Chapter 52: He had no choice but to let her go.
Li Jieyi's caring voice reached Shen Changfeng's ears, each word piercing his heart. When had she ever cared so much about him? No, she had never even given him a friendly look.
The trace of warmth that had not yet taken shape was torn apart by the fierce wind, and a huge bitterness suddenly rose in his heart, which quickly turned into overwhelming hatred.
Li Jieyi felt a strong murderous intent coming from behind her. Her eyelids narrowed slightly and she became alert in an instant, but before she could react, the fierce murderous intent suddenly disappeared.
There was a slight tremor in the air, and a door in the courtyard opened, and a woman with picturesque features walked out.
Shen Changfeng's heart skipped a beat. He was a little bit disbelieving and turned around in ecstasy.
In an instant, the flying snow, the rugged and strange tree branches, the houses, pavilions, and corridors all flew away from his sight, and all his attention was focused on that person.
Shen Changfeng drew strong spiritual energy from somewhere and stood up shakily. He staggered, panting like an ox, his steps heavy and slow, but his eyes were extremely firm, and he walked towards the beautiful figure step by step.
Lin Meiju was wearing a jade-colored velvet-edged cloak, with a simple bun on her head, using only an ebony hairpin. She wore no makeup, and her eyes were as bright as lacquer. As she moved, the cloud and water patterns on the satin skirt appeared and disappeared, and a light white mist was swept across the snow. From a distance, she looked like a fairy from the Jade Terrace floating on the clouds.
When she reached the threshold, she was gripped by an intense gaze that could not be ignored. She held onto the edge of the door and looked over.
There was silence as their eyes met.
Shen Changfeng saw that her nose was slightly red and her eyelashes were still wet. When he thought that she was so sad because of him, Shen Changfeng couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat and a sore eye. When he saw her, he couldn't say the words he had prepared in his mind at all.
He remembered the night she was granted marriage. She was also wearing a plain cloak, her black hair tied high, two coral hairpins and pearl hairpins slanting diagonally, and a pair of exquisite pearl earrings in her ears. He stretched out his foot and tripped Qin Moyun, and then, just as he expected, Lin Meizhu caught Qin Moyun, and he naturally stood beside her.
He looked at her again and again, thinking, how could there be someone so beautiful?
He could remember every detail of that night: the faint sweet fragrance on her body, the adorable dimples on her lips as she looked up at the night sky, the round pearls gently swinging on the swing, and the secret throbbing in his heart when her misty, soft gaze passed over him...
But after that night, she never wore pearl jewelry again. No, there was one exception: the chastity crown she wore on her wedding night.
When Shen Changfeng thought about what he had done that day, he felt extremely regretful and wanted to slap himself in the face.
Lin Meizhu stepped out of the door, and the cold wind blew the hem of her cloak open, revealing her slender waistline. Shen Changfeng felt a pang in his heart, and the dark circles under her eyes were particularly glaring. He subconsciously wanted to step forward and reach out to take it: "Madam..."
Lin Meiju's feet paused for a moment when she landed on the ground, and then she stood still. She lowered her face, and her thick and long eyelashes hid all her thoughts.
These ten or so steps were extremely long for Shen Changfeng. Black blood was oozing out from between his fingers as he covered his sternum. When he reached the eaves, his eyes went black, his ears were buzzing, and he fell forward with a dizzy head.
A pair of hands held him up in mid-air, lifting up his heart that had fallen to the bottom.
It's her, isn't it? It's her!
He grasped the hand with anticipation, and the smile that hadn't yet widened suddenly froze on his face. The knuckles were long and strong, and there was a thin, crescent-shaped callus on the middle finger of his left hand. These were the hands of a man! Moreover, they were the hands of a scholar who had been holding a pen for years.
Shen Changfeng's face suddenly became grim. Through the faint blood mist, he finally saw the scene in front of him clearly.
It wasn't so much that someone held him up, but rather that he used the momentum of his fall to grab the nearest support.
Chu Qi protected Lin Meizhu behind him. Her face was as gentle as usual, but her eyes were sharp. It was clear that she would not let Shen Changfeng get close to her again.
Lin Meizhu pulled at the corner of Chuqi's sleeve, her expression not without worry and anxiety. Shen Changfeng was furious, and he bit his back teeth fiercely, clamping Chuqi's hand that was about to retreat, and his other hand attacked his throat like an eagle claw!
Everyone was frightened by this sudden change and screamed. When the situation was out of control, a white shadow suddenly came between the two of them, and with lightning speed, it tightly grasped Shen Changfeng's wrist. Shen Changfeng groaned in pain, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, but he refused to let go of Chu Qi's hand at all costs.
As the three of them confronted each other, a soft female voice broke the deadlock.
"let it go."
Her tone seemed to be filled with a sigh, as if she was expressing compassion. Shen Changfeng knew that this was not pity or forgiveness for him, but rather guilt for all the innocent people who had been implicated because of him.
Let go, don't drag more people into this. Let go, this farce should end. Let go, we really can't go back.
The first thing she said was to tell him to let go, just like the so-called tempering a soft knife.
He finally saw her face clearly.
She looked very tired and haggard like a flower about to lose its leaves. Her eyes no longer shone like black agate as she remembered, but were dull and lifeless, as if covered by a thick layer of haze.
He couldn't remember the last time she laughed.
Shen Changfeng was shocked physically and mentally: He was such a terrible pearl farmer.
This glittering pearl gradually withered in his hands. Sooner or later, this pearl would lose all its brilliance, be corroded and decayed, and then return to dust.
It was at this moment that Shen Changfeng realized that he had no choice but to let her go.
Li Jieyi, who was standing on the side, noticed that the strength in Shen Changfeng's hand suddenly decreased, so she bent her elbow and pushed him back.
Shen Changfeng took three steps back, and with a "bang", his back hit the square eaves pillar. He spat out a mouthful of black blood, his right leg went weak and he knelt on the ground. He couldn't keep his balance with his left hand on the brick, and fell sideways down the stairs, with blood splattering all over the ground.
Li Jieyi frowned slowly and looked at her palm suspiciously.
As the world spun, the voices in Shen Changfeng's ears came and went. Shen Chali was crying again. This kid was timid and would cry at the slightest provocation. Aunt Liu was also kneeling under the eaves, and he couldn't hear what she was saying... The guard ran to look at him, then shrank back as if he had seen a ghost.
He glanced in the direction the guard had gone. Lin Meizhu and Chuqi had already stepped through the threshold side by side. She looked at Chuqi's hand, her lips moving softly as she spoke. Chuqi shook her head slightly. Li Jieyi took Chuqi's sleeve, which was stained with blood, and glanced at it, then waved to call the servants over.
Paper lanterns swayed gently on the eaves. The three of them stood under the warm yellow light, talking softly and slowly, with a tacit understanding and familiarity, and caring about each other, just like a family.
We are a family. We are a family.
Shen Changfeng averted his gaze, gazing at the dancing snow. His breath trembled, and he closed his heavy eyelids as if exhausted. The blood stain melted the snow on his eyelashes, and from a distance, it looked like a round tear of blood.
He will never forget that on his nineteenth birthday, the two women who were most important to him both abandoned him.
Over there, the guard was still trying to persuade him.
"The prince has lost too much blood. If we delay any further, I'm afraid... Princess, you see..." Seeing Li Jieyi's gloomy face, the guard's voice of persuasion became smaller and smaller, and the words he wanted to say turned into a deep sigh in his heart.
Amidst the bleak north wind, a voice as calm as water suddenly came. He narrated slowly, as if he was telling a story without any twists and turns, but slowly attracted everyone's attention.
"I am cunning and treacherous, using any means necessary to achieve my goals, which brings shame upon God. I am impulsive and easily angered, petty and easily tempted, and I disregard the consequences to achieve my goals, which makes me unworthy of being a son. I am irresponsible, a poor husband or son-in-law, and I cannot show affection... I am not worthy of being with her."
"I am unfaithful, unjust, unkind, and unfilial. I deserve death by a thousand cuts."
"What about you?"
Li Jieyi's back suddenly stiffened as she was leaving. Snow and wind began to fly wildly around her, and the cold was oppressive.
Shen Changfeng looked towards Tingyun Pavilion as if talking to himself, and asked again: "What about you, Li Jieyi?"
When those in lower positions love too deeply, those in higher positions will look down on them. This is the case with Lin Meizhu and Shen Changfeng, and Su Qinxue and Qin Yan. What about Li Jieyi and Shen Zhongda?
This should have been a question, but he said it in a normal tone, calm yet deafening.
Yet, even within this simple sentence, Li Jieyi could discern a tinge of sorrow. It was a son's blunt accusation of his mother, a flash of vulnerability buried beneath his stubbornness. She felt an uncontrollable surge of bitterness rising from the depths of her heart, rushing straight to her throat, choking her and rendering her speechless.
Li Jieyi leaned slightly to one side, her chest heaving with emotional fluctuations. Her face was tense as she looked at the disheveled man on the ground.
Chen Changfeng, his back hunched, eyes red and swollen, covered in blood, his mountain-like body swaying in the wind, suddenly smiled softly at her, a smile filled with bitterness and sadness.
Li Jieyi's eyes felt like they were stung by something, and she quickly looked away, but her legs were frozen in place. Her heart was pounding like a raging sea—he was right! Perhaps she would apologize to Lin Meizhu again for not teaching Shen Changfeng well. No, she hadn't taught him at all. She hadn't taught him the principles of life, let alone how to love.
She was to blame for everything that happened today. Song Jiusi wanted her to survive, so she chose to live on. If he knew that she would be so miserable, that she would mess up everything, and that the grudges between them would be passed down to the next generation, would he still want her to keep this life?
Shen Changfeng's face was covered in blood and mud, a dark red mess. He smiled horribly, looking even a little delirious. He said, "Princess, why don't you dare look at me?"
He gradually stopped smiling and asked, "Are you afraid to look at me, or are you afraid to look at yourself?"
Li Jieyi twisted her neck stiffly and heard Shen Changfeng's teasing voice: "Are you afraid to accept me, or are you afraid to admit that you are wrong?"
"You married my father because you suspected that he had killed Song Jiusi..."
Liu Ruhua was the first to change color. She rushed to Shen Changfeng and shouted in a low voice: "Don't say it! Stop it now!"
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