Chapter 6 Rebirth Do you know what pain really is?
"You can't die! You can't die! You can't die! No! You! Can't! Die!"
Qi Jingxuan restrained Shen Yan's hands and pinned her down, roaring with red eyes.
That's outrageous! That's outrageous!
He was reborn time and time again, and he experienced the taste of death time and time again.
He was dead, fine, but... and they shot him...
Qi Jingxuan gritted his teeth, glaring fiercely at Shen Yan: "This time I'll personally keep an eye on you! I won't leave until I hand you over to your parents alive!"
After saying that, he ignored the advice of Xu Jinyu and others who came in and insisted on staying here to keep an eye on Shen Yan.
Hearing that they had gone to invite Madam Shen over, Shen Yan's expression became even more desperate. She tried several times to break free from Qi Jingxuan's control and commit suicide, but failed each time.
Seeing her struggle so fiercely, Qi Jingxuan thought of how horribly he had died the last few times, and how he had even been...
His anger surged, and he simply ripped off the bed curtains to tie Shen Yan up.
Seeing this, Xu Jinyu was both anxious and angry. She chased away the onlookers and stepped forward to stop them, saying, "Your Highness, Miss Shen is the daughter of an official. How can you do this?"
Qi Jingxuan refused to listen, shoved him aside, and quickly tied Shen Yan up like a dumpling. To prevent her from biting her tongue, he even gagged her. Finally, he stood by the bed with his hands on his hips and said, "You want to die, huh? Let's see how you die this time!"
Enraged, Xu Jinyu disregarded Shen Yan's presence and called him by his childhood nickname: "Ah Xuan, stop fooling around! How are you going to explain this to Madam Shen when she comes and sees Miss Shen like this?"
As he spoke, he reached out to untie Shen Yan's clothes.
Qi Jingxuan stood in front of the bed, preventing him from getting close, and said, "I'm not being ridiculous! I'm protecting her! Didn't you see she was determined to die?"
Whether she lives or dies is irrelevant, but please don't let him die with her.
He and she were not related by blood, so why should they be bound together for all eternity?
This time, he will never let her die again!
Xu Jinyu was furious and scolded, "What kind of fool are you? How can you protect someone like this? If you're worried she'll die, I'll just send someone to keep an eye on her. You... what kind of behavior is this, tying her up like this! Untie Miss Chen right now!"
"You can't keep an eye on her!"
Qi Jingxuan said with certainty.
If he could keep an eye on people, he wouldn't have repeated the same mistakes in his past life.
Seeing that he was unyielding, Xu Jinyu didn't know what to do. Just as she was wondering whether to invite Lady Cheng'an, she heard footsteps outside and a slender middle-aged woman walked in.
When Madam Su heard that Shen Yan had an accident, she hurried over with the servants of the Marquis's residence.
As she passed through the hanging flower gate into the front yard, she sensed something was wrong and a bad premonition rose in her heart. When she saw the scene in the room, she almost fainted.
She rushed to the bedside in a few strides, pushed Prince Jin aside, helped the bound Shen Yan up, tore the gag from her mouth, and cried, "Aci, Aci, what happened to you?"
Then he turned and scolded the Prince of Jin: "What have you done to my daughter?"
Qi Jingxuan scoffed: "I didn't do anything to her. We were both framed. We could have talked things out, but she started threatening suicide as soon as she woke up. I had no choice but to resort to this tactic to save her life. You should be thanking me."
"You're talking nonsense!" Madam Su roared. "My daughter would never commit suicide so easily! You must have done something to her!"
Qi Jingxuan was furious when he heard this. Shen Mingshan had said the same thing before, and now this Madam Shen was saying it too.
He's tried so many times already, doesn't he understand? This girl surnamed Shen isn't like what they say at all. She's clearly a weak-willed, spoiled girl who would try to kill herself if she found out her reputation was ruined.
What kind of inner strength would prevent them from easily seeking death? Their inner strength is just a figment of their dreams.
The Marquis of Cheng'an and his wife, who had rushed over with Madam Su, were also stunned by the scene before them. The Marquis of Cheng'an said urgently, "Your Highness, please say less!"
What time is it? Still so stubborn. Whatever happened, can't you at least stop provoking them?
If you really drive someone to their death, what good will come of it?
Qi Jingxuan has died four times, each time more tragic than the last. Now, all he cares about is keeping Shen Yan alive, so he won't be blamed for driving her to her death. He doesn't care about anything else.
He said to Madam Su, "Look closely, your daughter is alive and well. Take her home quickly and keep a close eye on her."
"I will go to the palace immediately and have my father investigate this matter thoroughly. Until then, you must keep a close eye on your daughter and make sure nothing happens to her. It doesn't matter if she dies, but don't let her implicate me!"
After saying that, he turned to leave.
"Stop right there!"
Su roared angrily behind him.
"You've humiliated my daughter like this, and you think you can just walk away like this? I'll go to the palace with you! I want to see His Majesty and ask him if there's any law in this world! Does the royal family have the right to humiliate the daughters of officials at will?!"
Qi Jingxuan hissed and turned around: "Who bullied her? Didn't I tell you we were all framed? Don't you understand?"
"Pooh!"
Seeing her daughter being bullied like this, Madam Su no longer cared about etiquette and dignity, spitting out, "If you hadn't bullied her, why would she have tried to kill herself? Besides, even if she was framed, it was you who dragged her down with you!"
"Our Shen family has only been in the capital for half a year. We are of lowly rank, insignificant, powerless, and without influence. Who would want to frame a family like ours?"
"You're the one who ruined my daughter, yet you turn around and say she dragged you down with you—have you no shame?!"
Qi Jingxuan truly did not bully Shen Yan. He was furious when Su Shi insisted that her daughter had committed suicide because of him, and wanted to retort, but Su Shi's next few words left him speechless.
Indeed, the Shen family is a powerful clan that has only recently entered the capital. The person behind them has connections everywhere. If they really wanted to harm them, they would have plenty of ways to do so. There's no need for such methods.
The other party was clearly targeting him; the Shen family just happened to be chosen.
Qi Jingxuan clenched his teeth and cursed the ancestors of the person behind the scenes for eighteen generations in his heart once again.
“Alright,” he finally said, “Let’s go, let’s go to the palace together to meet the Emperor!”
"I'm determined to make this clear this time, and I refuse to take the blame!"
Marquis Cheng'an was afraid that the two sides would start arguing again and cause a death in his mansion. Seeing this, he hurriedly said that he would go to the palace with them and bring all the necessary witnesses.
The group entered the palace together to meet the emperor. Upon receiving the news, Shen Mingshan also rushed over and was heartbroken to see his daughter looking so distraught.
Qi Jingxuan pleaded his innocence before the emperor, repeatedly assuring him that he had never done anything to Miss Shen.
However, given his past misdeeds, while the emperor might believe his words, few of the officials did.
However, since the matter had not yet been fully investigated, the emperor did not directly convict Qi Jingxuan. Instead, he imprisoned him in the Prince's Mansion and forbade him to leave until the truth came out.
Qi Jingxuan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that as long as Shen Yan was alive, there was a chance for things to turn around, and he believed that his father would definitely clear his name.
That very night, he heard that Shen Yan had hanged herself at home.
Qi Jingxuan sat on the bed with his hair disheveled, incredulous.
"Why...why..."
Why did she still die even though he had handed her over to the Shen couple alive?
Before the Shen couple left the palace, he repeatedly instructed them to keep a close eye on Shen Yan and not let her attempt suicide. They were Shen Yan's biological parents; they should have been far more anxious than the people of the Cheng'an Marquis's residence. How could they have let her die anyway?
He heard that Shen Yan was an only child, raised by her parents for over a decade. Why was she so determined to end her life? Did she have no attachment to this world at all?
Qi Jingxuan slowly leaned back against the headboard, no longer able to hear what the people beside him were saying.
Oh no, I thought I could escape this time, but it turns out nothing has changed.
………………
The carriage jolted as it passed the pavilion. Qi Jingxuan, who was sitting in a daze, was also jolted, and his head hit the carriage floor with a thud.
The eunuch serving beside him was startled and covered his head while scolding the coachman outside.
"How dare you rush the carriage and hurt His Highness! How many heads do you have to pay for it?"
The coachman sheepishly apologized, while the eunuch asked softly, "Your Highness, how are you? Are you in pain? Should we have Physician Zhou come and take a look?"
Although Qi Jingxuan was demoted to a prince and left the capital, he still held considerable weight in the emperor's heart. Not only was the fiefdom he was given good, but a royal physician was also brought along to accompany him, just in case he suffered a headache or fever on the journey.
Qi Jingxuan twitched the corner of his mouth: "What kind of pain is this?"
Then, she looked at him with a chilling gaze and said, "Do you know what pain really means?"
Seeing that his expression was off, and not knowing what he wanted to say, the eunuch could only reply, "This servant does not know."
Qi Jingxuan pointed between his legs: "It's only when you're without testicles that it hurts."
After saying that, he slowly shook his head, his gaze blank, and said, "You wouldn't understand."
An arrow through the head at least kills you quickly; you just black out and it's over. But being shot through the testicles... that's truly horrific, inhumane, and utterly cruel.
Even now, when he thinks about that arrow, he still feels a dull ache between his legs.
Lost in thought, I saw the eunuch lower his eyes and murmur, "That...this servant...understands."
Qi Jingxuan scoffed, about to say "How could you possibly understand?", when he suddenly noticed his attire and fell silent.
………………
The carriage sped along, and although he felt desperate because he still couldn't turn the situation around, Qi Jingxuan didn't give up.
In addition to a breastplate, helmet, and veil, he also wore a groin protector this time.
With his equipment fully in place, he didn't believe the archer would still be aiming at this spot.
"Your Highness, be careful! There's an assassin!"
Upon hearing this again, Qi Jingxuan turned around and ran towards the carriage without saying a word, his reaction even faster than the guards beside him.
Just as they were about to board the carriage, the whooshing sound came again.
Qi Jingxuan bent his knees slightly and used his feet to leap up, about to pounce on the carriage, but he saw that this time it was not just one arrow, but three arrows fired at once.
Before his toes had even left the ground, Qi Jingxuan was pierced through the waist and abdomen by three arrows, and he fell to the ground with a wail.
The guards were terrified and hurriedly tried to pull him up and put him on the carriage, but then several more arrows were shot at him.
Some arrows were used to prevent the guards from pushing Qi Jingxuan onto the carriage, while others seized the opportunity to shoot at him. In just a few breaths, Qi Jingxuan had seven or eight arrows embedded in his chest, abdomen, thighs, and ankles.
The guards eventually helped Qi Jingxuan into the carriage, but before they could break through the encirclement, he died from excessive blood loss.
A note from the author:
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