Upon hearing this, Huo Jingsha instantly collapsed to her knees. A short while later, as if possessed, she threw her head back and burst into wild, maniacal laughter, a chilling laugh. "Fate! This is all my fate, Huo Jingsha's fate!"
"Ah! His brow..." Yuefang suddenly screamed.
Only then did everyone notice that the red mark between Huo Jingsha's eyebrows had cracked open, and a trail of black blood was flowing out, reflecting his maniacal smile, making him look extremely terrifying.
Fate, it was destined to be this way, and destiny is hard to defy! Shu Yao lay weakly in Huo Jingsha's arms. After listening to his account of how he met the old Taoist priest and what price he paid to prolong her life, she was completely stunned and couldn't recover for a long time. Tears streamed down her face, mingling with the blood gushing from her features. The phrase "a mixture of blood and tears" was truly apt.
Huo Jingsha lowered his head, watching the life force slowly disappear from his wife's body, his heart burning with anguish. "Yao'er, things have come to this, I intend to tell you everything, even my own secrets."
"No! Jing Sha, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to," Shu Yao said, trembling as she raised her small hand to press against his lips to stop him from speaking.
But he grabbed it and pressed it against his heart, saying, "It's been weighing on my heart for ten years, and today I can finally let it all out."
Standing there dumbfounded, Yuefang sensed that the situation was not good. She wanted to slip out through the crack in the door because she knew that the more she knew, the more dangerous it would be... But if she wanted to get out, she would have to pass by Xu Chang, and he would not let her leave. Oh, what should she do?
"Ten years? This... is related to your parents, isn't it?" Shu Yao asked in a hoarse voice.
"Yes, do you know why my parents died? Because my father had a letter containing evidence of the current emperor's incestuous relationship with my birth mother."
These words shocked everyone in the study. Huo Jingsha continued, "The Empress Dowager of the previous dynasty was corrupt and committed lewd acts in the harem. The emperor, who was still the crown prince at the time, accidentally ate the pills she used to enhance his pleasure when he went to pay his respects and had an affair with her. This matter was discovered by a eunuch, who informed the late emperor. The late emperor was furious, summoned the empress, questioned her, and forced her to write a confession of her lewd behavior. After a while, he dragged her out of the palace and buried her alive."
The late emperor, still furious, intended to execute even the crown prince. However, perhaps overcome by anger, he died suddenly in his bedchamber the night before the edict was to be issued. The crown prince escaped death and successfully ascended the throne, but the Empress Dowager's shameful confession from years ago was stolen. And my father, unwittingly, obtained that confession.
Hearing this, Shu Yao understood. "But... Father wasn't an official in the court back then, so how... did he obtain that ominous object?"
"The first thing the Crown Prince did after ascending the throne was to execute those in the Empress's palace who knew about this matter overnight. The eunuch who had exposed the matter to the late Emperor had secretly sent the confession out of the palace before his death to a good brother from his hometown, who was my father. When my father received it, he was afraid that the whole family would be implicated. At that time, my brother and I were fifteen and ten years old, respectively. He was so frightened that he immediately sold his property and took our family to Cangzhou to run a mining business."
But this matter concerned the royal family's reputation, and could not be revealed in the slightest. So the Emperor sent his own younger brother, Prince Jing, who, upon discovering my father's whereabouts, killed both my parents. My father seemed to have foreseen this day. A year after arriving in Cangzhou, he sent my brother and me to Huangqiu Mountain to learn martial arts from a master, thus escaping this calamity. After receiving news of our parents' deaths, my brother and I changed our names to avoid trouble. Three years later, I passed the martial arts examination with top honors, successfully getting close to the Emperor and also to Prince Jing.
"So...you didn't hesitate to be ruthless and bear the infamy of being a 'murderous maniac' in order to do everything for the Emperor, so that you could climb to a high position and kill Prince Jing!" Shu Yao shook her head and sighed. She never imagined that Huo Jingsha's father would be implicated in such a sudden disaster, resulting in the destruction of his family.
Yuefang listened to everything from beginning to end, and her face changed. Having lived in Huo Jingsha's backyard for many years, she only knew that he and Prince Jing were always at odds, but she did not know that there was such a deep-seated blood feud between the two. Now, upon hearing this, she was not only shocked, but also terrified.
That's a royal scandal! Now that it's known, how could she possibly survive? She'll definitely be silenced! Xu Chang probably already knew about this, which is why he's so calm. Besides, he's a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; the Emperor considers him one of his own, so he won't do anything to him. As for that old Taoist priest, he's always elusive, so this matter won't harm him at all. It seems… only I am implicated!
Her heart pounded as she looked at the composed man. Only someone who wanted to die with his wife dared to openly reveal the secret she should take to her grave. This man… was clearly prepared to die, only wanting to be with his wife through thick and thin. How could she have been so foolish as to think she could replace Shu Yao as his woman? She was so naive! Now, she was filled with regret and realized that Huo Jingsha was trying to kill her in a roundabout way, and she couldn't help but worry about her safety.
"Where is that confession? Did Father destroy it?" Shu Yao was bleeding more and more, her eyes were red, and her vision was becoming more and more blurred, but she still couldn't help but sigh for Huo Jingsha and herself.
“Back then, my father and mother died a horrific death. They must have been tortured to death by Prince Jing. Their confession disappeared without a trace. I think the Emperor’s subsequent tolerance of him and his reluctance to exterminate him must have been because Prince Jing used the confession in his possession to blackmail him. Yao’er, now that I’m telling you this, I have nothing left to hide from you…” Huo Jingsha held her in his arms, constantly wiping away the blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. The blood felt as if it had been cut into him, causing him unbearable pain.
Shu Yao gave a bitter smile, her small, trembling hand reaching out to touch his blood-stained face. His heartbroken expression made her heart ache as well. "Okay, I understand, but... is it really beyond repair? Xiao Bao..."
“My mind is made up, and no one can change it. I can’t imagine a single day without you,” he said, holding her tightly, his lips trembling slightly. “I’ve already made arrangements. Xiao Bao will ‘die’ with the two of them and then be secretly sent to Gan Dan Kingdom by Yue Ping and Xu Chang. Once he’s in a different place, he can start a new life and won’t be hunted down because of this.”
"Xiao Bao...will he live well and start a new life?" she kept whispering.
"Yes, he will be carefree and happy like all children. All my wealth belongs to him. I'm sorry, Yao'er, I did such a foolish thing, but in my heart, I truly love Xiaobao. He is our son, our only son. I'm sorry... I'm sorry. Fortunately, I realized my mistake in time and didn't make a big mistake."
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