The Guide to Rising to Power: The Ultimate Schemes of a Green Tea Beauty

Shen Yao looked up into Liang Xiheng's dark pupils, her voice neither loud nor soft.

"Because of me?"

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze slowly shifting from his face before returning to him:

"Because I made you fall in love with me? Do you really love me? Liang Xiheng, if you really love me, then you should know better than anyone else that I didn't lie to you this time."

"I told you, I want to leave. You know better than I do what I want most."

Shen Yao's voice rang out firmly, "It's freedom!"

Upon hearing this, Liang Xiheng's thick, dark eyelashes trembled slightly, but his voice was deeper and hoarser than hers:

"You want freedom?"

He paused, his smile filled with self-deprecating bitterness:

"I want freedom too!"

Shen Yao was taken aback, her brows furrowing: "You're not free? You're doing very well in Italy, rich and powerful all by yourself. Between us, haven't you always been the one restricting my freedom?"

Liang Xiheng did not deny it; he simply gazed at her, his eyes dimming inch by inch, like a lamp running out of oil in the night.

"I am not free. I came to Italy, seemingly with countless choices, but I know... in my heart, in my eyes, there has always only been one choice."

His voice was very low, so low it was as if he were speaking to himself: "It's you. I only want you."

Only you can bring me love.

"It's not love, it's romantic love."

The boy distinguished between the two words clearly, and in his impossibly beautiful pupils, Shen Yao's blurry face was reflected:

"You are really important to me."

Do you know how much I can't live without you?

"...So you can't leave me either."

Shen Yao was rooted to the spot by those words.

That strange feeling of pity welled up in my heart again.

What is Liang Xiheng saying? At such a young age, it's as if he would die without her.

Without waiting for her response, Liang Xiheng reached inside her shirt and pulled out a dark blue velvet ring box with his fingertips.

Shen Yao had assumed it would contain a typical luxury item, but she was still slightly taken aback when the lid was opened.

It is a Winston Blue Diamond.

A pure, teardrop-shaped blue diamond lies quietly amidst the dark blue velvet, its rich, icy blue like a sealed ocean, radiating light and shadow, flowing with a cold and elegant brilliance in the candlelight and stained glass of the church.

Flanked by clusters of white diamonds on both sides, the entire ring is luxurious and dazzling, with each facet flowing with a brilliance that is priceless.

In contrast, the men's ring is much simpler, with a line of very fine text engraved inside the plain platinum band.

There was no priest.

There was no witness at the wedding.

In this empty church, there were only him and her.

Liang Xiheng took her hand with a devout gesture.

The enormous blue diamond slowly slid across Shen Yao's knuckles, its cool touch brushing against her skin, settling perfectly on her ring finger as if it were a natural fit for her.

Liang Xiheng lowered his eyes, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow, and his voice carried a hint of cautious pleading:

"Let's call it even for what happened before, okay?"

Shen Yao was unable to answer.

She dared not lie to him anymore.

This sensitive and suspicious boy has a beast-like intuition; lies are as easily pierced as paper in front of him.

She knew better than anyone that he wanted the truth, a complete and utter severance of ties. But the tangled mess in her heart was something she couldn't even untangle herself, so how could she possibly agree to that?

Silence filled the entire church.

The young woman in her wedding dress lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the diamond ring on her hand, worth $23.8 million.

Petals drifted in from outside, landing on her white dress and between her clasped fingers, but all this splendor and grandeur could not conceal one fact—

She wasn't happy.

Liang Xiheng looked at her lowered eyes, and where Shen Yao couldn't see, his face suddenly turned deathly pale.

Beneath that pale exterior lay a hidden sadness, one she dared not reveal.

"Is it because of Huaiqing?"

The brother and sister stood facing each other, but both had their heads bowed, like two sinners repenting before a god.

Shen Yao saw the shadow of the huge cross behind Liang Xiheng fall on his shoulder, like a silent judgment.

Liang Xiheng was never a good person. To this day, he still doesn't believe he was wrong about everything he did to Xue Huaiqing.

But now he is willing to admit his mistakes for Shen Yao—even though it makes him feel extremely humiliated.

At his own wedding, he wanted to win her heart by using another man's name.

There is probably nothing more ironic in this world.

But he accepted it.

Liang Xiheng's hand holding the diamond ring was starting to ache, so he used his other hand to take out a small USB drive from deep inside his clothes and placed it in Shen Yao's hand, which was wearing the diamond ring.

Shen Yao grasped the cold metal object with a puzzled look.

"This is evidence that proves Huaiqing's innocence."

At those words, Shen Yao abruptly raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief and shock: "Could it be that you've been... all this time?"

Seeing the instant brightening of her face, Liang Xiheng found it hard to describe how he felt.

He forced a smile, trying to appear indifferent, but his voice remained hoarse.

"Yes, I've been busy with this."

Liang Xiheng had never been so disheveled. A burning pain shot through his scalp and chest, radiating down his nerves, as if he were about to succumb to delirium and madness at any moment.

But he stood there steadily and made his point clear:

"Over the years, Huaiqing has signed many documents under my father's orders in an attempt to take revenge on my father and me. My father leaves no trace of his actions, but I am his son and the ultimate controlling shareholder of Hengxin. I can vouch for Huaiqing's innocence."

Liang Xiheng said self-deprecatingly:

"I installed a listening device in my father's study and never took it away. It gave me the last piece of evidence to expose my father."

He grasped Shen Yao's slightly trembling hand, enveloping her fingers along with the USB drive:

"It's all inside. It's all for you."

No matter what Xue Huaiqing said, Liang Xiheng was unconvinced. He hated that Xue Huaiqing had the right to stand on moral high ground and look down on him.

But there was one sentence Xue Huaiqing said: his love would only hurt Shen Yao, which puzzled Liang Xiheng for a long time.

What is love? Is it, as fairy tales say, selfless devotion? If that's really the case...?

He was willing to take the plunge.

A thin glint of water rose in the darkness of the boy's eyes, like the moonlight reflected on a lake in the dead of night, fragile and vulnerable.

"Can I wear it, sister?"

He placed the men's ring into her palm. Her hand was terribly cold and trembling slightly, as if she had used all her strength to steady herself.

The wind picked up again outside the church.

Petals fluttered through the doorway, landing on the backs of their clasped hands and on Shen Yao's white veil.

She looked down at the simple ring in her palm, then looked up at the young man in front of her.

The pleading, obsession, fear, and love in his eyes were so intense they almost shattered his handsome face.

Those eyes were saying: Please, even just a little bit, just a tiny bit.

Shen Yao ultimately didn't throw the ring back. She slowly reached out and slipped the men's ring through his finger.

The moment the cool platinum ring snapped shut, Liang Xiheng's breath seemed to catch in his throat.

He looked at the silvery light around his fingers, and his eyelashes trembled slightly.

A tear fell without warning, landing on the ring and sliding down the curve of the platinum into the gap between her fingers.

He admitted that this wedding, which had no blessings, was "the last way he could think of to have her."

Yet he also felt that he had finally won her affections, even if they were mixed with pity, guilt, and wavering.

Liang Xiheng looked up and smiled at Shen Yao.

That smile was so clean it was unbelievable, like a pure heart devoid of all prejudice, leaving only a sincere and burning passion.

"elder sister."

"My wife. My wife."

The moment the words left his mouth.

A warm, sweet, and slightly fishy taste suddenly burst from my throat.

Crimson blood suddenly spread across her pale lips, then rapidly dripped down her jawline, one drop, two drops, before crashing heavily onto the bouquet of blooming red roses on her left breast.

The bright red petals greedily absorbed the warm blood, staining the petals layer by layer.

It's just like the ending of "The Nightingale and the Rose"—

The nightingale sacrifices its heart and soul for love, weeping blood to nourish the flower, exhausting all its life force, just to bloom a red rose to offer to its beloved.