Help! The Frosty Noble's Son Is in Love With Me!-Chapter 423: She Is Dead

"Luckily, the knife wasn’t long enough, otherwise even an immortal couldn’t save him if it stabbed his heart."

Xiao Shiqing heard these words upon awakening.

Soon after, the intense pain from his chest was even worse than when he was struck from behind by a sword on the battlefield; at least back then, he sensed the danger, dodged in time, and wasn’t critically injured.

Now... what was happening to him?

He only remembered fainting, and then remembered nothing.

Did he hurt himself falling somewhere when he fainted, to be in such pain?

The pain was indeed severe, to the point where he could almost not breathe. He even found opening his eyes felt overwhelmingly heavy.

Crying voices from several people could be heard suppressing the sobs by his bedside.

"Young Master, why did you seek death? If anything happens to you, what are we, the servants, supposed to do?"

Seeking death, who sought death?

Was it him?

Impossible.

Xiao Shiqing would rather die on the battlefield than commit such a cowardly act.

He tried to move, but as he attempted to lift his hand, he abruptly realized a fact.

Just now, did someone call him Young Master?

Young Master...

Had he returned?

Xiao Shiqing gritted his teeth, trying to get up to check where he was injured. It seemed the injury was quite severe; before he could even open his eyes, he fainted again.

He began to dream, a long, long dream.

The same dream he had had before, where he brought Li Jirou from the Pei Family back to the Xiao Family.

Previously, the dream came in fragments, but this time, it seemed complete.

He had just brought her back to the Xiao Family when he had to leave for work far away. Before leaving, he kissed her forehead and said to her—

"Wait for me to return, and we will get married."

She was very happy and eagerly looked forward to his return. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Then came a year-long separation.

Oddly enough, he didn’t follow his dream self to leave but stayed by her side as an observer to watch what happened during that year.

She went to pay respects and was deliberately left waiting outside the door for several hours by his mother.

His mother needed writings and clothes for banquets, said her embroidery was good, and asked her to help embroider, with no time to spare, she worked overnight.

And why overnight? Because during the day she had to do the laundry, as his mother claimed the maid’s hands were rough, damaging the clothes, whereas her hands were tender and delicate, so she had her do it.

Besides doing laundry, she had to cook, then serve the food to his mother, finally, when his mother slept, as the weather was hot, she had to fan by her side.

So she could only embroider at night.

Xiao Shiqing watched as a noble lady was ordered around by his own mother worse than a maidservant. Not, worse than a maid.

He felt very uncomfortable; even though it was just a dream, he couldn’t stand to see her suffer like this.

He wanted to help, but unfortunately, he could do nothing in the dream.

He saw her begin writing letters to him, curious about the content, tried to follow but seemed blocked by the room, so he couldn’t see what she wrote.

He only saw her mail out the letters then eagerly await his reply every day, the first month there was no reply, the second month she continued writing, and for twelve months she received no letter.

He couldn’t understand why the dream him didn’t reply, maybe he didn’t receive the letters, but not getting a single letter in twelve months? That’s not normal. His people wouldn’t be that thoughtless. Even family letters might contain important information; there’s no way they’d be lost for twelve months.

He grew anxious, then miraculously, he suddenly was beside another him and saw the letters she wrote.

"It’s terrible, Mother seems not to like me; what should I do to make her happy?"

"A cousin came home and everyone likes her, including Mother. What should I do about my jealousy?"

"The servants at home are excessive, and Cousin Ji stepped in to discipline them. I’m so ashamed not to compare to her."

"I heard from the servants that Mother wants to betroth Cousin Ji to you. After all, she’s excellent in everything. Would you agree?"

"I miss you. When can you come back, and write me a reply, please? If you’re too busy, it’s okay."

"I’ve been sick these past few days and feeling terrible. The servants aren’t obedient, and I don’t want to bother Mother and Miss Ji with everything."

"Can you send someone to pick me up? I can disguise as a man, and will certainly be obedient and not create trouble for you."

"Please send someone to pick me up. I don’t want to stay at the Xiao Mansion anymore; I really can’t live here..."

He just finished reading and hadn’t reacted when another him returned beside her, and the first thing he said was—

"Do you have a problem with my mother, unwilling to serve her?"

Xiao Shiqing was beside himself as if struck by thunder. Did he really say that?

Before he could respond, the scene shifted.

"On such a cold day, she pushed someone into the water. Any conscientious person wouldn’t do such a thing. If not for the timely rescue of the maidservants, Nichang might’ve lost her life by now. How do you explain the facts before you now?"

"... Auntie, Cousin, don’t blame Miss Li. Nichang fell into the water accidentally; it has nothing to do with Miss Li."

"Even now you’re defending her when she almost killed you."

"Miss Li... she didn’t mean to... cough, cough..."

"Silly child, if she didn’t mean it, why hasn’t she dared to come see you after all this time? It shows a guilty conscience."

The scene shifted again.

"Whatever the reason, you can’t just push someone into the water." The man’s voice carried a chill never heard before.

Xiao Shiqing watched and felt like punching him; he wanted to explain, to argue for her.

It wasn’t like that; things weren’t like that, but nobody could hear him.

He only heard her struggle to defend herself, "It’s not..."

"There’s both eyewitness and material evidence. Why do you still want to lie at this point?" That other him spoke with a disappointed tone, "I’ve told you many times, she’s just a cousin staying temporarily, she won’t affect our marriage, why did you act against her?"

"The doctor said she may never be able to conceive after this; someone has to take responsibility."

As if predicting his next words, Li Jirou’s breath nearly stopped, staring at him blankly, with a mix of pleading and despair in her eyes.

However, the man didn’t notice and stated his decision, "Our marriage will remain, but I will marry her as well."

Boom!

Xiao Shiqing only felt a sharp pain piercing from his heart...

In an instant, he saw her again in front of the mirror.

"One stroke gives me fortune, nothing to worry about."

"Two strokes complete my duties well."

"Three strokes join our hearts together!"

Rising, she walked out of the room, the long gown sweeping across the floor, crimson like blood.

Her figure heading towards the lake.

Xiao Shiqing hurried forward to stop her.

"No, no, don’t go, I beg you not to go!"

"Don’t go down!"

"It was his mistake; I apologize on his behalf. Please come back, no, it’s my fault, I apologize, don’t go into the water..."

But the man cried out until he was hoarse on the shore, unable to stop her from walking step by step into the water until she was completely submerged, until the water was perfectly still again...

"No—"

Xiao Shiqing suddenly opened his eyes.

Mrs. Xiao beside him cried tears of joy, "Qing’er, you’re finally awake. You worried your mother to death; how could you be so foolish, how could you do that in front of your mother, you nearly scared her to death..."

But Xiao Shiqing didn’t even glance at his mother, staring straight upward, saying each word distinctly, "She’s dead."

"Died in the cold winter."

"She, so afraid of the cold, died in the icy river."

"We are all murderers."