Chapter 96: "I’m really out of options.

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: "I’m really out of options.

Cui Lingyao wanted to sigh. This experience of being treated as if she were invisible was all too familiar.

That was why she was reluctant to believe that a man who only had eyes for Chen Minrou would, after losing his wife, truly find a new love within three years and disregard the children his first wife left him.

At his words, Chen Minrou lifted a hand to her eyelids, but Zhao Shijie stopped her.

"Don’t touch them. It’ll hurt."

Her skin was very delicate.

Especially now, with her eyes swollen like walnuts.

She must have had a good cry just now.

Zhao Shijie was a little annoyed, his expression darkening. "Do you remember what you promised me before we came?"

She had promised to remain calm and avoid any extreme joy, sorrow, or anger.

Only then had he agreed to let her come see...

Chen Minrou blinked and said in a low voice, "Miss Pei and I hit it off right away. I was moved by the pain of her mother’s passing and cried with her a little. I feel fine, really. I don’t feel unwell anywhere."

Zhao Shijie lowered his gaze to study her carefully. He found that although her eyes were red, her spirits seemed much better than they had at home.

It was as if her repressed emotions had been released, which was more therapeutic than drinking several bowls of restorative medicinal soup.

She was telling the truth.

She really didn’t feel any discomfort.

A flicker of joy appeared in Zhao Shijie’s heart. He subconsciously tightened his arms, holding the woman in his embrace closer. Finally, he spared a glance for Cui Lingyao, who stood to the side.

His eyes were light and distant, his gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny.

Compared to his youth, having served for many years as a provincial governor had indeed made him seem far more inscrutable. Even this obvious scrutiny was likely a deliberate display for her benefit.

’He’s testing me, trying to confirm if I’m who he thinks I am.’

The air was silent for a moment.

Ordinarily, with a distinguished guest before her, Cui Lingyao should have performed a curtsy.

But her knees remained straight, not bending in the slightest.

This was her answer to him.

Zhao Shijie’s eyes narrowed slightly. His gaze swept over her equally red-rimmed eyes, and as if he had confirmed something, he looked down at the woman in his arms and said, "Madam Shen heard you were here and has been waiting for you in the front hall for a long time. Why don’t you go have a word with her?"

The Madam Shen he spoke of was Shen Tingyu’s mother, the wife of the Heir of the Duke Shen Mansion.

Chen Minrou was of equal status to her, and since such a distinguished guest had come to the mansion, she naturally had to be received with all due courtesy.

With the hostess waiting, Chen Minrou couldn’t refuse.

She bade Cui Lingyao farewell. As she was about to leave, she noticed that Zhao Shijie wasn’t moving. Her steps faltered, and she asked him, "Aren’t you coming with me?"

He rarely saw her show concern for him. A glimmer flickered in Zhao Shijie’s eyes. He raised a hand to tidy her hair at the temples and said gently, "You go on ahead. I’ll be there shortly."

Chen Minrou’s brows furrowed slightly. There were only the three of them here. His intention to send her away was so obvious. Was he planning to make things difficult for...

"What are you trying to do?" she said. "I was just moved by the circumstances and shed a few tears. It has nothing to do with Miss Pei. You..."

"Minmin," Cui Lingyao said, shaking her head gently with a smile. "Since Prince Zhao wants to have a word with me, let us speak."

It was obvious that Zhao Shijie had already seen through her identity.

’This is for the best. Now I don’t have to hide anything.’

She was leaving for Pingzhou tomorrow, and the round trip would take several months at the very least. With Chen Minrou in such poor health, Cui Lingyao couldn’t leave with a clear conscience until she was certain of Zhao Shijie’s intentions.

Cui Lingyao patted her friend’s shoulder. "You go on to the front hall."

Chen Minrou gave her a look, as if she wanted to say something but held back. In the end, she said nothing and walked away.

She didn’t even spare her husband a sideways glance.

Zhao Shijie stood ramrod straight, watching his wife’s figure recede into the distance. His thin lips were pressed into a firm line, his eyes dim.

Cui Lingyao witnessed the entire exchange and parted her lips to say, "Serves you right."

The sarcastic words reached his ears, and Zhao Shijie’s body stiffened. He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling upon her.

"What are you looking at me for? I said it serves you right."

Cui Lingyao wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. Seeing his dark expression, she deliberately covered her lips with her hand and chuckled. "What will you do? It seems Minmin doesn’t want you anymore."

Those two sentences alone, without anything more, were enough for Zhao Shijie to confirm the identity of the person before him.

His lips moved. "What did you two talk about just now? For her to cry so hard."

’He has the nerve to ask!’

Cui Lingyao’s eyes turned cold. "We were talking about how you threatened to take a concubine to keep her from coming to the Capital City, forcing her to bottle up her sorrow until she could never smile again, of course."

Threatening to take a concubine to keep her from coming to the Capital City...

Zhao Shijie was silent for a long time before giving a bitter smile. "So, that’s what she thinks."

"What else would she think?" The thought of how Chen Minrou, once such a bright and proud young woman, had been worn down by despair to the point of illness made Cui Lingyao furious. "I was so wrong about you before. To think I actually believed you loved Minmin deeply and would never betray her in this life."

"I didn’t betray her! It was just a slip of the tongue..."

Zhao Shijie started to explain but stopped short, thinking there was no need to discuss this with a third party. A moment later, however, he changed his mind. "I never thought of taking a concubine," he continued. "It doesn’t matter if she misunderstands me, but she can’t keep doing this to her own body."

"You don’t know how poor her health is now. I’m out of options..."

He was so agitated that his chest heaved rapidly, but his voice was barely a whisper. "I’m really out of options."

He was watching his wife waste away, bit by bit.

And he was helpless to stop it.

She held such a grudge.

Just one sentence—a sentence whose only intention was to stop her from returning to the Capital City and confronting a Xie Jinbai who had lost his senses—and she held it against him for three years.

She’s been cold to him for three years.

For three whole years, she refused to let him off the hook, and she refused to let herself off, either.

Now, her body is failing. She can’t bear to leave her parents and younger sister, she worries about her children, she’s even arranging for the futures of the servants who attend to her... but when it comes to me...

Only me!

Zhao Shijie tilted his head back and took a deep breath, his voice slightly hoarse. "Did you know... she’s going to die... The Imperial Physician said she won’t live past the end of the year."

By the end, his voice was tinged with a sob.

This man, who had always been so stoic, so proper and gentle, now had red-rimmed eyes, looking like a trapped and desperate animal.

Cui Lingyao could no longer bring herself to say "serves you right." Still, her anger was hard to quell. "Then comfort her! If you said the wrong thing, then you should have sincerely tried to soothe her! Minmin is such a wonderful person, she bore you two children—don’t you even know how to comfort someone?"

She wiped her face and cursed, "You bastard, how could you let her suffer so much?"

"I was wrong..." His hands, hidden in his sleeves, were trembling faintly. Zhao Shijie stood rigidly. "It was my fault. I knew your death had devastated her, yet I still spoke carelessly and rubbed salt in the wound."

Afterward, he tried to comfort her for a long time.

But seeing that she consistently refused to show him any warmth, he would also lose his temper whenever he returned from handling official business to face her cold words and indifference.

He let the coldness between them persist for nearly a year.

Until she became pregnant.

But by then, trying to salvage their relationship was even harder.

Cui Lingyao grew angrier as she listened. "You were the one who made the mistake, but Minmin is the one who suffered! She loved you so much and was already under immense pressure to bear an heir. What you said was no different from stabbing her in the heart... No wonder she’s given up on you!"