Chapter 105 Empress Dowager, Jiang Si, Young Emperor

Before Jiang Si could explain, Qiu Shuzhi had already carried Yue Guanyi back to the city, leaving Jiang Si far behind.

“I’m sorry.” She carefully placed him on the bed, gently caressing his lower abdomen, thinking about how desperate he must have felt when she couldn’t be by his side during his miscarriage.

Yue Guanyi shook his head slightly: “It’s good that wife-master can come back.”

As long as Qiu Shuzhi could stay by his side, everything he did was worth it. It was only a pity for that unborn child who died at the hands of its own father.

He lowered his long eyelashes, concealing the fleeting sadness in his eyes.

“Now that Jiang Sui is dead, there’s no need for us to stay here anymore. Wife-master, shall we return to the capital?” Yue Guanyi’s slender fingers clung tightly to Qiu Shuzhi’s sleeve like a young child, unwilling to let go.

Jiang Si’s overly intimate actions towards Qiu Shuzhi made him feel uneasy. Now he just wanted to quickly return to the capital, the farther away from Jiang Si the better.

Qiu Shuzhi nodded, about to speak when an excited male voice came from behind.

“No!” Jiang Si burst in from outside, the indigo Miao dress blooming like an orchid at his feet as he moved.

He grabbed Qiu Shuzhi’s hand in front of Yue Guanyi: “Qiu Niang won’t go back with you, she has already promised me.”

Yue Guanyi weakly propped himself up on the edge of the bed, his eyes full of severity: “Jiang Si, I have always tolerated you, but Qiu Niang is my wife-master. I am her lawfully wedded husband. What right do you have to call Qiu Niang wife-master in front of me?”

Jiang Si held Qiu Shuzhi’s hand tightly, his bewitching features bold and vivid: “So what if you’re lawfully wedded? Qiu Niang doesn’t love you at all. She only married you because of your status and position. It’s all because of your shameless pursuit of her, otherwise how could Qiu Niang look at someone like you who came from a brothel?”

Yue Guanyi’s eyes turned red, almost bursting with blood. His distinct knuckles gripped the edge of the bed, his nails scratching sharp, clear marks into the wood, revealing his bone-deep hatred: “So what if I came from a brothel? At least I gave my pure body to Qiu Niang, and never had any intentions of setting her up or harming her. What about you? You’ve been scheming against her from the beginning. The ambush in the gorge, falling into the river, these were all traps you set. Even the child in my belly was killed by you, you poisonous man! Give me back my child’s life!”

“Enough.” Qiu Shuzhi, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up to stop them.

Yue Guanyi looked at Qiu Shuzhi in disbelief, muttering: “Qiu Niang, you’re really on his side?”

The corner of Jiang Si’s eye lifted smugly: “I told you, wife-master doesn’t love you at all, nor does she care about being some prince consort. We’ve already agreed that after quelling the rebellion, wife-master will stay with me in Yunnan and never return to the capital.”

“Impossible, impossible.” Yue Guanyi trembled painfully all over, his hair disheveled, pulling at Qiu Shuzhi’s hand like a madman: “Qiu Niang wouldn’t do that, you won’t abandon me, right?”

Qiu Shuzhi embraced his constantly trembling waist, caressing him lovingly: “Silly, how can you believe whatever others say? How will you manage the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the future like this?”

The reason she had agreed to Jiang Si’s various demands was because of the poison in her body.

How could Yue Guanyi’s brain seem to stop working whenever it came to matters concerning her?

“Qiu Niang……” The redness at the corners of Yue Guanyi’s eyes gradually dispersed.

Qiu Shuzhi raised her eyes to meet Jiang Si’s enchanting and alluring features, saying with a sigh: “Lan’er… no, Jiang Si, I’m sorry I lied to you. I won’t stay with you in Yunnan.”

Jiang Si staggered back a step: “Why? Were all the words you said to me before lies?”

Qiu Shuzhi lowered her eyes: “Yes.”

“Why?” Jiang Si’s blood surged, he cried out heartrendingly, endless tears flowing from his eyes: “Why did you lie to me? I thought I would be different from my father, that I would meet a woman who truly cared for me. I wouldn’t let my life become a joke like my father’s. It turns out my life is even more laughable than my father’s. Why, Qiu Shuzhi, why?”

He threw himself into Qiu Shuzhi’s arms, pulling at her clothes, pounding on her chest, venting all the resentment and pain in his heart. But the more he vented, the stronger the pain in his heart became. Indescribable agony twisted his heart, and he wept bitterly: “If you didn’t like me, why did you deceive me? Was toying with me so enjoyable? Why?”

“Because of the poison.” Qiu Shuzhi met his sorrowful eyes calmly and said: “Because of the poison you planted in my body.”

Jiang Si suddenly froze, his eyes momentarily lost, then he laughed shrilly: “So you knew all along? You knew all along that I had poisoned you? You also knew I was Jiang Si all along, didn’t you? That’s why you deliberately said those things to me?”

“Yes.”

“Hahahahaha……” Jiang Si threw his head back and laughed, his laughter shrill and mournful. Bitter tears mixed with laughter echoed in the room. It turned out his whole life was a joke.

It turned out everything was his own doing.

The cause he had planted, he had to taste the bitter fruit himself.

No one loved him.

No one.

He collapsed on the ground, his features as beautiful as peach blossoms and plum blossoms now dim and lusterless, as if plunged into an endless night, unable to see a glimmer of light.

“Jiang Si, everything is your own doing.” Yue Guanyi looked at him coldly.

If he hadn’t poisoned Qiu Niang in the first place, none of this would have happened, and Qiu Niang wouldn’t have gone to seduce him.

“Your mother rebelled, you dressed as a woman impersonating a noble lady, and you intended to harm the prince consort. Your numerous crimes are heinous. This prince will take you back to the capital, enough to have you torn to pieces.” Yue Guanyi’s gloomy eyes pierced into him, as if he wanted to flay him alive on the spot.

“Jiang Si was also under duress, some things were not of his own volition. Moreover, Jiang Sui has just died, and the situation in Yunnan is unstable. He is the Holy Child of the Miao, he cannot be killed arbitrarily, otherwise how would the other tribespeople view it?” Qiu Shuzhi reached out her hand to help Jiang Si up.

Jiang Si slowly raised his eyes, looking at Qiu Shuzhi’s gentle features, the same as always. For a moment, he seemed to see the Qiu Shuzhi who once loved him.

If he had known it was all a lie, he wouldn’t have removed the poison so quickly.

He wished this dream could be longer, a little longer.

One year, five years, ten years – let him fall into Qiu Shuzhi’s gentle gaze for a long time, until eternal sleep.

But everything could never go back to the way it was.

The Qiu Shuzhi who had promised to love him for a lifetime was gone forever.

He smiled bitterly: “What, aren’t you afraid I’ll poison you again?”