However, he ultimately replied, “When it’s time to cut ties, cut them. Getting a divorce early isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Xin Yi deeply agreed.
Recalling Xiao Cheng Ce’s face, angry and ashen on the day she left the residence, her heart felt at ease, and even the smile on her lips grew richer. “Naturally. A brute like that doesn’t deserve me at all.”
Xi Lingyi also smiled faintly and silently picked up a piece of white sugar cake for her.
Xin Yi accepted it all without reservation, especially imagining Xiao Cheng Ce’s eyes spitting fire as he watched. The jade brew in her wine cup tasted better with every sip, and by the end of the banquet, she was already tipsy, her steps unsteady.
Xi Lingyi reached out to steady her.
Unfortunately, enemies often crossed paths. They had not walked far when a man caught up from behind and yanked her, making her stumble.
Xin Yi almost couldn’t hold back a curse, especially after seeing the man’s face.
Xiao Cheng Ce had endured the entire palace banquet. He finally waited until they reached a secluded spot before seizing the chance to rush forward.
Reason told him he could not hit Xi Lingyi, but his words still dripped with barbs. His face darkened as he sneered, “You sure have skills. Latching onto another one in such a short time. What, is Xie Shuo not enough for you anymore?”
Xin Yi laughed too. “I’d latch onto anyone but you. Maybe you should consider whether you simply lack charm?”
As she spoke, she turned to the youth at her side and deliberately threw him a flirtatious glance. After all, that Xiao fellow had worn the cuckold’s hat more than once or twice; he’d get used to it eventually.
“Tanhua Scholar.”
The title stunned Xi Lingyi. He had heard those three words from others before, but only her tone was cool yet gentle, laced with a hint of mischief.
“My head feels so dizzy. Could you trouble yourself to carry me for a bit?”
Spiting her ex-husband was genuine, and so was the drunkenness. She had drunk too much jade brew earlier, and now her legs felt limp and useless. She had only managed to argue with Xiao Cheng Ce out of sheer stubbornness.
Of course, that was only if Xiao Cheng Ce was the only one beside her.
Otherwise, she would have crawled back.
The instant her body was scooped up horizontally, Xin Yi used her last shred of reason to hear the words from the man behind her.
This time, he finally lowered his head, casting aside his pride and dignity in an attempt to win her back. “Bai Xinyi! Let’s make up. Come back to the general’s residence. I can let bygones be bygones.”
“Fine then, beg me.”
Drunk and hazy, she peered over the youth’s shoulder, her red lips curving slightly as she looked at the man behind her. “Beg me.”
Xiao Cheng Ce’s voice gritted through clenched teeth, but he finally uttered in humiliation, “I beg you.”
Xin Yi laughed. “I refuse.”
…
Outside the palace walls, the carriages that had been waiting had mostly departed.
Only that tall, upright youth still waited. He stood by the carriage, his dark eyes fixed straight on the palace gates, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
Finally, just before his patience ran out, he spotted Xin Yi’s figure.
She was being carried back by a youth in vermilion robes. She was heavily drunk, her lotus-like arms dependently wrapped around his neck, her flushed cheek even pressed against his chest.
She mumbled and hummed from her mouth, who knew what nonsense she spouted.
It teased the youth’s earlobes until they turned faintly red.
When Xie Shuo walked over, suppressing his rage, she still clung to the Tanhua Scholar and refused to let go.
The hairpin flowers in her hair rubbed against his neck, as if whispering intimately by his ear, leaving Xi Lingyi’s face entirely flushed.
When Xi Lingyi saw the youth approach, he blanked for a moment, then took him for Xin Yi’s little brother.
The youth had a bewitchingly delicate appearance. If one ignored the deep, cold stillness in his eyes, his looks even seemed somewhat innocent.
“Xin Yi.” Xie Shuo called her.
His voice trembled with restrained fury, clearly on the verge of snapping.
Xin Yi’s mind swam in a fog. She struggled to recognize the youth’s voice after a good while.
Then, following her instincts, she released her hold on Xi Lingyi’s neck and skillfully turned to the youth to act spoiled. “A Shuo.”
Xie Shuo gritted his teeth and took her from the youth’s arms, but he held her so tightly it hurt her.
Xin Yi wriggled twice, then tilted her face up and planted a smack on his chin. “I missed you so much, A Shuo…”
The action instantly soothed the youth but left the Tanhua Scholar frozen in shock: So, they were not siblings after all.
But something even more intimate?
Xie Shuo coolly lifted his gaze, in no mood to savor the other’s dazed expression.
He carried the woman in his arms into the carriage, lifting the curtain. Soon, the sound of clopping hooves echoed down the alley.
After leaving the palace walls, Xie Shuo lowered his eyes to the woman with flushed cheeks in his arms, but he could not fully quell his anger no matter what.
He asked her, “You think the one who carried you earlier is handsome, don’t you?”
Xin Yi was drunk and nodded honestly. “Yes.”
Xie Shuo seethed, his teeth grinding, his very breath turning icy.
She was always like this. She teased anyone she fancied, anyone good-looking, without caring if it hurt him.
As the youth gazed at her heartless face, malice and ferocity welled in his eyes. He placed his fingers on the vermilion sash at his waist and slowly untied it…
Then he leaned close to her face, pinched her chin, and fixed his gaze on her red lips. “Open your mouth, Xin Yi.”
An oddly peculiar sensation pressed against her cheek.
Though drunk, Xin Yi instinctively recoiled. She swatted away the thing pressing on her lips, causing the youth’s face to pale in pain.
Xie Shuo hurt both in body and heart. He had never disdained her in the slightest; he always served her to satisfaction first.
Now he had merely switched positions, and she rejected him like this.
“A Shuo…” Her face brimmed with drunkenness, her tone aggrieved.
Xie Shuo stared at her coldly for a long time.
Finally, he resigned himself, pulling her back into his embrace and burying his head to bite the side of her neck. “You’ll be willing eventually.”
Two days passed after the palace banquet.
Yet Xin Yi found Xie Shuo growing stranger by the day, sticking to her every moment as if afraid she would go back on her word at any time.
Xin Yi had no choice but to indulge him even more.
She counted down the days to their wedding, comforting herself that it would not be long. Perhaps after they wed, he would calm down, and she could max out his favorability.
Thus, no matter what Xie Shuo asked of her, she tried her best to satisfy him.
Whether guilt toward him was mixed in, even Xin Yi herself could not say for sure.
Amid the crackling candle flames, as she once again muffled a groan while sinking into the silk bedding and looked up into the youth’s vertical pupils heavy with desire, a question she had never considered before surfaced in her mind.
—After she departed this world, would he marry another girl? Would he love her to the point of such insecurity?
Would they do what they were doing now?
But just thinking about it made her chest tighten as if she could not breathe, so Xin Yi tried her best to suppress the thought.
The bed curtains swayed, and the bed frame issued creaking sounds nonstop.
In the end, she lay utterly spent in the mess, sobbing with teary, dazed eyes, tormented beyond endurance.
Xie Shuo paused and kissed her lips. “Switch to the other one.”
“…What do you mean switch?” Her voice cracked with sobs.
“The other one wants to taste Xin Yi too.”
“…”
Get lost.
Several days passed in a flash, and the auspicious wedding day drew nearer.
Unfortunately, this exhausting, repetitive routine did not last until the wedding.
That night, as usual, she went with Xie Shuo to the teahouse to buy pastries. On the way back, at the alley mouth, a group of black-clad, masked assassins surrounded them.
Having lived two lifetimes, it was her first time facing such a scene. To say she was not nervous would be a lie.
After all, they outnumbered her and appeared well-trained.
But she could not fathom it: She was merely a painter in the Capital City. Why would she have enemies who hated her this much?
To go to such lengths just to take her life.
But the doubt did not linger long.
Xin Yi soon realized these people were not after her, but Xie Shuo. The one they wanted dead was him.
They did not even bother pretending. The leading black-clad assassin spoke disdainfully, his voice cold. “Little Lady had best stay out of it. Swords have no eyes; it would be a pity if your face got scratched by accident.”
His words clearly advised her not to interfere and meant to let her go.
Xin Yi: “…”
With the assassin leader this perfunctory, she could hardly fail to guess who sent them.
Xiao Cheng Ce really… Just endure two more days, and it would be over.
Realizing the cuckold’s hat only after it was jammed on his head would not make him seem capable.
Seeing her stand there with a complicated expression, silent for a long time,
The lead black-clad man grew impatient, his tone rude. “Hurry up and scram! Before this old man changes his mind, or you’ll suffer later!”
Xin Yi had just opened her mouth when the youth tugged her sleeve.
His eyes were darkly calm, a faint smile on his lips, utterly devoid of fear. “You leave first. I guarantee you, nothing will happen tonight.”
If it were anyone else, she would think they were bluffing, but with Xie Shuo, she truly believed him.
The unlucky ones would likely be these reckless black-clad assassins.
Xin Yi nodded, feigning calm. “Alright, be careful.”
As she spoke, she pretended to retreat toward the alley mouth while rapidly communicating with the system. “Your time has come. Hurry and activate pain blocking for me!”
“What does Host plan to do?” the system asked.
“Never mind, just do it!”
Tonight, she had heaven, earth, and man all on her side—even that dog Xiao Cheng Ce was unwittingly helping her. Only a fool would not seize the chance.
The instant pain blocking activated, blades flashed behind her.
Xin Yi seized the moment, spun around, and dashed toward Xie Shuo. She threw herself onto him, blocking the sword slashing at him.
Before blacking out, she saw the youth’s face—stunned, terrified, drained of color.
Warm blood from her splashed onto his cheek, his thin lips trembling violently. “Xin Yi…”
This sleep felt endless.
When she opened her eyes again, it was already dusk the next day. The side room burned calming incense.
Xin Yi felt thirsty. As her fingers twitched, she met the youth’s eyes, haggard and threaded with bloodshot veins.
At the same time, the system chime rang in her mind. “Congratulations, Host. Strategy mission complete. Xie Shuo’s favorability has risen to 100%!”
“Favorability +1 +1”
“Current favorability: 100++++…”
Xin Yi knew she had bet correctly.
The root of Xie Shuo’s insecurity was his belief that she did not love him enough. But last night, she proved with actions that the deepest love was willingness to give everything for him.
Seeing her awake, the youth’s already reddened phoenix eyes grew even redder, but mindful of her injury, he dared not embrace her.
He could only press his cool lips to her fingertips and ask carefully, “…Does it hurt?”
Xin Yi shook her head.
Before she could say more, the system chime reminded her again. “Due to Host’s excessive delay after completing the previous instance, this time the limit is three days. Three days from now, Host will automatically depart this world.”
Xin Yi: “…”
She had considered the system a dog, but not this much of one.
She fell silent for a moment, trying to haggle. “Can’t you give a couple more days? I just finished the mission; even my shoulder wound hasn’t healed.”
She was limited in action even if she wanted to do something.
“No.”
The system said, “But pain blocking can be enabled for Host.”
With things said this far, no other excuses would help. She could only accept.
Lying on the bed, she pondered until late into the night before deciding to escape.
At least this way, she could leave Xie Shuo with a memory, as if she still lived in this world.
Perhaps one day, when he met a girl he liked more, he would forget her completely and start a new life.
Though it was still somewhat cruel.
This was the best ending she could think of, amid her guilt.
Thus, after lunch the next day, Xin Yi coaxed the youth and drank the tea laced with knockout drugs without suspicion.
While he remained unconscious, she dragged her still-weak body and hurried away.
At the moment she was about to step out of the courtyard, her foot paused, but she never looked back.
Azure Parting Street remained bustling. Many pedestrians filled the road, shops along the street open for business, vendors hawking their wares.
Xin Yi wanted to leave the city, but when she went out, she forgot to bring any silver, and it was difficult even to hire a carriage.
She was just about to remove the gold hairpin and step-shake from her hair to pay the carriage fare when a palanquin suddenly stopped beside her.
The sedan curtain lifted, and a familiar voice rang out from overhead. “Xin Yi?”
She saw Xi Lingyi’s face.
After a moment of stunned surprise, she couldn’t help but smile faintly. “I want to leave the Capital City. Could Sir Xi give me a ride?”