Who else could you love besides me

Chapter 98

He looked at Li Yu with a puzzled expression and shook his head, recalling that he hadn't been injured on his head two years ago. He was wondering what was wrong when he heard Li Yu say, "Then why did you refuse to marry my son?"

"Little life?" He meant... Tian Xiri?! He suddenly realized, and the first thing he thought of was that letter, but then he dismissed it. Regardless of whether that letter was written by Tian Xiri, he remained silent because he had been too arbitrary.

Then Li Yu said to him gloatingly, "Serves you right for winning the 'Spring Breeze Ten Miles of Fragrance' lottery."

Upon hearing this, he was both amused and exasperated. Yet, he couldn't help but think: although he had nearly lost his life at the Spring Breeze Ten Mile Fragrance event, he had never blamed Tian Xiri.

Overwhelmed with thoughts, Suoge was only brought back to his senses when Xu Fanda called out to him loudly. He glanced around and saw that the people on the execution ground had dispersed, and the corpses of Zhang Guiyi and A-San had been removed. Only a pool of blood remained on the execution platform, with wild dogs licking it as they passed by. A cold wind blew, and the air was filled with the smell of blood and sand. He frowned slightly and said to Zhao and Xu, "Let's go."

Zhao and Xu exchanged a glance, not daring to say anything, and followed. Just now, they had both seen the close relationship between Suo Ge's cousin Long Ming and Tian Xiri, who was disguised as a man. They had also seen Long Ming's panic and struggle when Tian Xiri was taken hostage, and the scene of her finally rushing onto the execution platform. But seeing Suo Ge's expression now, they dared not say anything more and just followed behind with their heads down.

On the way to the Tian residence, the carriage bumped along. Xi Ri was held in Ming Lu's arms the whole time. Her bleeding had stopped, but her wounds were still painful. She had no strength in her body. Although she was no longer coughing up blood, her injuries were very serious.

At this moment, Xi Ri was being held by her third brother, surrounded by his warm breath, feeling a kind of careful cherishing and tenderness, and she felt inexplicably sad.

She wanted to apologize to her third brother. She looked up at him and he seemed to understand. He gently pressed his fingertip to her lips and shook his head to stop her from speaking. She noticed a fleeting moment of vulnerability in her third brother and suddenly realized that he was afraid. She even knew what he was afraid of, and a bitter feeling welled up in her heart.

The carriage jolted, and the embrace she was holding felt strange; it was the first time she and her third brother had been so close. Yet, a strange sense of peace washed over her, and a faint dependence began to grow within her. This feeling exhausted her; she relaxed and nestled against his chest, feeling his slight tremor, and suddenly felt an urge to cry.

This chest can help her relax and allow her to rely on it.

A thought suddenly occurred to her: could this be what it meant to feel at ease only when things were rightfully in order? She jolted, suddenly thinking of Long Ming. Just now, she must have hurt Long Ming…

"What's wrong?" Minglu asked, noticing her stiffness.

"No..." She couldn't speak much, as the movement of her neck would hurt.

"Does it hurt?" Minglu asked worriedly. "We'll be there soon. The doctor should be waiting at the manor. Just bear with it," he said softly.

Xi Ri gave a soft "hmm," carefully concealing her thoughts.

When they arrived at the Tian residence, it was already dark. The Tian residence was exceptionally brightly lit that night, and many people were already waiting outside the gate. As soon as they saw Minglu carrying Xilu in the carriage, Tian Yong in the crowd immediately stepped forward to take the young lady from the carriage. Minglu gave him a cold look, and Tian Yong was startled, so he lowered his head and stepped back.

Minglu carried Xiri out of the carriage and entered the mansion. He quickly passed through the gate and entered the front courtyard, where he saw dozens of people from the Tian family waiting there, looking at the newly arrived Prince Minglu with curiosity. Upon seeing Minglu, they immediately bowed and knelt down to pay their respects in complete silence.

Minglu glanced at the crowd, ignoring them, and asked his first question: "Where is the doctor?"

Tian Yong immediately stepped forward and said, "I am already waiting in Miss's boudoir."

"Lead the way," Minglu said.

"Yes," Tian Yong replied respectfully.

After the medicine was applied and the wound treated, Tian Shuang and the doctor went downstairs to get a prescription and fill out the medicine. Apart from Xi Ri lying on the bed, only Lord Tian and Ming Lu remained in the room; the rest of the Tian family, including Madam Tian and her family, were waiting in the outer hall.

Xi Ri's injury caused quite a stir. The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and Consort Shu all sent people to inquire about Xi Ri's condition. The Xi family, the Nalan family, and the Fu family also sent people to check on her. Xi En, Nalan, Fu Jin, and others followed Ming Lu into the Tian residence, but since it was inconvenient for them to come to Xi Ri's boudoir, they waited in the front hall.

Seeing that Xi Ri was out of danger, Lord Tian instructed her to take good care of herself. He then deliberately left Ming Lu behind to go to the front courtyard to greet Xi En and the others.

Inside, the candlelight flickered, leaving only the path and the passing days.

Minglu lifted his robe and sat down beside Xiri's bed. Looking at Xiri with his brows furrowed, he asked softly, "Does it still hurt?"

Xi Ri shook her head and said slowly and deliberately, "Third Brother, I have something to say to you." It would hurt if she touched her wound, but she had too much to say.

Upon hearing this, Minglu lowered his gaze slightly and said, "You are injured, let's talk another day."

“No,” Xi Ri said firmly; she was determined to say it today.

Minglu's brows furrowed even deeper.

Xi Ri said, "Third Brother, listen to me, I..."

Minglu suddenly interrupted her: "Fifth Sister, you don't need to say anything more. I did these things for you willingly. You don't need to feel guilty towards me. I don't ask for anything. I only ask you to give me a chance, a chance..." He paused, as if the next words were extremely difficult to say. He stood up and turned his back to her. After a long while, he said, "A chance... a chance for someone to fall in love with me."

In an instant, all the words I wanted to say on that day choked in my throat.

He continued, “Don’t completely deny me just because I have seven concubines. My love for you is no less than his. You know! I will send them out of the manor and provide them with separate residences. If they find a good home, I will not stand in their way and will even give them a generous dowry. If they wish to stay, I will support them indefinitely. Don’t be surprised; I’m not doing this entirely because of you. None of them have any children with me. Rather than ignoring them and never inquiring about them again, it’s better to set them free and let them choose whether to stay or leave. Call me heartless or cruel, but I simply cannot allow you to reject me for this reason.” Minglu said firmly.

She was shocked!

"Fifth Sister, give me a chance. I don't ask for anything else, I just ask you to give me a chance, just three months. If you still don't love me after three months, then..." His back was straight and stiff, as if he had made a great decision, and he said, "I will let you go. I will handle the matter of breaking off the engagement."

He suddenly turned around, looked directly into her eyes, and gazed into her heart, saying resolutely, "Promise me!"

After a long silence, she replied absentmindedly, "Okay..."

In the dead of night, nightmares kept recurring. The bloodied figures of Ah San, Zhang Guiyi, and Xi Tian kept appearing in her dreams. She would wake up in a cold sweat, the candlelight flickering outside the bed. She vaguely saw a familiar figure standing by her bedside, speechless for a long time… just staring… thinking it was a dream.

Even through the gauze curtain, he seemed to be gazing at her.

After a long silence, he said softly, "You know what? I often think about why it wasn't me who shielded you from the arrow that day, but him instead..." He sighed softly, "Why is it him again this time?... I know that even if I said I would do the same, it's still him in the end..."

She struggled to sit up.

He turned his back and said in a deep voice, "I never paid attention to your engagement with him, but I overlooked that you might not necessarily fall in love with me. I was too arrogant and never thought that you could fall in love with someone else besides me."

She gripped the quilt tightly with her fingers and blurted out, "No... I didn't..." She spoke so urgently that she aggravated her wound and let out a low moan.

He turned around abruptly, lifted the gauze curtain, and asked with concern, "Is your wound hurting?"

Upon seeing him, I was overwhelmed with grievances and heartache and rushed to him.

"Don't cry..." he said softly, "Does it still hurt a lot?"

She choked back tears and said, "It hurts..."

He frowned, sat down on the edge of the bed, took out a porcelain bottle from his waist, and handed it to Xiri, saying, "Take a sniff; it can relieve the pain."

She took it and gently smelled it. A moment later, she felt the pain subside. She reached out to return it to him, but he shook his head, saying, "Keep it. But remember, don't smell it too much; it's addictive."