Chapter 207: I Had the Thought of Detaining Them
Chapter 207: Chapter 207: I Had the Thought of Detaining Them
Xie Jinbai slouched in his chair, his knuckles tapping on the armrest. His posture was lazy, his gaze casual and uninterested.
He couldn’t muster an ounce of interest.
Instead of watching this flashy but useless display, he would rather be out riding with his beloved.
He had originally planned for them to spend the day alone together.
But no, she just had to drag this whole crowd along.
Xie Jinbai understood the underlying reasons, of course.
First, she wanted to ease the tension between him and the Cui Family.
This was something that should have been done long ago.
But he had been too busy since returning to the Capital City. On top of that, things had been tense between them lately. Today, the atmosphere had finally eased considerably, and he was free, so she had taken the opportunity to organize this gathering.
She wanted her cousins to come before him, to at least gain a bit of his favor.
Who knew, it might lead to a swift rise through the ranks for them in the future.
Second was for Chen Minrou’s sake.
She was worried about Chen Minrou’s health and was trying all sorts of ways to cheer her up.
Hoping to make her happy and dispel her gloom.
Compared to spending a lovey-dovey day alone with him, she would rather be galloping wildly across the fields with Chen Minrou.
Xie Jinbai had never received such sincere concern from her, which, naturally, irritated him.
In fact, the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became.
He turned his head and said to the man beside him, "Hurry up and placate your wife. Don’t make Yaoyao worry and think about her all the time."
This temper he couldn’t show in front of Cui Lingyao, he had no qualms about unleashing on others.
"..." Zhao Shijie was silent.
’As if he didn’t want to.’
Speaking of which, his own resentment was just as strong. "If by ’worrying,’ Your Highness means advising my wife to divorce me, then I really have her to thank for that."
Xie Jinbai wasn’t the least bit embarrassed by the remark.
He said without a change in expression, "If Yaoyao advised divorce, she must have had her reasons. You should reflect on yourself and what you did to make her prefer to break up a marriage rather than mend it."
A superior’s rank was a crushing weight.
To say nothing of the distinction between a ruler and his subject.
The Crown Prince was still a ruler.
In Zhao Shijie’s eyes, Xie Jinbai’s current status was no different from the Crown Prince’s.
No matter how unreasonable his words were, Zhao Shijie could only listen quietly.
Besides, his words weren’t entirely without reason.
Zhao Shijie fell silent.
Xie Jinbai glanced at him, unconcerned with the couple’s marital problems. "Whatever Yaoyao does, her intentions are to help your wife. You’d better not hold a grudge against her."
His tone was calm, but Zhao Shijie heard the warning within it.
He pursed his lips. "For a single Hundred Diseases Pill, I already owe the Princess Consort a life. How could I hold a grudge?"
That was the Hundred Diseases Pill.
Something even the bedridden old Emperor couldn’t obtain, despite his pleas.
If not for Cui Lingyao’s generosity, his wife would have long since passed away.
It would not be an exaggeration to call it the grace of a second life.
Zhao Shijie felt nothing but gratitude toward her.
At the mention of the Hundred Diseases Pill, Xie Jinbai’s brow furrowed slightly.
That thing had caused him too much trouble.
A divine medicine that could raise the dead—it wasn’t just his father, the Emperor, who was tempted. The other Princes of the Imperial Family and the nobles were tempted as well.
Lately, they had been beating around the bush, trying to inquire about it.
If not for Xie Jinbai’s own immense power, his murderous reputation, his firm grip on authority, and the fact that he was only a single step from the throne, he wouldn’t have been able to shield her. How else could Cui Lingyao have enjoyed such peaceful days?
After all, which of the princes and nobles didn’t fear death? To a dying person, a divine medicine that could raise the dead was more precious than anything.
Facing inquiries from all sides, even Xie Jinbai was getting a headache. "You were there at the time. How could you let her take it out in front of everyone?"
’Of course, his Yaoyao is brilliant, but she has no experience with court affairs. She doesn’t understand the treacherous undercurrents of the outside world. In a moment of desperation, she couldn’t have thought of the long-term consequences.’
But Zhao Shijie had navigated the imperial court for so many years. How could he just stand by and watch her take out something so priceless in public?
And afterward, he didn’t even silence the witnesses!
Zhao Shijie said, "At that moment, I couldn’t think about anything else."
’As if he would believe that.’
He sneered and shot back, "If it had been Chen Minrou who took out the Hundred Diseases Pill, would those Imperial Physicians have left the Duke Zhao Mansion alive?"
"..." Zhao Shijie was silent for a moment, then explained in a hoarse voice, "I did consider... detaining them. But the matter involved four Imperial Physicians, which would have been a major incident. Besides, Imperial Doctor Liu is one of His Majesty’s men."
An Imperial Physician personally responsible for the Emperor’s health comes to my Zhao Family’s estate and just... dies.
Along with him, four Imperial Physicians would have died at once, plus several so-called Divine Doctors recruited from among the common people.
Anyone would be able to tell something was wrong.
The others, he could have dealt with. But Imperial Doctor Liu was someone the Emperor would personally ask about.
The Zhao Family wasn’t his alone. Above him were his parents and clan elders; below him were his brothers and nephews.
Even though he owed her a life-saving debt, he couldn’t afford to risk everything for Cui Lingyao’s sake and incur the old Emperor’s wrath. One misstep, and his entire clan, old and young, would be dragged down with him.
Of course, if it had been Chen Minrou, that would have been a different matter entirely.
Xie Jinbai understood this point perfectly, which was why he had restrained himself and not acted on his anger these past few days.
If Zhao Shijie had dared to value Cui Lingyao as much as he valued Chen Minrou, then Xie Jinbai really would have settled the score with him.
’In this world, the only one willing to abandon everything for her, to act without a care for the consequences, is me.’
’And it can only be me.’
Xie Jinbai reined in his anger and instructed in a level voice, "Keep a close eye on the Li Family. Be wary of a counterattack."
"Yes," Zhao Shijie agreed, then added, "There’s a lot of activity at the Horse Racing Ground today. I wonder if... *he* will make a move."
Xie Jinbai didn’t make a sound.
Suddenly, the corner of his eye caught something. He whipped his head around, his gaze fixed on a point behind and to his side. A dark, intimidating light swirled in his eyes.
Slightly stunned, Zhao Shijie followed his gaze.
A group of young ladies was gathered there, all dressed in riding attire. They were at the tender age of blooming flowers, charming and lovely, chattering away.
Zhao Shijie recognized one of them.
Chen Peirou.
His sister-in-law.
The young woman who had almost become his second wife.
A few months ago, the salacious scandal between the brother-in-law and his young sister-in-law had spread like wildfire throughout the Capital City.
The two sisters... one was willing to sacrifice herself for the other, swallowing her grievances to become his second wife. The other’s heart ached for her younger sister, unable to bear seeing her life wasted.
No one had ever asked what he thought.
Or whether he even wanted it.
His wife was gravely ill, and his heart was already full of a despair and grief he couldn’t vent. On top of that, he was being forced to take a second wife. No one could possibly understand what Zhao Shijie was going through.
He had wanted to prove his innocence, to tell Chen Minrou that he would never marry another woman in this lifetime.
But he didn’t know what to do to make her believe him.
No one knew that for a long time, he had harbored genuine murderous intent toward Chen Peirou, a girl he had once seen as a little sister.
It wasn’t just her. His murderous urges had surged wildly toward the other "candidates for a second wife" that Chen Minrou had envisioned.
If not for the sliver of rationality holding him back, Zhao Shijie feared he would have found ways to kill off the unmarried women of the Chen Family, one by one.
It was then that he truly understood Xie Jinbai’s years of frenzied conquest and slaughter.
Now that Chen Minrou’s health was gradually recovering, whenever Chen Peirou came to the mansion to visit, Zhao Shijie would make a detour just to avoid seeing her.
He was terrified of getting entangled with his sister-in-law ever again.