Wasn't he supposed to be beaten to death? Why did this powerful cousin love him so much?

The study was dark, with only the faint light from the window outlining the bookshelves and desk. Jiang Sese sat alone in the armchair behind the desk, a book in her hand, her figure almost blending into the darkness, so quiet that only her uneven breathing could be heard.

Xie Jue pushed open the door and entered. He did not ask anyone to light the lamp, but simply looked at the blurry yet tense figure in the shadows across the large desk.

Xie Jue paused, then whispered, "Se Se."

Reading was just for show. As soon as Xie Jue came in, Jiang Sese put down her book and looked up at him.

Jiang Sese's voice was calm, but her clear eyes clearly held a turmoil that had been brewing for half a day: "The matter of the purse was instigated by Xie Yihua. Did you know about this?"

In the past, Jiang Sese would never have dared to question Xie Jue in such a tone.

However, after figuring out Xie Jue's bottom line, Jiang Sese seemed determined to climb up the ladder.

Xie Jue was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "I know."

"You knew?!" Jiang Sese jumped up from her armchair, staring at Xie Jue with disbelief. "You knew all along? Why didn't you say so then?"

If Xie Jue had acted earlier, Xie Yihua wouldn't have been able to act so recklessly later.

As Jiang Sese spoke, her eyes even reddened slightly.

This was the first time Xie Jue realized he was also in the wrong. After a moment of silence, he said directly, "Sese, she is, after all, my own sister. Since I cannot predict the future, there is no reason for me to punish my own sister for the sake of a cousin."

Xie Jue was honest, but these were not the words Jiang Sese wanted to hear.

In other words, Xie Jue in the book knew from the beginning that the original owner of this body was killed by Xie Yihua, but he was unwilling to punish his own sister for the sake of an outsider. Even afterwards, his attitude towards Xie Yihua remained unchanged.

That's what she thought rationally, but emotionally, Jiang Sese also felt that her temper was a bit unreasonable. Someone like Xie Jue, who hadn't even fallen for her yet, would naturally not do anything to Xie Yihua for her sake.

From the very beginning, she knew that the person she had fallen in love with was not kind.

If the original owner had encountered Shen Ziyu or Xie Yao, they might have reached out to help her. But Xie Jue wouldn't, because in the book, Xie Yihua is ranked first, the Xie family members are ranked second, and there's no one after that.

Jiang Sese felt incredibly aggrieved: "Since you knew, why didn't you tell me sooner? Did you mean you'd never tell me if I hadn't asked?"

Xie Jue glanced at Jiang Sese's slightly angry expression and inexplicably found her quite adorable when she was angry, so he couldn't help but laugh: "How could that be?"

Jiang Sese was shocked: "You can still laugh?!"

Let's get down to business!

Xie Jue simply pulled Jiang Sese into the armchair and squeezed together, saying, "I originally planned to find a suitable time to slowly confess to you. Firstly, I didn't want to bring up the past and add to your worries, and secondly, if I brought it up rashly, I was afraid it would only create a rift between us."

Jiang Sese pushed him weakly, "When did this rift develop? I'm just angry with you, angry that you knew all along but did nothing..."

Xie Jue had no way to refute this statement.

Actually, he didn't expect to be able to do this much for her at first.

Xie Jue also sighed and said, "It was my oversight."

"SeSe, after I fell for you, I realized how much I regretted it. I regret not standing by your side sooner. You can blame me all you want, just don't stay angry alone, it's bad for your health."

Jiang Sese remained silent for a long while before reluctantly speaking, "This is the last time."

Xie Jue raised his eyelids to look at her, "Okay."

Jiang Sese looked at Xie Jue and couldn't help but smile.

The story ends with Xie Jue carrying Jiang Sese back home. On the way back, Xie Jue whispered in Jiang Sese's ear about the dream he had once had.

Jiang Sese was utterly stunned.

Jiang Sese stammered in surprise, "You already had those kinds of feelings for me back then?" What a pretentious guy, all I can say is...

Xie Jue did not refute, but instead smiled and nodded frankly, saying, "Yes, I knew back then that I absolutely could not let you marry someone else."

Jiang Sese choked.

This person was so self-righteous that it left people speechless.

But Xie Jue brought this up with Jiang Sese for no reason...

After Xie Jue and Jiang Sese fell asleep, Xie Jue got up and went to the study alone.

Night had fallen, and the lanterns under the eaves swayed gently in the wind, casting flickering shadows on the bluestone slabs.

There were no lights on in the study. Xie Jue used the sliver of moonlight that leaked in through the window to walk to the deepest part of the bookshelf and take out a letter from a hidden compartment in a row of old files.

The letter was perfectly sealed and had never been opened. It was from Xie Yihua. After being exiled to Lingnan, she had entrusted someone to deliver this letter, which probably contained many words of regret, or perhaps she begged him to save her from that pestilent land out of consideration for their sibling relationship. He didn't know, because he had never read it. Nor would he ever read it.

Xie Jue squinted and placed the letter on the candle flame. The flame licked the corner of the paper and quickly spread, engulfing the envelope along with the words inside that he would never read.

The firelight flickered in his eyes, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, like the sister who cried to him in Tinglan Courtyard long ago, the cliff of the hot spring villa, and also like the calm and resolute look in his eyes when he told Emperor Jingyuan in the palace that he would follow him.

Lingnan is a land of miasma and plague, and every summer epidemics run rampant.

Four or five out of ten prisoners exiled here do not survive the first summer.

Three months ago, on the way to exile, a man in the Chu family's group, driven by hunger and cold, took a risk and stripped the clothes off the bodies of the dead by the roadside to cover himself. Unexpectedly, he contracted a terrible disease as a result.

The disease spread rapidly within the ranks.

Exile is inherently a difficult journey, lacking medical care and medicine. The group had already become extremely weak from the hardships of their journey. Before long, all the members of the Chu family who were exiled fell ill and died; not a single one survived.

The letter had burned out, and the ashes fell silently into the copper basin, where they were scattered by the night wind.

Xie Jue stood alone in the darkness for a long time.

He remembered holding her hand as a child, catching butterflies in the garden; he remembered her kneeling before him on her wedding day, trembling with tears; he remembered the fear and despair in her eyes when she called him "elder brother" for the last time. She was his only younger sister, the one he had once genuinely protected. Yet, it was also she who, time and again, wanted to kill the person he loved most.

Xie Jue closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, there was no trace of emotion in them.

In the bedroom, Jiang Sese was fast asleep.

She lay curled up on her side among the blankets, her long hair scattered on the pillow, one hand resting on the edge of the bed, her fingers slightly curled, as if she were having a sweet dream.

Xie Jue sat down by the bed and gently took her hand.

Only in this way can he be completely at ease.

No one will ever hurt her again.

Jiang Sese groggily snuggled closer to Xie Jue and mumbled a question: Why aren't you asleep yet? Xie Jue lowered his head and placed a very light kiss on her forehead, then pulled Jiang Sese, blanket and all, into his arms before closing his eyes.

The lanterns under the eaves outside the window were still lit, swaying gently in the night breeze.

The distant sound of the night watchman's drum could be faintly heard; it was another peaceful night.

【End of text】

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~(≥▽≤)/~ The End! Hooray!

First of all, thank you so much for reading this book!

After running out of drafts, I was practically racing against time every day, writing and posting immediately, often updating in the early hours of the morning. When I updated and saw the messages urging me to update and the comments, I felt very touched. It turned out that there were still people waiting for my updates. It turned out that I wasn't alone.

Because of this relationship, I feel very happy when I'm writing alone late at night!

Before this book, I wrote many powerful female protagonists, some of whom could destroy the world, and others who had superpowers and cheat codes. But when I saw that the female protagonists in the transmigration novels that were popular for a while all had systems, I wondered, what if I wrote an ordinary girl who loves to read novels?

What if the timing of her transmigrating into the book wasn't ideal?

And so this book came about.

This is the first long novel I've finished on Tomato. When I typed out the words "The End," I even felt a little reluctant, wondering if ending it like this was too rushed.

But most of the plot holes have been filled. As for the rest that wasn't explained, I'd like to leave it to your imagination, haha.

However, there are still side stories!