Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Can We Stop Torturing Each Other?

Xie Jinbai didn’t even spare her a glance. He walked straight to Cui Lingyao’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from rising to her feet.

Beside them, the ignored Chen Minrou didn’t miss a beat. She straightened up on her own, her eyes landing on Zhao Shijie, who had clearly been the first to enter but now lagged a step behind.

Something was very wrong with his expression.

After years of marriage, Chen Minrou could tell something was amiss at a single glance.

As a thought struck her, she frowned and asked, "When did you two get here?"

Zhao Shijie remained silent, just staring at her fixedly.

His mind was consumed by the words she had just spoken.

’...Talking about true feelings with him is a luxury.’

’If it weren’t for their two children, she would divorce him.’

Divorce.

Seeing the look on his face, Chen Minrou knew at once what had happened.

’They must have been listening outside while I was talking with Yaoyao.’

Cui Lingyao realized it as well and was thoroughly startled.

She subconsciously started replaying their conversation, trying to recall if she had said anything she shouldn’t have, all while subtly glancing at the man in front of her.

She saw that his expression was as normal as ever, utterly unlike Zhao Shijie’s pale and devastated look.

’Then again, this man is an expert at masking his feelings. If he doesn’t want you to know something, you’ll never see a trace of it on his face.’

Just as she was feeling apprehensive, an observant servant brought over two more chairs.

Xie Jinbai showed no sign of sitting down. He glanced at the couple staring at each other and said, "We should be going."

It was obvious that Zhao Shijie had something to say to his wife.

They needed to give the couple space to handle their private matters.

Cui Lingyao didn’t move. Instead, she looked to Chen Minrou, and only after the latter gave a nearly imperceptible nod did she slowly rise. "Well, we’ll take our leave then."

Chen Minrou moved to see them out, but she had barely taken a step before the man in front of her seized her wrist.

For the proper, self-possessed, and mild-tempered Eldest Prince Zhao, this was a rare display of forcefulness.

She struggled twice but couldn’t break free, and in that brief moment, Cui Lingyao and Xie Jinbai were already out of the courtyard.

Throughout it all, Zhao Shijie’s gaze never wavered, fixed tightly on the woman before him. Once their guests were a good distance away, he spoke, dismissing the servants nearby.

The courtyard gates slowly closed.

Leaving no one else present.

Only the husband and wife remained, standing and facing each other.

The air was silent for several moments.

Zhao Shijie’s lips moved. "I heard everything."

He had heard those words.

Every single one.

Her suspicion was confirmed.

Having been caught red-handed by her husband while discussing their marital problems with her dear friend, Chen Minrou didn’t feel the least bit flustered.

She clicked her tongue and scoffed, "One of you is an esteemed Prince, and the other fancies himself a proper gentleman. Do you have no shame, eavesdropping on a private chat between women?"

Zhao Shijie wasn’t the least bit embarrassed, his gaze steady on her. "You are my wife."

’A husband and wife share the most intimate of bonds. What’s there to be ashamed of? Besides, it’s not like he intended to eavesdrop. It was just a coincidence.’

"Those..."

The corners of Zhao Shijie’s lips tightened, and his voice was strained. "Those words... were they what you truly feel?"

’If it weren’t for the children, she would divorce him.’

’Their relationship had reached a point where even speaking from the heart had become a luxury.’

—Did she really mean it?

The courtyard was deathly still.

Chen Minrou remained silent.

A rift had grown in their marriage. This was a fact they were both aware of.

They had once confronted each other head-on, laying all their cards on the table.

During the period when she was gravely ill, they had nearly reached the point of open hostility.

—Or rather, Chen Minrou had unilaterally dropped all pretenses.

Because of that dream in which she witnessed the future, she no longer trusted that he would take good care of their children after her death. She insisted that he promise his next wife would be a young woman from her own clan.

It could be said that during the time she was on the brink of death, Chen Minrou had not a single shred of trust left for her husband.

Zhao Shijie, for his part, was naturally angered and vexed by this.

He couldn’t understand what terrible crime he had committed to make her not only doubt his feelings for her, but to lose all faith in his character as well.

’What on earth had he done?’

’For her to assume the absolute worst of him!’

This question had plagued Zhao Shijie for far too long. In his most furious and desperate moments, a dense, tangled hatred had even begun to sprout in his heart.

But Chen Minrou was dying.

Before his hatred could even sprout, it was buried under the overwhelming terror of losing her completely, leaving him utterly powerless against her.

As long as she could live, he was willing to spend the rest of his life figuring out how to pluck a star from the sky for her if she so desired.

For the three years that Cui Lingyao was dead, the couple had tormented each other for just as long.

Fortunately, the heavens took pity, and she pulled through.

After her recovery, the couple had a tacit agreement to never speak of the past.

It was an unspoken agreement; they decided to put their past grievances behind them and move on with their lives together.

This eavesdropping incident shattered the fragile peace they had so painstakingly maintained.

—’It seemed this man was here to make trouble for her, his tone that of someone demanding an explanation.’

Seeing that he no longer seemed interested in papering over the cracks, Chen Minrou dropped the pretense as well. "What do you want?" she asked directly.

What did he want?

What could Zhao Shijie possibly do...

He gave a bitter smile. "Can we ever go back to how we were?"

"Haven’t I done enough all these years? What will it take for you to finally move past this? Just lay out your terms. Can we please stop tormenting each other?"

’His only mistake, from beginning to end, had been just one single, thoughtless sentence.’

’Was it really that unforgettable for her?’

’Even after he had apologized profusely and repented endlessly?’

’Was her heart still as hard as iron, with no room for compromise?’

’For a single slip of the tongue, she had already given up all hope in him.’

’The day-in, day-out indifference...’

’A relationship like theirs!’

’They were childhood sweethearts who grew up together, betrothed since they were young.’

’He had treated her like a precious treasure, and the thought of neglecting her had never once crossed his mind.’

’He had experienced her most ardent and sincere affection; the taste of mutual love was too wonderful.’

’And that was why he couldn’t bear her coldness for even a moment.’

’He absolutely could not accept that they would go from the deep love of their youth to despising the very sight of one another.’

Having been given the cold shoulder by his beloved for so long, Zhao Shijie could no longer maintain his usual composure.

Hearing her words just now...

It seemed that while he was suffering through the agony of their relationship, she had already blithely pulled herself free from the mire.

’How could that be allowed?’

’Leaving him behind, stuck in place—how could that be allowed!’

Chen Minrou had never seen him look like this. It was different from the desperation he had shown at her bedside when she was ill.

Right now, he had lost all reason. His emotions were out of control, he was on the verge of collapse, and his eyes were even brimming with hatred.

It occurred to her then that she, too, had been like this once.

A year ago, on the day she had nearly died from hemorrhaging during a difficult childbirth.

At that time, her soul had seemed to leave her body and gaze into a future that had not yet come to pass. As a bystander, she watched what happened after her own death: she saw him meet another woman, get to know her, pledge his love to her, and fall completely in love.

She witnessed the depth of their affection, saw how he was utterly captivated by another woman.

To curry favor with his new wife, he would claim that his first wife, the one who died in childbirth, was merely a choice forced upon him by his parents, an arranged betrothal.

That there had been no love between them.

And precisely because he had no feelings for his first wife, he never spared a single proper glance for the two children she had left behind.

If her son and daughter had any use at all, it was perhaps as a tool for him to prove his devotion to his new love.

In his eyes, the colder he was to the children left by his first wife, the more it proved his devotion to his new one.

Chen Minrou watched their wedding night.

She watched them have one child after another.

She witnessed them promise to grow old together.

In that dream, she too had lost control of her emotions, just as he had now. She had broken down completely, her hatred spiraling out of control.

She had been immersed for so long in the feeling of being betrayed and wronged. But at this moment, looking at the man with bloodshot eyes before her, Chen Minrou suddenly realized something. In this man’s eyes, he truly had only misspoken a single sentence.

...And that was all.

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