Chapter 73 Antidote
My heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, and a dull pain spread.
His eyes were instantly filled with deep sorrow, regret, and unspeakable self-blame and uneasiness.
He raised his hand almost instinctively and uncontrollably.
His fingertips were slightly cold and trembling noticeably as he tried to touch the bruise that made his heart palpitate.
It seemed as if just a gentle touch could heal the scars and erase the mistakes he had made.
Just when his fingertips were about to touch her skin——
Chen He leaned back suddenly and turned his head to the side as if he was stung by a poisonous scorpion!
The movements were astonishingly fast, with undisguised resistance and disgust!
Xue Minglan's hand just stayed stiffly in mid-air.
His fingertips were only an inch away from her neck.
That tiny distance now seems like an insurmountable gap, separating the former intimacy and the current alienation.
He slowly and somewhat awkwardly withdrew his hand.
His fingertips curled up unconsciously, as if the coldness and stinging from when she resolutely avoided him just now still lingered.
The private room fell into a suffocating silence.
Only the faint chirping of cicadas outside the window seemed particularly noisy.
Before coming here, Xue Minglan had thought of a thousand things in the carriage. He wanted to ask her why she had suddenly become so cold? He wanted to explain that being by the rockery that day was not his original intention.
He wanted to tell her how he had no choice but to do so in front of the Queen. He even wanted to humbly beg for her forgiveness.
But now, looking at her cold profile and feeling her undisguised resistance, all the words I had prepared were stuck in my throat like a fishbone, and I couldn't utter a single word.
What could he say? Sorry? Say he was forced into this? Faced with the facts, any explanation seemed so pale and powerless.
Shen He finally moved.
She slowly raised her eyes, her gaze passing through the mist in the air and falling on Xue Minglan's face opposite her - a face that had lost its color and was twisted in pain.
The corners of her lips rose slightly, outlining a smile that was so faint that it was almost imperceptible, but as cold as winter.
The voice was soft yet firm, neither high nor low, but every word fell like pearls, crisp with undisguised sarcasm.
“I never noticed it before.”
"Brother Minglan, it's actually like this..."
She deliberately dragged out the syllables, and her words hovered in the air. Finally, her gaze wandered over his face and finally fixed on one point.
The word "passionate" came out of her mouth, as light as a gust of wind, but as heavy as a thousand-pound rock, weighing down people's hearts.
They were like fine needles soaked in venom, piercing the softest part of his heart with unerring precision. They were both a bitter irony of his current "affection" and a subtle condemnation of his past actions, with a profound implication that went without saying.
Xue Minglan's face turned three shades paler in an instant!
It felt like being slapped hard in the face, it hurt so much.
He suddenly looked at Chen He, his eyes filled with deep hurt and disbelief.
His lips moved a few times, and his voice was very hoarse, with a kind of pain that was almost pleading.
"Ah He..." His voice trembled slightly, as if carrying endless confusion and puzzlement.
"You..." Before he finished speaking, the confusion and pain in his eyes surged out like a tide. He really didn't understand why the little girl who always loved to stick to him and called him "Brother Minglan" in a soft and sweet voice in the past would become like this today?
Her body seemed to be covered with fine thorns, and every word she spoke was as sharp as a knife, mercilessly cutting into his heart.
"Why do you have to hurt me like this?"
Shen He's gaze met his with determination, meeting his in mid-air.
She clearly saw the struggle and unspeakable pain in his eyes. At that moment, her heart softened a little without her noticing, even though this softening seemed so inappropriate in this situation.
Yeah, why bother?
What's the point of competing with a poor person who is also helpless?
Her real enemies were the high and mighty Queen, her vicious stepmother and stepsister, and the unfaithful Xiao Jingren, not this poor creature in front of her, who was probably also struggling in the mire.
She quietly lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze, as if everything was self-evident.
Forget it, there are some old accounts, why bother to settle them one by one now.
The private room was once again filled with a heavy tranquility, and time seemed to stand still.
This silence was so long that Xue Minglan almost had the illusion that this rare meeting was about to end quietly in this awkward and depressing calm.
His hands, placed on his knees, unconsciously clenched and unclenched alternately, his fingertips conveying the subtle fluctuations in his heart.
Finally, he seemed to have made some kind of inexplicable determination. As his chest heaved, he took a deep breath and mustered up his courage.
He slowly raised his head, his eyes tightly wrapped around Chen He like a chain, and there was a barely perceptible tension and subtle inquiry in his voice.
He called her name softly, his tone more solemn and profound than ever before.
"That day,"
He paused slightly, as if he was carefully considering each word, and as if deep in his heart he was gathering the courage to tell the truth.
"In the Imperial Garden, next to the rockery..."
His voice unconsciously lowered a few degrees, as if he was afraid of disturbing those dusty memories.
"You, what did you hear?"
This was the real reason why he had to see her today no matter what! He desperately needed to know how many secrets hidden in the dark she had seen through!
Upon hearing this, Shen He slowly raised his eyes.
Her gaze was as calm as a deep pool of water, without the slightest ripple or wave. She seemed to be able to see into people's hearts, yet was unfathomable.
Just looking at him quietly, as if I could see through all the fear and anxiety in his heart.
After a moment, she opened her red lips slightly, her voice was clear and light, without any emotion.
"Brother Minglan."
She called him "Brother Minglan" again, but her tone was completely different from when she was in front of the Shen Mansion. It was full of understanding as if she knew everything.
"What do you want me to hear?"
She paused slightly, and the corners of her lips seemed to curve upward in a very shallow arc, with a hint of playfulness and profound meaning.
"Then I heard something."
These words were like a stone thrown into the center of a lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves in Xue Minglan's heart!
Xue Minglan's eyes suddenly tightened, as if he was deeply touched by the storm that was inadvertently stirred up.
What does she mean by this?
Does that mean she didn't hear anything and was just trying to appease him?
Or had she actually heard the key points, perhaps even more than he imagined? !
The sunlight outside the window had shifted its angle at some point, filtering through the carved wooden windows and casting even more mottled shadows on the table.
Light and darkness intertwined fiercely on his face.
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