novelSusiti Chapter 333 A Letter in Blood to Persuade His Sister, Xu Longxiang's Letter in Blood
Chapter 333 A Letter in Blood to Persuade His Sister, Xu Longxiang's Letter in Blood
Xu Longxiang's voice suddenly rang out, hoarse and trembling, with a cautious, almost humble, probing tone.
Jiang Qingxue frowned slightly.
"What about me?"
Xu Longxiang's Adam's apple bobbed.
His gaze fell on her face, then on her lower abdomen, and then quickly moved away.
His lips opened and closed, then opened and closed again.
These words rolled around in his throat countless times before finally being squeezed out, as lightly as a leaf about to fall.
"Are you... are you pregnant?"
Jiang Qingxue was stunned.
She looked at him, at his bloodshot eyes, red like frostbite, and at the cautious, almost humble expression on his face.
She suddenly wanted to laugh.
She really wanted to laugh.
He was afraid.
I'm afraid she's also pregnant with that man's child, and I'm afraid she'll end up like her sister, bound by that flesh and never be able to go back.
A slight smile curved the corners of Jiang Qingxue's lips.
The curve was very shallow and faint, almost invisible in the moonlight.
It wasn't laughter; it was something she herself couldn't quite explain, something extremely complex.
"Do you want me to have his child?" she asked.
The sound was very soft and gentle, like a petal falling on the water's surface, pushed by the wind, and slowly turning in a circle.
Xu Longxiang was stunned.
He hadn't expected her to ask that question, hadn't expected her to use that tone, and hadn't expected her to look at him like that.
Faint, distant, like looking through a veil that can never be pierced.
"Of course not." He blurted out, his voice trembling with urgency.
"I still want to marry you. We—we will have our own children."
Jiang Qingxue looked at him.
The moonlight shone on his face, making his pale, thin face exceptionally clear.
"I'm not pregnant," she said.
Xu Longxiang let out a long breath.
The breath he exhaled was filled with a sense of relief, as if he had survived a disaster.
His shoulders relaxed, and the tension that had just been building up eased a little more.
The corners of his mouth even curled up slightly, like a stone that had been pressed down for too long finally being moved, revealing a small patch of dry ground underneath.
"That's good. That's good."
Jiang Qingxue looked at the relieved smile on his lips.
She didn't speak, she just stood there, the night breeze blowing, lifting the stray hairs at her temples.
"Alright," she said, her voice regaining its previous faint, detached calm, "I don't have that much time. I have to go back."
Xu Longxiang's smile froze on his face.
"Qingxue—"
"You must tell your sister this news." She interrupted him, her voice still soft and steady.
"Just tell her—she absolutely must abort this child. She absolutely cannot keep it."
Xu Longxiang looked at her face, at the faint smile on her lips, and at the calm, undisturbed light in her eyes.
He nodded.
"Okay. Don't worry, I will."
Jiang Qingxue remained silent for a moment.
"However—" she paused, "I don't want to say this to her in person. You should write a letter yourself, and I'll pass it on."
Xu Longxiang was slightly taken aback.
He looked at Jiang Qingxue, at her face half-lit and half-shadowed in the moonlight, and at the faint curve of her lips that never changed from beginning to end.
He nodded.
"Okay. That's fine too."
He took out a short knife from his pocket and cut off a piece of the inner lining of his robe.
The cloth was white, made of the finest silk, which his sister had sewn for him by hand when they were in the North.
He knelt on the ground, spread the cloth on his knees, bit his fingertip, and used his blood to write stroke by stroke on the white cloth.
Sister. I hope this letter finds you well.
I already know that you are pregnant.
This child cannot be kept.
That tyrannical and cruel ruler was an irreconcilable enemy of the Xu family.
If you give birth to this child, he will be the son of the Xu family's enemy. How will I face him? How will the ancestors of the Xu family rest in peace?
Sister, you've always been the most reasonable person.
Brother, I'm begging you.
Abort this child.
When your brother's great cause is accomplished, he will bring you out of the palace. You will still be the proudest Xu Fenghua in the Northern Border.
Your younger brother, Longxiang, weeps blood and bows his head.
He finished writing.
The white cloth was covered with dark red writing, and in some places, the blood had seeped out and smeared into a mess, like shocking flowers blooming in the snow.
He folded the cloth into a small square, held it in both hands, and handed it to Jiang Qingxue.
Jiang Qingxue took the letter.
She tucked the letter into her sleeve.
"I'm leaving."
She turned around.
"Clear the snow!"
Xu Longxiang's voice came up from behind, hoarse and urgent.
"There's one more thing—could you help me probe Zhao Qingxue? Does she—still want to form an alliance with the Northern Territory?"
Jiang Qingxue paused slightly.
Her back was to him, and the moonlight shone on her, making her moon-white dress almost transparent.
He couldn't see her expression, only that she tilted her head slightly, as if listening to the sound of the wind.
"I know. I'm already working on it."
Her voice drifted from ahead, very soft and faint, as if through a thick veil, indistinct.
Xu Longxiang's heart skipped a beat.
"Okay." His voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"Thanks a lot."
Jiang Qingxue did not speak again.
She stepped forward and walked towards the vermilion palace gate.
The moon-white skirt trailed on the bluestone slabs, making a soft rubbing sound.
Her steps were steady, neither hurried nor slow, just like her personality, which has always been the case.
Faint, distant.
"Clear the snow!"
She didn't stop walking.
"I—I haven't hugged you yet."
His voice was very soft, as soft as a child asking his mother for a promise, knowing he wouldn't get it, but still unable to resist saying it.
Her figure paused for a moment at the palace gate.
The pause was extremely brief, as brief as a drop of ink falling into a deep pool, creating only a tiny ripple before being swallowed up by the deeper, darker night.
Then she stepped over the threshold and disappeared into the shadows behind the door.
Xu Longxiang stood there, gazing at the empty palace gate.
His hand was still raised, maintaining the posture of wanting to hug.
The moonlight shone on his hands, making the bloodstained fingers stand out clearly.
He slowly pulled back his fingers one by one, clenching them into a fist, then releasing them.
The black crow emerged from the shadows.
His steps were light and made no sound.
His gaze shifted from the palace gate to Xu Longxiang's face.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something.
He had been watching it the whole time.
Jiang Qingxue walked out of the alley and stood in the moonlight, not too close and not too far, just three steps away.
Judging from her tone of voice, expression, and posture, every word she spoke seemed to be prepared in advance, and every sentence seemed to be rehearsed.
When she said, "Sister Xu is pregnant," there was a faint, almost calm light in her eyes.
When she took the letter, her fingertips didn't tremble at all.
He always felt that something was wrong.
But he couldn't explain it.
There was nothing wrong with what she said, nothing wrong with her expression, nothing wrong with every action and every detail of hers.
But there are just too few problems.
Like a bronze mirror that has been wiped too many times, it is dazzlingly bright, but it cannot reflect anything.
His lips parted slightly.
Those two "Your Highnesses" had already rolled around on the tip of my tongue.
But he saw Xu Longxiang's face.
On that pale, gaunt face, there was an expression he had never seen before.
Like a lamp, it burns on and off, and you never know when it will go out.
The crow closed its beak again.
He stepped back and disappeared back into the deeper shadows.
Perhaps he was mistaken.
Perhaps Miss Jiang was genuinely worried about His Highness's safety, which is why she risked leaving the palace.
Perhaps everything she said was true, and every expression she made was from the heart.
Perhaps he was being paranoid.
He was merely a spy, solely responsible for protecting His Highness's safety.
He doesn't understand those matters of love and affection, nor should he concern himself with them.
Xu Longxiang stood at the foot of the wall, gazing at the empty palace gate, for a long time.
So long that the moonlight moved an inch further behind the clouds, so long that the wind in the alley stopped and started again, so long that the blood on his fingertips dried and formed a thin, dark red scab.
"Let's go," he suddenly said, his voice hoarse.
"Let's go back quickly."
He turned around and walked towards the other end of the alley.
His steps were quick and hurried, as if something was chasing him from behind.
The moonlight cast his shadow on the ground, thin and twisted, like a tree whose back had been broken by the wind, swaying and disappearing at the end of the alley.
Mo Ya followed behind him silently, like a silent shadow.
The alley was empty.
Moonlight poured down from behind the clouds, illuminating the bluestone slabs until they appeared white.
The wind blew in from the alley entrance, swirling up a few withered leaves, making them spin around the base of the wall, and then falling back to their original spot.
The vermilion palace gate remained tightly shut, the door knocker not swaying at all, as if everything had just happened.
It was all just a dream.
Only a small patch of crushed, withered leaves at the base of the wall and a few dried, dark red bloodstains on the bluestone slab proved that someone had been here.
.......