boyutpedia Chapter 71: Not eliminating him was already more than merciful.
Chapter 71: Not eliminating him was already more than merciful.
Yuemei was taken aback, her face showing hesitation: "But Second Miss, aren't you and Young Master Xiao going to get married? Why do you suddenly want to send him away?"
Marry him?
It was just a joke. The fact that Aunt Wan poisoned her had already been exposed, so there was no need to take it seriously anymore.
She shook her head and said, "Just do as I say."
Seeing her resolute attitude, Yuemei stopped trying to persuade her and said softly, "Yes, Miss." Then she withdrew.
A night breeze drifted in through the cracks in the window, bringing a slight chill. Jiang Wan leaned against the window, feeling inexplicably restless. Her mind was filled with fragments of her time with Xiao Hengzhi, intertwined with her past life. The helpless despair of struggling against him deeply reminded her of how she had knelt at his feet, begging him to release her, and how she had been humiliated time and time again...
In this life, she will never allow Xiao Hengzhi to have another chance to drive her to the brink of despair.
Even if there's only the slightest chance, we can't risk keeping him by our side.
Soon, Yuemei returned quietly and whispered, "Second Miss, Young Master Xiao has packed his things and is waiting in the front yard. Would you like to see him?"
Did he ask me why I was kicking him out?
Yuemei shook her head.
Jiang Wan remained silent for a moment. This was for the best, saving her the trouble of explaining herself.
"Would the Second Miss like to go and see him?"
She shook her head and said, "He's gone. Let him go."
Just as they were about to leave, Jiang Wan spoke up again: "Hey, wait a minute, give him this bag of silver so he can find a good job out there."
"Yes," Yuemei replied, turning and leaving.
At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), it started raining outside.
Jiang Mian lay on the tatami mat, large raindrops hitting the windowpane, dripping and gradually forming a continuous patter.
Where will Xiao Hengzhi go? If he weren't the regent, wouldn't it be too cruel to treat him like this?
She turned over, thinking: Well, not eliminating him is already more than enough.
The rain was pouring down, and the wind was howling, rattling the windowpanes.
Jiang Mian woke up after only a short while, feeling that there was an occasional other sound mixed in with the rain, which bothered her. She simply put on her clothes, got out of bed, grabbed a cloak from the rack, and went outside.
After searching around, they found nothing unusual.
As she was about to return to her room, a subtle thought suddenly crossed her mind, and she called over the maid who was on night duty in the courtyard.
"Take the lantern, I need to go out for a bit."
The rain was drizzling, and the coolness was penetrating to the bone.
Jiang Mian walked hurriedly, with her maid following behind carrying a lantern, reminding her, "Second Miss, the rain is heavy and the road is slippery, please slow down!"
Jiang Mian continued walking without slowing down, and ordered someone to open the side door and go out.
She froze as soon as she took a step.
At the foot of the stone steps outside the door, the boy huddled in a corner, his arms wrapped around himself, his face pale with cold. He was soaked to the bone by the rain, and his messy hair hung down in front of his forehead, covering most of his face. He looked disheveled and vulnerable.
Jiang Mian frowned and called out, "Xiao Hengzhi, it's not like we didn't give you money. Why aren't you staying at an inn? Who are you trying to impress with this act?"
Xiao Hengzhi raised his head, water droplets still clinging to his eyelashes, his dark eyes revealing no emotion.
As their eyes met, a fluffy little head popped out from his arms, twitched its ears, and tilted its head back to let out a trembling "meow".
Jiang Mian walked closer and saw that it was a dirty little white kitten, which he held in his arms to keep warm from the rain.
Jiang Mian was overwhelmed with mixed feelings and couldn't help but recall her past life.
It was a spring day, and the palace was holding a mountain hunt. Xiao Hengzhi took her out of the palace, which was a rare occasion. She was vigilant the whole way and managed to escape from his side, but she accidentally wandered into the depths of the mountains.
Several large, burly wolfhounds spotted her and surrounded her. As she tried to dodge in fear, the wolfhounds suddenly froze, their sharp eyes dimming instantly and replaced by expressions of fear and retreat.
She turned around abruptly and saw Xiao Hengzhi approaching step by step. Under his gaze, the wolfhound let out a low whimper, then tucked its tail between its legs and timidly ran away.
Later, he got two wolfhounds and tied them up in her house, just to see her terrified and on the verge of collapse.
Perhaps feeling it wasn't enough, he killed two more people and threw them in, letting her watch the wolfhounds tear them apart.
She screamed, but couldn't escape a dormitory until he had had his fill and forced her to gouge out the wolfhound's eyes with her own hands.
The bloodied fingers made a sticky sound as they moved inside her eye sockets. She was trembling all over, but then she heard him whisper in her ear, "If you run away again, next time I'll gouge out these eyes..."
That kind of control and torment, like a shadow in the darkness, always lurked deep in her memory, leaving her nowhere to escape.
Now, looking at Xiao Hengzhi holding the little wildcat in his arms, the cat curled up in his arms, docile and dependent, without any fear.
Animal instincts don't lie. If he were the regent, the cat would probably be terrified and its fur would stand on end.
Jiang Mian suddenly thought that perhaps she really had made a mistake.
"You stayed because of this cat?"
Xiao Hengzhi lowered his eyes and said softly, "I can't take care of it. I was planning to hand it over to Miss after dawn before leaving..."
Jiang Mian was slightly moved, and there seemed to be some fluctuation in the depths of her calm eyes.
But only for a moment, she shook her head. Even if it was wrong, she could never feel at ease as long as Xiao Hengzhi stayed in the Jiang residence.
After a long silence, she ordered, "Go and bring that cat over."
Yuemei walked down the steps and took the cat out of Xiao Hengzhi's arms.
The kitten jumped into Jiang Mian's arms, whimpering softly as if it had been rescued.
Jiang Wan turned and walked towards the door, but after taking two steps she suddenly stopped, turned her head slightly and said, "Xiao Hengzhi, you have hands and feet, it's not difficult for you to support yourself. If you encounter any difficulties, you can also come to the Jiang family."
She could have ended the suspicion in many ways, such as killing him without anyone knowing, or cutting off his hand to render him immobile.
However, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
So, while worried, she also felt soft-hearted, and the only thing she could do was to drive him away.
The door slowly closed, and Jiang Mian's figure disappeared behind it.
As Xiao Hengzhi watched the door close coldly, he slowly reached out and wiped the rain from his face. His previous dejected expression was gone, replaced by a dark and unfathomable gloom in his eyes.
......
The next morning, Jiang Mian pushed open the side door, only to find it empty; the boy was nowhere to be seen. She breathed a sigh of relief.
On the third day, she arrived early again. All around was quiet, with the wind rustling the fallen leaves. She looked at the stone steps, feeling somewhat wistful.
Jiang Xun asked her, "Why did you drive him away?"
Jiang Mian didn't want to explain, and just casually replied, "The world is vast, he should go and experience it."
For several days in a row, Jiang Wan would involuntarily walk to the side door in the early morning, push it open, and look at the empty stone steps.
Later, the visits became less frequent, and she stopped pushing open the door to look back. The longing in her heart was worn away by the trivialities of daily life. Occasionally, when she thought of it, she would only let out a soft sigh.
When no one in the family mentioned Xiao Hengzhi again, Jiang Mian realized that there were very few traces of him in the Jiang residence.
Only the little white cat, which was growing bigger and bigger, rolled around on its belly in front of her every day, reminding Jiang Mian that there was once a person sitting wet on the steps in the rain, waiting for her to turn around.
On the day of Minor Snow, a rare warm sun came out.
Jiang Mian was holding a cat, lying on a rocking chair in the yard, when she heard a commotion in the front yard.
A maidservant rushed in to report: "Second Miss, someone from the Duke of Wen's mansion has come and says they are looking for Young Master Xiao."
Jiang Wan stood up, puzzled, and asked, "Are the people from the Wen residence looking for Xiao Hengzhi?"
"Yes, he said he had something important to discuss with him."
With doubts in her mind, Jiang Man walked to the front yard.
The person who came was indeed a maid from the Wen family. She turned her head to look at the Wen family's carriage parked outside the gate.
She brushed past the maid, stepped outside, and asked, "May I ask what brings you here to see him?"
After she finished speaking, a slow voice came from behind the sedan curtain: "Miss Jiang, please call him out. There are some things I only want to say to him."