Chu Chu suddenly realized something and stared at Xiao Jin Yu in astonishment, "Wang Ye... if your father's case cannot be overturned and people find out, will Ping'er and I have to die too?"
Xiao Jin Yu nodded gently, gripping Chu Chu's hand with all his strength as if afraid she might disappear if he lost focus for even a moment. "This case was decided by the Emperor's grandfather. Even if the Emperor wants to help me, he needs evidence. Otherwise, it would be treason... Ping'er is my son—that cannot be changed... But you don't have to be my wife..."
"No!" Chu Chu threw herself into Xiao Jin Yu's arms, holding him so tightly he could barely breathe. "I must be your wife! I must!"
"Let's discuss this further..."
Xiao Jin Yu's voice was weak but calm, as if drifting from another world. Chu Chu grew so anxious she nearly cried, "There's nothing to discuss!"
"Chu Chu... have you forgotten what you told me back in Chu Shui Town?"
Chu Chu froze for a moment, lifting her head but not loosening her embrace. "What did I say?"
Xiao Jin Yu smiled faintly, like a dying person recalling the most beautiful memory of their life, savoring each word with profound tenderness. "In Chu Shui Town, when I was nearing death... I heard you say: 'If no one sets up a memorial tablet for me, offers sacrifices, burns incense, or scatters paper money, I'll go hungry and penniless. If the wicked I sent to the underworld come to bully me, I'll be helpless... So you must live. I'm so useless—I can't manage without you.'"
Chu Chu felt as if a knife had pierced her heart. The pain sent tears streaming down her cheeks. "Don't say that! Don't! You're so capable—you'll definitely defeat him!"
With great effort, Xiao Jin Yu raised his hand to gently wipe the tear stains on her face, only to find the scalding tears multiplying the more he tried to dry them. He sighed softly and murmured slowly, "Chu Chu... every skill I possess was taught by him..."
Chu Chu felt as if she had been slapped. She suddenly froze, staring blankly at the frail man lying in bed. Xiao Jin Yu had always been strong-willed and stubborn—she had never heard him speak so calmly in defeat, nor had she ever seen such clear vulnerability and helplessness in his eyes.
She had been so consumed by hatred for Xue Rucheng—for harming his parents, for endangering Xiao Jue, and now for threatening him—that she had momentarily forgotten this was the man who had watched him grow up, the teacher he had respected like a father for over twenty years. To have someone he had relied on since childhood suddenly become his enemy—anyone else would have collapsed long ago. When tormented by illness, people become fragile. Despite being this gravely ill, he was still struggling to remain composed. And yet, in her panic, she had pushed him to confront this person without offering a single word of comfort...
Chu Chu raised her hand, wiped her tears dry in two swift motions, and gently kissed Xiao Jin Yu's eyelids. "Wang Ye, I know there's one skill you have that he didn't teach you."
Seeing how Chu Chu—who had been crying like a helpless child moments ago—suddenly grew calm and spoke so earnestly, Xiao Jin Yu was taken aback. "What...?"
Blinking her tear-reddened eyes, Chu Chu looked at him with utmost seriousness. "You know how to make people adore you."Xiao Jinyu was nearly choked breathless by these words, coughing for a while before looking at the person before him with a mix of amusement and exasperation. "Are you suggesting... if I go win his favor, he'll obey me and confess to his crimes?"
Chu Chu was momentarily stunned, gazing at Xiao Jinyu's pale, thin face that evoked involuntary pity, and pursed her lips. "If it could be that way... that would be quite good too."
Xiao Jinyu felt a dark cloud over his forehead, closing his eyes and turning his head aside. His already ailing heart truly couldn't withstand such stimulation from her...
Chu Chu wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "But that's not what I meant."
Too weary to open his eyes, Xiao Jinyu murmured, "Then what did you mean..."
"I meant that although all your skills were taught by him, you're likable and have many people willing to help you. Surely not every willing helper learned their skills from him." Chu Chu nuzzled against his chest twice. "Anyway, my skills weren't taught by him... If I were to abandon you, you'd lose an ally and find it even harder to defeat him. You're so clever, you'd never do such a foolish thing, right?"
Though Xiao Jinyu's body remained cold, his heart had been warmed by this person's illogical logic. He opened his eyes to look at her with mingled annoyance and affection, but before he could speak, the woman in his arms suddenly scrambled up, widening her eyes to stare at him. "Wang Ye! You almost fooled me!"
Xiao Jinyu was taken aback by the scolding. "Hmm?"
"Our marriage was decreed by the Emperor! Neither of us can divorce the other!"
Xiao Jinyu sighed quietly, with a tone that seemed both regretful and relieved. "It appears so..."
"What do you mean 'appears'! It is so!"
"Yes..." Seeing Chu Chu's expression of preparing to settle accounts, Xiao Jinyu pressed his bloodless lips together, taking her warm, soft hand while gazing pitifully at the fuming woman. "I'm cold..."
Chu Chu immediately softened, nestling back into his embrace and holding his thin, frail body. "Is that better?"
"Mmm... tighter..."
"Like this?"
"Mmm... Don't ever abandon me..."
Xiao Jinyu burned with high fever throughout the night, becoming somewhat delirious. He held Chu Chu and wept like a child who had suffered immense injustice. Chu Chu didn't know whether he was crying for his wrongfully executed parents or the mentor who had deceived him for over twenty years, but this was the first time she had seen Xiao Jinyu cry so bitterly. Her heart ached terribly, and she couldn't stop her own tears from falling. Thus, Jing Yi, who had originally intended to finish discussing official matters early and return home to sleep, had to sit cross-legged on the roof beam watching the couple embrace and weep all night. Finally unable to bear it any longer, he left a stack of papers and a scroll on the table before silently slipping away.
When Xiao Jinyu woke in the morning, his fever had broken, and he couldn't remember what had happened the previous night. He only felt his eyes terribly dry and his throat parched. Chu Chu didn't tell him, merely handing him a cup of water and watching him drink it all before giving him the stack of papers and scroll that Jing Yi had left on the table the night before.
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