It was both an act of ingratiation and an attempt to pry.
Mu Wang treated Mu Yuan differently from others. Handing over the reward to him would ensure that it wouldn't be squandered in the short term.
Moreover, perhaps if Mu Wang took the money, he would spare her from being buried alive.
Hope glimmered in Qu Yue's dark pupils.
She had been oppressed for years. Once, in order to have a bowl of warm soup in winter, she secretly slipped a silver note to the kitchen steward.
Therefore, in her mind, giving some money might buy a bit of leniency.
The depth in Mu Wang's almond - shaped eyes was as thick as ink as he stared intently into Qu Yue's clear eyes. "You trust me with this?"
A bit of flour clung to Qu Yue's long, fluttering eyelashes, but it couldn't hide her trust. "You'll safeguard what belongs to Mu Yuan."
Her soft tone greatly pleased Mu Wang.
An invisible tail seemed to rise behind him, wagging merrily.
He sauntered over to Qu Yue's side and leaned against her. "Do you think so highly of me?"
Disdain flashed in Qu Yue's beautiful eyes.
She glanced up at Mu Wang. The smile on his heroic face was like the rising sun, exuding a vibrant aura.
He deliberately lowered his stance, narrowing the distance between them.
The steaming water vapor billowed between them, blurring their vision of each other. Everything seemed like a dream.
Qu Yue's pink lips parted and closed, with glistening silver threads adhering to them, like delicate spider webs that seemed to catch Mu Wang's breath.
He involuntarily held his breath, eagerly awaiting Qu Yue's answer.
But he seemed to have forgotten how he had treated Qu Yue in the past three years.
Qu Yue wracked her brains and after a while, managed to answer without being too hurtful. "Mu Yuan... trusts you deeply."
What she meant was that since she was safeguarding Mu Yuan's possessions and Mu Wang was someone Mu Yuan trusted, she naturally trusted him too.
The amorous atmosphere gradually faded, like a spring on the verge of drying up, making a final, feeble effort.
Mu Wang straightened his chest. The impetuosity of youth rushed to his mind at that moment. "And what about you?"
He couldn't restrain himself from getting closer to Qu Yue. Every pulse under his slender skin was throbbing with excitement.
His exhaled breath mingled with the water mist and brushed against Qu Yue's forehead.
It fluttered her hair, but couldn't draw out a definite answer.
Mu Wang's sudden question almost stumped her.
"I..."
Mu Wang was itching to grab her shoulders and shake her wildly to get the answer out of her. "What about you?"
Hesitation kept floating in Qu Yue's clear eyes. Her hesitant words were like a wavering hammer, pounding on Mu Wang's heart.
"Of course, I trust you just as my husband does. I believe you'll protect his things."
The woman's long eyelashes fluttered. She hesitantly threw out the most appropriate answer.
To cover up the inexplicable awkwardness, Qu Yue threw herself whole - heartedly into cooking the wontons, frantically stirring the plump wontons in the pot with a spatula.
Boom!
But her answer was like a thunderbolt out of the blue, exploding in Mu Wang's mind.
His pent - up frustration reached its peak instantly. He raised his hand and accidentally knocked over the remaining ingredients onto the ground.
Looking at the meatballs rolling on the ground and getting covered in dust, Mu Wang was both angry and anxious.
It was all because of Mu Yuan.
It was all because of his elder brother.
So Qu Yue had never trusted him even a little bit.
An inexplicable jealousy welled up from the bottom of his heart.
He frowned. The indignation of not being trusted had nowhere to go, yet he couldn't blame Qu Yue.
It was all his own doing for bullying her before!
Qu Yue was obviously frightened too. Her hand gripping the spatula tightened. The strong pulse in her hand beat against the handle of the spatula and all the way to her breathing.
She kept adjusting her breathing. After the boiling water in the pot calmed down, her emotions also settled.
She slowly fished out the thin - skinned and plump wontons and placed them on the large table.
Her clear eyes trembled as she looked up. "I... I know you hate me."
She couldn't forget the resentful look in Mu Wang's eyes just now. She quickly explained, "I understand that you don't want me to cling to you."
"I... I'll leave on my own after I finish investigating Mu Yuan's matter."
"I'll go to the temple to observe mourning for three years. I'll never show up in the Marquis Mansion to annoy you!"
"..."
That wasn't what he meant.
But although he had previously hoped so much for her to leave, now that she really said she was going, he...
It was as if two conflicting thoughts were constantly wrangling within Mu Wang, making him extremely entangled.
He ruffled his hair irritably. His high - tied ponytail was messed up and hung diagonally on his shoulder, just like his confused thoughts at that moment.
So annoying!
Damn hand! It even knocked off the carefully kneaded meatballs.
Mu Wang wished he could slap his own hand. He found a plate and squatted down to pick up the meatballs on the ground.
Qu Yue didn't know why he suddenly went to pick up the things on the ground. She weakly tried to stop him. "These... are dirty..."
Her delicate and trembling voice revealed a bit of fear towards Mu Wang.
The recent interaction had made her see clearly.
Even though they had temporarily reached a cooperation, Mu Wang still hated her to the core.
He had even knocked over the meatballs she had carefully made!
She couldn't stay in the Mu Mansion any longer.
She had to leave.
The young man's slender but powerful waist bent and straightened as he nimbly picked up all the meatballs on the ground.
He tilted the plate with the dirty meatballs and looked up at Qu Yue.
She seemed really frightened by him. A faint blush surrounded her peach - blossom eyes, with a glimmer of tears in them.
His action of tilting the plate froze.
Overwhelming remorse welled up. Why was she afraid of him?
He took a step forward, restraining himself. "Can't I just like dirty food?"
A look of confusion flashed across Qu Yue's soft, white face, but she didn't dare to resist. "Y - yes..."
She held the freshly cooked wontons. "Do you still want to eat these..."
She had spent so much effort making them. She was so hungry.
"Eat."
Mu Wang's single word cut off all her thoughts.
To avoid being questioned about what she had done in the morning, she chose to hide the fact that she hadn't had morning tea.
She didn't know why.
She just had this hunch that Mu Wang would ask.
Mu Wang sorted out his emotions and took a deep breath. "Not going to the dining hall?"
"Do you want to eat with me?" Qu Yue was taken aback.
Mu Wang raised his eyebrows. "Lunch is coming soon. Do you think I'll still have room for it after eating this?"
"Then let's go!" Qu Yue's eyes brightened.
It was out of hunger.
Mu Wang glanced at Qu Yue's little expression and snorted softly to himself.
The two walked towards the dining hall one after another. Her petite figure looked lively and extremely cute in Mu Wang's eyes.
Tsk.
He still had to find time to explain his attitude towards her.
After they sat down, Qu Yue stared at the full bowl of wontons and smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to get small bowls to divide them."
Mu Wang took out two spoons from somewhere. "You can even forget this."
Qu Yue explained gently. "I was in a hurry."
Mu Wang scoffed. "Don't I know you?
"You're always so forgetful."
This complaint made Qu Yue's hand freeze as she was about to take the spoon.
This was a secret known only to the two of them.
Back then, when Mu Wang was kidnapped, it was Qu Yue who risked her life to save him. But when they were escaping, she forgot to take the most important evidence.
It was Mu Wang, holding on with all his strength, who told her to go back and pick up the jade pendant that could identify the kidnappers.
Since then, in Mu Wang's mind, Qu Yue had been the epitome of forgetfulness.