Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

Chapter 115 A World of Change and Unresolved Love and Hate

Yuan Zhi felt as if he were inside a volcano, his throat so dry it felt like it was smoking.

"water……"

She lay on the dry riverbed like a dying fish, longing for a timely rain.

In a daze, footsteps approached, and a hard object was pressed against her lips. Her teeth were jolted, and she resisted by pulling back, but the person pinched her cheeks, forcing her to open her mouth.

The cool liquid soothed her throat, and her brows relaxed. It was water!

She gulped down several mouthfuls, which relieved the heat in her body. She murmured "Third Brother" and then fell asleep again.

The man laid her down flat, gazing at her sleeping face, his mind racing.

Three days later, Yuan Zhi's fever finally subsided, and he slowly opened his heavy eyelids.

The bright candlelight almost blinded her. She rubbed her eyes and was stunned when she saw the misty glow above her.

The curtains of the Yuan and Xiao families are not this color. The private residence that Xiao Zong bought has a hundred children pattern on the top of the bed, and the curtains are only on the sides.

Where exactly is this place?

She threw back the covers and was about to get out of bed when she suddenly realized she was completely naked. In a panic, she wrapped herself tightly in the covers and shrank back inside.

A creak.

The door was pushed open from the outside.

Yuan Zhi gripped the thin quilt tightly, her heart pounding, and asked tremblingly, "Who?"

The man walked in, his lazy tone tinged with mockery, "Who do you want it to be?"

This sound...

Yuan Zhi looked up and saw Xiao Zong walking over with clothes in his hands, his eyes filled with emotions she couldn't understand.

"How did I get here? Where's my third brother? Where's Aunt Zhao?"

"You're still thinking about them? Think about yourself first!"

Xiao Zong pulled back the blanket and put clothes on her.

"what are you doing?"

Yuan Zhi covered her arm, which he had pinched red, and accused him with a sob in her voice.

"Don't you want to wear it?"

The man gripped her chin, a smirk playing on his lips, and lowered his head to bite her lips. "Just what I wanted."

The woman had just recovered from a serious illness, and her body was limp and helpless, allowing herself to be manipulated at will. Her feeble thrashing was, in the man's eyes, nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree, or scratching an itch.

"I'll wear it, I'll wear it, okay?"

Yuan Zhi, his face streaked with tears, conceded.

Xiao Zong pressed his fingertips hard, leaving a red mark on her fair face, his words as cold as ice.

"Madam Yuan is so forgetful. You've already forgotten what we said in prison? We're enemies now, not husband and wife. Why do you think I'll still dote on you and love you like before?"

From this day forward, you are my possession. You have no right to bargain with me. Please, Madam Yuan, recognize your place and refrain from hearing any further displeasing words from me!

Yuan Zhi looked at him resentfully with tears in her eyes.

"Why are you treating me like this? Yes, I lied to you, but can you say that you were truly sincere when you married me? I married you to protect myself, and you married me for Zheng Xiangxiang. We don't owe each other anything!"

"If we're talking about a past life, I wanted to raise Zheng Xiangxiang's child, but I didn't want her dead. This was originally a matter between her and me, but you insisted on standing up for her, so I had no choice but to find a way to get rid of you. In the end, didn't you also have someone push me into the water? What's there to feel aggrieved about?"

Xiao Zong slammed his fist against the wall next to her ear. "I didn't do it. From beginning to end, I never intended to kill you!"

Yuan Zhi's pupils trembled slightly. "You're lying! I found out that Zheng Xiangxiang didn't take any medication to prevent miscarriage on the night she gave birth, but rather a labor-inducing drug. I was just about to report this to His Majesty when he issued an edict to imprison her in the palace."

I bribed a palace servant to find out that it was you who reported to His Majesty that Aunt Yuanliu had added safflower to the medicine to prevent miscarriage, causing Zheng Xiangxiang to bleed to death.

Because of your slander, His Majesty intends to execute the entire Yuan family. I secretly slipped out of the palace to plead my case to His Majesty, but I was drugged on the way, the evidence was stolen, and I was thrown into the water. You dare say you didn't do any of this!

Xiao Zong cupped her face in his hands, grinding his teeth as he said, "Xiangxiang drank two bowls of medicine to prevent miscarriage that night. One of them was brought to her by Yuan Liu under the guise of the Empress. And that bowl definitely had safflower added to it. Murdering the imperial heir is a grave crime, and your Yuan family died without injustice!"

But listen carefully, your death was not my doing. And you know better than anyone why I died, don't you?"

Yuan Zhi trembled with fear. Her personal maidservant was from the same hometown as Xiao Zong's subordinate. The two had been having an affair while the Leopard Guards were sweeping snow in the palace, and she had caught them in bed together.

Using this as leverage, she got the man to give Xiao Zong a slow-acting poison.

The medicine, which she obtained from her aunt, was called "Seven Days of Sorrow." It only required taking it for seven consecutive days, but the poison would take effect seven years later, and no one could find the culprit.

Five years later, however, Xiao Zong denounced the Yuan family to the Emperor and died upon returning to his residence. She thought that perhaps Xiao Zong had a pre-existing illness, which caused him to succumb to the poison before the time was right.

After Xiao Zong's death, His Majesty urgently adjusted the palace's deployment, and she managed to escape during a period of laxity in the guards. Little did she know that she would be assassinated before she could even see His Majesty.

She thought that Xiao Zong didn't want his enemy to raise Zheng Xiangxiang's child, so before he died, he dragged her down to hell with him.

Now it seems that things are not as she thought at all.

Regardless of who killed her, Xiao Zong's death was indeed her doing, that is an indisputable fact!

"If you want revenge, then do it!"

"I told you, I won't let you die too easily!"

Xiao Zong was tall and imposing, like an impregnable fortress. His calloused hands slid over her delicate skin as if he were handling a fine piece of jade, causing the woman in his arms to tremble.

"Why not try... the feeling of being in ecstasy first?"

Yuan Zhi stopped his hand, "Please give me a quick death, don't humiliate me like this."

"Humiliation?" Xiao Zong chuckled. "Those days and nights we spent together, did you also feel humiliated?"

"No!" she quickly retorted.

A hint of pleasure flashed in the man's eyes. "So, you want to consummate our marriage because you like me?"

"I……"

She didn't know how to explain it.

At first, she just wanted a talisman to protect her life, but later she found herself falling in love with it, so she just let things take their course.

Of course, she could lie and say it was because she liked him, but she didn't want to lie to him anymore!

Xiao Zong's eyes gradually dimmed, darkening, and a chill once again emanated from his body.

It's just a few words, is it really that difficult?

Even if she just nods, he will soften and let her go.

"Weren't you usually the best at pretending? Why are you too lazy to even lie now?"

"Xiao Zong, I..."

He pressed his lips to hers again. "If you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to!"

Yuan Zhi let out a sob, like a small animal drenched in rain, curled up helplessly and bewildered.

Xiao Zong looked down at her, when Yuan Pu's words suddenly echoed in his ears. He abruptly stepped back and slumped onto the bed.

Xiao Congyun, how are you any different from that beast Yuan Pu in doing this?

Do you want Yuan Zhi to become a second Su Ying?

He pulled the quilt over her and apologized in a hoarse voice.

"sorry."

Yuan Zhi shook her head. "I'm the one who should apologize."

"You've just recovered, so get some rest."

As he spoke, he got up and walked out.

"Don't go!"

Yuan Zhi hugged him from behind, her guilt almost overwhelming her. If this could lessen his hatred, she was willing to do it.

Do you know what that sentence means?

"I know."

She let go of his hand, then clung to his broad shoulders, demonstrating through her actions that she wanted him to stay.

Xiao Zong turned his head, his eyes bloodshot.

"I gave you a chance to back out!"

"Ah."

"There are no contraceptives or contraceptive soups here!"

"Ah."

Xiao Zong's throat bobbed, he reached out and untied the gauze curtains from the gold hook, then grabbed her waist and threw her onto the bed...