Chapter 29 Farewell "Don't wait for me."
Ruan Zhuoyin dispatched several capable guards to completely seal off the warm pavilion where Ruan Yang was staying. Now, it's likely that not even a fly can get in.
The old women placed Ruan Yang, who was wrapped up like a dumpling, on the couch. In the process of moving her around, some of the blanket on the girl's body inevitably came off.
Perhaps it was a nightmare, or perhaps it was pain, but Ruan Yang's delicate eyebrows were furrowed, her forehead was damp with sweat, and she could hear soft moans of struggle coming from her throat from time to time.
“Wenjin..…”
After hearing this, Ruan Yangyin glanced back.
The next second, she froze. The girl under the velvet blanket was completely naked. Her skin, which should have been as white as porcelain without a single flaw, was now marked with shocking purplish-blue marks.
This wasn't a bedroom entanglement; it was clearly a ruthless act of revenge.
Ruan Yang was merely eliminating evil and upholding justice on behalf of Heaven, yet Ning Xian, that scoundrel, wanted to humiliate and destroy her like this?
The more Ruan Zhuoyin thought about it, the more cold sweat broke out on her body. She felt guilty, but also somewhat relieved.
I'm glad I wasn't the one persecuted by Ning Xian.
It's just a pity that she and Lu Wenjin were originally a loving couple, but they inadvertently provoked that evil spirit Ning Xian, and they can never get rid of her in this lifetime.
Zisu brought over the decocted medicine, and the strong bitter smell spread throughout the room.
She said, "Your Highness, with things turned out like this, how are we going to explain this to the officials..."
Ruan Zhuoyin sighed, "What can we do? Aren't we going down? There's no need to trouble you with this matter any further, brother."
Zisu was taken aback: "You mean...?"
"Am I supposed to keep a woman who has lost her chastity and become a target of gossip?"
Ruan Zhuoyin snorted, "It's not that I'm heartless, but my uncles and aunts have many daughters who are still unmarried. Do you think they can tolerate Ruan Yang living?"
“Look at her now. Perhaps death is a relief for her. She will be grateful to me in heaven.”
Zisu felt a pang of regret when she recalled Ruan Yang's every smile and gesture. This radiant person, as beautiful as a flower, would never be seen again.
She said, "Yes, this servant will take care of it right away."
...
As the sun set and evening approached, the magnificent sunset glow pierced through the beaded curtain and climbed onto the brocade pillow. Ruan Yang, who had been sleeping in a daze all day, finally awoke with a start.
She raised her hand and looked at it; apart from the lingering lotus fragrance, there was no glaring bloodstain.
Thankfully, it was just a dream.
No matter how much she struggled in the dream, the disgusting giant snake wouldn't let her go until she stabbed it to death with a dagger, only then did she escape from the snake's body.
Zisu: "Second Miss, you're finally awake. Would you like some water?"
Her nasal cavity was filled with the bitter and unpleasant smell of medicine, but Ruan Yang's mind was blank. She didn't even know why she was lying here with aches and pains all over her body.
Especially the legs, which looked as if they were being torn apart.
She discovered that her memory had been getting worse and worse since she woke up, to the point that she couldn't even remember what she had just done, and she could no longer distinguish between reality and fiction, nor understand human speech.
Zisu raised her hand and waved it in front of her empty eyes: ".....Second Miss?"
When Ruan Yang came to her senses, an indescribable emptiness and panic welled up in her heart. If it weren't for her blood relative Ruan Zhuoyin rushing over, she estimated that she would have lost control and screamed.
"Yangyang?"
Ruan Yang hugged her as if she were grasping at a lifeline, saying, "...Auntie."
"What's wrong with me?"
Ruan Zhuoyin felt uncomfortable with this inexplicable attachment, and she ruthlessly pushed the poor girl away: "What's wrong? Look at yourself."
"It's familiar, isn't it? Now do you understand what happened?"
After listening, Ruan Yang lowered his head, analyzed for a moment, and finally remembered everything that had happened before he fell into a coma.
"I don't need to teach you how to do it."
Ruan Zhuoyin threw the things in Zisu's hand onto the couch.
"Why not just be a proper puppet and instead rebel? Look at the mess you've made, you're the one who will get hurt in the end. The Ruan family won't accept you, and the gossip from others will drown you. Lu Wenjin will never marry a woman who has lost her chastity."
"Only death can bring you complete liberation."
Ruan Zhuoyin was certain that Ruan Yang would obediently give in after crying, but the girl in front of her picked up the gold and looked up at her with a sharp glint in her eyes.
Ruan Yang's tone was slightly cold: "Whose intention?"
She countered with, "Your Majesty?"
Seeing that Ruan Zhuoyin remained silent, Ruan Yang threw away the gold nuggets: "Since it wasn't His Majesty who ordered my death, why should I commit suicide? Was it my fault that I was humiliated?"
“I know what you’re thinking. You’re afraid that if I live, I’ll be a burden to those unmarried sisters, and in the end, not only will I lose my reputation, but I’ll also be branded as selfish and unfilial.”
"But what about those relatives I've never had any contact with? Do they really have a close relationship with me? When have they ever sincerely called me 'sister' or 'brother'?"
Ruan Zhuoyin didn't expect this timid and cowardly girl to retort. She scoffed and said, "But Ruan Yang, people's hearts are unpredictable. If you go back, you'll suffer a fate worse than death. Do you know how those people will spread rumors about you?"
Ruan Yang opened her red eyes and said, "I can't control what they do. I'll just pretend I'm deaf to whatever I hear. At worst, I'll be expelled from the family tree. Even though I've forgotten everything, I have hands and feet and I can learn things quickly. Without a family, why should I worry about not surviving?"
She clung to her last glimmer of hope, saying, "Auntie, the one who deserves to die is the man who humiliated me, not me."
Ruan Zhuoyin laughed at her naivety, saying that since they were involved in the court's infighting, there was no such thing as right or wrong.
She said, "You're not listening?"
Seeing that the Empress still showed no mercy, Ruan Yang simply tore off all pretense of civility.
She is not a selfless person.
What does it mean to share both glory and loss? Even when they are rich and powerful, they may not necessarily be grateful to her.
At worst, we'll fight to the death and take it all to the emperor.
Ruan Yang said, “If I die in Fengqi Palace, the palace will definitely ask a coroner to examine my body after I die. His Majesty has some pity for me. If he finds out that I died a violent death, how will you explain it to him?”
“You…” Ruan Zhuoyin was speechless.
Halfway through her sentence, a sharp voice came from outside Fengqi Palace. Ruan Zhuoyin recognized it as Eunuch Xu, who was by the emperor's side, so she had no choice but to stop for the time being and drag Ruan Yang to receive the imperial decree.
Ruan Yang stumbled and knelt down with the Empress. By then, it was completely dark. She didn't know what the Emperor was so eager to issue.
The eunuch's voice penetrated the eardrums and slowly entered: "The second daughter of the Ruan family, Zhong Linyu, is virtuous and intelligent, and is of similar age to the Crown Prince. Their marriage is preordained. I hereby bestow great favor upon you and order the Ministry of Rites to complete the marriage immediately tomorrow."
Ruan Yang frowned. What kind of logic was it to ask her to marry the prisoner who had harassed her?
"Second Miss Ruan, why aren't you receiving the imperial decree?"
Ruan Yang came to her senses. Given the current situation, it was impossible for her to reconcile with the Ruan family. Even if she went back, she would probably still be hunted down by her clansmen. It would be better to temporarily escape from the Ruan family, this den of wolves, and wait for an opportunity to deal with the Crown Prince.
She presented the imperial edict: "This humble woman receives the decree."
...
The wedding was arranged in a hurry, almost like forcing a duck onto a shelf. With the imperial decree as her shield, the Empress could not do anything to Ruan Yang. She could only send her maids and nannies to provide good food and drink for this future Crown Princess.
Ruan Yang was currently somewhat averse to strangers touching her, so she dismissed the servants and took a bath and changed her clothes. She lay in a daze for a day and a night, and when she woke up, she was upset again. Now she was kneeling in front of the bronze mirror and barely had the strength to comb her hair.
The candlelight flickered in the warm room, and the bright red wedding dress and gold hairpins and pearl earrings on the table glittered so brightly that it was almost blinding.
Although Ruan Yang was somewhat resistant to the marriage proposal, he had no choice but to obediently accept the imperial decree due to the emperor's boundless grace.
Ruan Yang rubbed her sore arms, feeling a lingering fear.
This crown prince is tyrannical and incompetent. Although he is on the verge of being deposed, he should still have many confidants. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. If she doesn't obey, it will be a matter of minutes to destroy her.
After a moment of internal struggle, Ruan Yang decided against the foolish idea of stabbing someone on their wedding night.
As the bells and drums rang, she found herself sitting there motionless until dawn.
Ruan Yang was busy tucking the hairpin into her hair, but tears kept falling into the rouge box, which soon became a pool of blood red.
All the male members of the Ji family were sentenced to death, and the women could not escape the fate of being exiled to the frontier as slaves and servants. She was no better off.
Even though good deeds don't always bring good rewards, she doesn't regret helping the emperor and the Ruan family.
Whether it's her childhood sweetheart Lu Wenjin or her ex-husband Ji Jiu, whose conscience seems to have been eaten by dogs, from the moment she puts on her wedding dress, it's all over.
But.
When Ruan Yang thought of someone, tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken string.
What should Lu Wenjin do?
She had promised to live a good life with him in the future, but now it seems she's going to break her promise again.
The guilt she felt was indescribable; she was too ashamed to face him.
"Girl, someone is looking for you. Will you see them?" Zisu knocked on the door from the outside.
Ruan Yang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and she asked, "Who is it?"
Zisu turned and glanced at Lu Wenjin, who was disguised as a guard: "Yes..."
Lu Wenjin raised her hand to shush, signaling Zisu to be quiet.
Ruan Yang wiped away her tears and was about to say she didn't want to see him when the door was violently pushed open the next second.
She had barely looked up when the young man in black rushed in like a whirlwind, knelt down, embraced her, and finally buried his chin deeply in the crook of her neck.
Ruan Yang soon felt that her neck was wet.
"you...."
The boy's body was too heavy for her to support, and she was soon knocked down. Her hairpins clattered on the floor. After struggling for a moment, Ruan Yang calmed down.
At this moment, only the sound of their breathing could be heard inside the room.
Ruan Yang gazed at him quietly and noticed that he had gotten a bit tanned, had some light stubble on his face, and his eyes were watery.
She turned her face away, choking back tears, and said, "Don't be like this, get up."
Looking at the beautiful girl in his arms, Lu Wenjin really wanted to do something as outrageous as Ning Xian and take her back.
He possessed her in a daze, his hatred mixed with love, and in the end, he only kissed Ruan Yang's lips lightly.
Lu Wenjin stroked the unsightly marks on her body and said in a hoarse voice, "Yangyang, shall I take you away? Let's escape this cannibalistic place, and there won't be any madmen watching you anymore."
Ruan Yang shook her head, tears welling in her eyes: "I won't leave. The person I love is the Crown Prince, Ji Jiu. I won't elope with you."
Under heaven, all land belongs to the king. If Lu Wenjin is caught by the pursuers, she will die a terrible death because of him.
How could she implicate innocent people?
"You still can't forget him?"
Lu Wenjin was on the verge of collapse: "Why can you be so hung up on him, while I'm so easily forgotten by you? Am I not bad enough?"
Ruan Yang covered her face with her sleeve and sobbed, "Yes, I can't forget Ji Jiu. I still love him even after he's dead, so you should leave."
Lu Wenjin said angrily, "What room is there for your relationship to turn around? If that mistake hadn't been a misunderstanding, you would have lost one of your children. Ruan Yang, the husband you love so much doesn't love you at all."
"He's already like this, why can't you turn around and look at me? I used to be your favorite person..."
Ruan Yang suppressed her impulsive emotions, and after a long while, she said in a hoarse voice, "You said it yourself, it's all in the past, so, can you forget me now? I'm a jinx; anyone who gets close to me will become unhappy. I don't want to see you suffer because of me..."
"Yangyang, I'm not afraid of hardship..."
"No, young general, our fate has run its course. You should marry well and have children. You will surely find someone better than me."
"Don't come looking for me when I go to northern Xinjiang. It's very dangerous there. Take good care of yourself. Staying alive is the most important thing."
Ruan Yang pushed the boy away: "Don't wait for me."
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Author's Note: My next book, "The Fake Playboy Meets the Real Romantic," is available for pre-order.
The story of a naive young nobleman who gets involved with a black mamba princess, thinking he has the upper hand, only to find himself the prey. Those interested can check out the column! [Sprinkling flowers]
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