"..." She didn't know what to say.
"As for serving you in bed, if you want, I'll give it to you." He spoke sarcastically without batting an eye, which immediately angered An Xin. "What do you take me for?"
He gritted his teeth, "If you don't even care about yourself, how can you expect others to care about you!"
An Xin was speechless. She had already agreed to Huang Yixuan's request, which was irresponsible to herself. But if he didn't wake up, she would rather get everything she wanted without any responsibility.
"After assassinating me, you went to the Left Prime Minister's residence! If you hadn't just woken up a few days ago, I would have strangled you!" He angrily bit her again, and An Xin shrank back in exasperation, "Do you think I wanted to go? If Jing Lan hadn't saved me, I would have died in the Right Prime Minister's residence!"
Yan Zhen's eyes were deep and dark. He didn't need to guess to know how she would be treated in the Right Prime Minister's mansion after killing him. He had also heard Ye Qi mention some things. It seemed that his mother and Xi Ruo had imprisoned her in a water dungeon. The water there was drawn from a cold spring and was extremely cold. How could an ordinary person withstand it? Moreover, she had been soaking there for so long, her body must not have been able to take it!
He subconsciously felt her pulse; it was relatively calm, suggesting that Jinglan had taken good care of her.
He felt a pang of sadness and discomfort, but since she was alright, he let the matter drop, even though he didn't really appreciate Jinglan's kindness.
"He saved you? He's not that kind-hearted. He might have been the one who orchestrated this whole conspiracy. There's nothing to be grateful for!" Yan Zhen said sourly. An Xin rolled her eyes. "No matter what kind of person he is, saving me is a favor, and I have to repay that favor."
Yan Zhen bit her, "Give him back? How? By offering yourself to him?!"
An Xin was speechless, then said angrily, "Can you please stop dragging everything into the topic of repaying someone with one's body?!"
Yan Zhen stared at her with a somber expression and said, "You attempted to assassinate me, which is a grave crime. I hereby decree that you shall never leave my side for the rest of your life, and anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy!"
An Xin's lips twitched, and after a moment's hesitation, she said, "I have a lot of things to do right now, so I can't talk to you anymore."
He struggled beneath her; it was as if she was deliberately provoking him.
Yan Zhen's eyes were deep as she said, "What could be more important than reconciling with me? I don't remember forgiving you!"
An Xin was depressed. In this world, the only people she could get along with in such a strange way were her and Yan Zhen.
The door was pushed open with a bang, and An Xin was startled, looking out the door.
Zhou Xiruo rushed in, and her eyes immediately reddened when she saw the scene on the bed. "An Xin! You've harmed the master so badly, how dare you come back?!"
An Xin remained silent.
Yan Zhen slowly stood up and said calmly, "I brought her back. Xi Ruo, when did it become so easy to enter my room?"
Zhou Xiruo's expression changed, and her eyes reddened as she said, "I was anxious, Yan Zhen, Mother has fainted, I just came to ask you to go and see her..."
Yan Zhen's gaze darkened slightly, then she glanced at An Xin and said, "You wait here, I'll go take a look."
An Xin nodded.
Yan Zhen left quickly. An Xin was about to get up when Zhou Xiruo stepped over and sneered, "Yan Zhen and I grew up together. Can you compare to our years of friendship? Interfering in someone else's relationship, do you have any shame?! Do you really think you can compare to me, who risked my life to save him? An Xin, don't even dream about it!"
An Xin's expression hardened slightly, and after a long while, she said calmly, "You're overthinking it."
Zhou Xiruo's expression darkened slightly. "What do you mean?!"
An Xin slowly stood up and said calmly, "You and Yan Zhen grew up together since childhood. It's affection, but not love. If he had feelings for you, would he have waited until now to marry you? It's you, Zhou Xiruo, who's been dreaming all along."
Zhou Xiruo was suddenly struck where it hurt, and her face turned pale.
As An Xin brushed past Zhou Xiruo's shoulder, she suddenly caught a faint, pleasant fragrance. Her expression changed slightly, and then she turned back, raising an eyebrow, and said, "Miss Zhou, you seem to have just seen someone..."
Zhou Xiruo's already pale face suddenly turned even paler.
---Aside---
I saved the manuscript and automatically published it when I went home for Chinese New Year. There's no internet at my hometown, and I only found out it hadn't passed the review when I got back. As you can imagine, no one else received the notification either. Speechless~ I will slowly write the ending, that much is certain. I won't go into further explanation.
Chapter 105 Past Events
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"What do you mean?" Zhou Xiruo steadied herself, her expression darkening.
An Xin raised the corners of her lips slightly, her eyelashes fluttering gently. The cold light in her eyes seemed to see through everything. "I think I understand something... If Yan Zhen knows the truth, your so-called desperate attempt to save him doesn't seem to make you much more shameless than me."
Zhou Xiruo flinched like a cat that had been pricked, her lips trembling slightly, but she sneered: "An Xin, it seems I've always underestimated you. There are some things I have to warn you about. Curiosity killed the cat. The more you know, the more miserable your end will be."
An Xin clearly saw the fleeting killing intent in Zhou Xiruo's eyes. Her gaze swept almost imperceptibly across the door behind her, and she said calmly, "The Yan family was originally a powerful clan, but three years ago, they were suddenly slaughtered. It is said that the Yan family secretly possessed the 'Ten Thousand Weapons Map,' which supposedly contained weapons capable of overthrowing dynasties. As a result, it was discovered, and then the family was mysteriously wiped out. It is said that the assassins were from an assassin organization known in the martial arts world as the 'Shura Hall.' Yan Zhen was forced to eat his mother's flesh and blood, and from then on, he developed an aversion to food. Later, he became the prime minister and wiped out the Shura Hall in one fell swoop, thus ending this grudge." Most of this past was her speculation, but the few letters she inadvertently saw in Yan Zhen's study that day suddenly gave her some ideas.
Zhou Xiruo trembled, then sneered: "I was there for Yan Zhen during those dark days, what are you! Where were you then!?"
An Xin said calmly, "Others only think that the Asura Hall, having done nothing wrong, only killed the Yan family after obtaining the Myriad Weapons Map. But what I'm thinking about is, how did the Myriad Weapons Map end up in the Yan family? As far as I know, the Myriad Weapons Map was unknown for many years, but it suddenly came to light five years ago, causing a huge uproar. The Myriad Weapons Map wasn't in the Yan family. Later, it suddenly appeared there, catching even the Yan family off guard, and then they suffered a devastating blow. After that, the Myriad Weapons Map disappeared without a trace. When Yan Zhen crushed the Asura Hall, he didn't find it... So, does the Myriad Weapons Map even exist? If it does, where is it? If it doesn't exist, then who spread the rumors about it? And why did these rumors ultimately target the Yan family?"
Zhou Xiruo sneered: "The past has long been forgotten. You think you can escape today by bringing this up to distract me?! An Xin, no matter what, I won't let you leave here alive today!"
An Xin smiled faintly and said, "Are you feeling guilty?"
Zhou Xiruo's face darkened and she shouted, "You're talking nonsense!"
An Xin slowly and deliberately said, "I have reviewed a lot of historical facts from that time. The reason you entered the Yan family was because your father and Yan Zhen's father were close friends. Your father offended the emperor and his family was wiped out. After your family fell into decline, you were taken to the Yan family. Speaking of which, Yan Zhen treated you very well, precisely because you were an innocent and carefree girl, and you were childhood sweethearts with him. This kind of affection is indeed unmatched by others. However, that innocent and carefree girl had already died in that massacre. So where did Zhou Xiruo come from?"
Zhou Xiruo trembled violently, and the light in her eyes grew dimmer and darker.
An Xin, seemingly unaware, continued, "You've played the role of Zhou Xiruo for many years, and you've portrayed it so vividly that even Yan Zhen didn't recognize you. Last time, when An Wan spilled some medicine and burned your arm, I noticed a small butterfly tattooed on your arm. In Yan Zhen's study, there's a portrait of Zhou Xiruo in her youth. The young girl's arms are slender and delicate, as clean as jade, without that tattoo. I asked Yan Zhen, and although the painting wasn't done by him, Zhou Xiruo's arm definitely didn't have a butterfly."
Zhou Xiruo's face gradually turned ferocious.
An Xin said calmly, "You may have gotten the tattoo later, but on the list of those who crushed the Asura Palace, I found an interesting woman named Dieyi. That girl also had a butterfly tattooed on her arm, and coincidentally, it was in the same spot as yours..." An Xin slowly stared at Zhou Xiruo's ferocious face. There were some things she didn't intend to delve into, but since the headless corpse case, she seemed to have been drawn into a huge vortex, a vortex with no clues. She had no way to investigate, but fortunately, she always had a curious heart. Gradually, she explored further, and the result she came to was truly shocking.
Zhou Xiruo's expression was ferocious, but she regained her composure in the next moment and sneered, "It's no coincidence that makes things so complicated. You want to use this as a reason to slander me?"
An Xin said calmly, "I don't really care who you are. What I care about is the matter itself. I asked Shen Zhuo to investigate Dieyi's background for me. Dieyi was originally a princess of a fallen kingdom called Li. After Li was destroyed by Dayi, some people died in battle, and some surrendered. The surrendered branch was enfeoffed in Baihua County, and they lived in peace thereafter. However, later, someone within Baihua County betrayed them and reported to the court that Baihua County was secretly training troops with the intention of rebellion to restore Li. This person then found Lord Yan, who was an official in the court at the time. Lord Yan thought that if this matter were reported to the court, everyone in Baihua County would probably suffer a catastrophic disaster. So, after thinking for three days, he secretly executed this person and wrote a letter to warn the prince of Baihua County. But later, the emperor..." Knowing this, the traitor, seeing Lord Yan's unease as he pondered, told another person. The Emperor learned of this overnight and was furious, ordering the massacre of Baihua County and its remaining inhabitants. However, one person escaped—the princess of the fallen kingdom I mentioned. She entered the Shura Palace and secretly revealed the existence of the "Ten Thousand Weapons Map." She then bewitched the Shura Palace Master and, taking advantage of the Zhou family's destruction, disguised herself as Zhou Xiruo, a woman of similar stature, and brazenly entered the Yan family. The so-called "Ten Thousand Weapons Map" was naturally placed in the Yan family by this princess. The court was both shocked and furious that a minister had secretly possessed the "Ten Thousand Weapons Map." Coincidentally, the Shura Palace had murdered the entire Yan family, so the Emperor turned a blind eye. And so, the Yan family was finished.