You Were Supposed to Simulate Fate, But You Ended Up Running Away With All the Heroines - Chapter 30

“Yes!”

Lu Ping chose the quickest way to end this conversation.

However, Luo Yingci’s gaze became even more intense. “And you still dare say you don’t have ulterior motives?”

“What do you mean?”

Lu Ping was a bit confused.

Sure, Luo Jinxuan was pregnant before marriage, but Lu Ping knew the child was his. Marrying her was just a way to take responsibility.

Even if the child in Luo Jinxuan’s womb wasn’t his, the worst that could be said was that he was taking on a difficult situation—how could that be seen as having ulterior motives?

“In Great Jing, men value their reputation above all. Rarely would a man marry a woman who is pregnant before marriage. Yet, you don’t seem to care at all about my sister being pregnant, which means you must be planning to endure this humiliation to further your schemes!”

Now Lu Ping understood.

Luo Yingci was implying that, by knowing Luo Jinxuan was pregnant, he still intended to marry her just to gain the status of being the husband of the future Empress. This seemingly self-sacrificing act was, in reality, a calculated move for greater power in the future.

‘Does she suspect that I plan to use the Han Marquis as a pawn to control the kingdom?’

“This is a misunderstanding. I’ve admired the Han Marquis for a long time. Even the Emperor is aware of this. If you don’t believe me, Chu Marquis, you can verify this with the Emperor when we return to the capital.”

Luo Yingci dismounted her horse and glanced at Luo Jinxuan.

Luo Jinxuan shyly nodded.

“So, the child in my sister’s womb is indeed yours?”

‘Wait, how did we circle back to this?’

“Lady Li…”

Lu Ping attempted to bring up the fact that Lady Li had verified Luo Jinxuan’s purity, but Luo Yingci interrupted him. “It seems that Grandmother only covered for my sister to protect the royal family’s reputation, is that not correct?”

Luo Jinxuan lowered her head, seemingly agreeing with Luo Yingci’s assumption.

Lu Ping thought that once Luo Yingci had clarified the situation, she would leave it and perhaps report the truth once they returned to the capital.

Unexpectedly, she began lecturing Luo Jinxuan right then and there.

“Sister, you’ve always been well-educated and well-mannered, knowing our grandmother’s teachings by heart. ‘Men and women should not interact without a matchmaker; no marriage should occur without a formal proposal.’ Surely, you understand this principle.”

Luo Jinxuan, feeling guilty, nodded.

“As a woman, and more importantly, as the Crown Princess, how could you act so recklessly and disregard the dignity of the royal family?”

“Enough! What exactly do you intend to do, Chu Marquis?”

Lu Ping couldn’t bear to listen any longer.

It was one thing to criticize him, but what was her problem with his wife?

Luo Yingci sneered. “What do I intend to do? I should be asking you, Grand Preceptor Lu, and you, Sister, what do you intend to do!”

“So, Chu Marquis, you plan to enforce the law impartially?”

Lu Ping narrowed his eyes, a dark expression forming on his face.

If Luo Yingci insisted on making a big deal out of this, he would have no choice but to eliminate her.

“Stop fighting!”

Seeing the growing tension, Luo Jinxuan interrupted them sharply.

“Now that you know the truth, Sister, there’s no point in hiding it any longer. When we return to Luoyang, I will confess everything to Father.”

With that, she cast a resentful glance at Lu Ping.

Then, she kicked her horse into a gallop, riding off swiftly.

Luo Yingci looked at Lu Ping with utter disdain. “I initially thought I had misjudged you, that you were truly a virtuous and capable minister. But I never imagined you to be more despicable than those conniving scholars—daring to disgrace the royal family and even planning to throw the entire kingdom into chaos!”

Lu Ping’s head was buzzing.

He had been so cautious, yet he hadn’t guarded against Luo Yingci?

‘This girl’s sense of morality was annoyingly strong.’

Unwed pregnancy, while against social norms, was hardly an unforgivable sin, was it?

Besides, he and Luo Jinxuan were truly in love; they had just gotten the sequence of events a little out of order.

But Lu Ping didn’t take it too seriously.

As Luo Yingci herself had said, the fact that Luo Jinxuan was pregnant involved the royal family’s reputation.

This meant that Emperor Zheng would have to handle the situation carefully.

Would he choose to protect the family’s reputation by endorsing the “heaven-sent child” story, or would he let Luo Yingci’s stubbornness damage the royal family’s honor by admitting that the Han Marquis had lost her purity?

Many times, even if you hold the truth, if no one else is willing to believe it or if it’s inconvenient for them to believe it, then you’re just an outlier!

With Lady Li’s support, Luo Jinxuan no longer needed to feign illness.

Lu Ping suggested that Luo Jinxuan rest for a few days before returning to the capital while he dealt with the Di Army in Yan, intending to resolve the border threats once and for all.

Once everything was settled, he planned to submit a formal proposal to marry her.

…

In Yan, the Marquis, Luo Jinlan, was quite displeased with Lu Ping’s sudden departure, causing her to throw a fit that disrupted the entire Marquis’ estate.

Even from hundreds of miles away, Lu Ping found it bothersome.

Every time he opened the simulation panel, he was greeted by 99+ messages.

If his guess was correct, these were likely all “greetings” from Marquis Yan.

When Lu Ping returned to Yan, planning to find an excuse to test Luo Jinlan’s mood, he saw several red notifications flash on his simulation panel.

[The Chu Marquis and Li Wenfu submitted a joint memorial, accusing the Han Marquis of feigning illness in Lingzhou to cover up her out-of-wedlock pregnancy and evade punishment.]

[Grand Preceptor Lu Ping is accused of having an illicit relationship with Han Marquis, using demonic techniques to deceive Lady Li into falsely claiming that the child in Han Marquis’s womb was heaven-sent.]

‘So Luo Yingci had joined forces with Li Wenfu after all.’

‘But how could she accuse him of using demonic techniques to deceive Lady Li?’

It was unlikely that Luo Yingci would distort the truth to this extent; this was probably Li Wenfu’s doing.

But this meant that Lady Li’s testimony would be worthless.

Instead, Lu Ping’s own position might become dangerously precarious!

[The Emperor is furious, stripping the Han Marquis of her title and demoting her to a commoner, while appointing the Chu Marquis, Luo Yingci, as the Crown Princess to stabilize the state!]

‘It’s over!’

‘Everything’s over!’

After all this hard work, was it all for someone else’s benefit again?

And compared to the last two failures, this one was even more humiliating—losing to a brainless Chu Marquis!

The timing was just not in his favor!

[The Emperor has decreed that Deputy General Lu Heng take command of the army and escort the disgraced Grand Preceptor Lu Ping back to the capital.]

This was basically the end of the line!

Despite this, Lu Ping had no intention of fleeing.

This put Lu Heng, who had just assumed command of Yan’s military, in a difficult position.

As a concubine’s son, Lu Heng had not been valued and had only gotten the chance to achieve merit in quelling the rebellion thanks to Lu Ping’s trust.

Now, the Emperor had ordered him to arrest Lu Ping, something he was very reluctant to do.

Yet Lu Ping had voluntarily returned!

Luo Jinlan, that troublesome woman, was still insisting that Lu Ping explain himself.

Why, if he was already involved with Han Marquis, did he keep sending her signals?

Lu Ping was speechless.

‘When had I ever sent you signals?’

‘It was all in your head, your overactive imagination misinterpreting things!’

By now, Lu Ping didn’t even want to explain anything to Luo Jinlan.

His only concern was for Han Marquis. Now that his wife had been demoted to a commoner, would Li Wenfu seize the opportunity to further harass her?

So he willingly surrendered, pleading with Lu Heng to remember their past camaraderie and quickly escort him back to the capital, so he could see Han Marquis one last time.

And then… well, then it’s time to start over…

As Lu Ping stretched out his hands to be bound, a message flashed before his eyes.

[Upon hearing of your plight, the Luo family in Lingzhou disregarded the rule that seekers of the Dao must not interfere in worldly matters. They rose up in revolt under the banner of “Pacifying the Rebellion,” swearing to eradicate the treacherous ministers who had misled the Emperor.]

“This…”