The Whole Capital Heard My Heart, Except My Husband - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I don’t want to go.

But Xie Mingzhu said, “You have to.”

I was so angry I laughed. “The Marquis really can’t wait, can he?”

He was wiping down his sword. At my words, he lifted his eyes.

“Can’t wait for what?”

I stared at him.

[Can’t wait to hand me over to the Crown Prince and trade my life for your secret ledger.]

Outside the window, the pageboy sweeping the courtyard slammed into a pillar with a thud.

Xie Mingzhu went on wiping his sword as if he hadn’t heard.

“An invitation from the Eastern Palace cannot be refused.”

“Then come with me.”

His hand paused.

“It’s a ladies’ spring banquet. I can’t enter.”

I said coldly, “Then I’m not going.”

Xie Mingzhu set down his sword.

“Jiang Lingyi.”

It was the first time he had called me by my full name.

“If you don’t go, by tomorrow the Censorate will impeach the Jiang Family for disrespecting the Eastern Palace. The case against your father and brothers has yet to be closed.”

It was as if something had stabbed straight into my chest.

[You really do know that using the Jiang Family against me works best.]

He fell silent.

For a moment, I almost suspected he had heard me.

But he only took a jade clasp from a box and placed it in front of me.

“Wear this.”

The jade clasp was a clear, lustrous white, with fine cloud patterns carved along its edges.

“What is this?”

“Protection.”

I picked it up and examined it.

[It had better not be for spying on me.]

Another muffled cough sounded outside.

Xie Mingzhu frowned. “Everyone in the courtyard, move farther away.”

Luzhi led the servants back to the courtyard gate.

I deliberately asked, “Marquis, can’t you hear why they’re coughing?”

“The spring wind is strong.”

I nearly burst out laughing.

[Even pretending to be blind shouldn’t go this far.]

Xie Mingzhu looked at me.

“You don’t trust me.”

“Why should I?”

He lowered his eyes and pushed the jade clasp a little closer.

“Wear it even if you don’t trust me. If you run into danger, smash it.”

I didn’t take it.

“How does the Marquis know I’ll run into danger?”

“The Eastern Palace never holds a useless banquet.”

With that, he rose and walked toward the door.

I couldn’t help calling after him.

“Xie Mingzhu.”

He turned back.

I asked, “If something really happens to me, will you save me?”

He looked at me for a long while.

“I will.”

“Why?”

“You are my wife.”

A sour ache rose in my heart, but I quickly forced it down.

[In the dream, you said the same thing. Then you turned around and pushed me into the fire pit.]

This time, Xie Mingzhu’s fingers curled almost imperceptibly.

I saw it.

But his face still revealed nothing.

On the day of the spring banquet, the flowers in the Eastern Palace were in full bloom.

The Crown Princess sat in the waterside pavilion and called me over with a smile.

I had just finished my greeting when the gazes of all the noble ladies around us fell on me in unison.

Clearly, the spectacle during the tea ceremony at the Xie Mansion had already spread throughout the capital.

The Crown Princess said gently, “I hear Madam Xie has such a clear and open heart that even your inner thoughts can be heard?”

I lowered my eyes.

“It’s all just rumors.”

[It’s not a rumor. You’re all about to hear me start cursing people.]

One noble young lady let out a snort of laughter.

The Crown Princess’s smile stiffened.

My heart was as dead as ashes.

[Hold it in. Do not think about how the gold buyao on the Crown Princess’s head looks like a feather duster.]

A wave of coughing rose and fell throughout the waterside pavilion.

At last, the Crown Princess could no longer smile.

She ordered someone to serve tea.

The fragrance of the tea had just drifted close when a sharp pain suddenly stabbed through my chest.

The jade clasp in my sleeve began to burn.

An image surfaced in my mind.

In the dream, I drank this cup of tea. When I woke, I was already lying in a side hall of the Eastern Palace.

The Crown Prince sat beside the bed, slowly searching through my sleeve pouch.

He took out the jade clasp Xie Mingzhu had given me and smiled. “So she really is one of his people.”

I abruptly raised my hand and knocked over the teacup.

Scalding tea splashed across the floor, giving off a thin wisp of black vapor.

Cries of alarm erupted throughout the waterside pavilion.

Before I could retreat, the Crown Prince stepped out from behind the curtain.

He looked at me with a gentle smile.

“Madam Xie, that dream you were thinking about just now-I heard it too.”