Sharing One Life with My Nemesis - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Xie Huaiyan’s expression changed.

He said in a low voice, “Jiang Tingyun.”

I didn’t look at him.

I looked at the emperor seated high above.

“Your Majesty, I remember the execution ground. I remember the entire Jiang Family. I remember Lu Xingzhou feeding me medicine and interrogating me about the witnesses’ whereabouts.”

“I also remember that by the time Xie Huaiyan reached the execution ground, the blade had already fallen.”

Not a single court official in the hall dared make a sound.

I knew how insane those words sounded.

But in a world where even the Soulbound Gu existed, a little insanity was nothing.

I continued, “Your Majesty may refuse to believe what I say of my previous life, but the evidence is real. The living witnesses are real. The Gu Manual is real.”

“The Jiang Family Case should not be derailed by a single accusation of ghosts and superstition.”

The emperor sat back on the dragon throne, his face dark.

“Lu Xingzhou.”

Lu Xingzhou finally panicked.

“Your Majesty, I have been wronged!”

Gu Heng unfolded Zhou Xuan’s confession.

Zhou Xuan was not dead.

After Lu Xingzhou stabbed him, Zhou Xuan, desperate to survive, confessed to every dealing between the Crown Prince and Dingguo Duke Mansion.

The Crown Prince’s Private Seal, the military grain account books, and the craftsmen who had forged the secret letters were all taken into custody by the Ministry of Justice overnight.

Lu Xingzhou had nothing left to say in his defense.

As he was dragged away, he suddenly looked at me.

“Tingyun, I only wanted to win.”

I looked back at him.

“Then you lost exactly as you should have.”

He let out a laugh, his eyes filled with unwillingness.

“You think Xie Huaiyan is some kind of good man?”

“He died for you, suffered for you, only because of the Gu.”

“Once the Gu is removed, will he still be like this?”

I did not answer.

Neither did Xie Huaiyan.

Lu Xingzhou was dragged out of the hall.

In open court, the emperor issued an edict: the Crown Prince would be made the Deposed Crown Prince, the Jiang Family Case would be retried, and the Jiang Clan Members would be released.

When Father knelt to thank him for his grace, his back finally bent.

I held him up.

He patted my hand.

“Tingyun, you’ve grown up.”

My nose stung.

“Father, I wasn’t exactly little before.”

Father laughed, but tears fell from his eyes.

After court was dismissed, Xie Huaiyan walked very slowly.

The Gu Thread at his chest had flared up, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

I caught up to him.

“Were you planning to take the accusation of madness all by yourself just now?”

He stopped.

“You shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not?”

“The matter of rebirth is too dangerous.”

“That’s still my business.”

I looked at him.

“Xie Huaiyan, can you stop making decisions for me all the time?”

He fell silent.

I thought he was about to launch into some grand principle again.

But he only said quietly, “I was afraid.”

I froze.

Xie Huaiyan looked at the shadows beneath the palace wall.

“In our last life, I was one step too late. In this life, I keep thinking that if I say one less thing, make you bear a little less, you’ll be a little farther from the execution platform.”

His voice was very soft.

“But it seems I was wrong again.”

The little flame of anger in my heart suddenly went out.

I asked, “When can the Gu be removed?”

“In three days.”

“How?”

He said nothing.

I sneered.

“Trying to hide it from me again?”

Xie Huaiyan had no choice but to say, “There is a method in Zhou Xuan’s Gu Manual. After the Dual Gu shares one body, the caster’s heart’s blood can be used as the primer to separate it.”

“The caster is Lu Xingzhou?”

“Yes.”

“Then take it.”

Xie Huaiyan looked at me.

“Taking his heart’s blood will kill him.”

I asked in return, “Does he not deserve to die?”

Xie Huaiyan did not answer.

I said, “Xie Huaiyan, I’m not the softhearted good person you think I am.”

He was quiet for a moment.

“I know.”

“What do you know?”

“You climb walls, hide in holes, and force-feed people Mafei Powder at random.”

I stomped on the top of his boot.

His face went pale from the pain for an instant, and I sucked in a breath from the pain too.

We both fell silent.

After a while, he said softly, “Not worth it.”

I couldn’t hold back my laughter.