The loud noise woke Chu Yunhan, who was fast asleep, and he exclaimed, "Who is it?"
Upon seeing Chu Yunhan regain consciousness, the masked man realized that his assassination attempt had completely failed. He glared hatefully at Gu Qingqiu, who was pressing down on him, and swiftly pulled out the dagger and longsword from Gu Qingqiu's body. In an instant, blood gushed out uncontrollably.
The masked man bit the poison he had prepared beforehand, tilted his head, and stopped breathing.
Chu Yunhan realized something and shakily got out of bed, "Qing...?"
Having not spoken for so long, Chu Yunhan had become somewhat mute, even his pronunciation of Gu Qingqiu's name was indistinct.
He collapsed to his knees by the bed, his body limp. The servants in the palace heard the noise and hurriedly brought in candles. "Your Highness—what's wrong?"
Naturally, the candlelight also illuminated the masked man and Gu Qingqiu on the ground.
Gu Qingqiu, dressed in red, stared wide-eyed and had stopped breathing.
Chu Yunhan seemed to have his life force drained away in an instant. His despair was like that of someone who had fallen into a dark abyss, utterly hopeless. When he noticed that the red thread in Gu Qingqiu's hand had broken off at some point, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and fainted.
The assassination attempt on Chu Yunhan caused a sensation in the capital. The Emperor even personally visited the Prince's residence to see the unconscious Chu Yunhan.
After all, they were blood relatives. The older the emperor got, the more he cherished family ties. After venting his anger, he was determined to find out the identity of the assassin.
Of course, when he found out that the mastermind was the descendant of the crown prince, whom he had personally appointed, he seemed to have aged ten years. After returning to the palace, he fell seriously ill and then deposed the crown prince, sending him to the Imperial Clan Court.
Chu Yunhan remained unconscious. The imperial physician initially thought it was due to excessive grief, but after a week of still not waking up, he realized something was wrong. His symptoms clearly resembled—a heart-wrenching poison!
A madman! A complete and utter madman! Judging by the duration of his coma, Chu Yunhan must have started taking Heartbreaker at least six months ago!
Is he trying to sacrifice himself to accompany Gu Qingqiu in death? Or is he using his status to coerce the Imperial Hospital into paying more attention to the antidote for the Heart-Rending Poison?
The imperial physician's legs went weak at the thought. If the emperor found out about this, the entire Imperial Medical Academy would probably have to be overhauled!
Sure enough, it took several months for Chu Yunhan to wake up.
Even though he hadn't lost his five senses, it seemed like he couldn't speak anymore. The first thing he did upon waking up was to ask someone for paper and pen, and with trembling hands, he inquired about Gu Qingqiu's condition.
Gu Qingqiu's situation... what could possibly be wrong with her?
The butler gritted his teeth and chose to tell the truth, after all, Chu Yunhan had witnessed the scene and should have been mentally prepared.
Gu Qingqiu was naturally buried several months ago. Regardless of whether the prince agreed or not, her body couldn't be left unburied, could it? General Gu wouldn't agree to that either.
Chu Yunhan was silent for a moment, then continued writing—Was the red string on her wrist buried with her?
"Red string? What red string?" the butler asked, puzzled.
Chu Yunhan pointed to the red string on his hand.
The butler suddenly realized, and after recalling for a long time, he still dared not give a guarantee, "Your Highness... the scene was too chaotic at the time, and the lady was soaked in blood. Her clothes were naturally changed before the burial, so this red rope... I really didn't notice if it was still on her hand..."
Upon hearing this, Chu Yunhan immediately rolled over and got out of bed.
"Your Highness? Your Highness, where are you going?" The steward was terrified and hurriedly followed behind Chu Yunhan.
In the end, the steward couldn't persuade Chu Yunhan otherwise and had the Prince's Mansion prepare a carriage to take Chu Yunhan to the Imperial Mausoleum. Chu Yunhan wanted to go in without looking back. The steward was not as bold as Chu Yunhan and dared not trespass. He could only send someone to inform General Gu and then wait outside at a distance.
Chu Yunhan found the location of Gu Qingqiu's coffin, kowtowed several times in the direction of the coffin, and then, disregarding everything else, decided to open the coffin.
Several months have passed, and Gu Qingqiu's body has long since rotted into bones.
Chu Yunhan looked at the bones, which were no longer recognizable, and slumped to the ground. After a moment of confusion, he began to remove the clothes from the skeleton.
General Gu, who had rushed over, witnessed this scene. He immediately stopped Chu Yunhan and, disregarding his status, slapped him across the face. "You scoundrel! What are you doing here? Don't disturb my daughter's peaceful dreams any longer!"
Chu Yunhan seemed completely oblivious to the pain and unable to hear General Gu's words. He immediately crawled back to the coffin and was pulled away by General Gu once again.
Only when he got closer did General Gu hear him muttering "red thread" and "Qingqiu".
Chu Yunhan seemed to be possessed, and no matter how many people tried to stop him, he wanted to continue searching for the "red thread" in the coffin.
How could General Gu let Chu Yunhan act so recklessly? He immediately ordered his men to close the coffin and sent several strong men to drag Chu Yunhan out of the imperial mausoleum.
Chu Yunhan had just woken up and was already exhausted, so he couldn't break free at all. Overwhelmed with anger, he fainted.
The Emperor also heard about Chu Yunhan's disturbance at the imperial mausoleum. Fearing that Chu Yunhan might do something rebellious and damage the image of the royal family, he ordered Chu Yunhan to be confined to his residence.
After realizing his situation, Chu Yunhan calmed down and stopped acting recklessly.
Two months later, the Crown Prince died suddenly in the Imperial Clan Court. The imperial physicians went there several times and diagnosed that he died of chest pain caused by excessive drinking. The emperor was devastated and the whole country mourned.
However, because Chu Yunhan was emotionally unstable and had just recovered from a serious illness, the emperor specially exempted Chu Yunhan from mourning the crown prince and only ordered him to wear mourning clothes in his residence to pray for the crown prince.
The emperor did not allow Chu Yunhan to appear until the day of the crown prince's burial.
Chu Yunhan, dressed in mourning clothes, remained calm and cooperated throughout the entire process. However, after the Crown Prince's burial ceremony, he suddenly said, "Brother, you don't need to keep vigil for me. Qingqiu is here to keep me company."
After saying that, he turned and ran towards Gu Qingqiu's coffin.
"Stop him!" General Gu's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly realized something, roaring angrily.
But the incident happened so suddenly that no one had time to react before Chu Yunhan crashed headfirst into Gu Qingqiu's coffin, blood gushing out instantly, yet a smile appeared on his lips.
At least, we can die together.
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