Crowned by the Treacherous Big Shot-Chapter 372 - 347: The Warmth of Shyness

"You’re being vague again."

Lu Yuan coolly retracted his hand, his palm still tingling with that lingering softness, the sensation creeping from his arm to his very heart.

Seeing that he was somehow blaming her, Meng Qianqian muttered resentfully, "Does that really need explaining? When someone’s sick, you feel their forehead. Even Zhaozhao knows that. Who starts by touching *there*?"

"How would I know?"

Lu Yuan outright denied it, his expression entirely serious.

Meng Qianqian stared at him intently.

Lu Yuan quickly changed the topic, "Can we get back to business?"

Meng Qianqian eyed him and said, "Your ears are red, aren’t they?"

Lu Yuan: "No."

Meng Qianqian: "Sure they are."

Lu Yuan: "They’re hot."

Meng Qianqian: "The study isn’t heated with coals."

Lu Yuan said, "Meng Xiaojiu, will you cut it out?"

Meng Qianqian: "Let me touch them again."

Lu Yuan: "..."

With a serious look, Meng Qianqian said, "Fine, I won’t touch them—if you erase all your past debts with me."

As she gazed at the tips of his ears, now red to their very edges, Meng Qianqian thought she had won for sure. But she hadn’t expected someone to suppress every ounce of shame he felt, calmly grabbing her hand and pressing it against his firm chest.

"We’re even now."

He spoke in a collected tone.

The suddenly speechless Meng Qianqian: "..."

The Lu Yuan she used to know was fierce but straightforward. She didn’t know when he had become so impossible to handle.

Meng Qianqian could feel his strong, pounding heartbeat. His body warmth seeped through the layers of fabric, like a blazing fire scorching her slightly cool palm.

Entirely frozen in place, she stared at him in disbelief, "You..."

Lu Yuan quirked an eyebrow, "What? Not enough?"

His voice was hoarse, his gaze deep, as though he were sizing her up to devour her whole.

Meng Qianqian hastily withdrew her hand, "That’s not how accounts are settled!"

Lounging back against his chair, Lu Yuan lazily traced the armrest with his fingertips and asked languidly, "How do you want to settle it?" freewebnσvel.cøm

Settle it... How would she know how to settle it?

Weren’t they supposed to be talking about Mao Tu?

How had it escalated to this?

Meng Qianqian spoke earnestly, "I haven’t figured out how to settle it yet. You’ll owe me for now."

Lu Yuan scoffed coldly, "Didn’t I just let you touch me? Meng Xiaojiu, are you really that desperate to take advantage of me?"

Lowering her head to glance at her own collar, then back at his chest, Meng Qianqian said, "My chest and your chest—are they the same? If there’s touching to be done, it should be—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

Lu Yuan suppressed the embarrassment bubbling inside him and calmly raised his brows, "Where?"

Seeing his composed demeanor, Meng Qianqian narrowed her eyes slightly.

A contest of shamelessness, was it?

Straightening her posture, Meng Qianqian took a deep breath, gave him a condescending glance, then leaned in, bracing her hands on either side of him, as though trapping him within her embrace. With a playful smirk, she said, "Take off your pants."

Lu Yuan: "...!!"

"Ban Xia! The lily and lotus seed dessert is ready!"

"Coming, Madam Du!"

Ban Xia lifted the curtain and stepped out. A gust of cold wind rushed at her, making her shiver. Hugging herself, she exhaled into her hands for warmth and hurried off to the kitchen.

Madam Du had made a whole pot of dessert and ladled out three portions, meant for Meng Qianqian, Bai Yuwei, and Tan’er.

Since Liu Qingyun didn’t like lotus seed desserts, Madam Du made her rose ginger tea instead.

Ban Xia said, "Better make another bowl. The young master has returned too."

"Ah!"

Madam Du quickly ladled another portion onto the tray. "And don’t forget—have Nanny Li come grab some later."

"Thank you, Madam Du."

Smiling, Ban Xia lifted the tray.

But as she entered the study carrying the dessert, she noticed something odd about the room’s atmosphere.

Her mistress and the young master—one was balancing the account books, the other reading a book.

"Miss, hasn’t this account already been settled?"

Meng Qianqian replied without batting an eye, "Doing it again."

"Oh." Ban Xia nodded, then turned to Lu Yuan, "Sir, you’re holding your book upside down."

Lu Yuan: "Reading it this way trains the mind."

Ban Xia: "..."

Coming out of the study, Ban Xia scratched her head, puzzled. "Miss and the young master sure are acting strange. Both of their faces were red."

Back inside—

Meng Qianqian cleared her throat and said to Lu Yuan, "It’s cold. Eat while it’s hot."

Lu Yuan replied earnestly, "Mm."

Both tacitly avoided bringing up what had just happened. After all, whoever mentioned it would only feel more awkward.

The dessert was delicious—sweet, fragrant, and glutinous. Finishing a bowl left them both slightly sweaty.

Meng Qianqian dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief and said, "So... Mao Tu—shall we continue discussing her?"

Clearly, they’d begun with business. How had personal matters kept interrupting?

Lu Yuan asked, "Is Mao Tu a traitor?"

Meng Qianqian shook her head, "I can’t speak for anyone else, but she likely wouldn’t betray the Chu Family—at least not back then. After Chu Nan’s death, though, who knows."

Lu Yuan sharply caught the underlying implication in her words, "There’s a story here?"

Meng Qianqian said, "You could call it a small one. Mao Tu’s position within the Twelve Guards was unique. Chen Long joined willingly. Mao Tu’s case was similar. Have you heard of the Medicine King Valley?"

Lu Yuan’s eyes narrowed. "I’ve heard of it. In the late Emperor’s final years, he fell gravely ill and sent people to seek treatment there. They refused, and he nearly sent troops to annihilate them."

Meng Qianqian hadn’t known about this. Maybe she’d heard of it in her past life but couldn’t recall now.

She said, "It’s said the Medicine King Valley treats people at the cost of lives—one life for another. Because of that, it’s also known in the martial world as the Yama Hall."

"Mao Tu is from Medicine King Valley?"

Lu Yuan asked.

Meng Qianqian nodded, "That’s right. She’s a disciple of the valley. Back then... I heard she once faced off against Madam Chu in a contest of Needle Techniques—Medicine King’s Gold Needle versus Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles. They tied. Of course, that was strictly based on needle technique, not martial arts. Since she didn’t lose, she wasn’t obliged to serve Chu Nan. But she voluntarily proposed a second challenge—an archery contest against Chu Nan."

"And she lost," Lu Yuan said.

Meng Qianqian nodded again, "Yes. She couldn’t even draw the bowstring and admitted defeat outright—because she was in love with Chu Nan. Of all the Twelve Guards, aside from Chen Long, she was the only one recruited without any coercion."

"If she was so devoted to Chu Nan, why did she later ally with the Prime Minister, who was responsible for Chu Nan’s death? Surely she wasn’t blackmailed into it."

"I have no idea."

All their efforts seemed to point toward the Prime Minister’s downfall, but if he had the support of Medicine King Valley, it was as if he’d gained another life-saving trump card.

Medicine King Valley demanded a life for a life, but if one couldn’t pay, they might be allowed to owe it.

Countless lives were indebted to the valley.

With a complicated expression, Meng Qianqian said, "When Mao Tu served in the Twelve Guards, she obeyed only Chu Nan’s orders. In this world, the only person who could command her to stop was Chu Nan."

But Chu Nan was long dead. How could she possibly bring Mao Tu back from the Prime Minister’s side?