The daughter of the Marquis is too delicate, the abstinent prince pinches her waist and loves her

Chapter 160 Miss Xie Cut Her Wrist
Upon hearing this, Ye Jinlan nodded in understanding and said, "I never imagined that this item would have such great significance. Miss Xie, rest assured, I have always kept it safe for you and it has never been damaged in the slightest."

Zhi Xing lowered her head and said, "Thank you for that night, Your Highness."

Ye Jinlan smiled gently and said, "It was nothing. I hope Miss Xie wasn't too frightened that night."

Zhi Xing nodded politely.

Seeing that Zhi Xing was so cooperative, the Imperial Censor secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If he hadn't completed the task given to him by Ye Jingnian, the entire Xie family would have been in trouble.

Seeing this, he also made an excuse and tactfully withdrew, leaving the two of them alone.

Seeing the last person leave the room, Zhi Xing's eyes darkened, and she secretly clenched her fist hidden under her sleeve.

Baihu Street was bustling with pedestrians.

Inside the Treasure Pavilion, Sheng Yunqing's fingertips gently traced the star-patterned compass in the display case. This legendary artifact, said to be able to divine good and bad fortune, still bore faint traces of burning along its edges.

Lu Changxuan showed her the picture book; such marks were remnants of witchcraft.

Sheng Yunqing pointed at the star-patterned compass, looked up at the shopkeeper and said, "Shopkeeper, this one..."

"I want it."

As soon as she finished speaking, a light and mysterious silver bell sound rang in her ears. Sheng Yunqing's eyes darkened, and she turned her head to meet Mu Jiyue's playful and mysterious beautiful eyes.

“Princess Qinxue, everything should be done in an orderly manner.” Sheng Yunqing narrowed her eyes slightly and pressed down on the other side of the compass without making a sound.

“But this compass is something we in the Western Shu Kingdom like to play with. Miss Sheng, you don’t need it, do you?” Mu Jiyue pouted innocently, her fingertips lightly tracing the scratches on it, and said playfully, “Returning it to its rightful owner is the right thing to do.”

The moment their eyes met, a spark flew, and the shopkeeper suddenly screamed as his hand, which was touching the compass, turned bluish-purple at a visible speed.

He involuntarily let go of her hand. Sheng Yunqing was about to snatch it back when Mu Jiyue quickly pulled it back.

Sheng Yunqing frowned, then took out an antidote talisman from her sleeve and stuck it on the shopkeeper's wrist. The signs of poisoning quickly subsided.

After regaining his senses, the shopkeeper looked at Mu Jiyue with fear in his eyes. He screamed and hurriedly ran into the inner room, shouting, "I won't take your money! Take it or leave it!"

Sheng Yunqing looked at Mu Jiyue with a cold expression and said, "Using living people to test Gu poison, your Western Shu Kingdom is truly extremely cruel."

Mu Jiyue laughed heartily as if she had heard the funniest joke, and said, "Miss Sheng is really amusing. What? Knowing that the practice of witchcraft is cruel, you still want to give it a try?"

Sheng Yunqing raised her lips in a cold smile and said, "Since the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, she has been suffering from a persistent headache and has become strangely irritable and violent. Princess Qinxue, do you have any information on this matter?"

"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has always been very kind." Mu Jiyue tilted her head innocently, her brows furrowing slightly, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling brightly. "Miss Sheng, don't blame others just because you made a mistake."

"Is that so?" Sheng Yunqing's voice was cold, and the talisman in his sleeve moved without wind. "Then why is Princess Qinxue so nervous? What? Are you afraid that the Empress Dowager will find out and punish you?"

A murderous glint flashed in Mu Jiyue's eyes, and her silver bell-like voice became urgent: "You want to investigate me?"

She had forgotten that there was a peerless master in Sheng Yunqing's household, whose injuries sustained during the Lantern Festival were still throbbing with pain...

I heard that Lu Changxuan was also seriously injured after that night and has been recuperating in the Marquis's mansion. I learned earlier that he has been in recovery for less than half a month.

"I was just curious." Sheng Yunqing lightly touched the ground with her toes and took three steps back. The spot where she had stood was now covered with dense black spiders. She looked up at Mu Jiyue's deep eyes and gently smiled: "Princess Qinxue is in such a hurry, it seems I guessed right."

The air inside the room was so oppressive it was suffocating. The Xuan paper on the table was flipped and fluttered in the air, and a faint, dim light permeated the surroundings.

When Mu Jiyue's blood curse collided with Sheng Yunqing's purification spell, the two of them noticed something amiss.

Sheng Yunqing's curse had no effect on her, and her Gu poison could not get close to her.

A powerful pressure jolted the two back several steps. Mu Jiyue frowned uncomfortably, flicked her sleeve, and snorted coldly: "That's enough for today, Sheng Yunqing. Your good days are numbered."

Watching her hastily departing figure, Sheng Yunqing finally frowned in distress and raised her hand to cover her chest, which felt heavy.

Xie Mansion.

When the Imperial Censor sent someone with pastries and tea to the door, Zhi Xing happened to open it.

The girl's eyes were cold, and a chilling aura seemed to emanate from her, keeping strangers at bay.

The Imperial Censor's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly went into the inner room and, seeing Ye Jinlan staring blankly in the direction where Zhi Xing had left, he hastily bowed and apologized, "Your Highness, please forgive me. My daughter is aloof and has offended you. I hope you will forgive her..."

Ye Jinlan fiddled with the white jade thumb ring on his thumb, and smiled faintly, "It's alright. Perhaps I was too abrupt and startled the young lady."

The Imperial Censor slowly clenched his fist, cold sweat beading on his forehead from worry. Ye Jinlan was mild-mannered, but he feared that Ye Jingnian would be dissatisfied, and he would be the one to suffer...

That night, at the Crown Prince's residence.

"Your Highness, today's meeting... was not satisfactory." Yan Chuan sighed as he reported, "Miss Xie must have had something on her mind, for she left the banquet midway, leaving Prince Xian behind."

“That good-for-nothing girl…” Ye Jingnian remained silent for a long time before saying coldly, “Tell her that if she doesn’t want to marry Prince Xian, she’ll die.”

"Yes……"

Half an hour later, Yan Chuan burst into the room, his face deathly pale, and said to Ye Jingnian, "Your Highness! Miss Xie... she cut her wrists."

With a "snap," Ye Jingnian snapped the wolf-hair brush in his hand, and ink splattered onto the desk.

In front of the Xie family's boudoir, the Imperial Censor and his maids and servants knelt in a row, trembling with fear. Seeing Ye Jingnian rushing in, they kowtowed, their heads shaking: "Your Highness... your subject failed in his duty..."

Ye Jingnian kicked him hard in the shoulder: "You old bastard! I'll settle the score with you later!"

"Bang!" The door was kicked open, and a faint smell of blood filled the air.

The beaded curtain was lifted with a crackling sound, and Ye Jingnian saw that the person on the bed was as pale as paper, and the white bandage wrapped around his wrist was still soaked with blood, like a red plum blossom that had been broken in the snow.

Zhi Xing stared blankly at the luminous pearl on the ceiling above the bed, her eyes unfocused and lifeless.

Ye Jingnian swept his cloak aside, sat down in front of her bed, grasped her icy fingers, and said in a hoarse, incoherent voice, "You want to die that badly?!"

Zhi Xing's unfocused eyes gradually focused. Upon hearing that familiar voice, her eyes involuntarily reddened, and she suddenly smiled: "Your Highness... you've finally agreed to see me?"