Chapter 106:
Jiang Juan: “……”
Jiang Juan: “???”
It could be like this?
Jiang Juan was utterly shocked, “Can you make any sense of this?”
Xue Fangli didn’t answer but continued to ask, “Hmm? Don’t you remember that you’re my wife?”
What could Jiang Juan say? He could only respond slowly, “I remember.”
Xue Fangli glanced at him, tightening his grip on Jiang Juan’s chin, and asked with a smile, “Remember? What’s there to be uncertain about?”
It was too dangerous. At this moment, Xue Fangli’s gaze was not only dangerous, but his tone was also unkind. Jiang Juan quickly clarified, “……There’s nothing uncertain.”
Xue Fangli didn’t respond but continued to move his well-defined fingers, rubbing Jiang Juan’s lips.
Besides kissing, Xue Fangli liked to rub Jiang Juan, especially his waist and lips.
The waist was not even a handful, but it was incredibly pliant. When rubbed forcefully, Jiang Juan would wriggle in his embrace, his hair tousling together, looking like petals that had been crushed, wrinkled into a sad and inviting mess.
His lips, which were slightly pale, would turn a vivid color when rubbed for a long time, becoming lively and vibrant.
Jiang Juan felt uncomfortable from the rubbing. He wanted to bite Xue Fangli but didn’t dare, especially since he had gotten into big trouble after a bite last night. Jiang Juan had no choice but to let him continue.
But even though he was so compliant, he still wasn’t spared.
With his lip color turned a rosy red from the rubbing, Xue Fangli leaned down and kissed him a few times, then said leisurely, “I’m thinking… it should be my fault.”
Jiang Juan, lacking foresight, curiously asked, “What? What fault of yours?”
Xue Fangli replied slowly, “It’s my fault for having you compare me with those chaotic people.”
Jiang Juan: “Huh?”
Xue Fangli: “You and I haven’t yet been intimate as a couple. It’s my fault for being too soft-hearted, pitying your body, and never going all the way. If not, you’d understand our relationship better.”
Jiang Juan: “……”
Xue Fangli looked at Jiang Juan and said slowly, “In that case, I’ll find someone to examine and take care of your body another day. Otherwise, we’ll never be able to consummate the marriage.”
Jiang Juan was a bit stunned, “N-No need, right?”
Xue Fangli smiled and said, “Why not? Don’t you know……”
He lowered his head, his voice husky, “I’m really about to become a saint from enduring.”
This time, it was no longer just dangerous. Jiang Juan felt like he might be devoured alive at any moment.
As usual, Jiang Juan was held in Xue Fangli’s lap. He really couldn’t sit still and tried to push Xue Fangli away, not wanting to be held any longer. But before he could stand up, he was pulled back by his waist.
“Where are you going?”
“You…”
Jiang Juan’s gaze was wandering. “Y-You’re so stiff. I don’t want to sit with you.”
Jiang Juan had had a hard time with this. He feared that sitting down again would cause him more discomfort. He said, “Let’s take it slow. Let me get used to it. We, you…”
By the end, Jiang Juan was almost incoherent. He accidentally revealed his true thoughts, “It’s too big. I can’t handle it.”
Xue Fangli’s eyebrows twitched, seeming pleased. He smiled and said, “What do you mean you can’t?”
“You can.”
Whether he could or not was a matter for later. Jiang Juan, in his panic, decided to accept it. Since he was safe for now, he relaxed and leaned back on Xue Fangli’s shoulder.
Let things be as they may.
Before long, Gu Puwang brought Qi Xiuran from the Imperial Court of Judicial Review prison.
On that day, amidst the multiple upheavals at the palace, Jiang Juan had been too preoccupied to notice the face hidden beneath the layers of disguise. Now, with Qi Xiuran brought in again, Jiang Juan only felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
The face, once handsome in youth, was faintly visible.
“Qi Xiuran.”
Xue Fangli pronounced his name slowly. Qi Xiuran looked at him, his eyes filled with a mix of hatred and melancholy. After days in prison, his clothes were dirty and disheveled, and his hair was tangled with weeds. Yet, through it all, he maintained an air of elegance.
“Do you not find it pitiful after all these years?”
Xue Fangli said, “Even stripped of all pretenses, you are still someone else.”
Qi Xiuran was momentarily stunned. He had expected Xue Fangli to come with accusations, not with this statement.
“I have nothing left. To seek revenge, one must pay a price.”
Qi Xiuran smiled. He didn’t care whether he was himself or someone else.
Over the years, having read the books that Su Feiyue had read and spoken the words she would say, he had indeed become someone else, left with nothing but a hollow shell filled with hatred.
It was this hatred that had sustained him, his only belief for surviving.
Qi Xiuran sighed, “I only regret that I couldn’t take your life. Whether it was the wolf’s blood incident or this time.”
“Do you truly not know you’ve hated the wrong person?”
After staring at Qi Xiuran for a few seconds, Xue Fangli spoke again, “It was the Emperor who kidnapped her and forced her to bear a child. It was the Emperor who drove her to madness and suffering. What does it have to do with me?”
“You found out that I go mad at the sight of blood, but you don’t know how she truly died?”
Qi Xiuran replied with a smile, “It’s still related to you, after all. Besides, she hated you.”
“And you?”
Xue Fangli smiled slightly, “Over the years, she suffered and cried, but how did she collapse on that day?”
“She recognized you.”
Xue Fangli said in a soft, measured tone, “Before she committed suicide, Su Feiyue recovered from his illness and entered the palace to seek marriage with the Eldest Princess. She saw you then and recognized you.”
On those nights, the woman cried with tears streaming down her face. She neither went mad nor ignored people; she simply lay on the table, crying endlessly.
Her words were fragmented.
“Desire in a person is like holding a torch. When going against the wind, there is the risk of burning one’s hands…” “In a thicket of thorns, one is not harmed if one does not move. If one’s thoughts do not arise, one remains in the bliss of stillness. Once the thoughts arise, one is pricked by the thorns.”
The person who promised to take her away did not keep his promise.
The person who promised to take her away entered the palace to seek marriage with the Eldest Princess.
“She hated me, hated the Emperor, and she…”
Xue Fangli smiled slightly, “Also hated you.”
Qi Xiuran was stunned, finding it absurd, “What are you saying?”
Xue Fangli calmly said, “If I remember correctly, on that day, you and the Emperor were walking in the Imperial Garden, and she happened to be there as well. She saw you.”
Qi Xiuran’s proposal to marry the Eldest Princess was the first time he had disguised himself as Su Feiyue, and he vividly remembered it.
On that day, he had been strolling in the Imperial Garden with Emperor Hongxing and had encountered Jiang Qingmei, who was out for a walk. At that time, Qi Xiuran had been too afraid to look at her closely, fearing that his emotions might be exposed and ruin everything.
No longer the elegant and composed figure of before, Qi Xiuran’s expression now showed a mix of urgency and anxiety. He asked in disbelief, “She recognized me? On that day, she truly recognized me?”
“How could she not recognize you,” Xue Fangli said calmly, “Even if you turned to ash, she would still recognize you.”
These past events only became clear to Xue Fangli after confirming Qi Xiuran’s identity.
He had thought that Jiang Qingmei’s determined struggle and silent suffering were due to concern for Qi Xiuran. But it turned out that her suffering was so profound that it had broken her heart.
A numbness took over Qi Xiuran’s mind, and a cold dread began to seep into his heart.
“She thought you were not coming because the Emperor had discovered you. She worried for you every day. Yet you changed your name and married the Eldest Princess.”
Xue Fangli spoke in a gentle and measured tone, “In the end, you sought revenge for her, but it was you who caused her death. Instead of hating me, you might as well hate yourself more.”
Qi Xiuran trembled all over, staring at him blankly. His lips moved, but he couldn’t form any words, only repeating, “How could this be? How could this be?”
Xue Fangli looked on coldly, having seen enough of this farce.
The reason he had summoned Qi Xiuran was to rid himself of these baseless accusations. Though Xue Fangli himself did not care, others did.
“Take him away.”
Xue Fangli lifted his chin slightly, no longer willing to give Qi Xiuran another glance. However, Qi Xiuran, in a mad frenzy, struggled desperately. He said in a distraught manner, “But I— I only wanted to save her! From beginning to end, I only wanted to save her. I only wanted to take her away. Why couldn’t she wait for me? If only she had waited a bit longer…”
As he spoke, Qi Xiuran’s voice choked with emotion.
He had never imagined that he was also one of the culprits.
He had done all this intending to save her, but it had resulted in her death instead.
How could this happen?
Why did it end up like this?
For Jiang Juan, it could only be described with one phrase:
Fate’s cruel twist.
Jiang Juan sighed.
But from beginning to end, Xue Fangli was innocent.
Thinking of this, Jiang Juan gently took his hand and hugged him.
Xue Fangli glanced at him, fully aware of Jiang Juan’s thoughts. He silently smiled, raising one hand to lazily wrap around Jiang Juan’s waist, holding him close.
With this, the case of the Eldest Princess’s forced palace incident was completely clear. For Su Feiyue and Jiang Qingmei, Xue Fuying and Qi Xiuran had secretly conspired for years to seek revenge, with Marquis Anping assisting from the sidelines.
Xue Fangli said, “Aunt… will be confined back to the Eldest Princess’s residence and will not be allowed to step out of the residence again. Qi Xiuran and Marquis Anping will be exiled to Youzhou and will never be able to leave for the rest of their lives.”
At the Imperial Court of Judicial Review prison.
Gu Puwang conveyed the message.
Xue Fuying, who had been imprisoned for many days, was gaunt but still maintained her straight posture. She murmured, “My nephew, in the end he has no need of anyone’s life.”
Marquis Anping snorted, “He’s putting on an act!”
Gu Puwang glanced at him and recalled something, saying, “Marquis, His Majesty has a message for you.”
“When you first entered the palace to request a marriage from the late Emperor, he refused. The new Emperor, appreciating the deep affection you and the Second Master shared, has allowed you both to marry in prison and go to Youzhou together.”
Marquis Anping’s expression changed drastically. “What?”
At the same time, Jiang Nian’s face also turned pale. “What did you say?”
During his time in prison, Jiang Nian had been anxiously pondering how to clear his name.
He was imprisoned alongside the Eldest Princess and others, but due to the Eldest Princess’s special status as the main offender, they were held in the Imperial Court of Judicial Review prison, while Jiang Nian, not having the same status, was held in a regular prison.
Recently, Jiang Nian had been developing some ideas on how to distance himself from the situation. However, the new arrangements left him feeling as if the ground had shifted beneath him.
To marry Marquis Anping.
To be exiled to Youzhou alongside Marquis Anping.
Jiang Nian was well aware of the type of person Marquis Anping was. Given the current circumstances, he definitely did not want to be associated with him, nor did he want to be exiled to Youzhou!
Hearing the news, Jiang Nian immediately broke down.
“I will not marry him!”
Jiang Nian shook his head desperately, pleading with the prison guards, “I am the second son of the Minister of Rites. Please, convey a message to my father, tell him to save me, to act quickly! Please!”
“You just need to tell my father it’s Jiang Nian, and he will see you. I am his most beloved son. Once I am out of prison, I will reward you handsomely. Please, help me!”
The prison guard looked at him and asked, “Is your father Minister Jiang, the Minister of Rites?”
Jiang Nian quickly replied, “Yes, that’s him. He is my father!”
The prison guard, with a touch of pity, said, “Due to your involvement, your family’s estate has been confiscated. I’m afraid Minister Jiang is too occupied to attend to you now.”
Jiang Nian was stunned. “What?”
The prison guard didn’t say more and reached for Jiang Nian. Realizing his predicament, Jiang Nian cried out desperately, “I don’t know anything! I don’t know anything! The Marquis said he was heading south, and since I was also going south, he brought me to his camp.”
“I know nothing. I am innocent…”
No matter how much he tried to explain, he was forcibly dragged out by the prison guards and pushed into a chamber where Marquis Anping was also brought, his face dark and ashen as he listened to Jiang Nian’s words.
In the dim, grim prison, with only a few candles flickering, the wedding was hastily and crudely conducted, without any celebrants, relatives, or traditional trappings.
“Bow to heaven and earth!”
Jiang Nian was roughly held down by the prison guards and made to bow to heaven and earth with Marquis Anping.
“Bow to your parents!”
Jiang Nian was forced to bow again.
“Bow to each other—!”
Once this final bow was completed, the ceremony would be considered complete. Jiang Nian was utterly unwilling and struggled desperately, shouting, “Let go of me! Let go of me!”
“I will not marry him! I will not marry him!”
Jiang Nian cried out in despair, “I will not go to Youzhou! It was he who was involved in the palace coup and rebellion. I know nothing about it. It has nothing to do with me!”
Despite his protests, he was still forced to bow his head and complete the final ritual.
Jiang Nian was finally married to Marquis Anping as desired, but as he heard the prison guard declare the ceremony complete, he felt a sudden darkness envelop him. Overwhelmed by anger and despair, he fainted.
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