The intricately carved wooden door opened by itself and Li Meirong slowly stepped inside, carefully making sure not to spill the hot tea.
The study room wasn"t overly large but had sufficient s.p.a.ce for tall cabinets stacked with scrolls and unique trinkets she had had never seen before, including enough room for a screen door to be placed near the entrance, concealing the main seating placements and the Grandmaster"s "scholar" desk. Despite the numerous furniture, the room did not appear cluttered at all. The impression she received was of careful placement of every object in the room, providing a pleasant atmosphere.
She went behind the screen door and the person that greeted her sight made her tight grip over the tray slacken, nearly dropping all the contents of the platter from her hands.
Unwilling to believe her own eyes, her thoughts were caught in a jumbled mess. The past came haunting her today of all days!
"Y-you…!" Li Meirong blurted out.
Standing by Grandmaster Zhu Zhang"s side was the man she met years ago in the brothel, on the dreaded night when her soul first transmigrated into this world!
How could there be such a coincidence as to meet that man once again?!
That very same imposing height and lean muscular build with an arrogant grace to every slight movement he made. Moon-kissed skin and sculpted features with a pair of cunning Phoenix eyes, the impossibly long albino hair and unforgettable sun-kissed eyes…
He looked exactly the same as that night.
She tried not to think about their encounter during the pa.s.sing years, placing the memory at the back of her mind. If there was a way to describe how she felt after the brothel ordeal, the only emotion that was left was a strong feeling of shame.
Thinking about the past, she refused to condemn herself for her actions, the aphrodisiac clouded her rationality and made her desperate for his touch. She secretly admitted to herself that she enjoyed every moment of their intimacy and knew she couldn"t lay blame on the man since he was affected by the same drug, yet another part of her despised the stranger for taking advantage of her, even more so for his disappearance directly after.
That day, she had lost consciousness so quickly that even until now she wasn"t certain if she had lost her innocence during the event…
The shameful feeling of being a used object and later on tossed aside left her bitter.
In the past, when visions of his piercing eyes surfaced in her dreams, Li Meirong used to casually cheer herself up and avoid the heavy thoughts.
"It could have been worse, you could have stayed in the brothel and became a plaything for any pa.s.sing stranger. Think of what happened as a bad memory and a one-night-stand with a good-looking guy.", that"s what she used to silently told herself.
Li Meirong shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She forced herself to calm down and to properly take in the scene with detail.
The man was garbed in the sect robes and standing right by Grandmaster Zhu Zhang"s side made the similarities between the two all the more apparent. were it not for that person"s albinism, she would have thought the pair to be siblings when she had first encountered Zhu Zhang.
Seeing them together now, they resembled each other too much to be strangers.
It was hard to look away from the silver-haired man"s liquid gold irises, they were of a similar shade to s...o...b..ll"s. Through her obscured recollection, she still managed to find familiarity in his chiselled face and tempting lips. His whole countenance made the alarm bells in her head ring "trouble!"
He was definitely the type of man that would make you fall hopelessly in love with him, only to break your heart in the end. More than anyone else, Li Meirong feared these type of men the most. After repeated heartbreaks, she could already tell who she needed to avoid.
She already had one Mo Cheng and she didn"t need another in her life. Not to mention, the silver-haired stranger seemed ten times worse than her womanizing friend.
His eyes did not widen in surprise as hers did. No, they narrowed down as his golden gaze bore into her, making her squirm in her place.
Grandmaster Zhu Zhang cleared his throat in an attempt to clear the tension within the room, grabbing Li Meirong"s attention.
"Do you two already know each other?"
The silver-haired man shook his head and answered, "Not at all."
With a hand beckoning Li Meirong, Grandmaster Zhu Zhang presented the man.
"You must be wondering who my guest is. Let me introduce you, this is Zhu Qingyue, my one and only son." said Zhu Zhang.
Bai Qingyue"s brows furrowed in discontent when he heard his surname being switched to Zhu. He clasped his hands together in a silent greeting.
Li Meirong quickly placed the tray on the desk and greeted him back.
So his name was Zhu Qingyue...she vaguely recalled he mentioned Qingyue that night.
Noticing Zhu Qingyue"s displeased expression and how he obviously kept quiet about their relations.h.i.+p made Li Meirong realize that he might have been just as embarra.s.sed about the past as she was, not to mention that the Grandmaster was his father. Gosh, what a mess!
Zhu Qingyue did proclaim in their last "meeting" at the brothel that he wouldn"t touch her. She certainly didn"t forget that statement. Maybe he already had a family? It wasn"t uncommon for men far younger than him in this world to already have several wives and plenty of children.
Clearly, he was a man of prominent status, considering that he was the only son of the leader of a sect, it was probably a mark of humiliation for him to bed someone such as her.
Even when the sect claimed there was no status among disciples, the wealthy disciples mingled with themselves and the poorer ones were often the servants.
No wonder he vanished.
She only ever thought about her own unwanted experience but wasn"t he a victim just as much as she was? The thought of him seeking her out had not once crossed her mind.
Li Meirong"s self-esteem was never high. She grew up in a family that preached humility and self-abas.e.m.e.nt, even speaking a word out of turn was considered improper and impolite. Being raised by her grandmother, the traditional values of her family skipped a generation and pa.s.sed on directly to her. It was only during rare moments of losing her cool that she managed to speak up.
As she finally let herself delve into the recesses of her mind, she came to the conclusion of letting bygones be bygones. She wouldn"t mention the past nor blame him and he would most likely avoid her after this second meeting just as well.
Focusing on her responsibilities, Li Meirong glanced around the room, unable to find little s...o...b..ll which she was expecting.
Silently reprimanding herself for being inattentive, her eyes darkened with instant malice as her now hardened gaze focused on Zhu Zhang.
"Where is s...o...b..ll?!"