Chapter 113
Chapter 113
The Empress gave Ji Hanyi another long, searching look. She had not expected someone who appeared so delicate and frail to possess such resilience and pride.
She asked, “Did you never consider how difficult your life might be after the divorce? Or did you simply not care about leaving the Xie Family because you had already arranged another path for yourself?”
The Empress was beginning to suspect that something might have happened between Ji Hanyi and her younger brother even before the divorce. If that were true, she would never allow a woman like Ji Hanyi to remain by her brother’s side.
The question was rather pointed, but Ji Hanyi answered with her usual composure. “The First Branch of the Xie Family broke their word. Once someone has done so once, there will always be a second time.
“I did not arrange another path for myself in advance, nor do I regret the decision I made.”
The Empress raised an eyebrow, not having expected such an answer.
She looked at Ji Hanyi again and asked, “Then what do you plan to do in the future? Have you considered remarrying?”
She gave a soft laugh. “You are a beautiful woman. If that is what you wish, I could arrange a match for you.
“I may not be able to promise you a prestigious family, but finding you an ordinary household would be no trouble.”
As the Empress spoke, she glanced at Shen Si, who stood silently by the doorway. She had known he would insist on coming today.
Following Shen Si’s gaze, she saw that those eyes, normally indifferent to everything, had not spared Gu Wanyun a single glance. At this moment, they were fixed entirely on Ji Hanyi.
The Empress turned back to Ji Hanyi. Now, she almost hoped Ji Hanyi would accept at once. That would put an end to Ah Si’s hopes once and for all.
Madam Zhang was startled by the offer. Her Majesty the Empress was actually willing to arrange a second marriage for Ji Hanyi, a woman who had already been married. This was an extraordinary favor. She could not help looking at Ji Hanyi, hoping she would not let such an opportunity pass her by. It would also allow her to leave the Gu Family.
Ji Hanyi was surprised by the Empress’s words, but she soon replied honestly, “I have never considered remarrying, nor do I wish to marry again.”
She lowered her eyes slightly. “Besides, I have already made my preparations. The day after tomorrow, I will leave the capital and seek refuge with Second Uncle. I have no intention of thinking about marriage again.”
The moment Ji Hanyi finished speaking, the hall fell utterly silent.
Madam Zhang stared at her with wide eyes, unable to believe that Ji Hanyi had thrown away such a wonderful opportunity.
This was an incredible honor. If Her Majesty the Empress arranged and bestowed the marriage herself, no one would dare gossip about Ji Hanyi remarrying. Yet Ji Hanyi had said she did not wish to marry again.
Even the Empress froze for a moment.
Shen Si’s eyes, however, were fixed on the earrings Ji Hanyi wore.
She was not wearing the pair he had given her.
He had left a letter for her inside the scroll. If she was willing to wear the earrings he had given her, it would mean she wished to become his wife and spend the rest of her life with him.
All she had to do was wear them and let him know how she felt.
With him there, she would never have anything to worry about again.
But she had not worn them.
She had even said she did not wish to marry again.
Shen Si’s lips gradually pressed into a thin line as he walked into the hall.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to him as he entered.
Gu Wanyun’s face flushed, and she grew visibly nervous.
She remembered how Marquis Shen had entered in much the same way the last time she visited the Shen Residence. His timing was always so perfect. Had he deliberately come to see her again this time?
Her heart pounded. Finally gathering her courage, she looked up at Shen Si’s face, only to find it cold and distant, as frigid as an ice cavern.
He was like a wintry moon suspended high in the sky – unreachable and bitterly cold. Fear and panic seized her at once, draining the color from her face. Her mind went blank, and she could not understand why Marquis Shen wore such an expression.
Ji Hanyi also looked at Shen Si and was slightly taken aback by the icy coldness of his face.
He suddenly stopped before her. A man who had always conducted himself with such stern propriety had paused in front of her beneath everyone’s gaze, standing tall and austere as he looked down at her.
His shadow fell across her, and the emotion in his narrow eyes sent a flutter of panic through her heart.
Fortunately, Shen Si lingered before her for only an instant before moving on to pay his respects to Her Majesty the Empress.
Ji Hanyi stared blankly at his back, but the panic in her heart did not subside.
She thought again of the earrings Shen Si had given her. What exactly had he meant by them? Her thoughts spiraled in confusion, and she did not even hear what Shen Si said to the Empress. She only noticed when a palace attendant approached and asked the women to wait in a side hall.
Ji Hanyi could not help glancing at Shen Si’s back. His figure was once again as cold and straight as ever, warning strangers to keep their distance. It was as though the trace of warmth she had seen in him yesterday had been nothing but her imagination.
She rose and followed the palace attendant to the side hall, where she took a seat, her fingertips clenched tightly together.
The side hall was not very large, and palace attendants stood nearby. Madam Zhang and Gu Wanyun also sat with careful decorum, making it even less appropriate for them to speak in hushed voices.
They had not been seated for long when a palace attendant entered, walked up to Ji Hanyi, and bent down to quietly ask her to step outside.
Madam Zhang and Gu Wanyun both turned to look at her. Ji Hanyi could hardly question the attendant in front of them, so she quickly stood and followed.
However, they were not heading toward the door through which they had entered the side hall. Instead, the attendant led her in another direction. Unease rose within her once more, and she could not help asking softly, “Does Her Majesty the Empress wish to see me?”
The palace attendant did not reply. They merely led Ji Hanyi to a doorway and stopped, then said in a low voice, “Please go inside, Miss Ji.”
Ji Hanyi hesitated slightly, but still stepped inside.
Once inside, she realized it was a small Buddhist hall, where Her Majesty the Empress usually prayed and offered incense.
Incense smoke curled up from the altar, blending with the fruity fragrance from the offering plates.
Dust-moted shafts of light fell on Shen Si, who stood in the center with his hands behind his back.
His tall figure was as elegant as a crane, dressed in a red official robe that accentuated his cool, refined air, utterly devoid of desire or emotion.
The moment Ji Hanyi saw Shen Si, her footsteps halted unconsciously. Even though there now seemed to be more interaction between them, she still dared not stand too close to him.
She recalled the past – when Shen Si was even colder as a youth. Even when she was allowed to stay in his study, he never spoke a single word to her.
He liked peace and quiet, and Ji Hanyi had grown accustomed to moving softly around him. Even when she flipped through his books, she dared not make a sound.
Hearing the noise, Shen Si turned around to see Ji Hanyi still standing a long distance away.
It was as if she had carefully calculated every step, always staying three paces away from him, following neither too close nor too far.
Shen Si took a step toward Ji Hanyi. She lowered her head, the green dangling earring swaying against her cheek. Her pink dress with blue floral patterns outlined her slender, full figure, making her already alluring face appear even more seductive.
He stared intently at her, watching her expression grow flustered as he approached, watching her bite down on her plump, crimson lips, then cautiously retreat half a step.
He halted his steps and looked down at her condescendingly.
Her faint fragrance drifted toward him. Gazing at her glistening, cherry-hued lips, he recalled the softness when he had kissed her that night.
Shen Si’s throat bobbed. His deep, phoenix-like eyes traced from her jet-black hair down to her averted side profile.
She still kept her head down, as if too guilty to meet his gaze.
A hint of a mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips. His slender fingertips restrained the impulse to press her down onto that incense-filled altar, strip off her modest dress, remove the hairpins and ornaments from her hair, and crush her lithe, soft body beneath him.
Right there, before that statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva, he wanted to embrace her fiercely.
The turmoil of emotions she had stirred in him, the mental energy he had expended, the countless sleepless nights she had caused – all of it, he would return to her.
She would be made to understand every bit of it.
He should not be the only one tormented.
He should not be the only one who had nearly exhausted his heart and mind for her.
She had disregarded his feelings, his sincerity, his initiative, his devotion – yet she had dismissed it all with a light remark that she was leaving.
Leaving tomorrow, departing the capital, going a thousand miles away.
Severing all ties.
His dark phoenix eyes locked onto her. Inside him, the wild desire intertwined with the sense that his feelings had been trampled, like a prairie fire – the more he suppressed it, the fiercer it blazed.
Ji Hanyi’s heart pounded with panic as she lowered her gaze. She looked at the hem of Shen Si’s official robe, the patterned rhinoceros-horn belt at his waist, the identity plaque hanging there.
They seemed to draw closer and closer, as if a scorching fire hovered above her head, about to silently incinerate her in the silence.
Finally, unable to bear such proximity, unable to withstand the unseen scrutiny from above, she nervously raised her head.
Her eyes met Shen Si’s. His dark phoenix eyes were deep as the sea, making Ji Hanyi’s heart lurch and her pulse quicken.
The scent of agarwood from him enveloped her, so potent she forgot to breathe. In that moment, a genuine fear and dread of Shen Si rose within her.
She struggled to gather her thoughts and asked softly, “Lord Shen, are you looking for me?”
That same distant address, “Lord Shen,” still used to keep him at arm’s length, nearly snapped the taut string of Shen Si’s heart.
She had rejected him – how could she then ask him that so calmly?
Had she rejected him, meaning he should no longer seek her out?
Or did she think her refusal was clear enough, that he ought not to pester her?
He had little reason left. He was keenly aware that if he truly wanted to do something to her in this place, she would have no way to resist.
She wouldn’t even have the chance to cry for justice. Even if the Gu Family found out, even if her maternal uncle’s wife was just in the side hall nearby, still no one could save her.
Perhaps, that way, she would not leave.
Another long silence.
Ji Hanyi’s panic had turned to helpless confusion.
She didn’t understand why Shen Si had called her here, what he wanted to say to her.
She didn’t understand the faintly mocking and scornful expression on his face.
Her thoughts were a chaotic mess. Because Shen Si had said yesterday that he would come today, she had brought the earring with her. Whether or not he had given it to her, she intended to ask him first.
She hesitated, wondering if she should take it out now.
Lost in thought, she finally heard Shen Si’s low voice: “You’re leaving tomorrow?”
Ji Hanyi was startled, then quickly nodded and murmured, “Mm, everything’s packed. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
But from above came a faint, scornful laugh.
Ji Hanyi froze, blankly raising her head to meet Shen Si’s eyes.
Those phoenix eyes now held extreme coldness, and his tightly pressed thin lips curved into an indifferent arc.