SWHCBB 84

Chapter 84: Made the Little Husband Cry Again!

Seeing Wen Jue’s stunned expression, Jiang Chuang finally felt a long-overdue rush of satisfaction, as if he had just vented all the pent-up frustration in his heart.

Jiang Chuang tightly gripped his hand and and yanked it, Wen Jue nearly stumbled into his arms, still dazed and shocked.

Jiang Chuang looked down at him and gave a cold snort. “You think I don’t know anything, do you? Wen Xiao Yu! You thought you hid everything so well? I know far more than you think! You thought you could keep lying to me and hiding things? It’s never been that I didn’t know, it’s whether I wanted to know.”

“You… what do you know?” Wen Jue’s voice trembled. For the first time, he was thrown completely off rhythm. His mind went blank, control slipping from his hands.

Jiang Chuang raised an eyebrow and stroked his face, his tone somewhere between threat and coaxing. “Zhiyu, are you going to confess nicely yourself, or should I spell it all out?”

Wen Jue’s lashes fluttered. The tears had disappeared. He stayed silent. He didn’t even know what else he was supposed to confess. There had been too many lies, half-truths mixed in with actual confessions. Lies layered within honesty, honesty tainted by deception. He couldn’t even remember which lies he’d told and which truths he’d admitted to.

Seeing him quiet, Jiang Chuang assumed he was unwilling to speak and gritted his teeth. “You think I don’t know? You went to the emperor yourself to ask for the marriage decree because you had your eye on my military power! Sure, the emperor’s suspicion was real, but you feared me even more!”

“I…” Wen Jue opened his mouth, face pale, unable to deny it, because Jiang Chuang wasn’t wrong.

Jiang Chuang pressed on coldly. “You were afraid I’d side with the Third Prince and become an obstacle to your sister’s ascension, so you used the emperor’s wariness as an excuse to marry into my household! And if I had supported the Third Prince, you’d have used me to entrap and destroy him, wouldn’t you? Can you say you never thought of that? You wanted me to help your sister win the throne but didn’t dare say it outright, isn’t that it?”

“You deliberately misled everyone into thinking you were the one scheming for the throne so Zhuge Qing would help you. You think I couldn’t see that?”

Jiang Chuang’s fingers traced his face. The paler Wen Jue grew, the more Jiang Chuang felt the weight in his chest begin to lift. But even so, he couldn’t resist being a little cruel, after all, this man didn’t even treat his own life as precious.

Jiang Chuang’s hand slid from his chin down his neck, finally cradling his nape, forcing him to look up.

“Zhiyu, I’ve known from the beginning. Everything. Since our wedding night, I’ve known. I knew what you were planning, all of it. Do you know why I still played along, pretended I didn’t know, even as I watched you dig traps for the Third and Sixth Princes?”

His words struck like thunder in Wen Jue’s ears. He couldn’t process it, couldn’t even come up with a single excuse. He didn’t know whether he should try to coax, confess, cry, or just be honest.

Nothing worked… Wen Jue had no idea how to fight back or win him over. His panic peaked. He couldn’t think at all. It felt like he was being judged, and he didn’t know what sentence awaited him.

Would he, too, become the ‘Wen Jue’ from that dream?

“Zhiyu, do you know why?” Jiang Chuang’s tone suddenly softened, like a lover’s whisper.

“W-Why?”

Jiang Chuang suddenly leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Because I love you. So even knowing you were full of schemes, I accepted it all willingly.”

“Uuh…” Wen Jue trembled all over. Tears fell in an instant, and he sobbed aloud.

He made him cry again.

Jiang Chuang cupped his face, wiping away the tears, and said gently, “Still dare to lie to me? Your husband knows everything, understand?”

Wen Jue buried himself in his shoulder, trying hard not to cry out loud, only small sobs escaped as his shoulders shook.

Jiang Chuang gently patted his back. “Does it hurt? Do you know how much pain I felt when you were hurt? Do you know how heartbroken I was when I found out you’d included everyone in your plan, except me?”

Trying to lighten the mood, Jiang Chuang chuckled. “You married me just to use me, didn’t you? So just keep using me! I’ve told you more than once, whatever you want to do, I’ll help you. Why won’t you believe me? Why do you always leave me out in the end? Do you think I’m useless? Are you afraid I’ll drag you down?”

Wen Jue shook his head while crying, choking out, “No… you’re not… you were just… so scary just now… I was terrified… uuh…”

Still crying. It wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Jiang Chuang wiped the corners of his own eyes and muttered like it didn’t matter, “Good. Otherwise, I’d really think you see me as an outsider. That maybe… you don’t even like me. That whole ‘love at first sight on the hunting ground’ thing, it was all a lie, wasn’t it?”

Wen Jue pulled back from his embrace slightly. He was a mess, eyelashes stuck to his lower lids, eyes barely able to open, tears streaking his face. Jiang Chuang tried not to laugh as he wiped him clean.

Wen Jue’s voice was hoarse. “I don’t even know if it was love at first sight. I just know you’ve always felt special to me…And after we got married, you treated me so well… so well that I didn’t want to hurt you. I was scared you’d hate me once you found out how underhanded I was, scared you’d be disgusted by me. So I didn’t dare tell you anything. I didn’t want you to take risks for me. I just… I was scared of losing you.”

Jiang Chuang brushed his nose with a smile. “You are saying all this sweet stuff now? You’re not lying again, are you? After all, Prince Jin is best at sweet-talking, isn’t he?”

“I’m not lying! Everything I said is true!” Wen Jue panicked and rushed to explain. He admitted he’d acted and schemed at first, but now, every word was genuine.

“I know.” Jiang Chuang tucked the stray hair from his face and comforted him. “Zhiyu loves me. He just didn’t dare say it. He didn’t want me caught up in all this, that was his way of protecting me.”

Wen Jue nodded with teary eyes, finally able to breathe again, like he just survived a catastrophe.

But as his reason returned and his mind cleared, Wen Jue suddenly sensed something off.

He calmed down and looked at Jiang Chuang in confusion. “I never attend palace banquets. Apart from that hunting event three years ago, we didn’t have any contact. And you don’t even remember meeting me three years ago. So… how could you have liked me before our marriage? How did you know what I was thinking?”

The more he thought about it, the more it didn’t add up.

Had they met somewhere else before?

Jiang Chuang paused. Now that their hearts were laid bare, there was nothing left to worry about. He didn’t have to fear Wen Jue’s suspicion anymore.

But… were they really going to have this conversation here?

Jiang Chuang deliberately kept him in suspense. “Eat first. Once we finish, I’ll have the strength to explain.”

Wen Jue lowered his eyes with a pout. “I lost my appetite. You scared me too much, I can’t eat.”

“You little brat.” Jiang Chuang laughed and scolded him. “Fine, I’ll feed you. Will that do, Your Highness?”

Wen Jue finally broke into a smile. The air between them grew warm and affectionate again.

But the food had long since gone cold. Jiang Chuang had to call for someone to reheat it.

After their meal and washing up, the two lay together in bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. Only then did Jiang Chuang slowly begin to explain.

Jiang Chuang said, “Have you ever heard of coming back from the dead?”

“Coming back from the dead?” Wen Jue froze. “What… what does that have to do with you?”

Jiang Chuang answered solemnly, “If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I wouldn’t believe it either. But the truth is, I died, four years in the future.”

“What do you mean?” Wen Jue was shocked and sat up at once, serious now. “Don’t talk like that. Haven’t I told you not to speak ill-fated words?”

Jiang Chuang shook his head. “It’s not nonsense. I really did die four years from now. But that was… in my previous life.”

“Previous life?” Wen Jue grew more and more confused.

Jiang Chuang recalled the past. Though he’d only been reborn for a year, it already felt like a lifetime ago. “After I died, I drifted as a ghost for a while. I thought I’d just fade away like that. But unexpectedly, I was swept up by some strange force. And then, when I opened my eyes again, I was back, five years earlier… which, for us now, was one year ago. Back to our wedding night. Maybe Heaven took pity on me, saw that I died with regrets and unfulfilled wishes, and gave me a second chance at life.”

Wen Jue murmured in a daze, “A second chance at life?”