Chapter 70: Prologue – A Knot in the Heart

To order someone’s execution, Meng Huan couldn’t make such a decision. He just really wanted to know why Xie Yunjin wanted to kill him.

The grudge between the two seemed to be just that they liked the same woman, with the difference being that he got her, while Xie Yunjin sought but didn’t obtain.

A woman is not everything in life. How could the other party, just because of this, insist on stabbing him after breaking free?

“I just want to know why he attacked me.”

Wen Zhaoyin nodded in agreement, saying that after he rested well, he could go ask in person. She would accompany him to protect him, absolutely not allowing him to be hurt again.

Meng Huan, who had suffered a fetal disturbance, was truly a bit weak. He originally wanted to take a nap and go in the afternoon, but he was still in that state in the afternoon. He could only rest for a day and go the next day.

Xie Yunjin seemed to have been specially “taken care of” after he left yesterday. At this time, his cheeks were red and swollen, and the arm that once held the hairpin was also swollen very high.

As long as he moved slightly, he would be in unbearable pain, so he could only try his best to maintain a posture kneeling on the ground, looking quite miserable.

But a pitiful person must have a hateful side. If he hadn’t instigated Wang Gui, then poisoned Zu Jun, and then attempted to stab Meng Huan, he wouldn’t have appeared in the Wen family ancestral hall in such a destitute state.

Wen Zhaoyin was accompanying Meng Huan. She raised her hand and called for someone to bring the kneeling Xie Yunjin over, placing him far away at a distance of about five or six steps.

She didn’t want to say much and directly asked, “Why did you want to stab Lingyi?”

Xie Yunjin heard her question and slowly raised his head, then turned his gaze to Meng Huan sitting beside her and sneered.

“I remember Cousin used to call Meng Xiaojun, always calling him Huan Huan. Now why have you changed to calling him Lingyi? Could it be that you really fell in love with this substitute?”

He spoke ruthlessly, “I remember the day Xiaojun secretly ran out, he seemed to have told me that he didn’t want to be a substitute. Now he’s willing to come back and settle for second best?”

“Meng Huan, if it weren’t for you, I would definitely be Cousin’s rightful husband. But you just had to dislike it, yet still occupy the position. Aren’t you despicable?”

Wen Zhaoyin raised her hand and ordered, “Slap his mouth.”

He was slapped about five or six times before the punishment stopped. Without waiting for the two to continue asking, he continued speaking.

“Cousin will never love you. The one she has always loved is my Cousin Yunhuan. The furnishings in your room, the ginkgo in the courtyard… even all the food, clothing, and daily necessities, if not used by Cousin, then they are imitations of what Cousin used.”

“You are just a substitute!”

He screamed as if venting his fear. In a few days, he would definitely be sent to the yamen and face certain death, so he had to drag someone down with him, determined not to let others live a comfortable life.

Meng Huan subconsciously looked at Wen Zhaoyin and found that her face didn’t look very good, confirming that what Xie Yunjin said was indeed true.

He had always deliberately avoided mentioning her late husband to her, fearing to face these issues. But today, they were forcibly brought up and placed in front of him, forcing him to confront them.

“Alright, gag his mouth and let him continue kneeling!”

Wen Zhaoyin ordered as such, then turned around and hugged Meng Huan, intending to put him at ease.

“Lingyi, you are different. Don’t listen to his words.”

However, her consolation didn’t make him feel at ease. He only forced a smile and said he wasn’t affected, but in fact, Xie Yunjin’s words had already entered his heart.

The more he focused all his attention on Wen Zhaoyin and clung to her life, the more he would care about those words.

She sent him back to the Bamboo Courtyard. In the past, he never paid attention to the scenery in the courtyard, but this time, he couldn’t help but notice the golden ginkgo tree growing in the middle.

Every time, Wen Zhaoyin would glance at it. He thought it was just because the tree was growing in the middle and was more eye-catching. Now that he thought about it, she was probably reminiscing about a person through the tree!

“Lingyi, Lingyi…”

Being called back to his senses by her gentle voice, Meng Huan forced a smile and temporarily stopped those thoughts.

He shouldn’t have gone to ask. Knowing nothing would have been the best. Instead, he had to be curious and wanted to know why Xie Yunjin attacked him, only to have the seeds of doubt planted by the other party.

He could pretend not to remember that person named Xie Yunhuan before, deceiving himself and happily being with Wen Zhaoyin behind a layer of paper.

But this layer of fragile paper window was torn wide open by Xie Yunjin, forcing him to face reality.

He said, “I’m fine, I just can’t stand the sight of blood. I’ll be fine after some rest.”

But in fact, his mind was filled with what Xie Yunjin had just said, unable to shake it off.

Seeing his abnormal state, Wen Zhaoyin didn’t stay long. She found an excuse to go to the small study next door, leaving him some time to think alone.

She felt that he would eventually figure it out, it was just a matter of time. There was no need to worry about anything else.

But unexpectedly, the more Meng Huan pondered, the more uncomfortable he felt in his heart. For two or three days in a row, he didn’t pay much attention to her and even had people start rearranging the layout of the room.

The dressing table was moved away, the low couch and small table were moved to the opposite side, and even the bed curtains were to be changed to a different color and material.

Wen Zhaoyin had no doubt that if the bed didn’t have a fixed placement requirement, Meng Huan would definitely change the position of the bed as well.