The man lunged forward and grabbed Afei’s collar, shouting hoarsely, “He’s talking nonsense! He’s talking nonsense!”
Afei shook like a noodle, nearly vomiting up the meal he had eaten earlier.
The man gradually stopped, crouched down holding his head, and pulled at his hair, looking extremely distressed.
Afei glanced at the man and surprisingly turned to leave.
As Afei reached the edge of the field, the man suddenly jumped up, chased after him, and blocked his path.
Afei’s heart immediately leaped into his throat.
“What else did he say?” the man demanded.
“Nothing else,” Afei replied.
“Nothing else?” The man clearly couldn’t accept this answer.
“Nothing else. She instructed me to wait here, and after saying that one sentence to you, I could leave,” Afei said honestly.
He was very curious about how Miss Jiang knew this idler from a small town hundreds of li away, and why she had told him to wait at this grave if the man left after receiving the message.
Afei wasn’t stupid. Growing up on the streets had made him quite shrewd. The more he pondered this situation, the more alarmed he became.
Had Miss Jiang asked him to wait here because she anticipated that this man would come to commit suicide?
Afei felt a chill run down his spine.
How did Miss Jiang know? Could she foresee the future?
Thinking about the unbearable pain he had experienced at midnight some days ago, and the series of events that had unfolded since then, Afei suddenly felt a deep fear.
This fear wasn’t just because of the emotionally unstable man in front of him who might go crazy and kill someone at any moment, but also because of the beautiful young lady with a radiant smile far away in the capital.
However, besides fear, Afei inexplicably felt a sense of excitement.
After all, he was a man. Even though he was of low birth and had never been educated, what man is truly content with a mediocre life?
To those noble people, someone like him was just a commoner, a dime a dozen. Hoping for a powerful official to favor him was nothing but a fool’s dream.
Miss Jiang was so extraordinary, and he had inadvertently become involved with this mysterious young lady. Perhaps this was the opportunity of a lifetime for him, Afei?
Seize this chance!
This voice suddenly appeared in Afei’s heart.
Since Miss Jiang had casually given him an extra hundred taels on top of the agreed hundred, it was enough to show that as long as he served Miss Jiang well, there would be no shortage of benefits in the future.
Far away in the capital, Jiang Si didn’t know that witnessing her “prophetic abilities” firsthand had ignited the ambition that most men would have in Afei and that the extra hundred taels she had given had become the foundation supporting Afei’s ambition.
No one wants to work for a ruthless master who is also tight-fisted.
“Brother, I’m leaving now,” Afei said with a forced laugh, carefully sidling to the side, preparing to go around the man blocking his way.
He was destined for greater things in the future; he couldn’t die here.
Seeing no reaction from the man, Afei secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked forward.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and Afei paused, turning his head to look.
The man, expressionless, was following closely behind.
“Brother, why are you following me?” Afei nearly cried.
“I want to see her,” the man said, tucking the golden hairpin into his clothes, no longer intending to die.
If he couldn’t be with his fiancée even in the afterlife, then death held no attraction for him anymore.
Afei’s expression became conflicted.
“I can’t see her?” the man asked.
“She didn’t say…” Afei actually couldn’t understand Jiang Si’s arrangements either.
If Miss Jiang didn’t care about this man’s life or death, why had she asked him to guard the grave for so many days?
But if she cared about this man’s life, why would she only leave one sentence and be done with it? Shouldn’t she at least have instructed him to be prepared to persuade the man not to die?
Afei was overthinking it.
For Jiang Si, knowing about the man’s intention to die for love, she was moved by his devotion and, as an onlooker, was willing to lend a helping hand. But if a person was determined to die, she couldn’t expect Afei’s small frame to forcibly stop him, could she?
In such matters, one can only do their best and leave the rest to fate.
The life was the man’s own, and in the end, only he could decide.
Seeing the man following him step by step, Afei sighed, “Fine, follow if you want. But let me tell you, she’s in the capital—”
The man’s eyes narrowed, interrupting Afei, “The capital?”
“Yes, it’s far away. Are you going to follow me there?”
The man’s expression became even more determined, “Yes.”
He had just killed someone in the capital, but now he felt no fear about returning.
Although he had given up the idea of seeking death, he didn’t care much about his life anymore. He just wanted to see the person who had cleared the fog for him.
As for what he would do after seeing that person, the man hadn’t thought about it.
“Even if you reach the capital, she might not see you,” Afei reminded him again.
She was a noble lady, and even being able to interact with him was an accident. Whether she would be willing to see this man was hard to say.
The man said no more and stood beside Afei.
“Alright, I’ve said what I needed to say. It’s up to you,” Afei conceded.
And so, a somewhat frivolous young man and a taciturn, cold man set off together on their journey.
The capital had entered May, and the weather was starting to heat up, though not as hot as it would be in June or July. It was the perfect time for various banquets to be held frequently.
However, the noble ladies in this circle gradually noticed that the wife of the Marquis Changxing’s heir had been absent from many banquets.
This wasn’t surprising. Being possessed by evil spirits and even harming her grandmother at her maiden home, anyone who encountered such a situation would need some time before they could face people again.
But Jiang Qian’s days were even more difficult than people imagined.
In the bedchamber of the Marquis Changxing’s heir, a scandalous atmosphere lingered.
Cao Xingyu, the heir of Marquis Changxing, dressed and tied his belt, then placed a foot on Jiang Qian’s chest, asking expressionlessly, “When will you finally complete the task I gave you?”
Jiang Qian, without a shred of cloth covering her body, her eyelashes trembling, bit her lip and said, “I… I can’t go back to the Earl’s mansion recently…”
She knew her grandmother better than anyone. Right now, the entire household was merely observing her loss of face at her maiden home. If she went back and was driven out, she would truly have nothing left to hide her shame.
At that point, as a woman who had lost her maiden family’s support and had not yet borne a child, who in her husband’s family would still value her?
“Who asked you to go back? Invite her here!” Cao Xingyu withdrew his foot and pinched Jiang Qian’s chin.
“She…” Jiang Qian hesitated, thinking of Jiang Si’s cold and clear gaze.
“What, can’t invite her?” Cao Xingyu pressed.
Jiang Qian’s heart trembled, and she gritted her teeth, “I’ll go invite her, just wait a little longer…”
“Alright, don’t look like you’re about to die. I just want to see her up close more often. I’m not planning to do anything to your sister.” Satisfied with the promise, Cao Xingyu nodded, straightened his clothes, and walked out.
Jiang Qian stared at Cao Xingyu’s retreating, her expression very complex.
This man was a pervert, and she had become the wife of a pervert. It seemed she had no other path to walk.