Chapter 50: Morbid

In eerie contrast to the deafening grief and pungent smell of blood on the execution ground is the elegant room Lanyue on the second floor of Wangjiang Tower, diagonally opposite Xishikou.

This elegant room has an excellent location. When you push open the carved wooden window, you can take in the entire Xishikou execution ground, including the blood-stained execution platform.

The windows were open at the moment, and the expensive cloud-shadow organza curtains were drawn low, blocking out most of the noise outside, leaving only a dull, background-like hum.

The interior was elegantly furnished. Rosewood tables and chairs shone dimly, antiques and jades were neatly arranged on the antique shelves, and a few late-blooming lilies were inserted diagonally in a blue and white porcelain vase in the corner, emitting a refreshing fragrance that stubbornly tried to dispel the unsettling smell of rust that seeped in through the cracks in the window.

Cui Junji, who should have been still poisoned, was now alone, sitting at the table with his back to the closed window, intact.

There was no wine on the table, only a cup of tea. The tea soup was green, the heat had long dissipated, and a thin layer of tea film was condensed.

He lowered his head, his shoulders shaking violently and uncontrollably. Suppressed sobs, like those of a wounded beast, escaped intermittently from between his fingers as he covered his face. In the overly quiet private room, they sounded particularly clear and... abrupt.

"Brother Chen... Brother Chen..." His voice was broken and nasal, each word strained from the depths of his lungs, filled with heart-wrenching pain. Tears flowed with great restraint along his slender fingers, dripping onto the smooth rosewood tabletop, leaving only two dark, rapidly spreading marks.

His body seemed to be curled up in extreme grief, as if he was bearing a huge, invisible pressure and could collapse at any time.

They really have a life-and-death friendship. They defended Xunyang against foreign enemies and rebuilt Xunyang City after the fire. Every single thing they did could not be faked.

However, in this seemingly grief-stricken posture, under the table, where no one could see, Cui Junji's other hand, the hand with distinct joints that he usually used to hold a pen or seal, was grabbing the hard mahogany window frame beneath him tightly, almost convulsively!

The fingertips were deeply embedded in the wood grain due to excessive force, the knuckles were tense and white, and the veins on the back of the hand were bulging like twisted earthworms!

Every violent sob and shrug of the shoulders seemed to be accompanied by the hand's more frantic, silent scratching! The hard wood was scratched by his nails, making a subtle but harsh "creaking" sound, and sawdust fell silently, sticking to his slightly trembling fingertips.

It was a completely uncontrollable, instinctive action that vented some violent emotion, forming a thrilling contradiction with the tears of grief on his face.

The noise outside the window finally affected the outpouring of true feelings. Cui Junji's fingers, which were covering his face, moved slightly, revealing a pair of tear-soaked eyes underneath.

Those eyes were now bloodshot, appearing cloudy and painful. However, in the deepest part of that cloudy pain, there were two dark, hot, almost crazy flames burning!

He peered through his fingers, his gaze like a poisoned hook, fixed on the shaky figure supported by a maid beneath the execution platform - Wen Youqing.

He watched her collapse, watched the maids support her in fear, watched her faint like a doll that had lost its soul. That frail figure, set against the backdrop of the vast execution ground and the surging crowd, seemed so small, so fragile, so... isolated and helpless.

An indescribable burning current, a mixture of immense excitement and morbid satisfaction, suddenly shot through Cui Junji's spine! It was more intense than his promotion to a higher position! More... soul-stirring!

Success!

Shen Zijie was dead! The head of this once most trusted friend, whom he had personally set up to kill and sent to the guillotine, had finally rolled into the dust!

It was true that he was targeting the aristocratic families, but if Wen Youqing hadn't been in Xunyang City, why would he care? He just wanted to use this trivial matter in Xunyang City and Shen Zijie's bizarre sense of justice to dismantle the private mines and alliance between the Wang and Xie families.

And Wen Youqing... the one he had hidden deep in his heart, the one he longed for but could never get, the one who had almost become his inner demon... Ah Qing... had finally, completely lost her only barrier!

No matter how capable she is, as long as she is still alive in this world, she is like a white bird with broken wings exposed to the storm, and finally... there is nowhere to escape!

"Heh..." An extremely light, short syllable mixed with a heavy nasal sound and a strange breath leaked out uncontrollably from Cui Junji's lips.

The sound was like the lingering sound of sorrowful sobs, but also more like a distorted sigh that was suppressed to the extreme and finally couldn't help but leak out.

He took a sharp breath, forcing down the urge in his throat, whether it was a cry or laughter. He forced himself to immerse himself in "sorrow" again, his shoulders shaking more violently, his sobs more broken and sad, but except for those two drops, no more tears could flow.

However, the hand that was scratching at the window frame gripped it even tighter and deeper! Its nails scratched clearer white marks on the hard wood, and the fingertips turned an abnormal red due to the strong friction, and even a faint trace of blood oozed out.

The noisy cries outside the window seemed to reach a peak, then, like the receding tide, gradually faded and dissipated, leaving only the rough sounds of soldiers driving them away and sporadic, suppressed sobs.

Cui Junji finally lowered his hands, which were covering his face, slowly and heavily.

On that gaunt and elegant face, only the eye sockets were red and swollen, the lips were slightly pale from being pursed tightly, and the jaw line was tense, perfectly interpreting the image of a senior official who had just lost a close friend and was trying hard to restrain himself.

Only in the depths of those eyes, those two clusters of dim flames had not yet completely extinguished. Under the refraction of the sunlight, they flickered with a heart-pounding, inhuman and complex light - that was the embers left behind by the crazy battle between extreme grief and extreme excitement in the depths of the soul.

He stood up slowly, ever so slowly, his movements sluggish with exhaustion. He walked to the closed window, his steps a little unsteady. After all, the poisoning was real. He had waited until the capital to take the antidote, which was a real testament to his patience.

He didn't open the window immediately, but instead raised his hand, which had just scratched the window frame, with his fingertips red and even a little broken. He lowered his head and stared at his fingertips with almost obsessive concentration.

There, clear sawdust remained, as well as a few extremely tiny, almost negligible drops of blood that had seeped out from the broken skin.

He extended the tip of his tongue and licked the tip of his finger gently and very slowly.

The movements were gentle, with an almost reverent concentration.

The tip of his tongue tasted the rough, slightly bitter taste of sawdust, and a very faint, slightly salty, rusty flavor that was his own.

This smell seemed to be connected to the strong and indissoluble blood smell belonging to Shen Zijie on the execution platform outside the window.

Then he raised his head.

His gaze passed through the delicate cloud-shadow gauze curtains, penetrated the hazy barrier, and fell with incredible precision on the center of the chaotic execution ground again, on the deep green figure who was barely supported by a maid and seemed to have lost his soul.

He can't go now, it's not the right time. Wen Youqing doesn't believe in herself, don't let her doubt it anymore.

He moved his lips slightly, and silently, word by word, he murmured to the void, to that direction. The shape of his mouth was extremely clear, carrying a declarative, cold possessiveness, and a hint of morbid satisfaction at finally getting what he wanted:

"Ah Qing..."

"now……"

"You're the only one left."

When he returned to Cui Mansion from Wangjiang Tower, he had already pretended to be sick and lay in bed.

Less than half an hour later, Wang Ding'an arrived with the finest herbs. Seeing Cui Junji's emaciated state, he immediately sat down with concern, personally poured him some water, and said, "He just went to the south, how did he end up like this?"

"I even alarmed the teacher. I am such an incompetent student. Fortunately, I only suffered a minor injury and I just need to rest for a few days." Everyone knows how to act, so Cui Junji started acting immediately.

"Now that the situation in the south has been thoroughly investigated, this injury wasn't in vain. Plus, you were wrongly accused by that man from the Shen family. Let me help you put in a few good words for His Majesty. Don't worry." Wang Ding'an put down his cup and suddenly seemed to remember something. "Don't leave my niece alone. She's not going to live and eat for free at your house! It's a good thing she knows some medical knowledge. Let her take good care of you."

"Teacher, this matter is not urgent," Cui Junji suddenly looked directly at Wang Ding'an, held his hand as he was feeding him water, and said, "Personally, you are my uncle and my teacher. I treat you as my own, so I left one person for you."

After dismissing his attendants, Cui Junji said weakly, "Zhu Shisan, I found him and I'll keep him."

Wang Dingan, who never showed his emotions, looked at the student in shock. However, he was used to seeing things, so he asked kindly, "Who is this person?"

"You've definitely never seen him. He's such a small-time henchman, you've never even heard of him. But this time, I was ordered to go to the south for inspection. I discovered he was connected to my uncle, so I took it upon myself to arrest him. Otherwise, if that lunatic from the Shen family had caught him, he would have had his head replaced on the guillotine." Cui Junji spoke eloquently, as if seeking credit for a good deed. But the change of address made everyone know that the conversation was about to close behind closed doors.

But Wang Ding'an knew this wolf cub wasn't going to pretend anymore. He stood up, looked down at Cui Junji, and said with a smile, "Oh? Such an important person, then I'll have to ask my servants if they acted presumptuously and caused trouble."

Cui Junji bowed his head humbly and said, "Indeed, I should ask you carefully. But don't worry, Master. This disobedient servant is under my supervision and I will definitely discipline him into submission."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Dingan's servant ran in and whispered a few words to him.

Wang Ding'an's expression changed slightly. He glanced coldly at the "extremely weak" Cui Junji and said, "I'm sure you've already gotten the medicine. What I brought you isn't to your liking after all. After all, you got sick yourself, right? I'll come see you next time."

"Teacher, take care. I won't see you off."

As Wang Ding'an was leaving, he ran into Wen Youqing. He had already heard about what happened at the execution ground that day. He had also heard about her talent and ability. It was said that most of the farm tools in the north were improved by her, and production had increased dramatically in recent years.

But what is this woman from the Shen family doing in the Cui family?

The emperor urgently summoned Wang Ding'an, who had no time to care about anything else. He just got on the carriage and said to the servant: "Check this Madam Shen and keep an eye on her."