Wenzhe kept wiping her face gently until the cloth came away clean. He folded the cloth, put it back into his dark robe, and his face became much more serious. The soft look in his eyes vanished, replaced by a deep, heavy expression.

Su Yueqing felt the shift in the air immediately. She chewed her pancake a bit slower, her ink-black eyes watching him carefully.

Wenzhe leaned back against the wooden table, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked down at the floor for a long moment before raising his eyes to look directly at her.

"What you said earlier... back in the room," Wenzhe started, his voice low and quiet. "About me hating you before you even stepped into this family. You are right."

Su Yueqing stopped chewing completely. She didn’t expect him to admit it so easily.

"My father is a general, and I am a warrior," Wenzhe continued, his jaw tightening. "I grew up learning that everything should be earned with hard work and loyalty. So when your father used his power as chancellor to force this marriage on my family... I was angry. I saw you as a spoiled girl who gets everything she wants by ruining other people’s lives."

He took a step closer to her, his dark eyes locking onto hers with pure honesty.

"But tonight, when you shouted at me, I realized something. I have been judging you based entirely on what other people say. I never actually tried to look at you, Su Yueqing. I just assumed you were malicious, and I treated you like an enemy."

He let out a heavy breath, his shoulder dropping slightly.

"I cannot change the past, and I know you hate me. But I am a man of my word. If we are going to live under the same roof, I don’t want us to live like enemies in a war zone. I want to try to understand who you really are, not the person everyone else talks about."

Su Yueqing stared at him, her chopsticks frozen in her hand. Her heart was beating fast, completely shocked by his serious and emotional words.

Inside her head, Su Yueqing was completely screaming. Total panic hit her like a lightning bolt, and she almost choked on her piece of pancake.

[What?!] she yelled furiously in her mind, her eyes widening in pure horror.

[No, no, no! Nine! What is this block of wood talking about?! This is absolutely NOT what he is supposed to say!]

[Host, please calm down—] Nine tried to interrupt.

[Calm down?!] Su Yueqing raged, her thoughts spinning out of control.

[He wants to live peacefully? He wants to understand me?! Is he insane? I don’t want to live under the same roof like friends! I am the villainess! I am supposed to make his life a living hell, and then he is supposed to get angry, kill me, and send me home! That is my only ticket out of this ancient nightmare to get my happy ending! If this giant idiot suddenly becomes nice and starts understanding me, how am I ever going to die and go home?! He is completely ruining the entire plot!]

On the outside, Su Yueqing’s face went through three different stages of shock. She slammed her chopsticks down on the wooden table with a loud *clack*, ignoring how delicious the food tasted.

She took a step back, wrapping the heavy coat tighter around herself like it was a shield against his sudden kindness. She glared at Wenzhe, her ink-black eyes filled with genuine frustration.

"Who wants to live peacefully with you?!" she snapped, her voice rising. "Don’t try to act like a good person now, Young Master Xi! I don’t need your understanding, and I definitely don’t want your pity!

Wenzhe blinked, completely confused by her explosive reaction. He had just poured his heart out and apologized, so why did she look even angrier than before?

"I am as malicious as they say!" Su Yueqing yelled, pointing a finger directly at his face. "I am very crazy! It’s like I haven’t even shown you my real side yet! You think you know me? You haven’t seen anything!"

Wenzhe stood completely still, his eyebrows going up in surprise. He just stared at her as she kept going, her face flushing red under her messy hair.

"I am very lazy!" she shouted, listing her flaws like they were proud achievements. "I jump to conclusions all the time! I will spend every single coin of your money, and I will burn down all your kitchens! Every single one of them!"

To make her point, she gestured wildly to the smoky kitchen around them and the burnt black lump still sitting in the trash.

"So don’t you dare try to understand me or be nice to me!" she huffed, her chest heaving as she glared at him with everything she had. "I am a horrible wife, and I plan to stay horrible!"

Wenzhe blinked, the utter confusion on his face slowly turning into something else.

Hearing her desperate thoughts about wanting him to hate her, combined with her screaming about how lazy she was, made it almost impossible for him to stay serious. A low, amused rumble started in his chest, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud at his wild, stubborn wife.

"Why are you laughing?!" Su Yueqing stomped her foot, looking completely frustrated at this point. "I am being totally serious right now, Master Xi! Stop smiling!"

Wenzhe couldn’t hold it in anymore. A soft chuckle escaped his lips, his deep voice echoing in the small, smoky kitchen. He looked down at her small, angry figure wrapped in his giant fur coat.

"I am laughing because you are the first person in the world to threaten me with being lazy and spending money," Wenzhe said, stepping closer to her. The tension from their huge fight earlier was completely gone, replaced by a strange, warm amusement.

He stopped right in front of her, looking down into her glaring eyes.

"If you want to spend all my money, go ahead. My family has more than enough to feed you and buy you whatever you want. And as for burning down the kitchens..." He glanced at the messy stove and smiled a little. "I’ll just hire more guards to keep you out of them. Or, I can just cook for you myself."

Su Yueqing’s jaw dropped. She felt like she was hitting a thick brick wall with a wet noodle.

[Is this guy broken?!] she screamed in her mind, her soul crying tears of pure despair. [Nine! The male lead is broken! Why is he offering to be my personal chef?!]

"You..." Su Yueqing stuttered, her face turning red from both anger and embarrassment. "You are truly shameless! I told you to stop talking to me!"

She turned around quickly, grabbed another piece of the crispy pancake from the plate, and shoved it into her mouth, chewing furiously like the food had personally offended her.