Chapter 48 A Heart Full of Longing, Too Much Words to Speak
"you……!"
Li Yuheng was furious, but before he could say anything, everything went black and he fainted.
When he woke up again, he was already in the Crown Prince's residence. His throat was dry and sore, and he croaked, "...water."
Bai Yan immediately helped Li Yuheng up carefully and fed him some warm water. Li Yuheng regained some consciousness and looked around. He saw a figure sitting at a table not far away and his eyes lit up. But then he remembered the conversation on the cruise ship and felt a tightness in his chest.
In the past, if he was sick, Gu Shanyue would definitely sit by his bedside and perhaps even feed him water by hand.
At this moment, she sat so far away that even after he woke up, she didn't come over to check on him at all.
Li Yuheng's eyes dimmed: "What happened?"
Bai Yan helped Li Yuheng lean against the headboard and replied, "Your Highness was poisoned by the Illusionary Butterfly Poison. Qi Baitong's investigation revealed something amiss with the incense on the second floor. Although the window was kept open, Your Highness's constitution is not as robust as Miss Yue's, and he stayed in the room for a long time, which is why he was poisoned. This poison is insidious; it can arouse various desires and thoughts in the poisoned person, and even cause hallucinations, leading them to end their own lives. Fortunately, Your Highness is not seriously injured, but the poison will still harm your body, and you will need to recuperate."
Upon hearing this, Li Yuheng's pale face turned red with anger, and he said bitterly, "It's Li Kaiyang again!"
Bai Yan said, "The tail was dealt with very cleanly, and the evidence is not specific. Only by tracing back from the Third Prince can we make sense of it."
“He’s usually dissolute and thought I was going on a pleasure boat trip to indulge in debauchery, so he resorted to such a vulgar trick…” Li Yuheng said excitedly, coughing several times.
Bai Yan quickly patted his back and brought him warm water. Li Yuheng finally calmed down, but when he looked up, Gu Shanyue had already left.
She didn't say a word to him.
Li Yuheng gripped the blanket tightly, his eyes filled with hatred. If it weren't for this damned Illusionary Butterfly Poison, he wouldn't have so easily confessed his love to Gu Shanyue.
In his plan, he would wait until he ascended the throne and cleaned up all the affairs before choosing a good opportunity to keep Gu Shanyue.
Although Li Kaiyang's move did not achieve his shameless goal, it did truly disrupt his plans.
Li Yuheng raised his face and looked out at the cold moonlight. Gu Shanyue had promised him that she would stay until after the wedding. She shouldn't break her promise and leave first, right?
After leaving Li Yuheng's room, Gu Shanyue did not return, but instead flew away from the Crown Prince's residence, heading in another direction.
Qi Baitong silently followed beside her. Since saving Li Yuheng, he hadn't spoken a word, and Gu Shanyue hadn't asked him anything either.
When Li Yuheng raised that question, he was outside the window. Gu Shanyue knew he was outside the window, and he also knew that Gu Shanyue knew he was outside the window.
The answer was so simple and straightforward, just like her as a person.
What else could he possibly ask?
To Gu Shanyue, he was just a man she had known for only a month or so; how could he possibly compare to Li Yuheng, whom she had protected for ten years?
Under the moonlight, the two of them, like a pair of birds, darted between the eaves of the buildings.
Seeing that the direction was getting further and further wrong, Qi Baitong finally spoke up: "That's the direction of the Third Prince's residence, you..."
He paused, realizing that Gu Shanyue hadn't wandered off in the wrong direction, but had come here on purpose.
"Even if we can't kill him, we can still punish him a little."
As soon as she finished speaking, the two had already quietly sneaked into the mansion. Gu Shanyue peeked out and saw that there were rooftops everywhere, and she was at a loss for what to do.
Qi Baitong suppressed the chaotic emotions in her heart and pointed ahead: "That is the Third Prince's courtyard. The study is lit up, so he should be discussing political affairs with his advisors."
He was a secret guard assigned to the Crown Prince by the Emperor. He came from the Imperial Guard and naturally knew a lot about the layout of the residences of court officials and princes, especially the rising Third Prince.
Before Gu Shanyue could even ask, he had already given her the answer. She turned back and raised an eyebrow at him, her eyes filled with admiration: "Let's go."
After a few leaps, the two landed silently on the roof of the study, and the faint sound of their conversation could be heard.
Gu Shanyue hadn't planned to listen, but when she suddenly caught the words "needle-threading poison," her eyes lit up, and she leaned down to listen carefully.
They spoke in hushed tones, behind a layer of roof tiles, which would have been inaudible to most people, but Gu Shanyue had exceptional hearing.
"...The situation is unfavorable to us. According to news from the palace, His Majesty's poisoning has deepened and is difficult to cure. I'm afraid he won't wake up."
"If that's really the case, wouldn't all our efforts be in vain? Li Yuheng wouldn't have to do anything; he could just sit back and wait for the Emperor to die from his illness, and then he could inherit the throne?" Li Kaiyang's voice was filled with resentment.
"Your Highness, please do not worry. There is still a chance to turn things around. Even if the Crown Prince inherits the throne, so what? He is a sickly man. He may ascend the throne today and die tomorrow. In the end, it is still unknown who will win."
“I can’t wait that long. Since you’re going to die sooner or later, you might as well make way for me sooner. I heard that Wu Shanyu was also afflicted by the Needle-Threading Gu back then. In that case,” Li Kaiyang smiled slyly, “maybe there are Gu worms in our Crown Prince’s palace. That shouldn’t be too surprising, right?”
"Your Highness is right. If the Crown Prince died from the needle-piercing poison, and we pin the blame on His Majesty and Consort Wu, everyone will naturally keep quiet and no one will dare to question it..."
The study echoed with the smug and sinister laughter of Li Kaiyang and his subordinates.
Gu Shanyue on the rooftop also sneered, making no attempt to conceal his voice.
Li Kaiyang was startled and looked up: "Who is it!"
Gu Shanyue drew his sword and slashed, shattering the glazed tiles, which crashed to the ground. Li Kaiyang dodged the attack in a sorry state, but his clothes were torn and he was covered in dust.
"It's you! How dare you!" Li Kaiyang, his head covered in dust, shouted angrily, "Guards!"
Before he could finish speaking, a flash of sword light appeared, and with a soft thud, the advisor supporting him was stabbed right through the chest.
Li Kaiyang cried out in surprise and shook off his advisor's hand.
Gu Shanyue sheathed his sword, casually flicking the tip.
A bloodcurdling scream rang out and lingered for a long time.
When the guards rushed into the room, the windows were wide open, and the room was filled with the stench of blood. Li Kaiyang covered his hands and rolled on the ground, howling in pain.
Before his sweat-drenched face lay four bloody fingers, which twitched occasionally as they were removed from his body, looking extremely eerie.
Li Kaiyang was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
Gu Shanyue had already left. Her sword was fast, and her lightness skill was even faster. When the guards rushed out and shouted that His Highness had been assassinated, she was on the roof of an unknown tavern, frowning at her blood-stained sword.
She stretched out her hand to Qi Baitong, who then took out a neatly cut piece of fine silk from her bosom and placed it in her hand.
Gu Shanyue sat on the roof ridge and began to polish his sword in the moonlight.
Qi Baitong stood there for a while, then said, "I'll go get the wine."
Gu Shanyue nodded.
Qi Baitong flew away and returned shortly after, carrying several bottles of wine. He sat down next to Gu Shanyue.
Gu Shanyue was wiping her sword, and she was so focused on it that she didn't have a free hand to drink.
Qi Baitong, on the other hand, didn't wait for Gu Shanyue today; he just tilted his head back and kept drinking.
One of them was polishing his sword, the other was drinking, and only the autumn wind whistled across the rooftop.
She carefully wiped the sword, leaving not a trace of blood. It was so bright it could be used as a mirror. Gu Shanyue was still not satisfied. She breathed on the sword, making the bright white blade wet and blurry. She continued to wipe and wipe.
Qi Baitong finished a pot of wine by himself, sat silently for a while, and then turned to look at Gu Shanyue, who was carefully wiping his sword.
He asked, "What were you thinking about when you were cleaning your sword?"
Gu Shanyue replied, "Yu'er."
Qi Baitong's mind cleared up after drinking the hot water; it seemed he shouldn't have asked.
But he already knew the cruelest answer on the cruise ship today, so what is there to fear now?
So he continued, as if trying to fester the wound: "What are you thinking about him for?"
Gu Shanyue said, "If only Senior Sister had given birth to a daughter."
She sighed, stopped what she was doing, looked up at the moon in the sky, and let out a loud "Ah!"
Qi Baitong was stunned, and stammered, "It would be wonderful if it were a daughter."
Unfortunately, that's not the case.
With a clang, the cleaned sword was sheathed again, and Gu Shanyue picked up a pot of wine and drank it down in one gulp.
Looking at her profile, Qi Baitong suddenly asked, "A-Yue, where will you go after he gets married?"
Gu Shanyue put down the wine pot, wiped his mouth, propped himself up with his hand, and tilted his head back, letting the wind mess up his hair.
"Don't say anything after that, I want to leave now, to go far away."
"If you leave, aren't you worried about His Highness?" Qi Baitong asked, after all, she was avenging Li Yuheng.
Upon hearing that Li Yuheng was injured, she immediately drew her sword and went to seek revenge. She cares about Li Yuheng so much, but is she really willing to leave him?
“I gave him three rockets, and I have two left. I’ll come back if anything happens,” Gu Shanyue said with her eyes closed, her hair blowing wildly across her forehead. “No matter who it’s for, I won’t stay here forever.”
She still needed to find Young Master Heming; that was the more important matter.
Her senior sister didn't ask her to take care of Li Yuheng, but she insisted that she must go find Young Master Heming.
Qi Baitong's heart, which had been soaked in cold water, seemed to have gained a little warmth, even though the warmth was painful to him at this moment.
"If you want to leave, I want to go with you."
Gu Shanyue was taken aback upon hearing this, turned her face, and brushed her messy hair aside.
Qi Baitong was looking at her, his pupils darker and deeper than the night sky, so focused, his thin lips slightly pursed in tension.
Gu Shanyue: "Come with me?"
"Yes, I'll go with you."
"But aren't you from the Imperial City Guard? You need an antidote to suppress the poison in your body..."
Even the emperor was nearly killed by the needle-threading gu, so Gu Shanyue no longer believed there was an antidote that could completely eradicate the gu worms.
"None of that matters. If I'm going to die, I hope it's by your side."
Qi Baitong reached out and gently grasped her shoulder. Gu Shanyue looked at his face, neither stopping him from getting closer nor stopping his lips from falling.
Gu Shanyue was distracted by the afternoon's cruise ship, and the thought of Li Yuheng's approach made her feel uncomfortable, but Qi Baitong did not.
Thinking this, Gu Shanyue slightly pulled away and said, "I agree."
Qi Baitong paused for a moment, then smiled and immediately hugged her tightly, kissing her haphazardly, his breathing rapid.
"I can go with you, right?"
Gu Shanyue let him kiss her hair, her eyes, her cheeks, her lips, her neck like a puppy... She hooked her arms around his neck and touched his face.
"Even if Hundred Flowers Butterfly Valley cannot concoct the final antidote, it should have no problem concocting an antidote to suppress the toxicity."
She was comforting him.
But Qi Baitong was too busy talking and could only manage a hurried reply: "I don't care..."
In this world, the thing he cared about least was death.
After meeting Gu Shanyue, things changed, and he felt somewhat reluctant to part with her. But compared to Li Yuheng, Gu Shanyue chose him to die.
He could die, and perhaps if he died, she would remember him a little more.
It doesn't matter that he's not as good as Li Yuheng.
More importantly, he could go with her.
The vastness of the world stirred in him a longing for it for the first time.
He would be free if he died beside her.
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