Quick Transmigration: Saving The Crazy Villainess

Chapter 115: Jiang Ying Yue (22)

"Cough! Cough!" With misty eyes and trembling fingers, one of Jiang Ying Yue's hand started to beat her chest while the other reached out for a jug of water. Jiang Li saw her state and frowned at her. If you choke on something, would drinking water be the correct thing to do?

An answer dawned on him. 'Since she can still make a sound, she should not be completely choking, but with a semi-blocked airway.'

His hand moved to pass the container on her. He reckoned that her body was protesting that it could not get enough air. Water should be able to help to lubricate the esophagus, enhancing a natural swallowing process that would then help remove the obstruction. Thankfully, it was not a completely blocked airway or else, instead of giving her water, he would be performing an abdominal thrust. 

"Drink slowly." He reminded the girl madly chugging on the jug as if her life depended on it.

When Jiang Ying Yue's lips parted with the water container, she began gasping for breath. The corners of her eyes still had traces of tears.

The man shook his head and commented inside, 'This is what she gets for not chewing her food properly. Tch. Really the same. If my guess is correct, it seems she choked on food while staring at me.'

Seeing the kind of stare Jiang Li was giving her, the girl's cheeks turned red and all she wanted to do was disappear from there. Thankfully, after that episode, the man didn't say anything. When they finished eating, he only called the servants to clear the table and bring them tea, then he ordered them to disperse again.

"Now that we're full, let's have a long talk about your and my circumstances." He said, propping his face up with a hand, elbow against the smooth surface of the table.

Jiang Ying Yue didn't dare meet his eyes. While nursing the cup of tea in her hand, she said, "This one is thankful for everything Your Highness has given and done for me. It would be this one's honor to answer your questions and requests as long as it is proper and within my capabilities."

Jiang Li pretended he didn't hear the emphasis on the latter part, instead minding her dizzying speech.

"To be honest, I hate this formal kind of taking the most, Miss Jiang. So let me just get straight to the point. After meeting the witch, what do you plan to do from now on?"

Silence reigned between them for a full minute. The place turned so quiet if a pin dropped on the ground, the sound would reverberate to their ears.  

It was still Jiang Li who broke that silence after getting bored of waiting for her reply. "The Emperor has indirectly punished me to go back to the border three weeks earlier than expected. It's already the fourth day. In three days, I would have to depart with my army and head South where my post is."

Jiang Ying Yue looked guiltily at him. "I remember you saying that to me last night. I know it's my fault. I'm sorry."

He smiled. "You don't need to be sorry. What I did, I did out of my own volition."

His answer made her raise her head and stared intently at him. Jiang Li calmly met her gaze. 

"... Your Highness, forgive me for asking. But why would you go to such great lengths for a nobody like me?" She asked softly, head lowering again. Her eyelashes moved downwards, creating faint shadows on her white cheeks. 

Since yesterday, this was the question plaguing her mind. He was really a puzzle for her. If it was truly just as her maids said that he had taken a fancy for her, why?

Jiang Ying Yue felt bitter because she couldn't see any good merits in her. The broken engagement, the disowning incident, and the kidnapping had scarred her so much and made her skeptical of many things, including her own charm as a woman. The first one made her an unwanted fiance, the second an unwanted daughter.

She reckoned if everyone in the city already knew the third, that she was kidnapped by traffickers and almost sold to bandits, then people would begin to wonder whether she was already a soiled woman. The mere thought of that numbed her heart. No matter the era, no woman, at least none from the nobility, who respected themselves and expected to marry into decent families, would want that kind of reputation to be attached to their names.

'I'm not worthy of being fancied by a high person like him.' She secretly told herself, mood downcast.  

'You are the villainess, my mission. And you are her.' She didn't know this was what Jiang Li had in mind when he heard her question. However, since there was no way he could say these to her, he chose not to directly answer it, but ask, "Miss Jiang, is it a must for us to always have sophisticated reasons behind our actions and decisions?"

Jiang Ying Yue slightly frowned, thinking.

A corner of his mouth curved up. "Miss, sometimes, we just do things instinctively and with neither rhyme nor reason. For example, we start something and then suddenly feel like not finishing them, or keep items we know we will never use, or worry about things that we cannot control. We just do those things without thinking too much about them. It's instinctive. I bet it's because, our brain and body know that if everything we do needs to be planned or have a reason behind it, then life would just be very stressful."

'I don't need a reason to save you, shelter you, and secure you from danger and storms.'

Jiang Ying Yue instinctively looked downwards. She found herself despicable. Because after she read between the lines, the real meaning she got not only warmed her heart, but also made her wish that she could love him and have him for herself someday.