Chapter 41 Unsalvageable
“Thank you, Your Highness, for making this special trip.”
Jiang Yingnan accepted the divorce papers with an icy expression, but his heart was filled with self-mockery—
He probably would never have the desire to marry again in this life.
“Then I’ll go back to teaching.”
“Anan!” Chu Ziqian couldn’t help but want to stop him to say a few more words. “Is everything going smoothly here? That brat Chu Tianlin is mischievous, has he made things difficult for you?”
“…No.” This topic stabbed Jiang Yingnan’s heart again. “I said, I’m fine here.”
“Anan, but I have to remind you,” Chu Ziqian suddenly lowered his voice, “Chu Lianmo is so enthusiastic about taking you in and giving you such an important position, he probably has ulterior motives.”
“I know all that. Don’t think you’re the only smart one.” Jiang Yingnan sneered. “The Yin Mei incident was the Empress’s idea, and I told them all about it.”
“What?” Chu Ziqian’s face immediately darkened. “What else did you say?”
Jiang Yingnan sneered, “What? You want to kill me to silence me?”
“…Impossible. Do you know that I had a big argument with my mother to protect you?”
Jiang Yingnan sighed silently in his heart, his expression softened slightly, and he lowered his voice, “Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything else. We parted ways amicably, and I have no intention of harming you. I’ll keep your dirty deeds to myself.”
Chu Ziqian breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he was overcome with intense sadness. “Anan, is this really the end for us?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Yingnan answered without hesitation, then turned and left without looking back.
Chu Ziqian stared at his back, his heart feeling as if it were pierced by countless needles, a sharp pain.
Jiang Yingnan ran into Qi Xiaojun.
“Anan,” because their relationship was becoming closer, Qi Xiaojun no longer addressed him as “Mr. Jiang,” “The Crown Prince came to see you?”
“…Don’t worry.” With Jiang Yingnan’s intelligence, he easily guessed what Qi Xiaojun wanted to say. “I definitely won’t soften my heart. Once I make a decision, I won’t go back on it.”
“I know.” Qi Xiaojun smiled faintly. “You look frail, but you’re actually a very determined person. Alright, go back to class, I’ll go see how Yin Mei is doing.”
Yin Mei and Wen Yuanru were each beaten with one hundred large bamboo canes that day. Yin Mei’s legs were broken, and he was barely alive.
Chu Lianmo, after all, felt pity for him having served him before, so he took him back to the Rui Wang’s mansion.
However, Chu Lianmo hadn’t cared about his life or death these past few days. He didn’t want to see that person anymore.
But Qi Xiaojun was always curious about something.
When he entered Yin Mei’s room, he was weakly lying on the bed.
“Are you feeling better?” Qi Xiaojun asked.
“…It’s you.” Yin Mei raised his head with a cold smile. “Did you come to laugh at me?”
“I’m not that free. I want to ask you a question.”
Seeing that he could speak normally, Qi Xiaojun sat down beside his bed.
“I’ve always been curious, when I first came to the Rui Wang’s mansion, I was less favored than you, and I was no threat to you at all. Why did you target me? Why did you relentlessly pursue revenge, even willing to perish with me?…Do we have some deep-seated hatred?”
This question was something Qi Xiaojun wanted to ask for Zhou Jun. Zhou Jun had never made an enemy in his life, yet he was inexplicably killed; it was truly pathetic.
“Because I just hate you sons of noble families!”
Yin Mei directly answered the question.
“I’m not really the eldest son of the Wen family; I don’t know who my parents are or why they didn’t come looking for me, but I was indeed sold to a brothel since I was a child. Do you know what kind of life I lived in the brothel when you were living a life of luxury as a rich young master?
“Since childhood, I had to sweep the floor, wipe tables, and do all kinds of hard labor, and if I made the slightest mistake, I would be beaten… That’s not all; when I reached a certain age, I had to serve customers. I put in countless efforts to be allowed to be a ‘qingguan’ (a prostitute who only provides companionship). I practiced playing the qin until my hands almost broke, and I danced until my legs almost broke, only then did I finally develop my skills.
“But do you think being a ‘qingguan’ means no more worries? I still had to drink and laugh with the guests. If I didn’t earn enough money in a day, there would be another merciless beating. You people who grew up in luxury would never understand this kind of life!
“Why, if we are all people, should my fate be like this! I’m not reconciled, I’m not reconciled! I’ll make you suffer the same way I did, even worse!”
Looking at Yin Mei’s gnashing teeth, Qi Xiaojun sighed inwardly.
Indeed, hateful people often have pitiful aspects, but this doesn’t change the fact that he is a hateful person.
“Just because you’re unhappy with your own life, does that give you the right to hurt innocent people?
“Besides, do you really think my past life was as good as you think? Let me tell you about my life.
“My mother died young, my father took concubines and had many children, and he never cared about me.
“And some of my brothers enjoyed bullying people. Sometimes, even when my father beat me, I needed to take my anger out on someone. I was the perfect target for bullying, a child without parental care.
“So, I had never offended anyone, yet I was beaten and scolded from a young age, and even forced to drink their urine…How was that life better than yours in the brothel?!”
These were what Qi Xiaojun saw in the original owner’s memories—Zhou Jun’s real life.
Why did Yin Mei think that Zhou Jun should die at his hands?
“…You…are you telling the truth?” Yin Mei stared at Qi Xiaojun in shock.
He never expected that Zhou Jun’s life had been so difficult.
“So, your way of revenge against this world is to bully those weaker than you? Do you dare to confront the culprits directly? Weak people like us should unite to fight against fate!”
“…” Yin Mei remained silent, and a trace of shame finally appeared in his eyes.
“Okay,” Qi Xiaojun softened his tone, “Now that it’s come to this, you’ve already received enough punishment. You should think about your future. His Highness has already written the divorce papers; you are no longer his concubine, but you can stay at the Rui Wang’s mansion to do some chores after you recover.”
“Do chores?” Yin Mei smiled wryly, “I’m already a cripple with broken legs.”
“Even with broken legs, you still have hands, can’t you help out in the kitchen by washing vegetables and cooking? In my mind, you’re an undefeatable cockroach, why are you giving up so easily now?”
“…Heh…” Yin Mei recalled the past conflicts with Qi Xiaojun, and for a moment, he felt as if it were a lifetime ago.
He was no longer Chu Lianmo’s family member; he no longer needed to cause trouble for Qi Xiaojun. And he had realized that he was no match for Qi Xiaojun and Chu Lianmo.
Yes, they were united as one, and it was impossible to provoke them, they were far beyond the capacity of a small character like himself.
“After I recover, maybe I’ll go back to the brothel to play the qin. That’s what I’m best at.”
Qi Xiaojun was a little surprised, “Don’t you hate the life in the brothel?”
“It’s different now. When the Rui Wang married me, he already redeemed me, so I’m now free, and I have a cooperative relationship with Mama, she can’t force me to earn a certain amount of money every day anymore.”
“…Then do as you wish.” Qi Xiaojun didn’t know much about this area, so he didn’t dare to offer any opinions. As long as Yin Mei was willing to cheer up and live a good life, and stop causing trouble, it would be a good thing.
That night, Qi Xiaojun talked about Yin Mei with Chu Lianmo in bed.
Chu Lianmo clicked his tongue, “You’re really a great philanthropist, you even worry about this kind of person.”
Qi Xiaojun smiled wryly, “When I think about his pitiful side, I can’t hate him wholeheartedly anymore.”
“Since you’re so fond of worrying about others,” Chu Lianmo changed the subject, “your friend claims to be a divine doctor, doesn’t he? Awan’s cough has been lingering for a long time, you should ask Ji Hua to treat her.”
“…That’s fine, I’ll ask him tomorrow.” Although he agreed, seeing Chu Lianmo so concerned about Jiang Wan, Qi Xiaojun couldn’t help but feel a little sour.
“What are you thinking about?” Chu Lianmo smiled, leaned over and kissed his face. “This Wang only respects Awan as an older sister.”
Speaking of which, Jiang Wan was indeed a couple of years older than Chu Lianmo.
“Don’t worry, this Wang doesn’t like sisters, only younger brothers.”
Qi Xiaojun blushed and spat, “呸” (tsk).
Early the next morning, he went to find Ji Hua to mention this matter.
Having had two previous experiences, he thought that Ji Hua would definitely agree to his request, but Ji Hua flatly refused: “I don’t treat anyone from the Jiang family.”
“…Why?” Qi Xiaojun was stunned.
“No reason. I just don’t like them.”
“Do you have any grievances with the Jiang family? Do you know Jiang Wan?”
Their lives should have had no intersection, Ji Hua was even visiting Chu’s capital city for the first time.
“I don’t know her.” Ji Hua said coldly, “I don’t want to talk about this topic anymore.”
“Oh, A Hua, I thought we were already good friends, you can’t tell me this?”
“…” Ji Hua looked at Qi Xiaojun’s concerned gaze, remained silent for a moment, and finally sighed in resignation, “Since you want to know so much, I’ll tell you… I’m Jiang Liming’s illegitimate son.”
“What?!” Qi Xiaojun was greatly surprised.
“When Jiang Liming met my mother, he hid his true identity and the fact that he was already married, and fell in love with my mother, resulting in her pregnancy.
“Later, when my mother found out the truth, she was very angry. Because she was a well-known physician in Qi, she was absolutely unwilling to be a concubine to a Chu official. So, she, already pregnant, resolutely decided to leave my father and give birth to me alone.
“For many years, my mother never told me who my father was. When I asked her when I was a child, she would get angry and ignore me for a long time, so I never dared to ask again. Until she was bedridden and dying, I couldn’t help but ask again. She finally told me this story.
“But she still didn’t mention my father’s name. She only said that he was an official in Chu’s capital city, that he only married one wife and had two sons and two daughters, and told me to find out myself.
“Later, I found out that Jiang Liming fits this description.
“But I don’t intend to recognize him. He caused me to grow up without a father, and my mother was cold to me. Perhaps she hated him and resented me for it. Or maybe she didn’t hate, she was just hopeless about the world and had no love or hate left.”
After hearing this, Qi Xiaojun knew Ji Hua’s complicated past and finally understood why, as a doctor, he had such a strange temperament, lacking the compassion of a physician, and capable of letting people die without saving them.
“A Hua, you must have had a very hard time all these years…Fortunately, you’ve finally found someone who loves you.”
“…You don’t mean that Zuo Fei, do you?” Ji Hua’s face flushed slightly, “Since he met me by chance, he’s been following me and pestering me, saying that he happened to be traveling the rivers and lakes too. That day, I was drunk, so…in short, it was just a drunken mistake, and I have no intention of taking responsibility for him.”
Qi Xiaojun couldn’t help but laugh—does that need responsibility?
“Okay, let’s not talk about this. A Hua, even if Jiang Wan’s father wronged you, it has nothing to do with Jiang Wan! She’s really a good person, do it for me, okay?”
Ji Hua frowned, “She’s your husband’s wife, why are you so insistent on helping her? To be honest, I hate men who are promiscuous.”
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