The Crown Prince was most concerned about his injured leg. When he saw Hao Shumei's gaze fall on his leg with a look of disdain and mockery, the anger he had been trying to suppress suddenly surged up, and his face instantly turned red. However, he was at a loss for words and did not know what to say to express his anger and grief. The words he had thought of all the way had become non-aggressive, as if he thought he had thrown a powerful punch but had hit cotton.
In the world of love, the one who loses is often the most sincere.
Seeing the Crown Prince's appearance, Zhao Shu knew something was wrong and quickly spoke up to comfort him: "Crown Prince, brother."
Before she could finish speaking, the Crown Prince raised his hand to stop her, and with great effort suppressed the anger in his heart, "A-Jun, please go down first. Your brother has something to say to the Imperial Concubine."
Zhao Shu was extremely worried. What if Consort Hao did something that would worsen the Crown Prince's leg injury? She shook her head, "I won't go down. I want to stay here and watch over you."
"Good boy, go down now," the prince coaxed affectionately.
Zhao Shu shook her head again.
Suddenly, an arrow pierced the air, grazing Consort Hao's shoulder and embedding itself in the pillar behind her. Everyone's nerves tensed instantly, and Hua Mei threw herself on Consort Hao to protect her, shouting, "Guards! Guards! Protect Her Majesty!"
The guards were also startled and quickly surrounded the pavilion, trying to rush forward, but several long arrows shot out from nowhere and stuck under their feet.
Zhao Shu turned to look in the direction from which the sword had come and saw Wei Tingsi, dressed in black, standing on the roof. He nodded to her and then vanished, disappearing into who-knows-where.
Consort Hao's heart pounded with fear. She hadn't wanted to die because she hadn't been able to save the child; in fact, she wanted to live a good life. If that arrow had been a little off course, it would have pierced her throat.
“Okay, Crown Prince, I’ll wait for you over there,” Zhao Shu said, pointing to the artificial hill opposite.
The crown prince nodded and patted her hand to reassure her.
Zhao Shu left the pavilion, and naturally, Hua Mei couldn't stay either. Zhao Shu looked at her coldly, "Aren't you leaving?"
Hua Mei hesitated, glancing at Hao Shumei, whose face was even paler. Hao Shumei remained silent. Zhao Shu continued, "Is the Imperial Concubine afraid? I thought the Imperial Concubine wasn't afraid of death. If you are afraid, then don't do evil. A person should have some conscience to be able to face themselves without guilt." She desperately didn't want the Crown Prince to speak alone with Hao Shumei, but if the matter wasn't resolved today, it might affect the Crown Prince's mental and physical well-being. "Imperial Concubine, rest assured, if you don't attempt to harm my Crown Prince brother, then naturally nothing will happen. Otherwise, you would have died a hundred times over."
"Go down," Hao Shumei said weakly to Mei.
Hua Mei glared at Zhao Shu, unwilling to leave, but Consort Hao was determined. Helpless, she could only leave the pavilion, turning back every few steps.
Li Zhuo, naturally, could not stay either. He had been pulled away by Xiao Zhuzi the first time, but had secretly returned. This time, he had to leave no matter what. He carefully put a hood on the Crown Prince and followed Zhao Shu with lingering fear as they left the pavilion together. He was not confident that he could escape that arrow.
After everyone left, the guards also withdrew. Hao Shumei, with a cold face, dropped her pretense. Even with her pretense gone, she wasn't the person the Crown Prince wanted to see. Sincere, selfless, devoted, unconditional, and wholehearted—this was Zhao Yi in the throes of first love. In this state, he was vulnerable. Even when Hao Shumei uttered such cruel words, trampling their previous feelings into the dust, he first apologized for not returning to the capital on time. Even when Hao Shumei married and cruelly aborted her child, he first warned her but did not cause any substantial harm. Even when Hao Shumei mocked his affections, he remained a gentleman, indifferent, saying only that they should talk.
In the world of emotions, what constitutes a man's inner qualities is not merely a wealth of literary knowledge and refined manners, but rather the ability to refrain from saying hurtful things when a relationship is on the verge of collapse.
"Stop," the Crown Prince said calmly. When he came, his heart was like a raging storm. Here, he felt anger, grief, reluctance, resentment, helplessness, and hatred. But now he was calm and said calmly, "Stop."
Hao Shumei chuckled, her tone still extremely sarcastic, "Stop? What makes you think you can say that to me? You are the Crown Prince, you have everything, you can have everything with ease, but what about others? They have to pay ten times, a hundred times more, to have even a tiny bit of what you discard like trash. And you want me to stop?"
She spoke with emotion, and her pale face flushed slightly. "From the moment my aunt disagreed with my entry into the palace, I could not stop myself. If anyone is to blame, it is my aunt. She became empress herself, but she did not allow me to become empress as well."
"So, all you want is the position of Crown Princess, not me?" The Crown Prince looked at her, his eyes fixed on hers. But he was disappointed. Those eyes were clearly filled with greed and lust. Where was the liveliness and loveliness? Where was the purity and innocence? Had he been blind back then?
"Yes, you've finally seen through me. This is the kind of woman I am. Don't you think you were incredibly foolish back then? You were used by me and you were even smug about it? Do you hate me now? Why don't you have someone kill me? If you kill me, I'll stop."
Desperate, reckless, self-destructive, self-mocking, she was as mad as a lunatic.
However, the more this happened, the more heartbroken the Crown Prince became. Sometimes he thought it was his fault, and other times he comforted himself, saying that this was her nature. In the end, his heart returned to peace.
"Back then, I had two women I cared about most: my mother and you. Now, only my mother remains. I hope she is alright. If you dare to harm her, we will fight to the death." No matter how much he wanted to say, he could only say this. He couldn't bring himself to say anything hurtful, nor could he do anything to harm a woman he had once treated with such sincerity. All he could do was protect himself and the people he cared about.
"You want me not to hurt my aunt? Then give me back my father and grandfather!" She stood up excitedly and walked towards the Crown Prince. Suddenly, an arrow flew over and blew off her cloak. Hua Mei saw this and screamed in terror, trying to rush forward, but was stopped by Xiao Zhu Zi.
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