I Became the Rich Second-Generation Villain

Muwang Pavilion stood on the eastern bank of the Qingling River, and it had endured for over a thousand years as an ancient royal house of song and dance. It was said that an imperial prince once came here to serve as a regional commander, and he built this tower with grand ambition and imposing presence, so countless scholars and poets flocked to it and left behind endless verses.

Some of those poems became famous through the ages, and their names were still spoken in later generations, so people often said that if you came to Qingling and never visited Muwang Pavilion, then you might as well have never come at all.

It was already late morning when Bian Suwen tugged Mu Nanzhi out of the hotel and brought her near the pavilion, where tourists crowded the roads on every side, and lively voices drifted through the air.

Their looks were too striking to hide, and more than a few passersby turned to stare with unconcealed amazement, as if they had stumbled upon two figures from a painting. Mu Nanzhi had been shaken by what happened to her, and her mind was still overly sensitive, so being examined by so many eyes made her feel uneasy, like her skin could not quite settle.

Bian Suwen noticed at once, and she tightened her grip on Mu Nanzhi’s hand while leading her away from the densest crowd, guiding her toward a quieter stretch by the water.

There were small boats for rent along the riverbank, and Bian Suwen rented one without hesitation, then brought Mu Nanzhi aboard to drift along the gentle current. The water was clear enough to soothe the gaze, the sky above was clean and blue, and when they looked a little farther out, Mu Wang Pavilion rose in the distance with solemn grandeur, standing tall like it had been waiting there for centuries.

Their little boat swayed with the flow, unhurried and light, as though it was content to wander wherever the river wished to carry it.

Mu Nanzhi sat at the bow with her knees drawn up, breathing in the fresh air until the gloom in her chest finally loosened, as if the tight knot of her thoughts was slowly unraveling.

Stray ideas rose in her mind, one after another, and she found herself calmly sorting through them, because she was at the best age of her life, with her youth still in full bloom.

If the topic turned to geomancy and numerology, her eyes would brighten with real enthusiasm, yet she had never once seriously imagined herself ending up with a man, much less marrying someone and living that kind of life.

When it came to whether she was pure or not, she suddenly felt that it was not as important as people liked to pretend, because what mattered was what she chose to carry forward from here. What happened was hard to accept, and it left a bitter taste that she could not deny, yet it did not become some obsession that chained her so tightly she could never breathe again.

The past could remain in the past, and there was no need to gnaw at it until it turns into a wound that never closes, because her only wish in this life was to break further through her own limits in geomancy and the art of calculation. Everything else felt like an afterthought, and the moment she made peace with that, her mood lifted a little, as if the river breeze had slipped into the cracks of her heart and loosened them gently.

She raised her eyes and saw Bian Suwen holding her phone with a bright smile, filming the scenery around them as if she wanted to capture every sparkle of water and every stretch of sky.

After recording, she quickly sent the short video out, then clutched her phone with open delight while waiting for a reply, as though a single message could complete the whole outing. Minutes passed, yet nothing came back, and the sweetness on her face dimmed into a faint, helpless sulk.

Mu Nanzhi’s mood was better now, and when she noticed the change in Bian Suwen’s expression, she finally felt like talking, so she asked, “Who did you send that scenery to, anyway?”

“Of course, I sent it to my boyfriend,” Bian Suwen said with a resentful little pout that did not hide her affection. “He should be off today, but I have no idea what he is doing, because he is not replying to my messages at all.”

Mu Nanzhi was not surprised, since she had already guessed as much, yet she still could not understand it, so she said, “You tie your joy and sorrow to a man’s every move, and you really do not think that is foolish?”

Bian Suwen laughed, as if she found that question adorable. “If he is happy, then I am happy, and if he is worried, then I am worried, because that is what love is supposed to be, right? I think it is romantic, so how can it be foolish?”

Mu Nanzhi listened, and the confusion on her face only deepened, as though she was hearing a language she had never learned.

Bian Suwen knew she would not be able to argue her into understanding, so she only smiled and said, “When you meet someone like that one day, you will understand.”

“There will not be someone like that, and even if there is…” Mu Nanzhi began slowly, yet her voice caught before she could finish, and a flicker of pain crossed her delicate face like a sudden shadow.

That expression vanished almost immediately, and she forced herself back into calm, then continued in a quieter tone, “You have only been away from the Imperial Capital for a little over a month, but I truly feel like you have become a different person. Can a single word like love really change someone that much?”

“Yes, it really can,” Bian Suwen replied, speaking half like a joke and half like a confession. “That one word is poisonous, and sometimes I feel like I hardly recognize myself anymore, but I still think I am better like this.” As she spoke, a soft sweetness spread across her smile, bright and content, as if her heart had found a place to rest.

Mu Nanzhi watched her and silently shook her head, unable to share that feeling, yet no longer eager to argue against it either.

Wang Haoran parked his car in a roadside space and checked the message he had just received, only to see that it was a short video from Bian Suwen. The video showed a tall tower that looked strangely familiar, so he glanced out the window without thinking, and in the next moment, he spotted the same building in the distance, which made everything click in his mind.

It was Muwang Pavilion, and that meant Bian Suwen was somewhere nearby.

His heart tightened, and he instinctively turned his eyes toward the passenger seat, where Feng Xuansu sat with a beauty that could steal the breath from anyone who looked too long.

Since it was her first time going out to enjoy a trip with her husband, she treated it like a special occasion and carefully put on delicate makeup, which only made her already flawless face even more alluring.

When Wang Haoran turned his head, their eyes met at the same time, and an uncontrollable surge of tenderness rushed up in his chest, leaving him staring for far too long, as though his mind had forgotten how to move.

Feng Xuansu saw his dazed look and felt secretly pleased, so she did not interrupt him at first, yet when he still did not snap out of it, she finally asked, “Is Muwang Pavilion here?”

Wang Haoran came back to himself, and he did not feel embarrassed at all about staring, as if it were only natural to be captivated by her. He answered calmly, “Yes, this is the place.”

They got out of the car together, and the combination of a handsome man and a stunning woman immediately drew attention from the people around them.

Wang Haoran ignored those gazes and walked along the path toward the distant pavilion at an almost leisurely pace, because he was afraid of bumping into Bian Suwen, so he deliberately moved very slowly and kept scanning the surroundings.

Feng Xuansu was not in a hurry, and she stayed quietly at his side, even brushing her hand against his now and then in a gentle hint that he could take her hand and hold it openly, yet what made her feel wronged was that he seemed not to understand at all.

What Feng Xuansu did not know was that Wang Haoran’s attention was focused on the area around them, because he was using his X-ray vision to sweep the crowd and confirm whether there was any danger of running into someone he should avoid.

Only after he finished scanning and confirmed it was safe did he finally relax a little; then he took out his phone and secretly replied to Bian Suwen.

“This is Muwang Pavilion, right, and are you alone, or are you out together with Weiwei and the others?”

“It is not Weiwei and the others,” Bian Suwen replied quickly. “I am with a good friend from the Imperial Capital.”

“Is it a man or a woman?” Wang Haoran already had a guess, but he asked anyway, because he was curious who this female friend might be, and if she was connected to Bian Suwen, then she might be an important figure too.

Seeing the question, Bian Suwen naturally assumed her boyfriend was asking because he cared, so she felt secretly happy and replied, “It is a woman.”

“What is her name?” Wang Haoran asked right after.

“Her name is Mu Nanzhi,” Bian Suwen answered honestly. “She knows geomancy, and she is very famous in the Imperial Capital.”

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