flstandardbreds Chapter 158 Why are you so indifferent to me?
Chapter 158 Why are you so indifferent to me?
After the others left, only Xiao Hengzhi and Jiang Mian remained in the courtyard.
The atmosphere was quiet for a moment.
Xiao Hengzhi suddenly spoke up: "Jiang Mian... Wen Yin's entry into the manor is a temporary measure to avoid trouble. I will try to cancel this marriage... but the Empress Dowager has been unwell recently, so we should wait a while before speaking..."
After he finished speaking, he looked at her, his eyes filled with caution.
He was usually so domineering, but now he seemed all wilted.
Jiang Wan said calmly, "Your Highness need not explain to me."
She turned around, her eyes cold and piercing: "The Empress Dowager may seem kind, but she was a ruthless character when she held the Phoenix Seal. Whoever she wanted to get married had to wear red and ride in the sedan chair. The Emperor, who is particularly concerned about filial piety, would not object... So, marriage is never something that the Prince can change."
"I... will find a way..."
Jiang Mian didn't want to listen to his nonsense at all, and interrupted, "Your Highness is usually arrogant, but now you listen to the Empress Dowager's every word. This makes me look at you in a new light."
The words fell silently, like falling snow.
Xiao Hengzhi didn't reply, but just looked at her quietly, his chest heaving.
The phrase "I will obey your every word" made him feel a little guilty.
He sat on the throne of a prince, holding great prestige, yet possessed not a single soldier.
A complex mix of emotions flashed across those eyes in an instant: repression, anger, and a hint of... resentment.
He gazed into the distance, his voice low and hoarse: "Tell me, isn't living like this all too ridiculous? A powerless person is just a horse to be controlled, a pawn to be manipulated at will... I suddenly understand why you wanted to climb to the position of Empress. There are some things that are still worth fighting for."
Jiang Mian was still pondering the meaning of his words when she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and pulled in front of him: "Jiang Mian, if you are unhappy because Wen Yin entered the manor, you can just complain! Instead of reasoning with her so rationally, you should just vent your anger."
"Your Highness misunderstands. I have no anger at all."
She paused for a moment, then said, "Now that Miss Wen has entered the manor, I am not a member of the Prince's household. I should maintain proper boundaries with the Prince. Please, Your Highness, let me go."
Upon hearing this, his eyes suddenly darkened.
"Let go?"
"Not a member of the Prince's household? Keep your distance?" He chuckled. "When you were intimate with me in bed, you weren't so discerning."
His presence was overwhelming; he was so close that her chest tightened slightly.
"Raise your head and tell this king..."
He said it word by word.
Jiang Wan slowly raised her eyes, and in the instant their eyes met, the words of the crow that day suddenly flashed into her mind—
"Xiao Hengzhi stole the gold and jade talisman that Wu Ke had hidden away, impersonated the Empress Dowager's grandson, and completely fooled you..."
"The bitterness of spring must be dispelled with the blood of one's heart..."
But if it really is his heart's blood, how can she take his life-giving blood with her own hands?
He was no longer the child who secretly picked red plum blossoms for her while shivering from the cold himself.
She wasn't the one who was bullied and left battered and bruised, waiting for her to help him up.
He is, a Red Slave...
No matter how much Jiang Mian wanted to kill him, she didn't dare to make any rash moves.
Just looking at him makes my heart sink.
After a moment of silence and eye contact, she looked away and said, "If Your Highness has nothing else to say, I would like to go back to my room to rest."
Xiao Hengzhi still refused to let go.
Why do you treat me with such indifference?
"Indifference?" Jiang Wan smiled helplessly. "The prince is arrogant and domineering, and he has taken advantage of my body. Do you expect me to be grateful? Now that His Highness the Crown Prince is about to get married, and I am stuck here with no way out, should I be happy?"
Xiao Hengzhi gritted his teeth: "In the end, you're still thinking about Ning Zhi."
"If I don't miss him, why would I still be thinking about you?"
As Xiao Hengzhi listened to Jiang Mian's words, his fingers gradually tightened, and his eyes turned as cold as a deep pool.
"Even now, your heart is still entirely with him. So what am I to you?"
His voice was low and deep, like the crisp sound of snow pressing down on branches.
Jiang Wan snorted coldly: "It's nothing, because I already said that you're a madman."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the surroundings seemed to freeze over, and even the wind suddenly stopped.
A dark glint flashed in Xiao Hengzhi's eyes. He swallowed hard, staring into her eyes, and said, word by word, "You're right. I am a madman, so you'd better stay by this madman's side. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to kill Ning Zhi a thousand times over! Even if the emperor comes to stop me, I will show no mercy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the bamboo shadows swayed, and the cold wind seemed to stop.
Behind the bamboo grove not far away, a withered twig snapped with a "crack".
"who?!"
Xiao Hengzhi shouted coldly, his clothes fluttering in the wind, and strode to the back of the bamboo forest.
The wind had stopped and the forest was quiet, with only the bamboo branches swaying, clearly indicating that someone had passed by.
Jiang Mian's eyebrows and eyes were covered with a thin layer of frost as she turned and walked into the house.
Xiao Hengzhi's eyes darkened instantly, and he was about to call her—
A servant quickly came to report, bowing and saying, "Your Highness, the Grand Tutor has come to visit and is waiting in the front hall."
Duan Zhian is here?
His brow twitched, and a hint of ferocity appeared in his eyes.
Xiao Hengzhi flicked his sleeves and strode towards the front hall.
As Jiang Wan turned the corner of the corridor, she caught a glimpse of his receding figure and breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn't know what was wrong with her; perhaps she was inexplicably enveloped in a layer of despair.
Since her rebirth, everything has changed. She is exhausted both mentally and physically, and really wants to write something, but the fifteenth is approaching. How is she supposed to obtain the heart's blood of a Red Slave?
She even considered giving up and ending it all, but what right did she have...?
As she returned to her room to rest, she caught a glimpse of a servant from the Prince's mansion carrying several rolls of letters, hurrying towards Xiao Hengzhi's study.
The corner of the paper was slightly turned up, revealing a familiar pattern.
Jiang Mian's heart skipped a beat, and she stopped in her tracks.
The pattern was one she had seen in A-Yun's room: a deep blue iris and delicately drawn vermilion. It was a privately made stationery, specially hand-painted by an artisan and not available in the market.
That day, she saw A-Yun writing with a pen, and she was using this very paper.
How did they end up in the Prince's mansion?
And why was it sent to Xiao Hengzhi's house?
She stood under the corridor, her brows slowly furrowing.
She held her breath for a moment, waiting for the servant to leave the study before slowly walking forward and pushing open the door to enter.
The study was quiet as usual, with incense burning softly, and the letter on the desk remained unopened.