Chapter 46: Being implicated was more agonizing than any torture she could endure...
The sound of horses' hooves shattered, and the night wind was like a knife.
After an unknown amount of time, the horses finally slowed down and entered the courtyard of an abandoned hunter's cabin.
Zhou Ling used his last bit of strength to pull on the reins, and the horse let out a weary neigh before stopping in the waist-high weeds.
He practically tumbled off the horse while carrying Fangru.
Upon landing, he cushioned the impact with his own body, absorbing most of the force, and let out a suppressed groan.
Fangru fell heavily into his arms, her cheek slamming against his hard chest. She was immediately hit by the strong smell of blood and his burning body temperature.
"you……"
Fangru was still in shock and frantically tried to get off him, but her fingertips touched something wet and sticky—his blood, which had almost soaked through his entire back.
Moonlight shone through the sparse clouds, illuminating Zhou Ling's pale, paper-white face.
His eyes were closed, his brows were furrowed, and his breathing was so faint that it was almost imperceptible.
A murderous intent surged within Fangru's heart.
Now is the time!
Her trembling hand reached into her hair, where a sharp silver hairpin was hidden.
The moment her fingertips touched the hairpin, a large, cold hand suddenly gripped her wrist!
The force was so great that it almost crushed her bones!
Fangru looked down in shock and met a pair of eyes that had suddenly opened.
There was no confusion in his eyes as she awoke from a coma, only a deep, unfathomable undercurrent, as if he had already seen through all her intentions.
He wasn't completely unconscious at all!
"You really want to take my life?"
Zhou Ling's voice was terribly hoarse. With each word he spoke, the wound in his throat caused him to spasm in pain, yet a faint smile curved at the corner of his mouth. "Not even willing to let go of a dying man?"
He gripped her wrist and pulled her closer, leaving her no room to resist.
The two were in an extremely intimate position; she was half-lying on him, held tightly in his arms, their noses almost touching.
"open!"
Fangru struggled fiercely, trying to pry open his grip with her other hand.
"Heh..." Zhou Ling chuckled, but coughed due to the vibration of his wound. The blood he coughed up splattered onto Fang Ru's face, and it was frighteningly hot.
But he didn't lessen his strength at all. Instead, he used the force of her struggle to flip her over and instantly switch their positions!
In a dizzying moment, Fangru was pinned firmly to the cold ground by him.
His heavy body, like a mountain, completely imprisoned her.
"For Gu Zhou?" He suddenly moved closer, his hot breath brushing against her lips. "Your gentle and refined fiancé... does he know that you would even collude with ants like the Baiyang Society for him?"
Fangru froze. Of course, it wasn't for Gu Zhou, the fiancé who had deceived her, framed her, and tried to kill her. He had no idea where she was tonight.
But if it's entirely for Yan De's revenge... then the hatred accumulated over six generations seems to be mixed with even more inexplicable entanglements.
She bit her lower lip, swallowing back the rebuttal that almost escaped her lips.
Explaining would be a sign of weakness, and she absolutely could not show the slightest wavering in front of this man.
Zhou Ling's blood-stained fingers gently traced her chin, a mocking pity in his eyes: "What a pity... You stained your hands with blood for him, yet he doesn't even know what color blouse you're wearing tonight, does he?"
"You're talking nonsense!" Fangru trembled with anger; this harassment disgusted her!
"I'm talking nonsense?"
Zhou Ling chuckled, forcefully pushing her legs apart with his knee, pressing himself even closer until their noses were almost touching: "Then tell me, if it weren't for that brat from the Gu family, which sheltered young lady would know the leader of the Baiyang Society? Would she be familiar with the methods of torture and forced confessions?"
His thumb traced her trembling lips, his voice suddenly turning cold: "Or... is your fiancé just a coward who only dares to let women stand up for him?"
In this life, Zhou Ling truly knows nothing; that's not what she hates at all!
But she couldn't explain, couldn't say Yen-te's name, because that would expose her biggest secret.
“Look,” Zhou Ling’s smile deepened, but it was chillingly cold, as he saw her silence, “even you know it’s not worth it.”
He suddenly lowered his head, his warm lips almost touching her earlobe, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Why don't you come with me... at least I will personally teach you what revenge is."
Fangru suddenly turned her head away, tears welling up in her eyes.
This absurd misunderstanding, this intimate humiliation, made her want to tear him to pieces!
"Hate me?" Zhou Ling noticed her trembling and chuckled as he licked away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Then hate me all you want. After all, what will make you remember me won't just be hatred."
Zhou Ling's ambiguous words were like a feather scratching at Fang Ru's most sensitive nerves.
Alarm bells rang in her mind; she couldn't let him continue, nor could she stay in his suffocating embrace any longer!
Taking advantage of his weakened state due to serious injury and the moment when his consciousness was somewhat scattered due to blood loss, Fangru suddenly struggled and quickly reached for the string of Buddhist beads that had accompanied her for many lifetimes on her wrist!
Last time, she was able to break free from the cycle of reincarnation by swallowing one of the special beads; this time, she can also escape his imprisonment.
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the beads, a cold and incredibly precise hand suddenly grabbed her wrist!
It's Zhou Ling!
He was clearly on the verge of unconsciousness, but his unfathomable eyes suddenly opened, sharp astonishing, as if he had already seen through her intentions.
"Want to... commit suicide?"
His hoarse voice carried a weary wisdom that seemed to understand everything. With his other hand, he ripped the string of prayer beads off her wrist with incredible speed and held it tightly in his palm!
"Give it back to me!"
Fangru cried out in alarm and lunged forward to snatch it.
That was the key to her reincarnation, her last trump card!
Zhou Ling used his last bit of strength to pull his hand holding the prayer beads back to his chest. His body swayed as she snatched them away, his wounds reopened, and blood gushed out, but he just wouldn't let go.
As the two were locked in combat, the sound of orderly and rapid footsteps suddenly came from afar, and the light of the torches spread like a rapidly spreading fire dragon, instantly illuminating the forest clearing as bright as day!
"Your Majesty! This humble general has arrived too late to save you!"
The Imperial Guard Commander's booming voice, tinged with obvious panic, shattered the silence of the night.
A large number of guards dressed in black armor surged in like a tide, instantly surrounding the area.
In the firelight, Zhou Ling raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the disciplined army before him, finally settling on Fangru, who was still struggling in his arms.
The sharpness that had been forced in those deep eyes receded like the tide, replaced by a complex expression that was almost weary, yet carried an indescribable sense of understanding and control.
Having confirmed that Fangru was now under his absolute control, the last breath he had been holding onto finally dissipated.
“You…” His thin lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something to Fangru, but in the end it turned into a barely audible sigh, with a warm but weak breath, brushing past her ear.
Immediately, his body, which had been taut like a bow, completely relaxed, and the hand that had been tightly gripping the prayer beads fell limply to his side. However, his knuckles were white from the extreme force he had used, and he still held the beads tightly as if they were something more important than his life.
He leaned heavily against the commander like a puppet with its strings cut, falling into a complete coma.
"Quickly! Summon the imperial physician! Be careful of His Majesty!" The deputy commander rushed forward, his voice trembling, and directed the guards to carefully move the unconscious emperor away from the commander.
The scene was chaotic.
Fangru's heart was completely tied to that string of Buddhist prayer beads!
She watched helplessly as Zhou Ling was lifted up, his tightly clenched hand standing out starkly in the torchlight.
Even after losing consciousness, he continued to assert his possession in this domineering manner, which stirred up an indescribable tremor and resentment in her heart.
Opportunities are fleeting!
Fangru immediately stepped forward, her face contorted with just the right amount of anxiety and worry, and said to the Imperial Guard Commander, "General! His Majesty is holding an extremely important life-saving medicine! It must be taken out immediately, dissolved in water, and drunk; it might just stabilize his heart!"
She attempted to exploit the Imperial Guards' concern for the emperor's safety to achieve her goals.
However, the commander of the Imperial Guards only glanced quickly at the emperor's clenched fist, his face showing great difficulty. He bowed respectfully to Fangru, but his tone was extremely firm: "Please forgive us, young lady! We would never dare to touch what His Majesty is holding! Everything... everything must wait until His Majesty wakes up, or for the chief imperial physician to decide."
His gaze didn't even linger on the emperor's hands for long; his reverence was palpable.
Fangru felt a surge of resentment; even in his unconscious state, this man was still so frightening!
At this moment, the commander turned to her, his tone regaining its unquestionable authority: "This place is not safe to stay any longer, lest there be any remaining enemies. To ensure your safety, please be sure to return to the palace with His Majesty."
Entering the palace?
Fangru instinctively wanted to refuse; the deep palace was nothing short of a cage to her.
But her gaze once again fell uncontrollably on Zhou Ling's tightly clenched hand... That string of Buddhist prayer beads was the key to her reincarnation, and it absolutely could not fall into his hands!
Entering the palace and getting close to him might be the only chance to get the pearl back.
After weighing her options, she suppressed her turbulent emotions, nodded slightly, and said in a barely perceptible hoarse voice, "...Thank you for your trouble, General."
She followed the imposing procession, but her gaze pierced through the crowd, remaining fixed on the unconscious Zhou Ling and his tightly clenched hand.
The small, purple Buddhist prayer beads were faintly visible between Zhou Ling's pale yet still well-defined fingers, as if they were a silent mark of his sovereignty.
It was like an invisible shackle, one end tightly bound to his control, while the other end tightly gripped Fangru's lifeline and hope for reincarnation.
It was this imminent threat that overwhelmed her impulse to flee immediately, forcing her, filled with icy hatred and indescribable trembling, to embark on the journey back to the nine-layered palace with the Imperial Guard.
Under the cover of night, the imperial city resembled an ancient behemoth awakened, silently baring its fangs.
The palace gates opened one after another, the heavy sound echoing in the silence. Guards stood in rows on both sides of the imperial road, their armor imposing, and the air was filled with a tense atmosphere that seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
The news of the emperor's assassination attempt and serious injury was like a boulder thrown into a deep pool, stirring up ripples of panic.
Zhou Ling was rushed to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. All the top imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy had already been summoned to the palace. The hall was brightly lit all night, and people hurried around. The heavy, lingering smell of medicine was mixed with a sense of tension that was almost suffocating.
Fangru, as an "accompanying woman" with an ambiguous identity, was strictly "escorted" to a side hall to wait. Nominally, it was for her protection, but in reality, it was a house arrest where she could hardly move an inch. The palace maids guarding the door looked at her with vigilance, as if they were staring at a deadly venomous snake.
The side hall is separated from the Hall of Mental Cultivation by only one wall, and any slight movement on the other side can be clearly heard.
She heard the imperial physicians' hushed, hurried discussions, the hurried but light footsteps of the palace maids and eunuchs, and occasionally even caught a groan or two of pain from the unconscious emperor caused by the actions of the rescue.
Each brief silence made her heart leap into her throat. In the darkest corner of her heart, she prayed frantically, praying that the next sound would be the helpless sigh of the imperial physician and the suppressed sobs of the eunuch, praying that the nightmare that controlled her for all eternity would finally end.
However, after each period of silence came a new round of busyness, as if mercilessly mocking her expectations.
Waiting became a form of agonizing torture, the image of the Buddhist prayer beads burning in her heart, intertwined with the malice of hoping for his death, tearing at her nerves.
Time seemed to freeze in the extreme anxiety.
As dawn broke and the first light of day appeared in the east, the hustle and bustle within the Hall of Mental Cultivation gradually subsided into a weary tranquility.
A court official, his temples soaked with sweat and his face ashen, dragged out with heavy steps. He whispered to the chief eunuch waiting outside, his voice hoarse but tinged with relief: "His Majesty... is blessed by the heavens. His health has barely stabilized, but he is not yet out of danger and needs absolute rest..."
A faint, suppressed sigh of relief could be heard from outside the door.
Fangru's heart felt as if it had been plunged into an ice cave in an instant!
He survived!
The intense disappointment clung to her heart like a poisonous vine, almost suffocating her.
Why? Why does he always manage to escape death?!
But reason quickly prevailed over the tide of emotion.
He's not dead, so she has to keep going.
Buddhist prayer beads remain key.
She suppressed her turbulent emotions, composed herself, and found a seemingly influential deputy commander of the imperial guards. She raised the prayer beads again, deliberately tinging her voice with genuine concern: "General, I have heard that His Majesty is temporarily out of danger, which has eased my mind somewhat. However… the object His Majesty is clutching tightly is indeed a miraculous medicine for calming the mind and spirit. If it could be placed by his pillow, its power might help His Majesty regain consciousness sooner. This matter concerns His Majesty's health; may I inform him of this again…?"
The deputy commander frowned, still wearing a troubled expression that said, "This is absolutely impossible."
Just as Fangru was trying to find another explanation, a deep, aged voice, carrying immense weight, rang out from behind her: "What kind of miraculous medicine is it that has made you so persistent, young lady, time and time again?"
Fangru stiffened and slowly turned around.
Grand Secretary Li entered the side hall surrounded by a group of officials. He was dressed in a crimson court robe, his beard and hair were as white as silver, and his old eyes were sharp enough to see through people's hearts. His gaze swept over her and brought an invisible pressure.
He had obviously entered the palace overnight after hearing the news to take charge of the overall situation.
The deputy commander, as if seeing his pillar of support, hurriedly stepped forward and not only gave a detailed account of Fangru's repeated requests for the items in His Majesty's possession, but also took a step forward and added urgently in a very low voice: "Your Excellency, we just received an urgent message from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review. The captured core remnants of the White Sun Society, unable to withstand torture, have confessed that during this assassination attempt, a woman in the palace did indeed act as an inside agent, passing on messages and guiding the route... and that person is..."
The deputy commander lowered his voice even further, but every word was like a knife, cutting into Fangru's heart. "Shen Fangru is the fiancée of Gu Zhou, the Guanglu Temple clerk who is already imprisoned! Gu Zhou has been detained in the imperial prison for a long time for his alleged involvement in the Baiyang Society's previous conspiracy. It seems that Ms. Shen is undoubtedly an accomplice as well!"
Upon hearing the report, Grand Secretary Li's previously scrutinizing gaze suddenly turned icy and sharp, like that of a hawk.
This is no longer just the accusation at hand; it also involves Gu Zhou, who has already been arrested. The case suddenly becomes clear and serious: the engaged couple are both traitors, working together to assassinate the king!
The situation took a sharp turn for the worse in the blink of an eye, and danger was imminent!
Fangru felt a chill run from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head, and her blood almost froze!
She had planned everything meticulously, but she never expected the backlash from the Baiyang Society to be so swift and deadly!
He entered the palace to try and save his life by retrieving the Buddhist beads, but in the blink of an eye, he found himself in danger and became the prime suspect in the assassination attempt!
The string of Buddhist prayer beads, so close yet so far, seemed to become a cruel mockery of her in Zhou Ling's tightly clenched palm.
Grand Secretary Li raised his hand to stop the deputy commander from speaking, staring at Fangru with eyes as if looking at a dead man, each word carrying immense pressure: "Miss Shen? Good, very good. I never imagined that Shen Wenzheng, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, would raise such a 'loyal and patriotic' daughter!"
His tone suddenly turned stern, and he shouted to the Ministry of Justice officials following behind him: "Send men immediately to arrest Shen Wenzheng and throw him into the imperial prison to await trial! He failed to properly educate his daughter and colluded with traitors; his crime deserves death!"
"No! No way!!"
Fangru's carefully maintained composure shattered completely at this moment, like ice suddenly cracking!
She took a sudden step forward, almost breaking through the guards' obstruction, her voice trembling sharply with extreme fear and anxiety:
"Grand Secretary Li! This matter has absolutely nothing to do with my father! He knew nothing about it! Gu Zhou is Gu Zhou, I am me, and my father is completely innocent! He was cautious and prudent throughout his life, and loyal to the court. You cannot implicate him because of my mistake!"
Seeing that Grand Secretary Li's face was cold and unmoved, she was even more flustered, and her tone was filled with desperate pleading: "Grand Secretary, please understand! My father is old and frail, how can he withstand the suffering of the imperial prison? I will take full responsibility for all the crimes! I was bewitched, I colluded with the White Sun Society, you may kill me or torture me, it is all up to you! I only beg you to show mercy and spare my father! He is innocent!"
Grand Secretary Li's white eyebrows didn't twitch; he merely glanced at her coldly, his eyes filled with the ruthlessness and unquestionable authority of someone seasoned in officialdom: "Innocent? If a son is not taught, it is the father's fault. His greatest sin is to have given birth to a rebellious daughter like you! The laws of the court are as solid as mountains; how dare you bargain here?"
He didn't bother listening to her at all; in his view, it was nothing more than a clumsy trick she habitually used to try and protect her family.
His aged yet incredibly firm voice rang out again, like a final verdict: "Seize this traitor Shen Fangru! Imprison her in the Imperial Prison, separate her from Shen Wenzheng, and interrogate her rigorously! No one is allowed to visit her without the written orders of this Grand Secretary and His Majesty!"
"Yes, sir!"
Without further hesitation, the fierce guards roughly twisted Fangru's arms behind her back, held her down tightly, and dragged her away.
"Release me! Minister Li! I beg you! This sinful woman is willing to endure any form of torture, just please spare my father! He is innocent!!"
Fangru struggled desperately, tears streaming down her face, her voice filled with anguish and despair.
All her composure and planning seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the threat of her family's imminent annihilation.
Father……
During the dragging process, Fangru's mind went blank, filled only with endless regret and fear.
Driven by personal revenge, she dragged her innocent father, who had lived a life of integrity and loved her dearly, into this abyss of no return!
That string of prayer beads, that obsession with reincarnation, brings not the hope of liberation at this moment, but a curse that destroys loved ones!
This caused her more unbearable pain than any form of torture.
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