After the divorce, I was adorned in a phoenix robe, while my ex-husband's entire family dug up

These words struck Lu Ze squarely at the heart. The fearless Lu Ze, who had been so fearless just moments before, suddenly began to feel ashamed. His lips froze as he watched the man he had been longing for trample his self-esteem underfoot time and time again. He suddenly felt utterly humiliated, as if his fig leaf had been ripped off. Every word struck him to the core, telling him how filthy, foolish, and lowly he was! How dare he even dream of Bai Yunxiao.

"Look at yourself! Do you think I'd like a cripple? Take a good look in the mirror. What do you have that he can compare to you? You actually have the audacity to think that once Song Nian is gone, you can take his place. How foolish!"

Lu Ze choked back tears, "Stop talking! Bai Yunxiao... stop talking!"

Leave me some dignity...

But Bai Yunxiao didn't care. He was also someone who had been hurt, and he wouldn't care how much pain the other person was in.

"You are selfish and arrogant, with a dark and filthy heart. You think more than you do, and you daydream all day long. You can't even make a spice shop smell bad. Don't you think you are a laughing stock? You are like this and you still expect me to like you? I would not even want you as a bed warmer."

Weren't you curious why I ignored you and avoided you after your shop ran into trouble? Listen carefully, I feel ashamed, I can't afford to lose face like this! From ancient times to the present, I have never heard of anyone who could make spices smell bad! Standing next to you has already made me lose all face!

Do you know how many people have laughed at me behind my back after you went around telling everyone about us? They all said I was really hungry to even think of messing with someone like you. I think that was a terrible decision. If I could turn back time, I would never have chosen to meet you! Did you hear me clearly? Do I need to be even more blunt?

Lu Ze's throat went dry. He opened his mouth, feeling incredibly embarrassed. He didn't know what to say to salvage his reputation after being abandoned and trampled into pieces.

If someone else had said these words, he wouldn't have thought anything of it. Instead, he would have thought that the other person was just jealous of him and was just making fun of his past careless mistakes. He wouldn't have thought it was anything serious.

But the person who said these words was Bai Yunxiao. He had worked so hard these past few days, diligently learning about spices and attending social events, all in the hope that Bai Yunxiao would change his opinion of him, that he would even glance at him, and that the two of them could return to their original state. But he never expected that no matter how much he did, in Bai Yunxiao's eyes, he was still the same person who made him feel ashamed. The way Bai Yunxiao looked at him was as if he were a piece of filthy, greasy garbage, a maggot wriggling in a swill bucket, disgusting and despicable.

He felt like he had gained nothing from all his efforts, and was even more deeply hurt.

He was unwilling to accept it. Mustering great courage, his voice hoarse and eyes brimming with tears, he said, "I've changed. I'm not like that anymore..."

He wanted to say that he had really changed a lot. He had started to work hard and put his anxiety behind him. He traveled all over the country tirelessly, working hard for his shop. He was no longer the arrogant and incompetent Lu Ze he used to be. He had already opened two shops. If things continued to develop like this, he would become a wealthy man in the capital.

All of this stems from my longing for a future with Bai Yunxiao. Bai Yunxiao, look at me closely. Although I've lost an arm and am physically disabled, and I've done many things that embarrassed you in the past, I've changed. I'm much more mature now. I wish I could lay my heart bare before you, to show you whether my passion for you is genuine. My feelings are what I most want to give you. Could you... reconsider me...?

Unfortunately, Bai Yunxiao didn't give him a chance to continue, only coldly scoffing as if he had heard a joke, "Heh."

"Excuse me, does anyone care whether you've changed or not? Who cares? Nobody cares! When will you understand that the world doesn't revolve around you?"

So what if you've changed? I don't care, and I have no interest in observing your so-called changes, because you've never been a person who ranks high in my eyes. If it weren't for your repeated antics, I would have almost forgotten about you.

As for the so-called feelings between us, I'm sorry, I only play along with everyone, and I really can't remember what kind of feelings I've ever had for you. If you want to exchange experiences or find someone to confide in, I'll have my servant write down a list for you. Those are all people I've been involved with, and you'll definitely have a lot in common.

"Don't presume to come up to me like that. This is harassment. And don't look at me like that. I can't write a list right now. I've long forgotten those people, just like I would forget you. But my servant remembers, and I'll have him draft the list and send it to your Yongxin Marquis's residence."

The noise around Lu Ze suddenly disappeared, and the world became deathly silent, with only the sound of his heart shattering, clear as thunder.

This was the first time in Bai Yunxiao's life that he had spoken to someone so harshly. Even he was shocked when he came to his senses that he had actually said such rude things!

It was clear that Lu Ze had truly angered him today; Lu Ze kept mentioning the word "mistake," which stirred up his deepest fears.

He knew from a young age that he was not an ordinary man and that he had no reaction to women. He even thought that he was abnormal until he first met Xiao He. Just the fact that Xiao He was standing there made his heart pound and his blood run cold.

He couldn't help but want to get closer to him. When he smelled the faint fragrance on him, all he wanted to do was hold him tightly and meld him into his very bones.

But he knew that he was the only abnormal person, and Xiao He would not like him. He would marry and have children like an ordinary man.

After he passed the imperial examination, countless families wanted to marry him. Xiao He quickly got engaged and planned to get married as soon as he returned from the remote area.

Upon receiving the news, Bai Yunxiao knew he would never see Xiao He again. Heartbroken, he drank himself into a stupor. It was then that he first experienced the feeling of searching for a substitute.

He spent a wild night with someone whose name he can no longer remember, and missed the day to see Xiao He off. The two never contacted each other again.

What he didn't know was that Xiao He had been waiting at the city gate for a long time that day, frowning and saying, "Why haven't they come yet?"

After waiting for two hours without any results, they finally set off.

Bai Yunxiao continued his reckless and absurd behavior until new news about Xiao He arrived...