86 Chapter 86
◎Argument◎
"...What truth? You heard it wrong." Wei Che was stunned for a moment, then quickly regained his vigilance and tried to brush the topic off vaguely: "Does it still hurt? Do you want some medicine?"
Xu Qinghe brushed away his hand that was caressing her cheek, ignoring the secret he had deliberately brought up. She continued to ask, "I wasn't asleep just now, and I heard it clearly. What kind of truth would make it impossible for me to forgive you?"
The girl who was still immersed in lust with slightly red eyes half an hour ago, suddenly broke away from the thread of love. Although her beautiful facial features were still flushed, she clearly looked like someone who would not be fooled.
She was so clear-headed and rational that he couldn't help but wonder if the tenderness just now was just an illusion he had imagined.
However, the unspeakable tenderness and tightness, the sobs and the kisses, could not be faked.
Wei Che convinced himself in this way, and held the girl's hand in his palm to explore it, his mind racing. Just when she couldn't wait to ask another question, he finally spoke.
"Do you really want to hear it? Let me make it clear first, after you hear it, you can't blame me. ...Okay, if you want to blame me, go ahead. But there's one thing: don't unforgive me."
Xu Qinghe didn't respond, but just urged him: "What is it? Tell me quickly."
Wei Che touched his nose and said slowly, "Do you remember? I said I fell in love with you at first sight and that's why I had to marry you. But that's not entirely true. It's true that I like you, but I also want to marry you so that the Duke of Fuguo can better subdue the Southern Border Army."
After he finished speaking, he immediately lowered his head to look at the girl's expression.
She is not easy to fool. If you tell her a so-called unimportant truth, she will expose you immediately.
The only way to make her believe it is to tell her some half-truths but things that can disturb her mind, like what I am doing now.
But this will inevitably make her sad.
Therefore, Wei Che quickly added, "But that was mainly the Duke of Fuguo's idea. I want to marry you simply because I like you, I'm attracted to you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
But the person in his arms didn't move.
Are you angry?
Are you sad?
Regret it?
Wei Che was unsure of the current situation, so he stroked the person's chin and lifted her face up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she didn't look sad.
Just don't be angry, don't be sad, and don't regret it.
But after thinking about it, I felt that it was not right.
Why is she so calm?
Why can a couple who just completely possessed each other still be so calm after hearing that the other's original sincerity was mixed with calculations?
"You... aren't angry?"
Xu Qinghe shook his head slowly.
"Not... sad?"
Xu Qinghe still shook his head.
"You don't regret it?"
Xu Qinghe frowned and asked him, "Why should I be angry, sad, and even regretful?"
Wei Che was a little anxious: "I married you to use you, why aren't you angry, sad, or regretful?"
Xu Qinghe tilted her face up, the redness on her cheeks had gradually faded, and a layer of pink now floated on her fair face, making her originally somewhat cold facial features even more vivid and delicate.
But the look in her eyes, amidst the calm, held a hint of sadness: "The world is bustling with people all for profit. Whenever people plan to do something, they always consider how to gain some benefit from others. And I, on the other hand, am only as valuable as this."
"The Wei family wants to marry me because Wei Ming likes me, and you want to marry me to make your father's Southern Border Army more obedient. Now, this is all I have left."
In fact, she didn't lose anything. At most, she wasted the vague guilt she had felt at the beginning.
At that time, she thought that she was using him unilaterally.
But one should have thought of this earlier. Why did the prince of the Fuguo Mansion choose to marry an orphan princess instead of a powerful noble lady?
Now it seems that an orphan princess who has no power behind her will not arouse the royal family's fear, but can also benefit their reputation in conquering the southern border army. Why not do it?
But Wei Che seemed to have been stepped on. He suddenly sat up from the bed, stared at her and asked, "Do you think Wei Ming and I are different?"
Xu Qinghe was puzzled: "How can you be the same as him?"
Wei Che pursed his lips, and the look in his eyes seemed to be a little sad and aggrieved.
"...So, you still like him more, right? He's divorced now, and you're a little regretful, aren't you? Regretful that you shouldn't have listened to my sweet talk and married into the Prince of Fuguo's mansion. You should have married Wei Ming instead, and now you can still make him see the light at the end of the tunnel?"
"What's wrong with you today? Hiss..."
Xu Qinghe was unhappy with his condescending gaze on her, so she hugged the quilt and sat up, but cried out in pain because she hurt the place she was in.
Wei Che didn't come to help her, so she endured the pain and sat up.
She raised her chin slightly and looked up at him: "You want to mention Xie Qi and Wei Ming again. It's obvious that I'm the one who's been kept in the dark and used, but why do you always have to mention others?"
Wei Che asked without answering: "I just want to ask you one question, have you ever liked me?"
Xu Qinghe was already angry, and when he asked her this inexplicable question, the anger turned into a flame that suddenly shot out from the bottom of his heart and suddenly exploded in the air.
She pointed her hand at the ground and angrily asked, "Wei Che, are you a three-year-old child? I've already done all those things with you, and you still ask these unrealistic questions?"
Wei Che looked along the tip of her fair finger.
On one side of the floor lay the undergarments they had just put on, tangled and wrinkled. On the exposed white corner, one could even see a few smears of red and a few traces of water stains.
"It's different..." He stared at it absentmindedly, but shook his head.
After a long moment, he turned around and looked at Xu Qinghe, asking, "If it was someone else who approached you and promised to help you find the truth, would you have done the same thing with him?"
"Would you sacrifice yourself in order to make the other person work for you wholeheartedly?"
Xu Qinghe couldn't help but be stunned.
The fire that was burning fiercely just now was suddenly extinguished by this basin of cold water.
She suddenly felt a chill all over her body, and the bone-chilling cold suddenly spread from her toes to the top of her head, making her feel as if she had fallen into an endless abyss with no bottom in sight.
"Xu Qinghe, speak."
“…”
It was like a death warrant sounded above his head. She didn't answer for a long time, so he kept urging her over and over again without getting tired of it.
"Xu Qinghe, speak."
“…”
"Xu Qinghe, speak."
“…”
"Xu Qing——"
"Yes, I will."
She suddenly raised her head, her eyes calm and resolute, reminding Wei Che of the year when the snow fell all over the southern border. She had also told him firmly and resolutely that she didn't want him anymore.
"As long as there is anyone who can help me find out the truth, whether it's you, Wei Ming, or anyone else, as long as the other party wants, I can do anything. Are you satisfied?"
Wei Che looked at her and shook his head helplessly.
No, it shouldn't be like this.
She was originally the little princess of the Southern Territory, held in high esteem by everyone. How could she become so... so...
"Are you trying to say that I'm willing to do anything to achieve my goal? Or that I'm being self-deprecating?"
Xu Qinghe's lips curled up, but his eyes were filled with sarcasm. "But no matter what, Prince Wei has already gotten what he wanted, right? Since you helped me, and I satisfied you, then we both owe each other nothing, isn't that the best?"
Wei Che's throat rolled slightly, his eyes filled with pain. After a long pause, he finally said with difficulty, "Okay, okay. This is very good, very good."
After saying that, he turned around and got out of bed, without even putting on his outer robe, and just lifted the curtain and walked out.
Xu Qinghe heard several door openings. First, the door of the inner room was pushed open, then the door of the side room, and finally the main door of the main hall.
The footsteps gradually faded away, but the chill on her body lingered for a long time.
She lay down again, pulled the thin blanket tightly around her, then curled up and hugged herself, but she still felt cold.
How can it be so cold in June?
**
There was a sudden rainstorm last night.
The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly during the day, but after five o'clock in the morning, a violent storm suddenly broke out, accompanied by lightning and thunder.
Nanzhi was awakened by the deafening thunder. He got up and closed the window, vaguely remembering that the princess would not sleep well in a thunderstorm night.
She was hesitating whether to go to the bedroom to check, but suddenly remembered that the princess was not alone at this time. Thinking of her increasingly harmonious relationship with Prince Wei in recent days, Nanzhi fell asleep again with a smile on her face.
The next morning, the sun was already high in the sky, and the traces of yesterday's cool rainstorm were quickly dispelled by the warm sun, but there was still no sound in the dormitory.
Nanzhi called the princess worriedly several times, and finally the sound of bells rang out from inside.
She pushed the door open and walked into the inner room. She saw that the window was still wide open. The two pots of delicate pink flowers in front of the window were drooping their heads due to yesterday's rain, and the petals and leaves almost covered the entire pot.
He walked to the bed and randomly crumpled a pile of wet bedding that had been changed.
She remembered that the bedding was changed just yesterday morning. How come it was replaced with a new one so soon?
Nanzhi lifted the curtain suspiciously and walked into the bed, and the first thing she saw was her inner clothes crumpled into a ball on the ground.
The tired and sleepy princess, the bedding that was inexplicably changed at night, and the inner clothes that were stained even after being rubbed together, what else did she not understand?
He lowered his head and helped the princess get up and wash without saying anything.
"Ah, why is the princess's face so red?"
Xu Qinghe rubbed his forehead, and when he heard that, he touched his cheek with the back of his hand, and it was burning hot.
No wonder she felt dizzy and heavy this morning.
She originally thought it was a reaction to the woman's fatigue after that incident, but now it seems that she may have caught a cold yesterday and had a high fever this morning.
Nanzhi: "Since the princess is not feeling well, why don't you go out of the mansion another day to finalize the restaurant arrangements? I'll go get the manor doctor first."
Xu Qinghe felt a sharp pain whenever she was shaken. She didn't dare to shake her head and only replied, "I'm fine. This matter can't be delayed any longer. Just focus on dressing me up."
After a quick breakfast, Xu Qinghe put on a veiled hat and left the house with Nanzhi.
Lin Xiao had been waiting there for a long time. When everyone arrived, she introduced the boss of the shop who wanted to transfer him as their head of the family.
Xu Qinghe discussed it with him, and since Lin Xiao had already agreed on the price and other things, the matter was quickly finalized.
Both parties signed a contract, and this three-story restaurant located in a busy street market truly became their territory.
Lin Xiao stared blankly at the word "Lin Xiao" on the contract, still a little incredulous: "Is the princess really going to hand over this restaurant to me?"
Xu Qinghe's head felt dizzy and it started buzzing every time she nodded. She had already used up most of her energy when negotiating with the seller just now. Now that she saw the man had left, she leaned back limply in the armchair.
She simply said, "The lives and fortunes of the three of us are in your hands. Please don't let us down."
Lin Xiao was very hesitant: "But I don't know how to manage a shop, nor do I know how to manage employees... Princess, I'm afraid I can't do this..."
Xu Qinghe leaned back in the armchair with his eyes closed, glanced at Nanzhi, and motioned her to speak.
Nanzhi said, "Just give it a try first. No one is born with the ability to do these things. Don't worry, the princess has found a shopkeeper for you. He will be here soon. Just learn from him."
This means that we should cultivate her well.
Lin Xiao was overjoyed and moved to tears. He immediately knelt on the ground to thank the princess.
Xu Qinghe wanted to stand up and help the person up, but when he stood up, his eyes turned white, his legs went weak, and in the blink of an eye he fell back into the chair, his ears buzzing.
"Princess!"
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