Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 160: Who Says a Doomed Romance Isn’t Fate?
"Er..."
Song Lianhe thought about it. He had a point.
Su Huaqing was one of Zhou Junlin’s advisors. While maybe not infallible, he was exceptionally cunning. He certainly wouldn’t resort to such a brainless tactic.
She felt a little embarrassed. "Mr. Su..."
"Don’t say a thing! This... this has wounded me!" He thumped his chest dramatically. "I’ve worked tirelessly for the Second Miss Song, and this is how you repay me... by hurting me so..."
This time, Song Lianhe was truly in the wrong. She quickly tried to placate him with kind words and apologies.
"So what if you’re wounded?"
Zhou Cangyan suddenly spoke up, glancing disdainfully at Su Huaqing. "You’re a grown man. What’s there to be so dramatic about?"
Su Huaqing’s eyes widened. "Your Highness! You’re siding with your own and ignoring reason!"
Zhou Cangyan raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"Heh heh... Of course... it’s wonderful, just wonderful." Su Huaqing readily switched gears, his expression becoming exceedingly respectful. "Whatever Your Highness says, goes. How would your humble servant dare to say otherwise? I still have matters to attend to in the front yard, so I’ll take my leave."
He then looked up at Song Lianhe, smiled, and waved. "Boss Song, I’m off to watch the shop."
Song Lianhe couldn’t be more pleased with his enthusiastic work ethic. "Go on, Little Su."
Su Huaqing cupped his hands. "You got it! Take care now!"
With that, he flicked his hem and STOMP, STOMP, STOMP, he was gone!
Song Lianhe was still smiling, but when she turned her head, she met Zhou Cangyan’s probing gaze.
"What... are you looking at?"
For some reason, she always felt inexplicably guilty whenever she met his eyes, even though she hadn’t done anything to wrong him.
"Are you two close?"
Song Lianhe thought carefully. "Compared to Mr. Su, I’m more familiar with Manager Yan. Oh, right, when I saved him in front of the General Mansion last time, wasn’t the Prince there too?"
The man, who had been perfectly composed a moment ago, suddenly darkened his expression. A chill shot from his eyes as his gaze fell lightly upon her.
Song Lianhe’s heart skipped a beat. ’Where did I go wrong this time?’
’He was fine just now, how can he flip out like that?’
The man slowly pulled his lapels tighter, then picked up his outer robe and draped it over his shoulders. With his eyes half-closed and lips pursed, he finally let out a disdainful snort. "Saved him? Hmph. With your mouth?"
Hiss—
Song Lianhe sucked in a sharp breath. ’Does he have to be so vicious!’ 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
"I already told you, it’s called artificial respiration. It’s... something doctors from my hometown all do. It’s to save a life, so no one cares that much about it..."
A devilishly handsome face suddenly loomed before her, making her jump.
Zhou Cangyan lowered his head, leaning close to her face. "Then you can ’save’ me, too."
Song Lianhe’s eyes went wide. "That’s not something you can just do for anyone..."
Before she could finish, the man kissed her without any warning.
Song Lianhe’s mind went completely blank—
Zhou Cangyan’s light eyes were narrowed, watching her unblinkingly. He took in all her shock and helplessness as he silently wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against him.
When Song Lianhe finally came to her senses, she hurriedly tried to push him away!
’It’s all a mess! Everything’s a mess!’
’Why would the villain kiss me?’
’Is it because I messed up the original plot? I ruined the villain’s fated romance, so now he’s getting revenge?’
Only when she bit his lip did she manage to shove him away.
The next second, she instinctively wiped her mouth. "You... you..."
Seeing her action, the man’s face instantly darkened. His expression turned grim as he warned her, "Don’t you dare wipe it!"
Song Lianhe flinched, her neck shrinking back. Her hand froze in place as she stared at him, stunned.
As if overcome by a paranoid obsession, Zhou Cangyan took two steps forward, pulled her hand away, and pressed his lips hard against hers again. "If you dare wipe it, I’ll make you regret it!"
"You- you’re so unreasonable!"
Song Lianhe shook off his hand. She protested verbally, but she truly didn’t dare move again, settling for glaring at him with a look of humiliated anger.
If there had been a safe barrier between them before, now everything was in chaos.
Zhou Cangyan tilted his head to look at her, then suddenly scoffed. He walked over and pinched her cheek. "After that interruption from Marquis Lin, your engagement with Prince Ling is now impossible. So, do you regret it?"
Song Lianhe’s eyes lit up. "What did you say? It’s canceled? Really canceled? Ah! That’s wonderful!"
She felt as if a great weight had finally been lifted from her heart. She was one step closer to her perfect life.
Zhou Cangyan had been watching her from the side with a casual gaze. Seeing the relief on her face, and her bright, joyful smile, the corners of his pressed lips slowly began to curve upward.
"Song Wenxin," he called her suddenly.
"Huh?"
Song Lianhe turned to look at him.
"I gave you a chance."
"What?"
She blinked, confused.
’What chance?’
’A chance to surrender to him?’
’Didn’t I already suck up to him and say I’d follow him and be loyal?’
Just then, there was a knock on the back door.
The Shadow Guard’s voice came through. "Master, it’s time to go."
"Mm."
Zhou Cangyan looked at her with an unreadable smile. After the door was opened, the Shadow Guard draped a cloak over his shoulders, gave Song Lianhe a slight nod, and then they hurried off into the night.
"Hey! Wait! The medicine..."
Song Lianhe had just remembered. By the time she reached the back door, they were long gone.
"Leave the medicine to me."
Xuan Mei appeared silently behind her.
Song Lianhe was already used to this and didn’t jump in surprise like she used to.
"Sister Mei, don’t you think there’s something off about your Prince?"
Xuan Mei glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "He’s not the only one."
"Huh?"
It took a moment for Song Lianhe to realize what she meant, but by then, Xuan Mei had already gone inside, cradling her sword.
「That night, Song Lianhe had a dream.」
In the dream, the villain was chasing her with a large saber. She fled for her life in terror as he hacked at her, sneering and demanding to know why she broke him and the female lead up.
Song Lianhe wanted to cry but had no tears. She could only explain while running, "Because you two are destined to meet but not to be together! She’ll betray you in the end!"
At that, the villain stopped chasing her.
He stood where he was, looking at her with a strange expression. "What about you? You won’t betray me, will you?"
Song Lianhe startled awake from the dream. She sat dazedly on her bed, unable to come to her senses for a long time.
’I’m helping Zhou Cangyan. The male and female leads are the official couple. As a villain who goes down a dark path, he’s bound to have a bad end!’
’But the him in the dream didn’t seem very appreciative.’
’Does that mean... as a fictional character, he can’t escape the fate set for him in the book after all?’
’Then why did he kiss me yesterday?!’
Song Lianhe slapped her forehead. ’I get it!’
Just then, Shuang Ye came in to help her wash up for the morning and was startled by her action. "Miss! What are you doing?"
She hurried forward to check and saw a red, swollen patch on Song Lianhe’s forehead. She immediately began to chide her out of concern, "I think you were scared silly by King Qing, Miss! You’ve been acting all strange and muttering to yourself ever since you came back last night! We need to go to Dao Yuan Temple tomorrow and ask a master for some talismans to exorcise the evil spirits."
Song Lianhe grabbed her, her gaze frighteningly intense.
"I know now!" She stared at Shuang Ye and said seriously, "He did that to punish me! To punish me for breaking them up! Who’s to say a star-crossed romance isn’t a romance? Success depends on human effort. If I can exist in this book, why can’t he have a happy ending?"
"Miss... what are you talking about? Have you... lost your mind?"
Shuang Ye reached out to feel her forehead, but Song Lianhe immediately let her go and nodded firmly. "That must be it!"
