Chapter 19
As the night wore on, the heavy snow gradually subsided, but a fierce wind arose, howling like ghosts and disturbing everyone's sleep.
Shen Yao was woken up, not only by the loud wind, but also by the strange noises carried by it. She pricked up her ears and listened carefully, and goosebumps instantly rose all over her body.
In the dead of night, in the middle of nowhere, someone was crying!
That's terrifying!
"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, demons and monsters, stay away! Laozi, Buddha, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven... please protect me, don't let me run into anything!"
Shen Yao closed her eyes tightly and prayed desperately to all the gods. The more she tried not to hear, the more sensitive her ears became; the sobbing sound seemed to be right next to her, like a bodhisattva chanting something.
The fire had gone out sometime ago, leaving only dim, reddish embers that were still struggling to emit a faint glow.
"Huh!" Shen Yao suddenly opened her eyes. This time she heard it clearly; it was Wei Luo crying!
She turned her head and saw Wei Luo huddled in the corner, arms crossed, trembling all over. "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer! Please don't come any closer!"
It's a person, not a ghost.
Shen Yao breathed a sigh of relief, then went to his side and shook his shoulders, "Your Highness, what's wrong? Wake up~"
Wei Luo kept his head down and did not react at all.
The room was too dark, and there were only a few embers left in the charcoal pile, so Shen Yao decided to start a fire. Once the firewood was burning again, crackling and popping, she went to Wei Luo's side and squatted down next to him.
Perhaps it was the light, or perhaps it was Shen Yao's gentle whispers, that made Wei Luo slowly raise his head. His pale face was covered in tears, and his doe-like, wet eyes were red and filled with helplessness and fear.
He didn't look at the fire; instead, he stared blankly at Shen Yao, his eyes shedding the deep, composed facade of the daytime and revealing their original gentleness and tranquility.
The beauty wept, a sight that evoked pity in me. The once arrogant Crown Prince, the future emperor, now appeared as fragile as glass, making one want to gently comfort him.
"Your Highness, look, the fire has already started, it's alright now." Shen Yao pointed it out to him, her words carrying a gentleness she herself hadn't noticed.
The handkerchief she couldn't find before suddenly reappeared, and she simply used it to wipe Wei Luo's tears. The man was handsome, with fair and smooth skin, a gentle curve to his nose, and rosy lips; he looked weak and easily bullied, posing no threat whatsoever.
A man with such a bodhisattva-like appearance is probably one of a kind in the whole world. He was handsome, politically astute, and brought about the revival of the dynasty, making significant historical contributions, except for his ruthless extermination of the Shen family.
When people are in the dark, they have nothing to fear, and their minds are always filled with wild and imaginative ideas. For example, right now, the dilapidated temple is deserted, and if Wei Luo were to die here, no one would know.
Without Wei Luo, Wei Xun would be the rightful heir to the throne... The idea was good, but she dared not kill anyone!
"It hurts~" Wei Luo looked at Shen Yao, feeling very aggrieved.
"?" Shen Yao asked, "Where?"
He pointed to his right kneecap.
Shen Yao realized that the little secret Wei Luo had been protecting from her during the day was actually here!
His condition is very similar to nyctophobia, which causes a loss of consciousness, meaning that when he wakes up the next day, he will not remember anything.
Seeing the pain on his face, Shen Yao didn't care. She carefully rolled up her trouser leg and gasped when she saw the wound.
Whether from the cold or an infection, the skin was slightly ulcerated, with dark red scabs stuck to the inner garment, making it red, swollen, and quite horrifying to look at.
Shen Yao looked up, surprised, and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Wei Luo did not answer.
"Where's the medicine?"
This time there was a reaction; he took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and handed it to Shen Yao.
"Bear with it."
"Um."
She dabbed some ointment with her fingertip and then gently applied it to his knee. As their skin touched, she felt Wei Luo's body tremble. Thinking she had hurt him, Shen Yao lightened her pressure.
The ointment had clumped together due to the cold weather, so she had to keep rubbing it in circles to break it up. After applying it, she found a clean handkerchief to wrap the wound before saying to him, "Go to sleep."
Wei Luo was unusually obedient. He nodded to her, then stretched out his head and immediately snuggled into Shen Yao's arms, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"!!" Shen Yao was shocked.
I'm telling you to sleep, not to sleep on me!
"Let go, loosen your grip." She tried to break free from his hold, but the man's arms were extremely strong, and no matter how she tried, it was no use; instead, he tightened his grip even more.
After several tug-of-wars, Wei Luo finally loosened his grip a bit, and Shen Yao was too exhausted to struggle anymore. Well, that's it.
Snow blanketed the world, swallowing the vast darkness. Inside a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of Beijing, two people embraced, like the most intimate couple in the world.
The next morning at dawn, a sharp "crack" sounded as the accumulated snow collapsed a withered branch, falling to the ground and leaving several snow tracks. Several small birds on the ground were startled and chirped wildly, flapping their wings and flying away into the distance.
Inside the room, Wei Luo suddenly opened his eyes, his face flushed and his body burning hot. He looked down and saw that Shen Yao was fast asleep, hugging his waist. He immediately felt a surge of anger.
"Chen Yao, get up." Wei Luo suppressed his anger, his voice hoarse. "If you don't get up, I'll throw you to the wolves!"
"Wolves? Where are the wolves?"
Shen Yao woke up with a start, only to realize that she had fallen asleep nestled in Wei Luo's arms. Wait a minute, he was the one holding her last night, how come it's the other way around?
There was no time to think about those details, because Wei Luo was angry. "Chen Yao, my embrace is very warm, isn't it? How long are you going to hold me like this?"
"Uh..." She hurriedly pulled her arm away, her face slightly flushed with embarrassment. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly saw Wei Luo stand up, then stagger and fall straight onto her.
"!!!"
"What's wrong?" Shen Yao helped him up and asked with concern.
Wei Luo's expression changed drastically as he looked at his right leg in alarm; his knee wound had worsened!
"Is your wound..." Wei Luo suddenly looked at her, his eyes fierce, completely unlike his obedient self last night. Shen Yao was startled and dared not ask any more questions.
He sat on the ground, silent, his hands trembling as he rolled up his trouser legs. When he saw the handkerchief, he was slightly surprised, looked up, and asked, "Did you make this?"
Shen Yao nodded and explained slightly, "You weren't feeling well last night, so I helped you out."
Wei Luo frowned, looked away, and then untied the handkerchief. Perhaps because of the cold weather, the wound had expanded, and there was more festering skin.
Seeing his brows furrowed so deeply, and his silence, his eyes fixed on his knees, Shen Yao felt a pang of anxiety. Would he hold this against her?
God have mercy, she really didn't do anything yesterday!
"Your Highness, your wound has worsened. Now that the weather has cleared up outside, why don't we leave here and find a doctor to take a look at you?"
Wei Luo's eyelashes drooped and trembled. She tied the handkerchief around her knees before looking up at Shen Yao and asking, "Where is this?"
Shen Yao was taken aback, glanced outside the dilapidated temple, and shook her head slightly.
"You don't know?" he asked, his eyes questioning.
"We were both knocked unconscious yesterday, how could I possibly know?"
Wei Luo pulled down his trouser leg and stood up again, but his knees were as if they were useless, causing his right leg to be completely unable to exert any force. "My, my leg..." Wei Luo murmured.
Shen Yao had never seen such an expression in his eyes before—fear, helplessness, and disbelief.
I can't walk with my right leg!
In an instant, both of them realized the problem.
"Why?"
He suddenly bent down, clenched his fist, and punched hard into his kneecap.
"don't want."
Shen Yao was faster than him, grasping his wrist. "Your Highness, your kneecap only worsened due to being chilled. You'll be able to walk once the wound heals."
Wei Luo shook his head in anguish, his voice filled with sorrow, "I can't walk, I can't walk anymore!"
No one knew how terrified he was at that moment. A crippled prince, only death awaited him. All his dreams and ambitions would become lonely grave goods, buried deep in a dark tomb, never to see the light of day again.
"No, your leg will get better... or you can stay here, I'll go out and find someone, and then come back to pick you up." Shen Yao's eyes lit up.
It was freezing cold outside, and the roads were very slippery. Wei Luo had injured his kneecap, so he needed to walk less in order to recover faster.
Her suggestion should have been kept quiet; the moment she voiced it, it immediately aroused Wei Luo's suspicion and alertness. He pounced like a cheetah, grabbing Shen Yao's shoulders and roaring, "Are you going to abandon me?"
Shen Yao was startled and shook her head repeatedly, her head bobbing like a rattle drum. "No, I didn't."
But Wei Luo, enraged, wouldn't listen. His eyes turned bloodshot as he stared intently at the woman before him, gritting his teeth as he demanded, "Tell me, did you do it?"
"What are you doing?" Shen Yao was horrified. "I don't understand what you're saying."
"Okay, then let me try a way that you can understand."
He suddenly grabbed Shen Yao, slammed her against the wall, quickly pulled a gold hairpin from her hair, brought it close to her eyes, and said fiercely, "Tell me, what is the plan?"
The man's eyes were dark and filled with murderous intent, his hot breath constantly spraying onto her nose. Shen Yao almost fainted, her slender body trembling slightly, as weak as a feather in the wind. "I... I really don't know what you mean."
The hairpin was as close as her eyelashes; if it were just a little closer, it could pierce her eyeballs.
Shen Yao was so frightened that she burst into tears, tears welling up in her eyes, half from fear and half from grievance. She didn't know why Wei Luo had suddenly turned on her and was interrogating her like this. Last night, and just now, the two of them had been getting along well!
"Ha, you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, is that it?"
A hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. He twirled the gold hairpin in his hand and slid it down his face, from his lower eyelids to his cheeks, from his lips to his chin, like a hunter scrutinizing his prey.
Jin Chai raised her chin, and Wei Luo leaned close to her ear, whispering as if it were a lover's sweet talk, "You love Xu Xuan so much, what if you accidentally cut your face and ruin your appearance?"
The gentler the tone, the more vicious the words!
Shen Yao's eyes widened, and tears finally broke free, streaming down her cheeks, leaving a pearly sheen as they landed on her alluring collarbone. "What are you going to do?" Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Torture and forced confessions." Wei Luo's tone became increasingly gentle.
He pressed the gold hairpin against the woman's delicate neck, teasing her as he spun it around. "We grew up together, do you hate me that much? You'd only be happy if I died?"
His chin was lifted again, and Wei Luo pressed him with another question, "You love Xu Xuan that much?"
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