Chapter 46 Chapter 46 Don't be afraid, I believe you

The smile on Guo Huai's face disappeared after he stepped out of the palace.

The intermittent voices of the two people inside floated out. He looked gloomily at the ants passing by under his feet, and suddenly stretched out his foot to step on them.

In the hall, Emperor Xuanwu finally calmed down the angry Princess Jingyi.

He tenderly helped her sit on the couch, personally served her tea, and said earnestly, "You chose Li Zhan in the first place, and now he's your husband. Why bother getting into this mess with him, both publicly and privately? Harmony is the only way for a couple to have lasting happiness. Have you forgotten the words Mother said to you and me before she died, holding our hands?"

Jingyi stared at the steam rising from the teacup and said unhappily, "Long-lasting happiness, long-lasting happiness! Only when I see those who bullied me in the past kneeling at my feet and begging for forgiveness, will my heart be filled with joy! Only then will I be happy! Only then will I be happy! As for Li Zhan, wasn't that a marriage granted by you, my royal brother, to win over the Li family? I only see him as a man to warm my bed."

Emperor Xuanwu was speechless. "That's true, but I didn't intend for him to marry you. You're not the only princess my father has, and you have a bad temper. If you hadn't begged me, would I have resorted to such a desperate measure?"

"Besides, don't think I don't know that you went to the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion to protect Nan Yun and to annoy Nan Xu. And that sword of yours was also aimed at Nan Xu, right, Jingyi! What do you want to do? Kill Nan Xu? She never hurt you!"

Emperor Xuanwu actually lived a pretty good life during the years he was a prince in the Dowager's Palace.

He and Jingyi's mother were deposed by the previous emperor and died tragically in the cold palace because they were involved in the political affairs of the previous dynasty. In order to consolidate their favor, the queen dowager brought him to her own palace to raise him. The queen dowager and Prince Yi never regarded him as an obstacle to ascending the throne, so naturally they would not make things too difficult for him.

Nan Xu often went to the palace at that time and was one of the few people who did not despise his background.

Although he was wary of Prince Yi and the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion, he still had some feelings for Nan Xu.

When Jingyi heard Emperor Xuanwu say that he did it to annoy Nan Xu, her eyes flashed. Seeing him standing up for Nan Xu, her face changed and she slammed the teacup in her hand on the table. Jealousy and anger distorted her facial features, and she even forgot about the hierarchy between the emperor and his subjects.

"I just want to kill Nan Xu, so what!" She stood up and looked up at the dragon throne at the top of the hall with her arms outstretched, her eyes full of madness. "Why can a mere courtier like her be so favored by my father? Why does a young talent like Li Zhan only have eyes for her?"

"This princess!" She turned around, pointed at herself, and said in a resounding voice, "You are the princess, the most noble woman in the Dagan Dynasty. Who is Nanxu? I want to take away everything she has and loves. I want to see her cry, see her complain, and see her live a life worse than death!"

Her sharp voice echoed in the hall for a long time, and Emperor Xuanwu looked at her as if she were a stranger.

He didn't understand why his only relative in the world had become like this.

If his mother were still alive, would she blame him for leaving Jingyi alone in the cold palace?

*

When Nan Xu came out of the room where Nan Yun was imprisoned, it was already completely dark.

The candlelight in the corridor was dim, and Yin Wu did not notice Nan Xu's absent-minded expression. When he took her back the same way, he asked her what she had said to Nan Yun.

Nan Xu said nothing, just lowered her head and looked at the road under her feet. Yin Wu didn't want to continue asking, thinking that Nan Yun had said something irritating again, and advised her not to take it to heart. The Marquis's wife had already decided to send Nan Yun to the farm, and the Marquis's wife was already looking for a husband, most likely to marry Nan Yun outside the capital.

Seeing that she was listening quietly without saying anything, Yin Wu thought that she might be unhappy, so he stopped talking.

After sending her to the door and watching her get on the carriage of Wei Yangbo's mansion, Yin Wu finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in his heart.

When she turned around, Yin Wu noticed someone carrying a dark grey sedan at a fast pace at the corner gate not far away. She took a few steps forward and recognized that it was a servant from the Li Mansion.

The gong struck at the beginning of the morning hour, and the noisy mansion during the day finally had a break. Yin Wu wrapped herself tightly in the shawl handed to her by the maid and walked quickly towards her own courtyard.

*

The carriage moved forward slowly, and as the lights outside the window changed, the carriage became bright and dark.

Duan Wenpei's gaze swept around, finally landing on the pretty figure huddled in the corner. His indifferent eyes gradually softened.

"Can you please stop looking?" Nan Xu didn't look up, her voice was as dull as if she had just woken up.

Duan Wenpei didn't expect her to be so sensitive. He didn't deny it, but reached out and opened the side window a little. Fresh air and noisy voices rushed in, making the small and quiet compartment seem lively.

He stared at a certain spot outside the car and asked instead of answering, "What did you say to Nan Yun last?"

Nan Xu's troubled mood seemed to echo with the hawking and talking outside. She raised her head and looked outside like Duan Wenpei, "Nothing."

The carriage was silent for a moment, and she muttered to herself again: "It wasn't her who buried Yu Ming alive."

Duan Wenpei understood. According to Nan Xu's personality, she probably wouldn't go to Nan Yun alone unless she had something she wanted to know. But could Nan Yun's words be trusted?

"Did Nan Yun say that herself?"

Nan Xu looked away from him, then leaned against the wall of the carriage to find a comfortable position. "Do you want to say that Nan Yun's words are untrustworthy? It's true. She's even capable of coveting her own brother-in-law. What else can't she do? But she's right about one thing."

Nan Xu said the word "covet" so calmly, but it always sounded ironic to Duan Wenpei.

As one of the parties involved, Duan Wenpei awkwardly changed his hand to support his head and pretended to be nonchalant, "What are you talking about?"

His little action naturally did not escape Nan Xu's eyes. Nan Xu looked at him with amusement and said, "Guess?"

How can this be guessed?

In his peripheral vision, the woman leaning against a corner of the carriage was staring at him with sparkling eyes, as if she was really waiting for the answer to his guess. This was the first time Duan Wenpei had seen such a childish and little girl side of her.

He suddenly remembered the kiss he had shared during the day, the touch that had made his heart flutter... He suppressed his urge to get closer to her and started to guess with her.

"What other evidence does she have?"

Nan Xu shook her head.

"Did she see the murderer?"

Nan Xu continued to shake her head.

Duan Wenpei felt that he had never been so patient. "Because she didn't do anything?"

Nan Xu still shook her head.

Duan Wenpei: …

Nan Xu: "Master, Nan Yun is not a prisoner in your Ministry of Justice. You should just think more simply and not overthink it."

Duan Wenpei couldn't figure it out and thought to himself, women's minds are really hard to guess, not as real as those prisoners awaiting trial in the Ministry of Justice.

He didn't want to admit defeat in front of Nan Xu, so he said what he thought was the most unlikely guess, "If she says she wants to kill someone, she's going to kill you, right?"

This was just a sudden idea that flashed through his mind, but it made Nan Xu sit up straight and look at him with admiration, "Not bad, Uncle."

It’s true.

Duan Wenpei sighed a little.

"Why does she hate you so much? Brothers and sisters in aristocratic families, whether legitimate or illegitimate, should support and rely on each other, sharing weal and woe. Her thoughts like this won't benefit either you or herself." As he spoke, his expression grew vague, his gaze fixed on something else. Nan Xu suddenly thought of Zhao Huaijue. That man was also Duan Wenpei's brother, and he had gone to great lengths to kill him.

The Yong'an Marquis Mansion was at least doing well before it lost power, and everyone lived together in peace; but from the few words we knew before, it was not difficult to see that Duan Wenpei was driven out of the Zhao family a long time ago.

His mother was dead, but what about his father? Why had he treated his own child so cruelly? What was the Zhao family planning?

The carriage drove into a dimly lit alley, and the darkness enveloped the two people inside.

Nan Xu then realized that there was no light in the car. She fumbled for a long time and found the oil lamp, but she didn't know where the fire starter was. Just as she was about to look for it, a small fire suddenly ignited on the side.

The flames jumped and flickered, and Duan Wenpei's eyebrows and eyes jumped and flickered as well. When the flames jumped to the peak of his straight brows, the bottom of his eyes was like smudged black ink, with a golden-red halo rippling out.

It is filled with memories, sadness and confusion.

"Sizzle!" A flame ignited on the oil lamp, and the shadows of the two people crossed and stretched on the wall of the carriage. From a distance, they looked like two towering giants.

Both of them leaned over, getting close enough that they could see their own reflections in each other's eyes.

Nan Xu's mind moved slightly, and she blurted out, "What about you?"

Seeing a confused look on Duan Wenpei's face, she repeated, "Your brother wants to kill you. Why do you think that is?"

Duan Wenpei put out the fire and replied almost without thinking, "They are no longer my family."

Nan Xu smiled and said, "Yes, Nan Yun is no longer my family. Since we are no longer family, is there any need to think about her purpose in doing this?"

Duan Wenpei looked at her a few more times because of her answer.

Those sentimental expressions also disappeared, as if the person just now was just Nan Xu's dazzlement.

He also smiled at Nan Xu, with the corners of his mouth curved like pear blossoms blooming in a barren desert.

Nan Xu couldn't help but laughed out loud, covering her mouth.

Duan Wenpei frowned, "Is it that funny?"

Nan Xu waved her hands hastily, "No, no, I just think you look better when you smile than when you don't."

Duan Wenpei raised his eyebrows, as if in disdain, but the curve of his mouth deepened.

Nan Xu didn't expect him to be so easy to fool, and quickly turned her head away, "Since Master is in a good mood, why not ask Master for a favor?"

"you say."

Seeing that he was so easy to talk to, Nan Xu quickly straightened up and crossed her arms in front of her. "Help me find out who went to the Big Buddha Temple that day."

Duan Wenpei knew what she was thinking, but he had his concerns.

"You can investigate, but what if the perpetrator is far superior to you? Nan Xu, Yu Ming is just a maid after all. You may not be able to avenge her."

Nan Xu moved closer to the candle, the bean-sized flame burning fiercely in her eyes, as if to burn away all the injustice in the world.

"I know."

The eyes reflecting the flames looked at Duan Wenpei seriously, "Yuming got into trouble because of me. Ultimately, I was the one who hurt her. Whether I seek revenge or not is actually not important now. But I can't let her get hurt in vain. I want to know the truth and seek justice for her."

Yeah, just asking for justice.

Duan Wenpei raised his head and saw the green roof of the car above him.

"Okay, I'll help you check."

"But not recently."

"Yu!" The driver's voice came from outside, and we arrived at the Bo's Mansion.

Nan Xu didn't move. She asked, "Why?" The longer the time interval, the more time will erase many traces, making it more difficult to investigate.

Duan Wenpei saw that she didn't move, so he didn't move either. He looked at her for a long while, as if he had made up his mind. "The net to catch Zhao Huaijue's remaining followers has been set up, but we need to close it soon, so we don't have enough manpower."

Nan Xu was startled, and finally realized what he was talking about, but...

"You tell me this, aren't you afraid of me..."

"Don't be afraid, I believe you."