Chapter 38
Li Wan had planned everything perfectly, but she hadn't anticipated Xie Qi's reaction.
Logically speaking, Xie Qi should be dispensable to her, since she had been exposed as a spy. If she had said that she still had feelings for Xiao Xian, he would have kicked her out of the Marquis's mansion without hesitation out of male pride.
But now...
Li Wan glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was standing there, exuding a chilling aura, his eyelids lowered, and she wondered what he was thinking.
"Drip-drop!" Rain dripped from the eaves, hitting the bare branches in the garden, the crisp sound unusually loud in the quiet night.
"Jiang Feiwan".
After a long silence, Xie Qi finally spoke, "Now I know why Xiao Xian is so sure that once he gets your body, you will obey him completely."
His voice was patient yet undeniably firm: "Because all men know that once a woman gives her body, her heart will surely follow."
He approached her step by step, his dark, oppressive eyes like those of a predator closing in on its prey.
He approached inch by inch, and Li Wan retreated inch by inch, until she was backed up to the edge of the daybed, with nowhere left to go.
He reached out and grasped her shoulder, his grip light yet undeniably firm, pushing her backward. Li Wan fell onto the soft brocade cushion, his figure looming over her, blocking out all the light and trapping her completely within his small space.
He leaned down, supporting himself with one hand beside her, and raised the other hand, his thumb tracing her delicate lips. His voice was deep and slow, "If you don't believe me, you can try it with me. Perhaps tomorrow, you will be able to completely forget him."
"Xie Qi!"
Realizing what he was about to do, after the initial shock, Li Wan's body stiffened, filled with fear.
"You've misunderstood, it has nothing to do with this... umm."
"Shhh."
Before Li Wan could utter a word of advice, he covered her lips with his palm, his cool breath brushing against her ear, "Trust me."
As the scorching, powerful figure pressed down, in an instant, Li Wan seemed to sense Jiang Feiwan's despair.
"Xie Qi!"
She struggled violently, and in her resistance, her fingertips grazed his jaw, leaving several bloody marks.
But he seemed not to hear, his slow, controlling exploration with his palm was more terrifying than a raging storm.
Just as his lips were about to touch hers, a strong smell of blood filled the air between them.
Xie Qi paused, looking down to see tears welling up under Li Wan's tightly closed eyelashes, sliding down her pale cheeks and landing on her trembling lips.
And then a stream of blood welled up from the corner of her lips, winding down her fair skin.
He suddenly sat up, his chest heaving with surging anger, and then quickly grabbed the woman's cheek, forcing her to let go.
But Li Wan still bit her tongue hard, looking resolute and determined to fight to the death.
"Give in!"
The man gave the order in a deep voice, but his tone carried an unprecedented anxiety.
As more blood gushed out, his eyes suddenly sank into an icy pool.
He got up and released her, standing beside the daybed, gazing down at her, watching her tears fall, watching the blood on her lips.
The candlelight reflected in his deep eyes, revealing not only anger but also something else he couldn't quite articulate.
The next moment, he suddenly turned around, opened the door without a word, and his figure disappeared into the drizzle.
The room fell silent, with only the sound of pattering rain outside the window becoming increasingly clear.
"lady!"
Xiuzhu and Xiuhe only dared to hurry into the house after the man left.
At this moment, Li Wan was sitting weakly on the edge of the Luohan bed, her clothes disheveled and blood at the corner of her mouth.
Xiuhe quickly stepped forward to check the injury and breathed a sigh of relief when she found that it was just a cut on the tip of her tongue and nothing serious. She then took a clean, damp cloth to wipe away the blood and took some hemostatic medicine from the medicine box, carefully applying it to the tip of her tongue.
Seeing her mistress's pitiful state as she applied the medicine, Xiuzhu suddenly burst into tears, "It's all my fault for leaving you alone with that person. I never imagined that he would be a beast in human form, torturing you into this state."
Xiuhe reached out to pull Xiuzhu away, signaling her to be careful of eavesdroppers, but Xiuzhu ignored her and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "What's there to be afraid of? So what if he has more power than the heavens? Our young lady is the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue, and she even married a prince. Why should she be bullied by a mere official like him? If you ask me, young lady, why don't you get a divorce and go back to the manor? Life in the manor is always better than in the marquis's manor."
"Yes, we do need to get a divorce." Li Wan said softly, enduring the numbness and pain on the tip of her tongue.
Xiuzhu and Xiuhe were both stunned upon hearing this.
Xiuzhu's eyes widened, her expression showing a bit of bewilderment. "This servant...this servant was just extremely angry and said it offhand."
Xiuhe saw the determination in Li Wan's eyes, but couldn't help but advise, "This servant doesn't know what happened between you and Lord Xie, but divorce is a very serious matter. Not to mention what others say, Master Jiang will probably be upset. You also need to consider your reputation and how you will live after the divorce."
Li Wan knew that Xiuhe meant well, and she also knew that women from prominent families would never easily divorce in order to preserve the family's reputation.
But she really couldn't care less about any of that.
...
For the next few days, Li Wan was stopped and turned back by Xie Qi's guards every time she went to Zhenyun Hall.
Until mid-April, Aunt Yang sent someone to deliver some fine brocade to Li Wan to make a spring dress, saying that she would go to the Lin residence at the end of April to attend Uncle Lin's welcoming banquet.
Therefore, Lin Shang will return to the capital at the end of April.
Looking at the lush green buds on the branches of the trees in the courtyard, Li Wan thought to herself that she couldn't wait any longer.
The following evening.
Mo Qi stood in front of the study in Zhenyun Hall, his face conflicted.
"Get in here."
A dull thud came from the study as an inkstone was slammed heavily onto the desk. The sound was deep and cold, penetrating the carved wooden door and startling Mo Qi.
He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
Looking up, I saw my master sitting upright behind a rosewood table. His dark-colored robes with subtle patterns reflected the candlelight, making him appear even more dignified and powerful.
Mo Qi bowed his head in greeting, but his gaze involuntarily swept across his master's jawline.
Those wounds had healed, but faint pink marks were still visible. Recalling that morning, when the master appeared in the council hall with his wounds, everyone present was astonished.
All the officials, heads bowed in their reports, felt their pupils shrink suddenly, then hurriedly lowered their heads again, staring intently at the tips of their shoes. A silent tremor filled the air; the marks were clearly those of a woman's fingernails.
The reason for the injury and the location of the injury were self-evident. Coupled with the icy anger emanating from their master, everyone exchanged knowing glances, no one dared to ask, no one dared to speak, and even their breathing was extremely soft.
Just like Mo Qi at this moment.
"explain."
Xie Qi didn't even raise his head, nor did he stop writing official documents.
“Reporting to Your Excellency…” Mo Qi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “A servant from Yingyue Residence has come to report that the young mistress has not eaten for two days.”
Xie Qi slowly raised his eyes, the candlelight casting varying shades of shadow on his sharply defined face.
"Hunger strike".
These two words were ground out from between his teeth, carrying icy shards. To force him to divorce, she even resorted to such naive tactics, showing that her mind was truly made up.
"Oh!"
Xie Qi chuckled, his voice deep and slow, "If she doesn't want to live, then let her be. If she starves to death, go straight to the Jiang residence to report her death."
Upon hearing this, Mo Qi paused for a moment, then bowed and said, "Yes."
The study door closed, and a heavy stroke of ink landed on the Xuan paper on the desk. Beside the ink stain, the veins on the back of the strong hand bulged, and the knuckles turned bluish-white.
On the fourth day...
When Mo Qi came to report the time, he dared not look at the adults anymore. However, even without looking, he could feel the oppressive atmosphere around him.
Mo Qi swallowed hard and added, "My lord, according to the secret guards of Yingyue Residence, the young mistress is exhausted and weak, lying in bed all day, and she doesn't even want to drink her medicine."
Xie Qi stood with his back to him by the window, and the tapping sound on the windowpane stopped abruptly the moment he finished speaking.
"You hold a knife to the necks of her maids without eating? Do I need to teach you that?"
The master's voice was still extremely impatient, and Mo Shi felt a chill run down his spine, so he hurriedly agreed.
"Summon Mo Shi to see me," the official finally instructed.
Mo Qi let out a long sigh of relief, accepted the order, and quickly withdrew.
A moment later, the young Mo Shi entered with his usual indifference, only to find that his master was a thousand times colder than him today. He involuntarily licked his lips and straightened his expression.
Xie Qi, impatient with his nonsense, said directly, "Recount the events of the day Jiang Feiwan returned to the Jiang residence again, and remember, every detail."
"yes."
Although the young mistress's return to the Jiang residence had already been recounted to the master twice, Mo Shi still dared not slack off. He recounted everything again, from the family banquet at the young mistress's return home to her spending nearly two hours alone in her former boudoir, during which time the sound of a porcelain vase breaking could be heard from inside the room, to her sudden return to the Marquis's residence in the rain, looking distraught. Only after confirming that he had not missed anything did he stop.
For the next fifteen minutes, the only sound in the hall was the soft tapping of Xie Qi's long, slender fingers on the armrest of the armchair.
A moment later, Xie Qi asked again, "How did you find out about investigating Jiang Feiwan's past?"
"The matter has been thoroughly investigated."
Mo Shi paused, thinking about the matter of the young mistress and the third prince that he had investigated, and for the first time, he felt embarrassed to report.
"Speak!" Xie Qi urged solemnly.
Mo Shi clenched his fist secretly and honestly recounted the investigation results, including the young mistress's encounter with the third prince, their acquaintance, and their love affair. When he recounted the young mistress and the third prince spending the night together in a private room at the restaurant, he kept glancing at the official out of the corner of his eye, fearing that the official might lose his temper and cut off his tongue in a fit of rage.
Even with his skill, he might not be able to dodge both of them.
Fortunately, the adult's expression remained unchanged until he finished speaking.
Another long silence fell over the room.
Suddenly, Xie Qi stopped pointing with his long fingers. "You said that after Jiang Feiwan got together with Xiao Xian, she suddenly fell seriously ill and it took her nearly a month to recover before her life was no longer in danger."
Mo Shi acknowledged that he had also noticed the matter, but since the young mistress had been frail and sickly since childhood, suffering from numerous ailments, he hadn't given it much thought. However, in accordance with the master's requirements for the secret guards, he still presented the young mistress's symptoms during her illness and the records of her medication.
Xie Qi quickly scanned the guards' logbook, then suddenly stopped looking at a prescription for a medicinal soup.
"She's been drinking this medicine for almost half a month?" Xie Qi raised an eyebrow and said slowly.
"What's wrong with this medicine?" Mo Shi asked, puzzled.
Xie Qi ran his fingertips over the names of the herbs on the prescription, pondering in a low voice, "These herbs are all used as adjuncts for detoxification."
"Antidote?" Mo Shi's expression turned serious. "Does Your Excellency know what kind of poison you can cure?"
"The poison of strychnine."
Mo Shi was stunned upon hearing this. In other words, the young lady was not seriously ill at that time, but poisoned. But strychnine... He looked at his master.
Xie Qi lowered his eyes, making it impossible to discern his emotions, except that he spoke in a deep voice about Mo Shi's doubts.
"Strychnine is extremely toxic and has a strong medicinal taste, so it is not usually used for murder."
Xie Qi's chest rose and fell silently, meaning that the medicine was not given to her by someone else, but that she drank it voluntarily.
In other words: she attempted suicide.
Xie Qi's eyes darkened instantly. Her sudden return to the Jiang residence must be to find the letter hidden "between jade and porcelain," a letter written by "her" to "her," in addition to her past suicide attempt...
Xie Qijun's brows furrowed, as if there was something he hadn't grasped.
After a moment, he turned his head to look at the orange-yellow candle wick, his eyes filled with a mixture of light and shadow.
Jiang Feiwan, what secret are you hiding?
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