Chapter 21

Only when the footsteps outside the screen completely disappeared into the howling wind did she use all the remaining strength to forcefully shake off Pei Yun's hand that was still gripping her wrist!

She leaned back in her chair, exhausted: "You went to all this trouble to stage this whole show, what exactly do you want from me?"

Pei Yun lay back in the large rosewood rocking chair, the chair creaking softly with his slight movement. The flickering candlelight cast varying shadows on his face, making his expression even more inscrutable. After a moment, he stood up, his voice icy: "I thought you should know what you should do."

Xi Xiao felt a chill run through her body from his matter-of-fact attitude, and a surge of hatred welled up inside her, yet she had nowhere to vent it. She bit her already bleeding lower lip hard, using the sharp pain to force herself back from the brink of collapse with a pathetic calm. She raised her head and met his unfathomable, emotionless eyes, her voice trembling slightly from extreme suppression.

"Your Majesty's only wish is for your health to be restored and for you to be free from this chronic illness forever. Very well..." She took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, and said, word by word, "I am willing to offer myself as a vessel and my blood as a guide to help Your Majesty get rid of your ailment, but I have one condition!"

A final, defiant glint appeared in her eyes: "Release my senior brother, let him leave, let him escape this quagmire completely. From now on, he will no longer be your subject, no longer have to do those treacherous schemes and blood-stained sordid things for you. I want him to live, to live freely!"

"Insolence!" Pei Yun's suppressed anger ignited instantly, his voice booming like thunder. "I am the sovereign, he is the subject. Serving the emperor is his duty, and to risk his life for the Yuan Chu dynasty is his supreme glory! What right do you have to negotiate with me?!" The emperor's majesty, like a tangible boulder, pressed down heavily on Xi Xiao.

"Then why did Your Majesty make me watch this show today?!" Xi Xiao was also stirred by the fighting spirit in her bones. She stood up, her eyes sore and swollen that she could barely open them, but she was even more unwilling to look at that face that resembled her senior brother's. "Was it just to show off?! Was it just to let me know more clearly that in your eyes, my senior brother and I, and even all the people of the world, are nothing more than ants that you can turn your hand over and crush at will?!"

Pei Yun looked at the burning anger in her eyes, and that overwhelming rage strangely froze for a moment. A very complex emotion flashed deep in his eyes, so fast that it was hard to catch. He suddenly changed the subject, and his cold voice carried an almost eerie "tenderness".

"The court is rife with undercurrents. There are quite a few nobles who support Ling Zhouli. And then there are the opportunists, mostly wavering and watching from the sidelines because I... have no heir." His voice lowered, carrying a deliberate air of sincerity. "I need... to establish an empress. I need a woman of noble birth, worthy of being the mother of the nation, to bear me a legitimate son as soon as possible, only then can I... secure the hearts of my ministers..."

"What does that have to do with me?!" Xi Xiao felt as if she had been stung by a scorpion, her hair standing on end. She almost screamed as she interrupted him, her voice filled with extreme rejection. "If Your Majesty wants to take a concubine, there are countless daughters of the Yuan Chu family, of all shapes and sizes, many of whom are both beautiful and talented. Your Majesty can choose one!"

Pei Yun's face suddenly turned extremely ugly. He tried hard to ignore the disgust in Xi Xiao's eyes and offered a rare explanation, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible irritation and urgency: "Not all aristocratic families have eligible daughters. If only a few are selected, it will inevitably discourage other noble families and create unnecessary obstacles..." He coughed lightly, as if covering something up, his voice lowering further, carrying an almost awkward forcefulness: "I... do not wish to recruit daughters of aristocratic families into the palace..."

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze fixed on Xi Xiao's pale and frightened face. At that moment, a twisted obsession that had been churning in his heart for a long time and which he himself had not fully understood instantly broke through all the dams of reason. He clearly "heard" the crazy and determined voice in his heart. His eyes suddenly became extremely firm, even with a kind of enlightened obsession.

"With all the civil and military officials present at today's banquet, and even the Emperor being only human and possessing a love of beauty, I wish to welcome you into the palace..."

"shut up!!!"

Xi Xiao felt a strong sense of nausea rising from her stomach and rushing to her throat. She took a step back abruptly, as if she could no longer bear it. A deep-seated hatred and extreme nausea burst out from her mouth, "Even if I die, I will never set foot in the palace!"

She watched as Pei Yun's face instantly turned ashen and contorted, a surge of pleasure rising within her. "I despise you, Pei Yun! You are insidious, vicious, and utterly despicable! You are not even worth a single hair on my senior brother's head! Why don't you just die?!"

"Smack—!!!"

A crisp, loud slap landed on Xi Xiao's face like a thunderclap!

The immense force sent her sprawling to the side, her vision blurring with stars. A burning pain shot through her left cheek, her ears rang, and a warm, sweet-smelling liquid trickled from the corner of her mouth, staining her pale jawline red.

Meanwhile, Pei Yun, on the other side, seemed to have been drained of all his strength by the out-of-control palm strike and his own outburst of rage. His face was ashen, his chest heaving violently, and one hand clutched his heart tightly as if he were enduring excruciating pain as if a thousand arrows were piercing it. His body swayed precariously, with only his eyes, burning with violent flames, fixed intently on Xi Xiao.

"Crane Shadow!" He suddenly commanded the tightly closed door.

Crane Shadow's figure flashed in anxiously like a ghost.

"Put her..." Pei Yun's voice was broken by extreme anger, carrying a ruthless desire to grind the other person to dust. His finger trembled as he pointed at Xi Xiao, whose mouth was bleeding, "Lock her in the west wing, lock her up, starve her for three days, only give her water, and no one is allowed to approach her without my order!"

*

Since that day, Xi Xiao has spent her days curled up on the narrow rosewood couch in the side room of the west wing. She neither eats nor drinks, her lips are dry and chapped, and she is reluctant to utter a single word.

Pei Yun had visited once during that time. When he entered the dimly lit room, his face was as pale as newly pasted window paper, and his figure was thin, as if he were hanging on by a thread. A ray of slanting sunlight pierced through the windowpane, casting a faint shadow on his face, blurring his features. Xi Xiao opened her eyes dazedly, her gaze fixed on him, unblinking, as if trying to pierce through the light and shadow to discern whether the person before her was Pei Yun or her senior brother.

Seeing her staring intently, Pei Yun's pale face regained a slight vitality. He called Xiang Mo in a hoarse voice, ordering her to bring a bowl of warm millet porridge. The moment the warm porcelain spoon touched her chapped lower lip, Xi Xiao jerked as if burned, snapping back to reality. She abruptly raised her wrist, smashing the porcelain bowl to the ground with a sharp "crack." Raising her head, her eyes burning with icy flames, she sternly demanded of Pei Yun, "Let me leave!"

Pei Yun's lips curled into a chilling smile. He turned away, never stepping into the side room again. Xi Xiao spent another half a month in this stagnant, lifeless prison.

Hunger gnawed at her like maggots, draining her of her last bit of strength, making even the slightest movement of her hand a luxury. At these times, several terrified maids would rush in from outside the door, forcibly changing her clothes and pouring lukewarm liquid food down her throat.

A few days later, when the cold spoon touched her lips again, Xi Xiao let out a faint but clear whisper: "...I want to eat stir-fried blood duck." Upon hearing this, Xiang Mo's eyes lit up with surprise, and she exclaimed, "Okay, okay! Please wait a moment, Miss, I'll make it right away!"

She practically ran to the small kitchen, and soon returned with a small dish of stir-fried blood duck, its color deep and its aroma peculiar. Xi Xiao suppressed the nausea churning in her stomach, and with her last remaining willpower, forced the pieces of duck meat coated in the dark red sauce into her mouth, chewing and swallowing mechanically. A faint warmth and strength finally began to slowly return to her cold limbs. She closed her eyes, her voice low and hoarse: "I'm tired. You may all leave."

Xiangmo responded and hurriedly led the servants away, just as she closed the door—

"Bang--!"

A dull, loud crash suddenly shattered the silence outside. Xiangmo's heart skipped a beat, and before she could even discern the source of the sound, her feet had already rushed uncontrollably into the inner room.

Xi Xiao's slender body leaned softly against the cold blue brick wall. A gruesome bloody hole was visible on her forehead. Dark red, viscous blood, like a winding snake, gushed from the wound, sliding down her pale cheeks and temples, dripping onto her moon-white clothes, spreading into glaring red plum blossoms, a shocking sight.

Xiangmo felt a sudden dizziness, almost losing her balance. She screamed, her voice trembling, "Quick! Go and fetch the young master! Go quickly!"

The chaotic footsteps sounded like drumbeats, and chaos erupted both inside and outside the house. The old women hurriedly carried Xi Xiao back to the bed. She kept her eyes tightly closed, her face ashen, and remained silent as she was being manipulated.

Pei Yun practically swept in a gust of cold wind. His tall figure stood before the bed, the chill emanating from him instantly overwhelming the chaotic, bloody atmosphere of the room. He raised a hand, coldly stopping Xiang Mo, who was about to step forward to bandage the wound. His gaze was heavy, fixed on the wound on Xi Xiao's forehead that was constantly bleeding, letting the glaring dark red flow freely, soaking the brocade on the pillow.

The sharp pain in her forehead and the sticky sensation of blood sliding down her eyelids weren't entirely unnoticed by Xi Xiao, but she paid them no heed. She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze piercing through a blood-red haze to meet Pei Yun's sinister gaze. Her voice was calm: "Living is difficult, but dying... is as easy as turning one's hand. I implore Your Majesty to grant my request."

She paused, blood seeping into her eyelashes, blurring her vision with a red haze. "Otherwise, the road to the underworld is cold, and I wouldn't mind... traveling with you." She slightly tugged at the corners of her lips, the smile appearing eerie and cold amidst the bloodstains. "Your Majesty's health... I'm afraid it won't last much longer, will it? Even with my senior brother's miraculous healing skills, without my blood... your empire won't last long either!"

The last sentence, carrying a thick, pungent smell of blood, was like the most vicious curse, crashing down on the deathly silent side room!