Chapter 26 Sleepless nights filled with passion eventually lead to exhaustion; let us no longer yearn for Jiangnan. ...

After leaving the mansion, Su Jinxiu first boarded Ying Bumei's carriage.

The interior of the carriage was luxuriously furnished, but the brocade boxes piled in the corner looked a little messy. She tried to tidy them up, but accidentally knocked some items down with her.

Not far outside the carriage, An Chisu was discussing with Ying Bumei: "You go back to the manor with Jinxiu first, and I will go look for her again. She suffered a setback today and may be dwelling on it in the dark. It's better to talk things out as soon as possible."

Ying Bumei nodded: "That's good, lest things get complicated."

After saying this, he turned and boarded the carriage. His dark blue robe swept across the carriage shaft. Just as he lifted the curtain, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest.

Looking down, she saw a hand as white as jade holding a silver hairpin. The tip of the hairpin had pierced through the brocade and was deeply embedded in her chest, with blood slowly seeping out from the hairpin.

Ying Bumei didn't utter a sound or offer any resistance. He simply curled his lips slightly and covered her hand with his large, well-defined hand. With a steady and forceful touch, he guided her movements and pushed the silver hairpin in an inch further.

Su Jinxiu trembled all over and instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but he held her wrist firmly and pulled her inward, making it impossible for her to move at all.

Tears finally rolled down his cheeks and landed on the back of his hand.

"Deeper." His voice was low, with a hint of stubborn indulgence. "What? You're afraid now?"

"How could you treat me like this!" Su Jinxiu's lips trembled slightly, her throat choked with sobs, barely able to speak.

Just a few days ago, when she was rushing to finish her embroidery, he visited her repeatedly and went to great lengths to accompany her on her travels.

But all of these were fake.

If it weren't for him, she and her close friends wouldn't have been in such a dangerous situation. If it weren't for him, Achin wouldn't have risked going to Dragon's Backbone Ravine, and now he's resting at home with a dislocated leg.

Ying Bumei glanced at the pile of silk threads and dyes in the corner of the carriage and immediately understood the cause.

Those were the silk threads he had deliberately monopolized from various embroidery workshops a few days ago, originally intending to cut off her livelihood through embroidery and force her to submit to him.

She was so familiar with the Prince of Jing just now; she's incredibly intelligent, so she must have figured something out.

He raised his other hand, gently trying to wipe away her tears.

Su Jinxiu abruptly turned her face away to avoid his touch, and tried to pull her wrist back, but he held her even tighter, causing the silver hairpin stuck in her chest to sink in another half a step.

"Let go!" She frowned, her eyes filled with resistance as she turned around.

Ying Bumei's eyes held an indiscernible mix of regret and obsession as he murmured in his sleep, "Jinxiu, pierce deeper... tear my flesh and blood to shreds, smash my heart and liver to pieces, let me bleed to death in this carriage, okay?"

Su Jinxiu was so shocked by these words that she froze, forgetting to shed tears, and her voice trembled: "You are not worthy!"

After hearing this, Ying Bumei smiled self-deprecatingly: "Yes, I am not worthy."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly twisted Su Jinxiu's hand, pulling the silver hairpin directly from her chest. Then, he used that hand to stab himself hard in the neck.

Su Jinxiu was terrified. She had only wanted to vent her resentment and never intended to take his life, much less shed blood on the carriage and add another soul to the list.

She tried desperately to pull away, but Ying Bumei was incredibly strong, her knuckles gripping her wrist tightly, pulling her towards her neck.

"Ying Bumei! You're crazy!" Her voice trembled with anxiety, and her eyes reddened.

In the struggle, the silver hairpin had already cut a shallow gash on her neck, from which blood seeped out. Su Jinxiu could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face as she sobbed, "Don't do this... don't do this anymore!"

Ying Bumei then loosened his grip, but suddenly knelt down and pulled her, who was sitting in the car seat, into his arms.

His tall body was bent over, his arms tightly wrapped around her waist and back, as if he wanted to embed her into his own bones and blood.

Su Jinxiu struggled desperately, but to no avail. She could only clutch the silver hairpin and stab it haphazardly at his back, but he didn't utter a sound, only holding her tighter.

After a long while, she cried until she was exhausted, and even the silver hairpin that was stuck in his back loosened its grip and fell with a clatter to the floor of the carriage.

She was completely exhausted and could only sob on Ying Bumei's shoulder. Her breathing gradually weakened, but it still lingered intermittently in the air.

Ying Bumei held her tightly without loosening his grip, but his large hand gently covered her back, his palm still damp with a thin layer of sweat. He stroked her back lightly, his movements clumsy yet extremely careful, as if he were comforting a frightened young animal.

Su Jinxiu caught her breath and realized that the silver hairpin had slipped from her hand, so she could only use words to stab him.

"If it weren't for you, I would never have encountered these storms."

"Have you had enough of this act? Did you enjoy it?"

After hearing her barbed words, Ying Bumei's arms, which were holding her, suddenly lost their strength. She slowly let go and met her gaze. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice was hoarse: "It was very painful to act like that."

His Adam's apple bobbed, his tone filled with sincere embarrassment: "You hate me for pretending, but I hate myself even more for pretending. I hate that I didn't pretend thoroughly enough, that I couldn't bring myself to cut off all my thoughts, and that I couldn't bring myself to be completely ruthless towards you, which is why I'm in this dilemma now."

Su Jinxiu was furious and couldn't listen to his explanations; she only thought every word was a flowery excuse.

She stared at him intently, each word piercing his heart, "Do you think I'm stupid, that you can get away with this, and then send me to the Zhang residence tomorrow? Ying Bumei, how can you be so loyal to him?"

Ying Bumei was stunned by her question and had no energy to reply.

"Don't let me see you again."

Without waiting for his reply, Su Jinxiu turned around, lifted the carriage curtain, and staggered off the carriage.

After she left, Ying Bumei forced herself to endure the pain in her chest and cleaned up the mess in the carriage.

The silk threads that he had deliberately monopolized were originally hidden in his own mansion. The other day, he saw her worrying all night about the lack of materials, her eyes full of disappointment and exhaustion. In the end, his defenses crumbled, and he thought of bringing these silk threads to her to help her in her time of need.

But that day, as he stood outside her embroidery workshop with the silk thread in his hand, he saw a young man rush to her side to help her through her troubles. The heartache and tenderness in her eyes were so genuine that they could not be faked.

Looking at the scene, he lost the courage to step forward and silently took the silk thread back, later inexplicably putting it into the carriage.

He picked up the blood-stained silver hairpin again, tore off a clean corner of his clothes, and slowly wiped away the bloodstains.

One wrong move, and the whole game is lost.

Although Ying Bumei only held the title of a Taoist priest, he had seriously studied the Tao Te Ching and the Qingjing Jing when he first entered the Taoist sect.

Taoism emphasizes achieving utmost emptiness, maintaining profound stillness, severing the six senses, and emptying the mind, regarding worldly emotions, love, anger, and delusion as cages that disturb the mind.

The five colors blind the eye, the five sounds deafen the ear, the five flavors dull the palate, galloping and hunting drive the mind mad, and rare goods lead to wrongdoing.

At that time, he was still deceiving himself. The reason he was so excited when he first saw her was because her features were somewhat similar to the portrait in Zhang Mingxu's study. He could use this as an excuse to get out of trouble and offer his daughter to Zhang Mingxu as usual, so that he could find a way out.

Only now do I realize that it was not a calculated move, but a sudden infatuation and a deep, unwavering commitment to falling in love at first sight.

His identity destined him to be a ruthless person.

It's good to be heartless, for heartlessness is not as painful as being too affectionate.

The heartless commit evil, the affectionate bring calamity; neither can escape it.

A note from the author:

Note:

"One wrong move, and the whole game is lost" is a quote from Luo Yin's "Self-Exile".

"The five colors blind the eye... Rare goods lead to wrongdoing" is a quote from Lao Tzu's *Tao Te Ching*.

Ying Bumei still has an alias that hasn't been revealed... [shrug]