Meng Wantang quickly released him, her gaze icy as she looked at him. “Now, do you feel nauseous? Are you having an allergic reaction? Xiao Jingyuan, this is the proof! Aside from me, there isn’t a second woman in this world who can get this close to you!”
Without giving Xiao Jingyuan time to react, Meng Wantang grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door without explanation. He followed her instinctively.
Just as they reached the corner beneath the corridor, Meng Wantang suddenly stopped and signaled for him to stay silent.
Near the moon gate not far away, Meng Wanqing was standing there with her usual gentle smile.
In a low voice, she was instructing the matron beside her. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly to their ears.
“Matron, go to the side courtyard later and check on that wretched girl. Don’t let her play any tricks.”
A trace of viciousness slipped into Meng Wanqing’s tone. “Remember, keep a close eye on her. Remind her what she should say and what she shouldn’t. As long as I’m here, she will forever remain a concubine who can’t see the light of day. And Xiao Muyan will only ever be my son!”
“Rest assured, Eldest Miss. Everything has been arranged,” the matron replied respectfully. “That girl seemed a little off today, but this old servant has already warned her. She wouldn’t dare disobey. After all, her life and the young master’s life are both in our hands.”
“Good.”
Meng Wanqing nodded in satisfaction, adjusting the jeweled flower by her temple, a hint of smugness in her voice. “The Prince will never learn the truth in this lifetime. He will only believe that I am the only one who can approach him. He will only favor me and trust me. As for Meng Wantang… she’s nothing more than a pawn in my hand. Once she’s used up, she can be discarded.”
As her words fell, Xiao Jingyuan, standing under the corridor, trembled violently. His face turned deathly pale.
His fists clenched tightly, knuckles whitening, a terrifying chill radiating from him.
So it was true.
Everything she said was true.
He had truly been deceived—by his so-called Princess Consort—for three whole years.
The air around Xiao Jingyuan seemed to freeze solid. All color drained from his handsome face, his thin lips pressed into a hard, cold line.
In his dark eyes surged overwhelming fury and the humiliation of betrayal.
He had been kept in the dark by a woman for so long.
“Did you see?”
After returning, Meng Wantang struck precisely at his most vulnerable point. “This is the Princess you cherish in your palm. This is the ‘true heart’ you trusted for three years.”
Xiao Jingyuan turned sharply to look at her.
His dark eyes churned with complex emotions—shock, anger.
His throat bobbed several times before he finally uttered three words. “I saw.” His voice was hoarse, as though scraped by sandpaper, heavy with gloom.
Meng Wantang met his gaze without retreating in the slightest, her tone crisp and decisive. “Since you saw it, then do what you should do. First, give me that ‘Ningyu Jue.’ Second, return Xiao Muyan to me. From now on, he will only be my son—Meng Wantang’s.”
“Ningyu Jue?” Xiao Jingyuan froze for a moment. That jade pendant was a relic left behind by his late mother, warm and translucent.
Meeting her resolute gaze, and thinking of the wrongs she had suffered, guilt deepened in his heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his hand and removed the white jade pendant hanging from his waist.
The jade felt cool to the touch, milky white throughout, carved with intricate cloud patterns.
It looked ordinary, yet faintly emitted a strange spiritual aura.
Xiao Jingyuan handed the jade to her, his dark eyes carrying complicated emotion. “It’s yours.”
Meng Wantang reached out to accept it. The moment her fingertips touched the jade, a warm current surged into her palm and flowed through her veins.
The next second—
Her vision blurred, her consciousness seemingly pulled into an entirely new world.
Within the boundless space, vegetation flourished and spiritual energy lingered in the air. Not far away stood a simple wooden house.
Several acres of fertile land stretched outside, beside which flowed a clear spiritual spring.
The spring emitted faint white mist and a refreshing fragrance.
Two side rooms extended from the wooden house. One was filled with alchemy furnaces and rare medicinal herbs, the scent of elixirs thick in the air.
The other contained brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and piles of talisman paper, with several yellowed ancient books stacked in the corner.
It seemed to contain the arts of alchemy and talisman crafting from the cultivation world.
What shocked her even more—
Deep within the space floated a long sword, faint spiritual light swirling around it. Clearly no ordinary weapon.
This was no ordinary jade pendant.
It was a complete cultivation spiritual spring space.
Meng Wantang’s heart shook violently. She subconsciously tightened her grip on the jade.
The next moment, her consciousness returned to reality.
She looked down at her little finger. On the pad of it, a faint red mole had appeared at some unknown time.
Almost imperceptible unless examined closely, yet faintly connected to the jade in her palm.
This was the mark of ownership.
From this day forward, the Ningyu Jue space belonged completely to her.
Wonderful.
At the moment of recognition, a stream of pure spiritual energy poured from the jade into her body, nourishing her meridians.
Her already striking beauty gained an added touch of spiritual radiance.
Her skin glowed as though it could drip water.
The allure at the corner of her eyes now carried a sharp, cool edge. She resembled an immortal descended beneath the moon—so beautiful it was breathtaking.
Xiao Jingyuan had been silent at the side. When he looked up, his gaze was instantly captured.
He had never seen such a dazzling woman. It was clearly the same face, yet it felt as though a soul had been infused into it.
So beautiful that his heart trembled, and he found himself staring blankly.
Only when Meng Wantang looked back at him did he snap out of it, the tips of his ears faintly flushing as he hurriedly looked away, his throat bobbing unnaturally.
He remembered how he was allergic to all women in the world, except her.
And even now, looking at her—
An unfamiliar stirring rose in his heart.
This uniqueness—
Now seemed the most ironic proof.
“Muyan… I will have him sent to you immediately.”
Xiao Jingyuan’s voice carried a trace of unnatural stiffness as his gaze drifted elsewhere. “Other than this, what else do you want? If you wish… for a proper status in the Manor, I can grant it.”
He thought she would ask for a title.
After all she had suffered, it was only what she deserved.
But Meng Wantang merely glanced at him lightly, her tone calm as if speaking of something insignificant. “A title isn’t necessary. I only want Muyan and the Ningyu Jue. Oh, right—”
As if suddenly remembering something, she added, “Give me some silver as well. The more, the better.”
Xiao Jingyuan turned sharply to look at her, his dark eyes filled with astonishment—and even a faint trace of anger.
He hadn’t expected—
After suffering so much, all she wanted was silver?
Did she truly hold him in so little regard?
Did she even disdain to ask for a title?
An inexplicable fire surged in his chest. His expression darkened, his tone suppressing irritation. “Other than silver, is there nothing else?”
Meng Wantang arched a brow at him, a hint of mockery in her eyes. “Otherwise? What does Your Highness think I should want?”
Hmph.
The scumbag was about to be exiled.
What use was useless silver? She would exchange it for supplies and upgrade her space.
After a pause, her voice turned colder. “I want silver because Muyan and I will have to live our lives. Without money, we can’t take a single step. As for anything else—to me, it isn’t worth a single coin.”