Reborn Spoiled Girl Tames the Regent

Chapter 148 Your heart truly cannot be warmed.

Jiang Mian's eyes narrowed slightly, and her fingers under her sleeve tightened gently.

Then Chi Yu continued, "The Empress Dowager is personally handling this matter. No matter how generous the Prince is, he can't possibly let an unmarried girl like you live with him, can he?"

"You, the legitimate daughter of a general's family, will end up with nowhere to go. What a joke."

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly stopped and whispered in her ear, "By the way, the date of my wedding with His Highness has been set. Someone will be sent to deliver the wedding invitation. I would like to ask Miss Jiang to attend."

"..."

She was pleased with Jiang Mian's stunned reaction, and with a mocking smile, she turned her gaze away and walked past her with her head held high, looking very smug.

Jiang Mian stood in a corner of the palace road, watching her departing figure, her expression gradually freezing.

That seemingly light yet sharp phrase still echoed in my ears—

"It won't be appropriate for Wen Yin to stay here after she gets married."

She frowned slightly, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Wen Yin is going to marry into the Prince of Beiqin's mansion?

Her first reaction was not jealousy or anger, but surprise, an incredulous surprise.

She knew Xiao Hengzhi too well.

This person is cold and taciturn, domineering and self-controlled, distant and indifferent to others, but he is like a mad dog to her, acting irrationally.

In his past life, he went to great lengths to keep her by his side.

Now... he actually agreed to marry Wen Yin?

No wonder he was always hesitant and stammering a while ago.

Many fragments flashed through Jiang Wan's mind...

— Rumors of the execution of the entire Wen family have spread throughout the capital.

Xiao Hengzhi's attitude towards the Wen family has always been consistent; even Wen Yin has never held any importance in his eyes.

—If Wen Yin were to marry him now, wouldn't that bring this turmoil and disaster into the Prince's mansion?

She frowned, a bizarre yet logical possibility flashing through her mind:

Could it be... that Wen Yin did this to save her life?

With the Wen family wiped out, her marriage to Xiao Hengzhi is a way for her to climb the social ladder by marrying into the Prince of Beiqin's household. This would make her a member of the Prince's household, giving the Emperor a reason to show leniency.

Even if the court officials had grievances, they had to keep quiet for the sake of the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager has always favored Wen Yin, and must be hoping to use this to give her a glimmer of hope.

But......

Jiang Mian's eyes darkened.

But given Xiao Hengzhi's personality, how could he possibly agree?

He didn't mean to say that the position of princess was...

Jiang Mian was in a state of utter confusion, her mind a jumbled mess of thoughts, her mind a knotted mess.

She didn't know why, even though Ning Zhi and Chi Yu's wedding date had been set, she couldn't stop thinking about Xiao Hengzhi and Wen Yin.

The wind swept across the palace path, ruffling her hair.

She took a deep breath and told herself to calm down, think, and not panic.

But her mind was far from at peace.

As night deepened, the palace gates were already closed.

Jiang Mian returned to the Prince of Beiqin's residence that night.

Just then, an elderly man came out of the mansion. He was wearing a dark brocade robe, his hair and beard were all white, his face was thin, and his brows exuded dignity and composure.

Jiang Wan recognized him as Xiao Jizhong, the father of the late Prince, and also the grandfather of Xiao Hengzhi. He had once held the military command of the Northern Garrison and was bestowed the title "Loyal and Respectful Prince" by the emperor.

He has been living in his old house in Nanchuan and rarely appears in public.

Now that he's personally come to our door, the marriage is probably true.

After the old man left, she got off the carriage and entered the mansion.

The snow in the yard hadn't been swept away yet. As I walked along, even though my footsteps weren't heavy, I could still hear the sound of my shoes crunching in the snow, one after another, echoing endlessly.

"Miss Jiang, His Highness requests your presence." A maidservant approached and bowed.

Jiang Mian responded and headed towards the bedroom.

When she pushed open the hall door, Xiao Hengzhi was sitting on the couch.

The room was dark, with only the flickering fire in the stove casting a long, slender, and aloof shadow on him.

He was dressed in black, with one hand supporting his forehead, as if he hadn't moved for a long time. When he heard the door open, he only glanced to the side.

Jiang Mian gently closed the door, her gaze falling on him, her expression somewhat complicated.

Their eyes met, and the room fell silent for a moment.

In the end, it was Xiao Hengzhi who spoke first.

"Jiang Mian, there is something I have thought about and I still feel I should let you know."

Jiang Mian lowered her eyes, guessing what Xiao Hengzhi was about to say.

Sure enough, he spoke again: "The Wen family has been convicted, and the Empress Dowager, in order to protect Wen Yin, has decided to..."

He paused suddenly.

There was another moment of silence.

Jiang Wan took a deep breath and said, "We've decided to marry her to the prince, right?"

Xiao Hengzhi looked at her with some surprise: "You knew all along?"

"I only found out today."

"then you......"

"The Empress Dowager made this decision to preserve the Wen family lineage. Your Highness accepting this marriage is perfectly logical. Your Highness need not hesitate; I am no one in the Prince's household, and such an important matter is not for me to advise..."

She spoke very slowly, yet with a distant air, like needles pricking Xiao Hengzhi's heart, inch by inch prying away at his restrained self-control.

"...I only came to stay temporarily, but now that my father is away fighting, I can settle down by myself. Although the general's mansion is not yet fully renovated, it should be fine to spare a room. If all else fails, I can go to an inn..."

She kept talking, which inexplicably made Xiao Hengzhi angry.

"Enough." He stood up, his eyes sharp. "When did I say you were leaving?"

"Does Your Highness even need to say that? The Prince of Beiqin's mansion is about to welcome a new bride. Am I, an outsider, supposed to stay here and wait for others to gossip?"

"Do you consider yourself an outsider?" His gaze darkened.

"Is not it?"

Jiang Mian's tone was light, yet it carried an undisguised chill.

She wasn't arguing, or even accusing anyone; she was simply stating a fact.

She was only staying here temporarily, and now that the Prince's mansion has another marriage, it is most reasonable for her to back down.

But it was precisely this rational, calm, and emotionless attitude that made Xiao Hengzhi feel a tightness in his chest.

"Jiang Mian, don't you have a single question to ask me?" Xiao Hengzhi's throat bobbed, his anger so intense that his knuckles tightened.

"What do you want to ask the prince?" She looked up at him. "Why did you marry Wen Yin? Or when do you plan to let her in so I can make room for her?"

"Jiang Man!"

He growled, his eyes filled with barely suppressed rage, "You really don't care at all?"

"I didn't care in the first place! If it weren't for the prince's insistence on keeping me here, how could I have stayed here indefinitely?"

"Even now, you still want to leave?"

Jiang Wan suddenly looked up and met his dark and brooding eyes. She felt a tightness in her chest, as if some emotion was surging up and she couldn't calm it down.

This inexplicable feeling made her even more irritable.

Upon closer reflection, she shouldn't have rashly suggested leaving the Prince's residence at this moment.

She still remembered what the hermit Jichen had said: if no one could cure her poison, she would suffer excruciating pain until her meridians were severed and she died.

Even if it's just to save her own life, she should stay by Xiao Hengzhi's side.

But for some reason, when she heard him say that he wanted to marry Wen Yin into the household, she just wanted to leave.

I don't want to stay here for even a second longer.

Anyway, the poison won't take effect until the 15th of next month, so we just need to detoxify before then.

It's good to leave now. Without Xiao Hengzhi's surveillance, she won't have to be so restricted in coming and going from the Prince's mansion, and it will be easier for her to find a way to detoxify.

She subtly tightened her grip, suppressing the emotions welling up inside her.

"If Your Highness has nothing else, I shall take my leave."

The coldness in his words pierced Xiao Heng's heart: "If you insist on leaving, then leave. But if you stay, I promise you, I will never marry anyone else."

"..."

Jiang Wan was silent for a moment, then said, "Your Highness wants to marry me, but has he considered whether I want to marry you?"

Like a bucket of cold water, it extinguished Xiao Hengzhi's anger, replacing it with an unprecedented sense of desolation.

His voice was low and husky as he slowly said, "I now understand, your heart... cannot be warmed."

Jiang Wan didn't look at him. She pushed open the door and left, her figure resolute.

The snow reflected her figure, making her appear serene and aloof, as if she had no intention of turning back.

Every step he took touched his heart.

Xiao Hengzhi watched her retreating figure without moving.

He clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white.

In an instant, he didn't even have the strength to try to stop him.