Chapter 381
Chapter 381: I Never Loved You-Do You Understand?
Yu Zhi Yi gave her order crisply: “Take her away and keep a strict watch. Remember: no one is allowed near the prisoner except me and the person who brings the food.”
Tang Ming Xuan answered with respect: “Yes!”
The other guards, of course, had no objections.
Du Zi Heng was both anxious and angry.
Yu Zhi Yi found it pretty ridiculous. He claimed he had come for her and even hoped to get back together. Yet right in front of her, he pled for his former “rival,” who was now convicted for trying to harm her. She didn’t care about Du Zi Heng and had never planned to remarry him. She had never loved him at all. But from the view of an ordinary woman, she still wanted to spit: [Tch. Scumbag.]
Suddenly, her expression changed.
A ripple of spiritual energy flared around You Bing Yue!
Yu Zhi Yi instinctively moved Jiang Liu Yi behind her as spiritual energy gathered in her palm.
Just as she was ready to strike, You Bing Yue vanished!
In the spot where she’d been standing, a talisman lay on the ground, burning fast.
Du Zi Heng cried out in shock: “Bing Yue!”
He swung toward Yu Zhi Yi and demanded: “What did you do to her?”
His eyes were red, and his face was full of regret. Only now did he realize the one he had always loved was You Bing Yue. Toward Yu Zhi Yi, he felt guilt, reluctance, and even admiration. Maybe there had been love-but far less than what he felt for You Bing Yue.
He accused her: “I didn’t think you were this heartless. She was already like this, and you still wouldn’t spare her?”
He went on: “I had decided to give her up, and she did her best to push us back together-what more do you want?”
Yu Zhi Yi felt a wave of nausea and said: “What nonsense are you spouting?”
She had always thought he was at least clear-headed despite his flaws in love, but now she doubted her judgment.
She said evenly: “Du Zi Heng, was I not clear enough before? Is that why you keep using the name of love to come disgust me again and again?”
She continued, every word firm: “If I wasn’t clear, then hear me now: I have never, ever had feelings for you.”
She added: “I married you back then only to follow my parents’ wishes. It had nothing to do with you as a person.”
She said: “Whether you were Du Zi Heng, or Zhang Ziheng, or Li Ziheng-it wouldn’t have changed my marrying you.”
She stated: “As for You Bing Yue interfering in our marriage, if she hadn’t come to me again and again to show off, I not only wouldn’t have minded, I would have thanked her for taking you, a walking headache, off my hands.”
She declared: “I, Yu Zhi Yi, only want to cultivate well and ascend as soon as possible. I don’t want to be trapped by mortal romance.”
She finished: “I don’t care about you. I won’t be jealous of You Bing Yue because of you, and I would never hurt her because of you.”
She said: “Every time I acted against her, there was just one reason-she provoked me. Do you understand?”
And she added coolly: “Oh, and if she breaks the law, as an official of the Ministry of Justice, I won’t sit back and ignore it.”
She asked: “Was that clear enough this time?”
The blood drained from Du Zi Heng’s face. His body swayed, his head tilted, and he collapsed in a faint.
Yu Zhi Yi blinked and thought: [Seriously? Now he’s pretending to pass out on me?]
What she didn’t know was that when she finished speaking, Du Zi Heng’s mind felt as if someone had ripped it open. A flood of familiar yet strange memories poured in, and the pain knocked him out. Because she wasn’t watching him anymore, she also missed the fact that his features actually began to change.
With the farce handled, she returned to her own courtyard.
Jiang Yu Chuan followed and asked with hopeful eyes: “Jin’er, can’t you stay a bit longer?”
Yu Zhi Yi said helplessly: “Your Majesty only gave me one month of leave. If I’m not back in the Capital City within three days, it might count as deceiving the ruler.”
The emperor wouldn’t toss her in jail or try to kill her for that alone, but it would give him an excuse to make trouble. And if the Empress Dowager grabbed onto that, she might force Yu Zhi Yi to cure Prince Xiao Yao. [No need to bring that trouble on myself.]
It wasn’t that she had no way to cure Prince Xiao Yao. But that guy had attacked her, an innocent bystander, for his beloved’s sake without caring about right or wrong. Why should she heal him? If she didn’t have some skills, the one bedridden now would be her. If that had happened, Prince Xiao Yao would never have tried to help her recover. He would have wished her dead-and maybe danced on her grave.
Xiao Qing Xuan shot Jiang Yu Chuan a glare and said: “Your work counts as work, but your daughter’s work isn’t important? You’re only the second master of the Martial Alliance, not even an official post. Jin’er is a real Imperial Court official. Her duties matter more than yours.”
Jiang Yu Chuan rubbed his nose and said: “It’s not that I don’t care about her work; I just can’t bear to part with Jin’er-or you.”
Just then, Jiang Liu Yun stepped in with one foot through the door and muttered: “…So I don’t matter, huh?”
Jiang Yu Chuan glared at him and said: “I’ve been annoyed by you for over ten years. I wish you’d get far away and stop waving yourself in front of me.”
He added: “And can you really compare yourself to your sister?”
One was a gentle, thoughtful, well-read eldest daughter; the other was a reckless brat always chasing cats, teasing dogs, and causing trouble.
Not even close.
Jiang Liu Yi snorted with laughter.
Yu Zhi Yi couldn’t hold back her smile either.
Jiang Liu Yun looked wounded and said: “Sister, you’re laughing at me?”
Yu Zhi Yi coughed lightly.
Xiao Qing Xuan also laughed despite herself.
When everyone had laughed enough, she stepped forward to settle the matter and said: “If you father and sons really want to be with us, then finish your tasks as soon as you can. Jin’er can’t get away from her duties. If you truly want to stay by our side, you’ll have to give up the Martial Alliance.”
Yu Zhi Yi slowly put away her smile and said: “Actually, that may not be necessary.”
Seeing everyone look over, she said: “I’m planning to ask for more leave soon-or resign outright.”
Jiang Liu Yi frowned and asked: “Are you worried Chancellor Du will retaliate?”
Yu Zhi Yi shook her head and said: “Chancellor Du isn’t petty, and besides, I didn’t do anything to Du Zi Heng.”
She went on: “I’ve run into too many demonic cultivators recently, and I’ve learned some things about the Hidden Realm. I plan to visit my sect.”
Mainly, she wanted to probe the Gao clan and see if there was a way to end that old grudge. If there wasn’t…
She pressed down the killing intent rising in her heart and thought: [If it can’t be solved, I’ll end it my way.]
A guard reported from outside: “Second Master, someone outside calls himself the young manor lord of Juxian Manor and asks to see Second Miss.”
Jiang Yu Chuan’s face sank at once and he said: “Don’t see him!”
He had no good feelings toward Juxian Manor now. Reason told him what Ji Guang Dai did might have nothing to do with the young manor lord, but the thought still made him uncomfortable.
Yu Zhi Yi pinched her fingers and counted, then said: “Let’s see him. This young manor lord isn’t the same as his father.”
Hearing her say that, Jiang Yu Chuan relented: “Fine. See him.”
The young manor lord was even younger than Jiang Liu Yun, but his eyes held a depth far beyond his age. A thin boy sat in a large wheelchair that seemed to wrap around half his body. He opened his mouth, and a fit of coughing burst out before he could speak.
When he finally stopped, he said apologetically: “Sorry. My body just won’t cooperate.”
No one blamed him for being weak. After all, his state was a gift from his own father. A boy without a mother, unloved by his father, and used by that father as a vessel to hold misfortune-anyone with a heart would feel for him.
Jiang Yu Chuan wasn’t made of stone. Looking at a boy not much younger than his own son living like this, he couldn’t bring himself to say, “Like father, like son.” Still, while he no longer resisted the boy meeting his daughter, he wasn’t willing to let them meet alone.
He asked flatly: “Young Manor Lord Ji, what do you want?”
The youth coughed once more. Lifting his gaze, he saw the entire second branch of the Jiang clan gathered in the room-five pairs of eyes staring straight at him. He hesitated, then, swallowing his frustration, bowed from his wheelchair and said with effort: “Greetings, Official Yu.”
Those five characters-“Official Yu”-made every face in the Jiang clan’s second branch fall at once.