In a world where there are more men than women, I am spoiled

Chapter 1278 Why are you here?

After Li Zewen finished speaking, Yang Qianxun and Su Yueyao looked at him. Facing their gazes, Li Zewen looked uneasy, as if he had said something wrong: "Is it not suitable for me to go? Then, my lord, you should go and escort Lady Su back. I will wait here."

Looking at him like this, Su Yueyao felt that the person in front of her had a kind of innocent, naive air about him. Her lips twitched slightly. She thought that they had just reached a cooperation agreement, and it would not look good to refuse him directly.

"There's no such thing as appropriate or inappropriate. If Young Master Li wants to accompany you, then accompany him."

Su Yueyao got up and left the house, preparing to walk towards the backyard. Yang Qianxun and Li Zewen followed a step behind, but Li Zewen's eyes were intentionally or unintentionally staring at Su Yueyao.

As Su Yueyao walked to the door, she suddenly remembered something and stopped. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Li Zewen on her right was about to touch Su Yueyao. Yang Qianxun reached out and pulled her into his arms without hesitation, avoiding Li Zewen's touch.

Before Su Yueyao could react while being held in Yang Qianxun's arms, she heard Li Zewen's apologetic voice: "I'm sorry, Ms. Su, I was thinking about something just now, I didn't bump into you, did I?"

"Is Ayao alright?"

"It's nothing, I just got distracted. By the way, where are Jihua, Chengyan, and Wangchen? Weren't they with me today?"

"When the three of them saw you and me coming to the study, they stopped following us. I suppose they had something to take care of."

"Alright then, take me back quickly. I'll come out and show my face again at lunchtime."

Su Yueyao said with a smile, without looking at Li Zewen the whole time. She always felt that there was something strange about this person, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Less contact would be better than nothing.

Li Zewen did not show any displeasure at Su Yueyao ignoring him; he stood respectfully and waited for the two to finish speaking.

After that, Yang Qianxun ignored Li Zewen and walked side by side with Su Yueyao, while Li Zewen silently lagged behind them.

As soon as the three of them arrived at Su Yueyao's courtyard, they found Xingchen and Pu'an waiting at the gate.

Su Yueyao's eyes lit up when she saw Xingchen, and she immediately walked over quickly.

"Xingchen, you're back?"

Xingchen saw Su Yueyao walking towards him and smiled as he hugged her.

"Yes, I got back a little late last night, so I didn't want to disturb my wife's rest."

"What do you mean by disturbing me? Have you been too busy lately? You look a bit thinner."

Hearing the heartache in Su Yueyao's words, Xingchen's lips curled slightly, her heart softening. Just as she was about to say something, Pu An couldn't help himself and, for the first time, did something contrary to his usual behavior, directly bringing his face close to hers.

"My lady, I've been so busy lately. Do you think I've lost weight?"

When Su Yueyao saw the face that suddenly came close, especially after recognizing Pu An, she chuckled and looked at him carefully again: "You have indeed lost some weight and look a bit haggard."

"Then, my lady... won't you hug me?" Pu Antou subconsciously rubbed his face against Su Yueyao's.

Holding Su Yueyao, Xingchen's face darkened. This was the first time he had ever seen Pu An vying for favor in front of them. Was this really Pu An, acting so coy and affected? It was unbearable to watch.

Su Yueyao was also taken aback by Pu An's behavior. Looking at him, she couldn't believe that the usually calm and unassuming person who disdained vying for favor had started to do so.

Pu An felt a little embarrassed by the gaze. He hadn't tried to win favor before because he was the oldest among the young men in the harem, and he was afraid that his wife would laugh at him for competing for favor with them, so he had always silently endured it.

But ever since his wife gave birth to his child, he couldn't help but stand aside and watch how she doted on other people.

"My wife... is it not okay?" Pu An's tone was unusually low, and he seemed somewhat at a loss.

Hearing Pu An's dejected tone, Su Yueyao immediately stepped out of Xingchen's arms, hugged Pu An, and comforted him, saying, "No, it's not impossible. I just didn't expect you to feel the same way!"

“I didn’t think things through before, but now I want to get closer to my wife.”

"I like whatever you do, there's no need to change anything," Su Yueyao said with a smile.

After all, Pu An was older than her, a mature older man, and his sudden clinginess was a bit hard for her to adjust to.

Xingchen frowned as she watched Su Yueyao being snatched away by Pu An. She pursed her lips, looked up at Yang Qianxun, and noticed a man standing next to him. She looked him over carefully and wondered, "Who is this guy again?"

Feeling Xingchen's gaze upon him, Li Zewen took the initiative to bow: "Greetings, Lord Xing. I am Li Zewen from the second branch of the Li family."

Upon hearing the name, Xingchen narrowed her eyes slightly and asked in a somewhat cool tone, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to cooperate with Lady Su. My lord was just escorting her back to her courtyard, so I came along. We'll discuss how to dismantle the power of the Li family's main branch later," Li Zewen calmly explained his reason for being there.

Xingchen's eyes remained sharp as she listened, without saying a word. An invisible pressure filled the air, while Li Zewen calmly met Xingchen's gaze without backing down an inch despite the pressure she was exerting.

Pu An and Su Yueyao, who were standing nearby, also clearly sensed that something was wrong and looked over. The second it took for Xingchen to look over, Xingchen withdrew his aura and said to Su Yueyao with a smile, "My lady, you just went to the front yard to deal with some trivial matters. Let Pu An go back and rest with you. I still have some things to take care of, so I'll come and keep you company."

Su Yueyao glanced at Yang Qianxun again, then at Li Zewen, and seeing that they hadn't changed at all, she nodded: "Okay! I'm thinking of lying down for a while."

The moment Su Yueyao turned to walk towards the courtyard, Pu An, out of her sight, glanced at Yang Qianxun and Xingchen and roughly understood what was going on. He nodded and followed Su Yueyao back to the courtyard.

Once their figures had completely disappeared, Xingchen looked sharply at Li Zewen again and chuckled, "Don't waste your time on my wife. She's not someone you can even dream of."

"Does Mr. Xinglang mean that I want to marry her?"

"What do you think? With your help, the Li family's eldest branch will crumble faster; without you, it will be slower. Essentially, there's no difference."

"So don't think that just because you're eager to cooperate, you can use this as a condition to marry my wife."

Upon hearing Xingchen's words, Li Zewen chuckled: "Young Master Xing, are you trying to stop the Lady from marrying and prevent me from getting close because you're a man of the martial world and don't uphold traditional male virtues?"

"Male virtue is a constraint on you noble young masters, but it doesn't apply to me. And since I'm saying this so bluntly, don't you think I'm doing this at the behest of my wife?"

"You should have been able to tell from the first time you met her that she wasn't like the women from noble families who would accept any man who came her way. Otherwise, with your looks and abilities, why weren't you chosen by my wife?"

Upon hearing this, Li Zewen felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't been selected before because of his lack of ability, but now that he was capable, he had reappeared in front of her. To ask him to give up like this was so unfair!