42: Was Chapter 42 just... a charade?

Inside the hall, Chen Shanzhi's righteous voice echoed.

Tang Xiaowu: "???"

Her expression froze instantly, and she felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Her beautiful eyes were wide open, and she stared foolishly at the man who was exchanging pleasantries with her own father, with only one thought remaining in her mind.

"This scoundrel! Is he putting on an act for me?"

"Hahahaha!" Miao Yunzhan heard this and laughed loudly, clearly extremely satisfied with Chen Shanzhi's stance:

"Good! Commander Chen is truly a straightforward man!"

"In a couple of days, we shall pick an auspicious date and discuss the specific details of the marriage Alliance."

"Once the two of you are happily wed, we will sit down again and finalize the details of the Alliance!"

Miao Yunzhan waved his hand: "That is all for today's clan meeting, everyone is dismissed!"

The crowd rose one after another to take their leave.

However, among those opposition Elders who followed them out,

several pairs of eyes met obscurely in the air, a flash of sinister cruelty appearing in their depths.

...

Half an hour later.

The guesthouse, inside Chen Shanzhi's guest room.

"Bang!"

The door was violently kicked open from the outside.

Tang Xiaowu's beautiful, tall figure rushed in hurriedly, accompanied by a gust of fragrant wind.

"Chen Shanzhi!"

As soon as she entered and saw the culprit, who was comfortably leaning back in a grand armchair and leisurely drinking tea,

the anger that Tang Xiaowu had been holding back the entire way could no longer be contained.

"Chen Shanzhi!"

Tang Xiaowu rushed a few steps to stand in front of Chen Shanzhi and slammed both hands onto the table.

With a crisp "slap," the force caused the water in the teacup to splash out.

"What on earth are you doing?"

Tang Xiaowu stared at him fixedly, her beautiful eyes filled with irrepressible anger and grievance:

"What exactly did you say to my father? Why did he ask me to enter a marriage Alliance with you in front of so many people?"

"And!"

She gritted her teeth, her voice trembling slightly: "Just now at the clan meeting, I clearly gave you a signal, why did you agree?"

"Chen Shanzhi, we had an agreement!"

"Once this Secret Realm mission is completed and we go out, we will owe each other nothing, and we will go our separate ways!"

Tang Xiaowu bit her red lips, her eyes turning a bit red with anger:

"You actually took the opportunity in the Secret Realm to use such despicable methods to trick me into marrying you."

"I'm telling you, doing this only makes me find you disgusting!"

Facing this head-on outburst from Tang Xiaowu,

Chen Shanzhi took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the tea that had splashed onto the back of his hand.

Only then did he slowly lift his eyelids, looking at the beautiful, angry woman before him with a gaze that looked like he was watching an idiot.

"Are you done?"

Chen Shanzhi scoffed:

"So you think this so-called marriage Alliance was orchestrated by me behind the scenes?"

"And the goal was to obtain you, Tang Xiaowu?"

Tang Xiaowu did not speak, pressing her lips tightly together, but her stubborn expression clearly said: Isn't it?

"Heh." Chen Shanzhi was directly amused by her anger.

He leaned forward slightly, staring at her with great oppressiveness:

"Tang Xiaowu, you are truly absurd to the extreme."

"Please use your brain and recall carefully, who went to see your father last night?"

Tang Xiaowu was stunned: "It... it was me."

"Then, did I have any opportunity to meet your father alone?"

"No... no." Tang Xiaowu's tone faltered instantly.

Just now, upon hearing that she was to be married to Chen Shanzhi, her mind was filled with anger and panic at being schemed against by this scoundrel, and she had completely lost her reason.

Now, after being reminded by Chen Shanzhi, she suddenly realized.

That's right, Chen Shanzhi had absolutely no opportunity to have contact with Miao Yunzhan alone.

How could he possibly have manipulated the Clan Chief into granting the marriage?

"And furthermore..."

Chen Shanzhi leaned back against the chair, crossing his hands in front of him, as if watching a joke:

"Do you really think that a marriage Alliance with you is some kind of great blessing for me?"

Tang Xiaowu subconsciously asked: "What... what do you mean?"

She was, after all, the Saintess of the Witch Clan, and she still had confidence in her own appearance and figure.

Chen Shanzhi sighed, looking as if he was disappointed by her lack of improvement:

"Tang Xiaowu, I beg you, please use your brain and think about it properly."

"If I really succeed in the marriage Alliance with you, then wouldn't the Alliance between the Wu Clan and the Great Zhou become a set fact?"

Tang Xiaowu nodded: "Yes."

"Then what would those Elders who are strongly opposed to the Alliance think?"

Tang Xiaowu was not stupid; thinking along Chen Shanzhi's train of thought, she instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Those hardline Elders, in order to prevent the Alliance, would absolutely not watch this marriage take place!

To stop the Alliance, they would definitely be driven to desperate measures!

This was not a match made in heaven; it was clearly pushing him to the edge of a cliff, making him a live target for everyone!

"S-since you knew it was so dangerous!"

Tang Xiaowu grabbed the corner of the table with both hands, her voice losing its confidence, and she asked stutteringly:

"Then why did you agree to my father at the clan meeting earlier?"

Her voice grew quieter as she spoke, and a suspicious blush appeared on her cheeks: "And you still dare to say you didn't want to... want to do that..."

Chen Shanzhi did not answer immediately.

He reached out and picked up the teacup, taking a light sip of the now slightly cool tea.

"Could I have refused?"

Chen Shanzhi put down the teacup and asked back, his tone revealing a hint of helplessness:

"Don't forget, my current status is Commander of the Great Zhou, and I bear the imperial decree for the Alliance between the two clans."

"Your father spoke to that extent in front of all the Elders; if I had dared to refuse on the spot, would the Alliance still be possible?"

Hearing this, a trace of guilt suddenly welled up in Tang Xiaowu's heart.

So, not only had he not schemed against her, but because of her, he had been forcibly pushed by her father to the edge of a cliff, becoming a live target for all the opposition.

Chen Shanzhi put down the teacup, his voice softening slightly, and began to dismantle the power struggle within:

"And think about it."

"Why would your father, without any warning, bring this up in front of everyone?"

Tang Xiaowu's brain raced, following Chen Shanzhi's train of thought as she replied: "Because... because of yesterday's plan?"

"Exactly!" Chen Shanzhi's eyes flashed with brilliance:

"Your father is playing a big game."

"If that traitor who colluded with Wang Yuanhua, or rather that rat hiding in the shadows, is truly among those who oppose the Alliance,"

"when he hears that your father wants to use a marriage Alliance to completely lock in the Alliance, what will he do?"

Tang Xiaowu's eyes lit up, and she blurted out: "He will definitely think this is a good opportunity and then stir up trouble within!"

"Clever." Chen Shanzhi nodded appreciatively:

"If it were me, this would definitely be a once-in-a-lifetime, excellent opportunity."

"Under the guise of stopping the marriage Alliance, I would openly cause internal chaos within the Wu Clan."

"Then, he could take advantage of the time when everyone's attention is drawn to the internal struggle to secretly take what he wants!"

Chen Shanzhi looked at Tang Xiaowu, a careless curve appearing at the corner of his mouth:

"So, Young Miss Tang."

"This so-called marriage Alliance is not about mutual affection at all."

"It is just bait thrown out by your father, bait used to lure the snake out of its hole!"

"After a few days, using the excuse of preparing for the wedding, once all those rats hiding in the gutters are dragged out and cleaned up,"

"this marriage Alliance will most likely just be an act, and it can be voided at any time."

Chen Shanzhi spread his hands, his tone extremely perfunctory:

"So, don't keep being sentimental and obsessing over this matter."

"Everyone just needs to get what they need and play this part well."

After listening to Chen Shanzhi's thorough analysis,

Tang Xiaowu let out a long sigh of relief, her originally tense nerves finally relaxing completely.

So that was how it was.

She also didn't need to betray her feelings for Sixth Brother.

This was clearly the result she had most desired just a moment ago.

But...

Tang Xiaowu raised her head, looking at the man in front of her who looked so calm.

She didn't know why, but looking at his nonchalant expression, so eager to distance himself from her,

in Tang Xiaowu's heart, not only was there no sense of relief as she had imagined,

but instead, an uncontrollable, faint sense of loss that she couldn't even explain herself welled up.

"Is it... just acting?"

She lowered her eyelids, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of her clothes, her red lips pressed tightly together.