When it comes to acting deeply in love, no one can compare to you.
The long road gradually disappeared into the deep mountains, and Wen Zhibai returned to the Jiang residence. Before she even entered the gate, a small figure jumped up from the steps and rushed into her arms.
"Auntie!"
It was Jiang Mingzhi. Wen Zhibai bent down and picked him up. The little guy was quite heavy. She smiled and said, "Mingzhi, why are you here all alone?"
"Father and Mother are talking about something important with Grandmother!" Jiang Mingzhi put his arm around her neck and whispered mysteriously in her ear, "Auntie, Aunt Youyou is preparing your dowry with a lot of people! The whole room is full!"
Wen Zhibai's heart skipped a beat, and he rubbed his nephew's soft cheek: "How do you know everything?"
"Because I'm the smartest!" Jiang Mingzhi proudly raised her little face, then pouted and complained in a low voice, "Actually... I don't want my aunt to marry Lingjun."
Why?
“Then Auntie won’t be able to play with Mingzhi every day.” He hugged him tighter, his voice filled with grievance, “I hate that he’s taking Auntie away from me.”
Wen Zhibai chuckled at the childish words and was about to comfort her when a small paper doll suddenly appeared on her shoulder. It was the one Pei Qinzhou had given her yesterday. The paper doll stood with its hands on its hips and said in Pei Qinzhou's cool tone, "I hate you too."
Wen Zhibai quickly pressed the paper figure back down: "Mingzhi, your aunt loves you and everyone in the family. But Lingjun has waited for your aunt for too long, and he's too lonely. Let's love him together from now on, okay? He'll love you just as much as I do."
Jiang Mingzhi blinked his big eyes, thought for a moment, and finally extended his little finger: "Pinky promise!"
"Pinky promise".
"Come on, Auntie, I'll take you to see it!" Jiang Mingzhi excitedly pulled her and ran towards the warehouse.
Before even entering, the storeroom doors were wide open, and uncles, aunts, and other relatives were gathered there, carefully wiping the utensils and counting the red silk.
Jiang Youyou stood in the center, holding an account book, her forehead beaded with sweat and her hair a little messy, but she didn't care at all.
"Auntie's here!" Jiang Mingzhi shouted.
Everyone looked up at the sound, their faces immediately breaking into smiles. Jiang Youyou put down her ledger and hurried over, taking Wen Zhibai's hand: "I was just thinking about you. Come and see, this set of pearl jewelry was specially found by Seventh Uncle in the storeroom, and this shimmering brocade was Third Aunt's dowry. I have to give it to you no matter what..."
"Youyou, these are too precious..."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Jiang Youyou interrupted playfully. "You are a daughter of the Jiang family. What the Wen family can't give you, we will."
"What's all this commotion about?" Jiang Yu's voice came from outside the door.
Everyone immediately fell silent, looking at the patriarch with some trepidation. Jiang Yu scanned the room full of red silk and treasures, her gaze finally settling on Wen Zhibai's slightly reddened eyes.
She sighed softly, her stern features softening slightly.
"Never mind." She turned to Wen Zhibai, her tone still calm. "Come with me."
Back in Jiang Yu's room, the cool scent of sandalwood filled the air. Wen Zhibai sat down opposite Jiang Yu, but before she could speak, the other woman had already seen through her intentions.
"You mean to talk about the Emperor's mobilization of the Soul-Binding Bureau, right?"
Wen Zhibai was stunned. Jiang Yu gently stroked the rim of the teacup, her gaze flickering like candlelight: "There's no need to ask me how I know. I'm more curious as to why you know so much about these secrets?"
“Aunt, these…” Wen Zhibai’s voice was very soft, “I will explain the ins and outs in detail later. Right now, the most important thing is how to protect the Jiang family. You know the methods of the Spirit Binding Division better than I do.”
Jiang Yu stared at her for a moment, then finally sighed.
“The emperor is already at his last gasp.” Her voice was low. “What he wants is the blood of the Jiang clan and the spiritual vein of the Spirit Lord—to exchange our lives for his.”
"The information gathered by Su Yue Fang was tipped off by the Gao family. But how did they know?"
"Our ancestors were old friends. Back then, they advocated offering up the Spirit Lord in exchange for glory and wealth. But our ancestors believed that betraying trust would ultimately bring disaster. If the secret of immortality fell into the hands of greedy people, what would become of this world? The human heart is the most vulnerable thing."
She paused, her tone growing increasingly heavy: "Now that the Gao family's descendants are dwindling, the only way to maintain the family's prestige is through this merit."
Wen Zhibai finally understood everything—the reason why his mother was hunted down to Tuoming Temple by the Imperial Law Enforcement in his previous life was because of this.
In this life, she will never let anyone take the life of someone she cares about again.
She stood up, took out the stack of paper figures from her sleeve, and solemnly placed them in Jiang Yu's hands: "These were prepared by Pei Qinzhou. Have everyone in the family carry a paper figure with their own blood on it, and do not go out in the coming days to ensure safety."
Jiang Yu took the paper figure, her fingertips trembling slightly.
Wen Zhibai took a step back, knelt down properly, and performed a deep bow: "Aunt, take care."
Just as she turned to leave, Jiang Yu suddenly rushed forward and hugged her tightly from behind:
"Zhibai... I'm sorry, I couldn't protect your mother."
She turned around and hugged Jiang Yu back:
“Aunt,” she said softly, “you have to protect the entire Jiang family; the burden on your shoulders is too heavy. Some destinies we cannot escape, but this time—”
She gripped Jiang Yu's hand tightly and said, word by word, "I will never back down."
Sunlight cast their shadows on the wall, as if many years ago, there had been a similar, poignant farewell. But this time, the ending will be different.
Crown Prince
Pei Qinzhou offered to resign from his position as a staff member of the Crown Prince's Palace and handed over the Crown Prince's Palace token to Xia Chengen.
“I have made my words clear. If Your Highness insists on this, from now on, you and I will each live and die separately, and have nothing to do with each other anymore.”
"Qinzhou, why are you forcing me like this?" Xia Chengen gripped the token tightly with his five fingers.
"How many more bones must be piled up for the throne before Your Highness realizes this?"
“…Pei Qinzhou, I have done my best! The Emperor is my father, and you have no parents, so naturally you will not understand my feelings!”
“Yes, I don’t understand.” Pei Qinzhou slowly stood up, his robe sleeves brushing against the table, and the white jade teacup silently turned into dust between his fingers, falling softly through his fingers: “But I can distinguish right from wrong.”
"stop!"
The sword was drawn, a cold blade already held against Pei Qinzhou's neck. Xia Chengen's hand gripping the sword trembled violently, and the blade drew a thin line of blood on Pei Qinzhou's neck.
"We've known each other since we were sixteen, and I consider you my closest friend, my right-hand man..."
Instead of retreating, Pei Qinzhou advanced, allowing the blade to penetrate deeper into his flesh, with beads of blood sliding down the sword.
"If you want to kill me, I won't stop you; similarly, if I want to kill someone, you can't stop me either."
"Are you crazy?!" Xia Chengen was horrified by his reckless actions. His long sword clattered to the ground as he stared at the glaring red mark on Pei Qinzhou's neck.
"You'll figure it out."
He turned and stepped into the blinding sunlight outside the hall, never looking back.
Xia Chengen slumped down, staring in the direction where he had disappeared, and murmured: "Brother Pei..."
——
As soon as he stepped outside the palace, Pei Qinzhou found that the things in front of him were gradually blurring. In the instant that he completely lost the light, his heart tightened, and he forcibly suppressed the demonic energy in his body, temporarily restoring his sight.
Right now, all he wants to see is one person—
At the Pei residence, Wen Zhibai, Tao Zhi, Xie An, and several maids were writing invitations in the front hall. However, Wen Zhibai had instructed them not to specify the date yet.
Xie An joked, "It seems that from now on, I really will have to call Miss Wen Madam. I can't even imagine how happy the master will be when that day comes after waiting for Miss for so many years."
Pei Qinzhou returned, and Wen Zhibai immediately went to greet him. His face was terribly pale. She reached out to help him, but as usual, he leaned his weight on her shoulder.
Wen Zhibai helped him sit down, cupped his cold cheeks in her hands, and forced him to look into her eyes.
Unexpectedly, Pei Qinzhou's first words were—
"Our engagement is null and void." He avoided his gaze, his eyes already slightly red.
Wen Zhibai froze, almost thinking she had misheard. She tried to smile at his wicked joke, but her voice trembled first: "What...did you say?"
“Zhibai, I’m sorry.” He paused, speaking each word extremely slowly, as if torturing his own heart. “I’ve waited for you for too long… so long that I can’t even tell whether my feelings for you are love or just an obsession born of resentment.”
Pei Qinzhou turned his head away, avoiding her incredulous gaze. His hand clenched into a fist in his sleeve, barely managing to maintain the calmness in his tone.
He felt her hands trembling as she cupped his face, yet she forced herself to continue: "Now I understand. When we first met, you saved me out of pity. Later, you kept me by your side, but it was nothing more than mutual benefit. I used you to find a place to stay... nothing more."
Wen Zhibai's tears welled up instantly: "...Pei Qinzhou, tell me if you're feeling unwell, okay? Whatever the problem, I'll be there to help you solve it." Her tears slid down her chin: "Please, don't lie to me. How could you not love me? How could you not love me..."
But he raised his hand and roughly wiped away the tears hanging from her chin with his fingertips, the action completely opposite to the "gentleness" in his words. "It's nothing. It's just that I don't want to lie to you anymore, and... I don't want to lie to myself anymore."
She didn't believe it.
I don't believe a single word of it.
"Pei Qinzhou!" She grabbed his collar tightly. "If you really don't love me and want me to leave, don't worry, I, Wen Zhibai, am not shameless. I will leave on my own... But before I leave, I must see you return to your former self. Otherwise, I will never let you go, not even if it kills me!"
"You—" Looking into her eyes, he still couldn't bring himself to say anything harsher: "Whatever, I won't care about you anymore."
Wen Zhibai slowly released her grip and retreated step by step towards the table piled high with invitations. She lowered her head, looking at the familiar names on the red papers.
She didn't yell or question; she simply picked up the top one with unusual calm.
She raised her eyes, stared intently at him, and then, holding the two ends of the red paper with both hands, slowly and with extreme force, tore it in half.
"Fine." She heard her own hollow voice. "Pei Qinzhou, as you wish."
Then came the second one, the third one… She stopped looking at him and focused her gaze on the broken “囍” characters.
"When it comes to acting deeply in love, no one can compare to you. I, Wen Zhibai... am completely outmatched."
Behind her unseen, Pei Qinzhou's fist was clenched tightly in his sleeve, and dark blood seeped from between his fingers.
He used all his strength to suppress the metallic taste churning in his throat.
The night he returned from the Jiang residence flashed uncontrollably through Pei Qinzhou's mind—
He sat beside the sleeping Wen Zhibai, his long, slender fingers lingering longingly over her eyes and brows, before finally placing a cold kiss on her forehead.
He suppressed the agonizing pain in his chest, lifted her wrist, and with a faint glint of light at his fingertips, silently untied the snake-shaped bond that symbolized their entanglement.
A scalding tear fell onto the back of her warm hand, but he only had red eyes and whispered in a voice she couldn't hear, "Sweet dreams."
Bathed in moonlight, he rose and disappeared into the night.
It was on that night that Jiang Yu found him.
"Lingjun chose to fall into demonic ways because of Zhibai, right?"
Pei Qinzhou did not deny it, and said calmly, "Yes."
"Lord Ling, Zhi Bai is just an ordinary person. I only wish for her peace and happiness. Now, Lord Ling, you should know that your days are numbered. I noticed this when you returned; you can no longer hear me… And what will happen next? If you truly marry Zhi Bai, how will she live the rest of her life? I beg you, Lord Ling, please spare her… Even if it costs me everything, I will repay your kindness, Lord Ling. I—"
“Madam Jiang,” Pei Qinzhou interrupted her, “all of this is my own choice, and I don’t need anyone to bear the consequences for me… As for the marriage, I never expected to grow old with her.”
“Lord Ling…”
"In my heart, Zhibai will always be my wife."
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