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墨書 Inktalez
The young eunuch ultimately did not reveal why Xiao Zhang was considered a Tyrant, as he fainted before he could speak.
"Did you see?" Xiao Zhang smiled at me, though there was no joy in his eyes. "In their eyes, I am just a Tyrant who can scare people into fainting."
Who could he blame?
It was his own fault for speaking so harshly moments before.
In the end, Xiao Zhang did tell me why others regarded him as a Tyrant.
We lay together on the bed, and he stared at the canopy above, speaking softly, "When I was sixteen, I plunged a sword coated with deadly poison into the body of Prime Minister Gu, who raised me."
"At that time, they said I had gone mad, that I was ungrateful, that I was unworthy of being a ruler."
"When I turned seventeen, I killed all those who rebelled and hung their leader on the city wall for three days and nights."
"They then accused me of being heartless and cruel, claiming that retribution would come from heaven."
He spoke these words without any expression on his face.
The candlelight outside was bright, yet none of it reached his eyes.
I turned to face him. "Then why did Your Majesty kill Prime Minister Gu?"
He seemed taken aback by my question, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly.
"Your Majesty must have had a reason, right?" I propped myself up to look at him. "It sounds like Your Majesty has never slaughtered innocent civilians."
He blinked and let out a long sigh. "Five years ago, Yue Kingdom experienced an unprecedented flood that devastated the land, leaving countless people dead or injured. Two years ago, an unprecedented drought struck again, causing many to starve as their crops failed."
"They all said it was because of my cruelty and incompetence that heaven sent down its punishment."
I pouted; Ancient People just loved to believe in these absurd superstitions.
"This has nothing to do with you, really," I said seriously to Xiao Zhang, looking him in the eye. "These are all natural phenomena. Even if you weren't the king, they would still happen. It has nothing to do with you at all."
Xiao Zhang tilted his head to look at me and pulled me into his embrace.
"Xia Zhiyi, you truly have deep feelings for me."
...
Forget it, he’s got issues; I shouldn’t stoop to his level.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep in Xiao Zhang's arms. In a daze, I heard his light words: "Xia Zhiyi, please don’t betray me."
It wasn’t a threatening tone.
It felt more like a plea.
I frowned slightly and instinctively replied, "Mm."
This was a promise made without clear consciousness, but I remembered it vividly once I was awake.
I sat at the table, propping my head up with my hand, poking at the congee in my bowl with my chopsticks.
"Madam, are you not feeling well today?" Cai'er asked, looking at me with concern.
I was simply feeling very anxious about my future.
For some reason, I'm not usually someone who keeps promises, but this time I didn’t want to go back on my word at all.
After finishing the morning court session, Xiao Zhang came over and said he wanted to take me somewhere.
He seemed different today, not quite like before.
As he held my hand and walked forward step by step, I felt as if I could see a shimmering light in his eyes.
The sunlight fell upon him, and for the first time, I saw the youthful spirit radiating from him.
It made my heart soften.
The place he brought me to was a tall tower, with a plaque on the door reading "Tai Ming Tower."
It was the same place he had taken me to that day; only last time we were on the rooftop, and this time we were entering through the main door.
Inside the tower, as he had said, there were many ancestral tablets, with only two tablets being honored in a separate room.
Xiao Zhang knelt properly before those two tablets and said, "Mother, I have brought my new wife to meet you."
These words struck me like a current, coursing through my entire body.
I hurriedly knelt down as well, momentarily at a loss for words.
"She lacks proper etiquette," Xiao Zhang said with a smile toward the tablets above. "But she is very good to me; Father and Mother, please do not blame her."
My face flushed.
I couldn't honestly say I had been good to him; just not long ago, I had even thought of taking matters into my own hands against him.
Thinking of this, I quickly addressed the tablets, "Rest assured, I will treat Your Majesty well."
From that day forward, under Xiao Zhang's affection, I completely let myself go.
I no longer thought about escaping the palace; each day was filled with eating, drinking, and having fun, which led me to gain quite a bit of weight.
Sometimes I can't even tell if I have fallen for Xiao Zhang or if I have simply grown fond of this laid-back lifestyle.
Xiao Zhang treats me well and has never been cruel to the palace servants, making me gradually forget that he was originally a villain.
A villain who shouldn't have a happy ending.
Although he hasn't committed any heinous acts, he is still a villain.
What is meant to come will always come.
"Your Majesty said he would be dealing with state affairs until late, so the lady should rest on her own," the Eunuch by Xiao Zhang's side conveyed before dinner.
He said nothing else.
For some reason, I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me.
Cai'er helped me lie down, and I grabbed her hand, asking, "Do you know what’s happening?"
"I heard that the Wu Kingdom's army has already pressed against our borders," Cai'er said as she tucked me in, trying to comfort me. "You need not worry; Your Majesty will handle it well."
How could I not worry?
This time, there wouldn’t be anyone to take a hit for him like I did before.
I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
I didn't know if it was because I had grown accustomed to being held by Xiao Zhang every night or if it was the concern for our future together.
The situation must be quite dire; Xiao Zhang hardly had time to share a meal with me anymore, only managing to steal a quick glance at me each day.
I had little appetite myself, so I asked Cai'er to prepare a few of his favorite dishes, hoping to send them over to him.
As I approached the Hall of Supreme Harmony where he handled state affairs, I was taken aback by the sound of something being smashed.
"Useless!" Xiao Zhang's furious voice echoed from within. "Capture all the traitors and throw them onto Wujishan."
Cai'er shivered behind me.
I turned to look at her, and she said, "Wujishan is filled with ferocious beasts and poisonous creatures. Anyone thrown in there won't have a single bone left intact."
Xiao Zhang never showed mercy to those who betrayed him.
"Get out! All of you, get out!"
The doors of the hall swung open, and a group of people rushed out in a chaotic scramble.
Once they had all left, I dared to peek inside.
Xiao Zhang stood with his back to the door, clad in a dark robe behind his desk, exuding an air of solitude and coldness.
I stepped inside with Cai'er.
Hearing our footsteps, Xiao Zhang turned around and began to say, "I let you all..."
His words trailed off mid-sentence.
His eyes were bloodshot, and the lingering hostility was evident in his expression.
"Ayi." He opened his mouth but only managed to call my name hoarsely.
It sent a shiver through me.
I realized I had some feelings for him—not just for the comfortable life he provided me.
"How long has it been since you last ate?" I pretended not to notice the hostility on his face as I took the Food Box from Cai'er and placed it on the table. "I haven't eaten either; will you keep me company and eat a little with me?"
"Are you scared?" He continued to pick out my favorite dishes and placed them in my bowl.
Finally feeling a bit hungry, I took a bite and said, "Hmm?"
"Are you scared of this solitude?"
I blinked, swallowing the food in my mouth before asking him, "Are you going to kill me?"
He paused with his chopsticks. "No."
"Then will you protect me?"
"Yes."
I smiled and continued eating from my bowl. "Then I'm not crazy, so why should I be afraid of you?"
Xiao Zhang was still busy dealing with the war situation.
No matter how busy he was, he always made time to come and eat with me. I knew he was worried about what had happened last time.
He was afraid I would be scared, afraid that I wouldn't like him.
Lately, I had been feeling increasingly drowsy, losing interest in everything and having no appetite at all.
Ever since Xiao Zhang had the doctor come once to check if I was pregnant and they couldn't determine anything, I told the doctor not to come again.
The odds of it happening just once were so small; I felt certain it wouldn't happen to me.
Xiao Zhang still firmly believed that I was pregnant, treating me with utmost care and never touching me in bed.
"Cai'er, go fetch the physician to take a look at me," I said, feeling a bit anxious given my recent condition.
The physician was the same one who had saved my life that day—young yet quite capable.
He examined my pulse properly and finally smiled, saying, "Congratulations, Madam. You are already two months pregnant. Your Majesty truly has a discerning eye; you can see what I cannot."
Hearing this made Cai'er very happy, and she hurried off to fetch him a reward.
Only I was left with an empty mind.
I was pregnant.
At the age of twenty.
Before I could even tell Xiao Zhang this news, I heard that he was preparing to lead his troops into battle.
"Can I go with you?" I asked Xiao Zhang.
The words slipped out before I could think. After saying them, I didn't even know why I wanted to go.
What could I do there?
Could I shield him from harm?
I couldn't; perhaps I didn't love him that much yet.
Xiao Zhang patted my head gently. "You stay here and wait for me to come back."
I looked up at him, feeling like I might cry; my eyes were warm with unshed tears.
"You're going to come back safely, right?"
He nodded, gently cupping my face and placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "With you waiting for me, I will definitely return."
His touch was tender, as if he feared causing me pain.
Thinking back, it was no surprise that I liked him.
After all, I had never been treated so seriously by anyone throughout my life.
"Your Majesty, why are you so good to me? Is it because I saved you?" We sat together on the rooftop of Tai Ming Tower.
The wind howled past my ears, and the cloak he had draped over me fluttered behind us.
He nodded and then shook his head.
"When I ascended to the throne, I was only six years old."
" Prime Minister Gu said I was still too young; he would assist and guide me. But that wasn't true. He bound me, manipulated me, hiding behind me while committing all sorts of wrongdoings and then placing the blame on me. I became the Tyrant despised by all, the rebellious fool who wouldn't listen to advice, while he was the loyal minister and benevolent teacher."
"I thought if I listened to him, I could grow up safely. But little did I know his ambitions grew larger; he even poisoned my meals, wanting me to die unknowingly as a Tyrant cursed by heaven."
He spoke these words with a calm expression.
It felt like he was recounting someone else's story.
I hugged him tightly, feeling a pang of sorrow but unsure of what to say to comfort him.
What he described was too foreign, too terrifying, too distant for me.
"The path of an emperor is never easy, especially when ascending the throne at such a young age." He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on top of my head. "Everyone either wants to gain something from me or wishes to kill me. Only you came down from the heavens, using your fragile body to shield me, risking your own life to save mine."
I didn’t mean to…
"I once thought you had ulterior motives or that you were a spy sent by someone. But you always looked at me so earnestly, telling me time and again that you cared for me..."
I quickly covered his mouth with my hand.
If he kept talking, he would mention how I offered myself to him.
He grasped my hand and gently kissed the palm.
A flurry of tingles spread through me, as if his kiss landed on the very tip of my heart.
"Ayi, because of you, I feel like I’m a person," Xiao Zhang said, his lips brushing against my fingers, his voice soft. "I don’t know how to love; no one taught me. I don’t know if you can feel it, but I truly love you..."
Before he could finish, I leaned in, tilting my head slightly to kiss his lips.
No one understood how to love someone better than he did.
His affection was so intense that I couldn’t ignore it.
Perhaps I moved too suddenly; together we leaned back and fell from the rooftop.
Startled, I tried to look down, but his hand pressed gently against my head.
The sound of the wind seemed to stop, and Xiao Zhang’s kiss dominated everything around us.
I had fallen in love with Xiao Zhang.
I didn’t know when it had started.
It turned out that falling in love with someone was such a bewildering and inescapable experience.
The night before Xiao Zhang's departure, I slept soundly in his arms, and when I woke up, he was already gone.
"Your Majesty said he was afraid you would be upset, so he left after you fell asleep last night," Cai'er said as she chased after me while I searched the palace for him. "Madam, be careful not to tire yourself."
Right.
I hadn't told Xiao Zhang that I was pregnant with his child.
Never mind. I'll surprise him when he returns safely.
He will definitely come back safely.
The days waiting for Xiao Zhang were dull and uneventful. The physician would come to check on me every few days, reminding me of many things.
One day, I suddenly called out to him.
"You mentioned that you saved me using a method from ancient texts. What exactly is that method?" If something were to happen to Xiao Zhang, perhaps I could use the same method.
The physician looked at me, hesitating to speak.
"Madam, forgive me, but that method is not meant to be shared."
He was lying.
I stepped closer to him, fixing my gaze on his restless eyes, and said word by word, "If you don't tell me, I won't let you leave the palace today."
I had learned this from Xiao Zhang; he always scared others like this.
Perhaps I had imitated him too well, for the physician suddenly knelt before me, crying out, "Madam, please forgive me! Your Majesty said if I uttered a single word to you, he would slaughter my entire family. I have an eighty-year-old Old Mother and a newborn puppy at home; please spare me!"
Indeed, the art of intimidation was something only Xiao Zhang excelled at.
In the end, the physician did not reveal the method he used. Seeing that I was troubled by this matter, Cai'er said she had a way to make the physician speak.
Her method was to ask her good friend He'er to gather information.
He'er subtly employed her charms; although she did not extract the specific method for my revival from the physician, she managed to obtain the Ancient Medical Book.
The Ancient Medical Book was not easy to find. I searched for three days in the royal library before finally discovering it in a corner.
I opened to the relevant page, which was filled with writing, but one page was missing.
All I could see were the words "Heart's Blood."
To bring back a recently deceased person, one must place them in an Ice Coffin and nourish them with a bowl of Heart's Blood mixed with various precious herbs, which could summon their soul back.
Whether they awaken or not depends entirely on the individual.
Suddenly, I recalled the scar I had seen on Xiao Zhang's chest that day. At that time, I thought it was just a scar befitting a villain.
Little did I know it was there for the purpose of providing me with Heart's Blood.
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