Chapter 97 Just a Pawn 16
Having been implied so clearly, the big man finally understood, and he immediately gasped, "You mean..."
He paused, then exclaimed in disbelief, "But it was a man!"
The skinny guy didn't seem to care. "So what if he's a guy? Haven't you heard of Nanfeng Pavilion?"
"Besides, this Seventh Prince is the most beautiful man in the entire capital. What do you think those people were thinking when they praised his appearance? It's just that in the past, because of his high status, no one dared to put their dirty thoughts on the table. But now..." The skinny man thought of His Majesty's attitude and sighed, "I'm afraid no one would dare to think that way."
The big man still looked a bit bewildered. He stammered "Uh-uh..." for a while, unable to come up with anything coherent. He stood there for a long time, looking somewhat lost and dejected. He seemed to be trying to find some evidence to refute the claim. After searching his mind for a while, he finally realized something was wrong: "He's been imprisoned!"
If this were truly His Majesty's lover, wouldn't he be treated with utmost care? Why was she thrown into prison the moment she arrived?
The skinny guy thought this big, dumb guy was really stupid, and he had to send him to jail!
Even if they were very close before, His Majesty killed their parents, so this Seventh Prince must be filled with hatred. How could he possibly be released without being thrown into prison to toughen up his temper, to grind away all his pride and arrogance, and to make him realize that his only chance of survival is to beg His Majesty?
The skinny man could only sigh in admiration, thinking that His Majesty was truly a man of great things.
Everyone understands this principle, but how many people can actually bring themselves to do such a ruthless thing?
The big man had no idea what the skinny man was thinking. The more he thought about it, the more reasonable his suspicions seemed. He grabbed the man and argued, "We all saw it. The day His Majesty went there, the man was barely breathing... If it had been any later, he would have really been gone!!"
—If there were any feelings involved, it wouldn't have come to this!
The skinny man glanced at him and sighed, "How do you know that's His Majesty's will, or just some subordinates being presumptuous?"
The big guy exclaimed "Huh?", still looking confused.
"I've heard that when His Majesty imprisoned him, he specifically instructed him to treat him well, as he had a past relationship with this Seventh Prince."
The big man couldn't believe it. "They still dared to do that?!"
Skinny guy: "..."
You could say that there are advantages to being a fool.
It's a pity that those who followed His Majesty's orders that time were all "clever" people, and they really "treated" the Seventh Prince well.
I heard that His Majesty specifically chose former officials who had some connections with the Seventh Prince in the past, probably out of fear that something bad might really happen. But unexpectedly, those people were so eager to show their loyalty that they used the Seventh Prince as a pledge of allegiance... and threw their own heads in the line.
Wasn't the group of people killed in Pingtai Palace a few days ago the same?
Judging from His Majesty's attitude towards the Seventh Prince, it might be a great opportunity for those people from Yunjia Palace to return to serve their former master.
As a result, they were all "clever" enough to be overly clever, rushing to show their "loyalty" and turning an "opportunity" into a "death trap".
...
Xia Lu hid behind the artificial hill, holding her breath as she listened, her expression stunned: Is that really how it is?
But then she couldn't help but think of the Seventh Prince's miserable state, and her eyes welled up with tears.
—What did Your Highness do wrong this time?
Xia Lu was so engrossed in listening that by the time she finally noticed, the two men had already moved close enough to spot her.
She panicked and hastily took a step back, but her skirt got caught on a branch, causing the leaves beside her to rustle. The two people who were talking immediately stopped and shouted sharply, "Who?!"
Xia Lu's face turned pale instantly, and cold sweat soaked through her shirt.
If she were to calm down, she would realize that she had nothing to panic about. Compared to those two lazy and gossipy guards, she, as a member of Yunjia Palace, was only standing in a somewhat remote position, which did not even constitute a violation of palace rules. If anyone should feel guilty, it should be those two.
The current situation reminded Xia Lu of how she had carefully hidden herself that night when Gong Po appeared. She couldn't calm down at all, and she even started to tremble.
Fortunately, the two guards didn't have time to search because something happened on the other side.
Soon after, a porcelain bowl shattered inside the palace, followed by several muffled thuds. The guards who had been standing watch outside immediately broke down the door and rushed in. These two men naturally dared not delay: no matter what was happening here, protecting the emperor was the most important thing right now.
Xia Lu, who had escaped death, collapsed and gasped for breath. Meanwhile, the guards who rushed into the palace were both relieved and bewildered.
Contrary to expectations, the atmosphere inside the hall was excessively peaceful.
The Seventh Prince of the Mu Clan, who was lying down, was now half-embraced and held in the arms of the new emperor. A blush appeared on his pale face, which made his reddened eyes and lips glistening with medicinal juice appear somewhat vibrant and beautiful.
The tall man who rushed to the front row later, taking advantage of his size, was quite shocked to see this scene. He had been unable to accept what he had heard for a long time, but now that he actually saw the person, he felt that it was nothing, and even felt a little envious of His Majesty's good fortune with women.
Just as he was thinking this, he felt as if he had been glanced at. Coming to his senses, he quickly averted his offensive gaze. The other soldiers nearby, who were also stunned, had a similar reaction, all lowering their heads and not daring to look any longer, wondering to themselves if they had ruined His Majesty's plans.
The commander of the Imperial Guards, who was leading the charge, had a similar idea and hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
Xuanwei didn't react, but instead gestured to the broken porcelain bowl on the ground and said calmly, "Clean it up and get a new one."
Once everyone in the room had left, Xuanwei relaxed his grip on Ren Yi. He lifted his hand, which had been hidden under the covers, and blood flowed from the hand that was clasped together with Ren Yi's.
Xuanwei paid no attention to the cut on his palm. With his blood-stained hand, he pressed down on the numbness in his thin wrist, forcing Ren Yi to loosen his grip. Then, he pried open each finger one by one and threw away the blood-stained shard of porcelain from his palm.
After doing all this, Xuanwei held Ren Yi's hand tightly.
Blood dripped from their wounds, mingling as it fell. Xuanwei's gaze traveled up Ren Yi's arm until they met. Ren Yi's voice was low and menacing, as if suppressing something, as he spoke slowly and deliberately, "You want to kill me?"
Ren Yi: ?!
He was taken aback. Wasn't Xuanwei here to be killed?
Ren Yi's emotional control was quite good, and he did not let the brief shock and astonishment linger on his face. However, the two consecutive unusual occurrences made him realize that something was wrong: Did this Xuanwei not have any memories outside the illusion?
Ren Yi wanted to probe further, but Xuan Wei had already lowered his head, avoiding Ren Yi's gaze.
Ren Yi had too many small wounds on his body, requiring frequent dressing changes. The medicine was readily available, kept out of reach of anyone. Xuan Wei forcibly pulled Ren Yi's fingers apart and bandaged the newly added bloodstains on his palm. Not only his palms, but the wounds on Ren Yi's body had also reopened due to the movement, and the bandages were soaked with blood, making him look extremely pitiful. Even the faint blush on his face from the movement quickly faded, and his complexion was even paler than before.
Xuanwei treated Ren Yi's wounds again.
Seemingly sensing that Ren Yi might take the opportunity to do something, he pressed Ren Yi down while warning him in a deep voice, "You can't kill me like this."
Ren Yi felt that Xuan Wei might be very good at stirring up the emotions of the remnant soul. He said such words with Ji Jing's face. Ren Yi could feel the remnant soul's killing intent overwhelm its fear for a moment, and stared at it intently under his deliberate indulgence.
Despite the murderous gaze, Xuanwei remained calm and composed, her hands not trembling at all. While holding Ren Yi down, she treated all of Ren Yi's reopened wounds without any cooperation from him.
The remnant soul's instinctive resistance was completely ineffective; Xuanwei seemed to be putting into practice the phrase "You can't kill me."
The remnant soul perceived this behavior as humiliation, and the increasingly intense emotions almost drove Ren Yi to madness.
Xuanwei did not stay in Yunjia Palace for long. After watching Ren Yi finish the medicine that had been served for the third time that day, he left in a grand procession.
Once the group had all left, Xia Lu, who had been hiding in the back, finally showed herself.
The little girl sobbed, her voice trembling as she said, "I...I'm useless!"
Seeing that, Ren Yi felt as if he hadn't just had his wounds re-bandaged, but had been beaten up again.
The situation in the illusion is more complicated than Ren Yi had imagined. Initially, Ren Yi was focused on a quick resolution and didn't pay much attention to anything except letting the remnant soul's emotions run wild. But now the situation is different. He estimates he'll be in this illusion for a while, so it's better for him to continue playing along with Mu Qi's character.
Ren Yi pondered the appearance of the Seventh Prince in his memory, and the expression on his face gradually changed. He seemed to be annoyed by the crying, and his expression gradually changed from impatience to ferocity. He coldly shouted, "Shut up!"
Xia Lu was so frightened by the sound that she burst into tears. She finally remembered the difficulties she had faced in serving this prince in the past. Her heart tightened, and she hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness. But in her panic, she somehow remembered the reassuring look the prince had given her when she left earlier.
Even though it was the worst and most frightening time, His Highness was still thinking about her.
His Highness... he's just in a bad mood right now.
Thinking of this, Xia Lu boldly looked up, but first noticed the abnormal pressure marks and scattered bloodstains on the bedding, and she was stunned.
The words she had overheard outside came to mind, and all the details she hadn't noticed before surfaced in her mind. His Highness's face was even paler than before, and his wounds had been re-bandaged, with blood-stained bandages lying beside the bed...
She couldn't help but think of the foul language that had been uttered by the crowd after the guards stormed into the palace and then retreated. Xia Lu suddenly opened her eyes wide, looked up blankly, and noticed the expression on His Highness's face as he tried his best to endure.
She quickly lowered her head, not daring to think any further, but tears welled up in her eyes again: How could His Highness's current condition bear such favor?!
She tried to say something, but then heard a sharp shout: "Get out if you make another sound!"
Xia Lu barely managed to hold back her sobs and lowered her head to clean up the mess.
—With His Highness's pride, even if such a thing happened, he certainly wouldn't want anyone to know.
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