been in a bad mood for several days. Lu Hannian was bored all day. He either went to his elder brother's place to play with his cute nephew or went to his younger sister's courtyard to cheer her up.
"Ning'er, are you bored? Brother will accompany you to stroll around the street."
Lu Wanning was lying on the imperial concubine's couch. She shook her head and said, "It's cold. It's snowing. I don't want to go."
Lu Hannian said again, "Then let's go to the courtyard to build a snowman. Let me tell you, in Luocheng, the sky is filled with yellow sand and there's too much wind and sand. The snow can't pile up. It's really impossible to build a snowman or have a snowball fight."
Lu Wanning turned over. "Chengcheng wants to build a snowman. You can go with him."
Seeing that Lu Wanning was not in the mood, Lu Hannian couldn't help but feel anxious. "Ning'er, are you feeling unwell? You've been staying in the room all day for the past two days without going out."
Lu Wanning sat up and asked, "Second brother, let me ask you. If you've made someone angry, how can you apologize to them?"
Lu Hannian asked, "You've made someone angry? Who dares to be angry with you? Tell brother. I'll go and teach him a lesson."
Lu Wanning was so angry that she turned around and ignored him.
Lu Hannian scratched his head and thought for a while. "Actually, I don't usually like to be angry with others. If I'm really angry, I'll just fight with that person. But you're a girl, so it's different. When your second sister-in-law makes me angry, we usually have a competition, and then everything will be fine."
Lu Wanning blinked her eyes. "Have a competition? That's a good idea. I'll let him beat me up to vent his anger later, and then it'll be okay."
Lu Hannian was shocked. "How can that be? Who dares to beat my little sister? Absolutely not allowed."
Lu Wanning ignored him and just urged, "Didn't you say you were going to make a scimitar for me? The day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve. After that, it'll be the New Year. My scimitar still hasn't been made?"
Lu Hannian shook his head. "Don't worry. You'll surely get it before the New Year. Consider it as a New Year's gift from your second brother."
Lu Wanning was in a better mood. After thinking for a while, she said, "Courtesy demands reciprocity. But I don't know what to give my second brother."
Lu Hannian was happy to see his younger sister's soft and cute appearance. He had lived in Luocheng for a long time. The women there were all rough due to the strong wind and sand. After being in contact with such women for too long, seeing his delicate and soft younger sister, he felt like he had to hold her in the palm of his hand for fear of dropping her. He gently stroked her head.
"Ning'er, your second brother has everything. I only hope that my little sister will be carefree all her life."
Carefree all her life? The original owner was far from being carefree. But now that she was his younger sister, she could try her best to achieve that for her.
While the siblings were chatting, they saw Xiangyun walking over. She was holding a box and bowed. "Young Master Lu, Princess. This was sent from the Prince of Yu's mansion. They said that it was the meeting gift as requested by Lady Lu the Third at the plum blossom banquet last time."
Lu Hannian took it curiously and asked, "What is it?"
Lu Wanning craned her neck to look. She saw a jade pendant in the shape of a jade rabbit. The jade rabbit was so cute and innocent.
Lu Hannian picked up the jade pendant and weighed it. He exclaimed, "It feels warm to the touch. This is a good thing."
Lu Wanning took the jade pendant. It was just a plain piece of jade without any tassels. She had to find something to match it.
"What's this?" There was something wrapped in brocade cloth in the big box.
Lu Hannian opened it. A jade screen appeared. There were flying cranes on it, looking so vivid. There were four big characters on the blank side: May You Live as Long as the Southern Mountain. Although it was simple, it seemed to have more meaning.
Lu Wanning was very satisfied. She picked it up and praised, "It seems I've chosen the right person. His Highness, the Prince of Yu's calligraphy really matches this jade screen well. It's great."
Lu Hannian frowned and looked at it for a long time before saying, "Why did you ask His Highness, the Prince of Yu, to write it? Big brother's calligraphy is also very good. His regular script is so neat. It's no worse than the Prince of Yu's."