“?” Jiang Yeqian paused.
He froze, as if he did not know how he should answer.
Qi Qingyao reminded him, “We agreed to one month.”
Jiang Yeqian was speechless.
While he kept silent, Qi Qingyao did as well.
After a long period of silence, Qi Qingyao closed the window and looked at him calmly. “If you aren’t gonna say anything, I’ll no longer concern myself with it.”
She sat down and fiddled with the empty teapot on the table, caressing the peony pattern on it. “I know that you’re going to tell me that I need a guard to accompany me and that you just so happened to be able to protect me from harm, blahblahblah. But I have to make something clear. I don’t need a guard who can’t show his face and might bring me trouble. You know what I mean.”
“I…” Jiang Yeqian opened his mouth, but when he tried to speak, he could not find the words.
“Planning to tell me the truth, finally?”
Qi Qingyao did not want to rush him. She merely smiled carefreely. “You can stop right there if you’re going to tell me that you haven’t regained your memories.”
Jiang Yeqian, “…” She did not even give him a chance to lie.
After another long period of silence, Qi Qingyao was already a little impatient. “You can leave if you aren’t planning to tell me the truth.”
Jiang Yeqian was persistent. “I really haven’t regained my memories.”
“Even if you really haven’t, it’s none of my concern. I’m rich now. I can give you two taels of silver and set you free in the wild.” Qi Qingyao withdrew her purse, fished out two taels, and set them on the table.
As if she was filthy rich.
Jiang Yeqian did not know how to reply to that, so he fell silent.
Qi Qingyao said to herself, “See, I’m so generous, even I feel touched. If I didn’t have my memories, and the person I owe a huge sum of money to gave me money and freedom, I’d be overjoyed!”
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Qi Qingyao continued unconcernedly, “Oh, right, you don’t need to pay back the one thousand taels you owe me.”
“No,” Jiang Yeqian said.
“I’m being generous! What are you doing, saying no when I told you that you don’t need to repay me?” Qi Qingyao’s smile was lazy and a little sarcastic. “After I drive out the burden that you are, the money I’ll save will definitely be worth more than one thousand taels of silver. So you don’t need to feel sorry for not paying me back.”
Jiang Yeqian furrowed his brow and was quiet for a while before he said, “Are you not going to sell my body out now?”
Qi Qingyao’s eyes lit up. “From my assumptions, after I sell you out and get the money for it, you can escape very quickly.”
Jiang Yeqian, “…” Her eyes were quite sharp.
Qi Qingyao shrugged, as if the world was at peace, and said cheerfully, “So, let’s save ourselves the trouble.”
Jiang Yeqian knew that she was not joking. She was waiting for him to tell her the truth. “You really are going to drive me out.”
“We agreed on one month. It’s not that I drove you out, it’s that you didn’t want to stay.” Qi Qingyao said nonchalantly.
Jiang Yeqian, “…”
Qi Qingyao waited for a while. When the man remained silent, she understood something. Thus, she went to open the window and made a gesture of invitation.
Jiang Yeqian was rooted in the spot for a while, but he had no other option but to fly out from the window.
Qi Qingyao closed the window emotionlessly, then left the room and returned to the room next door.
Si Jin ran to the adjacent room and looked around for a while. After he ran back, he asked nervously, his eyes wet, “Have you really driven him out?”