Oops! My Inner Thoughts Are Ruining The Plot

Chapter 89: Chapter

Lanyin quickly turned to her maid. "Make sure no one enters this wing of the courtyard. Tell the servants I am resting until it is time to leave for the banquet."

"Yes, Lady Lanyin," the maid whispered, bowing low before stepping out and gently pulling the doors shut behind her.

Once the soft sound of the maid’s footsteps faded into the distance, Lanyin moved toward the wooden screen near the corner of her bedchamber. She took a deep, steadying breath, her fingers tightening around her silk handkerchief as she stepped around the carved panels.

Shadows flickered near the high back window, where a tall figure stood draped in refined, dark robes.

Zhao Mingyuan turned at the sound of her light footsteps, pulling back his sleeves. On the surface, the Baron’s son looked every bit the gentle, polished gentleman the capital adored. But as Lanyin looked at him now, Su Yueqing’s inner thoughts echoed loudly in her mind:

[That fake, scheming snake Zhao Mingyuan... pretending to love Lanyin just to use the Xi family as his stepping stone, only to ruin her life in the end!]

A cold, suppressed tremor ran through Lanyin’s chest. Thanks to Su Yueqing’s unconscious warnings, the scales had long fallen from her eyes. Every gentle smile from Mingyuan now looked like a calculated trap, every soft word a venomous lie.

"You took your time, Lanyin," Zhao Mingyuan murmured, stepping forward with an effortless, affectionate smile on his handsome face. "I was beginning to think your sisters were never going to leave."

Lanyin held her ground, forcing her expression into a fragile, shy facade to keep him from realizing she knew the truth.

"You know how dangerous this is, Master Zhao," Lanyin whispered, keeping her tone soft as if she were still the naive girl he thought he was manipulating. "If Big Brother Wenzhe or anyone else finds you sneaking into my bedchamber, it will destroy my reputation."

"I only risk it because I miss you so much," Mingyuan replied smoothly, reaching out as if to gently take her hand, his eyes gleaming with hidden ambition. "The Youth Banquet today is our best chance. I need you to make sure I am seated near your brother..."

Lanyin secretly clenched her fists beneath her long sleeves, a chill running down her spine as she watched him perform his little act, entirely unaware that his grand scheme to ruin her family had already been completely exposed.

Zhao Mingyuan took another step closer, his eyes softening into a gaze that would have melted the heart of any unsuspecting noblewoman.

"You haven’t replied to my letters recently, Lanyin," he said, his voice dripping with gentle concern and wounded affection. "I was worried sick that something had happened to you. Every day without your word feels like an eternity."

Lanyin lowered her gaze, pretending to be touched while secretly swallowing the surge of disgust rising in her throat. [You weren’t worried sick about me,] she thought bitterly. [You were worried sick that your puppet was slipping out of your fingers.]

"I... I have just been very busy preparing for the banquet," Lanyin murmured softly, maintaining her delicate, hesitant posture.

"I understand," Mingyuan sighed, reaching out to lightly brush his fingers against her silk sleeve—a gesture that made her skin crawl. "I came today because I wanted to tell you... I am finally ready to come forward and ask your family for your hand in marriage."

He paused, letting the statement hang in the air as if expecting her to gasp with joy.

"However," he continued, his tone turning serious and calculating, "to ensure your eldest brother accepts my proposal, I must first make a flawless impression on him today. General Wenzhe is a formidable man, Lanyin. He will not hand his beloved sister over to just anyone."

He lowered his head slightly, putting on a pained, apologetic expression. "Because of this, I must escort another young lady to the banquet this evening. Please, do not misunderstand my heart—it breaks me to enter the hall with someone else. But doing so allows me to secure an invitation and be in the same room as your brother without raising suspicions too early. It is not that I do not want to attend by your side, my sweet Lanyin. It is all for our future."

Lanyin stood frozen, staring at his earnest face. Had she not overheard Su Yueqing’s inner thoughts days ago, she would have fallen for every single word of this romantic, sacrificial lie. He was using another noble girl just to get through the doors, all while keeping Lanyin strung along as his ultimate prize.

She forced a tiny, trembling smile onto her face, suppressing the icy anger in her chest.

"I see, Master Zhao," Lanyin said softly, her voice barely a whisper. "You have thought... so deeply of our future."

"Once I gain General Wenzhe’s favor today, nothing can stand in our way," Zhao Mingyuan added smoothly, taking her quiet demeanor as complete submission to his charm. A confident, smug glint flashed in his eyes as he leaned closer. "So you can relax now, Lanyin. Next year, when we attend this very banquet, we will enter through those doors as husband and wife."

Lanyin kept her head bowed, her lashes fluttering as if overwhelmed by his grand promise. But beneath her silk sleeves, her nails bit sharp and hard into the palms of her hands.

[Husband and wife?] she scoffed viciously in the quiet space of her own mind. [In your wildest dreams, Zhao Mingyuan!]

She almost had to laugh at the sheer, delusional arrogance dripping from his mouth. He actually stood there thinking he was pulling all the strings, completely blind to the fact that his little web of lies had been destroyed. He had no idea that while he was busy scrambling for scraps and escorting random noblewomen just to sneak into the hall, Lanyin was already walking into that banquet on the arm of the Top Scholar of the Empire.. a man of genuine brilliance, towering status, and unblemished character.

Compared to Master Zi Han, the man standing in front of her looked like nothing more than a pathetic, desperate clown acting out a tragedy.

"You are so good to me, Master Zhao," Lanyin whispered softly, forcing her voice to tremble just enough to sound tearfully touched. "I will... patiently wait for your good news at the banquet today."

"That is my sensible girl," Mingyuan murmured, thoroughly pleased with himself. He gave her hand one last, lingering pat before stepping backward toward the high window, pulling his hood over his face once more. "I must go before the guards notice. Watch for me tonight, Lanyin."

With a swift, silent movement, he slipped out through the wooden lattice, disappearing into the shadows of the outer courtyard.

The moment he was gone, the soft, delicate expression vanished from Lanyin’s face entirely. Her gaze turned as cold as ice. She walked over to her vanity table, picked up a wet linen cloth, and aggressively wiped down every inch of the silk sleeve he had touched.

"The Heavens... or Sister-in-law... whoever saved me from that snake," Lanyin muttered quietly under her breath, a sharp, satisfied smile curving her lips as she tossed the cloth aside. "I owe you a massive favor."