Volume 3, Chapter 233 – This Moment, Just Like That Moment

“Miss Yu…”

Bu Lianshuang stared blankly at Lu Zhuxin. She hadn’t expected the fox lady before her to say such words.

Her chest, which had felt stuffy earlier, uncontrollably surged with a wave of sourness.

Hypocritical? False?

Bu Lianshuang had never thought of it that way.

She had always been seriously considering her future with this fox lady.

Every one of her decisions came from her true heart!

“It’s not like that, Miss Yu!” Bu Lianshuang said. “Please believe me!”

“Your Highness,” Lu Zhuxin said. “Before I believe you again, I’ll ask you just one question. Answer me honestly.”

“If there had never been a rule from the beginning that the goddess’s true face cannot be defiled by outsiders, would you still like me this way, even to the point of union?”

“Of course I would…” Bu Lianshuang was about to answer.

Lu Zhuxin shook her head, interrupting her. “Your Highness, think carefully before answering.”

“…” Bu Lianshuang fell into silence.

If there hadn’t been that so-called rule, would she have developed such thoughts toward the fox lady before her?

Bu Lianshuang wasn’t certain.

The debt of saving her life was difficult to repay.

Without that rule, Bu Lianshuang might not have considered their relationship in that direction.

Relations between the fox and wolf clans weren’t particularly good.

Bu Lianshuang might be attracted to this fox lady before her and become friends with her.

But whether they would develop a more intimate relationship was hard to say.

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Bu Lianshuang understood what this fox lady meant now.

Lu Zhuxin smiled. “So, Your Highness, let me ask that earlier question once more.”

“Do you truly believe that these words you’re saying to me now, these thoughts you’re expressing, come from liking me, or from love?”

Bu Lianshuang didn’t speak. She only unconsciously clenched her pink fists within her sleeves.

After the fox lady said those words to her, she found she now had no way to answer this question.

Seeing this, Lu Zhuxin’s face showed a light smile tinged with mockery.

“Your Highness,” Lu Zhuxin said. “Before you feel you can treat me with sincerity, please first treat yourself with sincerity.”

“Deceiving me doesn’t matter. I’m not so easily deceived.”

“But please don’t deceive yourself.”

“That’s all I have to say, Your Highness.”

After Lu Zhuxin finished speaking, without caring about Bu Lianshuang’s reaction, she turned and left.

Bu Lianshuang stared blankly at the fox lady’s retreating back.

For some reason, she felt the sourness in her chest growing even stronger.

She wanted to call out to stop that fox lady, but didn’t know what to say.

She could only watch helplessly as the fox lady’s figure slowly disappeared from her view.

Bu Lianshuang raised her hand to cover her constantly heaving chest, slowly leaning against the door panel behind her.

She felt so wronged.

False romance? Self-deceiving confession?

The wolf clan was conservative and traditional, remaining faithful unto death once they recognized someone.

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The wolf clan was honest and proud, never speaking falsely, never deceiving.

She, the dignified princess of the wolf clan, had actually been accused of being “hypocritical” by the girl she wanted to get close to.

Taking a step back, could the starting point really be wrong enough to completely negate all her feelings?

Bu Lianshuang wasn’t a fox. She didn’t understand the fox’s view of love.

…

On the other side, Lu Zhuxin walked out of the courtyard.

The System’s voice immediately rang in her mind.

[Host, were those words you just spoke meant to reject Bu Lianshuang?]

[Bu Lianshuang is one of the Heaven-Mandated Female Leads. Does Host plan to give up on conquering her?]

Lu Zhuxin raised her hand to rub her forehead.

The earlier exchange had stirred up some unpleasant memories.

This moment, just like that moment.

“You’re wrong,” Lu Zhuxin said. “I don’t plan to give up on the conquest.”

“Quite the opposite. This rejection now is for a better conquest later.”

[What do you mean by this?]

Lu Zhuxin’s words paused slightly before she said, “I negated all her words not because I wanted to push her away.”

“Rather, I wanted her to truly recognize her own feelings.”

“The wolf clan rarely lies, and I also believe Bu Lianshuang wouldn’t deceive me.”

“But her problem now is that she simply doesn’t understand what true love and liking actually feel like.”

“Who can guarantee that the liking she feels now doesn’t stem from adherence to wolf clan tradition and gratitude toward her lifesaver?”

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“If I accept her in this way, could it really count as a qualified conquest?”

[But Host, in the original text, Bu Lianshuang was conquered in exactly this way.]

Lu Zhuxin pressed hard on the center of her forehead.

“This is different,” she said. “Here is not that world.”

“Bu Lianshuang is also not that Bu Lianshuang.”

[Hm?]

The System seemed to produce a question mark.

Lu Zhuxin smiled. “When she completely recognizes her own feelings, that will be when the conquest truly begins.”

“Of course, there’s also the most important point.”

“The easier something is to obtain, the less one can cherish it.”

“Only treasures won through exhausting all one’s efforts can occupy sufficient weight in her heart.”

“That is my purpose.”

[So Host had already planned everything?]

“Naturally,” Lu Zhuxin said. “I never do useless work.”

“However…” Lu Zhuxin curved her lips and added, “Won’t you give a brief evaluation of my plan?”

“What do you think of this plan? Is the feasibility high?”

[The System only has authority to assist Host and does not have authority to comment on Host’s plans.]

“Hehe…” Lu Zhuxin laughed lightly.

However, just at this moment, a yellow fox rushed over hurriedly.

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“Your Majesty, this is bad!”

“People from the Chi family have come looking.”

Lu Zhuxin’s delicate brows furrowed, her earlier smile completely dissipating. “Chi Xiyan?”

“Yes! But it’s not just Chi Xiyan.” The yellow fox said, “That eldest young lady of the Chi family sent her household servants to request people from the Demon Suppression Bureau.”

“She herself stayed behind alone to investigate.”

“By the looks of it, it won’t be long before they investigate their way here!”

“Your Majesty! What do we do, Your Majesty!”

“Don’t panic,” Lu Zhuxin soothed the yellow fox. “Things aren’t that dire yet.”

“No matter how capable Chi Xiyan is, she can’t possibly find this place immediately.”

“Before then, we still have enough time to make some preparations.”

Lu Zhuxin lowered her eyes in contemplation.

That this place might be discovered wasn’t strange.

The fox clan had many safe houses, so naturally they had considered the possibility of exposure.

However, Chi Xiyan was merely a Fourth Realm alchemist. How had she found her way here?

Whether it was the Demon Suppression Bureau or Chi Jingwen leading people to find them, Lu Zhuxin wouldn’t feel surprised.

“It seems there are still some secrets about these Heaven-Mandated Female Leads that I’m not aware of.”

Lu Zhuxin pondered, a trace of solemnity flashing through her eyes.

She had only just rescued the wolf clan princess. This place couldn’t be exposed so easily yet.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhuxin said to the yellow fox before her, “Go call that princess over. Tell her there’s a matter to discuss.”