Chapter 23 Qin Jin, the blanket is thrown off, open the door! The three-day agreement! ...
"Yupan was raised by my side since childhood and was my closest playmate."
“You once held it and played with it. It loved you more than it loved me, but you killed it for your own selfish desires.”
Two banana plants stood by the window. Under the torrential rain, one of the banana leaves finally gave way, and the accumulated water poured out with a "splash," mingling with the pattering sound of the rain.
With a heavy and suppressed look in his eyes, Qin Jin's chest heaved violently: "I will never forget the bowl of soup you brought me."
The fragrant ginger and duck flower soup with pancakes seemed to reappear before his eyes at this moment. Qin Jin's temples bulged with veins, and he forcefully suppressed the churning in his stomach.
The fact that a young girl would appear in the Buddhist temple was something he had never expected.
The young girl wore the most fashionable gold-embroidered pomegranate flower and beaded ruqun in Chang'an. Her clothes were bright and dazzling, while he was disheveled, thin as a skeleton, and his face was tired and haggard. His miserable situation, with nowhere to hide, made him feel ashamed.
He couldn't even look directly into the girl's bright eyes.
Avoiding the light streaming in from the window, he curled up, burying his head deep in his hands. For a moment, his pride as a young man prevented him from knowing how to face the girl's concern. He could only hastily close his eyes and urge her to leave with indifference.
But after the girl really left, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.
Looking at the closed door, he was dazed. He took a deep breath, and the faint fragrance of pear blossoms lingered in his nose, filling his lungs. A wave of sorrow washed over him.
In just a few days, everything changed drastically. An overwhelming wave of malice engulfed him, as if he had fallen into the deep sea. But the appearance of the girl pulled him out of the water.
The sunlight streaming in through the window seemed almost within reach.
Carefully picking up the bowl of soup left by the girl, he couldn't bear to spill a single drop. Ripples spread across the surface of the soup as he clenched his teeth and, with uncontrollable trembling, gulped down the soup mixed with his tears.
The ginger and duck flower soup dumplings had already cooled down, with white grease floating on the surface of the soup. The dumplings, now soft and mushy, had lost their original flavor and were sour and unpalatable. Yet he greedily swallowed every mouthful, as if he were consuming nectar.
until--
The claw-shaped gold bell he had crafted for the jade plate suddenly appeared at the bottom of the bowl.
Next to the golden bell was a cat's paw, chopped into several pieces and boiled.
Cold sweat soaked through his blood-stained robes, a chill ran down his spine, and he couldn't help but shiver, his eyes glazed over.
The moment he vomited, his ears were filled with a sharp buzzing, and the stench of decay lingered on every inch of his flesh and blood. Tears blurred his vision, and he vomited until only bile remained. He wished he could vomit out his internal organs as well, until he fainted.
His high fever, which lasted for several days, nearly cost him his life.
He awoke from his coma countless times, the familiar layout of the room causing him pain.
He secretly prayed that he would never wake up.
But I'm not willing to give up.
Countless painful days and nights, when he thought of the humiliation he had suffered, when he thought of Xue Rongyue, when he thought of that bowl of soup, he couldn't bear to die.
How could he just die like that?
He was so angry that he couldn't sleep at night.
Ultimately, fueled by this unquenchable hatred, he struggled to get out of bed, his body emaciated and ailing.
Standing frozen in place, Xue Rongyue's fingertips trembled uncontrollably, her face frozen, a hint of realization dawning on her: "...No wonder, no wonder you wanted to take my Zhiquan away back then."
"What did you do to it?" Xue Rongyue stepped forward anxiously. "Did you kill it too!?"
With his lips pressed into a sharp line, Qin Jin gritted his teeth and laughed angrily, "It's not your place to question me now."
"Why shouldn't it be my turn!"
Xue Rongyue flew into a rage: "I have never done what you are saying! Slaughtering a cat for soup? I have never done such a despicable thing!"
Filled with resentment at being wrongly accused, she angrily demanded, "What makes you so sure I did this? Couldn't someone else have framed me? We were already treating each other like brother and sister back then, what right do you have to act like this?"
With a slight thud of his Adam's apple, Qin Jin let out a cryptic chuckle.
He had hoped, too, that someone was framing Xue Rongyue.
Therefore, even before he had fully recovered from his illness, he sent people to investigate the matter. However, both physical evidence and the presence of imperial chefs and palace servants pointed to Xue Rongyue.
He still refused to believe it, and finally one evening, he mustered up the courage to confront Xue Rongyue face to face.
"Qin Jin? Who likes to play around with him! I hate him the most. If I wasn't worried about angering my brother, I wouldn't say another word to him."
"Tanuki? You mean Yupan? I don't like that raccoon dog at all. It's stupid and clumsy, all it does is meow!"
"No matter how many times you ask, I still hate Qin Jin, I hate that dead cat, I hate just looking at him!"
"Qin Jin's background is tainted? What does that mean...?"
Inside the teahouse, separated only by a curtain, the laughter and chatter of the young girl and her friend rushed into my ears.
He didn't have the courage to listen any longer and fled in panic.
His eyes were as black as ink, revealing no emotion whatsoever. Qin Jin's voice was cold: "The servants in the manor saw with their own eyes that you were feeding the jade plate at the side gate that day, after which the jade plate disappeared. The next day, when you entered the palace, Jingnu was by your side, carrying a cage. The palace servants and the imperial chefs also identified you as the one who took the jade plate there, instructing that it be slaughtered and used to make soup."
Xue Rongyue took a deep breath and asked in return, "If it was a deliberate frame-up, there would be plenty of witness testimonies. When I first entered the palace, there was a peacock in the cage, which was given to the Empress to amuse her. It was not a jade plate, and this must have been recorded in the palace."
"No." Qin Jin said firmly, "I checked the records back then, and it clearly states at the top that you brought a raccoon dog."
Xue Rongyue's pupils contracted sharply, and she was momentarily speechless with shock.
A few wisps of cold wind drifted through the hall, stirring the spring blossoms that had fallen in by the window. The incense sticks in the golden censer burned out, and the last wisp of smoke curled away and was scattered by the cold wind in front of the Buddha statue.
After a long silence, Xue Rongyue raised her eyes and looked directly at Qin Jin, her voice surprisingly calm: "That day, I recognized your raccoon cat on the street, so I kindly brought it back to your mansion. Your servants must have seen me feeding it at that time."
"Qin Jin, I will never deny what I have done, but if I didn't do it, I didn't do it. I will never let others smear me."
"Three days."
She raised her head, her dark eyes filled with stubbornness: "Three days. I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and get justice for myself!"
A corner of the eaves spews rain chains like rolling silver snakes. The Princess's Mansion is soaked in a hazy, damp rain. The lanterns under the eaves are mercilessly torn by the wind and rain, and the carved white jade floor tiles are flooded with water, with water droplets flowing quietly.
The spring rain has been falling on and off for three days, and it is still drizzling today.
Dark clouds rolled incessantly over Chang'an, carried by the spring rain. The east and west markets were deserted of pedestrians and tourists, with only a few birds chirping on the long street.
As night deepened, the rain intensified.
Qin Jin lay in bed, tossing and turning.
He was annoyed by the disturbing sound of the rain outside, but he couldn't help but look at the paper window, his gaze searching in the quiet night.
Xue Rongyue said three days, and today is the last day.
With his fingers slowly turning the jade thumb ring, Qin Jin closed his eyes and leaned back on the soft pillow, his brows slightly furrowed.
He didn't really care; he just wanted to see how Xue Rongyue would try to justify herself as the time drew near, so he could get justice for her.
Night slowly descended, dark clouds rolled in, and the rainy night, devoid of stars and moon, was as black as ink.
The candles in the room burned out one by one, and the last glimmer of light was swallowed by the darkness. Qin Jin's vision was plunged into darkness, and he closed his eyes.
The sound of the midnight watchman's drum came from afar through the rain. He curled his lips in mockery, lamenting that he could only ever learn one lesson from Xue Rongyue.
He even began to suspect that Xue Rongyue was teasing him again, and that she might be soundly asleep right now.
He lay down and covered himself with the brocade quilt; he didn't want to wait any longer.
The sound of rain outside the window was intermittent. Qin Jin closed his eyes and turned over.
...She cherishes herself so much, so even if there's something fishy about this, why would she go out of her way to investigate in the rain?
It rolled over a second time.
Her words were so certain, perhaps there really is more to the story?
It rolled over for the third time.
It rolled over for the fourth time.
It rolled over for the fifth time.
...
Qin Jin threw off the covers and got up.
His dark eyes gleamed in the night, Qin Jin's chest heaved, and he rubbed his temples in frustration, a lump of anger stuck in his throat.
He wanted to see if Xue Rongyue was framing him or if Xue Rongyue was just a smooth talker!
Having made up his mind, Qin Jin was about to get up and go out when, amidst the heavy rain, a series of rustling footsteps faintly drifted through the rain.
Then came the loud banging on the door.
Qin Jin's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his fingers curled up a few inches, and his heart suddenly started beating a little faster.
Xue Rongyue stood impatiently outside the door: "Qin Jin, open the door! If you forget our three-day agreement and dare to sleep with me, I won't let you off the hook—"
With a creak, the door opened, and Qin Jin said expressionlessly, "It's past midnight, so it doesn't count as three days..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped, staring blankly at Xue Rongyue, who was wearing a straw raincoat.
He rarely saw Xue Rongyue in such a "disheveled" state.
The rain was heavy, rendering the raincoat useless. The rain soaked her hair, making her bun loose, and her clothes were drenched. One of her red jade earrings was missing, and the hem of her skirt was covered in mud.
When Xue Rongyue returned from outside, she naturally heard the midnight watchman's drum. She was a little annoyed, but unwilling to admit it, she raised her head and bumped into Qin Jin's shoulder, barging straight in: "It's not even dawn yet, how can it not be within three days?"
Qin Jin shifted his gaze from her mud-stained skirt, his expression momentarily complex. After a pause, he took a cloak and handed it to her.
The night rain was chilly, and her soaked clothes felt like a block of ice on her body. Xue Rongyue was already shivering from the cold. After hesitating for a moment, she reluctantly took the clothes and put them on: "I won't thank you."
Qin Jin sensed something amiss from her attitude and pursed his lips: "You found out..."
Xue Rongyue immediately snorted coldly and interrupted, "Jingnu, bring those people in. Tonight, we'll reveal the truth to the foolish Prince Qin!"
A note from the author:
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Xiaoyue: The clever me, the foolish Qin Jin
We're almost at the plot summary! Guess which part it is?
The next chapter will definitely include the preview from the previous chapter [cheek resting on hand]
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