Chapter 713: How to Face Death?
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Jiang Zhouzi didn’t react at first, but soon remembered Mingzhu’s previous illness. His face changed, “You can’t hear?”
“What did you say?” Mingzhu furrowed her brows in confusion, skillfully displaying the same gestures she used when she couldn’t hear people before.
Yuwen Cong, forgetting the stench on his face and body, looked at her suspiciously and asked Jiang Zhouzi, “Have you ever seen this kind of symptom? She lost her hearing before because of the loud explosion of gunpowder. There was no gunpowder used last night.”
Jiang Zhouzi naturally had to pretend he had seen it before, “I haven’t seen this specific condition, but there have been patients who lost their ability to speak due to extreme shock. After treatment, they started speaking again, but later, due to other stimuli, they lost their speech again. Her situation is similar to this.”
Yuwen Cong was unwilling. Did he have to communicate with Mingzhu through writing and gestures in the future? That would be so troublesome! But then he became happy again. Mingzhu being unable to hear meant that it would be even more difficult for Yuwen Chu’s people to communicate and conspire with her. It also made her escape even more challenging. If they had to resort to writing and gesturing, then so be it. But what if she was faking it? Well, it didn’t matter. He would find a way to test and verify.
Because the carriage was filled with an unpleasant odor, and they couldn’t open the windows to ventilate, nobody felt like talking. This saved Mingzhu a lot of trouble. She didn’t have to desperately control herself every time Yuwen Cong spoke, fearing she might lunge at him and bite him to death.
In the peculiar atmosphere, the carriage finally stopped outside a courtyard. Yuwen Cong breathed a sigh of relief, almost eager to get off the carriage. He could only manage to say, “Take them to the back to clean up,” before disappearing without a trace.
Jiang Zhouzi went to help Mingzhu, whispering to her, “You did a good job with that move, but it should have been me. I could have vomited even more and in a more disgusting manner, and I wouldn’t have cared about my image. You, a delicate young lady, doing such things is really nauseating.”
Mingzhu remained unmoved, still pretending as if she couldn’t hear anything. If you’re going to pretend, you might as well do it thoroughly, right? As for ruining her image by vomiting, she couldn’t care less, could she? It’s not like she was vomiting in front of someone she cared about, nor was she vomiting on Yuwen Chu. What was there to fear? Besides, she wanted to disgust Yuwen Cong to the point where he would feel sick at the sight of her. The men of the Yuwen family were all monsters. Who knew what kind of strange thoughts he might have towards her?
Seeing her lack of reaction, Jiang Zhouzi actually began to believe her words. He couldn’t help but sigh, “What are we going to do? Even if I had to wake you up in the middle of the night to escape, it would be too troublesome.”
Just the two of them trying to escape from the cunning Yuwen Cong? Dream on! Mingzhu ignored him and looked around the courtyard.
This place shouldn’t be arranged by Yuwen Qiang for Yuwen Cong, the Northern Territory envoy, to stay. Instead, it was Yuwen Cong’s base in Yicheng. This meant he wouldn’t stay here for long. It was usually just her and Jiang Zhouzi living here, which was quite good.
Mingzhu didn’t struggle unnecessarily. She followed the guide into the inner courtyard, then separated from Jiang Zhouzi and obediently entered the bath barrel to bathe. Taking advantage of the maid’s inattention, she took a deep breath and submerged her head in the water, motionless. Of course, the maid quickly noticed, screaming and pulling her out, loudly saying, “Madam, why would you think like this? Being alive is better than being dead. Why do this?”
Mingzhu remained silent, showing a look of despair. The maid didn’t dare leave her alone anymore, hastily helping her tidy up and sending her out. The meal was already set outside, and Yuwen Cong, dressed in fresh attire, sat at the table. When he saw her come out, he smiled slightly and said politely, “This should suit your taste better.”
Mingzhu walked over expressionlessly, sat down opposite him, and picked up the chopsticks to eat the porridge. But after just a few bites, she felt nauseous again. Yuwen Cong knew she was capable of doing it for real, so he quickly moved away to a spot three feet away from her, smiling bitterly, “Alright, I won’t eat with you in the future.”
This is exactly what I wanted. Otherwise, how could you eat your meal while looking at this mess? Even if you manage to force it down, it won’t digest properly. Mingzhu finished the porridge and side dishes cleanly, then got up and walked around the room a few times, before sitting down at the edge of the bed, leaning against the pillow, and falling asleep as if nobody else was around.
Another confidant of Yuwen Cong, named Mengtai, watched angrily and said, “Master, you go about your business. Let me deal with this ignorant woman who doesn’t know her place and teach her some manners!”
Yuwen Cong was actually quite annoyed as well, but Mingzhu’s reaction was within his expectations. He still wanted to establish a harmonious relationship with Mingzhu, so he didn’t want to confront her unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, the servant had informed him about Mingzhu’s attempt to drown herself in the bathtub, indicating that she was not afraid of death. Threatening someone who is not afraid of death to die is just a joke, isn’t it? He then stopped Mengtai and said, “It’s none of your business. Go and fetch Mr. Jiang to treat the Wangfei.”
Mengtai left reluctantly.
Sitting beside Mingzhu, Yuwen Cong spoke regardless of whether she could hear him or not, saying, “I know you hate me for killing your people, but it was unavoidable. Who doesn’t want to kill someone when they have nothing else to do? Even your Highness has killed countless people, weren’t there any innocents among them? Ask him, and he wouldn’t dare to say there wasn’t a single one. Since we’ve come to this point, I advise you to think it over sooner rather than later. Even if not for yourself, think about the child in your belly. He hasn’t even seen his parents yet, are you willing to let him go like this? I’m a magnanimous person, I don’t have the desire to root out everything. As long as you behave, I will ensure the safe birth of this child and do my best to raise him well, giving him the best.”
He would raise Yuwen Chu’s child to only recognize him as its father and not know its biological father. Just thinking about Yuwen Chu being tormented by her own flesh and blood would be so delightful.
Mingzhu hugged her stomach, sleeping peacefully and securely. She wasn’t afraid of what Yuwen Cong might do to her. She had already made it clear with her attitude that she wasn’t afraid of death. She wouldn’t play along with his games. And for him, bringing her here was nothing but two things: firstly, to use her as leverage to increase his weight and negotiate benefits with Yuwen Chu, and secondly, he believed Jiang Shanshan’s words, thinking she truly possessed powerful abilities that could bring him many benefits and help him rise to power. Regardless of his intentions, he wouldn’t do anything to her until his dream shattered.
Yuwen Cong sat for a while longer, then Mengtai hurriedly entered, whispering to him, “According to reliable sources, the Great Empress Dowager has secretly dispatched Linan Wang Yuwen You as a special envoy to Yicheng to persuade Huan Wang to surrender. They’re about to arrive.”
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