Ji Cheng was saying that when she and He Cheng were about to get engaged, she wondered how Shen Che could let her go so calmly. She thought he truly supported her marrying He Cheng and then holding the Western Regions for him in Xizhou.
Shen Che said softly, “I told you, I gave you a chance, Ji Cheng.”
“Back then, I didn’t force you to go to Phoenix Tower. You could have gone to find He Cheng.” Shen Che’s voice sounded to Ji Cheng as if it came from hell itself.
Ji Cheng flew into a rage, sweeping all the tea sets on the table onto the ground. Some spun in a circle on the rush mat and remained intact, but one frozen flower stone cup cracked. This was a set of plum blossom cups that Shen Che had spent many years collecting.
“You’re shameless! You knew perfectly well that I wouldn’t go find He Cheng.” Ji Cheng’s nails dug into her flesh, wishing she could stab Shen Che to death.
Shen Che said, “We’ve already discussed this issue. Wang Si Niang paid the appropriate price, so she bought the Magpie Bridge Immortal. As for what she used it for, when she used it, and on whom she used it, I couldn’t be certain of any of that. Ji Cheng, don’t blame others for everything when things go wrong.”
“That’s all sophistry!” Ji Cheng was too angry to vent. “What kind of person are you? How could you not have calculated it?! You could have warned me. And what status does Nan Gui have? That day when I was poisoned, how could she casually mention where you were? You don’t have a habit of reporting your whereabouts to her!”
Shen Che pretended to think for a moment, then said, “Indeed, I allowed that incident to happen. It wasn’t disadvantageous to me, was it?”
Ji Cheng reached out and slapped Shen Che.
She hit him?!
Shen Che tilted his head slightly but didn’t move to slap Ji Cheng back.
Ji Cheng felt that her hand might hurt more than Shen Che’s face. After a moment of shock, she immediately flared up again, “What about this time? How do you plan to sabotage it this time? Last time you said I couldn’t bear children, what about this time? Tell others I’ve already lost my chastity?” Ji Cheng’s voice was sharp, almost piercing.
“No need. Just provide Ye Lang with a better choice for a second wife,” Shen Che seemed completely unaffected by Ji Cheng’s emotions. Whether she cried or made a scene, it was all just a spectacle to him.
Faced with such a cold person, Ji Cheng’s emotions also cooled down strangely, but she still had no strength and could only slide down the pillar to sit on the ground, dejected.
“Didn’t we agree to gamble on this?” Shen Che walked over to Ji Cheng, squatted down, and patted her head as if petting a dog or cat.
Ji Cheng swatted Shen Che’s hand away, “Don’t touch me. You disgust me.”
Shen Che’s expression became somewhat unpleasant. Ji Cheng felt pleased inside; if he was unhappy, she was happy. “Don’t push me to mutual destruction,” Ji Cheng said through gritted teeth.
“Then behave yourself and stop playing tricks,” Shen Che withdrew his hand and sat back at the table, slowly brewing tea. “It’s a pity about these cups. There’s probably only this one set in the world.”
Only one set? That’s perfect then. Ji Cheng stood up again, quickly walked to Shen Che’s side, picked up the few surviving cups in one go, and smashed them onto the stone path in the small courtyard.
The crisp sounds of “crash, crash, crash” were extremely pleasant to the ear.
Shen Che didn’t move, but it was evident that he was angered to the extreme.
Ji Cheng decided to go all out. She took out all the precious tea sets stored in the cabinet and smashed them on the ground with a series of clatters. Finally, not satisfied, she also picked up the copper kettle Shen Che was using to boil water on the stove and threw it to the ground with a “bang,” then kicked the wind furnace away.
Venting by throwing things was indeed satisfying. Ji Cheng dusted off her hands and sat down in front of Shen Che, stretching her neck. “Alright, are you angry enough to kill me now? Then go ahead.”
Shen Che didn’t move for a long time. Finally, he reached out his hand and gently stroked Ji Cheng’s neck. Ji Cheng’s eyelashes fluttered, but she didn’t close her eyes, stubbornly and obstinately looking at Shen Che.
Shen Che’s hand slid to the back of her neck, and with a slight force, he pulled her close.
Her lips were bitten painfully, and Ji Cheng almost tasted blood. “Do you enjoy forcing yourself on women so much?” she asked.
Shen Che released Ji Cheng’s lips and pressed his forehead against hers. After a moment, he said, “I don’t have a habit of forcing women.”
Ji Cheng opened her mouth to retort, thinking of that day at San Hao Residence.
Shen Che pulled away from Ji Cheng and said, “I can tell whether a woman is seriously resisting or not.”
Ji Cheng’s face turned red, then pale, then red again. “What are you implying?”
Shen Che sneered, “Is it so hard to admit?”
Ji Cheng felt like drinking some tea, but she had smashed all the tea-making utensils.
Shen Che’s words uncovered the darkest and most unspeakable corner of Ji Cheng’s heart. She had to admit that back then, she had the mindset of having nothing left to lose. To her, such a thing made no difference whether it happened once or twice. Since Shen Che wanted it, she could give it to him. After all, she didn’t care. What she cared about was that since Shen Che liked it so much, she wanted him to like it enough, to be infatuated, reluctant to part, unable to stop, and then be at her disposal.
Now Ji Cheng felt that she had been quite fanciful, and the idea was laughable enough.
“Alright, you’ve hit, you’ve scolded, you’ve smashed everything you could. Have you vented your anger?” Shen Che sat down beside Ji Cheng, who was sitting with her knees drawn up and tidied her slightly disheveled hair.
“Don’t touch me,” Ji Cheng’s voice came out muffled from her knees. She extremely disliked Shen Che’s behavior of slapping her and then offering a date to eat.
“I’m leaving,” Ji Cheng stood up. She needed to compose herself before facing Shen Che again.
Shen Che didn’t try to keep Ji Cheng, only saying, “I’ll have someone bring up a few more sets of tea ware. Shall we smash them again tomorrow?”
Ji Cheng didn’t respond to Shen Che at all.
“Tomorrow, I’ll have Nan Gui invite you over.”
Ji Cheng straightened her back and slipped into the wardrobe. Naturally, sleep was difficult that night. Ji Cheng pondered over and over but couldn’t figure out Shen Che’s intentions. Was toying with her like playing with a toy to him?
But even a rabbit will bite when cornered.
In the middle of the night, Ji Cheng put on her clothes and sent a secret letter to Mei Chang He, who was far away in the Western Regions. Along with the letter, she included a music score, which was Master Lian’s treasure. Ji Cheng had copied it, and it was said to be the long-lost “Guangling San” by Ji Kang. She thought Fang Xuan would surely be interested.
The next day, although Ji Cheng was unwilling, she still went to Nine Li Courtyard. The broken tea cup shards in the courtyard had already been cleaned up.
When Xing Shang was cleaning the small courtyard early in the morning, she could hardly believe what she saw. Shen Che’s favorite set of frozen flower stone plum blossom cups were all broken. She had heard noises last night and felt something was wrong, but didn’t dare to come up on her own. Now seeing those fragments, Xing Shang couldn’t help but look up at Shen Che, “Young Master, this is…”
Shen Che just glanced lightly, “Bring out a few more sets of teaware.” He paused, “Bring up those few sets we use least often.” After all, it was his favorite, and even Shen Che couldn’t help but feel distressed when Ji Cheng smashed them like this.
Xing Shang was still in a daze as she carried the fragments out. Yu Yi had never seen Xing Shang so absent-minded before, “Sister Xing Shang, what’s wrong with you?”
Xing Shang mumbled, “Young Master’s frozen flower stone cups are broken, and he doesn’t seem to care at all.”
“Frozen flower stone?” Yu Yi exclaimed in surprise. She had heard Xing Shang talk about this set before. No one was ever allowed to touch them. Whether washing or storing, only Xing Shang could handle them. Moreover, Yu Yi had heard that one of those frozen flower stone cups was made from a stone that Shen Che himself had spent three years searching for in a quarry and carved with his own hands.
“Did the Young Master break them himself?” Yu Yi asked.
Xing Shang shook her head. How could it possibly be the Young Master who broke them? Now Xing Shang was just curious about who had lit the candles in the small courtyard upstairs last night. It must have been her who broke the cups, right?
At this moment, Ji Cheng was sitting in the small courtyard with a cold face. Shen Che started brewing tea again, “Xing Shang brought up a few more sets of cups. Would you like to hear the crisp sound again?”
Not really. Ji Cheng wasn’t usually the type to vent her anger by smashing things. She even looked down on such people. But yesterday, she had truly been driven mad. Now that she had calmed down, Ji Cheng also knew that Shen Che was truly coaxing her, probably still in high spirits, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility of settling accounts after autumn when thinking back on it in the future.
Ji Cheng also knew that she should quit while she was ahead. Could she continue to be cold towards Shen Che? She didn’t have the qualification to truly quarrel with Shen Che, and she still needed to get news about the Western Regions from Shen Che’s line of information.
After a moment of silence, Ji Cheng turned to look into Shen Che’s eyes, “Why can’t you just let me marry Ye Lang?”
Shen Che handed the teacup in his hand to Ji Cheng, “What? Are you so eager to be someone’s second wife?”
Ji Cheng was provoked by the sarcasm in Shen Che’s eyes, and another burst of anger flared up, “Isn’t this all thanks to Cousin Che saying I’m not good for childbearing?”
Shen Che remembered the sachet tied around Shen Yu’s waist, its fragrance identical to the scent on Ji Cheng’s hands at that time. “Even without that incident, you might still have been interested, right?”
Ji Cheng didn’t understand Shen Che’s implication and only felt that his words were peculiar and sarcastic. She thought she had given him a chance too, but unfortunately, he wouldn’t give her a chance to escape.
“I haven’t asked you how this new tea tastes,” Shen Che seemed unwilling to continue the previous topic and changed the subject.
Ji Cheng took a light sip, feeling as if she tasted the flavor of her tears from back then. “It’s a bit astringent,” Ji Cheng lowered her eyes.
“Slightly astringent at first, with a sweet aftertaste. This year’s new tea has a richer color and aroma compared to previous years,” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng held the teacup and lowered her head without speaking. She hadn’t figured out Shen Che’s intentions. If he truly wanted to coax her, to make her willingly comply, he could have denied the “Magpie Bridge Immortal” incident. Ji Cheng had no evidence to accuse him. But he admitted it, then turned around to continue coaxing her, yet his words were both soft and hard. Did he want her to hate him to death?
What strange thoughts, weren’t they?