Chapter 110: You Owe Me an Apology

“You think you can take on Ye Zifei?”

By now, Shan Qing’er was no fool. She naturally understood that Black Crow had been willing to help her all along for one reason: to deal with Ye Zifei. It was only recently that she realized how little she truly knew about that man.

She had originally thought Ye Zifei already possessed more than enough dazzling qualities. She had never imagined that he was also the mysterious White Phoenix—and that the man before her was White Phoenix Ye Zifei’s sworn enemy, Black Crow.

For all these years, Black Crow and White Phoenix had been nothing more than names to Shan Qing’er. After all, the Vermilion Bird Kingdom had a history spanning several centuries. Yet the names Black Crow and White Phoenix had existed throughout it all. Very few people, however, had ever truly come into contact with either of them.

Shan Qing’er had never imagined that these two mysterious figures not only genuinely existed, but that she had once been so close to them.

Although Black Crow wanted to deal with White Phoenix—Ye Zifei, the man Shan Qing’er loved—she ought to have hated Black Crow. But that day, Black Crow had rescued her from Ou Xinlai.

Ye Zifei, on the other hand, had rescued Ou Xinlai from Black Crow. Clearly, unless Ou Xinlai died, Ye Zifei would never love her. More importantly, even if Ou Xinlai died, there was no guarantee that Ye Zifei would fall in love with Shan Qing’er.

Given her hostility toward Ou Xinlai and the conflicts they had already shared, if Ou Xinlai truly died, Ye Zifei would not only refuse to love Shan Qing’er—he would hate her for it.

Shan Qing’er loved Ye Zifei, but she loved herself even more. Wasn’t the reason she had chosen him simply because he was exceptional? Since Ye Zifei had no feelings for her, why should she continue loving him without regard for anything else?

If she could not have something, then naturally she would not allow anyone else to have it either.

She would kill Ou Xinlai and make Ye Zifei suffer for the rest of his life. Black Crow and White Phoenix were mortal enemies, so as long as she stayed with Black Crow, she would lose little by not being with Ye Zifei. She could remain at Black Crow’s side and watch Ye Zifei sink into misery, proving to him that refusing to choose her and falling in love with Ou Xinlai had been the greatest mistake of his life.

Thus, Shan Qing’er did not hesitate even for a moment before deciding to give up on Ye Zifei, seduce Black Crow, use him to deal with Ou Xinlai, and torment Ye Zifei. In short, it would be killing three birds with one stone—and she would also secure someone to rely on for the rest of her life.

Shan Qing’er looked at Black Crow’s masked face. Judging from the lines of his features alone, he should not be an ugly man. If Black Crow was as handsome as Ye Zifei, then following him would hardly be a loss.

Black Crow narrowed his eyes. He had seen all kinds of people in the world, and he had encountered more than enough women like Shan Qing’er. From the brief flicker in her gaze, he might not have guessed everything she was thinking, but he understood most of it.

Black Crow sneered inwardly. He regarded Ye Zifei as his mortal enemy and wanted to surpass him in every way. If he took Shan Qing’er, a woman even Ye Zifei had looked down on, would he not merely be picking up the trash Ye Zifei had discarded? Wouldn’t that amount to slapping himself in the face?

What a foolish woman. She could not even understand something so obvious. No wonder Ye Zifei would rather love the ugly Ou Xinlai than accept Shan Qing’er, who possessed at least a little beauty.

“Do you want Ou Xinlai dead?” Black Crow asked coldly.

He had always been distant whenever he faced Shan Qing’er and had never shown her any warmth. But if she had been observant, she would have noticed that back when Black Crow considered her a useful pawn, his voice had held a trace more warmth.

Now, using Shan Qing’er to deal with Ye Zifei without anyone noticing was no longer possible. To Black Crow, Shan Qing’er was no longer as useful a piece as she once had been.

Although Black Crow had found a way to elevate her position, he no longer indulged her as he had before. Thus, even the same coldness could carry a different meaning. The chill in his voice now was not merely aloofness—it was complete disregard.

Shan Qing’er, however, had always believed that Black Crow had cared for her from the very beginning, had protected her until this day, and had even rescued her from Ou Xinlai.

She had no awareness of herself as a pawn. She merely thought that perhaps Black Crow felt some interest in her. Otherwise, why would he treat her so well?

That was precisely why Shan Qing’er had changed her target and turned her attention toward Black Crow.

What woman was not vain? In truth, Black Crow was every bit as outstanding as Ye Zifei. Once Shan Qing’er found another target, giving up on the man who did not love her and turning her attention to a man who had always treated her well seemed only natural.

“Killing Ou Xinlai would certainly deal Ye Zifei a blow. It would benefit you. After all, Ye Zifei is not easy to deal with. Otherwise, you would not still be fighting him after all this time. Attacking the people around him is not necessarily a bad strategy. Ou Xinlai is far easier to deal with than Ye Zifei.”

It would be unfair to say Shan Qing’er had no brains. When it came to analyzing this matter, her reasoning was quite sound.

After listening to her, Black Crow fell silent for a moment before saying, “I have my own judgment in this matter. You only need to handle your own affairs properly. Don’t disgrace the name Feng Xianqing.”

With that, Black Crow left.

Shan Qing’er smiled. The fact that Black Crow had not immediately rejected her proved that he had, in fact, agreed with what she had said.

She could not personally torture Ou Xinlai to death, which was admittedly a small regret. But that regret was far preferable to allowing Ou Xinlai and Ye Zifei to live happily and carefree together.

“Achoo!”

Ou Xinlai sneezed violently and rubbed her nose, giving the matter no further thought.

“Are you feeling unwell?” Ye Zifei asked with concern. Seeing the usually healthy Ou Xinlai sneeze had immediately caught his attention.

Watching the normally cold-hearted Ye Zifei show such concern for Ou Xinlai, Shan Ziyao touched her forehead. She wanted to spit at herself. Was she blind? How had she ever thought of playing matchmaker and bringing Brother Zifei together with Nisa? Couldn’t she see that Brother Zifei’s entire heart already belonged to Nisa?

At that thought, Shan Ziyao glanced strangely at Nisa, an unfamiliar emotion flickering in her eyes. Recently, Shan Ziyao had stopped clinging to Ou Xinlai as she once did. For several days, she had even refused to see her.

Ou Xinlai had no idea what Shan Ziyao was upset about, so she let her be. Fortunately, Shan Ziyao had recently returned to normal and once again enjoyed staying by Ou Xinlai’s side like a little shadow.

“Brother Zifei, there’s something I want to discuss with Nisa in private.” Shan Ziyao thought for a moment, then decided to send Ye Zifei away. Apparently, she had something she wanted to say to Ou Xinlai alone.

Hearing this, both Ye Zifei and Ou Xinlai breathed a sigh of relief. At last, the girl had figured things out.

Ye Zifei nodded and left without the slightest hesitation.

“What did you want to tell me?” Ou Xinlai asked, looking at Shan Ziyao.

After spending so much time with Shan Ziyao, even Shan Ziyao’s parents had already guessed her identity. If Shan Ziyao still could not figure it out, Ou Xinlai would truly have been at a loss for words.

Still, since Shan Ziyao had not asked, Ou Xinlai had never taken the initiative to say anything. After all, she had always felt that she had never lied to Shan Ziyao. When Shan Ziyao had once asked her name, she had replied, “Guess.” Who could have imagined that Shan Ziyao would hear it as “Nisa”? Ou Xinlai simply had not bothered to explain afterward.

“What is your real name?” Shan Ziyao gathered her courage and asked.

Based on what she knew of Ye Zifei, he was absolutely not the sort of man who grew tired of the old and pursued the new, nor was he someone who fell in love easily.

“You’re not really called Nisa, are you?”

In all the years she had known Brother Zifei, she had seen him treat only one person so well. It was difficult to imagine that, in a matter of only a few months, Brother Zifei—a man who never fell in love lightly but became utterly steadfast once he did—could treat an ordinary-looking girl like Nisa so tenderly.

Thus, Shan Ziyao had already formed a likely conclusion.

Ou Xinlai rolled her eyes. “What I said back then was ‘Guess,’ not ‘Nisa’! People in this world speak ordinary Mandarin too, you know. I even passed the highest level of Mandarin proficiency back in the modern era. I could have become a television host! I can’t believe you failed to hear my pronunciation properly. How exasperating!”

“Waaah…” Shan Ziyao felt terribly wronged. “I misheard you. You could have told me!”

Thinking back, Shan Ziyao realized that Ou Xinlai had indeed said “Guess” that day, not “Nisa.”

Faced with Shan Ziyao, who could burst into tears at a moment’s notice, Ou Xinlai was covered in metaphorical black lines.

“It’s perfectly understandable that your parents didn’t recognize me. But you only figured out who I was today? I honestly find that baffling!” Ou Xinlai was the truly aggrieved one here.

She knew medicine. Shan Yuanxi and Madam Shan had not realized that. But when Shan Ziyao had fallen ill in the Xuanwu Kingdom, Ou Xinlai had practically dragged her back from the gates of death, hadn’t she?

Who could have known that the girl would turn around and forget the whole thing completely?

Ou Xinlai had never concealed her manner of doing things. Even her medical skills were exactly as they had been before. If Shan Ziyao had used even a little common sense, it would not have been difficult to guess that she was Ou Xinlai.

“I trusted you!” Shan Ziyao shouted back indignantly.

Ou Xinlai could practically see a line of cawing crows flying past her eyes. Shan Ziyao was simply too foolish. What did that have to do with trusting her?

Still, seeing Shan Ziyao crying as though her entire family had died, Ou Xinlai helplessly nodded. “Yes, you trusted me.”

Trust and stupidity were two entirely different things.

“You’re mean…” Shan Ziyao continued accusing Ou Xinlai. Although Ou Xinlai had often left clues in plain sight and Shan Ziyao had simply overlooked them, Shan Ziyao insisted that she had been too trusting—not that she had been too foolish.

“I never said I was a good person.” Ou Xinlai felt compelled to clarify this point. She had no intention of pretending to be one.

Shan Ziyao was speechless this time. “You have to apologize to me!”