Chapter 82 A Forced Kiss: Lips So Soft.
Xie Yunying was completely stunned. This was the first time she had ever seen blood since she came into this world.
She screamed in her mind, "System!! What the hell is going on?! What the hell is going on?!"
System: "Host, calm down! Check his breathing to see if he's still breathing!"
Xie Yunying, her hand trembling, reached out to Yuan Nanjie's nose.
She paused, stunned: "He's still breathing..."
However, it is already very weak.
She panicked: "System, what should I do? Is he... is he about to die? But why would he...?"
Why did Yuan Nanjie die? Why now? Why in this kind of place?
Xie Yunying's thoughts were in complete disarray. Suddenly, she saw the narrow-necked medicine bottle right in front of her, held halfway in Yuan Nanjie's hand, the cork pulled out and nowhere to be seen.
The system's tone was grave: "Host, I just checked his physical condition. Yuan Nanjie's condition is very bad. He seems to have been poisoned. The poison has entered his lungs and internal organs, and he is about to die."
"System!" Xie Yunying suddenly held up the medicine bottle. "Look at this! This was found in his hand! There's something inside!"
The residue at the bottom of the bottle was as white as fresh snow, as fine as powder, and had a faint mother-of-pearl-like luster.
The system was stunned after the scan: "It's arsenic... and a very high concentration of arsenic."
“If it were arsenic, that would make sense. Arsenic is extremely poisonous; three grains the size of millet seeds of pure arsenic can be fatal. But this bottle is in his possession, and there's no one nearby…” the system said incredulously. “Could it be that Yuan Nanjie committed suicide by poisoning himself? But why would he commit suicide? This doesn't make any sense!”
The system's central processing unit was processing at high speed and was about to crash when Xie Yunying, who had been squatting on the ground, suddenly stood up: "No, he can't die! If he dies, my mission will be ruined!"
System: "Yes, if the target dies, the main system will immediately determine the mission as a failure, and we're absolutely doomed...!"
"Never mind whether it was suicide or murder, save him first! It's too late to find someone now, we can only rely on ourselves!" Xie Yunying said urgently. "System, does the store have any universal antidote that can bring the dead back to life?"
The system hurriedly replied, "Yes, host! But this drug is extremely expensive..."
"I'll buy it no matter how expensive it is! If you don't have enough money, you can pay me back!"
"clear!"
The system acted swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, a pill appeared in front of Xie Yunying. She quickly reached out, grasped it, and squatted down to put the pill into Yuan Nanjie's mouth.
Xie Yunying's heart was in her throat. Fortunately, the antidote took effect quickly. The person who had been lying in the wheelchair with a face that was already pale and purplish-white miraculously regained a rosy complexion, as if a layer of bluish-gray shell had been peeled off. The heavy aura of death gradually faded from his body, and his previously barely perceptible breathing became steady.
Xie Yunying, who had been observing him, took a breath, closed her eyes briefly, and finally relaxed her tense and collapsing spirit.
"...System, what exactly is going on?" She was truly numb this time. "Why would Yuan Nanjie commit suicide? If I hadn't come here today, wouldn't I not even know how the mission failed? Can the Transmigration Bureau give me an explanation?"
She's really on her last legs. Anyone who didn't know better would think this was a dating sim, but it's actually a mystery/puzzle game with horror elements.
System: "Host, don't worry. Let me report what just happened. The main system will definitely give you an explanation after it has investigated!"
Xie Yunying: "I've heard you say that eight hundred times already..."
Xie Yunying hadn't fully recovered when Yuan Nanjie, in his wheelchair, trembled and slowly woke up.
The first moment Yuan Nanjie regained consciousness, he felt lost.
Where is he?
Wasn't he dead? He remembered clearly ingesting an entire bottle of arsenic. He should have died before the maids in the manor discovered him.
Yuan Nanjie struggled to open his eyes, and the world before him was a hazy white. He first smelled the fragrance of magnolia blossoms, an exceptionally clear and cool scent that, carried by the long wind, passed through his broken body, filled his empty sleeves, and almost lifted him up.
The scene before him slowly came into focus: the red walls of the Yuan residence. Yuan Nanjie gazed at the line where the sky met the high walls, parted his lips, and let out a very soft sigh.
He was about to try to sit up when he noticed something was wrong. He glanced to his side and his gaze froze.
A girl in red was squatting next to his wheelchair.
She braced herself on her knees with her hands, her hips raised in a somewhat awkward posture, as if she wanted to stand up but hadn't had a chance. Her lips were red, her eyes almond-shaped, and she stared straight at him, their eyes locked.
Xie Yunying: "Holy crap, this guy woke up way too fast! I was just about to hide!"
System: "...Why is the host hiding?"
“........” Xie Yunying suddenly realized, “Oh right, I don’t need to hide.”
Yuan Nanjie slowly sat up straight, his gaze falling on her face. "You are..."
"I am Xie Yunying." Xie Yunying was taken aback. "Don't you recognize me?"
Xie Yunying: "What?! Didn't that old Taoist priest already come to his door to tell his fortune? Why does he still act like he doesn't recognize me? Did that old man deceive me?"
System: "Master, he might not even know what Xie Yunying looks like..."
Yuan Nanjie paused, "Is it the second young lady of the Xie family?"
"right."
Xie Yunying clenched her fist and pretended to cough.
Before she could say anything, Yuan Nanjie spoke first: "What are you doing here, Miss Xie? I remember the banquet for the female guests in the manor was in the South Garden. Did you get lost?"
Xie Yunying was speechless when he asked her: "Uh... I'm not, I'm not lost. I just came here to stroll around."
"Then Miss Xie should leave here as soon as possible."
Xie Yunying was stunned, because Yuan Nanjie's voice was unexpectedly gentle.
He looked down at her, his tone gentle and soft, yet subtly revealing a sense of distance. “After all, the guests at Beiyuan are all men. If you accidentally wander into a men’s banquet, rumors will inevitably spread, which may damage your reputation.”
Having said that, those with a sense of propriety would understand his tactful advice and the implied farewell in his words.
Although he didn't know why the original plan had failed, Yuan Nanjie didn't intend to think about it too much, since he still had a bottle of arsenic in his room.
If it doesn't work the first time, try again; you'll eventually succeed.
Living is hard, but dying is often easy.
Yuan Nanjie placed his hand on the wheelchair, about to turn the wheels and leave, when he heard Xie Yunying mutter: "...It doesn't matter, my reputation is already bad."
Yuan Nanjie was stunned. His hands paused, and his gaze inadvertently met hers as she squatted on the ground.
A sudden gust of wind blew, and the soft magnolia blossoms swayed against each other, casting endless gray floral patterns on the ground.
"...Young Master Yuan, what about you?" Xie Yunying asked, her eyes, as smooth as lustrous black jade, fixed on him. "Why are you hiding here alone? Did you come to see the flowers?"
Yuan Nanjie then took a serious look at Miss Xie.
She was beautiful, that much was undeniable. Her elder brother, Xie Qingyu, was a renowned handsome man in the capital, with striking features and a refined appearance. As his sister, she was naturally no less beautiful. Both were beauties, but Xie Yunying was somewhat different from the other noble ladies he had met before.
The He Shi Bi was originally made of Jing Mountain stone. The young ladies were like polished jade, while she was an uncarved piece of Jing Mountain stone. Her beauty was too rough, full of distinct edges and corners, vibrant and untamed, leaving a deep impression and unforgettable.
“No. I’m just like you, I was just feeling down about the banquet and came out for a walk.” Yuan Nanjie’s voice softened a bit. “I misspoke just now. Miss Xie, you don’t need to take my words to heart. It’s not your fault that people are talking about you.”
Xie Yunying: "Hiss, system."
System: "How is it, host?"
Xie Yunying: "I think this Yuan Nanjie..."
System: "Hmm?"
Xie Yunying: "It's not even a question of whether they look alike or not. I feel like he and the person in the book are completely different people."
Xie Yunying: "Even if he's reserved with outsiders, he doesn't have a single trace of gloomy and ruthless aura about him, does he?"
Xie Yunying: "System, do you have any clues?"
System: "None".
Xie Yunying: "......."
Xie Yunying almost couldn't maintain her smile after being brushed off by the system.
After Yuan Nanjie finished speaking, he was about to leave when Xie Yunying quickly turned around and blocked his way.
Seeing Yuan Nanjie pause and look up at her, Xie Yunying guiltily looked away and began to ramble on about topics: "Young Master Yuan, you must have heard of my 'deeds' before, right?"
Yuan Nanjie nodded and said, "I've heard a little about it."
"...Then, what does Young Master Yuan think?"
"Don't believe rumors easily." Yuan Nanjie's voice was like shattered jade, gentle and pleasant to listen to. "Judging a person's good or bad, right or wrong, based on just a few words and a few things is always one-sided."
Xie Yunying: "Oh... System, he's actually quite sensible."
System: "...Host, isn't that just polite talk?"
Xie Yunying paused for a moment: "...Is that so?"
"Yeah, he can't possibly say to you, 'That's right, that's right, the rumors are absolutely true!' Come on, he's not stupid!"
Xie Yunying: "......." She was unable to refute it.
Xie Yunying scratched her head and said in a low voice, "Actually, I didn't take those comments to heart. What they said wasn't wrong. I'm just impolite and domineering."
As soon as she finished speaking, the white-robed young man sitting in the wheelchair in front of her smiled slightly: "The fact that Miss Xie said that already shows that you are not an overbearing and domineering person. After all, a truly overbearing and domineering person will not admit that he is overbearing and domineering."
Xie Yunying was a little stunned. This was the first time she had ever seen him smile.
The thin and frail man smiled, his eyes filled with warmth and brightness, like the clear sky after a snowfall.
Looking into his slightly curved eyes, Xie Yunying couldn't help but say, "I think Young Master Yuan is different from what the rumors say."
Yuan Nanjie was slightly taken aback, and the smile on his face slowly faded and disappeared like rainwater falling into a lake.
As if remembering something, he lowered his head and hummed in agreement.
The surrounding air plummeted to freezing point again.
Xie Yunying saw Yuan Nanjie raise his hand and wipe the blood from his lips.
The thought of leaving this place resurfaced in my mind.
This time, however, Yuan Nanjie hesitated. He could tell that Xie Yunying didn't seem to want him to leave.
As he lowered his eyes to consider, Xie Yunying was also struggling with a frantic dilemma.
Although Yuan Nanjie's personality has completely changed, it's actually a good thing that he's become like this. After all, someone who is gentle and polite is easier to deal with than someone who is unpredictable.
However, this kind of idle chatter will not solve the problem or advance the task.
Xie Yunying was still a little dazed, but Yuan Nanjie's action of wiping the blood from his lips without any surprise brought her back to her senses.
Yuan Nanjie was not surprised at all that he had bled, nor was he surprised to find himself in this remote corner. He remained calm and composed throughout, which meant that he understood the reasons behind it all.
He really wanted to commit suicide just now.
Regardless of why he changed his temperament and wanted to commit suicide, if this matter cannot be resolved today, he will most likely repeat the same trick when he goes back!
Xie Yunying gritted her teeth and finally made up her mind.
She stood up, her red dress fluttering in the wind, and looked down at Yuan Nanjie, who was sitting in a wheelchair with a bewildered expression: "Young Master Yuan, the reason I am here is because my servants and I found out that you were in this area, so I came here from Nanyuan."
"I wanted to talk to you, but I found that you didn't respond no matter how I called you. Later I realized that you had been poisoned and had fallen into a coma. I saved you."
Yuan Nanjie paused, a look of surprise on his face: "Yes..."
"May I ask why Young Master Yuan wants to commit suicide?"
Yuan Nanjie was completely stunned.
The secret he wanted to hide was exposed, and a huge sense of confusion and panic washed over him, causing him to involuntarily grip the wooden wheel in his hand until his knuckles turned white.
Xie Yunying pressed on, "Young Master Yuan, don't try to fool me. While you were unconscious, I checked the remaining powder in the bottle; it was arsenic."
"Young Master Yuan was alone in this remote corner, carrying poison with him. It's not surprising or strange at all that I revived him. It would be far-fetched to say that someone was trying to harm you."
Seeing him remain silent with his lips pursed, Xie Yunying's voice softened, "...Young Master Yuan's parents are still alive. If you were to die young, how heartbroken would Lord Yuan and Madam Ye be? Have you thought about that?"
"..." Yuan Nanjie didn't know what to say. His throat moved slightly, his eyelashes trembled, and he actually apologized, "I'm sorry."
“Miss Xie is right. I was just being impulsive.” Yuan Nanjie spoke very slowly, as if he was carefully choosing his words. “As you can see, I am physically disabled and may spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I don’t want to be a burden on my family and I also find life meaningless, which is why I thought of ending my own life.”
Xie Yunying was furious: "Bullshit! He's lying again! Yuan Nanjie has been in a wheelchair for a long time. If he wanted to die, he would have done it long ago. Why is he only now rushing to drink poison?"
System: "Host, calm down..."
Xie Yunying didn't believe his explanation anyway, but she pursed her lips and felt that exposing him would not help.
She sighed, squatted down again, and looked up at Yuan Nanjie, asking, "Will you try to take your own life again?"
Yuan Nanjie wanted to lie. He wanted to say no, he knew Xie Yunying just wanted a promise from him. Maybe if he made that promise, he could get rid of her.
But when those clear, bright eyes were watching him, he found that he couldn't tell a lie no matter what.
"..." Yuan Nanjie, who had been looking down at her, looked away and stopped meeting her gaze. "Miss Xie is kind-hearted, but this matter should have nothing to do with you, right?"
“Of course it’s related to me,” Xie Yunying said, emphasizing each word and looking at him with utmost seriousness, “because I like you.”
Yuan Nanjie was completely stunned.
My heart skipped a beat, like a boulder crashing into a calm lake, stirring up a monstrous wave.
……What?
She said, "I like it?"
“…Miss Xie,” Yuan Nanjie said with difficulty, “I know you’re worried I might try to take my own life again, but please don’t joke about something like this…”
"Who said I was joking?"
Seeing his stubbornness, Xie Yunying couldn't help but grind her teeth.
She stood up in one breath, cupped Yuan Nanjie's face, and kissed him.
The girl's lips were very soft, and when they landed on her cheek, they resembled a cherry blossom.
In stark contrast to the gentle kiss was her action: she held the wheelchair with one hand and pinched his chin with the other, completely pinning Yuan Nanjie down in the wheelchair, making him unable to move, like a bully molesting a young woman.
Xie Yunying only realized what she had done when she kissed the person on the face.
Xie Yunying: "Holy crap, I got A!!!"
System: "......." Forced to witness the host sexually harassing the target.
However, what's done is done. She could only suppress the urge to scream and want to disappear into the ground, pretending to be nonchalant as she let go of his hand and stood still.
Yuan Nanjie, who had been forcibly kissed, covered the half of his face that had been kissed with one hand and stared blankly at her.
His neck was completely red.
Beneath her snow-white clothes, her originally bloodless skin glowed with a beautiful rosy hue, like a pure immortal who had fallen into the mortal world.
"Now, now you believe me!" Xie Yunying said, blushing. "I really like you, I didn't lie to you!"
Yuan Nanjie opened his mouth: "Miss Xie, you..."
"In short! I saved your life, so you're not allowed to commit suicide again, do you hear me!"
Xie Yunying hurriedly took a step back, feeling guilty and blushing. She pretended to be fierce and muttered, "If you secretly die, I won't live either! I'll haunt you even as a ghost. I'll follow you all the way to the Bridge of Helplessness, and I'll haunt you for all eternity!"
"Then, I'll go now. I'll come back to see you again later!"
Xie Yunying fled in panic and disappeared in no time, leaving Yuan Nanjie sitting alone under the magnolia tree. After an unknown amount of time, his hand remained pressed against his cheek, and he remained motionless.
Xie Yunying ran very fast, passing through several doors before slowly stopping. She had been running so fast that she was now out of breath.
System: "Master, we've run far enough, you can stop now."
Xie Yunying was panting heavily: "Ha, ha... I'm exhausted..."
The system hesitated, then asked, "Host, is what you just said true?"
Xie Yunying: "What?"
System: "It's those words you said to Yuan Nanjie, like you'd still be haunting him even after you're dead..."
Xie Yunying: "Of course not! When you die, you're dead. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. There's no such thing as a Bridge of Helplessness or reincarnation. I'm a materialist."
system:"......."
“I was just bluffing him. You know what moral blackmail is, right? I said if he died, I would die too, and he wouldn’t dare to commit suicide again. Of course, this trick only works on people with a conscience.”
System: "Then... what if Yuan Nanjie has no conscience?"
Xie Yunying chuckled: "Then let's all die together."
System: "......." The host's expression just now was terrifying.
Xie Yunying: "Well, I had no choice. He wanted to die, but I didn't want him to die, so this was the only trick I could come up with. If it works, it works; if it doesn't, then forget it."
She was truly at her wit's end; who still remembered that she was just a naive and naive college student?
After parting ways with Yuan Nanjie, Xie Yunying had no heart to attend the banquet and made an excuse to return home early. That night, she was filled with anxiety before going to sleep, fearing that she would wake up to find out that Yuan Nanjie had committed suicide again, and the mission had completely failed.
Fortunately, when she opened her eyes at dawn the next day, she was still greeted by the bed canopy covered with gold-embroidered gauze curtains.
Xie Yunying let out a long sigh and slowly sat up.
System: "Good morning, host."
The system's greeting went unanswered. Xie Yunying ignored it, instead resting her chin on her hand and staring blankly at a point in the void, muttering something to herself.
The system then heard her words: "...You actually got morally blackmailed by me."
system:"......."
System: "Master, first of all, congratulations! Yesterday you finally met Yuan Nanjie for the first time, stopped his suicide attempt, and even kissed him forcefully. What are your plans next?"
Xie Yunying suddenly went berserk: "Ah! Don't mention that again!!"
system:"........?"
Xie Yunying collapsed onto the bed in despair: "...I was really out of my mind back then, I didn't mean it."
System: "So what did you originally want?"
Xie Yunying: "What kind of tone is that? Don't you believe me at all? This really was an accident!"
System: "Okay, dear."
Xie Yunying: "......."
Xie Yunying turned over dejectedly and buried herself in the blankets. After a moment, she poked her head out again, looking deep in thought: "...But system, Yuan Nanjie, he really is completely different from the character in the original book, isn't he?"
"If he were still the same ruthless and vicious man, I would have been strangled to death the moment I forced a kiss on him."
System: "Yes. Although we don't know what happened to him, it seems that Yuan Nanjie's personality has indeed changed."
Xie Yunying recalled what had happened yesterday, and then thought of Yuan Nanjie, whom she had kissed on the cheek. Her expression was one of astonishment, embarrassment, and confusion.
There was no resistance or anger.
"And system, Yuan Nanjie seems to be the type who will agree to date me if I keep pestering him, right?" Xie Yunying pondered, "He seems to be the type who will agree to date me if I keep pestering him?"
System: "That's great, host."
Xie Yunying: "Since things have already turned out this way, I'll think of a way to start a relationship with him. I'll propose to him when the time is right!"
She suddenly felt confident that she might be able to complete the task within a year and receive a big gift package when she returned home!
Three days later, news came back that Xie Zhi had died.
For five consecutive days, she was forced to stay in the Prime Minister's residence, not venturing out of the main gate. First, she was dizzy and confused, helping Xie Yueshuang and Xie Lianquan deal with the clan elders. After Xie Qingyu returned, he dragged her away to assist in handling the funeral arrangements for Xie Zhi and Madam Wang.
The recollection ends.
The spring sunshine was beautiful, and white curtains hung between the pillars of the corridor.
Xie Yunying lay on the bed, feeling immense pressure, bad luck, and everything going wrong.
Just as she was sighing, Bitao knocked on the door. "Second Miss, Lady Yue Yining is here. She says she wants to meet with you and have a talk."
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