Chapter 64: A Reason To Agree
The moment they stepped out of the main courtyard, the noisy discussion behind them gradually faded into the distance.
Wang Gege lifted her chin a bit, looking up at Xie Rong.
The silence between them was neither awkward nor uncomfortable, yet Wang Gege found herself stealing glances at the man walking beside her every now and then.
The old Taoist’s words continued to replay in her mind.
"The Young Master’s thread of fate should already have been severed."
"The two of you... should never have crossed paths."
The more she thought about it, the more complicated her feelings became.
If the Taoist truly possessed such abilities... Then how much of what he had said was true?
She lowered her gaze to the hand still gently holding hers. Even after leaving the main courtyard, Xie Rong had yet to let go.
"Husband."
Xie Rong turned his head slightly. "Mm?"
Wang Gege hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Do you... believe what the Taoist Master said?"
Xie Rong remained silent for several breaths before letting out a soft chuckle.
"I have heard many people predict my death." He continued walking at an unhurried pace, "Some said I would not live past ten."
"Others claimed I would die before reaching adulthood. The Taoist Master merely added another date." His tone remained calm, as though he were talking about someone else’s life.
Wang Gege quietly listened.
"So..." Xie Rong smiled faintly, "I have long grown accustomed to such words."
"Then... how about the other thing... that two of us should never have crossed paths?"
Xie Rong’s footsteps slowed when Wang Gege’s question landed. He did not answer immediately.
Instead, a faint smile lingered at the corners of his lips as though he were quietly considering her question. "Does Furen believe it?"
Wang Gege blinked. "I..."
She lowered her gaze for a moment, "I don’t know." She answered honestly. "I only feel... It sounded rather strange. The Taoist Master made it seem as though our meeting itself was something impossible."
A soft chuckle escaped Xie Rong’s lips. "Impossible?"
He repeated the word before shaking his head lightly. "If Furen is referring to our marriage... I believe he is only speaking of the bride swap."
Wang Gege quietly looked at him like she was finding a different emotion in that calm expression.
"The marriage was originally arranged for Shen Yurou. It was never meant to be Furen." His voice remained calm, without the slightest trace of disappointment.
"From that perspective... It is indeed true that we should never have crossed paths."
Wang Gege fell silent. That explanation actually made perfect sense.
The Taoist had never explicitly mentioned transmigration. Nor had he said anything about fate being altered by another soul.
Everything had merely been her own imagination. She quietly let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.
"I suppose Husband is right..." A small smile appeared on her lips before she hesitated once more. "But... Can I ask one more thing?"
Xie Rong glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Seeing the curiosity that had yet to fade from her expression, he gave a slight nod. "Go ahead."
Wang Gege lowered her gaze for a moment, seemingly debating whether she should ask at all. The memory of that wedding day quietly resurfaced in her mind... The sword stopping the bridal sedan and his cold voice demanding the marriage be cancelled...
"Back then..." she began softly, "why did Husband want to cancel the marriage?"
She looked at him with unconcealed curiosity. "Was it because... you didn’t wish to marry at all?"
Xie Rong remained silent for a moment.
"Not exactly." He answered honestly. "At that time... I believed the bride was someone else."
Although his words were vague, Wang Gege understood immediately. "My eldest sister?"
Xie Rong gave a slight nod.
Wang Gege lowered her eyes thoughtfully. The answer was exactly what she had expected, yet another question quietly surfaced in her heart. After hesitating for a moment, she looked at him once more, curiosity unconsciously filling her eyes.
"So... after Husband realized it wasn’t my eldest sister..." She paused briefly before asking, "Why did Husband no longer insist on cancelling the marriage? Was it because of the proposal I made?"
The moment those words left her mouth, Xie Rong’s footsteps came to a gradual halt.
Wang Gege, who had been walking beside him, instinctively stopped as well. She looked at him in confusion, only to find his face turned slightly in her direction, as though he were quietly studying her expression beneath the blindfold.
Several moments passed before he finally answered.
"No." His reply came unexpectedly. "Furen’s proposal merely gave me a reason to agree."
Wang Gege blinked, "Then why?"
A faint smile slowly appeared on Xie Rong’s lips, "Because... from the moment I saw Furen... I no longer had any intention of cancelling the marriage."
Wang Gege stared at him blankly. For a fleeting moment, her heart skipped a beat.
The faint smile on his lips and the calmness in his voice, for a ridiculous second, she almost misunderstood his words.
But that thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came. A bitter smile quietly surfaced in her heart.
’He likes Shen Taotao from the start.’
Everything he had just said, the person he had decided not to cancel the marriage for... Was the original owner of this body, not her.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like an outsider who had unknowingly borrowed someone else’s life.
"I see."
Wang Gege lowered her gaze with a faint nod, the smile on her lips remaining, yet somehow no longer carrying the warmth it had just moments ago. The change was subtle... so subtle that most people would never have noticed it.
But Xie Rong did. His faint smile gradually disappeared, a trace of confusion appearing between his brows.
"Furen?"
’DING!’
[TARGET FAVORABILITY HAS DECREASED: -10]
Xie Rong’s brows slowly furrowed.
He looked at Wang Gege with undisguised confusion, unable to understand how a perfectly normal conversation had suddenly caused her favorability toward him to decrease.
"Is there something wrong, Furen?"