Chapter 68 Making Her Empress (Eighth Generation)
How did this jade pendant end up here? She didn't have it with her when she died in her previous life.
Just as she was filled with doubt and uncertainty, a chilling memory, like a lurking venomous snake, suddenly bit into her mind.
That was the scene that took place in Zhou Ling's bedchamber after her death.
She saw her own nearly mangled body, retrieved from the bottom of a cliff, being painstakingly stitched together by skilled craftsmen using a secret method, and placed inside a crystal-clear ice coffin.
Zhou Ling, dressed in a grand wedding gown, dismissed his attendants and walked alone toward the ice coffin.
He gently stroked her cold, pale face, covered in stitches, in a way that was chillingly tender.
“Fangru,” he whispered, his hot breath freezing into frost on the ice coffin, “did you think you could escape me by dying? I will make you my empress.”
He leaned down, whispering through the cold coffin as if to a lover, but his voice carried a chilling, hellish edge:
"Listen, the ministers are all kneeling outside, remonstrating that I've gone mad, that this is against human ethics and against the laws of nature..." He chuckled softly, the laughter echoing in the palace, twisted and triumphant. "But so what? I am the Son of Heaven, and my words are the law of nature!"
"You said you'd rather be shattered to pieces than belong to me intact?" His fingertips traced her unclosed eyes. "But now, aren't you here? I not only want you to lie on the wedding bed I've made, but I also want you to see with your own eyes how, for all eternity, you belong to me..."
The scene suddenly shifts to the shocking "ghost marriage" ceremony that stunned the court and the public.
The sleeping quarters were decorated as a bizarre wedding hall, with red candles and white banners intertwined.
Under the horrified gazes of the civil and military officials, Zhou Ling personally placed the mutton-fat jade pendant into her stiff, curled hand, which was barely attached to her wrist.
“Take this, Fangru.” His voice echoed through the deathly silent bedchamber, carrying a mad, almost declarative tone. “This is my betrothal gift to you. Wear it, and no matter where you are reincarnated, I will find you… Next time, I will never let you escape again. Next time, I will lock you in the moment you see me…”
The torrent of memories did not stop; a deeper, more nauseating darkness swept in.
She "saw" every night afterward how Zhou Ling dismissed everyone and walked alone into his bedchamber.
He not only poured out his morbid possessiveness to her in the ice coffin, he even...
He truly kept his vow.
Sharp Poems...
That jade pendant, in her stiff, cold hand after her death, bore witness to all the unspeakable blasphemy and madness.
It was permeated with the chill of the bedchamber, the deathly aura of the corpse, and... Zhou Ling's suffocating obsession that transcended the boundary between life and death.
Yes, it was this jade pendant that carried his strongest delusions, mixed with his crazy expectations for "the next time," and her own strong will to not be controlled in this way. By some twist of fate, it became a medium more powerful than the Buddhist beads, forcibly dragging her back to the starting point of it all!
The emperor Zhou Ling, whose death could not even save her, and who continued to humiliate her even after death.
Just recalling these images forcibly instilled in her mind, Fangru felt a bone-chilling cold rush from her spine to the top of her head, and her stomach churned violently, almost making her vomit.
It wasn't fear, but an extreme nausea and trembling that came from the depths of the soul.
In this life, she would never allow herself to fall into such an abyss again! Whether she lived or died, she would never have anything to do with this man again!
She looked down at the mutton-fat jade pendant in her palm.
Under the moonlight, it still shone warmly, but in Fangru's eyes, it exuded the stench of the bedchamber, lingering around Zhou Ling's hot and twisted breath, and was stained with the shame that she could not find peace even after death in her previous life.
A fierce, almost destructive glint flashed in Fangru's eyes. With all her might, she suddenly raised her hand and threw the jade pendant like a venomous snake at the lush, secluded flowerbed by the roadside!
The white jade pierced the night, silently disappearing into the dark grass.
It's as if it never existed.
She took a deep breath, as if expelling all the decaying scent of her past life, straightened her back, and walked with her head held high towards the brightly lit Xuanji Banquet, filled with the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments.
The sounds of string and wind instruments drew nearer, exactly as she remembered them.
Every step at the banquet was like walking on a predetermined path.
Zhou Ling's gaze swept over the crowd and locked onto her. He walked over with a wine glass in his hand, his words a blend of domineering and gentleness unique to emperors.
Fangru lowered her eyes and responded, hiding all her hatred in the shadows cast by her long eyelashes.
"Your Majesty's favor is too much for me to bear. How about we go to Zuixianlou for a drink?" she said softly, her voice devoid of emotion.
Zhou Ling chuckled softly, "Okay."
Fangru's fingertips trembled slightly inside her sleeve.
It wasn't fear, but rather the murderous intent that had been suppressed for seven lifetimes was now stirring.
After settling Zhou Ling in a private room on the second floor of Zuixianlou, she went downstairs under the pretext of warming the wine and wandered into the back alley.
Huang Jiang was indeed waiting there; this loyal follower of the Baiyang Society would always appear when needed.
She repeated her previous story and regained his trust once again.
"What are your plans, young lady?" Huang Jiang asked in a low voice.
Fangru looked him straight in the eye: "The leader has changed his ways. Kill the dog emperor immediately."
In this life, she will no longer have anything to do with these incompetent and destructive people. This so-called "anti-court righteous" organization is nothing but a makeshift operation. The Baiyang Society's grand plans are nothing more than a trick to send Zhou Ling to his death. She can no longer place her hopes on others.
Huang Jiang was taken aback: "But the cult leader's orders were for kidnapping..."
“The situation is urgent.” Fangru interrupted him, her tone leaving no room for doubt. “The emperor has become suspicious. I have received a secret order to kill him on the spot. Give me the fastest poison in the society.”
Huang Jiang hesitated.
The sound of the night watchman striking his clapper echoed from the alley entrance, each strike resonating deep within people's hearts.
"You doubt me?" Fangru pressed, her experience dealing with the Baiyang Society in her previous lives telling her how to manipulate these people's psychology. "If we jeopardize the leader's important affairs, can you bear the responsibility?"
These words struck a nerve with Huang Jiang. Without further hesitation, he took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket.
"Touching it on the lips is fatal," he whispered. "It will take effect within half an hour, and there is no cure."
Fangru took the porcelain bottle; her fingertips were icy cold.
She went around to the back kitchen of the restaurant, pretended to wash her hands, and carefully smeared the colorless and odorless poison on the rim of one of the wine glasses.
Under the candlelight, the poisoned rim of the cup showed no signs of anything amiss.
When I returned to the second floor with the wine, Zhou Ling was standing by the window.
The lights of the capital city spread out beneath his feet in the night, and he stood at the highest point of Zuixianlou, like a god who controlled everything.
"Why did you take so long?" He turned around, the candlelight flickering on his robes, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
Fangru lowered her eyes and gently placed the tray on the rosewood table: "Warming wine requires patience, and Xueyu wine is most susceptible to being rushed." Her voice was steady, without the slightest hint of abnormality.
She carefully placed the cup coated with poison in front of his usual seat. The rim of the white jade cup gleamed warmly in the candlelight, revealing no trace of murderous intent.
Zhou Ling walked slowly closer, the scent of ambergris lingering between them.
He reached out, not to take the wine glass, but to gently lift a strand of her hair: "I thought Miss Shen was going to leave without saying goodbye."
These words made Fangru's heart tighten.
She suppressed the urge to back away and picked up the wine pot to pour him some wine.
"This cup is for Your Majesty." She gently pushed the wine glass towards him.
Zhou Ling took the wine glass, his slender fingers landing precisely on the spot where the poison had been applied.
Fangru's heart almost stopped beating, and she even had to breathe very carefully.
But he didn't drink it immediately. Instead, he gazed at her thoughtfully and said, "Miss Chen doesn't look too well today."
"Perhaps I caught a chill downstairs just now." She forced a smile.
Zhou Ling raised the glass to his lips, and Fang Ru held her breath.
At this moment, time seemed to stretch out infinitely.
The candlelight flickered in the wine glass, illuminating his deep-set eyes and brows.
As long as he drinks it...
Just then, he suddenly put down his wine glass.
"I've heard that Miss Shen is not good at drinking. Her earnest urging to drink today reminds me of a story..."
He leaned forward, his voice low: "At the Feast at Hongmen, Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Liu Bang. Little did he know that tonight's cup of wine..."
Fangru's heart trembled, but a perfectly timed smile bloomed on her face.
She picked up another wine glass and calmly filled it to the brim:
"Your Majesty is joking. It is true that Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Liu Bang, but Liu Bang ultimately escaped unscathed. This shows that some schemes, which seem like schemes, may not actually be so."
She raised the wine glass to her lips, her clear eyes gazing at Zhou Ling:
"If Your Majesty has any doubts about this wine, I, your humble servant, am willing to drink it first as a sign of respect."
Fangru calmly raised her glass and drank the wine in one gulp. She had deliberately chosen the intact glass; the poison was only applied to the rim of Zhou Ling's glass, and the wine itself was unaffected.
"This second cup," she refilled the wine and presented it to Zhou Ling with both hands, "is a sincere toast to Your Majesty. How dare I, a mere woman, presume to presume before Your Majesty? I merely offer this wine to express my gratitude for Your Majesty's kindness."
Her voice was as soft as water, but her eyes were as firm as a rock.
"If Your Majesty is still not at ease, I am willing to drink three more cups to prove my innocence."
These words not only eased the tense atmosphere but also returned the choice to Zhou Ling.
If the emperor were to refuse at this moment, it would appear that he was petty and narrow-minded.
Zhou Ling gazed at her composed demeanor, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.
Finally, he took the glass again.
Fangru held her breath, feeling her fingertips trembling uncontrollably inside her sleeve.
As soon as he drinks this wine, and the poison takes effect in a moment, she will immediately shout "Assassin!" and blame everything on the Baiyang Society rebels in the alley.
When the emperor dies suddenly and the rebels are executed, she will be able to completely escape this nightmare that has haunted her for lifetimes and regain true freedom.
The thought made her tremble; it was a mixture of excitement and fear.
The wine glass had already touched his lips.
Fangru's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to leap out of her chest.
Just then!
A sudden wave of nausea surged up my throat.
She instinctively covered her mouth, but couldn't stop gagging. The churning in her stomach made her vision go black.
"vomit……"
Filth splashed onto Zhou Ling's dark robe, leaving unsightly stains on the delicate embroidery.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Zhou Ling stopped moving.
He slowly put down his wine glass, looked down at the stains on his clothes, and then looked up at her pale face.
"Does Miss Shen feel so nauseous upon seeing me?" His voice was soft, yet it pierced her heart like an ice pick.
Fangru suppressed her panic and quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his face: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Perhaps I had some stale tea and snacks downstairs just now, and that's why..."
Zhou Ling's gaze lingered on her face, then he suddenly reached out and lifted her chin: "You look so pale, are you perhaps feeling unwell?"
His fingertips were icy cold, yet carried an irresistible force.
Fangru was forced to look up and meet his gaze, feeling as if his deep eyes could see through all her secrets.
"I hope you're not pregnant."
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