The expected resistance did not happen. Xie Nanjia no longer pushed and yelled at him like she did every time before. Instead, she was like a wooden man, allowing him to hug her without any reaction.
Zhao Jingyu felt a little flustered.
If Xie Nanjia quarreled with him, made a scene with him, or threatened him, he would have a way to deal with it, but he didn't know what to do when there was no response.
He didn't even know where to start.
He wished Xie Nanjia could interrogate him question by question like she did just now, so that he would have something to say.
He tightened his arms nervously. Xie Nanjia's thin body pressed against him like a piece of paper. The two of them had never been so close together, but they had also never been so distant from each other.
Zhao Jingyu felt this alienation and became more and more flustered.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault..." He wrapped Xie Nanjia in his outer robe to protect her from the rain, and rested his chin on the top of her head as he murmured, "I don't know how to explain it, but it's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so smart, and I shouldn't have lied to you. You can punish me however you want, as long as you say it, I'll do it..."
"Let me go, let me go!" Xie Nanjia said with his eyes downcast and his head not raised. His tone was like rain and mist drifting in the wind, cold and ethereal.
Zhao Jingyu was startled and hugged her tighter: "No, I won't let you go."
"Humph!" Xie Nanjia sneered, "So you mean to do everything I say?"
“…” Zhao Jingyu was speechless, in a dilemma. If he didn’t do as she asked, he would be breaking his promise to her, but if he did as she asked, he would lose her. Both doing and not doing it would be wrong.
"Don't be angry, okay? You know we can't separate right now," he said.
"You might as well just say that your words are not credible and you are a liar!" Xie Nanjia suddenly exerted force, pushed him away, and strode away.
"Don't..." Zhao Jingyu quickly reached out to pull her.
Xie Nanjia turned around suddenly, holding the golden token in his hand and raised it in front of him without saying a word.
Zhao Jingyu withdrew his hand helplessly and watched her turn around and walk away without looking back.
Caught in a dilemma, he had no choice but to follow Xie Nanjia while waving to the coachman to drive the carriage over.
After the carriage arrived, he ran two steps, picked up Xie Nanjia by the waist and stuffed her into the carriage without saying anything, and said loudly: "I can ignore you. From now on, you can go wherever you want, but you must stay in the carriage, otherwise I can do anything."
Xie Nanjia was suddenly thrown into the car. She felt dizzy for a moment and hurriedly grabbed the horizontal bar on the roof to steady herself. After she sat firmly, there was no movement outside.
"Miss, where are we going?" asked the driver.
Xie Nanjia didn't know where Zhao Jingyu was, and it was difficult to ask the driver. After hesitating for a moment, he said indifferently, "Go back to Beijing."
The driver hesitated outside, and then said, "Miss, the capital is not peaceful right now. We will run into the prince and his men on the way back. If the prince asks, what should we say?"
Xie Nanjia had never thought about this question and was stumped for a moment.
The driver said, "Miss, don't you like Jiangnan? Why don't you go there to relax and wait until the capital is peaceful, then I'll take you back, okay?"
Xie Nanjia was stunned, and rejected him without thinking: "No, I want to go back to Beijing."
The driver was like a taciturn person and had said no more than three sentences throughout the journey. How come he suddenly became so eloquent now
Someone must have taught him.
"Yes." After a brief silence, the coachman agreed and drove the carriage towards the capital.
The weather was bad and there were few pedestrians on the official road. It was quiet with only the sounds of wheels and horse hooves, but no sound of Zhao Jingyu's footsteps could be heard.
Xie Nanjia was very confused and didn't bother to pay attention. She stared at the car curtain fluttering in the wind.
After walking for a while, the rain gradually got heavier and the raindrops hit the roof of the car, making crackling sounds.
Xie Nanjia listened carefully, but still didn't hear any movement from Zhao Jingyu.
Did he really listen to her and stop caring about her
Could he have walked to Nanzhao by himself
It was raining so hard and he didn’t bring an umbrella or any luggage. Was there anywhere he could go
"Young man..." She called out to the driver, wanting to ask where Zhao Jingyu was.
Perhaps it was because of the heavy rain that the driver didn’t hear her, and he didn’t respond to her.
Just with this pause, Xie Nanjia's impulse disappeared again.
Such a hateful guy deserved to be drenched to death, she didn't want to care about him.
She also didn't believe that he would let herself get wet.
They walked in silence for a while, but the rain did not stop falling, but got heavier and heavier. The two horses pulling the cart began to get restless and made "neighing" sounds.
Xie Nanjia couldn't sit still any longer, and called out to the outside again, "Brother!"
"Here!" This time the driver gave her a brief response. It must have been very tiring to drive the horse in the rain, so he didn't have time to talk much.
Xie Nanjia was afraid that he couldn't hear clearly, so she sat forward and asked loudly, "Where is the second young master?"
There was no movement outside again.
Xie Nanjia waited for a moment, but got no response. Seeing that they were getting farther and farther away from where they had parked, he couldn't help but said anxiously, "Brother, please back up the car. The rain is too heavy. Let's go look for the second young master."
"Why are you looking for him? He made the young lady angry, so he deserves to get wet in the rain!" people said outside.
"..." Xie Nanjia didn't expect that the driver was actually on her side. She was stunned for a moment and then said, "You don't understand the situation. It's not all his fault. Let's go back and look for him!"
"Hmm." The driver responded sullenly and shouted at the horse to turn around and go back.
The sound of rain was too loud and Xie Nanjia felt that something was wrong with his voice. However, she was worried about Zhao Jingyu and didn't pay much attention to it.
After a while, she suddenly came to her senses, stood up and opened the car curtain.
The driver was startled and turned to look at her. His face, wet with rain, was stunningly beautiful. His peach blossom eyes were dark and misty, with a hint of panic, like a demon who had strayed into the mortal world. He was so innocent that it made people feel pity for him.
Xie Nanjia, however, felt no sympathy. She only felt a nameless anger rising from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. She glared at that face with blazing eyes, wishing she could beat him left and right.
Zhao Jingyu suddenly panicked, stopped the horse, pulled the carriage to the side of the road, bent down and pushed Xie Nanjia into the carriage.
"Listen to my explanation. I didn't mean to lie to you. I just don't feel comfortable letting you go alone..."
"Shut up!" Xie Nanjia yelled.
Zhao Jingyu quickly shut his mouth and swallowed the rest of his words.
Xie Nanjia took out the luggage and umbrella from the secret compartment and said angrily, "Okay, if you want to take the carriage, I'll give it to you. From now on, if you dare to follow me again, don't blame me for being rude to you!"
"You're being rude to me now!" Zhao Jingyu stretched out his arms to block the car door, not letting her get out. "As long as you don't leave, I won't mind if you kill me."
"Who are you? How can I have the right to hit you?" Xie Nanjia sneered.
"I am nobody. In front of you, I am Zhao Jingyu."
"What about me?" Xie Nanjia asked.
"..." Zhao Jingyu fell silent.
"Look, now you don't even know how to call me." Xie Nanjia laughed at herself and gently pulled his arm away.
"I know, I know!" Zhao Jingyu hugged her, "Ever since I knew your secret, I have always wanted to call you Nanjia. You came back from such a faraway place, but no one knew. You lived with someone else's identity and name, and your loved ones never knew who you were. How lonely you must be. You must want to hear someone call your name again, because this is the only way to prove that you really exist, Nanjia, let me help you realize this wish. As long as you are willing, I can call you like this every day, Nanjia, Nanjia, I want you to know that you are not alone in this world, you still have me, I don't care whether you are a human or a ghost, and I don't care who you used to be. I only know that you are the only person I love in my life, the one and only Xie Nanjia who can never be replaced by anyone!"
The heavy rain was beating against the roof of the car madly, but the car was dead silent. The space in the carriage was limited and there was no room for Xie Nanjia to stretch out. Zhao Jingyu held Xie Nanjia in his arms in an awkward position. Zhao Jingyu was half-kneeling and not very comfortable either, but neither of them moved. They fit together tightly, like a wood sculpture carved out of a whole piece of wood.
After a long time, Xie Nanjia let out a sigh and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"You know, I'm not a hypocritical person." She said slowly, "But I really can't take this step. I used to think you knew nothing and could barely deceive yourself. Now, I don't know how to face you."
"But Zhao Jingping and I have no blood relationship, and you are no longer the same person as before. We should not be bound by the past." Zhao Jingyu said, "We should follow our hearts, just like you knew I was Zhao Jingping's brother, but you still fell in love with me. If you think this is against common sense, then why don't you control yourself? Because your heart is not under control at all. How many times in a person's life can you love someone uncontrollably? You have lived two lives, and besides me, have you done this to anyone else? We are not harming others, and we are not harming others. Why can't we be together?"
"Because you are a liar, and I don't want to be with a liar," said Xie Nanjia.
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
He said so much with deep affection, appealed to people's emotions and reason, but he was no match for a "liar".
"Yes, I admit that I lied to you, and I will never dare to do it again. Please give me another chance to reform. From now on, I will not hide anything from you, no matter big or small. I will ask for your opinion before making any decision. I will do it if you ask me to do it, and I will never do it if you don't let me do it, even if you kill me. Do you think this is okay?" He clasped his hands together in front of his chest and asked devoutly like worshiping Buddha.
Xie Nanjia had never seen him so serious and cautious before. Looking at that face that fascinated everyone, she couldn't help but feel dazed.
From a dandy young man at the beginning to the emperor's son today, how did this guy who is sometimes domineering, sometimes gentle and considerate, sometimes careless, and sometimes deep and wise, occupy my heart step by step? Behind his constantly changing identities and faces, which one is the real him
I don't know when the rain stopped, the sun peeked out from the clouds, and the sky outside became bright.
"Let's go!" said Xie Nanjia.
"Where are you going?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"Nanzhao, where else can I go?" Xie Nanjia said with a straight face, "I'm still waiting for the Royal Guards to pick me up in style. I won't go back alone in disgrace!"
“Pfft…” Zhao Jingyu couldn’t help laughing, her peach blossom eyes curved with laughter.
Xie Nanjia continued to keep a straight face: "Remember not to smile so beautifully in front of others in the future."
"As you command!" Zhao Jingyu responded seriously and got up to drive the carriage.
At this moment, there was suddenly the sound of hurried horse hooves coming from far away, shaking the earth. Judging from the sound, it should be a large group of horses.
Zhao Jingyu's face changed, and he turned around and went back into the car.
Xie Nanjia also became alert: "This shouldn't be the convoy of the Nanzhao Palace. It sounds like a forced march. Are they here to arrest you?"
(End of this chapter)