Chapter 246: Some Debts Can Never Be Repaid

Chapter 246: Some Debts Can Never Be Repaid

After several rounds of wine, Xiao Lingchuan rose to his feet. "I'll be back shortly."

The moment he left, the atmosphere in the hall instantly relaxed.

Jiang Shuning's heart began to race.

This was her chance.

She picked up the teapot, stood, and refilled Madam Jiang's tea. As she leaned forward slightly, her wide sleeve naturally shielded their hands from view.

At that very moment, a tiny, tightly folded slip of paper—like a silent, falling leaf—slipped unnoticed from her fingertips into her mother's capacious sleeve.

The movement was swift as lightning, a fleeting touch.

Madam Jiang paused almost imperceptibly, then calmly lifted her teacup and took a light sip, masking the brief shock on her face.

Jiang Shuning returned to her seat and continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Before long, Xiao Lingchuan returned. His deep gaze swept across the table, and seeing everyone's expressions normal, he nodded with satisfaction and sat back down.

Just then, a crisp whistle pierced the night sky, followed by the sudden eruption of a massive firework outside the window—a peony shape whose brilliant blaze instantly lit up half the horizon.

Then came a second, a third... countless fireworks soared into the sky, blossoming one after another in the dark firmament into radiant peonies, dazzling and magnificent.

Madam Jiang and Chancellor Jiang gazed out the window in delight. "The palace has put on such a grand display of fireworks this New Year's Eve?"

Xiao Lingchuan's gaze, however, never left Jiang Shuning.

He watched the fireworks' glow flicker in her cool, clear eyes, a satisfied smile curling at the corners of his thin lips. His voice was low and tender:

"These aren't from the palace."

"I had them set off right here in my residence, especially for my Princess."

"Last New Year's Eve, the peony fireworks from the palace were also set off by me for my Princess."

Hearing these words, Jiang Shuning's gaze involuntarily fixed on the brilliant peony fireworks outside the window, but her thoughts churned like a turbulent tide.

He would set off peony fireworks for her?

In her past life, he had always sneered at the meticulously cultivated peonies in her courtyard, dismissing them as useless extravagance.

But now he was willing to go to such lengths, putting on this deliberate show of ingratiation.

Was he trying to make up for what he owed her in that past life?

But he didn't know—some debts could never be repaid.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Jiang Shuning said, her expression faint. "I like them very much."

Xiao Lingchuan took her hand, his gaze burning. "If my Princess likes them, I will set off fireworks for you every New Year's Eve!"

Jiang Shuning gave a faint smile but said nothing.

He could promise fireworks year after year, but she might not stay by his side to watch them.

After viewing the fireworks, Xiao Lingchuan personally escorted Chancellor Jiang and Madam Jiang to the mansion gate, watching their carriage disappear into the wind and snow.

Halfway along the road, their carriage was blocked by a group of riders. The leading carriage bore the emblem of Prince Ning's residence.

The coachman, Lao Yang, spoke with a note of tension: "Master, Madam... it's His Highness, Prince Ning."

Chancellor Jiang's expression stiffened. Though suspicious, he dared not be negligent. He quickly led his family out of the carriage, bowing in the cold wind: "Your servant pays respects to Prince Ning. Forgive me for not greeting you properly—I did not expect Your Highness to be here so late at night."

Prince Ning, Xiao Huaijin, lifted the carriage curtain. His usually gentle face was now clouded with gloom.

"Chancellor Jiang, our meeting here is no coincidence. I have been waiting specially. You have seen Miss Jiang tonight?"

Chancellor Jiang's heart skipped a beat. His face stiffened, and he remained silent.

"No need to be tense, Chancellor," Xiao Huaijin said, his voice softening but still pressing. "I only wish to ask one thing: are you truly at ease entrusting Miss Jiang to someone like Prince Jing? He is my fourth brother, raised from childhood in the Cold Palace. In his heart, he harbors a hatred for our father and for us brothers that outsiders cannot see. That undisguised ambition of his—are you not afraid that one day it will implicate the Jiang family and bring ruin upon you all?"

These words struck home like poisoned darts. Chancellor Jiang's expression grew even graver.

He raised his head, facing the wind and snow, and spoke in a voice aged but resolute: "Prince Ning, I appreciate your good intentions. However, I am advanced in years. Even if I have backed the wrong horse, at worst, I can return this life to His Majesty. There is nothing to fear."

Xiao Huaijin grew anxious. "Chancellor, you know that's not what I meant! I only feel that Shuning... she should have had a better choice!"

"What is a better choice?" Chancellor Jiang suddenly countered, his voice slow but each word as solid as a rock. "The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is Your Highness's man, is he not? When my daughter was wrongfully imprisoned, he spoke to me only of the laws of Daye. I know he upholds the law, but I am a father, and I have my selfishness. Prince Ning, in that moment, do you think I should have entrusted my daughter to you, or to Prince Jing, who threw caution to the wind to rescue her from the flames?"

These words struck like a heavy hammer, leaving Xiao Huaijin speechless.

After a long silence, he finally forced out a sentence, his voice full of defeat: "This matter... I will let Miss Jiang choose for herself."

With that, the carriage curtain fell heavily, cutting off all sight.

Chancellor Jiang returned to his own carriage, where a dead silence reigned.

Madam Jiang could not help but ask softly, "Husband, have you truly... entrusted Ning to Prince Jing like this?"

"Prince Jing acts ostentatiously and looks down on everyone—I know all that." Chancellor Jiang leaned back wearily against the cushion and said slowly, "But the poison case this time showed me his true feelings for Ning. At my age, I have no other desire but to place my daughter in the hands of the one willing to risk his life for her in her hour of peril. Clearly, that person is not Prince Ning."

Madam Jiang opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end, she swallowed her words.

Beneath her wide sleeve, her hand was clenched tightly around a thin slip of paper.

It was the one Jiang Shuning had slipped to her unnoticed during the banquet.

The few words written on it made her heart pound with dread.

"If one day I am said to have 'died suddenly' in the mansion, do not grieve. That is not an end, but a way out that I have created for myself."

Madam Jiang sighed inwardly: Husband, you have calculated everything, seen through Prince Jing's sincerity, but you did not expect that our daughter simply does not want that sincerity.

You thought you had found a safe haven for her, but little do you know that day and night she plots nothing less than how to escape from this gilded cage!

Xiao Huaijin returned to Prince Ning's residence in utter dejection.

He ordered his servants in a low voice, "Bring me wine—the strongest kind."

His personal attendant was startled and quickly advised, "Your Highness, tomorrow you are to visit the Imperial Palace to pay respects to Noble Consort Rong. Drinking now may be unwise..."

"I do not wish to repeat myself," Xiao Huaijin cut him off coldly.

The attendant dared not speak further and could only bring a jug of strong wine.

The fiery liquor burned its way down his throat like a line of fire, slightly relieving the suffocating frustration that Chancellor Jiang's words had lodged in his chest.

He actually wanted to entrust Miss Jiang... to Xiao Lingchuan!

He had already prepared a foolproof plan, needing only to wait a few more days to bring Shuning safely out of the Dali Temple prison, but Xiao Lingchuan had unscrupulously beaten him to it!

On what grounds did he imprison Miss Jiang in the Prince Jing's mansion? Had he ever asked her if she was willing?

At this thought, the resentment in Xiao Huaijin's eyes almost solidified.

Just as he was about to pour another drink and get thoroughly drunk, a servant announced from outside the door: "Your Highness, Third Master Jiang requests an audience."

Jiang Tianze?

Xiao Huaijin paused, the face of that young man, somewhat resembling Xiao Lingchuan yet full of defiance, appearing in his mind.

Despite his doubts, he said in a deep voice: "Let him in."

Soon, Jiang Tianze appeared before him.

His gaze swept across the wine pot on the table, and a barely concealed sneer curled the corners of his lips.

"What are you doing here?" Xiao Huaijin asked, a hint of drunkenness in his tone.

"Is Your Highness drowning your sorrows in wine?" Jiang Tianze's eyes were sharp and aggressive. "You need not do this, Your Highness. Tonight, I am here to help you."

Xiao Huaijin sneered: "Help me? What can you do for me?"

Jiang Tianze looked him straight in the eye and said word for word: "To help you rescue my eldest sister from that cage in Prince Jing's mansion!"