Chapter 47 Chapter 47 I am no longer your wife.
Nie Xiangyi clutched the corner of her clothes. Xie Zhi's aura made her feel unreasonably nervous. Beneath that calm expression, something unusual seemed to be brewing.
"Return to Shanzhou." She raised her head to meet Xie Zhi's dark eyes. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to suppress the bitterness in her heart. She said indifferently, "My grandfather is dead. Your Highness only needs to sign the divorce papers, and you will have nothing to do with me from now on."
I've been obsessed with him for so long and been disgusted by him for so long, it's time for enough.
"No connection?" Xie Zhi's sneer was as cold as ice. "Now that you've recognized the wrong person, you want to have nothing to do with me? Who do you want to have anything to do with? Pei Jue out there? Or the Crown Prince?"
"What are you talking about? It's obviously you..."
Before Nie Xiangyi could finish her words, Xie Zhi grabbed her wrist. "Do you think a divorce letter would be enough? Our marriage was granted by the Emperor. How can a divorce letter like yours be used to offset it?"
In the cramped carriage, Nie Xiangyi was almost pressed against the wall by him. There seemed to be flames burning in his eyes, and even the breath he exhaled was hot, all of which sprayed on Nie Xiangyi's cheeks.
"Then...then what do you want!" Nie Xiangyi twisted his wrist and struggled, his brows furrowed.
"Come back with me."
"I won't." Nie Xiangyi refused stubbornly and decisively. She turned away, no longer looking at Xie Zhi, "I want to go back to Shanzhou."
"Your Highness." Pei Jue's voice suddenly rang out from outside the carriage, his voice earnest, "The Third Prince's wife has suffered the pain of losing a relative. I beg Your Highness to show mercy and allow her to return to Shanzhou to attend the funeral."
Xie Zhi's expression became increasingly stern.
He stared at Nie Xiangyi for a long time, and then slowly let go of her wrist.
"Master Pei is kind-hearted." He lifted the curtain and looked down at Pei Jue. "But what right does Master Pei have to speak for my wife?"
Pei Jue's tone was slightly tense, he lowered his head and pursed his lips, "I just can't bear it."
"Master Xiao Pei, do you think that I am unkind and don't care about my wife?"
Xie Zhiwei narrowed his eyes, and his gaze suddenly became sharp. "Master Pei, you know that the journey to Shanzhou is thousands of miles long, and there are also many dangers and obstacles, such as the rebels who are eyeing us covetously."
"I'm not afraid." After a standoff, Nie Xiangyi interrupted him stubbornly, "I want to go back on my own, I'm not afraid."
In Xie Zhi's eyes, it was as if she was on Pei Jue's side. A storm seemed to be brewing in his eyes, but his face remained as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
"If you still want to see Grandpa off for the last time, then come back with me."
The subtle threat in his words made Nie Xiangyi turn around and look at him, "What do you mean?"
Xie Zhi then slowly spoke, "General Anxi devoted his life to the country, mourning his death in gratitude for his service. The Emperor could not bear to have his body hastily buried in a remote area, so he granted General Anxi burial in the Duanling Mausoleum, alongside his Imperial Ancestral Temple. The coffin was carried back to the capital by Anxi Commandant Zhong Qianyue."
"Grandfather wants to be returned to Beijing for burial?" Nie Xiangyi's eyes widened. The grace of being buried in a dedicated ancestral temple was already a great honor. But for Grandfather, this was a real bother and a real irony.
Not to mention the doubts surrounding his death, even if it was suicide, it was because the emperor was suspicious and he died to prove his innocence. Nowadays, when someone dies, it's as if they're deeply remembered, with no grudges at all.
Pei Jue's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this. "I was not thoughtful enough. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
"Master Pei, you are overstepping your bounds." Xie Zhi looked at him coldly. "She's my wife, why should you worry about her?"
"I am no longer your wife."
As soon as he finished speaking, Nie Xiangyi's voice came from behind, so decisive that it seemed without a trace of emotion.
But when she turned to look at Pei Jue, she chuckled again, "Thank you, Brother Ziying. I'm grateful for letting me go today. I'll come to thank you in the future."
Pei Jue also smiled softly, "It's just a piece of cake."
It was as if there was no such person as Xie Zhi standing by.
Xie Zhi's face was so gloomy that it looked like water could be squeezed out of it. He heavily lowered the curtain and, ignoring Nie Xiangyi's attempts to stop him, coldly ordered the groom, "Return to the mansion."
Seeing the carriage turn back, Nie Xiangyi's face turned unhappy. "Your Highness, what reason do you have to make a decision for me?"
She confronted him stubbornly, "Even if my grandfather returns to Beijing for burial, I will still leave the city! I will carry the coffin for my grandfather and bury him!"
"What's the reason?" Xie Zhi sneered, "Nie Xiangyi, don't forget, you and I have never divorced. You are still my legitimate wife."
"I have already signed the divorce papers..."
Xie Zhi's expression suddenly changed. He pressed her against the car wall and suddenly lowered his head to kiss her.
Nie Xiangyi's back was hurt by the kiss, and the violent kiss was accompanied by a biting feeling of venting anger. Soon, a fishy and sweet smell filled the air between their lips.
"Ugh... let me go!" Nie Xiangyi pushed Xie Zhi away with all her might, but his shadow, like a mountain, enveloped her and could not be shaken off.
The push and pull of lips and tongues was like a battle. Nie Xiangyi bit her lips tightly, but Xie Zhi forcefully pried them open, as if wanting to declare that he owned everything about her.
“Bang!”
Until a loud slap landed on Xie Zhiruyu's cheek.
Nie Xiangyi himself was also stunned.
Xie Zhi seemed dignified and noble, but in fact he gave people a strong sense of oppression, like a god or Buddha in a temple with no joy or anger. No one had ever dared to leave a palm print on his cheek.
However, he didn't care about the slap at all. His eyes were fixed on Nie Xiangyi's cheek. His slender fingertips stroked her blood-red lips bit by bit, and his voice was low and hoarse, as if he was murmuring.
"Ah Si, don't even think about divorcing me. Forget it."
Nie Xiangyi's palms were still numb, and she looked at Xie Zhi with red eyes, "Xie Zhi, it was you who sought military power, and it was you who said you were tired of me for a long time! Now that I'm no longer obsessed with you, you should be happy! Why do you treat me like this!"
"I didn't." Xie Zhi stroked her cheek, his gentle movements carrying an inescapable paranoia, "It's you who don't believe it."
Nie Xiangyi turned her face away and avoided his hand.
Tears flickered in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to shed tears. "Your Highness, after saying so much, you are not going to tell me that you actually love me sincerely, are you?"
She suddenly sneered, as if mocking herself, but also as if she was being sarcastic. "That's right. My grandfather is dead, but there's still my uncle. As long as there are still people in the Zhong family, I'm connected to them. It just so happens that my uncle is carrying the coffin to the capital, so I should do this for him to see. Right?"
Hurtful words are like tiny, dense needles, which hurt your heart the moment they are spoken.
Xie Zhi's expression suddenly turned gloomy. His jaw was clenched, his teeth were clenched tightly, and his eyes were red with undercurrents. "You would rather believe the prince than me?"
"How can I believe it, Your Highness!" Nie Xiangyi's suppressed emotions finally broke down at this moment, and she cried out to Xie Zhi in disarray.
"Your Highness said it himself! I heard it with my own ears! Your Highness even hid the cause of my mother's death from me to this extent. What else can I believe? Do I believe that Your Highness is sincere to me?"
Tears fell like broken strings, but she stubbornly wiped them away. Her stubbornness was like a pool of water about to flow away, and no one could stop it.
"I promised my grandfather that I would never repeat my mother's mistakes." Her expression was sad but determined. "Xie Zhi, I have decided to divorce you."
Xie Zhi gripped her wrist, squeezing tightly. His eyes were bloodshot, no longer his usual calm demeanor. He spoke word by word, "Impossible."
His voice was so cold it almost froze people. "You and I were married by the Emperor's order. If you divorce, you will be disobeying his order."
Not wanting him to use his imperial power to oppress others, Nie Xiangyi glared at him angrily, "So what? Even without this divorce letter, we can still go our separate ways!"
Xie Zhi's kiss was almost filled with rage and madness. He bit her lips without mercy, as if he wanted to seal all her heartless words in the entanglement.
Nie Xiangyi kicked and hammered him, but he remained motionless until he was almost suffocated.
On the way back, the atmosphere in the carriage was almost frozen, and the two of them were silent all the way.
When she got off the carriage, Nie Xiangyi turned around without hesitation and wanted to go back to her own mansion. However, Xie Zhi held her wrist tightly and refused to let go, forcibly taking her back to the mansion.
From then on, Xie Zhi never left the mansion again.
So does Nie Xiangyi.
The bedroom seemed like a prison, holding Nie Xiangyi captive and Xie Zhi in chains. Official business for the Divine Strategy Division was also completed here, with Ling Zhu handling all the communication.
He was almost inseparable from Nie Xiangyi, as if this was the only way to keep her.
"Xie Zhi! How long do you want to keep me locked up?"
Nie Xiangyi, who was naturally impatient, felt that he was doing this for the Zhong family's military power. Unconsciously, she lost her temper, while Xie Zhi remained silent.
"It's none of your business," he said. "I can go wherever you want."
Nie Xiangyi looked at him angrily and said word by word: "I want a divorce! I don't want to see you again!"
She couldn't tell whether her anger was due to what had happened before or because of the resentment of being locked in a cage in recent days.
In short, the two who had been facing each other for so long were like a pair of resentful lovers. Xie Zhi's long silence was the norm, the stagnant atmosphere between them almost suffocating, but there was no way to break the ice.
Nie Xiangyi thought that she had to find a way to escape on her own.
Crickets in a golden cage will try to escape. Nie Xiangyi has never been one to admit defeat.
It was only after she rode on the wall for the sixth time that Xie Zhi looked at her deeply from below the wall, with an indescribable melancholy in his eyes.
She used to climb over the wall to see him, but now she did it to escape from him.
"Ah Si, do you think I should turn this yard into a maze?"
"I've had enough! I'm tired of staying here all day! I'm tired of being watched over by you!" Nie Xiangyi sat on the courtyard wall and scolded him, "I'm not your prisoner!"
"If you didn't want to leave, I wouldn't do this." Although he was condescending, Nie Xiangyi felt that Xie Zhi's aura was much stronger. "Come down, I'll carry you back."
His tone was normal, but it carried a tone that brooked no refusal.
The more he acted like this, the less Nie Xiangyi wanted to follow his wishes. She glanced at Xie Zhi outside the courtyard wall, then turned and jumped inside.
Xie Zhi seemed to have known that she would do this, and he hugged her before she landed.
"Xie Zhi, please let me go!" Nie Xiangyi struggled hard in his arms, punching and kicking, but he held her firmly.
"Zhong Qianyue will be returning to Beijing soon." Xie Zhi carried her back to the room and placed her on the brocade couch. His eyes were dark and his voice was deep. "If you still want to see them, don't even think about leaving."
"You're threatening me with my uncle?" Nie Xiangyi's eyes were filled with disbelief and anger. She wanted to stand up and confront Xie Zhi, but he shackled her to the couch. "Xie Zhi, you've changed! Are you still the same elegant Third Prince?"
"Hmm." Xie Zhi only hummed softly, "What was I like before? Upright and self-respecting, self-disciplined and respectful? Ah Si, you broke this with your own hands."
He lowered his eyes and looked at her, his expression calm but with an indescribable darkness, like a poisonous snake wrapping around her tightly.
"So, Ah Si, how can you leave?"
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