With a wave of his hand, Cang Yan dismissed Xiao Ling, who bowed respectfully to the two of them before lowering her head and stepping out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“May I ask what Qingxue wishes to discuss with me?” Now that they were alone, Cang Yan smiled at Yun Qingxue.
Yun Qingxue lowered her gaze for a moment before raising her eyes to meet Cang Yan’s deep blue ones without hesitation. Calmly, she said, “To be honest, Beast King, ever since you laid out your conditions yesterday, I’ve spent a long time considering them—almost the entire night without sleep.”
“Do you have any thoughts or requests, Qingxue? Feel free to speak your mind. Aside from refusing to marry me, everything else is negotiable!” Cang Yan settled comfortably into his chair, his smile deepening as he gazed at Yun Qingxue, his blue eyes seemingly brimming with infinite indulgence.
Faced with such a tender, almost excessively tolerant look, Yun Qingxue shifted her gaze away, deliberately avoiding his eyes. She wasn’t avoiding it out of shyness from being stared at so affectionately—but because it was downright nauseating.
The deep affection in Cang Yan’s blue eyes, paired with his innate aura of arrogance and wickedness, created an indescribably awkward feeling. Yun Qingxue felt goosebumps rise all over her body, her scalp tingling uncomfortably.
“Beast King.”
Though thoroughly repulsed by Cang Yan’s saccharine display, she had already begun this conversation—she had to say what needed to be said.
“You may call me by my name, just as I call you by yours. This ‘Beast King’ back and forth is far too formal—it doesn’t suit the relationship between us,” Cang Yan suggested with a “sincere” smile.
Relationship? Yun Qingxue sneered inwardly. What relationship? That of a manipulator and the manipulated?
“I’ve thought a lot last night and decided that the conditions you proposed yesterday are fair. I can agree to ally with you, and we can even use marriage as a binding tie for our cooperation. But…”
She looked back at Cang Yan, whose blue eyes still held amusement. He maintained the same tender, doting expression—at least on the surface.
“But what? I’ve already said, aside from refusing to marry me, you may make any request. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll do my best to accommodate it!” Cang Yan interjected with a smile, like any ordinary man deeply in love with his betrothed, willing to indulge even the most unreasonable demands to please his beloved.
Yun Qingxue also smiled. If Cang Yan wanted to put on a nauseatingly sweet act of marital bliss, she had no interest in playing along.
“Beast King, we can marry. But we both know why this marriage is happening. So after we wed, aside from matters of cooperation, I’d prefer if all husband-and-wife matters were set aside. We’ll each live our own lives. How does that sound?” She spoke in one breath.
Cang Yan’s smile faded slightly, his blue eyes studying her with an unreadable expression.
Yun Qingxue felt uneasy under his scrutiny but forced herself not to show it.
After a moment, Cang Yan suddenly chuckled, his eyes glinting with amusement. “Qingxue, are you saying this because you’re certain you won’t fall for me?”
“At least not at present,” Yun Qingxue replied frankly, though inwardly she was tense. If Cang Yan refused and insisted on making their marriage real—forcing himself on her—she knew she’d be at a disadvantage.
Cang Yan didn’t immediately give his answer. Instead, he resumed his careful observation of Yun Qingxue.
This woman before him was called his “partner” only as a courtesy. The so-called Flower King had no real power to stand on equal footing with him. Their so-called alliance was nothing more than his own framing—if one were to be blunt, the Flower King was merely a pawn in his hands. A valuable piece to pave his way to dominating the entire Xuanling Continent.
He was certain Yun Qingxue knew this too.
When he had proposed marriage as the bond for their alliance, Cang Yan had even considered the possibility that the Flower King might try to seduce him with her beauty. What he hadn’t expected was that she would outright reject the idea of pretending to be a real couple. She was willing to marry him, but only as a symbolic tie—she refused to become his true wife.
How amusing.
Yun Qingxue waited quietly for Cang Yan’s response, though no one knew the turmoil in her heart. Like a student anxiously awaiting exam results despite knowing they hadn’t performed well, every second was a mix of hope and dread—along with a pessimistic readiness for the worst.
She suspected Cang Yan was deliberately delaying his answer, perhaps because he sensed her unease and wanted to prolong it.
This delay served no other purpose than that of a cat toying with its prey, savoring its despair.
Her hands clenched tightly beneath her sleeves, but Yun Qingxue’s expression remained composed. Her heart, however, could not match the calm of her face—not even the forced kind.
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