Chapter 179 The Noble Young Master of a Marquis's Family (18) The Noble Young Master's Revenge and Love...

"Huaijing, what... what's with that expression?"

Zhao Xuanhong finally realized something was wrong. He took a half step back, his gaze fixed on the strange smile on Huai Jing's lips, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Could it be that even you are going to betray me?"

Huai Jing slowly rose, his previously respectful expression completely vanishing, replaced by tenderness in his eyes: "Your Highness, rest assured, I will never betray you."

Zhao Xuanhong stared at Huai Jing, who was clearly acting strangely, and cautiously took another step back until his back pressed against the cold chair back. After a long while, a cold laugh escaped his throat, and he said, "Heh, then tell me, what should this prince do now? Am I really going to sit here and wait to die?"

Huai Jing walked up to him, slowly bent down, and looked Zhao Xuanhong in the eye. He reached out to touch the other's face, but Zhao Xuanhong slapped his hand away just as he was about to make contact.

"Huaijing, have you gone mad?!"

Zhao Xuanhong's eyes widened in anger, filled with disbelief.

Huai Jing was not angry; instead, his smile grew even gentler: "Your Highness, I am willing to do anything for you, including die. Those people want to harm you, and I will never let them succeed."

"You think you can do anything?" Zhao Xuanhong scoffed, his eyes full of contempt. "You can't even leave this mansion now, what else can you do?"

Upon hearing this, Huai Jing suddenly reached out and grabbed Zhao Xuanhong's wrist tightly, with such force that the second prince couldn't help but groan.

"Your Highness, why are you always like this? Why can't you see the sincerity of your subordinates?"

Zhao Xuanhong's eyes widened as he struggled to break free from Huai Jing's grip. "Huai Jing! Are you insane! Let go of me! You...you're committing insubordination!"

"Insubordination?"

Huai Jing leaned closer to him, his warm breath brushing against Zhao Xuanhong's face, and murmured, "Your Highness, in my heart, you are everything to me. Everything in this world, including my life, is worthless in front of you."

As he spoke, he suddenly grabbed Zhao Xuanhong's chin and leaned down to kiss those lips he had longed for for so long.

Zhao Xuanhong struggled desperately, biting down hard on Huai Jing's lips, a faint taste of blood spreading between them. Huai Jing didn't care at all, instead kissing him even more forcefully, while his other hand tightly restrained Zhao Xuanhong's hands, pressing him firmly into the chair.

After a long while, Huai Jing slowly released Zhao Xuan Hong, looking at the other's face flushed with anger and panting, gently wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with infatuation, "Your Highness, please love me."

As he spoke, his hand slowly slid towards Zhao Xuanhong's collar, the movement gentle yet leaving him no room to refuse.

Zhao Xuanhong looked at Huai Jing in terror, his voice trembling as he said, "Huai Jing, if you dare to touch me, I will tear you to pieces and exterminate your entire clan!"

Huai Jing merely smiled, his fingertips tracing Zhao Xuanhong's face. "Your Highness, you... cannot leave." His voice held a hint of seduction as he said, "Just stay by my side! How about that?"

Zhao Xuanhong's pupils constricted upon hearing this. "No, no... Someone come quick!"

Before he could finish speaking, Huai Jing delivered a karate chop to the back of Zhao Xuanhong's neck, then gently picked him up and locked him in the secret room behind the study's curio cabinet.

This secret chamber was meticulously crafted by skilled artisans at Zhao Xuanhong's behest, and its structure is extremely unique. If someone is inside the chamber, no matter how loud the noise they make, those outside will not hear it; however, if someone is outside the chamber, even a whispered conversation will be clearly heard by those inside.

Over the years, taking advantage of Zhao Xuanhong's absence, Huai Jing had a secret passage built into a hidden room within the main building, which directly connected to his secluded residence outside the mansion.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Xuanhong slowly woke up.

He was horrified to find that he was only wearing a snow-white undergarment, his hands were bound with thin silver chains, and a delicate silver bell was tied to his ankle.

"Help! Help! Help! Help!!!"

"Your Highness, your subordinate has arrived." Huai Jing slowly lifted the thin bed curtains with his sword and chuckled.

Upon seeing him, Zhao Xuanhong was filled with hatred and rage, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at him: "Huaijing, you madman!"

“I’m crazy, but I’m only crazy for Your Highness.” Huai Jing put his sword aside and gently rubbed it against Zhao Xuan Hong’s neck. “Your Highness, from now on, you can only be mine… No one can take you away from me.”

Zhao Xuanhong strained with all his might to pull off the silver chain on his hands, roaring hoarsely, "You lowly slave! Let this prince out of here!"

Looking at the disheveled yet stubborn man before him, Huai Jing's eyes welled with affection. He slowly took out the secret medicine from his pocket, looked at Zhao Xuanhong greedily, and whispered, "Be good, eat it."

Zhao Xuanhong turned his head away in disgust and spat in his face: "Get lost! You're disgusting!"

"Disgusting?" Huai Jing suddenly laughed, his laughter tinged with madness. He reached out and pinched Zhao Xuanhong's chin, forcing him to swallow the secret medicine. "Your Highness, from now on, you will only have eyes for me, and you will only think of me in your heart."

At first, Zhao Xuanhong resisted with all his might, kicking and biting. Gradually, his struggles became weak, and his shouts were replaced by muffled groans.

The room was dark, lit only by a few dim candlelight. Huai Jing asserted his possessiveness in an almost morbid manner. He wanted His Highness to remember that in this world, only he would love him so deeply.

Only him.

...

After being in a coma for a full month, Emperor Jian'an finally woke up.

For the past month, Emperor Yongshou had visited him almost every day, and after finishing his official duties, he devoted himself to taking care of Emperor Jian'an. Unfortunately, today, the assassination attempt that Emperor Yongshou had ordered to be thoroughly investigated had yielded some results. Therefore, after court, the young emperor hurriedly summoned the minister in charge of the matter and was unable to come to Emperor Jian'an in time, thus missing the moment when the retired emperor awoke.

When Emperor Jian'an opened his eyes, he saw the exhausted chief eunuch, Gao Xuan.

"High selection, get water, water."

"Your Majesty...you're awake!" Gao Xuan seemed to wake from a dream, and quickly took the jade bowl from the palace table, carefully serving Emperor Jian'an the drink.

Emperor Jian'an looked around the empty palace, frowned in displeasure, and asked, "How is the investigation going on with those rebels... assassins? Where is the Crown Prince? Tell him to come to see me immediately."

Upon hearing this, Gao Xuan knelt down with a thud, stammering and unable to utter a coherent sentence: "This...this..."

"say!"

Seeing Gao Xuan's terrified and troubled expression, Emperor Jian'an was instantly enraged: "You damned fool! Can't you hear me asking you a question?"

Gao Xuan slammed his forehead against the ground, gritted his teeth, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty... no, the Emperor Emeritus, His Highness the Crown Prince... has already ascended the throne and is in charge of the government. You... you no longer need to worry about state affairs. Just stay in the palace and take good care of your health."

The bedchamber suddenly fell eerily quiet. Emperor Jian'an, mouth agape, coughed violently several times, and asked incredulously, "Gao Xuan, have you lost your mind? I am now... cough cough... healthy... who allowed that rebellious son to ascend the throne? Who was it!"

"This servant dares not, absolutely dares not!" Gao Xuan crawled two steps on his knees, hurriedly took out the edict proclaimed to the world on the day the new emperor ascended the throne, and said tremblingly, "Your Majesty the Emperor is wise!"

Hearing Gao Xuan repeatedly refer to himself as the Retired Emperor, Emperor Jian'an flew into a rage and shouted, "Shut up!"

As he spoke, he snatched the edict, the densely packed characters flashing before his eyes, such as "The late emperor is critically ill, the overall situation is of utmost importance"; "In accordance with the mandate of heaven, inherit the great lineage," which made his temples throb.

Emperor Jian'an, supporting himself on the bedpost, slammed the imperial edict onto Gao Xuan with a "thud".

"Good! Good, how about following the will of Heaven! That rebellious son, how dare he... how dare he take advantage of my unconsciousness to usurp the throne! Traitorous traitor! Traitorous traitor!" After saying this, Emperor Jian'an could no longer support himself and weakly fell back onto his bed.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, Your Majesty the Emperor, please take care of yourself!" Gao Xuan cried, crawling forward to help Emperor Jian'an, but was violently pushed away.

"Gao Xuan, you eunuch, have you rebelled too? Since you knew that rebellious son had the ambition to seize power, why didn't you fight to the death to stop him back then?"

"Your Majesty the Retired Emperor is wise! On that day, all the civil and military officials were present, and the new emperor was acting in accordance with the ancestral rites and laws..."

Before Gao Xuan could finish speaking, Emperor Jian'an coughed violently, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "What ancestral rites and laws? I'm not dead yet! This rebellious son can't wait to become emperor! I'm going to depose him! Depose him!"

No sooner had Emperor Jian'an finished speaking than footsteps sounded outside the palace. It was Emperor Yongshou, dressed in a dark red dragon robe, who hurriedly arrived with his close advisor Song Ce.

Gao Xuan felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and scrambled forward to greet him, shouting, "Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus has awakened!"

Emperor Jian'an raised his eyes and stared intently at Emperor Yongshou, his gaze seemingly trying to pierce through him. Emperor Yongshou took two steps forward, about to bow, when the retired Emperor Jian'an roared from his bedside: "You unfilial son! Unfilial son! I am not yet dead! How dare you call yourself 'I, the Emperor'! Do you have any respect for our ancestors?"

Emperor Yongshou paused, then hurriedly knelt on the ground and explained, "Father, I am an unfilial son who has frightened you. However, the court cannot be without a ruler for a single day, and I have no choice but to shoulder this heavy responsibility..."

"Forced to do something?" Emperor Jian'an struggled to sit up, grabbing anything within reach and hurling it at Emperor Yongshou, a metallic taste rising in his throat: "It's clearly you who covets the throne! You've long harbored ambitions to usurp it!"

Emperor Yongshou remained silent for a long time, and when he raised his head, his eyes were already red: "Father, rest assured, on the day I ascended the throne, I swore in the Imperial Ancestral Temple that I would govern the Great Yue land well. Now that things have come to this, I..."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Emperor Jian'an trembled with rage, panting heavily. "If... if you still acknowledge me as your father, then write an abdication edict immediately, and I... I will pretend this never happened!"

Seeing Emperor Yongshou's pained and troubled expression, Song Ce stepped forward, smiled slightly, and bowed, saying unhurriedly, "Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus is still recovering and his health is not yet stable. He is most vulnerable to external stimuli. In my opinion, why don't you choose a quiet palace for the Emperor Emeritus so that he can recuperate in peace?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jian'an felt a wave of dizziness. He stared at the young figure and said sternly, "Who are you? How dare you attempt to imprison me? How dare you interrupt when I am speaking with the Crown Prince?"

"Your Majesty, you see, the Emperor Emeritus's mind isn't working very well anymore. If he continues to exert himself, it might shorten his lifespan!"

Looking at the smiling face of the person in front of him, Emperor Jian'an felt a sharp pain in his heart. Before he could speak, he heard the rebellious son ask with a hypocritical expression, "Is what you said true, Minister Song?"

Upon hearing the surname Song, Emperor Jian'an narrowed his eyes, almost instantly recalling that there was only one noble family in the capital with the surname Song: the Marquis of Weiwu's family. This person was so young; who else could it be but Song Zhixiao's only son, whom he had requested to be named heir apparent?

"Young Master Song, you followed the Crown Prince in committing such a treasonous act. Does the Marquis of Weiwu intend to follow in the footsteps of those rebellious traitors?"

Emperor Jian'an finished speaking with great effort, only to hear Emperor Yongshou say with a look of disapproval, "Father, Minister Song is also thinking of your health. Dongyang Palace is too damp. I have already ordered people to clean up Nanping Palace, which is sunny and sheltered from the wind, and is most suitable for recuperation."

"you!"

Emperor Jian'an was breathing heavily, and after a while he sneered, "What a Nanping Palace! That's where Emperor Taizu lived in seclusion after he abdicated. Are you planning to follow your grandfather's example and imprison your own father as well?"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the bedchamber suddenly froze.

"Your Majesty is too kind," Song Ce said with a gentle smile. "Your Majesty is extremely filial and kind. This is simply to provide you with a quiet place to recuperate. I have heard that the pear trees in the back garden of Nanping Palace are in full bloom. Once Your Majesty is feeling better, you can enjoy the flowers and compose poems in the garden!"

But to Emperor Jian'an, these words sounded like a blatant mockery.

"You...you!"

Emperor Jian'an gripped the bed curtains tightly at the head of the bed, his blood rushing to his head, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood!

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Author's Note: Evil people always have their own evil mistresses. [Cat emoji]