Chapter 218: The Old Knife

Xie Wei had just heard the two of them talking, assuming they were reminiscing and didn’t pay too much attention. However, upon hearing these words, he immediately furrowed his brow, and almost instantly realized that there was indeed a small flaw in Zhou Yinzhi’s words.

He looked at Lu Xian.

Lu Xian had also clearly heard what Jiang Xuening had just said. He was inwardly shocked and his expression became more serious. Upon meeting Xie Wei’s gaze, he immediately said, “I will have people investigate it immediately.”

Xie Wei added, “Have someone follow his movements secretly. Until the matter is clarified, do not let him leave Xinzhou.”

Lu Xian replied, “Understood.”

At this moment, Zhou Yinzhi’s position within the Jinyiwei (Embroidered Uniform Guard) was second to none. It was highly unusual to be missing for over half a month, especially during such a special time. The involvement in this matter would not be small. He didn’t dare to delay and immediately turned to leave, heading toward the city tower below to arrange for things.

Jiang Xuening also felt a chill run down her spine. The more she thought about it, the more inappropriate she felt the situation was, but she still didn’t know Zhou Yinzhi’s true intentions.

Nevertheless, it was better to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible.

She couldn’t be bothered to say anything else and turned to leave as well.

Unexpectedly, Xie Wei was quick-witted and fast. He grabbed her arm and fixed his gaze on her face. He then said, “You seem to know quite a lot about the trivial matters in the palace.”

Jiang Xuening froze.

The palace received tributes from various provinces and prefectures all year round, for all kinds of seasonal festivals. The flow of goods was constant. Even people like Xie Wei, who had worked in the previous dynasty, couldn’t know all the details. Even the eunuchs in charge of the Imperial Household Department’s storerooms might not be able to recall everything offhand and would have to consult records to confirm. Yet she, upon hearing Zhou Yinzhi’s casual remark, immediately noticed the flaw. That was a bit too sharp. If she hadn’t committed such details to memory, how could she have been so meticulous?

She had detected the flaw in Zhou Yinzhi’s words.

And Xie Wei had detected the flaw in hers.

Jiang Xuening stood motionless, her wrist grasped firmly by him. She turned back to meet his eyes but remained calm, saying, “Sir Xie, have you forgotten? Over the past two years, I’ve been secretly managing a salt production business, and I’ve also been involved in the trade of tea, rice, silk, and cloth. Naturally, I am aware of when spring and autumn teas are harvested, how many tributes are to be sent, and the quality of what is left in the common market. Yunnan is not far from the southwest of Sichuan, and Zhou Yinzhi was simply unlucky. What he mentioned just happened to be something I know.”

Xie Wei didn’t respond directly to whether he believed her or not but said, “In the capital, Zhou Yinzhi was originally under your father’s command, and later served you. He can be considered one of your ‘former subordinates.’ However, when I observed your interaction with him earlier, you seemed to be familiar, yet in reality, you don’t trust him. You are even very cautious.”

It was simply a case of “once bitten, twice shy.”

Jiang Xuening could not forget the suffering from her past life.

If there had been someone else to rely on back then, she would never have had any dealings with him. She would have avoided him completely, just like how she kept a respectful distance from Xie Wei.

She said, “Precisely because I have a slight acquaintance with Zhou Yinzhi from the past, I understand his nature well. If a person’s nature can easily change, it is no longer called ‘nature.’ People who are cruel and dangerous, even if they are momentarily kind, will eventually show their fangs. Such people can be dealt with for a time, but not for long, so I remain cautious.”

Although she was clearly talking about Zhou Yinzhi, Xie Wei felt there was a hidden implication in her words.

His expression gradually became colder.

His gaze fixed on her, and he asked, “So, in your eyes, am I like Zhou Yinzhi, someone you fear like a snake or a scorpion?”

Fear like a snake or a scorpion?

Zhou Yinzhi, no matter how capable, was nothing more than someone who fawned over those in power and played both sides—nothing but a small-time schemer. But Xie Wei, on the other hand, had a firm mind, a heart full of hatred and grudges, capable of enduring great hardships, and would eventually rise to power with a bloodbath in the palace, standing above all others!

A man like Xie Wei, a hero, could never be compared to Zhou Yinzhi.

If Zhou Yinzhi was a snake or a scorpion, then Xie Wei was the scorching sun in the sky.

From a distance, it was tolerable, but close up, it would scorch the heart and lungs.

Once the blazing sun fell from the sky, it would no longer be the light that illuminated the world, but a terrifying force that could destroy everything!

In her past life, when she was confined in the palace and bullied, she had once harbored a glimmer of hope for this man.

She thought to herself, she had saved him.

Even though they hadn’t had much interaction for years, she had once jokingly made things difficult for him, but in the end, it was all just harmless trivialities. If she had asked him for help, perhaps, given their past relationship and her old favor of saving him, he might have been willing to rescue her from danger.

But nothing happened.

It wasn’t until later that she heard the speculation from her past life, from You Fangyin: It turned out that the sons of the Xiao and Yan families of the previous dynasty were still alive. Perhaps it wasn’t someone else, but the powerful and influential Imperial Teacher, Xie Wei.

Xie Ju’an was actually Yan Lin’s elder brother.

Then how could he turn a blind eye and stand by while she endured all the humiliation and suffering?

When faced with adversity, it doesn’t always lead to despair; but if even the last shred of hope is shattered, what is left to hold onto in such a dire situation?

Jiang Xuening knew that this was a new life, and she shouldn’t equate the people from two lifetimes. But how could the same person’s nature change so drastically?

Xie Wei was still the same Xie Wei.

She dared not place even the slightest hope in this person. Since he insisted on asking, she would say the words she hadn’t spoken the day before: “Sir, your ambitions are high, like the clouds in the sky; I, however, am shallow and shortsighted, like the mud beneath the earth. The swallow does not know the hawk, and the summer insect cannot understand the ice. You and I are like the sky and the earth—entirely mismatched. Ordinary people spend their entire lives seeking only peace and safety. I ask that you be merciful and spare me.”

Be merciful.

When Xie Wei heard these words, it was as if cold water had been poured over him, and even the blood that had been boiling in his veins suddenly turned cold.

Sweetness lasts only a moment, but pain is sharp and heart-wrenching.

Jiang Xuening didn’t wait for his reply. She simply curled the corner of her mouth in a mocking smile and said, “If you can’t bear to let go, then perhaps I should stay with you for another two years? When you’ve grown tired of me, you can let me go?”

If her previous words were like a knife stabbing at him, these words now were almost as if she were carving at his heart.

She was deliberately provoking him with her words.

Could he, with all his desires and emotions, simply endure such disrespect?

The anger buried deep in his eyes finally surfaced. But instead of releasing her, he gripped her wrist even tighter. Every word came out slowly, “So, is it that what I desire, my feelings and nature, make you afraid, disgusted, and want to escape? Are you so cowardly, so timid, that you won’t even try once, and instead act like a deserter, just like you and Zhang Zhe?”

He mentioned Zhang Zhe again.

This was not the first time.

Jiang Xuening had been very displeased with this the last time, but this time, she was deeply enraged. Perhaps it was because he had crossed a line, or perhaps it was because the meaning in his words hurt her.

Her body immediately bristled with sharp energy, and she sharply retorted, “The front is an abyss. If I know I will be shattered to pieces by jumping, do you expect me to leap down?”

Xie Wei responded, “How would you know if you don’t jump?”

Jiang Xuening shouted, “You’re a madman if you jump!”

Xie Wei sneered, “You still don’t understand, do you?”

Jiang Xuening felt as if the thread of rationality that held her together was being stretched to its limit, nearly pulling her into the same maddened state as him. Fear made her struggle to pull away, “Let go! What do I need to understand? What is it that I don’t understand?!”

The corner of Xie Wei’s eye twitched slightly.

At that moment, he remembered what she had said about “the bottle’s porcelain having a crack,” and he felt his heart flip as if a flood had been unleashed inside him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t suppress it. Rage surged, and his grip tightened, not loosening for even a moment. Instead of letting her go, he dragged her toward the other end of the city tower.

Jiang Xuening didn’t want to go, but she was powerless against his strength. She could only think that he had lost all reason. “What are you doing?”

Xie Wei ignored her and kept pulling her forward.

Outside the city walls was an endless wilderness, while within the walls were the bustling streets with vendors and common folk.

She was being dragged forward by Xie Wei. As the two argued, the soldiers they passed simply turned a deaf ear, lowering their heads, and no one dared to approach to check on them.

Finally, they reached the eastern end of the city tower.

Below, there was a forge for making iron tools.

In the tiled shed, several furnaces stood, large and small, burning with coal. On this cold winter day, the blacksmiths inside wore only short brown coats, and some were even shirtless, swinging hammers to strike the red-hot iron billets. The sparks flying from the hot metal, the bright red iron blocks, and even the molten iron at the top all emitted an intense heat.

Xie Wei pointed downwards: “You think you’re a piece of porcelain, something that can’t be mended once broken. Jiang Xuening, who do you think you are? Do you think you’re worthy of being that piece of porcelain? You and I, we’re nothing but molten iron rolling around in this furnace!”

Jiang Xuening was made to look down at the scene by his firm grip on her chin.

Xie Wei’s cold and harsh voice was sharp and ruthless, as if thunder had struck her ears: “I know your background; you know my experiences. Heaven didn’t give you and me the chance to be weak and useless from birth. You must endure countless sufferings, and endless hammering to become something! A cracked plum vase can never be mended, but if you were born to be iron, then you must understand, you are not fragile. Even if your bones are broken, you must return to the furnace, bleed, endure humiliation, and be forged into a new form!”

Tears suddenly welled up in Jiang Xuening’s eyes.

But Xie Wei held her tightly and continued to press her, each word biting like a whip: “Who loves you, who cherishes you? Who even needs you? You should understand better than I do what it means to live in this world. If you want to feel free, how can there be freedom without pain? If you always want to avoid pain, what difference is there between you and the snakes, insects, and rats in the gutter?!”

Jiang Xuening felt as if she were being dissected, her skin torn open by his words, exposing the bloody muscles and bones beneath, her entire body trembling: “How many people like you, Xie Wei, are there in the world? I’m not you!”

He remained cold: “That’s why you cowardly fool can never be with someone like Zhang Zhe. Either he saw through you, or he is as foolish as you!”

Her eyes turned red: “Shut up!”

Xie Wei responded: “Does it hurt?”

Jiang Xuening took a step back: “You won’t let me go!”

Xie Wei was only wounded by her resistance and fear, but the more she resisted, the less he showed weakness, and it only stirred up the buried hostility inside him: “You can run, run to the ends of the earth.”

She almost screamed: “Are you mad? Do you want to drag others down with you?!”

Xie Wei, in a fit of anger, retorted, “What’s wrong with dragging someone down with me?”

Jiang Xuening suddenly realized that he was beyond saving: “Xie Ju’an, the world doesn’t work by force; it only leads to mutual torment.”

But Xie Wei refused to understand: “A bitter fruit is still a fruit!”

Even if something is difficult or unpleasant, it still has value or worth.

What a line—“A bitter fruit is still a fruit!”

Ever since the last time, when she had been trapped in the snow on the mountain, she had sensed the darkness and hostility beneath Xie Wei’s saintly exterior. But she hadn’t expected his obsession, madness, and cruelty to have reached such extremes.

The string of rationality in her mind finally snapped.

Jiang Xuening, holding back countless emotions in her heart—both the respect and fear from this life, and the resentment and hatred from her past life—could no longer hold it in and they poured out uncontrollably!

She didn’t even think about it.

In that moment, her eyes went red, and she angrily questioned him: “What if you killed me before?!”

The chilling winter wind swept across the tower, and the banners fluttered in the wind.

Xie Wei stood facing her.

Jiang Xuening had thought that she could bury many things deep inside her, but the moment the words left her mouth, she felt a kind of vile, almost vengeful satisfaction, and not even the slightest regret—almost as if she should have said it earlier.

Xie Wei stared at her, and for a brief moment, he seemed confused, not speaking.

He wanted to ask her why.

But looking at her red eyes, and the intense resentment and hatred in them, he didn’t ask.

The madness in his eyes didn’t fade; it only grew more intense.

Xie Wei tightly pressed his lips together, lowered his head, and took the short knife he always carried from his wrist, handing it to her!

He simply said to her, “Come, kill me.”

Jiang Xuening’s fingers brushed against the hilt of the knife. The inch of warmth left on it couldn’t chase away the cold that clung to her.

All emotions in her eyes suddenly faded.

In that moment, she tightened her grip on the knife he handed her and truly thrust it toward him.

The sharp blade sank into the flesh of his body, just inches away.

Blood immediately gushed from his abdomen.

A patch of crimson spread across Xie Wei’s snow-white robe.

Jiang Xuening released her grip.

He curled up in pain, yet still, he clutched the wound where the knife had pierced, looking at her with desperate eyes, reaching out as if to grasp a lifeline, trying to keep her: “Ning’er…”

In the blink of an eye, tears began to flow down her cheeks. “Xie Ju’an, you are truly mad.”

Xie Wei ultimately couldn’t stop her.

She felt as though she had just woken from a long dream, forgetting even to wipe her tears. She simply turned and walked down toward the base of the tower.

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