Upon entering the room, a rush of warm air greeted them. Outside, fireworks went off one after another, as if trying to dispel all the old bad luck from the past years.
Chen Tingfeng nestled with her on the couch, his arm around her waist as if glued there. Even when they adjusted their postures occasionally, he never let go.
Wasn't he just as anxious and insecure as Fu Zhen?
In the past, he thought he had everything under control. He never imagined that there would be someone like her in the future, making him restless and yearning. He wished he could use all sorts of tricks to keep her by his side, but he was afraid of annoying her and thus hesitated.
He pulled her up a bit, wishing he could wrap her completely in his arms.
Fu Zhen couldn't help but soften her heart towards him because of what had happened in the past few days. She simply ignored his current actions. But when he hugged her tighter and tighter and she could hardly breathe, she tugged at his long hair and said helplessly, "Loosen up. You're going to strangle me."
Only then did Chen Tingfeng ease his grip. He didn't say a word, just holding her like this.
As they embraced, it seemed that as their bodies got closer, their hearts would gradually draw near too.
"I don't want to keep it a secret anymore," Chen Tingfeng suddenly said.
Fu Zhen was startled. When she realized what he was talking about, she couldn't help but sit up from his arms, looking somewhat surprised. "Are you sure?"
"Of course," Chen Tingfeng said with a solemn look in his eyes. He wished the whole world would know about his affection for Fu Zhen.
Fu Zhen thought for a moment. "Aren't you afraid that people outside will scold you for having improper conduct in your private life?"
"What improper conduct in private life?" Chen Tingfeng frowned, dissatisfied. "I'm in love with you. I'm unmarried and you're unwed. It's perfectly natural for us to be in love. Who dares to gossip?"
Fu Zhen raised her eyebrows, smiling faintly. "I'm just an orphan girl, a distant cousin temporarily living in the Marquis Mansion. If you tell others about this, I'm sure people will immediately say that I'm seducing you and scold me for being shameless."
A cold glint flashed in Chen Tingfeng's eyes. "No, they won't. As long as I'm here, no one dares to say a word about you."
As long as he was around, no one could utter a single word about this matter.
But Fu Zhen gave a soft laugh, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair and playing with his black locks. "You don't have absolute power yet. You may be able to silence one person, but can you silence the whole world?"
Chen Tingfeng suddenly looked at her, his voice unsteady. "After all this, do you just not want to be with me?"
He suddenly rolled over and pinned her down, his eyes obsessive. "We've been intimate. I'll be yours for the rest of my life. Do you think you can get rid of me? Dream on!"
"..." Fu Zhen. "What are you joking about?"
It sounded as if she was a promiscuous person who had taken liberties with him in the boudoir.
Fu Zhen said helplessly, "I'm just saying that if we tell others now, it will be bad for your reputation."
Currently, Xie Yan and Xie Guang were in a fierce struggle. If there was a problem with Chen Tingfeng's reputation, it was hard to guarantee that Xie Guang's faction wouldn't seize this opportunity to attack him.
He cared about her, so she couldn't put him in a disadvantageous position either.
She coaxed him softly, "After everything is over, there will be no obstacles between us. By then..."
By then, if Chen Tingfeng still loved her as deeply as he did now, it wouldn't be a problem for her to marry him again.
Chen Tingfeng took a deep breath. He could see clearly that she still had some concerns.
But at least she had told him her concerns instead of keeping them to herself and pushing him away like she did a few days ago. It was also a kind of progress.
He softened his body and buried his head in the crook of her neck. "If you're just trying to deceive me... I'll bite you to death."
Saying that, he opened his mouth and gently bit her shoulder.
"Ouch—" Fu Zhen exclaimed. He didn't bite hard, so it didn't hurt. But it was the first time in two lifetimes that they played such tricks... A faint blush appeared behind her ears. She gently pushed him away and said, "Are you a puppy?"
"I am," Chen Tingfeng said calmly, looking up at her. "I'm your puppy."
Fu Zhen's pretty face turned red. Her eyes immediately wandered. She couldn't help but slap him on the face and push him away. "What nonsense!"
Chen Tingfeng let out a snort and then leaned in to stick to her again. "Cousin, why are you so unable to take a joke?"
Provoked by him, Fu Zhen said in a dangerous tone, "Cousin has so many tricks. Did you practice them on other women before?"
Chen Tingfeng was suddenly splashed with a pot of dirty water. This big and round black pot fell from the sky, making him dizzy. "Heaven and earth can testify! I'm innocent. There has never been anyone else besides you!"
Fu Zhen and he had a two - lifetime relationship. Of course, she knew whether he had been with other women before. Even from her dreams, she knew that after her death, he never remarried or even took a concubine. The backyard of the huge Marquis Mansion was empty.
In this sense, she was the only one for him in two lifetimes.
Fu Zhen patted his face with a smile. "Since cousin has said so, I naturally believe you."
"Since there was no one before, there shouldn't be anyone in the future either."
Such a straightforward statement seemed to be telling him that even after they got married in the future, he shouldn't take even half a concubine.
In this era, women were supposed to be gentle and virtuous. Even if their husbands wanted to take concubines, the main wives should generously find suitable women for them.
Someone like Fu Zhen would be scolded for being jealous if word got out.
Fu Zhen stroked his black hair and stared at him intently.
Didn't he say that he would let her have control from now on? Then let her see his determination.
Chen Tingfeng was stunned for a moment and then suddenly laughed. His low laughter echoed in the dim room. As he laughed, he couldn't help but pull Fu Zhen closer to him. "I'm very happy that you can say this to me."
Being able to express her feelings to him straightforwardly and tell him what to do and what not to do meant that Fu Zhen had finally opened her heart to him. She no longer pushed him away and even finally allowed him to walk into her heart.
How could he not be happy?
Fu Zhen frowned and said dissatisfiedly, "What are you laughing at? You haven't answered me yet. Hurry up and say it."
Chen Tingfeng leaned down and kissed her between the eyebrows. His eyes were as gentle as water, as if he wanted to drown her in them. "I promise you that there will always be only you by my side."
"It's you now, and it will be you in the future. It will always be only you."
"Are you relieved now?" he asked with a smile.
Fu Zhen gave a soft snort, but her eyebrows softened involuntarily. "Then prove it to me."
"I'll put it bluntly," she said. "I'm a jealous and poisonous woman. If you can't fulfill the promises you made to me today in the future, I'll first poison your concubines and then die with you."
If she only wanted to poison Chen Tingfeng, given his means, she really couldn't do it. But she wasn't a useless person. If necessary, she would rather perish together with him.
If she couldn't be happy, he wouldn't either.
After all, it was he who had come to provoke her first in this lifetime.
"I won't fail to do it," Chen Tingfeng said in a gentle yet somehow ferocious tone. "If there's even a one - in - ten - thousand chance that I break my promise in the future, you can just leave. Find a man with greater power outside and then come back to kill me."
"Don't let me die too easily," he gently kissed her lips and said in a calm tone as if he was talking about something insignificant. "At least have me torn limb from limb and lingered to death. After I die, throw my body into a mass grave for the dogs to eat. And find a Taoist priest to make sure I'll never be reincarnated."
This was his promise to Fu Zhen.
For all eternity, it would never change.