Chapter 115 "Since you're so afraid, then back then..."

Inside the cell, the dim light illuminated two figures nestled together on the bed, the air thick with the ambiguous atmosphere of lingering passion.

Yan Jiarou rested her head on Xiao Che's chest, her cheeks still flushed, her rosy lips slightly parted, and she was still breathing softly.

Xiao Che unconsciously twirled a strand of her black hair around his fingertips, his gaze lowered, lost in thought.

Yan Jiarou gently raised her head, her temples damp with sweat, her body a complete mess. Xiao Che's actions today had been unusually fierce. Although he hadn't hurt her, he had left many marks on her body. However, she wasn't angry. She affectionately nuzzled his nose and asked, "Brother, are we... considered to have made up?"

Xiao Che snapped out of his daze, glanced down at her, and scoffed, "It's not even dark yet, and you're already dreaming?"

Yan Jiarou puffed out her cheeks: "Hmph!"

Xiao Che patted her leather drum and said impatiently, "You're done. Get down."

Yan Jiarou was not about to comply. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said coquettishly, "What are you doing? My legs are still weak."

Xiao Che frowned, but ultimately did not push her down.

She's just a little girl, like a porcelain doll, delicate and fragile, easily bumped or touched. If you're not careful, you might hurt her.

Dealing with her is much more troublesome than fighting on the battlefield.

Seeing that Xiao Che was no longer telling her to get lost, the young girl couldn't resist pushing her luck and continued to ask, "Then when will we make up?"

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her fair face radiated a clear and innocent charm.

Xiao Che casually raised his eyes, scrutinizing the persistent girl before him. Finally, he curled the corner of his mouth and uttered three words succinctly: "Next life."

Yan Jiarou blinked, tilted her head as if in thought, and held a slender white fingertip between her rosy lips: "Xiao Che, are you making a promise with me for the next life?"

A blush rose to her cheeks, and she said hesitantly, "I...I do!"

Xiao Che: "…………"

Xiao Che: "I don't talk to idiots."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiarou seemed to have been hit where it hurt, and immediately jumped up and said, "I'm not stupid!"

Her eyes welled up with tears, and she said resentfully, "When you liked me, you called me baby, but now that we've argued, you call me idiot... How can you be like this?"

Xiao Che glanced at her and said calmly, "Do you know why I call you baby?"

"Hmm... because you like me! And I'm very well-behaved..."

Xiao Che chuckled, his handsome face suddenly looming closer as he looked at her with utter malice, saying, "That's because your brain is developing at about the same rate as a baby who's only a few months old."

"Your Highness, did you fall into the water when you were little, and water got into your brain, which is why you've become an idiot?"

Yan Jiarou's nose tingled, and her eyes began to redden again. She fought back her tears, looking at him with anger but unable to speak, before finally burying her face in his chest again, sobbing softly, "I didn't want to be so foolish, but... I just can't be smart... Brother, I know you're still blaming me, I'm sorry... From now on, no matter what happens, I'll only trust you, and I'll never act on my own again... If I could turn back time, I definitely wouldn't have done that..."

Xiao Che lowered his eyes, his eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly.

Yan Jiarou, nestled in his arms, tearfully pleaded for her life. Seeing that Xiao Che remained unresponsive, she couldn't help but peek at him, twisting her body in his arms and whining, "Brother, please forgive me, okay?"

Xiao Che looked down at her. The little girl's delicate face was streaked with tears, her eyes were red, and the tip of her nose was also red. Tears welled up on her long eyelashes, threatening to fall. She looked so pitiful.

Xiao Che's Adam's apple bobbed, and he simply said, "Why should I forgive you?"

"I..." Yan Jiarou racked her brains and finally came up with a reason that wasn't really a reason. She murmured, "I... I haven't given birth to your child yet."

Xiao Che scoffed: "Who cares?"

Yan Jiarou blinked, then rubbed against him fiercely, her ear tips turning red: "But brother, you said you wanted to drink my juice, have you forgotten? I haven't even given you any yet, and you don't want me anymore, so how am I supposed to give it to you in the future?"

“And brother,” she whispered mysteriously in his ear, her voice growing even lower, “I feel like I’ve grown a little bit more recently… um… I mean, I’ve gotten a little taller, and my… my breasts have gotten bigger too. I know you love touching that spot the most. If you don’t want me anymore, you won’t be able to touch it anymore, okay?”

Xiao Che's forehead throbbed, and he looked at her with a hint of disbelief:

"Yan Jiarou, don't you know what shame is?"

Yan Jiarou already felt ashamed when she said those words, but now that he asked her in that tone, she felt even more embarrassed and cried, "Of course I'm ashamed... but I'm even more afraid that you won't want me... sob..."

Xiao Che frowned: "Stop crying." The crying was making him feel uneasy.

Yan Jiarou paused in her sobs, then looked at him with her beautiful, tear-filled eyes: "Then please forgive me..."

Xiao Che raised an eyebrow slightly, reached out and pinched her chin: "If you're so afraid, then why did you betray me in the first place?"

Yan Jiarou blinked, looking at him pitifully, "Then I know I was wrong... There won't be a next time..."

Xiao Che sneered, "Too late."

“It’s not too late, it’s not too late. I’ve thought about it with Xiao Che. I will tell my father the truth. I think he will believe what I say. He dotes on you so much, he will definitely release you.”

"So what? Some things, once done, can never be completely erased, no matter how much you try to make amends." He stroked the jade bracelet on her fair wrist and said slowly, "On your fourteenth birthday, I gave you this 'Kunshan Moon Soul' bracelet. But because I stopped you from seeing Xiao Jue, you angrily threw it to the ground and smashed it. Although someone repaired it later, there was always a dark blue mark. As long as you put it under the light, it will be obvious."

"Now, the relationship between us is like this dark scar, which can never be repaired."

Yan Jiarou forcefully pulled her hand back: "What? I don't understand!"

"I'm an idiot, I don't understand what you're saying. All I know is that people and jade are different!"

Xiao Che's Adam's apple bobbed as he looked at her deeply and said, "Repairing jade is like repairing the heart. Yan Yan, once it's cracked, the mark will always remain."

Yan Jiarou covered her ears with her hands and shook her head, saying, "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!"

She was like a helpless child, making mistakes repeatedly, but not knowing why she wouldn't be forgiven this time: "Xiao Che, I know I was wrong. I've begged you so much, why won't you make up with me? Let's turn the page, okay? I'll treat you better from now on, I swear, whatever you say, I won't break my promise... Please don't leave me... I can't live without you..."

“Yan Yan, I will still be your antidote. I will give you blood. Every now and then, you can have Ying Xue come to Han Guang Palace to collect blood.”

"Why did Yingxue have to fetch it? Why is it blood! I don't want blood, I want..."

"What do you want?" Xiao Che frowned slightly. "How can you, a little girl, be so shameless?"

"That's because you trained me! I wasn't like this before, so you have to take responsibility for me..." She hugged his waist and whispered, "Besides, we're like this now, even closer than husband and wife, how can you not want me? In the stories, people say that someone like you is a heartless man who starts something and then abandons it... Third Brother, I believe you're not that kind of person, right?"

Just as she was pestering him relentlessly, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Someone is coming.

Xiao Che's eyes sharpened, and he immediately helped Yan Jiarou put on her clothes.

Xiao Jue stood at the door with a gloomy expression and said in a deep voice, "Jiarou, now that the commotion has subsided, we should go back."

He waited outside the door for a long time. Finally, the noise inside gradually subsided, but Yan Jiarou still didn't come out. He had no choice but to come and fetch her himself. Otherwise, he would rather die than see the two of them lying on the same bed with their clothes disheveled.

But Jia Rou still refused to leave, throwing a tantrum: "No! I want to stay with Third Brother! I'm not better yet!"

Xiao Jue took a deep breath, feeling that his patience was about to reach its limit: "Jiarou, stop being a scoundrel."

“Listen, if you continue to act so recklessly and cause a commotion, once word gets out that you and Xiao Che were having an affair in prison, the Censorate’s memorials against him could crush you to death. Is his current situation not enough for you? Do you want to kill him?”

Yan Jiarou shrank her shoulders, shook her head, and then reluctantly looked away from Xiao Che.

"Brother, I'm leaving now. I'll come to see you again... No, no, you'll definitely come out soon. When that happens, I'll go to Han Guang Palace to find you!"

Xiao Che glanced at her indifferently, said nothing, and watched her leave the prison gate, turning back every few steps.

——

Xiao Che indeed came out very quickly—

Emperor Wei Yuan found evidence in Han Guang Hall, saying that Xiao Che's ambush in Cheng Huan Hall that day was because he had received a secret letter in advance, informing him that the Maitreya sect had infiltrated the palace with the intention of assassinating him that day.

During the Wei Dynasty, the most famous sect among the popular rebels was the Maitreya sect. The Maitreya sect worshipped Maitreya Buddha, and its doctrine proclaimed that Maitreya Buddha would descend to earth and grant everyone peace and happiness. From then on, there would be no distinction between noble and lowly, and everyone would be equal. As a result, it attracted many people from the lower classes to join. In recent years, it has been a key rebellious force that the imperial court has been cracking down on.

Since the conflict was directed at the Maitreya Sect, Xiao Che's eagerness to protect the emperor naturally made him innocent.

——

Inside the East Palace, Xiao Jue slammed the teacup on the table to the ground and roared in fury, "What Maitreya Sect? How could it be such a coincidence? I think this is clearly a backup plan left by Xiao Che! Father Emperor is so biased that he would cover up such a heinous crime for him!"

"Or is this evidence fabricated by Father Emperor just to get his beloved Che'er out of prison unharmed!"

Li Rong narrowed his eyes slightly: "Regardless of the possibility, His Majesty has truly gone to great lengths and put in a lot of effort for the Third Prince. Crown Prince, I think we've gone in the wrong direction—if we want to bring down Xiao Che, perhaps we should start with His Majesty."

"You mean..."

"Isn't His Majesty always obsessed with elixirs, especially after the death of the Consort, when he often relied on elixirs to meet her in his dreams? Your Highness might as well make some use of this."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jue turned the jade thumb ring on his hand, seemingly lost in thought.

——

When Xiao Che returned to the palace that day, just as he was about to retire for the night, he suddenly heard a rustling sound, as if it were coming from his bed.

He frowned and walked to the bedside. From a distance, he saw a bulge in the quilt, as if something was hiding inside, slowly wriggling.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He held his breath and approached, about to make a move, when the thing on the bed seemed to sense something. It pulled back the blanket, revealing a fair and delicate little face that smiled sweetly at him and called him, "Brother!"

Who else could it be but Yan Jiarou?