[Ding, Ayin Qingzhu produces panic + anxiety, Emotion Value +99]
Chen Xuan understood everything in an instant.
He stared intently at Ayin Qingzhu.
With a tentative suggestion, he said, "Since that's the case, let's go ask Master to take a look. Maybe once she sees this martial art, she'll agree to let us consummate our marriage right away."
"I still need to cultivate. Why don't we go see Master after some time?"
Ayin Qingzhu didn't dare to go immediately, afraid that her master would notice something amiss.
She could only buy time.
"Junior Sister, there's really no need to rush your cultivation for this exact moment!"
Today, Chen Xuan was determined to see what kind of excuses this genius wife of his could possibly make up to brush him off!
"I... I seem to have touched the barrier of the Nirvana Stage, and I need to go into seclusion immediately to make a breakthrough."
Ayin Qingzhu didn't want to stay here for even a single second longer.
[Ding, Ayin Qingzhu produces a desire to escape, Emotion Value +50]
Chen Xuan continued his proposal, "As it happens, I just broke through to the Nirvana Stage myself and gained some insights. Perhaps I can be of help to you."
"No need, I can manage on my own." Ayin Qingzhu refused once more.
Seeing her continually dodging the issue, Chen Xuan's heart sank to the very bottom.
His fists clenched even tighter!
Still refusing to tell me the truth.
Just how long do you plan on keeping things from me?
Having reached the absolute limit of his tolerance, Chen Xuan lost his patience and grabbed Ayin Qingzhu by her snow-white wrist.
"Why didn't you listen to my warnings and insisted on going to the Great Yan Empire alone? Why?!"
"I... I went to the Great Yan Empire on official business, not to sightsee."
Ayin Qingzhu was startled by Chen Xuan's sudden burst of anger.
Yet she didn't believe she had done anything wrong by going to the Great Yan Empire.
She even felt that Chen Xuan was being overly controlling.
However, the moment she thought of what had transpired in the Great Yan Empire, her confidence faltered.
[Ding, Ayin Qingzhu produces guilt, Emotion Value +99]
Guilt?
What good is guilt now?
You've entered some kind of rebellious phase and you're deliberately going out of your way to oppose me, is that it?
It's not like I forbade you from going.
I merely asked you to bring along a powerful bodyguard.
Is that really so difficult?
With a look of utter disappointment, Chen Xuan said, "Official business? Didn't I tell you that before reaching the Nirvana Stage, you must always bring an elder along whenever you go out?"
"I'll definitely bring someone next time I go out, alright? If there's nothing else, I need to go back and cultivate."
Knowing she was in the wrong, Ayin Qingzhu exerted strength in her wrist, trying to break free from Chen Xuan's grip.
She wanted to hurry back to her courtyard, scrub away the scent that didn't belong to her, and lock that incident deep within the recesses of her memory forever.
Never to be spoken of again.
Allowing herself to maintain her perfection.
Unfortunately, she failed to break free.
[Ding, Ayin Qingzhu produces guilt + grievance + regret + anger, Emotion Value +369]
"Tell me, is there something else you're keeping from me, something you don't want me to know?"
Chen Xuan looked at Ayin Qingzhu's aggrieved expression, yet not a single ripple stirred in his heart.
Though the Ayin Qingzhu of the past had always presented an icy exterior that kept people thousands of miles away, she had never treated him like this.
It made Chen Xuan feel as though she were a stranger.
"There is nothing for me to keep from you."
Ayin Qingzhu turned her head away without a moment's hesitation.
She never even considered telling the truth.
After all, Chen Xuan had warned her more than once not to go to the Great Yan Empire alone, and certainly not to go to the Tianyan Mountains.
Even if she wanted to go, she had to bring along at least an elder of the Nirvana Stage.
She had only herself to blame for failing to heed her husband's words, which led to this catastrophic mistake.
For now, her only option was to stall for one day at a time, hoping that someday she might find a way to make amends.
Besides...
What happened wasn't entirely her fault.
If anyone was to blame, it was that detestable master of the ancient tomb, and that brat Lin Dong!
If not for them, she would never have lost her purity there!
It was all their fault!
Hearing Ayin Qingzhu's words, Chen Xuan was driven to fury. He forcefully raised her arm and rolled up her sleeve.
Pointing at her wrist, he demanded harshly, "You still say there's nothing? Then let me ask you, where is the thing that was on your wrist?"
Originally, on her wrist was a cinnabar mark of chastity personally placed there by the Palace Master of Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace.
The Palace Master had done this precisely to know whether the two of them had crossed the line behind her back.
And now?
The chastity mark on Ayin Qingzhu's wrist, which symbolized maidenhood, had vanished.
Wasn't that enough to explain the problem?
"I... I don't know what you're talking about."
Ayin Qingzhu's delicate body trembled, her voice carrying a faint quiver.
[Ding, Ayin Qingzhu produces guilt + regret + panic + tension + anxiety and other emotions, triggering a critical hit, Emotion Value +999]
[Ding, congratulations to the host, you have obtained a triple draw. Would you like to start the lucky draw immediately?]
System notifications rang out one after another.
At this moment, however, Chen Xuan was in no mood for that.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that even now, instead of confessing, Ayin Qingzhu was still trying to bluff her way through in front of him!
Disappointment and anger surfaced in Chen Xuan's eyes. "At this stage, you're still trying to keep it from me?!"
"I don't understand what nonsense you're spouting."
Ayin Qingzhu gripped her delicate hands tightly, her guilty eyes persistently avoiding direct eye contact with Chen Xuan.
She deliberately feigned ignorance, planning to brazen it out to the very end!
Nonsense?
Chen Xuan laughed. "Do you really take me for a fool? Do you think you're unaware of what you did in the Tianyan Mountains of the Great Yan Empire?!"
"I... I merely went to the Great Yan Empire to help a friend out with something. Stop letting your imagination run wild!"
Ayin Qingzhu averted her gaze, not daring to look at Chen Xuan at all.
My imagination running wild?
Chen Xuan laughed out of sheer anger. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"
Changing the subject, Ayin Qingzhu said, "Let go. You're hurting me."
Hearing those words, Chen Xuan laughed bitterly in his rage. "This hurts you? Then did you feel any pain at all when you did what you did in the Tianyan Mountains?"
"Why are you being so unreasonable today?"
"Heh, I'm being unreasonable? Do you want me to help refresh your memory about what you did in that ancient tomb?"
"Chen Xuan! Are... are you having me followed?"
Hearing Chen Xuan say this, Ayin Qingzhu finally snapped. Her beautiful eyes widened and her composure completely shattered on the spot, assuming he had sent people to tail her in secret.
[Ding, Ayin Qingzhu produces shame + fury, Emotion Value +699]
Chen Xuan sneered, "If you don't want anyone to know, you shouldn't have done it in the first place!"
"Since you sent people to follow me, why didn't you step in and help at the time?!"
Ayin Qingzhu was momentarily stunned. Instead of offering an explanation, she turned the tables and interrogated him.
If someone had stepped in to help back then, she wouldn't have been trapped by that person, let alone lost her purity!
"I didn't send anyone to follow you. I was just guessing, but it seems I guessed right."
Chen Xuan's heart turned to ash, filled with incomparable grief.
The person he had so meticulously cherished had been easily plucked by an outsider.
What was this supposed to be?
Realizing the matter was completely exposed, Ayin Qingzhu had no choice but to confess, while playing the emotional card. "This matter can't entirely be blamed on me either. I was forced, it wasn't of my own free will. You have to believe me!"
So what you're saying is, as long as protection was used, it doesn't count as giving it away?
What kind of toxic, slag-woman logic is this, for heaven's sake!
Chen Xuan sneered and shook his head.
"You actually have the nerve to claim you were forced? Heh, I warned you more than once not to go to the Great Yan Empire alone, but you wouldn't listen. Who else is there to blame?"