Xie Lang hadn't noticed Shen Mingzhu's current state of mind. He just instinctively looked inside because of the commotion, with a faint smile still lingering in his eyes. "Shh—"
Feeling that Shen Mingzhu beside him seemed to be in a daze, Xie Lang leaned in dissatisfiedly. Without turning his head and keeping his eyes on the commotion inside, he lowered his voice and said, "Quick, watch the show. Once we've seen it today, we don't know when the next time will be."
Shen Mingzhu had been a bit gloomy at first. Seeing Xie Lang's attitude, she couldn't help but find it funny. She quickly glanced at him, with a lingering smile in her eyes.
As they were so close, their hands accidentally touched. Xie Lang was startled when his hand was suddenly touched by Shen Mingzhu's cold one. He almost jumped up.
"You..."
He lowered his voice and asked, "Did you bring a hand warmer?"
Shen Mingzhu was already used to it, so she imitated him and lowered her voice, saying, "Wasn't it you who pulled me here in such a hurry just now? When would I have had the time to prepare a hand warmer?"
Xie Lang frowned. Just thinking about the touch on his hand just now, he subconsciously sighed. Looking down, he indeed saw Shen Mingzhu's hand hidden under the long cuffs, as white as jade and cold to the touch.
[Why is Shen Mingzhu's hand so cold? Is she so weak?]
[It's strange. Isn't she a princess? How come... Wait, so that's why there's always charcoal burning in her room?]
Shen Mingzhu was so close that she heard Xie Lang's inner thoughts. She couldn't help but be a bit surprised. She didn't expect Xie Lang to be so perceptive.
The next moment, Shen Mingzhu suddenly felt one of her hands being wrapped by something. Looking down, she saw that Xie Lang had reached out his hand at some point and covered hers. Seeing that she noticed, he pretended to be calm and said, "The other one."
Shen Mingzhu was stunned for a moment and actually handed over her other hand.
"You..."
Xie Lang was a bit surprised by Shen Mingzhu's cooperation.
Shen Mingzhu couldn't help but curl the corner of her lips slightly. The warmth from his hand was different from that of a hand warmer. It carried a kind of indescribable gentleness. Xie Lang's hand had distinct joints and calloused fingertips. When it covered hers, it brought a reassuring warmth.
She turned her head and saw that the tips of Xie Lang's ears were red. The redness slowly spread from there to his face, and even his exposed neck was tinged with a faint blush. He looked as if he had been put in a steamer.
But Xie Lang seemed not to notice. He still pretended to be calm and glanced at Shen Mingzhu indifferently.
His mind was completely blank because of shyness.
Shen Mingzhu smiled. Looking at Xie Lang's pretense of calmness, a rare sense of playfulness gradually welled up in her heart. So she leaned in, pinched Xie Lang's ear, and whispered with a smile, "Shh—Quick, watch the show."
Xie Lang stood there, his mind blank.
"General—"
Liu's shrill voice broke the current tranquility. Shen Mingzhu looked over and saw that her face was full of tears. Looking at General Xie, she said, "Do you only believe Xie Fangfei's one - sided words?"
"Every time Concubine Wang was pregnant and needed to take care of herself, wasn't it me who took out extra silver from the mansion's accounts first to let her rest assured and recuperate?"
Hearing this, General Xie lowered his head, looking at Liu's expression. After hesitating for a moment, his gaze fell on the letter in his hand.
Was this... Was this really true?
General Xie was in a dilemma. His first reaction was to cover up the matter. There had been too many things happening in the Xie Mansion today. If he sent someone to investigate these old matters again, and if it got out, what would happen to his reputation?
He fell into silence, looking at the letter in his hand. Caught in a dilemma over this matter, he even showed a bit of hesitation.
This...
Xie Fangfei's heart sank. The last bit of hope she had left when facing General Xie completely turned into hatred. She stared fixedly at the man in front of her, hiding her last bit of weakness. She lowered her eyes and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Her mother's body was not yet cold, and she came to seek justice. But she found that neither she nor her mother was as important as General Xie's reputation in his eyes?
Xie Fangfei looked at General Xie tiredly, covering the coldness in her eyes. Instead, she spoke in a weak and pitiful voice, "Father, Mother's body is not yet cold. How sad would she be if she saw all this?"
General Xie looked up at her but didn't respond. His hand holding the letter tightened a bit.
"Please, Father, give Mother justice." Xie Fangfei looked at General Xie, and the tears in the corners of her eyes fell like broken beads. "Daughter has suffered such a thing in public and no longer dares to think about the future. I only hope that after this matter is over, I can go to the temple outside the city to shave my head and spend the rest of my life praying for you and Mother."
The coldness on General Xie's face faded a bit. Looking at Xie Fangfei, he said, "You have other ways out."
"If you marry down, I can still marry you off." General Xie said, looking at Xie Fangfei and sighing.
"Father." Xie Fangfei was silent for a moment and then said, "Daughter has no other way out now. Marry down? "
She let out a soft laugh, with full desolation in her tone. "Who would take a fancy to me? If I really married someone, he would only marry me because of the power behind me. How could such a person who is willing to bow to power be a good match?"
General Xie sighed again and continued, "You've become sensible. It's just..."
After saying that, he let out another long sigh.
"Father." Xie Fangfei looked at him. "Please, let me see Mother close her eyes in peace before I leave the mansion and shave my head."
Looking at Xie Fangfei's appearance, General Xie's heart sank a bit, filled with some indescribable emotions.
After all, Xie Fangfei was his daughter. Although her personality had been a bit unlikable since childhood, she was still his blood. Now that she had suddenly fallen into such a situation, how could he not feel heartache?
But compared with other things, this heartache faded a bit.
He looked at Liu and said coldly, "Do you have anything else to say?"
Liu was still arguing and completely refused to give up. She continued to cry pitifully, "General, I'm your pillow - companion. Don't you know my character?"
As she said that, she moved a few steps forward and knelt at General Xie's feet. Looking up at him, she said, "I just indulged Yun'er and failed to educate my son well. How could I do such a wrong thing!"
Xie Fangfei sneered.
The scene fell into a stalemate for a moment. Everyone had different expressions on their faces and stared fixedly at General Xie's expression, afraid of being abandoned.
Seeing this, Shen Mingzhu turned to look at Xie Lang and whispered, "Is this all Xie Fangfei can do? She doesn't seem to have any other tricks. Should I go up and give her a hand?"
Hearing this, Xie Lang suddenly came back to his senses. It seemed that he had just recovered his mind from the previous tenderness. He said to Shen Mingzhu, "Don't underestimate her."
"Wait a minute. Someone's coming." Xie Lang smiled. Seeing the confusion on Shen Mingzhu's face, he couldn't help but feel proud. "It will definitely surprise you."
Shen Mingzhu fell into deep thought.
Who else could it be?
A vague guess emerged in her mind, but Shen Mingzhu still wasn't very sure. So she quietly waited there.
After a while, there came a few soft footsteps outside, accompanied by a few low coughs.