Chapter 72 - 71: The Untouchable Corner of the Heart (Part 1)

Chapter 72: Chapter 71: The Untouchable Corner of the Heart (Part 1)

Inside the box lay a familiar gold and jade bracelet, quietly resting on the soft red brocade. Wasn’t it the same bracelet she’d pawned when she first arrived here?

It was the bracelet her mother wore before she passed away. The protagonist had always cherished it and would take it out to look at for a long time whenever she missed her mother.

Xu Jing originally thought that once she earned a bit more silver coins, she would retrieve the bracelet.

Upon seeing the bracelet, both Chunyang and Chunxiang were quite surprised. The more emotional Chunyang couldn’t help but cover her mouth, her eyes turning red.

After a moment, Xu Jing, as if in a dream, said, "How did you..."

"This bracelet must be very important to you."

Xiao Yi looked steadily at Xu Jing’s expression and said, "You helped the court solve this serial murder case, so it’s only right to reward you for your merits. Helping you redeem this bracelet is just a small matter."

This case was of great significance to the court. If she were a man, based on the merit she earned in this case, she would surely gain the Holy Emperor’s favor and rise quickly in the political arena.

Unfortunately, she was not a man, and clearly, she hoped that not too many people would know about her involvement in solving the case.

The status of a forensic doctor was far too lowly. Ordinary men couldn’t bear society’s prejudice against this profession, let alone a woman.

The immense contribution and extraordinary talent she displayed in this case would remain unknown to the world.

Even so, despite not asking for any reward, Xiao Yi wanted to do something for her, to repay a fraction of the brilliance she exhibited in the case.

After a while, Xu Jing picked up the bracelet and, after scrutinizing it under the light for a long time, gently smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Vice Minister Xiao."

Xu Jing was aware of Xiao Yi’s intention behind helping her redeem the bracelet, so she accepted it without hesitation.

Moreover, between smart people, words often need not be explicit. Xiao Yi’s action signified that he had inquired about her situation, which is how he knew she had pawned off the bracelet.

Yet, even after investigating her, he still trusted her, or at least believed she was harmless to him. That’s why he straightforwardly returned the bracelet to her.

Unconsciously, Xu Jing gently caressed the bracelet in her hand, her thoughts slowly drifting away.

A person cannot be bad from the start. Regardless of what the protagonist had done, she was just a little girl living under the shelter of her father and mother in her childhood.

In the noble families of the Great Chu, the Xu Family was but an inconspicuous one, with their main house located in Bianzhou, north of the Great Chu.

The protagonist’s father was merely an unimportant son within the family, while the protagonist’s mother, Mrs. Xu, came from a well-off merchant family in Bianzhou. Initially, to gain the financial support of the Xu Family, the protagonist’s father resolutely sought to marry a daughter of the Xu Family.

At the time, although the Xu Family had declined, they were considered a scholarly family, an attractive enough match for the Xu Family, who had been merchants for generations. Therefore, when the protagonist’s father proposed, the protagonist’s grandfather unhesitatingly married his daughter to him.

In the beginning, the protagonist’s father treated the protagonist’s mother well to please his father-in-law, even neglecting his long-serving concubine, acting as the model husband. The protagonist’s grandfather was very satisfied and intended to nurture this son-in-law, providing him with substantial financial support after he passed the imperial examination.

It can be said that the protagonist’s father later achieving the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry was heavily reliant on the support from his wife’s maternal family.

As an unimportant son, the protagonist’s father ultimately surpassed many carefully cultivated legitimate sons of the Xu Family to smoothly ascend to the position of Minister of Six Ministries, a feat that would be praised even a century later as people marveled at his rise.

However, as his court status stabilized, the protagonist’s father’s true nature came to light as he subtly began to alienate his wife, even favoring the concubine he had neglected for years and deliberately distancing himself from his wife’s maternal family.

By then, their family had settled in the Western Capital, and with the Xu Family far away in Bianzhou, even sensing the protagonist’s father’s change, there was nothing they could do.

No matter how cold the protagonist’s father was to the protagonist’s mother, he maintained appearances of respect and affection. Not to mention that the protagonist’s father’s political enemies and the Imperial Censorate could not find evidence to accuse him of favoring the concubine over the wife, the Xu Family also had no grasp on his wrongdoing.

In the protagonist’s memories, her mother was ill for a whole year before she passed away. During that year, apart from a daily routine visit, her father did not speak a word to her mother, let alone share any marital intimacy.

Usually, the protagonist’s father either slept in the study or the concubine’s room, a behavior appearing quite reasonable to outsiders—since the wife was bedridden and unable to serve, the husband sleeping in the study most of the time and only occasionally relieving desires in the concubine’s room demonstrated understanding and care for his wife.

Only those who had witnessed the interactions between the protagonist’s father and mother would know the truth of their relationship.

The protagonist’s mother could be said to have died of depression, worrying that revealing the truth to her family would only cause them concern. She did not utter a word of it to them, leaving only a letter before passing, entrusting them to take care of her only daughter.

As a result, the Xu Family never knew how strained the relationship between the protagonist’s parents had become, and with the protagonist’s father already indifferent toward them, the connection between the families dwindled further after the mother’s death.

The Xu Family did care about the protagonist, writing to her every year, and when they learned she had been sent to the manor, they were riddled with anxiety, often sending her some silver coins and jewelry as support. It could be said that much of the protagonist’s earlier assets came from the Xu Family.

After being dismissed by Xiao Yi and expelled by the Xu Family, both Chunyang and Chunxiang advised her to seek refuge with the Xu Family.

However, at that time, the protagonist was filled with hatred. She always believed her mother had been killed by her father and the woman now her stepmother. Since the age of six, she had been preoccupied with avenging her mother, a thought that eventually twisted into a consuming obsession, trapping both her heart and soul.

For revenge, she shamelessly drugged Xiao Yi, treated her child as a tool for vengeance, and once she found him useless, despised him thoroughly.

Even at her lowest point, she refused to leave the Western Capital, ultimately perishing not far from it in Hutou Village.

Xu Jing actually disliked exploring the protagonist’s memories. They were filled with intense resentment and unwillingness, as if they were dark entities crawling from the depths. Yet, even in such a person, there existed a tender spot that no one could touch—her mother.

This made it clear just how important the bracelet was to the protagonist. It was something she wouldn’t part with, even if it meant dying.

Xiao Yi’s ability to redeem the bracelet made Xu Jing very grateful.

It held more meaning than any other reward Xiao Yi could give her.

Xiao Yi kept watching the woman in front of him, witnessing the emotions on her face shift from initial surprise to reflection, and then to the gentle wistfulness mingled with sorrow that she wore now.

No matter the expression, each was lively and vivid, like the most colorful stroke on a timeless painting.

At one moment, Xiao Yi had an idea—absurd though it seemed—that he could keep watching her forever, never growing tired.

Before he could feel surprised by the sudden thought, the woman in front of him suddenly raised her eyes to him. Her gaze sparkled like stars as she smiled slightly and said, "Vice Minister Xiao is probably about to return to the Western Capital. Before you leave, I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to see you again, so let me wish you a safe journey, blessed and auspicious!"