Chapter 300

Shi Sheng's Adam's apple bobbed, and finally, meeting her smile, he gave a hoarse promise: "Just this once, and never again."

The ice crystals on the blue bricks and gray tiles shone brightly under the light. The woman in the green dress was stunned for a moment, and then a smile appeared in her eyes.

“Okay,” she said.

After a short while, she turned around with a smile and stepped over the threshold, leaving the young emperor in a black dragon robe to lower his eyes and suppress his emotions.

She will only ever be his mother, and can only ever be his mother.

Because of a torrential downpour during the day, the night sky was filled with stars, and even the moonlight seemed exceptionally bright.

When people discussed the strange celestial phenomena that occurred during the day, they would look up at the clear night sky and then recount the auspicious signs at the city gate.

Outside the palace, everyone was buzzing with excitement, their faces beaming, and they loudly praised, "Heaven blesses our dynasty!"

The palace is taking stock of the casualties from the incident. The palace maids and eunuchs in Chonghua Palace are all unharmed, except for Sui Sui, who, after waking up, is sitting on the bed in a daze.

Her hair was disheveled and her bun was loose. She clenched her fists, and her eyes were completely devoid of light.

She had committed so many sins in that life that even if she could go back to the time before everything happened, she would find it difficult to face the Empress again.

Moreover, the man she loved to the point of madness was actually her own, and he was neither human nor demon, but merely a manifestation of her spiritual power.

It's truly laughable how fate plays tricks on people.

She clenched her fists, but the pain in her palms did not bring her back to her senses.

If the rabbit hadn't been reduced to a mere wisp of consciousness by the heavenly lightning and escaped, with the rest of her cultivation automatically returning to her body to fight against the lightning, she probably wouldn't have survived.

Unfortunately, his thousand years of cultivation were destroyed in an instant by the lightning tribulation.

She chuckled softly, and tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down into the bedding, which quickly absorbed them.

As with her profound understanding of Taoism, not a single drop of water remained.

She wasn't here to repay a debt of gratitude; she was clearly here to seek revenge. But now, her retribution has come.

She's lost her powers and is about to die.

Unfortunately, she was the only one; the rabbit's wisp of consciousness had vanished somewhere.

But he was closely connected to her, and if he got too close, she would notice him.

If she finds out...

As she thought about it, a dark look settled in her eyes.

She can't be the only one to die with guilt; he too must be condemned to eternal damnation!

She muttered to herself, unaware that a silvery light was lurking in the corner, flickering intermittently.

The atmosphere in Chonghua Palace was unusually strange today. Even someone as carefree as Lingluo didn't know how to feel after returning to the familiar palace, so all three of them hid in their own rooms.

Linlang withdrew her ability to probe Sui Sui and then opened her eyes.

As Sui Sui murmured to herself, she sorted out her thoughts, and a huge boulder seemed to hang in her heart as she did so.

So this is what the Empress meant by "an eye for an eye".

When did the Empress begin to preserve those excruciating experiences, like the ears of grain in the harvest?

The anger and pity in her heart weighed her down, making it hard to stand up straight. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and wanted to cut it open to see what was wrong.

She closed her eyes and spoke slowly:

"Year's harvest, rabbit..."

"Was it when the rabbit was found by Sui Sui that Your Highness knew everything?"

No wonder the Empress's eyes were so indifferent that day; no wonder she stopped favoring Sui Sui afterward; no wonder she was unmoved by the rabbit's life or death several times when she went to check on it at night.

She opened her eyes and asked herself, "Will the Empress hate me too?"

"I don't hate her." Ling Wu entered Lin Lang's room at some point.

"Your Majesty, this servant..." Linlang didn't know how to continue.

"Go and summon Yuehui and Lingluo to my bedchamber. I have something to say to them," Lingwu instructed without asking further questions.

After saying that, he glanced at her briefly, as he always did, before turning and leaving.

The green dress brushed across the threshold without pausing for a moment, and Linlang's heart sank to the bottom.

She had stood by and watched the Empress's agonizing struggle from a world she couldn't remember.

Does "not hating" truly mean he doesn't hate her, or that he's long since stopped caring about her?

As Lingwu stepped out of the room, she stopped in her tracks as she passed a maid standing ramrod straight.

"Your Highness," Ling Wu helped the maid up as she bowed, "what's your name?"

"Your Majesty, my name is Yu Sui!"

"From today onwards, you will serve me."

Yu Sui paused for a moment, then breathed softly and replied respectfully, "This servant obeys!"

Ling Wu smiled and nodded, then ordered, "Follow me."

"Yes!" Yu Sui was overjoyed.

Inside the main hall of Chonghua Palace, Yuehui and Lingluo, who had roughly learned everything from Linlang, pursed their lips, their eyes filled with both absurdity and an inability to refute.

Demons are not human, and like that giant python, they find it difficult to truly regard repaying kindness as a form of redemption for their benefactors. Instead, it weighs heavily on their hearts and becomes a burden.

However, if they do not repay the kindness, their cultivation will be destroyed by heavenly lightning, and their thousand years of effort will be in vain, just like Sui Sui is now. Therefore, they have no choice but to repay the kindness.

Ling Wu held a brand-new booklet in her hand, which was still filled with drawings of various animals.

Yu Sui, under pressure and with a slightly tense expression, served the tea.

"Your Majesty, the tea is ready."

Lingwu responded with a reassuring smile, and seeing that her tension had subsided, she let her lean in to listen.

Yu Sui hesitated for a moment, but soon bent down to listen under the watchful eyes of the "seniors".

In the blink of an eye, Yu Sui stood up again, said "Yes," and walked past the three of them without hesitation, ignoring their probing.

The three had different thoughts; Yuehui was filled with complex frustration, Lingluo was filled with envy and longing, and Linlang was heartbroken.

Lingwu closed the booklet, placed it on the table, picked up the cup of hot tea, and warmed her hands, which were still hard to warm.

She remained silent, and the three of them continued to bow their heads respectfully as before.

After a long while, Lingwu let out a slow sigh.

Her sigh caused all three of them to lower their heads again.

"Moonlight," Lingwu called softly.

Yuehui was surprised that she would be the first one called. All sorts of thoughts surged in her mind as she tried to guess what Yuehui would do given her personality.

Over the years, she never stopped talking, instinctively replying, "Your Majesty, this servant is here."

"Make sure the charcoal fire is lit enough."

"..." Yuehui thought of many things, but she didn't think of this. However, the weight in her heart was lifted again before she could feel any joy.

She suppressed the pressure and said, "Yes."

Once the charcoal fire was lit, the palace was warm and cozy, as if one were in a crisp autumn afternoon with the scent of maple leaves.

"Then let's start from the moment I died for the first time," Ling Wu said in an extremely soft tone, revealing a conclusion that could crush a person.

A gentle breeze blew outside the hall, stirring the intricate patterns on the windows and occasionally producing a soft, rustling sound.

She died at the hands of a rabbit the first time, her heart ripped open, and she didn't even live to see the next day dawn.

The second time he tried to escape the shackles of fate, he was instead manipulated by fate.

Ling Wu didn't mention the three of them much, but from their few words, the three of them deduced what they had done in places unseen by Ling Wu.

— They bring trouble to her side, stand idly by when danger strikes, and only appear to repay her life-saving grace when she is about to die, before leaving.

Perhaps Lingluo ate a wild pheasant from the mountains and was showing off its beautiful fur.

Perhaps Linlang will travel the world and eventually find a cave to continue her cultivation.

Perhaps Yuehui was continuing to earnestly advise the other demons not to fall deeply into the heart of their benefactor.

But she was the only one destined to die.

She was like a puppet in someone's palm who knew everything beforehand, struggling desperately as she died at the hands of the very person she had saved years ago.