ASTRP -Chapter 204 The Prince Truly Had No Way to Deal With Feng Jingge

Feng Jingge shook her head.

“If I die, then the poison in your body will naturally be undone.”

“So? Want to make a deal?”

“You’ll only gain from it. After all, this is what I owe you… and what Jing Nation owes you as well.”

Shen Nan frowned slightly.

He could not understand why Feng Jingge would say such things.

He completely could not see through the Feng Jingge standing before him.

But she gave him the feeling of someone deeply calculating and mature beyond measure.

After thinking for a while, he realized this deal truly only benefited him. He could not find a single advantage for Feng Jingge.

“If you agree now, I’ll head to Witch Gu Mountain immediately. I won’t even sleep tonight.”

Xiao Jinghan suddenly rebuked her.

“Whether he agrees or not is useless. This king’s agreement is what matters.”

“Wife, I do not agree!”

It was simple. The poison Xiao Jinghan gave Shen Nan had only been meant as a threat to keep Feng Jingge safe.

Since they already had leverage over him, why should she risk her life going to Witch Gu Mountain?

“I gave you that poison so you could stay safe. Why are you still acting foolishly?”

“Because of the Feng family’s eldest daughter.”

Feng Jingge let out a long breath.

“If the original eldest miss of the Feng family hadn’t given him hope back then, perhaps none of this would have happened afterward.”

Xiao Jinghan frowned.

“If that’s the case, then the blame also lies with the late emperor.”

“And this king is the Regent Prince of Jing Nation. If the Son of Heaven commits a crime, he should be punished the same as commoners.”

However, Xiao Jinghan believed there was no need to atone anymore since the late emperor was already dead.

After hearing that, Shen Nan roared angrily.

“How is there no need?!”

“My sister was forced to death by that damned emperor! If not for him, my sister would never have died!”

“Just because he’s dead, does that mean the grudge disappears?!”

“Then what exactly do you want?”

After asking that, Xiao Jinghan continued,

“If the late emperor were still alive, this king would definitely have made him realize his mistakes.”

“But now that he’s gone, what? Do you want to dig him out of his grave?”

“How about this? This king can have all of Jing Nation apologize to you.”

“Everything my princess consort mentioned before, this king can also fulfill.”

Shen Nan froze for a moment and licked his dry lips.

Xiao Jinghan pressed on step by step.

“Do you agree?”

“If you don’t speak, this king will take it as your consent.”

Shen Nan still said nothing. Just as Xiao Jinghan was about to speak again, Feng Jingge suddenly said,

“If I go to Witch Gu Mountain, then you can’t keep obsessing over the past anymore.”

“You really intend to use your own life to make up for the late emperor’s mistakes?”

“You’ll die…”

“I won’t.”

Xiao Jinghan frowned.

“Wife…”

“Your Highness, I must go to Witch Gu Mountain.”

Xiao Jinghan knew Feng Jingge had already made up her mind, so he could only compromise.

“Then this king will go with you!”

“That won’t do!”

“Your Highness must stay here and keep watch over Shen Nan.”

“No—”

Before Xiao Jinghan could finish, Feng Jingge interrupted again,

“Your Highness is so capable. If you don’t watch Shen Nan, how could that work?”

Feng Jingge wrapped her arms around him and rubbed against him lightly.

“Your Highness, what if Shen Nan sees I didn’t die and secretly sends more people inside, refusing to follow the rules?”

She patted Xiao Jinghan’s shoulder.

“So this place needs Your Highness to hold the fort!”

“You…”

Xiao Jinghan’s brows furrowed tightly.

For a moment, he did not know what to say.

He knew Feng Jingge’s words made sense, and he also knew she was saying all this because she did not want him to follow her.

“My wife truly has a silver tongue.”

“You’re coaxing and deceiving this king, aren’t you?”

Xiao Jinghan grasped Feng Jingge’s hands tightly.

“Wife… don’t go.”

“Your Highness, what qualities made you fall in love with me?”

“It’s…”

At that moment, Xiao Jinghan discovered he could not say it aloud.

There was simply too much he loved about her.

Feng Jingge was like his little sun, constantly warming him.

She was intelligent, kind, lively, neither servile nor overbearing.

And also… also…

“I know what you’re thinking. Say it.”

“…I won’t!”

At this moment, Xiao Jinghan wished time could stop forever.

“Ah…”

Feng Jingge sighed softly.

“Then I’ll say it for you. It’s because not only am I intelligent and kind, but I also have a sense of responsibility.”

“Because I dare to take responsibility, just like Your Highness. You also bear responsibility and commitment.”

“Your Highness bears the responsibility of loving me for an entire lifetime.”

“That’s why I like Your Highness.”

Feng Jingge said she loved Xiao Jinghan and wanted to stay with him forever.

She wanted to raise children with him and also bear children belonging to the two of them.

“If I were someone without responsibility, someone who shirked everything…”

“Then I would also avoid responsibility in love. Would Your Highness still love me then?”

“This king would…”

Feng Jingge laughed softly.

Xiao Jinghan truly wished the one carrying gu worms in his body were himself instead.

That way, Feng Jingge would not need to risk her life.

She would not have to shoulder all these burdens—he could bear them for her.

He even wished Feng Jingge were weaker and more selfish.

But if she truly became the way he imagined—no longer heroic, fearless, and daring—then he would never have fallen so deeply for her in the first place.

Suddenly, Feng Jingge tapped his acupoint.

Xiao Jinghan’s brows furrowed even tighter.

“Alright, I’m leaving.”

She turned and ran away, then shouted back,

“Your Highness will break through the acupoint seal very soon anyway!”

“Your Highness, guard Shen Nan properly for me—don’t forget!”

Meanwhile, Shen Nan unconsciously reached out a hand.

Even he himself did not know what he had been trying to grasp.

What did he want to hold onto?

What did he want to keep from leaving?

This woman had never belonged to him in the first place.

Without Feng Jingge there…

Without that familiar face…

Only then did Shen Nan begin to feel the emptiness creeping in.

Images of the original owner’s face surfaced in his mind, replaying all the things they had once done together.

This time, it was no longer mere imagination.

These memories had truly happened.

The more he thought about them, the more his eyes stung with tears.

Different from the tears of hatred and revenge.

This was more a kind of sorrow… and heartache.

As if something had pierced straight through his chest, causing unbearable pain with every breath.

“I don’t know when it started, but all I wanted… was someone who loved me and would never leave me…”

“But the tighter I tried to hold on, the farther Jingge drifted away from me.”

“Even if Jingge doesn’t like me, the person she should like shouldn’t be you!”

“The one she liked was clearly my brother…”

“My brother, Shen Ruo… Your Highness should have met him before, right?”

Xiao Jinghan remained motionless.

Shen Nan gave a bitter laugh.

“Oh… right. Your Highness can’t move right now.”

But very quickly, Xiao Jinghan forcefully broke through the acupoint seal himself.

“Although Shen Ruo wasn’t a good person, at the very least he wasn’t as disgusting and twisted as you.”

He turned around, cold light flashing in his eyes.

Because if not for Shen Nan, Feng Jingge would never have gone to Witch Gu Mountain.

He clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could kill Shen Nan on the spot.

But if he truly did that, then Feng Jingge’s sacrifice would have been meaningless.

“At the very least, he never harmed you.”

“But you, in order to obtain ‘Feng Jingge,’ were willing to hurt him.”

“The fact that he left without complaint when you told him to leave already proves he is far better than you.”