Chapter 38: Furious Questioning, Heartbroken
When the door to the side courtyard was kicked open with a bang, Yun Zhi was curled up in the corner of the bed, her hands clutching her abdomen. Outside the window, the sky had already darkened, lit only by a single flickering lamp, her face pale as a sheet. Ever since her family banquet was brought back, she had been confined to this tiny space. Xiao Jin's personal guards stood guard outside the door, and even Qing Zhu was barred from the courtyard, leaving her isolated and helpless.
Xiao Jin's footsteps were heavy as hammers, pounding the blue brick floor with each step, carrying a murderous aura of destruction. He wore no court robes, only a dark casual suit. His black hair was unbound, a few strands cascading over his forehead, obscuring the storm surging in his eyes, making him look even more sinister and terrifying.
"What are you hiding for?" He stopped in front of the bed, looking down at the huddled Yun Zhi, his voice as cold as ice. "Didn't you say this child is mine? Why don't you dare look at me now?"
Yun Zhi suddenly looked up, her gaze meeting his crimson eyes. There was no warmth in them, only an unwavering rage and hatred that threatened to devour her alive. Her body trembled uncontrollably, yet she forced herself to speak, her voice tinged with tears. "Your Highness, this child is truly yours! I fell into the water two months ago and was so weak. There's no way I could have been involved with Doctor Xie. It was you..."
"Shut up!" Xiao Jin suddenly leaned over and grabbed her chin with such force that it almost shattered her jawbone. Yun Zhi groaned in pain, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the back of his hand. The scorching temperature made his fingertips tremble slightly.
But that slight tremor was quickly swallowed by rage. He stared into Yun Zhi's eyes, his gaze mad. "Two months ago? You really know how to pick the time! Just when I was feeling soft on you and changing your tonic! Did you plan this all along, deliberately getting pregnant with Xie Heng's bastard child at that moment, and then blaming it on me, asking me to raise your bastard child?!"
"I didn't!" Yun Zhi desperately shook her head, her jaw aching from being pinched, but she still refused to give up her defense. "I had no idea the sterilization soup would be ineffective! It was you who changed the medicine, and it was you who gave me the chance to get pregnant! How could you think that of me? How could you slander me like that?!"
"Slander you?" Xiao Jin sneered, his laughter filled with mockery. "I slandered you? The pregnancy-maintaining medicine Xie Heng sent was fake? Qiu Wen's testimony was false? The 'love letter' found under your pillow was also fake? Yun Zhi, do you think I'm a fool, or do you think your methods are flawless?"
With every word he spoke, Yun Zhi's heart sank. The fabricated evidence and bribed witnesses were like an impenetrable web, trapping her tightly and leaving her speechless. She looked at the man before her, blinded by jealousy and rage, and suddenly felt incredibly unfamiliar—the man who had stayed by her side that rainy night to help her fever subside, the man who had jumped into the lake to save her, it was as if they had never existed.
"That love letter is fake! It was forged by Lin Wanru! Qiu Wen was bribed by Su Yurou!" Yun Zhi's voice was hoarse, and her tears fell even more fiercely. "Prince, can you wake up? They deliberately framed me and made you misunderstand me! Why can't you see it? Why won't you believe me just once?!"
"Believe you?" Xiao Jin's fingers tightened even more, pinching Yun Zhi's lips until they were bloodless. He stared into her eyes, speaking word for word, "I've given you chances! Before the family dinner, I tested you, and you dodged. I asked Imperial Physician Li to take your pulse, and you defended yourself desperately! If you were truly innocent, if you were truly pregnant with my child, why would you hide? Why would you be afraid?!"
"I'm scared!" Yun Zhi suddenly screamed, tears blurring her vision. "I'm scared that you'll destroy this child with your own hands, just like you did when you gave me the sterilization soup! I'm scared that you won't be able to tolerate him, or me! I can only hide, I can only hide it! But I didn't expect that the more I hide, the more you'll misunderstand me! Xiao Jin, do you know that I'm scared every day, scared that you'll find out, scared that you'll hurt him..."
Her voice got lower and lower, and finally turned into sobs. She reached out and wanted to grab Xiao Jin's sleeve, wanting him to feel her despair at the moment, but he violently shook her away.
"Afraid?" Xiao Jin's eyes grew even colder. "You're not afraid of me hurting him, you're afraid of me discovering he's Xie Heng's bastard! Yun Zhi, you really disgust me!"
The word "disgusting" stabbed Yun Zhi's heart like a poisoned knife. She froze, staring at the undisguised disgust in Xiao Jin's eyes. Suddenly, she felt like all her excuses were meaningless. He had already determined that she was unclean, that the child was a bastard. Even if she showed him her heart, he wouldn't believe it.
"Xiao Jin," Yun Zhi's voice suddenly calmed, a calm that was unsettling. She stopped struggling, stopped crying, and just looked at him quietly, her eyes filled with despair and sadness. "You really... never believed me, right?"
Xiao Jin was startled by her gaze, a sharp pain inexplicably rising in his heart. He turned his eyes away, refusing to acknowledge the slightest hint of something strange. He simply said coldly, "I only believe in evidence."
"Evidence..." Yun Zhi repeated these two words in a low voice, and suddenly laughed, her laughter full of sadness. "Okay, what a good piece of evidence. Then let me ask you, two months ago, besides you, who else had the chance to get close to me? Who else had the chance to make me pregnant? Xie Heng? After you warned him, he didn't even dare to approach the door of the palace! Tell me, how did he make me pregnant?!"
This question hit Xiao Jin like a hammer, hammering down on his heart. He glanced at Yun Zhi, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. Two months ago, Yun Zhi had been confined to the side courtyard after falling into the water. Apart from him and his personal maid, no one was allowed to approach her. Xie Heng had indeed been sternly warned by him that there was no chance of contact with Yun Zhi.
Could it be... that this child is really his?
This thought was like a bolt of lightning, splitting his furious mind. He remembered Yun Zhi desperately protecting her belly, the desperate look in her eyes when she cried, "This is your child," and how cautious she was when she took the pregnancy-maintaining medicine...all those details he had overlooked came flooding back to him.
But then, Qiu Wen's testimony, the forged love letter, the pregnancy-preserving medicine Xie Heng had sent... these images suddenly popped up again, completely suppressing his hesitation. He couldn't believe it! Yun Zhi was so smart, maybe she had already colluded with Xie Heng and used other means to get pregnant!
"Don't try to change the subject!" Xiao Jin's eyes grew colder again, and his fingers loosened a little, but he still didn't let go of her chin. "Even if Xie Heng hadn't approached you two months ago, who knows if you had any involvement before? Who knows if you were pregnant with this child a long time ago? Yun Zhi, don't think I'll believe you just because you cry a few times and act pitiful!"
Yun Zhi watched the hesitation in his eyes disappear in an instant, and the last glimmer of hope in her heart was completely extinguished. She closed her eyes, tears sliding down from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the pillow, silently.
She was tired, truly tired. She had argued for so long, struggled for so long, yet she still couldn't get him to trust her. She suddenly felt that perhaps this child shouldn't have existed in the first place. In this palace filled with misunderstandings and calculations, with this man who didn't love her or trust her at all, this child was destined to be a tragedy.
"Xiao Jin," Yun Zhi opened her eyes. The despair and pleading were gone, leaving only a dead silence. "Do whatever you want. I won't argue or struggle anymore."
Her calmness only intensified Xiao Jin's rage. He thought she would continue to argue and plead, but he didn't expect her to suddenly give up. This made him feel that his hesitation just now was ridiculous. She simply gave up her defense because she felt guilty!
"What do you want?" A fierce look flashed in Xiao Jin's eyes. "I will make you and the bastard in your belly pay the price! I will let you know what the consequences are for betraying me and defaming my bloodline!"
He suddenly let go of her hand, and Yun Zhi lost her support and fell heavily onto the bed. She watched Xiao Jin turn and walk out, his back determined, without a trace of nostalgia. She knew what he was going to do—he was going to destroy this child, destroy her only hope.
"Xiao Jin!" Yun Zhi suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse, "You will regret this! You will definitely regret this!"
Xiao Jin paused, but did not look back. He just said coldly, "This king never regrets anything."
The door slammed shut, and silence returned to the room. Only the flickering light of a solitary lamp illuminated Yun Zhi's pale face and hollow eyes. She slowly reached out her hand and touched her belly, tears streaming down her face.
"Child, I'm sorry..." She whispered softly, her voice filled with endless sadness, "It's my fault for not being able to protect you... It's my fault for bringing you into this world, for letting you suffer with me..."
A faint throbbing came from her abdomen, as if the child was responding to her. Yun Zhi's heart ached even more. She tightly protected her lower abdomen, curled up into a ball, and cried silently.
Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Jin wasn't far away. He leaned against the pillar, listening to the suppressed sobs coming from the room. The sharp pain in his heart became more and more obvious. He remembered Yun Zhi's last words, "You'll regret this," and the dead silence in her eyes, and a sense of panic inexplicably rose in his heart.
But he quickly suppressed his panic. He told himself that Yun Zhi deserved it, that bastard shouldn't exist. He turned and strode towards the pharmacy, his voice cold and devoid of any warmth: "Pass on this king's order. Prepare an abortion drug immediately and send it to the side hospital!"
A tragedy caused by misunderstanding and jealousy is about to unfold. Xiao Jin has no idea that this decision he made will become a regret that he will never be able to make up for in his life, and will make him fall into endless regret in the days to come.
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