allonlinenovel Chapter 39 If he hadn't been willing, who could have gotten close to him?
Chapter 39 If he hadn't been willing, who could have gotten close to him?
Shen Siyi emphasized the last few words; she hoped Qin Wan would die, die painfully, so that no one would seduce her Jingyu brother.
Upon hearing this, Qin Wan smiled, stood up from the prayer mat, and looked at Shen Siyi with no fear in her eyes.
"Shen Siyi, you know in your heart without me saying it. The Fourth Prince is highly skilled in martial arts. If he didn't want to, who could get close to him?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Siyi's smile vanished. How could she not know?
She had admired Xiao Jingyu since childhood, so how could she not know how skilled he was in martial arts? Besides, he was standing on the side of the stairs yesterday. If he hadn't taken a step and caught Qin Wan, how could Qin Wan have fallen into his arms?
This is true, but Shen Siyi is unwilling to admit it in her heart; she is unwilling to believe that Xiao Jingyu did it voluntarily.
Her clenched fists cracked as she stood there, originally meant to mock Qin Wan, but now she was at a disadvantage.
"No matter what, right now Jingyu is going to marry me, and I will be the one to stay with him in the future. You are destined to grow old alone. If you know what's good for you, stay away from me. Otherwise, your aunt has plenty of ways to deal with you!"
Shen Siyi is right. Yesterday's fireworks display showed how much Empress Shen supported Shen Siyi and Xiao Jingyu's marriage. If she had interfered, she would probably have ended up with her head separated from her body.
But Qin Wan, after her rebirth, had figured it out: Xiao Jingyu was never kind to her, so why should she throw herself into the fire like a moth?
If it weren't for Xiao Jingyu's deliberate actions, she would rather never have had anything to do with him in this lifetime.
"Thank you for the reminder, Miss Shen, but please also convey this to the Fourth Prince."
Seeing Shen Siyi's furious expression, Qin Wan felt a surge of smugness.
"By the way, I'm really grateful to Miss Shen for tripping me up today, otherwise I wouldn't have known that the Fourth Prince actually had a heart to save me!"
"You bitch!"
Shen Siyi felt a tightness in her chest, making her feel suffocated. She felt like she was going to explode if she didn't let it out. After saying that, she raised her hand, wanting to slap Qin Wan.
But the slap didn't land; Qin Wan stopped it in mid-air.
"Shen Siyi, look carefully! This is Cining Palace, right in front of the Bodhisattva. Her Majesty the Empress has allowed me to copy scriptures here, but she has not punished me by confining me to my quarters. If you dare to lay a hand on me, I will let the entire palace know that you, the Third Miss of the Shen family, are arrogant and domineering and disregard the Bodhisattva!"
When Qin Wan first entered Cining Palace, she could tell that Empress Shen did not dote on Shen Siyi. If Shen Siyi were to misbehave, the marriage would likely be affected.
Shen Siyi understood Qin Wan's meaning. This was the palace, and she dared not act rashly, so she had to suppress her anger for the time being.
Her cold eyes were fixed on Qin Wan. Just thinking about how Xiao Jingyu had secretly met with Qin Wan yesterday made her even more furious.
She would rather believe that Qin Wan had deliberately seduced her, rather have another rival in love, than believe that Xiao Jingyu had intentionally sought her out. But now, it was the latter.
Although she got Xiao Jingyu's body, she didn't win his heart.
Shen Siyi was unwilling, and a murderous intent flashed in her eyes. If Qin Wan died, then Brother Jingyu would have to let it go!
However, she didn't dare to actually kill Qin Wan. Qin Wan was the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Pingding. Although her family was not as prestigious as the Duke of Zhenguo's, it was still a family with a noble title.
Qin Wan seemed to sense the murderous intent, and deliberately curled her lips into a smile, saying, "What, Miss Shen, are you going to kill me?"
She knew Shen Siyi wouldn't dare. If she were really killed, not only would she be implicated, but the Shen family and Empress Shen would also be affected.
"If Miss Shen is unharmed, please leave. Showing murderous intent before the Bodhisattva will bring retribution!"
Shen Siyi gritted her teeth and said fiercely, "Qin Wan, don't be so smug. Just because I can't touch you now doesn't mean I can't in the future. You just wait and see!"
After saying that, Shen Siyi left the room, but before leaving, she instructed, "The weather is dry, be careful of fires. Open all the windows and be careful that candles don't ignite flammable materials!"
"Yes!"
The night was bitterly cold. The moment the window was opened, Qin Wan felt the temperature in the room drop several degrees. Although she was wearing a cloak, she couldn't withstand the cold wind.
Qin Wan's nose stung from the cold, and she sniffled sharply before walking to the side and picking up the inkstone.
Just as she was about to grind the water again, Qin Wan noticed that the water in the kettle had frozen into a thin layer of ice.
My hands trembled even more from the cold. This feeling of cold was just like when I was at Leishan Temple, where no matter how I tried to warm them up, I couldn't.
Her trembling hands couldn't control the flow of water, and when she poured it into the inkstone, there was too much water. She wanted to pour some out, but her hand trembled, and it all spilled out, the ink-stained water splashing onto the sutra she had copied.
She instinctively wiped it with her sleeve, but the more she wiped, the more ink stains appeared. This was a scripture she had copied to pray for her grandmother's well-being; how could it be contaminated?
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt, and the more she couldn't control the tears welling up in her eyes. If she hadn't gone to Fanlou yesterday, if she hadn't met Xiao Jingyu, none of this would have happened today.
Who can she blame but herself for not being able to escape?
The scriptures were copied over three days.
Every evening, the people inside Cining Palace would open the windows under the pretext of preventing fires, and the cold wind blew in all night long.
But Qin Wan no longer felt cold; instead, she felt extremely hot, perhaps because she had already gotten used to it.
With a stroke of her pen, she finally finished copying a scripture. Looking at the scripture she had copied to pray for her grandmother, she smiled.
"Please inform Her Majesty the Empress that the copying of the scriptures is complete!"
Qin Wan whispered something to the door, but there was no response for a long time.
She called out again, this time louder than before, but still received no response.
Qin Wan panicked. Could it be that the Empress was really going to confine her here?
She wanted to shout again, but her body was so hot that she couldn't think straight.
She could only wait until someone came in and brought her congee and side dishes, so she could relay the message again.
She carefully put away the copied scriptures; all she wanted to do now was sleep.
"Open the door!" A shout brought Qin Wan back to her senses; she recognized the voice as Xiao Jingyu's.
The next second, the door to the room was opened from the outside. The moment Xiao Jingyu saw Qin Wan, he was filled with heartache and anger. He hated that it had taken him three days to find out that Qin Wan was being held here.
"Wan'er, are you alright?"
Xiao Jingyu instinctively rushed towards Qin Wan, but Qin Wan also instinctively dodged. He was now someone else's fiancé, someone she couldn't touch.
"Yu'er!" Empress Shen's voice interrupted Xiao Jingyu's attempt to continue.
Upon hearing this, Qin Wan quickly took a step back, keeping a greater distance from Xiao Jingyu, and immediately knelt on the ground.
"Why are you here instead of handling affairs at the Ministry of War?" Empress Shen asked again.
Glancing at Qin Wan kneeling on the ground, if Qin Wan had dared to let Yu'er help her up just now, she would be sent to Leishan Temple right now.
Xiao Jingyu clenched her fists, suppressing the anger in her heart. "Mother, what wrong has Miss Wan... what has Miss Qin done that she needs to be punished by copying scriptures here?"