823 Protection (6)
In all fairness, Xie Jingxing treated him very well. If not, Su Mingfeng would not have remembered him for so many years. Xie Jingxing was arrogant, rude, impudent, mischievous, and did whatever he wanted. There was almost nothing that could restrain him. Xie Jingxing would always help Su Mingfeng. For example, when someone bullied Su Mingfeng, Xie Jingxing would bring people to beat them up. Even if that person was a child of the royal family, he would still beat him up. Finally, no one dared to bully Su Mingfeng.
However, although Xie Jingxing did a lot of things, he never took credit or even mentioned it. As time passed, people remembered his bad side, but his good side was gradually forgotten.
After Shen Miao finished speaking, she felt extremely gratified. For some reason, when she saw Su Mingfeng criticizing Xie Jingxing, she felt that the scene was very jarring. After saying that, although she was a little embarrassed, she did not regret it.
Did Xie Jingxing have any intention of making use of Su Mingfeng? Shen Miao thought that he definitely didn’t. In her previous life, the Su family was executed by Emperor Wen Hui. No one collected Su Yu and his son’s corpses. Everyone was afraid of offending Emperor Wen Hui, but only Xie Jingxing went to collect their corpses and buried them.
A real hero, loyal to friends, and true to himself were the comments Fu Ming gave to Xie Jingxing. Children were the most unbiased. Shen Miao thought that what Fu Ming said was true.
If such a person was still called “not worthy of being a brother” by Su Mingfeng, Shen Miao would feel sad for Xie Jingxing. The title of Prince Rui looked glorious, but in fact, what came with it was not something everyone could withstand.
However, she did not notice that while she was speaking, after being slightly surprised, Xie Jingxing’s gaze landed on her with a happy smile.
Su Mingfeng looked at Xie Jingxing and was lost for words.
He felt complicated and sad. It was supposed to be a happy thing that his good friend was still alive, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to feel happy at all.
Xie Jingxing glanced at him and said, “I don’t owe you anything.”
“Even if I owed you something, I’ve paid it off all long ago.” Xie Jingxing continued, “The Earl of Pingnan is big and influential and is the target of the emperor. The Marquis of Lin’an has tens of millions of soldiers under him. If I showed ambitions of inheriting military power from the Marquis of Lin’an, the emperor would be paranoid and no one could live.”
“Isn’t it worth it to estrange the Marquis of Lin’an for everyone’s safety?” Xie Jingxing asked with a smile.
Su Mingfeng couldn’t retort.
“If I didn’t do this, Xie Ding would have been gotten rid of by the emperor, and everyone in the Xie family would have been implicated and either executed or exiled. Now, although the son of the Marquis of Lin’an is dead, at least the emperor let Xie Ding off and everyone can still live.” Xie Jingxing smiled mockingly. “In name, Princess Yuqing is my mother. For this little bit of relationship, the only thing I can do is to protect the dignity of the Marquis of Lin’an.”
Shen Miao looked at Xie Jingxing’s handsome side profile. He said it casually, as if all of this was not important at all. However, in the past few years, he could only keep these words to himself.
Xie Jingxing was an honest person, but he was also the most dishonest person. He told the truth honestly, but what he was not honest about was his heart. He did not mention the grievances he had suffered, nor did he speak out his worries. Therefore, in everyone’s eyes, he was playful and cynical. There seemed to be nothing in the world that could stump him. However, in order to protect the dignity of the marquis, he was willing to bear the accusation of an disobedient and unfilial son.
Su Mingfeng was stunned.
“My life in Daliang is not as glorious and simple as you think.” He looked at the ice on the tree and said casually, “If it were you, you would come back crying to look for your mother in less than a day.”
Su Mingfeng was so infuriated by this that he choked.
“There’s no such thing as free lunch in the world. You have to fight for what you want. Su Mingfeng, your life is comfortable. You can’t judge me while living such a comfortable life. I’ve experienced more than you can imagine.”
He sighed softly, but there was still a smile on his face. His eyes were slightly curved, and his eyelashes were lowered. From this angle, his eyebrows were gentle, and he was as beautiful as if he had walked out of a painting. However, there was no smile in his eyes.
His eyes were as cold as the winter wind.
“Most importantly, Ming Qi didn’t nurture me. Instead Ming Qi killed me,” he said.
