Chapter 51: Knocking on the Jade to Inquire About Love
Is it something that requires his decision-making?
Su Mengzhen considered many things that might have prompted Xie Huailing to seek her advice, but he rejected them all. It couldn't be that Di Feijing had proposed a collaboration; if so, Xie Huailing would have clearly stated it in her letter. Although she was lazy and often lacked enthusiasm, she was still aware of the priorities of matters. Nor could it be that Xie Huailing had received some information that was difficult to deduce; she was used to doing things her own way and wouldn't wait for him to make a decision.
So what could it be that requires him to make the decision?
With these thoughts in mind, Su Mengzhen couldn't figure out what Xie Huailing wanted to talk to him about. Since he couldn't figure it out, he would wait until today was over and Xie Huailing woke up tomorrow.
As the moon and sun revolved, dawn broke in the east, and the outlines of buildings emerged from the chaos, pointing obliquely towards the gray sky. The howling wind and snow that had raged for days had finally subsided, leaving only a few thin icicles hanging from the eaves and the Tianquan Pool frozen like tears. A strange stillness permeated the air, a stillness that seemed to hold one's breath in anticipation, yet also to be as calm as still water; it was best left unsaid.
The charcoal in the stove burned fiercely, turning into a pile of ashes in the flames. As the wooden door opened and closed, the morning breeze rushed in, only to be easily burned away again, and the chill emanating from the newcomer vanished without a trace. Xie Huailing took off his cloak with one hand and brushed the snow off the cuffs of his outer garment with the other.
She arrived unexpectedly early, earlier than ever before. In fact, Su Mengzhen had never seen her at this hour before. He couldn't help but glance at the sky outside the window. Oh, the curtains were drawn, but judging from the light filtering through, it couldn't be later than Chen Shi (7-9 AM). He then saw her hanging her cloak on the back of the chair with swift, decisive movements, and adjusting her hairpin. She didn't look sleepy at all. Had the sun risen in the west?
Needless to say, Xie Huailing knew what Su Mengzhen was thinking. As usual, she dragged the wooden chair to Su Mengzhen's table, nestled in the chair, and said, "Don't think about it. I just went to bed too early yesterday, and then I got up because my head hurt."
The doubts were then cleared up. Su Mengzhen took out a few documents, pushed them in front of her, and said, "I heard from the people below that you got up in the middle of the night?"
Xie Huailing nodded very slightly, lifted her eyelids slightly, and replied nonchalantly, "I forgot I hadn't eaten all day, so I got up to eat something and looked at some things along the way. Strictly speaking, this can be considered overtime."
Su Mengzhen didn't argue with her, and said calmly, "Take a look at this first."
Xie Huailing turned to a page. The contents of the document were all related to her, detailing all the strange things that had happened to her and the investigation she was being investigated. She had already read some of it when she got up in the middle of the night, and the rest of it only confirmed her suspicions. She didn't even finish reading it. Her fingertips hovered a few pages from the end before she lightly placed the entire stack back on the table.
"It doesn't seem like the work of the Six and a Half Hall. Their style of doing things is more like they're just wearing the skin of the Six and a Half Hall. Besides..." Xie Huailing said meaningfully, "Lei Sun was able to get Di Feijing to contact me, which means he entrusted my matter to Di Feijing, but Di Feijing is probably not in the mood to investigate me right now."
He wasn't even in the mood to investigate her; the second half of that statement was superfluous. At this moment, Di Feijing was probably even unable to sort out his own thoughts.
Xie Huailing's judgment was correct. Su Mengzhen pressed the document back onto the desk. She had said she would handle it herself, so he already knew what to expect: "As for who is behind this, you can find out. I won't interfere." He then changed the subject, seizing on the implication in her words, and asked again, "You said Di Feijing wasn't in the mood. What makes you say that?"
"ah……"
Xie Huailing let out a slow, gurgling sound, as if she had a choked voice, or perhaps it was like a rewind, the sound slowly spilling out. Her gaze suddenly darkened, then slowly rose again: "How should I put this, Master? I need to confirm with you first, you don't intend to marry me off in exchange for something, do you?"
Su Mengzhen was completely bewildered, unable to grasp the meaning behind her sudden remark. But having fought in the martial world for years, his keen insight and thoughtfulness were practically ingrained in his blood. Almost instantly, he understood what Xie Huailing was saying. An absurd thought crept into his mind, followed by disbelief that washed over his thoughts and emotions. Then, amidst the turmoil, he felt a strange sensation in his palm.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and the voice he managed to find was tinged with a rawness he himself hadn't even noticed: "Di Feijing, he...?" He couldn't find a single accurate word.
Xie Huailing rested her chin on her hand and finished his sentence for him: "I really congratulate myself, my words have come true."
She didn't really want to mention that word because she didn't care that much about such things.
Su Mengzhen rarely had such moments. He had heard rumors in the martial arts world about who fell in love with their enemy and which lovers ended up as siblings, but he never imagined that such a thing would suddenly happen to him, creating a tangled mess of red threads between his confidant and his mortal enemy.
He never looked down on "love." Those who respect loyalty and righteousness will only place love on a very high pedestal.
But love is also the most unpredictable, the most elusive, and the most unpredictable. Its arrival is uncertain, and once it arrives, it may last a lifetime.
"What do you think?" Su Mengzhen's tone turned somber. It wasn't that she doubted Xie Huailing, but rather that the matter was truly too sudden. "Tell me the truth, what is your opinion of Di Feijing?"
Xie Huailing replied, "I've already asked you, Master, so what do you think?"
She pressed herself tightly against the back of the chair, as if she were talking about someone unrelated to her, something irrelevant. She scoffed, how heartless: "It wasn't me who lured him into the trap. It's always been a mutual agreement, and he knows what kind of person I am. Since that's the case, he could easily make a fuss—pay a little something insignificant, and many problems would be solved. But I've never done that before, and it doesn't seem to be included in my job duties, so I should get overtime pay."
Su Mengzhen's eyes darkened further: "That's not what I meant."
“I know,” Xie Huailing said.
She slightly raised her eyes, and he looked into them.
Some people are close, some are far—this isn't a contradiction. He didn't doubt she had moments of tenderness, but those moments were like grains of sand, fleeting and lost in the sea, while her eyes were in the very center of the ocean. Her eyes consistently conveyed rejection: "But I don't think there's any need to talk about those things, no need to delve deeper. Like I told you, many people don't really understand me. So you just need to know that I have absolutely no feelings for him."
If it is said that beauty is hidden behind clouds and mist, then before the clouds and mist dissipate, love and romance, and the smoke and willows of the world are not the color of beauty, and no one can add color to her.
Su Mengzhen inexplicably began to understand, and at that moment she remembered what she had said. At least her coldness wasn't directed at him; he had said he would understand. So now she asked, "You never wanted to delve into these things?"
Xie Huailing answered quickly, leaving no room for negotiation: "Never thought about it?"
Su Mengzhen asked, "Why?"
Xie Huailing said calmly, "This is not a very meaningful question. Many people love me, but I have never loved any of them."
"Never?"
Never.
She remembered something else and felt that continuing this topic was not going well and would only cause more trouble. She said, "Why are you like Jin Lingzhi? If you can ask others, don't ask this. It's not a good thing to gossip as a superior. Let's talk about my suggestion earlier. What do you think?"
"I disagree." Su Mengzhen said firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.
"The people of Jinfeng Xiyu Tower, my people, need not do those things." He seemed intent on severing that possibility, a chilling glint in his eyes, sharp and resolute. "If I were to resort to such tactics, it would be a sign of my incompetence, and for you to pay such a price would be a disgrace to me!"
The last two words were delivered with a resounding force, like a thunderclap in the study. After they were spoken, the silence in the room became even more profound, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The crackling of the burning charcoal in the stove was practically inaudible; in this eerie atmosphere, even the intense heat couldn't drown out Su Mengzhen's voice.
Xie Huailing didn't reply. She merely tilted her head slightly, her raven-feather eyelashes drooping, casting two crescent shadows beneath her eyes. A fleeting ripple flowed beneath the ice, and no one knew what had passed. She was pondering the weight of his words, seemingly lost in thought about something deeper, all of which was concealed by her eyelashes.
The silence lasted only a moment. Su Mengzhen suppressed all the emotions welling up inside her and forcibly steered the conversation back on track, coughing a few times: "How did you initially come into contact with Di Feijing?"
Xie Huailing's eyelashes fluttered, and the underlying emotion that had been hidden beneath her gaze was revealed with a change in her eyes—a hint of amusement. She leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on the edge of the table: "Well, it's hard to explain. But, I can demonstrate."
"Demonstration?" Su Mengzhen frowned.
“Yes,” Xie Huailing nodded, his tone full of coaxing, “Just say that sentence again to me—the one about ‘my people,’ ‘making you pay for something,’ ‘shame’.”
Who was Su Mengzhen? He had been tricked by her countless times. Upon hearing this, alarm bells went off in his heart. The moment her words fell, a bad premonition ran through him. Moreover, her emphasis made the originally fine words inevitably take on a different meaning. Almost instinctively, he resolutely refused: "Nonsense, don't even think about it."
Xie Huailing dragged out her words. Su Mengzhen's refusal was useless; the cunning light in her eyes wouldn't be extinguished so easily. "Sigh, then I'll just have to put on this show myself."
Then she moved. The person who was already sitting at the table, with one hand on the table in front of Su Mengzhen, did not get up, but leaned forward suddenly, immediately closing the distance with Su Mengzhen. Relying on the fact that Su Mengzhen would not want to hurt her, she completely disregarded the consequences of her wrath and forced her way in.
A slender, aloof face versus a face of unparalleled beauty. Facing each other, Su Mengzhen suddenly stiffened. He was never used to this and was about to look away to tell her that he understood and to stop.
But she was one step ahead. He saw an unfamiliar light shimmering on her face, and in the close gaze between them, there was a focused intensity that stirred a faint, sweet feeling within him. Her expression didn't change much; the change in her aura was enough. She brushed against his ear, addressing the underlying question in his words: "What you just said, Master, is perfect for a young lady. Why didn't you repeat it to me? Wasn't it meant for me?"
Time stretched on endlessly, the ashes in the furnace grew cold and the morning light turned a ghastly white. Su Mengzhen could clearly feel his blood rushing to his head, as if he were back on the day she had spoken of the "Ten Victories of the Boudoir." It wasn't exactly a transgression, but he was probably too angry; the offended rage surged all the way to his lungs. Xie Huailing quickly sat back down, watching him cough uncontrollably, and noticing the two sickly patches of red on his face that lingered for a long time.
"Get out!" Su Mengzhen suddenly stood up, creating a considerable distance between them.
It wasn't just that I was probably angry; I was genuinely furious.
The culprit rose leisurely and picked up the cloak hanging on the back of the chair: "Yes, Master."
She walked quickly, afraid that if she was even a second late, she would have to get back to work. After the door closed, silence returned, even more intense than before. Su Mengzhen didn't know where he was staring at, nor could he figure out what was causing his burning anger. He clenched his fists, trying to crush the remaining numbness, but the closed door opened again at that moment.
The person who hadn't been gone for even a minute poked his hairy head out from the narrow gap, pretending he hadn't done anything, and said a string of words in a lighthearted manner: "Oh, by the way, Boss, could you please have someone send me the accounts for Jucai Tower for this month, as well as all the other miscellaneous documents, so that I can check on people? Also, since you asked me to leave, in order not to get in your way or delay your business, I won't come this afternoon. Isn't that thoughtful?"
Xie Huailing's voice was filled with obvious pleasure: "Thank you for letting me leave work early, OP. You're so kind, but please don't get sick from anger. Take your medicine. By the way, do you want to see me tomorrow or the day after? If not, I won't come."
"..."
So that's what she was planning. Just like before, after she was determined to do something outrageous, his indifference made him not want to see her.
Su Mengzhen suddenly calmed down.
He wouldn't let her have her way, nor would he forget his mistakes; he wouldn't let the losses he'd suffered go unpunished. He replied calmly, "Come on in anyway. Then, come in; you have things to do."
As she wished, Xie Huailing's lightheartedness crumbled.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com