Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

Fu Yuan was stunned.

For no apparent reason, the events of the night he called off the engagement resurfaced in her mind.

That night, he invited his friends to drink at the Forget-Worry Restaurant. During the meal, Zui Huan, unusually, agreed to accompany them.

She even took out a handkerchief from her body and wiped his sweat in front of everyone.

He gained a lot of face in front of his friends, but he accidentally got very drunk.

It was late at night when I got home.

For some reason, Wen Yu remained at the Fu family home and did not return.

Upon learning that he had returned drunk, she took the initiative to come to his room to serve him.

As Fu Yuan lay on the bed, he sensed a figure moving in the room and assumed it was his maid, Xiao Yao.

When the other person brought over the hangover soup, he took advantage of his drunkenness and pulled the other person into his arms.

However, the person in her arms only let out a cry of surprise and then suddenly stopped moving.

Fu Yuan was slightly drunk and wanted to tease her, but when he noticed that the person in his arms was stiff, he felt that something was wrong.

Then, by the light of the candlestick by the bed, he took a closer look and was so frightened that he sobered up halfway.

"Is it you?"

Upon seeing the face of the person in his arms, Fu Yuan's eyes revealed an undisguised disgust.

He stood up, shoved her aside, and demanded, "Why are you in my room?"

Although Wen Yu felt wronged, she still carefully explained, "Brother Fu, it was Yu'er who promised Madam to embroider a sachet, and I specially brought it here today."

"Madam said you had gone out, so she asked me to stay for dinner at her residence..."

"I was just about to leave when my maid told me that you had drunk too much, so I came to check on you."

As she spoke, she moved closer to him, almost ingratiatingly, and handed him the brocade pouch that she hadn't given away at her birthday banquet, her face flushed with shyness.

"I embroidered two of these brocade pouches; this one is just for you..."

Fu Yuan not only ignored him, but also deliberately put on a cold face and said some unpleasant things.

"You're an unmarried woman, staying in someone else's house so late. What kind of reputation will this make?"

Wen Yu quickly replied, "I don't care, anyway... I'm going to marry you in the future."

Hearing this, Fu Yuan became even more annoyed: "You have no shame, but I do. Now get out of here!"

Seeing that he was angry, Wen Yu was at a loss for what to do.

She quickly apologized to him, "Brother Fu, I'm sorry. Yu'er didn't mean to upset you. I just wanted to stay and take care of you..."

No matter how pitiful she sounded, Fu Yuan remained cold and unyielding, showing her no mercy whatsoever.

After a brief standoff, Wen Yu, seeing that he still ignored her, could only silently get up and leave.

However, as he turned around, a silk handkerchief embroidered with red plum blossoms suddenly fell out from his sleeve.

Wen Yu suddenly stopped in her tracks; she immediately thought of the Drunken Pleasure at the Forget-Worry Restaurant…

At that moment, a strange emotion welled up inside her, and she suddenly mustered the courage to ask, "Brother Fu, do you really... like the Drunken Delight at the Forget-Worry Restaurant?"

Fu Yuan felt somewhat guilty upon hearing this, but he snorted coldly and replied ambiguously, "Who in Beiding County wouldn't like a woman like Zui Huan?"

Wen Yu then asked, "...What do you like about her?"

Fu Yuan, however, was already impatient. "Why ask so many questions? Just go back!"

Wen Yu suddenly gritted her teeth, disregarded everything, turned around and threw herself into his arms.

Then, she started frantically tearing at her clothes, saying, "Brother Fu Yuan, please don't send me away, I... I'll give you anything..."

Fu Yuan stood there stunned.

He watched helplessly as she removed her outer and inner garments right before his eyes, leaving her in only a light pink undergarment…

She stood timidly before him, her body trembling like a leaf from nervousness and fear.

After Fu Yuan realized what was happening, he felt his blood and qi surge.

At that moment, he thought the other person was looking down on him: "Wen Yu, what kind of person do you take me, Fu Yuan, for? You call yourself a lady of a respectable family, yet...yet you've done such a shameless thing?"

His face flushed crimson. He threw the clothes off the floor one by one back at her, yelling, "Put them on! I never want to see you again!"

Fu Yuan personally escorted Wen Yu home, which immediately alarmed Wen Yu's parents and her brother.

He showed no mercy and told Wen's parents everything about Wen Yu staying in his room and refusing to leave.

Finally, he added, "Regarding my marriage to Miss Wen, I beg you, Uncle, to rescind your decision. This matter—let's consider it my fault!"

"Let my uncle and aunt resent me, but I will never marry a shameless woman and make her a wife of the Fu family."

After uttering such resolute words, Fu Yuan turned and left.

Wen Yu wanted to chase after him to explain, but was stopped by his older brother and slapped hard across the face.

"Going again? Haven't you lost face enough already?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Yuan felt an unprecedented sense of relief regarding his decision to break off the engagement.

He understood all too well that as long as he shifted all the blame onto Wen Yu, he could completely get rid of her.

Given the Wen family's nature, they would only dare to blame their daughter, and would never say a word against themselves.

But now, thinking about these things again, Fu Yuan felt a sharp pang in his heart.

Of course, it wasn't because of a change of heart, but simply because it felt unbelievable.

Wen Yu didn't want to marry him anymore...

Wen Yu continued, "Everyone thinks that my death is because you broke off the engagement and married a courtesan instead."

They all thought I was head over heels in love with you…

"But in reality, I don't love you at all. The reason I wanted to marry you so much is because I had always placed all my hopes for living on you."

"A woman like me, born... it seems, has no other choice but to marry a good husband."

"Everyone around me is 'disciplining' me, as if all I need to do in this life is to marry 'Fu Yuan'."

"No one has ever asked me whether I was willing, and I myself have never even thought about it."

Regardless of whether Fu Yuan could understand what she was saying, Wen Yu continued, amidst the other's astonished expression, "Fu Yuan, putting all that aside, you are neither worthy of my marriage nor worthy of Miss Zui Huan's marriage."

"To you, a woman is merely a matter of face. Of course, you have your reasons for not wanting to marry me."

"Do you think that the eldest son of the prestigious Fu family can't even choose a wife and can't hold his head up in front of his friends?"

"You married Zuihuan, also for the sake of saving face; you have no love for her at all."

"Otherwise, he wouldn't be so critical of her after only a month of marriage..."

Fu Yuan wanted to defend himself, but after hearing the rest, he found himself speechless.

He was silent.

Seeing that he remained silent, Wen Yu deliberately took a few steps closer to him.

Fu Yuan was terrified and instinctively shrank back. He murmured something, as if he was about to say something.

Wen Yu leaned down gently, placed her fingers to his lips, and suddenly gave a cold laugh.

"You don't need to defend yourself. I will never kill you, but I know that your good days are coming to an end."