Chapter 917: As Long As You Love Me, What Does Death Matter?

Shi Yucheng tore the document into shreds with a "swish-swish" sound.

He spoke righteously: "I owe your Ji Family nothing. If I owe anything, it is to Xuanxuan. Xuanxuan is my, Shi Yucheng's, adopted daughter and the granddaughter of the Jin Family. Although she calls you 'Little Aunt,' her biological mother was a daughter driven out by your Ji Family, who severed all family ties. Xuanxuan has no relationship with your Ji Family."

Ji Yingjie gritted her teeth in hatred, thinking that although this old man looked foolish, his reactions were quite sharp.

Men truly were all rotten to the core; they were all incredibly treacherous.

Since that method did not work, she could not be bothered to play along and simply stated clearly: "I will not give you the child, and Lao Qi will not leave with you either. If you are sensible, get out immediately. If you do not want to leave, then you will be just like Lao Qi—you will never be able to leave for the rest of your life."

"What are you going to do?" Shi Yucheng asked vigilantly: "Are you trying to kill me to silence me? You vicious woman, Xuanxuan will definitely not let you off."

Ji Yingjie sneered: "You think too highly of yourself. You aren't even worth me taking action myself. Shi Yuke committed too many sins in the Ji Family; now you stay here and pay her debts for her."

She had people take Shi Yucheng away to live in a communal dormitory with the servants.

He had to get up before dawn every day to work, doing the dirtiest and most exhausting labor, and he was never fed enough.

Nianci worried: "Clan Leader, the old master of the Shi Family is not in very good health. If something were to happen to him, it would be difficult to answer to Miss Xuan."

Ji Yingjie: "Keep an eye on him in secret. Just let him suffer a little, don't let him get sick from exhaustion."

"Yes."

Nianci agreed and was about to leave when she was called back by the Clan Leader: "Wait, send someone to the Dungeon." She did not continue, but her hand made a killing gesture across her throat.

Nianci was shocked and hurriedly knelt down: "Clan Leader, please think twice. I beg you to spare his life."

Lao Qi was locked in the Dungeon, and Ji Yingjie did not intend to keep him any longer.

Nianci pleaded for Lao Qi, and she was extremely displeased: "You are becoming more and more capable now, aren't you? You won't even listen to my words?"

"It's not that, Clan Leader, your subordinate would not dare!"

She bowed her head to the ground and said in terror.

"What is it that you wouldn't dare? I haven't even settled the score with you for deliberately going easy and leaking information to Shi Yucheng just now. In such a short time, you are challenging my authority again. Do you think I am old and won't be able to control you for much longer, so you are trying to curry favor with Nianyin and make plans for the future..."

Ji Yingjie's words were heart-piercing, and Nianci could only kneel and kowtow to beg for mercy.

Only after promising to do as she said did the matter rest.

Nianci did not dare to defy the Clan Leader's order, yet she could not bear to harm Lao Qi's life like this. She thought it over and over, and finally, before taking action, she sent a message to Nianyin.

The Dungeon.

The guard brought food and drink. Unlike usual, this meal was exceptionally sumptuous, with not only meat but also wine.

"Son-in-law, eat while it's hot. The Clan Leader ordered that after you finish this meal, we are to send you back."

Lao Qi looked at the food and drink coldly: "This is my last meal, isn't it?"

A flash of panic crossed the guard's eyes, and she hurriedly denied it: "You are overthinking it. Of course not. Our Clan Leader is magnanimous; she doesn't hold a grudge for what you did before and has decided to let you go back."

"Eat quickly, and we will let you go once you're done."

Lao Qi had stayed in the Ji Family for a period of time, and these little tricks could not fool him at all.

But that no longer mattered. He knew in his heart that whether he ate this meal or not, he would not survive, so he might as well be a well-fed ghost!

He took a pendant from his body and handed it to the guard: "If you have the chance, give this to your Great Elder and pass on a message for me. Tell her I love her."

"Okay."

Just as the guard took the pendant and prepared to put it in her pocket, her hand felt empty. The pendant had been taken away. The moment she turned around and saw Nianyin's face, she received a heavy blow to the back of her neck and then collapsed limply to the ground.

Nianyin kicked over the food box, spilling the wine and meat all over the floor.

She took the keys from the guard and opened the iron door: "Hurry, leave here immediately."

Lao Qi did not leave; he pulled her into his arms: "I miss you!"

Nianyin:...

"Let go of me. Are you crazy? What time is it now? You still have the mood to say this? Hurry and come with me. If you don't leave now, you'll lose your life."

"Nianyin, tell me, you have always loved me, right?" The look in her eyes as she watched him held no love, only anxiety.

"Oh—hurry up and go. If you don't leave now, it will be too late..."

Nianyin had Lao Qi change into the guard's clothes and gave him a route map so he could leave the Ji Family immediately.

But this guy was completely unmoved. He was not in a hurry to escape, just staring at Nianyin, getting to the bottom of it: "Do you love me?"

"Do you love me or not?"

"No."

"Then I'm not leaving. Let me just die."

He was not just saying it; he was being serious.

He took off the clothes he had already half-changed into, turned around, went back into the cell, and "clanged" the door shut, locking himself inside.

Nianyin:...

She was frustrated by his lack of resolve and gritted her teeth: "Lao Qi, is there something wrong with your brain? At a life-or-death moment, why are you acting like a lovesick fool? There will be plenty of time to say those irrelevant things later. If you don't leave now, you really won't be able to leave. I am not joking with you."

Lao Qi was very firm: "I am not joking with you either. If I don't have your love, living is just torture, so I might as well die. If I die in front of you, even if you don't love me, you will always think of me. My death will have been worth it."

She turned her head away.

A hundred different emotions surged up in her heart all at once.

Love!

This was the true answer.

She had always loved him, loved him to the bone, with a pain that pierced her heart.

But she could not love him anymore. Continuing to love him would only bring Lao Qi harm, more and more harm.

That was why she had cruelly severed his hopes, divorced him, and parted ways—yet they had not found peace separately!

If Lao Qi's life had not been hanging by a thread, she would never have come to see him again, and he would never have known her true feelings.

"You love me!"

Lao Qi was certain.

He pushed the door open and came out, once again pulling Nianyin into his embrace: "Come with me, let's leave this place together."

"Go."

The two of them linked arms and ran out together; along the way, Lao Qi was very happy.

But upon fleeing to the border, Nianyin let go of his hand: "You go, don't think of me anymore. I have Meiyin, that is enough; I have absolutely no need for you."

Lao Qi was stunned: "You lied to me, you aren't coming with me?"

"I am not going."

"Then I am not going either," he said firmly: "Nianyin, I will not be separated from you again. Days without you are worse than death; I don't want to continue like this."

Nianyin's face was covered in tears: "You must go back, go back to send word. Uncle Shi has been locked up by my mother and is being treated as a servant; Sister Xuan does not yet know about this matter."

"After you reach Jiangzhou, I will tell you the place where Uncle is being held. If you don't go, no one will ever know about the suffering he is enduring here."

Lao Qi:...

He himself was not afraid of death, but he could not let Shi Yucheng be implicated along with him.

"I will definitely come back to find you."

He left behind these words, and his figure quickly disappeared into the distance.