Yun Chu Ling

Chapter 169: Qin Mingheng's Escape

Yun Chu stared in disbelief at the man before her.

It was actually the former Marquis Xuanwu, Qin Mingheng, who should have been in exile.

Because of her letter, Qin Mingheng had been implicated in Marquis Liu's debauchery in the palace. Combined with Luo Shi beating the grievance drum at the palace gates, the Marquis Xuanwu estate had fallen just like that. In the end, Qin Mingheng had been sentenced to exile three thousand miles away... By all reasoning, he should still be on his journey to exile, so how could he appear at the Xie residence?

"Surprised to see me?" Qin Mingheng removed the black cloak from his head and stepped closer to Yun Chu.

Yun Chu could see that his face was covered in whip marks - old wounds not yet healed with fresh ones added. His neck was also covered in injuries, and she estimated there wasn't a single patch of unblemished skin on his entire body.

"Of course I'm surprised." She smiled faintly. "Marquis Xuanwu was originally only sentenced to exile, yet you escaped privately. Tell me, what awaits you now?"

Qin Mingheng stared intently at her: "My current predicament - was this your doing?"

"You bullied me, humiliated me, and still thought you could escape unscathed?" Yun Chu's voice gradually turned cold. "After committing such filthy deeds, you should have prayed I would never find out. Since I did discover it, did you really think I would pretend nothing happened?"

If not for Qin Mingheng, she would at least have conceived her child through proper relations with her lawful husband.

Not that she held any affection for Xie Jingyu in her heart.

But if the child in her womb had carried Xie family blood, Xie Jingyu wouldn't have been so deranged as to discard a child that still had breath. The child still hadn't received proper burial to this day...

Qin Mingheng should be grateful, grateful that the child didn't die by his hand. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let the Marquis Xuanwu estate collapse so quickly.

Instead, she would have made them suffer like the Xie family - slowly fragmenting, gradually being destroyed, enduring torment bit by bit, fading away like an oil lamp burning out, tasting every bitterness this world has to offer...

"You woman, you're truly too cruel!" Qin Mingheng gritted his teeth, the scars on his face making him appear particularly ferocious.

"Do you know how much I loved you? When I was ten years old, visiting the Yun family and seeing you for the first time, I was captivated by your beauty." He spoke word by word. "At that time, a dream took root in my heart - a dream about you. I waited for myself to grow up, waited for you to grow up. Finally, I could ask for your hand from the Yun family, but your mother rejected me. Do you know how heartbroken, how devastated I was?"

"Do you know when the Emperor arranged my marriage to Luo Shi, I considered using my noble rank to defy the imperial decree? But I was afraid that if I were no longer a Marquis, I wouldn't even be able to catch a glimpse of you... I knew I shouldn't harbor such filthy thoughts about you, but you don't understand - you occupied all my youthful dreams. I couldn't bear to watch you marry someone else..."

"I loved you so deeply, how could you treat me like this... What I gave you was love, yet you return nothing but hatred..."

"Why... why has it come to this!"

Qin Mingheng nearly broke down, supporting himself on the table as tears welled in his eyes, his chest heaving violently.

Yun Chu's face showed no expression whatsoever. She listened patiently, then smiled faintly: "Using the name of love to destroy someone's entire life - is this what you consider love?""Right, this is my love! So filthy, so despicable, so unspeakable!" Qin Mingheng roared. "But Yun Chu, do you know that the man on your wedding night wasn't me at all! Now, do you still think I ruined your entire life?"

"What did you say?"

Yun Chu's expression finally changed, her gaze sharpening.

Qin Mingheng laughed wildly: "I'm saying the man who shared your bed that night wasn't me! I did nothing! Why should I bear your revenge and hatred? Why!"

Yun Chu's pupils contracted sharply as she grabbed his collar. "If not you, then who?"

"I did nothing, yet lost everything because of it. Yun Chu, you owe me!"

Qin Mingheng suddenly pressed her shoulders, tearing open her collar without another word and pinning her against the table.

"I've already suffered retribution, so why not make it real! I'm already like this - I have nothing left to lose!"

When his lips were half a finger's breadth from Yun Chu's neck, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder.

The short sword Yun Chu had been clutching all along was now deeply embedded in Qin Mingheng's right shoulder.

Instead of withdrawing it, she pushed it deeper.

Qin Mingheng's face contorted in agony.

"Are you sure you have nothing left to lose?" Yun Chu smiled coldly. "That concubine of yours called Chuniang... after your downfall, she had an abortion and disappeared... The only remaining bloodline of your Qin family now is the legitimate son born to Luo Shi."

Clutching his right shoulder, Qin Mingheng stared in disbelief. "You'd threaten me with a child's life?"

"Your son's life is precious, but my premature twins' lives weren't?" Yun Chu fixed her gaze on him. "You claimed you saw the children still alive when Xie Jingyu abandoned them... Since you could watch two infants die without intervening, why shouldn't I use your Qin bloodline to get what I want! Qin Mingheng, I'll give you only one chance. Tell me the truth, and your son lives. If I discover even one word is false, your Qin lineage ends with you!"

Qin Mingheng saw bloodthirsty coldness in her eyes.

When he first met her, she had smiled so radiantly, her eyes filled with innocence and naivety.

He knew she had always been a kind, warm-hearted woman.

Why had she become so cruel...

"Fine... I'll talk." Qin Mingheng closed his eyes, speaking with difficulty. "The night before your wedding, I sought out Xie Jingyu and made a deal with him. I gave him my family's ancestral miracle drug, along with some knockout drops. He put the knockout drops in your wedding night nuptial wine. After you drank it, you fell asleep. I was right there in your wedding chamber."

"Xie Jingyu wanted me to take you right there in the Xie residence, but I didn't want to do something so sacred in another man's room. So I brought you back to Marquis Xuanwu's residence. When I laid you on my bed, do you know how happy I was? I was finally going to fulfill my youthful dream, finally have you..."

"I called maids to remove your makeup, undress you, bathe you, and change you into the clothes I had carefully prepared..."

Yun Chu's fingers tightened inch by inch.

She didn't want to hear these details.But she knew that the person before her had kept this secret hidden for so many years—he needed an outlet.

She noticed several maids moving about by the door, which had been pushed ajar. She gestured for them not to enter just yet.

"I loved you so deeply, of course I wanted to present myself in the most perfect state when we performed the marital rites. I went to bathe as well."

"Looking back, my greatest regret is that I took too long bathing. By the time I emerged, you had already vanished."

"Hah... I went through such pains to bring you back to the estate, only to have someone snatch you away at the last moment!"

Qin Mingheng’s face was filled with fury.

He truly regretted it to the core—after all he had invested, all he reaped was Yun Chu’s hatred and retaliation!