Chapter 22 Midnight Visits the Marquis
The carriage sped straight to the marquis's mansion.
Xie Jinglan looked at the person who was lying on his neck, the one he had lost and found again, and his thoughts were surging.
She wants to escape!
Escape from yourself!
When Xie Jinglan thought of this, his heart ached.
Wen Ning's consciousness at this moment seemed to have been drowned in the deep sea, floating up and down, unable to be grasped clearly.
Her breathing quickened a little, her fingertips suddenly touched soft fabric, and a familiar fresh scent lingered around her nose.
It's the Marquis...
She struggled to concentrate her consciousness and slowly opened her eyes until she could clearly see the small inky mole on her Adam's apple, which she had discovered the last time she sucked out the poison for him.
His expression was stern and he didn't even look at her.
Wen Ning stretched out a small hand, and raised her fingertips tremblingly, finally crossing the inch of air between the two of them, but the moment she touched his chin, he turned his head away.
Her eyes were dim, her fingertips were frozen in mid-air, and chaotic images flashed in her mind - she really escaped, but was trapped in a secret compartment by Wen Rao. Fortunately, he rescued her.
The questions and explanations that were going back and forth between the two of them were never spoken out.
And so we went all the way in silence.
Returning to Tingsong Courtyard, he placed her in the inner room, ordered two maids to bathe and change her clothes, and then resolutely turned and left.
Late at night, in the stillness of the room, Wen Ning curled up in the corner of the bed, still unable to dispel the suffocating fear lingering in her heart.
The copper bell on the eaves suddenly rang softly, and the wind blew a damp air into the window frame, followed by loud thunder and heavy rain.
The low-hanging bed curtains and the flickering candlelight are like suffocating shadows in a dark room.
She closed her eyes in fear, but the damp and musty smell, the taut hemp ropes, the cramped plywood, and the sticky darkness came rushing in, constantly squeezing her and tightening her breathing inch by inch.
She gasped for breath and buried her face helplessly in the quilt, where the lingering scent of his sandalwood could slightly soothe her tense nerves.
The night was like an airtight net, and her fearful nerves refused to let her go until midnight.
The knuckles of her hands gripping the corner of the quilt turned white, and the small ball curled up under the quilt suddenly trembled. She heard a sudden sound coming from outside the door. She ignored the pain in her wrist, propped herself up, got off the bed barefoot, and stumbled towards the carved wooden door.
"My Lord..."
A yawning little maid was walking back when the door suddenly opened and she took a step back in fright. "Miss?"
The raindrops slanted under the eaves, burning her eyes. She covered her suddenly darkened eyes and asked, "My Lord, where is he?"
"The Marquis is in the study. He just ordered me to bring the bed sheet and quilt over..."
Before the maid finished her words, she saw the girl rushing into the rain barefoot.
A series of puddles were formed on the blue bricks by stepping on them, and a chill instantly ran up my back along the soles of my feet.
I only heard the maid behind me exclaim, "Miss, you...you are down the corridor."
The candlelight in the study flickered, and the door was pushed open from the outside.
Xie Jinglan had just changed out of his pajamas and looked towards the door following the sound.
Suddenly, his eyes were like a fire-quenched knife, cutting through her wet hair and down to her bare feet.
"You! Are you crazy? What on earth do you want to do?!"
Her rain-stained toes left half-dried marks on the ground. She walked straight to him and stopped, "My Lord... I'm afraid..."
A pair of peach blossom eyes that seemed to be about to cry were covered with a layer of fear.
The thin plain gauze undergarment was soaked by the rain, revealing the plump outline where it was tightly attached, and the embroidery of the smoky blue undergarment was faintly visible.
A few strands of black hair stuck to her slender white neck, and her little face, soaked by the rain, looked like a jasmine flower after the rain, so beautiful that it was almost enchanting.
Xie Jinglan's Adam's apple rolled silently, and when he raised his eyes again, they were already cold.
"Scared? You're quite capable when you're running away!"
Yes, how ridiculous it is, running away from him and now expecting his comfort and embrace.
When she was young and felt timid and closed off, she would throw herself into her mother's arms, and her mother would stroke her sweat-soaked hair again and again until the fear in her heart was dispelled.
But now, she wants the Marquis to calm her mind.
Wen Ning bit her lip, wanting to explain but not knowing how to start, she could only force out a few words stiffly, "The Marquis has been kind to me, I shouldn't have run away."
"A favor?" Xie Jinglan's lips curled up into a cold smile. "A favor that started with five taels of silver?"
He pinched her jaw with his big hand, his eyes dark as the abyss, "And then, you must remain faithful to your husband and your heart to this scholar. But even so, for the sake of the five taels of silver, you went against your heart and reluctantly stayed in Tingsong Courtyard. Only I became the one who forced her into trouble. So you hate me and want to stay away from me, but this is it!"
"No, no..." She trembled, tears blurring her vision. She almost blurted out the truth, but the truth seemed even more cruel. She sobbed and said only, "This servant... This servant is not worthy of the Marquis' pity. Staying with the Marquis will only ruin his reputation."
"Humph! So, you're running away for my own good!"
Xie Jinglan's eyes were filled with anger and pain, but the moment he saw her broken expression, he choked back, as if he had lost all his strength. His fingers suddenly loosened, and his voice was as cold as ice, "Get out!"
Wen Ning staggered back two steps, her fingertips trembling slightly. She wanted to grab his sleeve, but she didn't dare.
She slowly turned around and stepped out of the door. Her wrist, which was resting on the study door frame, was trembling slightly. The edges of the dark purple bloodstains caused by the hemp rope and the turned-up blood scabs were oozing tiny beads of blood.
My already soaked body was once again enveloped by the rain, and the coldness instantly spread to my bones.
She took weak steps, as if she was about to fall down at any moment.
But she was suddenly pulled back by a force, and her back slammed into his warm arms.
"Damn it!" He cursed and picked her up sideways.
"Go back to the inner room, or stay here?" His anger was clearly not gone, but he was still asking her.
"With the Marquis." Her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. Her blood-stained arms trembled quietly as they passed through his armpits and then tightly wrapped around his waist.
Xie Jinglan was helpless. Sometimes she was soft and clear, and sometimes she was hazy and distant. He couldn't see through her and didn't know what to do with her.
He folded his arms, turned to the corridor, and strode into the inner room.
She let him take off her clothes, dry her body, and apply medicine on her wounds. Wen Ning stayed buried in his arms, her cheek pressed against his chest, gradually dispelling the trembling in her bones.
Seeing her shoulders still trembling slightly, Xie Jinglan thought it was because of the wind and rain. "I'll ask someone to prepare some hot water to warm you up."
"No, don't." She gathered her fingertips on his back and buried her face deeper.
"I'm afraid of being alone in a room. My Lord, please hold me for a while, just for a little while."
Xie Jinglan's heart trembled. "What if I hadn't boarded that pleasure boat today..." He gripped her chin tightly with his slender fingers, his eyes brimming with anger. "You're leaving me just like that, regardless of the consequences?"
The finger bones suddenly exerted a bit of force, causing Wen Ning to feel pain. Tears instantly welled up at the corners of her eyes, and her delicate skin turned red under her fingers. Her pearly teeth rolled across her lower lip fiercely, and her voice trembled, "I am guilty. Please, my Lord, mobilize the troops. I will punish you."
Seeing that the person in his arms had just turned a little red, he loosened the knuckles that were clamping her chin, and slowly moved his thumb up, covering the blood beads that were bitten by her teeth, and gently crushed them.
The force was neither light nor heavy, but it made her breath hitch.
"If you do it again, I will not let you off!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
