Chapter 51 Mourning the Dead: "He was always tempted to commit crimes."
Ruan Yang immediately stood up and shielded Lu Wenjin behind her, her watery eyes staring in terror at the man who was getting closer and closer to her.
The man's hairpin was bent crooked by the rain, and his slightly disheveled black hair covered his slightly reddened left eye. His forehead looked as if it had been hit by a heavy object, and several streaks of blood meandered down his high, fair nose.
Ning Xian saw no trace of guilt or regret in Ruan Yang's eyes, but rather a stubborn determination to protect Lu Wenjin. So what did his worries amount to?
Ning Xian laughed in anger and drew the sword from his waist.
Eunuch Liang arrived with his men and tried to help Ning Xian, who was swaying precariously, but was pushed to the ground the next second.
Seeing Ning Xian's sword pointing directly at Ruan Yang's throat, he risked his life to grab Ning Xian's sleeve: "Your Majesty, we've finally found the person. If we act rashly, all the rain you've been soaked in will have been for nothing!"
Ning Xian threw down his sword, grabbed Ruan Yang's delicate arm, and said weakly, "Pick up the sword and kill him with your own hands, and I will forgive you."
Ruan Yang's wrist cracked in his palm, the pain so intense it felt like her bones were being crushed. She was so close to Ning Xian, yet she turned her face away in disgust, silently weeping as she looked at Lu Wenjin, who had just been beaten to the point of near death by the crowd.
"You can't bear to part with it?"
Ning Xian grabbed the girl by the back of her neck and pushed her down onto the soft straw ground. Ruan Yang's clothes were disheveled, and her fragrant shoulders were unknowingly exposed to the man.
Seeing that the person was like a block of wood and didn't say a word, Ning Xian felt that all the anger she had just vented had been wasted on cotton. But when she smelled the fragrance of the girl's shoulders and neck, her heart softened instantly.
His palm gradually loosened, his fingertips caressing the girl's shoulder blades. This long-lost yet familiar touch brought him such a pang of sorrow upon touching it again.
He seemed drunk, his nose involuntarily brushing against Ruan Yang's skin until the very last moment, when he opened his sharp teeth and began to greedily...
"What are you doing? Let her go!"
Lu Wenjin tried his best to break free from the people holding him down, but the pain in his body made it difficult for him to move.
Thunder rumbled outside the dilapidated temple, and a flash of silver light suddenly illuminated Ning Xian's pale, bloodless face, his movements becoming increasingly aggressive.
Eunuch Liang knelt to the side, his heart pounding. He knew how tyrannical and cruel the new emperor was, but he never imagined that Ning Xian would be so deranged as to publicly abduct a minister's wife.
He listened to the girl's suppressed sobs, then led the others to close the door and tactfully withdrew.
Ruan Yang felt as if her back was weighed down by a thousand pounds. Ning Xian's pressure made it almost impossible for her to breathe. The other person's fingertips kept wandering over her neck. Taking advantage of the other person's momentary lapse in consciousness, she immediately lowered her head and bit down hard on his tiger's mouth.
The salty, fishy smell spread across her taste buds. Ruan Yang buried half her face in Ning Xian's sleeve. Her limbs were stiff, but her pretty face looked like it had melted from crying.
She didn't know that after Lu Wenjin was dragged away on the verge of death, the guards never bothered him again. But subconsciously, she felt that those people were in cahoots with Ning Xian, like snakes and rats in a den, and that they would definitely hate and torture Lu Wenjin.
Ruan Yang sobbed, pleading incoherently with Ning Xian to spare Lu Wenjin, but the hatred in her heart had already accumulated to the point that she wanted to die together with Ning Xian regardless of the consequences.
Ning Xian never intended to force Ruan Yang to have sex with him. If anyone was to blame, it was her body, which was too alluring and tempting, always leading him to commit crimes in inappropriate places.
He snorted softly, gently pulled up Ruan Yang's collar, then helped her up, threw away the hairpin that was twitching in her hand, and warned, "I didn't say I was going to kill General Lu. Why are you so agitated? What happened just now was just a small scuffle to teach her a lesson. Yangyang, you're not allowed to kiss anyone else behind my back next time."
Ruan Yang knelt on the damp haystack, still shaken. She sobbed softly, her head spinning, but she was still conscious and knew that she couldn't collapse at this moment, otherwise the more than half a month she had painstakingly concealed would be in vain.
She didn't have the confidence to say what Ning Xian had promised her: "You said... you wouldn't force me to do things I didn't want to do anymore."
Ning Xian thought for a moment, then said with great suspicion, "I didn't force you. You are weak, and I was afraid you couldn't handle it, so I stopped. Your staying in the palace was also the Empress Dowager's order. As for now, tell me, what do you want to do?"
Ruan Yang felt utterly cold. She said weakly, "I want to kill you, to make you disappear from my sight forever..."
"I'm afraid that won't work."
Ning Xian sighed, "The Lu family is probably not capable of bearing the crime of regicide. However, if you don't mind having more than a hundred members of the Lu family buried with me, that's fine too."
Ruan Yang glared at him angrily: "Stop pretending here. If you want to kill me, then do it quickly."
Ning Xian touched the girl's body, which was burning hot. He turned her face around and saw that her cheeks were as red as if they had been painted with rouge. He frowned and said, "You're really useless!"
Ruan Yang was stunned by this nonsensical answer; before she could react, she was lying sideways in Ning Xian's arms, leaving no room for refusal.
After a night of entanglement, judging from the sky, it was already dawn. The roosters crowed, and after the rain, the mountains were fresh and clean. Ning Xian helped her onto the horse, and then mounted himself. And so, the two of them and the horse galloped through the hazy mountain mist.
"Where are you taking me?!"
Ruan Yang turned around urgently until Lu Wenjin was no longer visible: "...Answer me, or I'll jump off my horse right now!"
Seeing that the person in his arms was almost twisted into a pretzel and might faint if he kept crying like that, Ning Xian tightened the reins slightly and slowed down.
It had just rained heavily, and the roads were all slippery and muddy. If she continued to be so restless, and the horse got startled and went berserk, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control it.
Ning Xian touched Ruan Yang's forehead and sighed, "I'll take you back and find the imperial physician to examine you; you have a fever."
Ning Xian thought that by speaking like that, he could at least quiet Ruan Yang down for a while, but he didn't expect that the person in his arms would completely break down when she heard that she needed to find the imperial physician.
"I'm not going, I'm not seeing a doctor!" Ruan Yang elbowed the person behind her, muttering incoherently, "Nobody can harm it..."
Ning Xian was startled by the tearful shout, forgetting even the pain in his chest. He had never seen the girl so fierce and irritable since he met Ruan Yang.
Ruan Yang has always been a gentle and ladylike person, doing everything in a gentle and mild manner. Even when she was upset by him in the past, she would quietly cry alone behind his back.
He remembered the rabbit he used to raise; it would only become aggressive and bite his finger when protecting its young.
Ning Xian sighed, "No one wants to harm you. I didn't ask the imperial physician to poison you. I'm not so kind as to let you die so easily."
........
Back in the palace, the first rays of dawn slowly broke through the thick clouds, illuminating the magnificent palace with its golden splendor.
Ruan Yang huddled in the corner of the bed, looking at the dense crowd in front of her, feeling like she was being suffocated by them. If the imperial physician were to use her fever as an excuse to take her pulse, he would surely tell Ning Xian that she was more than three months pregnant.
This was the last thing she wanted to face; she didn't want her own flesh and blood to be innocently destroyed by Ning Xian.
She smashed the long-necked glazed vase with colorful auspicious cloud patterns beside her bed, and as the maids rushed over, she tightly held the palm-sized shards of porcelain around her neck.
Blood slowly seeped from his palm, deterring the servants from approaching again...
After settling Ruan Yang in his room, Ning Xian hurriedly washed up, changed into his court robes, and went to Xuanzheng Hall. After the court session, he learned that Ruan Yang had smashed all the treasures in his room and was even threatening to commit suicide with a sharp weapon.
Having not slept well last night and rushing to attend to official business this morning, by the time she finally got some rest, it was almost noon. Ning Xian closed her tired eyes and had just stepped into the gate of Chonghua Palace when she heard Ruan Yang's voice.
"If you let them come over again, I'll kill myself."
Since what happened yesterday, Ning Xian felt that face wasn't so important anymore. As long as Ruan Yang could stay by his side alive and well, even if he treated him like a dog, he would just consider it a reward in bed.
Ning Xian scoffed. After all this time, how did she only realize that her life could be used to threaten him?
He waved his hand, dismissing all the bystanders. In the vast bedroom, only the two of them remained. Ning Xian walked through the layers of beaded curtains, past the wafting incense smoke, and to Ruan Yang's side.
"Fine, I won't look then. But promise me you'll take your medicine, okay?"
Ruan Yang turned her face away, ignoring the medicine in his hand.
Ning Xian tried various methods to coax Ruan Yang several times, but Ruan Yang remained unmoved. He lost patience and slammed the bowl heavily on the table.
"You won't drink the medicine I give you, why do you have to let your lover do it?"
Ning Xian clapped her hands, and soon someone dragged Lu Wenjin over.
"You see, I am still very merciful. Not only did I arrange for someone to treat General Lu's injuries, but I also sent him to see you."
When Ruan Yang saw Lu Wenjin lying heavily injured on the corner of the table, she hurriedly got off the bed and rushed over. She helped him up and gently patted his back.
Lu Wenjin endured the pain: "I'm sorry, I found you, but I still didn't have time to run away with you."
Ruan Yang shook her head, her smile more like a grimace: "It's not your fault. I'm just glad you came to me. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been so badly injured."
Ning Xian looked at the ill-fated couple and chuckled, "What are you whispering about? This is my Chonghua Palace. You mustn't do anything as indecent as you did in that dilapidated temple last night. Otherwise, I will definitely call everyone in the palace to come and see this vivid erotic scene."
Ruan Yang stood up and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for healing my husband's injuries. I have also taken the medicine. I wonder if Your Majesty could be so lenient as to let my husband go back?"
Ning Xian went to great lengths to lure Lu Wenjin out using Ruan Yang and get him to release the prisoners. Was he waiting for Lu Wenjin to return to Bashu and start a rebellion?
Ning Xian smiled and said, "The Empress Dowager is reluctant to let you go back, and you are reluctant to leave General Lu. Why don't you two stay in the palace together, so that you can be reunited as a family?"
...........
During the time that the Empress Dowager spent her summer vacation at the summer palace, Ruan Yang stayed at Chonghua Palace every day.
In the early morning, Ning Xian returned from court. Every time she saw Ruan Yang, Ruan Yang would sit alone on the edge of the bed, barely responding when spoken to.
At noon, Ruan Yang had lunch with him for a short while before going to bed to sleep.
At night, after serving him bathing and changing clothes like a puppet, she would stay alone by candlelight and continue to work on her needlework. When she got tired, she would run to his side and lie down straight an arm's length away from him.
This went on for more than ten days. Ning Xian didn't do anything improper. He just gently held Ruan Yang and slept peacefully.
Ruan Yang was initially scared, but seeing that Ning Xian remained well-behaved, she gradually lowered her guard, because she was extremely tired every day since becoming pregnant.
Ning Xian went to bed early today and didn't hug her from behind. Ruan Yang turned her head and glanced at him, thinking that as long as this man didn't have a mental breakdown, they could still get along peacefully.
A faint scent of benzoin wafted from the golden lion. Ruan Yang blinked and fell asleep. Slowly, the wisps of white smoke transformed into bone claws, dragging her into a bizarre dream.
"Save me... Ruan Yang, save me."
"It's all your fault. You used me, pushed me into this fire, and made me stay with that man..."
Ruan Yang stood in the room filled with the stench of blood. The woman on the bed was screaming in pain. Bright red bloodstains splattered on the semi-transparent gauze curtains. The midwife, covered in sweat, was holding something and looked helpless.
Ruan Yang broke out in a cold sweat and wanted to leave immediately, but her legs had no strength to move. At that moment, the woman's unfocused eyes suddenly glanced at her.
Ruan Yang suddenly opened her eyes, struggled to sit up from the couch, and subconsciously touched the side of her, only to find that Ning Xian was not there, and even the maid who was on night watch was nowhere to be seen.
She was all alone in the vast Chonghua Palace at some point.
"Is Madam having a nightmare?"
After a long while, someone finally returned. The maid patted Ruan Yang's back and wiped the fine sweat from her forehead.
"What time is it? Has something happened? Where is Ning Xian? Where did he go?"
The maid sighed and said, "It's already past midnight. I heard that Lady Jinlian had a difficult childbirth and lost a lot of blood. The master's chances of survival are slim. I wonder if the little prince can be saved. His Majesty is probably in Cuixuan Residence now."
Ruan Yang was taken aback, clutching her chest and saying, "How could she have a difficult childbirth when she was perfectly fine?"
The maid stammered as she looked at Ruan Yang: "Giving birth is a life-or-death ordeal for a woman, and difficult childbirth is not uncommon. Besides... well, I don't know if this is something to say."
Ruan Yang: "Speak."
"It was a maid who caught Lady Jinlian having an affair with her lover and took the evidence to Eunuch Liang to complain. When Eunuch Liang found out, he led a group of people to catch them in the act, and sure enough, it was true. Now that their affair was exposed, she must have been quite frightened."
Ruan Yang frowned. At this critical juncture, how could Jinlian be so confused? Besides, what maidservant could meet with Eunuch Liang so quickly in the middle of the night?
There is only one possibility: her killer is right beside her, guarding her.
Ruan Yang felt a chill run down her spine, and she put on her embroidered shoes and rushed straight to Cuixuan Residence.
When she ran to Cuixuan Residence, she heard the sound of crying throughout the courtyard. The smell of burning paper money mixed with the heavy smell of blood entered her nostrils, almost making her vomit on the spot.
Jinlian was not related to her, so her death was not a pity. What shocked Ruan Yang was how Ning Xian could be so cruel.
She stumbled against the door, listening quietly to Ning Xian speak.
The eunuch handling the funeral arrangements inside the house asked, "Your Majesty, where should Lady Jinlian's body be buried?"
Ning Xian glanced indifferently at the pale-faced woman on the wooden board. He had given Jinlian countless chances to leave him, but this woman was too stupid and shamelessly tried to take Ruan Yang's place.
"Burn it, then throw it into a mass grave along with her lover."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take care of it immediately."
Upon hearing this, the midwife, holding the bluish-purple baby in her arms, was at a loss for what to do. She presented the infant, who was not of royal blood, to Ning Xian and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, what about this child? This servant thinks he is still breathing..."
Ning Xian glanced at the infant in the swaddling clothes with disgust and sighed, "Throw them all into the mass grave so that their family can be reunited. Don't let them tarnish my reputation."
The midwife tactfully covered the baby's mouth and nose with the corner of the blanket. Soon, the little child fell silent, and the midwife carried the crumpled corpse past Ruan Yang.
The screen was carefully put away, and Jinlian's corpse slowly came into view.
How eerie it is to see someone who looks seven-tenths like you lying in a coffin.
Ruan Yang didn't have the courage to look directly at that face. She ran out of Cuixuan Residence, but the resentful eyes in her dream lingered. The corpse in her mind no longer seemed to be Jinlian, but her future self!
Ruan Yang stumbled back to her palace, clutching her slightly protruding belly.
What would someone who wouldn't show mercy to their own flesh and blood do to other people's children? Would they smother them to death after they give birth?
But she didn't want to be a lamb to the slaughter; even if it meant mutual destruction, she was determined to fight back.
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