Chapter 111: You have to divorce your wife, Princess Jin.
"A letter of divorce?"
In the dim cell, Madam Xie sat cross-leggedly, slowly raising her head to look at the people outside the cell.
His tall and slender figure was wrapped in a dark gold fox fur coat, his handsome face looked even more dignified due to the paleness of his illness, and his pair of phoenix eyes looked at her gently and quietly, as if with some request in their words.
Mrs. Xie felt unfamiliar with Prince Jin, but his eyes revealed a warm and familiar feeling.
Maybe it’s because he looks like the Prime Minister, she thought.
Mrs. Xie looked away and said, "I won't give it to you. You are not qualified to make this decision for Congying."
"A Ying is too soft-hearted, especially towards the people she loves. She's prone to compromise. In this respect, she's very similar to Madam, and I'm sure Madam feels the same way."
The Prince of Jin said, "When Xie Huanzhi knelt in the rain for only a moment, you relented and agreed to marry him. He suffered only half a night, and you stayed by his side, indulging him time and again, while you lived in fear for decades. I wonder if you regret that no one ruthlessly severed this evil bond for you. Can you bear to see yourself following in your footsteps in this life?"
Madam Xie showed a look of astonishment on her face and stared at Prince Jin: "How do you know..."
The Prince of Jin leaned against the prison bars and spoke earnestly, "I not only know my wife, but I also know Xie San very well. I am the most qualified person to ask for your release on Cong Ying's behalf."
Mrs. Xie stood up and walked towards him, staring closely into his familiar eyes: "You..."
Suddenly, she recalled the rumors from last year about the Prince of Jin being nailed into a coffin and then resurrected. She knew the princess treated her son like a precious treasure and wouldn't mistake the living for the dead. For a long time, Madam Xie had felt something was amiss about this.
She looked at Prince Jin, and a strange yet familiar intuition swirled in her heart, making her feel confused.
Who is this person in front of her? A thought suddenly occurred to her mind.
At this moment, she saw King Jin's lips tremble slightly, as if he said a word silently.
Mrs. Xie's pupils suddenly shrank.
She recalled the morning when Sanlang was six months old. She had cut a branch of sweet osmanthus to coax him. He eagerly opened his hands to take it. Madam Xie teased him, "Little boy, call out to your mother."
Sanlang, who had just turned half a year old, actually called out "Mom" in a vague voice.
"Madam..." Looking at the hand tightly grasping his, Prince Jin lowered his reddening eyes, "Madam was the first to guess it."
Ah Ying was in love without realizing it, and it was only through his repeated reminders and dreams from her previous life that she guessed the absurd truth.
But his mother is different. His bones, blood and soul were all born from her. Even if he rotted into a pile of bones, she could still find him accurately.
Mrs. Xie burst into tears: "How could this be...you...that Sanlang..."
"He's fine. I will protect him and Cong Ying." King Jin said, "Please ask Madam to write a letter of release."
He brought her writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and personally ground ink for her and lit the lamp. He could see that Madam Xie was deeply troubled, but she didn't dare ask any more questions, as she was afraid of him repeatedly calling her "Madam."
After the ink dried, Prince Jin carefully folded it and put it away. Before leaving, he advised Madam Xie, "Yunjing is a place of trouble. Even if you don't consider yourself, please consider your children, Ah Zhu, Ah Ying, and my sister-in-law. They will never sit idly by and watch you put yourself in danger. I can make the decision for Ah Ying, but I can only plead with you, Madam. Please, for their sake, turn back from the sea of suffering."
Mrs. Xie then said, "Azhu is missing."
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Xie Miaozhu's hands were red from the cold, and he pounded the old clothes in the basin fiercely.
She regretted enduring such humiliation and wanted to run, but the housekeeper Wei Ji had hired was very aggressive. During this distraction, an old inkstone was thrown, nearly hitting her. Wei Ji peeked out from his study and said with a cold face, "Don't make any noise while this censor is on leave."
This censor?
Xie Miaozhu sneered as he held the laundry pestle in his hand. "My father never called himself the prime minister at home, and my brother never called himself the commander-in-chief at home. You're just a mere censor. I have more turtles in my pond than you, and yet you have the nerve to call yourself this official. You're just a donkey head made of three pieces of paper. You have such a big face!"
Xie Miaozhu was sharp-tongued. At home, he could engage in exchanges of words with Xie Xuanlan, and outside, he could even provoke Prince Huai to hit people.
Wei Ji hated it most when others mocked his background. Upon hearing this, he flew into a rage, picked up his horsewhip, and walked out with a gloomy face.
Seeing that things were not going well, Xie Miaozhu raised the laundry pestle and confronted him: "How dare you! You and I never agreed that you could hit people!"
Wei Ji said coldly: "Bitch, do you think I dare?"
The whip made a whistling sound as Xie Miaozhu circled the pillars under the eaves, running, dodging, and cursing.
The tail of the whip swept across the side of her neck, causing a burning pain. Xie Miaozhu was in pain and angry. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and chopped around recklessly. Unfortunately, although the kitchen knife was sharp, it was too short after all, and her arm was whipped several times. Wei Ji shouted at her to put down the knife.
This was the scene Ying saw when she first walked in.
She was so frightened that she ran forward and shouted, "Stop it!"
Cong Ying stood in front of Xie Miaozhu, staring at the whip in Wei Ji's hand in disbelief, and said angrily, "Are you crazy? Detaining and abusing the wives and daughters of court officials is a serious crime!"
Wei Ji's face was filled with resentment: "I abused her? Look at the knife in her hand! She was the one who wanted to assassinate the Censor!"
Cong Ying quickly snatched the knife from Xie Miaozhu's hand and threw it down. He looked at the whip marks on her body and the rough cloth she was wearing. "What on earth is going on?"
In front of Cong Ying, Xie Miaozhu and Wei Ji confronted each other and explained the whole story.
After hearing this, Cong Ying questioned Wei Ji, "You promised me to withdraw the memorial impeaching Xie Xuanlan. Why did you use it to deceive Lady Xie Liu?"
Wei Ji said: "I let Xie San go, but I didn't promise to let Xie Liu go. It was you who said you wouldn't interfere in the feud between me and the Xie family."
Cong Ying didn't want to argue with him, so she supported Xie Miaozhu and said, "Let's go."
Wei Ji was unwilling to release them. They had agreed to a month's wait, and he was still fuming. He shouted, "Butler! Stop them!"
The fierce housekeeper did not respond, and none of the servants came to help. Wei Ji felt something was wrong and turned around to look outside. Cong Ying was also puzzled when she suddenly heard a "bang". It turned out that Wei Ji was kicked back.
He lay on the ground, holding his chest with his hands, his face looking very ugly, staring at Chen Zhang who walked in with his arms folded.
Behind Chen Zhang were several guards in golden armor, escorting the butler and servants who were tied up like dumplings and had their mouths stuffed.
After Xie San left the capital, the command of the twenty-four guards was divided between Prince Jin and Princess Chun'an. These people were familiar faces in the Fengchen Guards, so they made way for His Royal Highness Prince Jin, who was leaning on a jade crutch, and walked slowly in from the door.
Cong Ying was both surprised and happy. When she went to Prince Jin's Mansion this morning, she said he had not woken up yet. How come he was suddenly able to go out?
King Jin was a little surprised to see her there, and frowned slightly.
Cong Ying realized instantly that no, he had woken up a long time ago and had been hiding from her.
Prince Jin turned to look at Wei Ji, his expression cold and contemptuous. "The Xie family hasn't fallen on hard times yet, how dare a sparrow peck at the phoenix's feathers? Don't even mention that you're just a mere censor now. Even if you can replace Han Zhongcheng in the future, you'll only be fit to sit at the bottom of the table at the Xie family's banquet and lick the leftovers."
Xie Xuanlan was indeed the only one who could say such words.
Moreover, the King of Jin remained calm, which made him appear even more arrogant and contemptuous, and made Wei Ji almost spit out blood.
Chen Zhang saw Prince Jin's eyes sweep over the horsewhip on the ground and quickly picked it up and handed it to him. Prince Jin took it and tossed it to Xie Miaozhu: "Now it's your turn."
Xie Miaozhu took the whip and for a moment thought of her third brother who helped her in front of Prince Huai, and her nose suddenly felt sore.
She walked up to Wei Ji with the whip in her hand, stepped on his head with her foot, and swung the whip at him, whipping him again and again with great pleasure. As she whipped him, she cursed him for being a lowly person pretending to be a phoenix with straw stuck to his tail. When she was tired of whipping him, she went to get a basin of cold water for washing clothes and splashed it all over his face.
From Ying's side, it was difficult to decide whether to persuade him or not.
Thinking that he was Wei Yin'er's brother, he should at least avoid causing any loss of life. He then approached the Prince of Jin and whispered, "These two are vindictive. If this continues, how can we resolve the grievances? Wei Ji is favored by the princess, and I'm afraid he won't let Sixth Lady go in the future."
The King of Jin said, "I can't just stand by and watch my sister get bullied. Besides, don't you have her to protect her in the future?"
Cong Ying was surprised: "How can I..."
"When you become the Princess of Jin, then of course you can."
"Speaking of this matter, I was just about to discuss it with His Highness. Hey, Your Highness, Your Highness..."
The King of Jin ignored her and walked out, instructing Chen Zhang to take care of the situation and send Xie Miaozhu back later. Cong Ying had followed him all the way, and when she saw him board the carriage, she ducked in as well, meeting his clear, phoenix eyes. Though seemingly calm, she concealed a hint of displeasure.
He said, "I know that I am far worse than Xie San in my current state. I am sick and lame, and I am not worthy of you. Since you don't want to be the Princess of Jin, why are you still following me? Don't you think I'm an eyesore?"
Cong Ying said, "That's not what I meant."
She wanted to shake Prince Jin's hand, but he dodged her. Seeing him turn his face away as if he was angry, she suddenly covered her lips and coughed uncomfortably.
Listening to his cough, it seemed to be more violent than before. Although he tried hard to suppress the rush of blood, he still couldn't suppress the trembling that seemed to penetrate his heart and lungs.
Cong Ying's heart was also in a knot. She hurriedly found medicine and poured water for him, fed him the medicine, and patted his back to help him calm down.
Prince Jin leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and breathed softly, his lips were pale, his long black eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and there was a kind of cold self-loathing between his brows.
After a while, he slowly spoke, "Actually, I understand your reluctance, Ah Ying. I look like a half-human, half-ghost, and even I hate myself. How can I compare to the way I used to be? Who will be my Princess Jin? She will have to serve a sickly person like me, and have a strong mother-in-law above her. That would be really unfortunate..."
He placed his fingers between Cong Ying's lips, not wanting to hear her explanation.
"But Princess Jin, you have to do it whether you want to or not. I'm not asking if you're willing or not."
He took out a paper envelope and a roll of bright yellow satin and placed them in front of her. Cong Ying looked at the two things and had a bad feeling in her heart: "What is this?"
"The divorce letter written by Madam Xie, and the imperial edict appointing Jiang Congying as the Princess of Jin."
Cong Ying looked through the two documents over and over again, knowing that the matter was a done deal and that the imperial edict would soon be announced to the world and spread to Xizhou. He was stunned for a moment, his heart in a state of confusion.
How should she explain this to Saburo?
Seeing her dazed and worried look, Prince Jin suddenly remembered that when she married him in her previous life, she seemed to be reluctant too.
Feeling pathetic, ridiculous and pitiful, he couldn't help but sneer.
He said to Congying, "Xie Miaozhu was willing to serve as a maidservant for her sworn enemy for a month for her third brother, and you, Ying, keep saying you're doing it for him and you're afraid he'll be sad, but you're not willing to be the Princess of Jin for a year or two?"
Cong Ying grasped the key point in his words: "Why do you say a year or so?"
Prince Jin took her hand and placed it against his pulse. Although Cong Ying wasn't a doctor, she could sense his pulse was extremely weak, fluctuating, very different from that of a healthy person. She gripped Prince Jin's wrist tightly.
I heard him say, "I am not a soul from this world, and I have been transported to the wrong body. My soul is weak and my body is frail, so I cannot stay here for long. I heard Doctor Zhang remind the Princess to make preparations early. The last time we met the Crown Princess of the Crimson Clouds, she also reminded me that my time is running out. Ah Ying, I won't live long."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw her tears falling down, holding his wrist, not knowing what to do.
He sighed and touched her face. "So, some things can't be handled slowly. Only if you become the Princess of Jin obediently can you protect Madam Xie, Xie Miaozhu, and in the future, your Sanlang... and yourself. Don't worry, you are the Princess of Jin, not my wife. I won't force you on other matters..."
From the firefly, she could hear him chattering in her ear, but in her mind there were only four words: "time is running out". She felt as if a piece of her heart was hollowed out and it was bleeding with pain.
Her tears dripped onto the back of his hand and rolled into his sleeve. They were clearly cold, yet a little hot.
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