Su Rong leaned against the doorframe, her apathetic demeanor unchanged, staring at Nangong Xin’s angry face, a fury seemingly pricked deep in her eyes.
Without mincing her words, Su Rong said, "You probably don’t want to admit it, no, you would never admit it. Deep down, how could you not want to kill me? Because my mother won my father’s heart, and because of her, my father left the Imperial Harem deserted, coldly desolate. You watched the man you loved decline year after year. At first, you probably hoped he would forget, or that he would lose his senses, just so he would return to the Imperial Harem. Regardless of whether it was concubines or palace maids, even if he slept with every woman in the six palaces, drowned in a sea of wine and women, numbing himself, it would still be more tolerable than him holding onto a dead woman, for a deceased person, not setting foot in the Imperial Harem at all, wouldn’t it? At least, there would still be children. You must desperately want to have a child with him."
Storm clouds gathered on Nangong Xin’s face.
"Unfortunately, my father is just this kind of stubborn man, sticking to his guns, even when he gets blind drunk, he would not set foot in the Imperial Harem, not sleep with any woman," Su Rong said, feeling a sigh welling up within her, "I guess at that moment of learning that my mother didn’t die in Dawei, that she escaped death and gave birth to me in Jiangning County, you actually wished I were dead. So, the assassin you sent to kill me in Jiangning County right after my mother passed away, you genuinely wanted me dead. But unexpectedly, I survived and the assassin died by my hand. I set the Nuanxiang Pavilion ablaze. Only half a year later did more assassins come, still one or two of them. I was young then and didn’t know who wanted me dead. But looking back, someone intent on killing you would send a person for the first attempt, failed, then they should learn their lesson for the second attempt and send more people for assurance. Moreover, it’s not like you don’t have a multitude of people at your disposal."
Su Rong looked at Nangong Xin, "It’s funny how over these years, your dedication to killing me has never wavered, persistently grinding away year after year. Yet, it’s as if you’ve never applied any thought to it. Why can’t you carry out all attempts simultaneously? Intermittent assassins, it’s tiresome not knowing when the next one will pop up."
Apparently growing weary of standing, Su Rong lazily seated herself on the doorstep. Speaking so much had made her thirsty, she said to a palace maid, "Go, get me a cup of water."
The maid looked at Su Rong in shock, unmoving.
"Go on." Su Rong ordered her.
The maid glanced at Nangong Xin.
Nangong Xin remained silent with a grim expression. The maid turned to leave promptly and soon returned with a cup of tea for Su Rong.
Su Rong reached out for the cup and drank in silence.
The palace maid looked at her incredulously, "Princess, don’t you need to check for poison?"
"Did you poison it?" Su Rong asked.
The palace maid shook her head.
Su Rong cradled the cup of tea, sipping one mouthful after another. When she finished, she gave the cup back to the maid and said, "Get me another one."
The maid took the cup and left again.
Su Rong continued speaking, "Even if you won’t admit it, but looking back now, after the first attempt to kill me failed, you probably both chastised the assassin for failing to kill a seven-year-old child and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief."
"Stop talking rubbish. I always wanted you dead," Nangong Xin said angrily.
The maid brought another cup of tea. Su Rong took it and continued drinking, "You must know my father very well. Even if you didn’t understand him well when you first entered the palace and my mother died in Dawei, you would have come to understand him after so many years. He is simply a one-track minded man, and that’s all he’ll ever be. Aside from my mother, he doesn’t want anyone else. You must love him dearly. Therefore, even though there was resentment, hatred, but deep down you understood better than anyone that in this lifetime, he will no longer touch any woman. Therefore, his only child, who he’s still unaware of, will probably be his only progeny in this lifetime. So you, a cunning person, would you not have thought about the future? I don’t believe that a daughter of the Nangong Family, known for her cunning is ignorant. You are definitely not a fool. You would have thought about the throne of Nanchu and the future, so you softened your heart. You didn’t inform the Nangong Family but are biased towards my father deep down, wanting to keep me alive for him, or rather, to train me. Only through surviving numerous assassination attempts for many years, gradually maturing, can I avoid being coddled and spoilt. Only then could my father have the chance to secretly contact Ye Xiang and plan for future, once he found out about my existence..."
"What a load of hogwash! Get out!" Nangong Xin stood angrily, her eyes aflame.
"Don’t be so angry. Or else I might think that you’re just throwing a tantrum in embarrassment." Su Rong took another sip of tea, and while holding the tea cup, her tone neither heavy nor light, she hit Nangong Xin where it hurt, "Back then, you probably had no idea how I would turn out, but you know the ambition of the Nangong Family best. Do you regret it now? Did you ever think that the Nangong Family will fall into such a sorry state under my hand? Their family leader killed, forced out of Nanchu, seeking refuge in Dawei? The whole clan defeated, all in just a few months."
Nangong Xin’s complexion worsened, looking like she might storm up and kill Su Rong with a single stroke at any moment.
Su Rong swirled the cup in her hands, the tea rippling slightly, "So you’re not leaving. Anyone from the Nangong Family can leave, but you can’t. Perhaps it’s because you genuinely don’t want to leave, that you’d rather die in the palace. Or perhaps, it’s because you see yourself as guilty for the Nangong Family’s demise, too ashamed to flee and stay alive. In any case, you probably wish to die at the hands of my father, or mine. This is the path you’ve chosen for your end." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Nangong Xin stared intently at Su Rong, no longer uttering a word.
Having drunk the last mouthful of tea, Su Rong handed the cup back to the palace maid and then looked at Nangong Xin, "I have an elder apprentice sister who used to be the treasured Imperial Concubine of Daliang, favored among the six palaces. She, too, once wanted to have me killed, seriously so. Now, she has come to Nanchu with me, carrying the heir of the Daliang emperor in her belly. At Heiya Pass, when Dawei soldiers had the city under siege, she nearly miscarried multiple times. However, good thing the child probably has a strong destiny and was saved by physicians multiple times. She will be due soon. There are also Zhang Yun and Zhang Mao, the two sons of the Pingxi General of Daliang in Jibei. You must have heard of them? They initially wanted me dead too, but later changed sides to support me. I’m grateful for their aid when I came to seize power in Nanchu. Especially Zhang Yun, the third young master, who provided significant help."
Nangong Xin’s face turned deathly pale, "Why are you telling me all these irrelevant things? Don’t tell me, you don’t want to kill me? Hoping that I would turn to support you? Ridiculous."
Su Rong looked at her, "What use would your support be? You’re simply a doomed person who has already clipped her own wings, what use could I have for you?"
"Then why all this nonsense?"
Su Rong spoke, "I was only wanting to ask, don’t you want to witness the ultimate end of the Nangong Family? The most outstanding scion of the Nangong Family, your most outstanding nephew, Nangong Zheng, who has now chosen to support Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei. Will he be able to help Yuan Zhao prosper Dawei or will he journey with Dawei towards its downfall someday? As for the ancestral tomb of the Nangong Family, you hail from the Nangong Family after all. Although it’s said that a married woman is like spilled water, the fact remains that your surname is Nangong. Once you’re dead, the Nangong Family’s ancestral tomb will be left truly unattended. Apart from you, no one from the Nangong Family can return to Nanchu. I won’t let them step foot in Nanchu anymore, those who return will be killed."
"You won’t kill me?" Nangong Xin’s reaction was a mix of rage and disbelief, "What kind of soft-hearted nonsense is this?"
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