Centrifugation
"..."
Xie Lingxi straightened up and stared at the person who had just arrived.
She said slowly, "Your Highness Prince Jin, it's been a long time."
King of Jin. Yan Ji.
Prince Jin had indeed not left his residence for a long time. At least since Xie Lingxi returned to the capital from Jingzhou, he had not seen him again. It had been almost a year.
Today, after a long absence, I noticed that this person has become more mature and experienced, transforming from his former "handsome and dashing" demeanor into one of "immovable as a pine tree."
Yan Ji smiled faintly, glanced at Bai Shi, who stood "unyielding" next to Xie Lingxi, and said quietly, "This young man looks very familiar to me."
“This is my servant.”
"Ah...I see." Yan Ji chuckled and nodded.
He finally moved to stand beside Xie Lingxi—a long-unseen face before him, now as if washed by frost and snow, with fine beads of sweat on her cheeks, and her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed, revealing a pitiful expression inside and out.
But Yan Ji understood that Xie Lingxi had always been tough and stubborn, and had no tenderness whatsoever, which was completely different from her delicate and charming appearance.
Then, his eyes darkened like rain, and he bowed with extreme restraint, lifting the curtain with a strong, powerful hand. "Third Sister, please."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lingxi raised her eyelashes, widened her eyes, and stared intently at him. After a long stalemate, she boarded the carriage.
The carriage was filled with a strange fragrance, like the chill of winter, making one instinctively wrap their clothes tighter.
After getting on the bus, the two of them consciously sat at opposite ends of the bus, so that their hands, feet, and even their long clothes could not touch each other in the slightest.
Yan Ji leaned lazily against the pillow, squinting his eyes. He saw Xie Lingxi's eyes twitch slightly, and he gently gathered his outer robe, hiding half of his chin inside the robe, revealing only a pair of calm eyes.
He spoke first: "Madam Xie, aren't you going to ask me where I'm going?"
Xie Lingxi finally looked up at him. "Is it necessary?"
The incense smelled terrible, not only making her feel cold all over and forcing her to clench her teeth to stop her body from trembling, but also instantly choking her internal organs, making it difficult for her to breathe.
She swallowed the metallic taste in her throat and looked directly at Yan Ji. "Your Highness's presence here today is surely not a coincidence, is it? Perhaps, if I may be so presumptuous, Your Highness came here specifically to wait for me?"
Yan Ji chuckled softly: "Yes and no."
"Then the place Your Highness is going to is naturally the same place I am going to."
The matter of Liu Xu was naturally also part of the man's calculations.
As if understanding what Xie Lingxi was thinking, Yan Ji stroked the jade thumb ring in his hand, caressing its carved landscape. His expression became much more serious, and his eyes gleamed with cold light, though his gaze was still smiling. "Third Sister is sitting in the same carriage as me, yet she is thinking about someone she shouldn't be thinking about. Shouldn't she be punished?"
What will be the punishment?
Xie Lingxi keenly sensed that Yan Ji's temperament and character seemed different from before.
She asked, "What punishment?"
Yan Ji spoke tenderly, but what he was saying was something else entirely: "Today, I'm taking Third Sister to see a good show."
"Our handsome and refined Lord Liu and my younger sister hit it off immediately. They strolled together in the Imperial Garden, and as they reached the lakeside, just as they were about to express their feelings, they were startled by a water snake and fell into the water in a panic. Their clothes became tangled together, but they were rescued by the palace servants—"
"Tell me," he stared intently at Xie Lingxi, his voice low and menacing, like a venomous snake, "what will happen next?"
Xie Lingxi stiffened, her brows furrowing.
After a long stare, he said softly, "Is Your Highness threatening me?"
Yan Ji said calmly, "Whether it's a threat or not, we'll find out soon enough."
"Does this kind of scenario seem familiar?"
It was the trick she used to scheme against Yan Qixia and Lin Jun when she was reborn.
"Quite familiar with it," Xie Lingxi replied respectfully. "This approach is too old-fashioned and has been overused. Your Highness should be careful that it may not have the miraculous effect you're thinking of."
She's right.
This method is an extremely clumsy attempt to frame someone; anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't fall for it.
Wasn't it because of her stupidity that Qixia and Lin Jun were pushed into the lake?
Yan Ji, on the other hand, waited for her in the streets and alleys today, and led her to get into the carriage of this unpredictable person. He then launched into another round of eerie and threatening words. What exactly did he want to do?
Xie Lingxi's head spun more and more, as if thousands of iron wires were mercilessly pulling at her nerves, peeling off and boiling in warm water, and her thoughts gradually slowed down.
She was powerless to argue with Yan Ji, and only said, "Your Highness, could you please order the coachman to hurry? My husband is probably getting impatient."
Hearing this, Yan Ji was not annoyed, but curled one corner of his mouth and said, "You really are still the same as before."
So proud, so aloof, it seemed nothing could move her heart or make her show even a hint of life.
Yan Ji suddenly longed to see the calm, serene face of the woman before him, which shattered into a stream of shimmering moonlight—
He suddenly moved closer to Xie Lingxi, pinning her struggling hands down, pressing one hand against her thin shoulders, and noticing the person beneath him trembling. Then, he leaned down and whispered in her ear like a demon: "—Empress Xie."
"!"
The sound was like a boulder falling into an abyss, creating a turbulent surge. Xie Lingxi snapped back to her senses, her entire body drenched in cold sweat. She abruptly broke free from his grasp and raised her hand to slap him—
"Smack!"
Five red finger marks instantly appeared on Yan Ji's jade-like face.
His face was turned quite far to the side by the slap, and he gasped in pain at the corner of his mouth. He touched the side of his face that had been hit; it burned like under the scorching sun, and was already swollen high. Then he heard the woman opposite him say, her breathing unsteady:
"Your Highness, respect yourself."
In an instant, his anger turned to laughter, "Thank you, Lingxi!"
They've already completely broken off relations.
The words "Empress Xie" struck Xie Lingxi like a thunderbolt. She realized that this person must also have memories of her past life, but she didn't know if those memories were complete...
Will it end when he ascends the throne, or will he be reduced to a stray dog and beheaded?
He then sneered, "Do you even deserve to call my name?"
Yan Ji wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, a satisfied smile on his face: "Just as I thought."
He no longer kept Xie Lingxi at arm's length, leaning his body to the side, his presence almost imperceptible, casting a shadowy shadow over her, occasionally creating a sense of oppression, "You are also a soul from another world..."
"But are you blaming me for acting like this?" Yan Ji's eyes were deep. "Speaking of which, I'm the one who's more wronged."
Needless to say, the two of them were well aware of the "strangeness" involved.
What's there to blame? Blame Yan Ji for killing her father and brothers, her mother, and her too. But Yan Ji, didn't he deserve his death?
Thinking of this, Xie Lingxi scoffed: "Unjustly accused?"
"What kind of injustice are you complaining about? Since when did it become the turn of the wicked to file a complaint first?"
Her mind was unstable and her body was weak. Now, she was provoked to recall her unbearable past, and her resentment was stuck in her chest. She couldn't help but cough two or three times, and her face turned as white as snow.
Yan Ji looked at her with rare pity, even raising his hand to wipe the sweat from Xie Lingxi's temples, but was stopped by someone. "You're too emotional, Lingxi. You shouldn't blame me. Lingjun died for his country, and Uncle Xie hanged himself for the greater good. Your mother went with them. Isn't it good for the family to live in harmony?"
"..."
After hearing these words, Xie Lingxi was filled with uncontrollable fear and trepidation.
Yan Ji continued, "As for what happened afterward, I thought about it for a long time. In Jingzhou, I recalled many things, and after returning to Chang'an, I ate vegetarian food and prayed to Buddha day and night to clear my mind, and I still do so today."
"Everyone had their own difficulties that day, and I don't blame you."
Xie Lingxi was so angry she almost laughed.
Does this guy have no shame? How dare he speak so arrogantly? He puts on an act of deep affection and magnanimity, expecting her to feel inferior and ashamed in comparison?
She simply said, "I don't want to talk about it."
Past lives are but a mirage, but one must still live well.
Yan Ji, however, persisted, forcing her to look him in the eye from his superior position, shaking her shoulders frantically, "It was Liu Xu, wasn't it? You and Liu Chengzhi took my head. We were husband and wife, how could you be so heartless?"
"Now that you've climbed the social ladder, aren't you afraid he'll scheme against you, abandon you, and tear you to pieces like me?!"
My head is throbbing, and my shoulders feel like they're being crushed...
Xie Lingxi, unable to bear it any longer, kicked the person, sending them crashing into the cushion. The kick also overturned the tea set on the table, spilling broken porcelain and tea onto the carpet and soaking their shoes and boots. "Enough!"
The carriage shook violently.
Are you sick?
Yan Ji was half-fallen, a wicked smile still on his lips, his brows furrowed, his eyes bloodshot: "Do you really think things will turn around? Xie Lingjun will die in the Northern Frontier, Xie Yuan will be imprisoned, these are things that cannot be changed."
Xie Lingxi's heart pounded wildly as he was forced into this situation, but she did not forget why she had come here. She calmed down and said, "Then it is an indisputable fact that you died at Liu Xu's hands."
No.
Seeing Xie Lingxi slightly lift her eyelids to look at him, Yan Ji smiled and said, "Isn't this up to you, Lingxi?"
At this moment, a gentle evening breeze blew by, and the lanterns shone through the blue curtains, illuminating the interior of the carriage. Xie Lingxi leaned against the carriage wall and lifted the curtain, only to find that they had already arrived at His Highness's residence.
Ignoring Yan Ji, she climbed the ladder and got off the carriage.
...
Inside the palace.
A palace maid led her toward the inkstone washing pool. Bai Shi followed behind Xie Lingxi, secretly glancing at her icy face, but dared not utter a word.
He was skilled in martial arts and overheard everything, both what he should and shouldn't have heard, outside the carriage.
...What grudges, what hatreds, what feelings?
It was already dark, and if it weren't for the palace maids carrying lanterns, there would have been no way to see anything. He had come to the palace with his husband to be on duty today, but as his shift was about to end, his husband was invited to a banquet to drink.
Bored, he lay on the roof of the palace to sleep. He overheard a conversation between several people, and the things they were talking about were so shocking that he couldn't help but rush to find Xie Lingxi.
— Xie Lingxi actually couldn't see the road very clearly.
The lantern light was too dim. She was so angry with Yan Ji that she felt dizzy and her chest ached. She was already unsteady on her feet, and now it seemed as if countless tiny mosquitoes were flying around in front of her, buzzing annoyingly.
As they approached, they realized it was a woman with her hair styled in a cloud-like bun, crying out in a hoarse voice, "Does Lord Liu really dislike me so much? He even refuses to dine with me?"
It's so noisy.
There were no lights by the water, only a few dim, four-cornered lanterns hanging on the corridor in front of the palace on one side. Xie Lingxi moved over step by step, and then heard a clear male voice say, "Your Highness is too kind, but I am already married and it is inconvenient for me."
It was Liu Xu.
She only caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure amidst the Tsinghua University campus. "Ah Xu?"
Liu Xu had been stunned for a moment when he saw Xie Lingxi, but now he quickly ran over, took her hand to warm it, and exclaimed, "Your hands are so cold!"
What brings you here?
Xie Lingxi's heart, which had been hanging in suspense all day, finally settled down.
Feeling the warmth enveloping her hands, she relaxed and unconsciously leaned slightly against Liu Xu, whispering, "I was worried about you since you haven't been home for so long, so I came to check on you."
This loving scene of mandarin ducks entwined and gazing at each other evoked a different kind of emotion in the Seventh Princess's eyes.
She fell in love with Liu Xu at first sight, and encouraged by her elder brother, she boldly pursued him. However, Liu Chengzhi was unyielding, refusing to listen to either persuasion or coercion, and even uttered harsh words whenever she tried to take things further, causing her to shed tears several times.
She, Yan Jiaojiao, had always been a high and mighty princess. When had she ever so humbly coaxed a certain man?
After thinking it over, her grievances welled up and she rushed forward to pry their clasped hands apart. "Don't you feel ashamed to be flirting like this in front of me!"
"..."
Xie Lingxi was given a slight push and almost lost her balance.
Before she could speak, Liu Xu had already put on a stern face, no longer as kind and amiable as before, and said in a solemn voice, "Your Highness, you have gone too far."
The princess had been clinging to him ever since they met in the royal garden that afternoon, refusing to listen to anything he said. As a result, he didn't drink a drop of wine at the banquet, instead drinking only water during the toasts, just in case something went wrong.
Midway through the meal, Yan Jiaojiao wanted to sit at the same table as him, but he politely declined, saying he was already full.
But Yan Jiaojiao insisted that he had just picked up his rice bowl and, upon seeing her arrive, lied and said he had finished eating, crying and making a scene, which was annoying.
After hearing the whole story, Xie Lingxi thought to herself, "As expected, this method was completely defeated because of that fool, Her Highness the Princess."
Yan Jiaojiao was clearly unconvinced. She looked Xie Lingxi up and down. She was indeed a beautiful woman, but she was too weak and frail. How could she be a good wife who could manage both the inner and outer worlds?
"Who's really gone too far?! Lord Liu, what's so great about your wife? She's just a sickly woman who'd collapse at the slightest push. I love you, I value you, and I'm willing to be her equal wife, serving you together!"
Xie Lingxi: "..."
"I don't want to."
She was talking to Liu Xu when this "divorced woman" suddenly interrupted, which displeased the princess, who shouted, "What right do you have to speak? Chengzhi, your wife is so disrespectful, could she be a poor, ill-mannered woman?"
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