There was no response in the room.
Xiao Jingcheng raised his hand and rubbed the space between his eyebrows, then continued to knock on the door. "Jiang Mian, I know you're not asleep. Open the door. Let's have a talk. I can give you a reasonable explanation for what you saw tonight."
Still, there was no response from inside.
"Jiang Mian, you have to give me a chance to explain."
However, no matter how hard he knocked, there was no reaction at all.
Just as Xiao Jingcheng was getting increasingly impatient and was about to break in, he heard footsteps from inside. The next moment, the door bolt was drawn back, and Ye Wanmian opened the door.
Xiao Jingcheng was about to speak when something was thrown at him.
He instinctively dodged to the side, and the object fell to the ground with a dull thud.
The package wasn't tied tightly, and after it fell, it loosened a bit, revealing the silver ingots inside.
It was the three hundred taels of silver he had given her today.
"Today when you gave me the silver, you clearly told me where it came from, and I did accept it. But at that time, I didn't see with my own eyes how this fortune was earned. Now that I know, I can't use it anymore."
Compared to when she was at the Flying Tiger Gambling House, Ye Wanmian looked much calmer, but her words were completely emotionless.
"I admit that you're very capable and can easily earn money that an ordinary person can't accumulate in a lifetime. Although I, Jiang Mian, love money, I won't use just any kind of money."
"I don't want people to point fingers at Huichun Hall in the future, saying that on the surface, it's saving people, but in fact, it's colluding with bullies and scoundrels, secretly supporting them in running gambling dens and amassing wealth."
No, it's not like this!
Xiao Jingcheng looked up and was about to explain to Ye Wanmian when several pieces of rice paper still smelling strongly of ink were slapped on him.
"Since you already have a way to make money, and there are so many people around you, calling you boss, our small temple really can't accommodate you, the great Buddha."
"Please, Brother Jing, take your silver and the map and leave Huichun Hall."
Towards the end, Ye Wanmian couldn't help but show a bit of anger, so her voice got a bit louder, which startled Qi Wen, who lit the oil lamp and ran out of his room.
"What's going on? What happened?"
Qi Wen rubbed his eyes and asked. When he saw the bag of silver beside Xiao Jingcheng's feet, all his drowsiness disappeared.
Good heavens! How could there be so much silver on the ground!
Xiao Jingcheng's face was tightly drawn. He looked at Ye Wanmian, trying his best to control himself, and asked in a deep voice, "Jiang Mian, do you really have to be so heartless?"
"I can explain everything that happened tonight. It's just that you're not giving me a chance to explain and clear my name."
Heartless?
Compared to when he woke up and immediately suspected her motives, grabbed her by the neck, and interrogated her about her purpose, who was really more heartless?
As for his so - called explanation, two years ago, when she was wrongly accused of deliberately seducing him at the Spring Banquet, did he ever give her a chance to explain?
Moreover, even if he did explain, so what?
Could she still keep him here?
Returning to the capital and vying for the position of crown prince was what he should do. They were never on the same path. Things had come to this, and there was no need to keep him anymore.
Ye Wanmian clenched the sleeves of her robe and straightened her back to look more imposing. "Yes, I am going to be this heartless. But compared to what you did to me two years ago, this is nothing."
Xiao Jingcheng had no choice but to simply blurt out, "I went there tonight just because I had some questions that I wanted to..."
"I don't care what your purpose is." Ye Wanmian heartlessly interrupted him. "I only know that it's time for you to go."
Qi Wen finally understood what the two were arguing about. He quickly ran over to persuade them. "Lady Jiang, don't do this. It's so late. Can't you talk about this after dawn?"
"Brother Jing, you'd better go back to your room quickly. Lady Jiang is just angry right now. She doesn't really mean to drive you away."
"Qi Wen!" Ye Wanmian shouted. "Let him go. Right now!"
Qi Wen said, "Oh, Lady Jiang, don't say such angry words. It's so late at night. Where can you drive him to? Besides..."
Qi Wen glanced at Mo Zhizhang's tightly - closed door and lowered his voice. "Besides, what if his identity is discovered after he leaves?"
Ye Wanmian glanced at Xiao Jingcheng, whose face was clearly not looking good. "Why are you worried about him? He has places to go in the town. There are so many people chasing after him, calling him boss."
Xiao Jingcheng lowered his eyes, bent down, and picked up the scattered silver and the map on the ground.
He looked at her deeply. Finally, he stopped trying to explain and said, "As you wish, I'll leave now. I won't bother you in front of you from now on."
"However, I still have to remind you to keep your eyes open and be on guard against the people around you. Some people may seem harmless on the surface, but you never know what they're up to in their hearts. Take care."
After saying that, he picked up the bag of silver and turned to leave.
Qi Wen quickly chased after him. "Brother Jing, don't really leave. If not, you can sleep in my room. Consider it me taking you in!"
Xiao Jingcheng didn't even look at him and just walked out of the door, leaving in a hurry.
Watching his back, Qi Wen stamped his foot, let out a long sigh, and mumbled, "What a mess."
His Highness the Crown Prince was suddenly driven away by Lady Jiang. How could he continue writing his storybook?
Also, wouldn't His Highness the Crown Prince hold a grudge against them and send troops to arrest them and throw them into prison after he returned to the capital?
Qi Wen returned to the yard and found that Ye Wanmian had already gone back into her room and closed the door. He was just an insignificant person and couldn't change the situation, so he could only sigh and go back to his room to rest.
There was such a big argument outside, but Mo Zhizhang's door never opened. It seemed that he wasn't interested in what was happening in the yard.
Inside the room with the doors and windows tightly closed, a man as elegant as the gentle breeze and the bright moon was sitting at the table. He reached into the sack he had brought back just now and caught a wriggling silver - banded snake from it.
His slender fingers pinched the snake's vital spot, and with a small silver knife in his right hand, he cut open the snake's body. Then he hung the snake upside down so that the blood dripped straight down into the clay bowl placed on the table.
His fair hands and clean sleeves were inevitably stained with blood, but he didn't wipe it off. Instead, he let the bloodstains spread on the fabric.
After collecting the snake blood, the small knife in his hand completely dissected the silver - banded snake from top to bottom. He took out the snake gall and threw it into the bowl.
After finishing all this, he threw the dead snake back into the sack, then picked up a handkerchief and slowly wiped his hands.
And that face that was always gentle and refined in front of Ye Wanmian or Li Zhao now showed a bit of evil.