Sharing One Life with My Nemesis - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

At the palace gates, Princess Ningjia arrived before I did.

She was dressed in a moon-white riding outfit, a whip hanging at her waist, her features bright and heroic.

When she saw me, she smiled first.

“Jiang Tingyun?”

I stopped.

“Princess.”

She looked me up and down.

“No wonder.”

I didn’t understand.

Princess Ningjia folded the riding crop in her hand and lowered her voice.

“No wonder Xie Huaiyan knelt outside the Imperial Study last night and said he’d rather go to the Northern Frontier to repair the city walls than marry me.”

My heart gave a jolt.

“He knelt all night?”

“More or less.”

Princess Ningjia clicked her tongue.

“You didn’t know?”

Of course I didn’t.

When Xie Huaiyan came to the Jiang Family, all he said was that he had come to apologize, that he wanted to break off the engagement, that he would be exiled.

He hadn’t said a word about kneeling in the cold wind until his old wounds split open.

I smiled.

My smile made Princess Ningjia take half a step back.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not interested in him.”

I asked, “Then why did His Majesty grant the marriage?”

Princess Ningjia’s smile faded.

“Because my father commands the Former Northern Border Troops, and Xie Huaiyan investigated the Northern Frontier military rations. His Majesty wants to tie both sides together-and see what choice the Jiang Family makes.”

I understood.

The Jiang Family had only just been exonerated, and my father had returned to court.

Xie Huaiyan had overturned the Jiang Family’s case, but he had also once presented evidence before the throne that sent the Jiang Family to prison.

The emperor did not trust him, nor did he trust the Jiang Family.

The marriage edict was a test.

If Xie Huaiyan accepted it, he would have no further ties to the Jiang Family.

If he refused, he would have to give the emperor a reason sufficient to put him at ease.

Princess Ningjia looked at me.

“Are you entering the palace to make a scene?”

“No.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

I straightened my cuffs.

“Reason with him.”

Princess Ningjia fell silent for a moment.

“I heard you even talked about rebirth in the Golden Hall.”

“Mm.”

“When you reason with His Majesty, does he get scared?”

I thought about it.

“A little, probably.”

Princess Ningjia suddenly burst out laughing.

When she finished laughing, she raised a hand to stop me.

“Don’t rush in yet.”

I looked at her.

She took a small slip of paper from her sleeve.

“Last night, someone delivered a letter to my residence, saying Xie Huaiyan already had someone else in his heart. If I wanted to preserve my dignity, I should request an edict to annul the engagement first.”

I took the note.

There was only one line written on it.

Xie Huaiyan has Remnant Gu in his body. He will not live past winter.

I had seen that handwriting before.

Lu Xingzhou.

He had clearly already been sentenced to beheading and was locked in the Ministry of Justice’s death row.

My fingers slowly tightened.

Princess Ningjia said in a low voice, “The man isn’t dead yet, and the letter is already out. Miss Jiang, I’m afraid the Jiang Family’s case isn’t as clean as it seems.”

From within the palace gates came the eunuch’s announcement.

“His Majesty summons Miss Jiang to the hall.”

I tucked the note into my sleeve.

“Princess.”

“Hm?”

“Xie Huaiyan’s refusal to marry you has nothing to do with whether you’re good enough.”

Princess Ningjia raised a brow.

“Then what is it because of?”

I stepped onto the palace stairs.

“Because he owes me too much.”

“And he hasn’t finished paying it back.”