Yan Rouxi lowered her eyes, whispering dramatically. "A secret."
"What kind of secret? And why are you whispering like that? Who's going to hear you?" Xia Yuqing frowned.
Yan Rouxi blinked, as if suddenly realizing. "Oh. Yeah. Why am I whispering?"
Xia Yuqing gave her a deadpan look. You ask me, who do I ask?
Clearing her throat, Yan Rouxi leaned in. But then, recalling Xia Yuqing's current identity, she hesitated—only for a second—before saying, "I don't know if I should tell you this… after all, you are his wife. But… it's rumored that your husband, Lu Jinchen, is… gay."
Xia Yuqing froze.
Lu Jinchen… gay? Gay as in broken sleeves?! As in liking men, not women?! Was that why he married her? Was that the reason behind their contract marriage?
Sure, times had changed, but in wealthy, traditional families, old taboos still lingered. And wasn't Lu Jinchen from one of those big-shot clans, the kind that arranged marriages before their heirs were even born?
What if—his family had forced him into marriage, and to rebel, he chose her as a cover?
What if—he married her purely to keep his true love hidden?
Countless dramatic scenarios flooded her mind until— a memory surfaced.
Her sitting on top of him. His body's reaction.
Suddenly, her face burned. If he was gay, then how did that happen…?
Meanwhile, Yan Rouxi, oblivious to Xia Yuqing's spiraling thoughts, continued in a sage-like tone, "Yuqing, you made the right decision. The original Xia Yuqing was too naive, jumping into a contract marriage without knowing the truth. Your husband may be a rich and powerful CEO, but you don't know how many secrets these presidents and CEOs keep in their closets!"
"If he won't agree to the divorce, don't worry, I—Yuqing? Are you even listening?" she asked, realizing that Xia Yuqing seemed to be lost.
Yan Rouxi pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing. "What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"Lu Jinchen… can't be gay," Xia Yuqing murmured, half to herself. "Because when I met him, his body reacted to—" Crap. She abruptly shut her mouth. But it was too late.
Because at this moment, Yan Rouxi's enlarged face was right in front of her with eyes gleaming with the unmistakable hunger of someone who had just smelled the scent of premium gossip. She looked just like the dog she had back in the palace—eyes wide, tail wagging, practically salivating not for food, but for hot, juicy gossip.
The only thing missing was her ears twitching and a speech bubble above her head saying: FEED ME DRAMA.
Xia Yuqing sighed and poked her forehead, pushing her back. "Back up."However, Yan Rouxi ignored her and leaned in closer. "What do you mean, he reacted?" Her voice dropped to a scandalous whisper. "Don't tell me… You two did it?! Oh my god! You actually slept with the top golden bachelor?!"
Xia Yuqing's eye twitched. "No."
"Then what do you mean by reacted? Don't tell me Lu Jinchen is secretly a horny pervert, a beast in human disguise who pounces on beautiful women the moment he sees them?!"
Xia Yuqing choked on air, her ears turning pink.
Horny pervert? Beast in human disguise?! What kind of descriptions were these?! If anything, she was the beast because it was she who pounced on him.
Yan Rouxi's gossip senses tingled. Why was this stern-faced woman blushing? Suspicious. Highly suspicious. There was definitely a story here. "Wait. Don't tell me I guessed right? Did Lu Jinchen actually pounce on you?! Did he—" she wiggled her eyebrows like an overexcited gossiping auntie, "—try to do something naughty?"
Xia Yuqing groaned, shoving her face away again. "Nothing like that happened!"
"Then what did happen?"
"I…" Xia Yuqing hesitated. "...I was the one who pounced on him."
Yan Rouxi froze.
Silence.
One could almost hear crows cawing in the background.
Then—
"YOU WHAT?!"
"You... you... you pounced on Lu Jinchen?"
Xia Yuqing nodded, suddenly feeling like a criminal confessing to a crime.
"But why?!" Yan Rouxi clutched her chest dramatically. Xia Yuqing was an empress and she carried that regal air, that perfect royal posture. It showed in the way she moved and behaved. Why would she jump on a strange man who was just her contract husband?
Why would she act so out of character?
Then, suddenly, something clicked. "Wait, isn't it rumored that Lu Jinchen is so devastatingly handsome that one look and a woman would fall madly in love with him?! That his beauty alone could make a girl lose all control?!"
She grabbed Xia Yuqing's hands in excitement, her eyes sparkling. "Is it true?! Is he that handsome? Is that why you couldn't control yourself and pounced on him?!"
Xia Yuqing: "....."
Yes, Lu Jinchen was handsome, but weren't these rumors a little too exaggerated?!
She sighed, rubbing her temples. "That's not why I pounced on him."
Yan Rouxi blinked. "Then why?"
Xia Yuqing hesitated, then finally admitted, "Because… he looks exactly like the emperor. When I saw him, I was so shocked that I acted on instinct."
Yan Rouxi gasped. "OH. MY. GOD. So Lu Jinchen is the emperor of your past life? Did he time travel? Is this his rebirth?" Her mind spun with theories. Then, suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes slowly turned toward Xia Yuqing.
"What?" Xia Yuqing raised a brow, suddenly getting a bad feeling.
"If Lu Jinchen was the emperor, that means he was your husband. And now, in this life, he still chose to marry you… Wow," she grinned, grabbing Xia Yuqing's shoulder and shaking her excitedly. "This is fate! A love story that defies time and reincarnation! You two are the ultimate soulmates! Your romance story is written in the stars... how lucky!"
Xia Yuqing: ".........."
She rubbed her temples while staring at Yan Rouxi who was giggling and squealing like a 16-year-old girl over a love story that didn't even exist.
She failed to understand how did this woman go from 'he is probably gay' to 'destined lovers across lifetimes'.
But now she fully understood why Yan Rouxi was the CEO of a news company. This woman truly had the gift of hearing something and turning it into something else.
"Rouxi, if you ever get tired of the news industry, I highly recommend scriptwriting. You'd be a national treasure."
Yan Rouxi blinked, momentarily stunned. "Huh?"
Xia Yuqing just sighed.