Episode 183

The person who barged in had sloping shoulders, a snatched waist and pretty eyes.

It was Xi Rui.

She used one hand to hold her skirt up slightly so that she could walk and held the child with the other, expression filled with fury as she screamed at Ye Nan, “You’re supposed to be the Young Mistress of the Night Sanctum? The future leader of the sect? Someone whom everyone has to bow to and speak politely to? Who knew you turned out to be someone like that! Someone who sleeps around!”

“Since you’ve already slept with someone else, why didn’t you just go all the way and stay with him? How dare you covet my Xingjian and even hope to marry him! What a shameless woman you are!”

Ye Nan clasped her hands together tightly. Her face was pale as she remained silent.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Aren’t you always very good at talking? You were always so good at being the voice of reason and you’re always right – why aren’t you saying anything now? Struck dumb suddenly?” Xi Rui’s eyes were practically spewing fire as she continued to come down hard on Ye Nan, “You thought that Xingjian was a pushover just because he was nice? Because he had no family to fall back on? If you couldn’t separate us, you’d feel uneasy? Or you couldn’t accept the fact that the man you wanted didn’t want you anymore, and you’d rather destroy him than let him live a happy life?”

“Ye Nan, you’re disgusting! A lowlife! Why don’t you just die! Why didn’t you die hanging from that noose?! How dare you sit here like this!!”

Xi Rui was like a string of firecrackers that had just been lit. Her fury was unstoppable and her words were hurtful.

The servants in the room didn’t dare to say anything. The silence was deafening.

Dong Xin finally couldn’t stand it and took a step forward. “Young Mistress is unwell…”

Xi Rui glared at her. “So what if she’s unwell? You mean she’s allowed to do something like that just because she’s unwell? Besides, she’s not unwell! She deserves to die!”

“But there was nothing Young Mistress could have done back then, since she had unfortunately walked into a trap meant for someone else…” Dong Xin frowned as she attempted to defend her employer. “She’s the last person in the world who would have wanted things to turn out this way. She has eyes for absolutely nobody else but Mr. Liao. Everyone in the Sanctum and all her friends in the martial arts world can see that she only loves Mr. Liao! How could she possibly fall for someone else?”

After Xi Rui had barged in, the rest had come in as well, including Hua Rong, Zhuang Qingyu and Xin Yongwang.

The rest didn’t react much, but Xin Yongwang slumped his shoulders and his face fell when he heard these words.

Xi Rui just scoffed.

She was incredibly worked up and seemed to have forgotten the child she was carrying. Her actions were a little wild and the poor child was stuck in her arms. He pursed his little lips and didn’t dare to cry or even make any sound. He looked really pitiful.

“Stop this bullshit about true love! You think only people with money and power understand true love? Those without money and power like myself know what true love is too! If Ye Nan really loved Liao Xingjian so much and had eyes for nobody else but him and was wholly devoted to him, then she wouldn’t have a change of heart no matter what happened to her or who she meets! I agree, it’s sad that she lost her memory and forgot who she was because of Millet’s Dream. But as long as she didn’t forget to eat or drink, then it means she didn’t become a complete fool! If she was able to fall in love, then she should have fallen in love with only Liao Xingjian all over again!”

Xi Rui’s tone of voice was harsh and aggressive, “So much for making true love sound so noble! So, if you’ve forgotten you are, forgotten your past, forgotten that you were in love with someone and forgotten what they looked like, your feelings would change too? If you claim to love him with all your heart, why weren’t you able to recognize his soul! How could you forget the emotions you had! The reliance you had on one another! How could you just switch to someone else!”

The candle suddenly flickered as the wind howled, making everyone’s face look ghoulish for a moment.

Xi Rui had probably wanted to say something like that for a long time and was finally able to let it all out. Her rant made her feel better, but her rant was also very hurtful.

Song Caitang felt her chest tighten when she heard Xi Rui’s angry words.

If Ye Nan had already been tortured by the effects of Millet’s Dream, then she was going to be even more badly hurt by Xi Rui’s antagonistic outburst.

The more deeply she loved Liao Xingjian, the worse she would feel inside. Her heart must be bleeding.

All of a sudden, Song Caitang felt a warmth in her palm. Zhao Zhi had taken her hand in his.

Zhao Zhi rarely did anything that would cross the line like this. He refused to even stand too close to a woman and even if a woman accidentally came toward him, he would move aside swiftly, as though the other party was some monster or something. So why was he…

Was he trying to comfort her?

She looked up to meet his eyes.

They were deep and far away, like the stars in the vast sky. Like the frost on the pine trees in winter. Slightly cold but reflective.

And also a little… sad?

It was like… you could feel his warmth and smell him, but you would never know what he had gone through.

Song Caitang didn’t really understand.

Zhao Zhi only looked at her for two seconds before looking away.

His hand was trembling slightly.

This was the first time he had felt this afraid.

He had to stay especially close to her, like how he was holding her hand now, in order to keep himself from doing certain things.

Xi Rui’s words were directed at Ye Nan, but they hit close to home for him.

He had nearly…

Very nearly…

…Missed her.

Ye Nan’s face was pale and blood dribbled from her lips. She looked like she was really about to collapse.

Hua Rong felt bad for Ye Nan and pulled Xi Rui back. “How could you say that? How many people could truly love another like that? We’re all humans, not gods. We don’t have to be so fixated on such impossible ideals.”

“Ha! You’re just a child, so you don’t understand anything,” Xi Rui scoffed. “Why don’t you ask Ye Nan yourself? Ask her if she has confidence in her feelings, ask if her love is real or fake, ask if her love is one that is truly devoted to only one person like the way I just described!”

Pfft! Ye Nan vomited a mouthful of blood.

Just like what Xi Rui had said, Ye Nan was very certain of her feelings. She had only loved one man all her life, and that man was Liao Xingjian. She didn’t have space for anyone else. But she was suffering so badly precisely because reality contradicted with this certainty. She simply couldn’t accept the truth of what happened.

Xi Rui scoffed. “Despite how much all of you despise me and curse me, I am certain of how I feel. I, Xi Rui, will love nobody else but Liao Xingjian! Even though he’s already dead, even though he didn’t love me, I will love no other man! I am his, both while I’m alive and when I die! Even if fate decides that I should encounter the same thing as Ye Nan, I wouldn’t fall for another person! If something untoward happens to me or someone rapes me, I’ll hang myself so that Liao Xingjian knows my feelings for him are true!”

“I dare to say such things and I dare to do what I’ve said! What about you, Ye Nan? Do you dare to”

“Oh, silly me, you’ve already given yourself to another man, so you don’t have the right to even say such things! And now, you’re too late to hang yourself even!”

Hua Rong was furious and shoved her aside. “Are you quite done?! ARE YOU QUITE DONE! Why are you always like this! Why do you have to argue all the time? Don’t you find yourself irritating?!”

“Even if I’m irritating and quarrelsome, I’m still better than this bitch who’s been pretending to be pure and innocent, right?! The most pitiful one has to be Hall Master Xin, though…”

Xi Rui didn’t seem affected by Hua Rong’s words. She raised an eyebrow and threw Xin Yongwang a pitiful glance as she went on in a fairly loud voice, “Ye Nan might be a real slut, but she did well in her previous life and was born into a good family in this life along with good looks, so her face makes all the men fall for her. Hall Master Xin not only fell for her and listened to her, but he also quietly suffered so much humiliation and never told anyone. He has been cuckolded so badly, yet he still tries to gain her favor. He had to watch her happily get married to Liao Xingjian and even had to organize the wedding! I’ve never seen a bigger coward than him!”

“I’ll admit that I’m not so capable and I don’t have so many tricks up my sleeve – instead of quietly living peacefully as someone else’s lover and being a happy couple, she had to drag everyone down with her! She had to put everyone through pain! You’ve caused Xingjian’s death, so who’s next? Is it me? Come at me then, Ye Nan! Come at me! Kill me! Kill me! Let Xingjian see your true colors from above!”

She got more and more agitated and emotional again as she spoke, as though she would be appeased only if she got to tear Ye Nan to pieces.

Xin Yongwang stood in front of her. “That’s enough!”

Xi Rui’s expression paused when she realized it was the man she had called a cuckold and a coward. She glanced slightly to the side at Ye Nan, her expression filled with disdain.

As though she was looking forward to a good show and satisfied that she was done with her angry tirade that had exposed Ye Nan’s true colors to everyone, she smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll stop talking now. Your turn.”

She took a step back to give him space. “Why don’t you tell everyone about the wonderful time you spent with the Young Mistress of the Sanctum four years ago?”

Xin Yongwang kept quiet.

Xi Rui snorted. “Things have already come to this point and you still want to keep things a secret? Everyone already knows it happened. Instead of allowing everyone’s imagination to run wild, why not tell us what actually happened? I’m sure you know what to do.”

The entire room was silent.

Everyone was very interested in his response, so they all looked at him, their gazes asking the same question: so, how are you going to explain yourself now?

He didn’t say anything even after a long time, so Song Caitang decided to raise the question, “Hall Master Xin, four years ago, when Ye Nan was in danger and was poisoned by Millet’s Dream, was she with you?”

Xin Yongwang pursed his lips tightly and stared at Ye Nan for a long time before nodding slightly. “Yes.”

“Four years ago, I spent a good half a year with Young Mistress.”

It took him a long time, but once he had decided to admit it, he didn’t beat around the bush and even fell on his knees.

“I really… am truly in love with Young Mistress.”

After he got the first few words out, the rest followed easily. He wiped his tears away and went on, “I’ve liked her for a really long time, but I’ve not dared to say it out loud. Young Mistress is like the cloud in the sky, the moon’s reflection in the water, pure, clean and perfect. How could someone who crawled out of the mud like myself possibly be good enough for her? Mr. Liao, on the other hand, even though he doesn’t have parents, he really likes Young Mistress a lot and Young Mistress really likes him too. If they get married, they would definitely be very happy… but all that changed four years ago.”

“Four years ago, Young Mistress and Mr. Liao ran into trouble and there was no news about them at all. Of course, the sect grew worried and our sect leader immediately sent people out to look for them. I was lucky and found Young Mistress, but Young Mistress had forgotten her past and had even forgotten who she was. I had merely helped her out when we met and she showed so much gratitude toward me and she was really nice to me…”

“I had never seen her like that and greed began growing in my heart as I thought… I thought that things were pretty good like this… she had forgotten who she was and she had forgotten Mr. Liao too… Perhaps the heavens were giving me a chance…”

“Those six months… those were six months I had stolen for myself.”