Lu Qian stood outside Lu Hong's bedroom, knocking on the door: "Big brother, dinner is about to start, Father asked me to come and call you. If you don't go now, it will be late."

  There is no sound in the house.

  Lu Qian didn't leave and kept knocking on the door: "I know you're inside the house, open the door quickly."

  After a while, Lu Hong's voice finally sounded in the house: "I don't have an appetite, I won't be going to the dinner party tonight." There was some strange hoarseness in his voice.

  Lu Qian's eyes flashed with an unusual light, and he softened his voice: "Big brother, you open the door and let me in first before we talk."

  In this wretched state, how can he still show his face in public?

  "I'm in a bad mood and want to be alone for a while. You go first!"

  "I won't be at ease if I don't see you with my own eyes." Lu Qian's spoiled voice, slightly childish, penetrated through the thick door and into Lu Hong's ears: "If you don't open the door, I'll go tell Father that you're clearly fine but deliberately making excuses not to attend the dinner party."

  Lu Hong: “......”

  After a moment, Lu Hong finally came to open the door.

  At this time, the sky was getting late, and there was no candlelight in the house, the light was dim.

  Ke Lu Qian couldn't help but notice the pale face and red eyes of Lu Hong. He vaguely guessed what was going on, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and asked with feigned concern: "Big brother, what's wrong? Why are you hiding in the house crying alone?"

  It's already shameful enough for a person to hide and cry, what's even more shameful is being discovered by others and questioned repeatedly!

  Even if the other person was a brother who had been close since childhood, Lu Hong felt his face burning. Not to mention that being rejected and having Ling Jingxu spit it out on the spot was something that couldn't be said...

  "There's nothing." Lu Hong forced a light tone: "I'm just not in a good mood, but I'm much better now."

  Lu Qian glared at Lu Hong discontentedly: "Do you think I'm a fool? If nothing had happened, why would you be hiding in the house crying?"

  Lu Hong refused to answer this question.

  Lu's eyes flashed and he suddenly asked: "Big brother, are you going to find Jie sister this afternoon?"

  What was thought to be well-hidden and unknown to anyone was suddenly exposed by Lu Qian, Lu Hong's handsome face instantly turned bright red, but he didn't deny it, silently nodding his head.

  "You like your cousin," Lu Qian's tone was very certain: "So you want to confess your feelings to her. However...your cousin rejected you. So you're heartbroken, hiding alone in the house and secretly crying."

  It's all been said!

  But the most unbearable scene was something Lu Qian could never have guessed.

  Lu Hong nodded and thought for a moment before reminding Lu Qian, "Second brother, it's best if you just understand this matter in your heart, don't tell Father and Mother under any circumstances."

  If this gets out, it's really too embarrassing.

  Lu Qian's eyes flashed with joy, but he replied obediently: "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." After a pause, he asked tentatively: "Big brother, when you confessed to Jie, was she really not moved at all? You're so excellent and outstanding, how could she not like you?"

  Lu Hong's fragile heart was once again ruthlessly trampled, his expression increasingly bitter: "Jiamei told me very clearly that she doesn't have any good feelings towards me. I...I won't go look for her again in the future."

  In the end, her eyes reddened again.

  For the first time, Lu Hong's heart moved, for the first time he liked someone, filled with joy and expectation to express his feelings, but was ruthlessly rejected. Lu Hong's youthful heart was shattered into pieces.

  She loathed him so much, how could he still have the face to appear in front of her again?

  "Big brother, don't be too heartbroken." Lu Qian hurriedly comforted his despairing older brother: "You and Jie's sister-in-law weren't meant to be, this is also an unavoidable thing. In the future you will definitely meet a better woman."

  For example, the noble Changping Princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

  ......

  Years later, Lu Hong will go to the capital to take part in the imperial examination, shining brightly in both the provincial and palace examinations, and being appointed as the top scholar by the Emperor. He also caught the eye of Princess Changping because of this.

  Changping Princess's birth mother was Empress Xu, and later the Crown Prince who became King of Yan was her younger brother by the same mother. She was the most noble woman in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Lu Hong would become her husband, becoming the son-in-law of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a life of glory and wealth!

  Although all this was not what Lu Hong wanted, although he did not want to be a heartless person who abandoned his wife. But the Lu family saw that the wealth and glory were within reach, how could they tolerate Lu Hong's refusal?

  Lu Hong was under house arrest in the Second Uncle's mansion, and the letters he wrote back home never reached Ling Jingxuan's hands. Instead, exaggerated bad news kept coming frequently. Ling Jingxuan almost collapsed, crying every day.

  Later, Lu Anqiang occupied Ling Jingxu and secretly ordered someone to imitate Ling Jingxu's handwriting to write a farewell letter to Lu Hong. This letter also completely crushed Lu Hong.

  A loving couple, under the ambition and conspiracy of the Lu family, hate and resent each other, completely breaking apart.

  Until the moment of her death, Ling Jingxu did not know the truth. She was reborn with hatred, hating Lu Hong to the bone, how could she fall in love with Lu Hong again?

  But only he knows all the secrets!

  Let this secret be forever hidden in his heart! Let Ling Jingxu be forever deceived, forever hating Lu Hong.

  In this life, Lu Hong and Ling Jingyu can no longer become husband and wife. He will be the good man of Ling Jingyu's life.

  As he thought of this, Lu Qian's heart flashed with secret joy and excitement, but his delicate face still wore a worried expression: "Big brother, you're not in a suitable state to go out and meet people now, lest you arouse suspicion. I'll go back and report to Father, saying that your head hurts and you need to rest in the house."

  Lu Hong gathered his spirits and thanked him: "Thanks for your trouble, covering up for me."

  "We are brothers by blood, you and I being so polite to each other, isn't that too formal?" Lu Qian smiled with a slight curve of his lips, making his delicate and fair face look even more lovely.

  After Lu Qian left, Lu Hong's strained expression suddenly wilted.

  ......

  Lu Qian returned to the dining hall just as the banquet was about to begin.

  Lu An saw that there was only Lu Qian alone and frowned uncomfortably.

  Every time he saw his father's face, Lu Qian's mind would conjure up Ling Jingyu's pale and haggard face, and a bloody and violent impulse would surge in his heart.

  He quickly lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: "Father, big brother has a headache and has gone to sleep. He won't be able to come to the dinner party tonight."

  In front of everyone, Lu An found it inconvenient to say much and simply nodded his head in agreement.

  Lu An is the uncle of the Ling family, with a noble status. At the dinner party, both his peers and juniors came to toast him. Although Lu An had a good capacity for alcohol, he couldn't withstand the rounds and rounds of toasting and got drunk that night. He had originally planned to go see Lu Hong, but it ended up being a no-show.

  By the next day, when Lu Hong appeared, his dispirited and listless expression had been concealed for the most part, and the redness in his eyes had also faded. He looked like he didn't have much energy, but it wasn't enough to arouse suspicion.

  "Son greets father!" Lu Hong stepped forward and greeted Lu An.

  Lu An, due to a hangover headache, looked unwell and furrowed his brow, asking: "What happened to you yesterday? You were fine at noon, but started getting a headache in the afternoon. You didn't even come to the dinner party."

  Lu Hong had been prepared and immediately replied apologetically, "To answer Father's question, after lunch yesterday, I was idle and had nothing to do, so I took a stroll in the garden for a while. Probably because of the strong wind, my head hurts a bit. Yesterday was Grandmother's birthday, it wouldn't be auspicious to call a doctor into the mansion, so I didn't make a fuss and rested alone in my room without attending dinner. After sleeping overnight, I'm much better now."

  This explanation is reasonable and makes sense.

  Lu An's expression eased a bit: "You're quite thoughtful. Yesterday was indeed not suitable for inviting the doctor into the mansion."

  Ling's family, who was present, would not let go of the opportunity to be a good person and immediately said: "The birthday banquet will last for three days, and Ah He can't just endure it for three days. I'll send someone to quietly invite a doctor right now."

  "Thank you for your concern, Mother." Lu Hong politely declined: "But I'm really much better now, no need to call a doctor."

  Lu Hong said so, and Ling also stopped insisting on inviting a doctor. Instead, she smiled and said: "Ah Hong, you're sixteen this year too, right?"

  How did you suddenly ask about his age?

  Lu Hong was slightly surprised and replied, "Yes. My birthday is in July, and calculating it out, I'll be exactly sixteen in three months."

  Lu Qian's smile faded into his eyes as he thought of something.

  As expected, Ling Shi chuckled and said: "Speaking of which, you're not young anymore. You should consider your lifelong event. Is there a girl in your heart that you like? If so, don't hesitate to say it out loud, and settle the engagement early. It's no big deal if you get married one or two years later."

  There is a lot of implication in these words.

  The only difference is that they haven't explicitly proposed to the Ling family yet.

  It was just like the previous life, Lu Hong expressed his intention and then Ling Shi brought up the marriage to Old Lady Ling. The Ling family didn't hesitate much before agreeing to this marriage. Everything went smoothly...

  Will Lu Hong still be as honest with Ling Jingxuan's heart as he was in his past life?

  Lu Qian's heart rose to his throat, and he unconsciously stared tightly at Lu Hong.

  Lu Honghe was so clever that he had already understood the implicit meaning of Ling's words. If it were two days ago, he would have been overjoyed and immediately confessed his liking for Ling Jingxuan. But yesterday, Ling Jingxuan had clearly and unmistakably rejected him...

  He likes Ling Jingxu again, but he can't do such a shameless thing.

  Lu Hong gritted his teeth and replied: "Mother, I'm really touched that you care so much about my lifelong event. However, for now, I just want to focus on studying and don't want to get married yet."

  Such an answer was beyond Leng's expectations.

  Ling looked at Lu An subconsciously.

  Lu An was also taken aback and asked bluntly: "Don't you like Rong Jie?"

  Lu Hong: “......”

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  There are readers who left messages saying the female lead is stupid. I want to explain a bit. The female lead in this book was indeed weak and deceived in her past life, and died with resentment. After rebirth, she will slowly grow up. Hope everyone can be more patient and continue reading~The author has a glass heart, every time seeing such messages, the mood is actually very bad, it's affecting my writing~o(╯□╰)o