Chapter 18 Blood Sacrifice
Chu Wangshu sat up, embraced Shen Qingmeng, rested his head on the crook of her neck, and sat like that for a long time.
“My only bargaining chip is my life. The reason I can threaten the emperor is because he doesn’t want me to die. If he dares to touch the people around me, I will really die for him,” Chu Wangshu said. “But I don’t want to die now, Qingmeng. I want to have a future with you, instead of dying here.”
Shen Qingmeng naturally understood the reasoning Chu Wangshu was talking about, but she really couldn't bear to leave him behind.
"If you stay, how will you protect yourself?" Shen Qingmeng finally relented.
"When Cangning attacks, the emperor will surely ask me to divine how to survive this calamity. I only need to activate the compass and take the opportunity to take the fake death medicine."
"That won't work either! How do you know he won't..."
“No,” Chu Wangshu interrupted Shen Qingmeng: “Qing Kingdom believes that the Chu family bloodline with divination abilities is a gift from the immortals. After the death of the national teachers, they are all buried in the imperial mausoleum. It is impossible to desecrate their corpses. You just need to pick me up and leave within five days, and I will not really die.”
"...Chu Wangshu, you mustn't lie to me!"
Chu Wangshu patted Shen Qingmeng's head: "I'm not lying to you."
"If you're bluffing me, you'll be eating bitter melon every day from now on."
"Alright, do as you please," Chu Wangshu asked with a smile, "I'd like to eat mashed yam tonight, is that alright?"
"Honey or jam?" Shen Qingmeng seemed to have never refused any of Chu Wangshu's requests.
"Hmm...hehe, I want to eat them all."
"Then add honey to one dollop and jam to the other!"
"How about you teach me how to make dumplings tomorrow?"
“This… won’t do,” Shen Qingmeng looked up and pinched Chu Wangshu’s cheek. “I don’t know how to roll out dough, I only know how to wrap it…”
"I'll learn, and I'll roll it out myself from now on."
The snowfall wasn't heavy, and it stopped in less than an hour, as if it were just to wash away the dust that had accumulated in the air for days.
The weather wasn't very cold. As the sun came out, the thin layer of snow covering the ground gradually melted, revealing the remaining traces of late autumn.
On the terrace, Shen Qingmeng made a delicate little bird out of the snow and stuck a few twigs into its tail. She said that this could barely be considered a big-tailed bird.
The Astrology Pavilion enjoyed its final moments of peace and tranquility amidst laughter and joy.
On the seventh day of the ninth month, Shen Qingmeng accompanied Physician Li on a trip to collect medicine, accompanied by two servants.
The mountain path was slippery, and Shen Qingmeng and Physician Li accidentally fell off a cliff. After the servant reported this, all the guards stationed at Lingtai Mountain were mobilized to search for the two throughout the night, but they all returned empty-handed. They only found a strip of cloth caught on a tree branch at the bottom of the cliff. The cloth was the same as the clothes Shen Qingmeng was wearing when she went out.
But below the cliff is a rushing mountain stream, which becomes a waterfall further down, and below the waterfall is a bottomless abyss.
Shen Qingmeng and Physician Li are in grave danger.
Chu Wangshu was so anxious that he developed a high fever.
Emperor Qing dispatched more people to treat Chu Wangshu while searching the entire Lingtai Mountain. They even found the river cave under the waterfall, but still couldn't find any trace of her.
In some unnoticed, shadowy places, Cang Ning's troops had already penetrated every corner of Daqing's land.
On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the day of Double Ninth Festival, when people climb mountains, the iron cavalry of Cangning trampled the morning frost on the border of Daqing.
The blue military flag loomed like dark clouds, and only three beacon fires had been lit at the border when the defending general quietly opened the city gates—there was no bloodshed, no resistance, as if it had been preordained long ago.
Cangning's army marched straight in, and the prefectures and counties along the way surrendered one after another. Even the symbolic resistance seemed perfunctory. There was no bloodshed wherever they went, after all, the land beneath their feet had once been Cangning's territory.
The people along the official road kept their doors closed, but peeked out from behind their windows, and some even secretly prepared rice and grain to welcome the army.
They weren't waiting for rebels, but for the long-awaited imperial army.
When the defending general bound himself and surrendered, he said, "It is not that I am disloyal, but that it is the will of Heaven and the will of the people."
When the news reached the capital, the chrysanthemum banquet for the Double Ninth Festival was abruptly canceled. Emperor Qing experienced for the first time what it felt like to have an army at the gates of a city. The Imperial Guards immediately deployed, but ultimately failed to defend the capital, only managing to keep the blue military flags outside the city walls.
Chu Wangshu was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison by Emperor Qing because of a very ancient rumor—blood sacrifice.
An ancient book says:
The Star Officials, blessed by their ancestral immortals, possess the ability to observe the heavens and explore the stars.
If the starlight dims, and one encounters a dead end or dire straits, one should offer one's heart's blood as a sacrifice, which may reverse the tide and break through all obstacles in an instant.
However, it must be done with a willing and sincere heart. If there is even the slightest reluctance, the astrological chart will shatter and fate will turn against you, plunging you into eternal darkness.
This was originally an ancient rumor that no one had verified, but with the enemy at the gates, Emperor Qing was powerless to reverse the situation and could only hope to get Chu Wangshu to willingly sacrifice herself.
As soon as news of Cang Ning's unstoppable advance into Daqing reached the palace, Emperor Qing sent people to bring Chu Wangshu to the palace.
He knew where the people's hearts lay, and he also knew that the surrender of the city could not be stopped. The only solution now was a blood sacrifice.
Emperor Qing then realized that Shen Qingmeng and Imperial Physician Li had not simply fallen off a cliff by accident; rather, they had left him with no way to control Chu Wangshu.
Chu Wangshu was imprisoned in a water dungeon. His hands were suspended by iron chains, and his toes could barely touch the ground. The water in the pool rose to his chest every day and stayed there for two hours before receding.
Even so, he did not waver on the matter of blood sacrifice.
The rumor was brought up again by Chu Wangshu's men, because only in this way could they keep Emperor Qing from killing him.
The fact that the Imperial Preceptor was buried in the Imperial Mausoleum after his death was not a lie to Shen Qingmeng, but... he was not buried whole. To prevent the Chu clan from being reborn in other countries, the Imperial Preceptors of each generation had their hands and feet severed after death, and their torsos were firmly nailed into the coffins before they could be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum.
But naturally, the outside world will not know these things.
The apparent anxiety was a lie; the real issue was the persistent high fever. Chu Wangshu was already in a daze in the water dungeon, with only the regularly rising dirty water reminding him that another day had passed.
It's the third day.
The water seems to have receded rather early today.
The iron chains binding Chu Wangshu's hands were unlocked, and two guards dragged him out of the water dungeon, leaving a trail of winding watermarks.
Without the iron chain hanging, Chu Wangshu lost his strength and lay face down on the ground, the only difference between him and a corpse being his trembling breath.
The guards grabbed his hair, forcing him to raise his head and meet the emperor's gaze.
Unlike the emperor's anxiety a few days ago, he asked more urgently today: "Grand Preceptor, are you still unwilling to initiate the blood sacrifice to save Qing Kingdom from its dire straits?"
Chu Wangshu was on the verge of fainting, with only a sliver of conscious awareness remaining. Her voice was hoarse and weak: "Why...why did I...save...such a country..."
"You are the Grand Preceptor of the Qing Kingdom! This was your destiny!"
"At worst, I'll die... Otherwise, Your Majesty can kill me right now... and offer me as a sacrifice to the heavens, hahahahahahaha..."
Chu Wangshu's laughter echoed in the prison, desolate and shrill, yet carrying a hint of madness and satisfaction.
Two jailers dragged Chu Wangshu to the rack in an instant and tied his hands up again. The emperor picked up the iron hook with its menacing barbs and, without hesitation, stabbed it precisely and ruthlessly into the weak spot under Chu Wangshu's right scapula.
"Ugh—" Chu Wangshu's body tensed instantly, the iron chains clanging as he pulled on them. The barbs scraped against his bones and nerves, bringing a tearing pain that could drive anyone mad. Veins bulged on his forehead, large beads of cold sweat rolled down his face, and he clenched his teeth so tightly that he locked the cry of pain in his throat, only a muffled groan escaping from his throat.
Blood gushed out, spreading across his already soaked, thin undergarment.
"I will ask you one more time: are you willing to perform a blood sacrifice?"
Chu Wangshu's vision was blurred with pain, and her breathing was labored, but she still managed to force a smile. She did not answer Emperor Qing, but said intermittently, "Cangning... has reached the capital?"
"I ask you whether you will perform a blood sacrifice!" The emperor's eyes were bloodshot, filled with a morbid urgency. He picked up another iron hook and plunged it into Chu Wangshu's left shoulder blade.
But Chu Wangshu no longer had the strength to even cry out in pain; only the physiological muscle reactions triggered by the pain caused her whole body to tremble: "It seems... the palace is... surrounded... much faster..."
After saying this, his consciousness finally gave way, and he sank into darkness completely.
"Splash him awake!" the emperor shouted sternly.
A bucket of icy salt water was poured over his head. The salt corroded his wound, causing excruciating pain. Chu Wangshu's body trembled violently, and he slightly opened his eyes, his breathing heavy and broken.
Emperor Qing's tone was almost maniacal: "Stab him one by one, until he gives in!"
The jailer held a set of slender, gleaming steel spikes in his hand. He grabbed Chu Wangshu's limp hand, pinched a finger, and aimed the spikes at the tender flesh where the nail met the skin, mercilessly piercing it bit by bit!
The pain of having one's heart ripped out is no greater than that of having one's heart and bones torn out.
"Ah—" Chu Wangshu finally couldn't help but let out a short cry of pain, and suddenly tilted her head back, her neck forming a desperate arc.
One steel spike after another pierced beneath Chu Wangshu's fingernails, causing her body to convulse violently. Each tremor pulled at the iron hooks on her shoulder blades, bringing a new round of torment.
Those long, slender, and fair hands that Shen Qingmeng had praised countless times were no longer the same. The tips of his ten fingers were completely soaked in blood, and beads of blood flowed from between his fingers, hanging on the steel needles before falling drop by drop.
Qingmeng, it really hurts so much...
After an unknown number of steel needles pierced her fingertips, Chu Wangshu completely lost consciousness and fainted again.
Seeing that the ice-salt water couldn't wake Chu Wangshu, the old eunuch immediately stepped forward, pried open his jaw, and forcibly poured a bottle of pungent, red liquid into his mouth.
That was a drug commonly used during interrogation of prisoners. After taking it, it would force the person to remain conscious and amplify the pain for an hour. The drug was potent, burning the throat and internal organs, but it also severely damaged the heart.
Chu Wangshu coughed violently, as if his lungs were being torn apart, aggravating the wounds all over his body, forcing him to regain consciousness from his coma. His eyelids fluttered open with difficulty, and his unfocused pupils took a while to focus on the emperor's face, which had become ferocious due to anxiety and madness.
Just then, a faint rumbling sound came from the entrance of the prison, and shouts of battle and the clash of weapons suddenly approached.
A blood-soaked imperial guard stumbled in, crying out in terror, "Your Majesty! The Cangning army has breached Xuanwu Gate!"
The emperor's body trembled violently, the color draining from his face in an instant. His eyes were first filled with extreme fear, then replaced by utter madness. He suddenly looked at Chu Wangshu, who was lying on the rack barely breathing, a desperate ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
"Heaven wants to destroy me... but I will defy Heaven!" he roared, grabbing a short-bladed dagger. The dagger had a peculiar shape, with a hollow blade, as if it were made specifically for drawing blood.
He stepped forward and roughly tore open Chu Wangshu's tattered clothes, which were already soaked in blood, with his left hand, revealing his pale but well-defined chest.
The emperor, as if possessed, raised his dagger and plunged it fiercely into Chu Wangshu's heart!
Pfft—
The sharp blade pierced through the flesh and went all the way down to the hilt.
Chu Wangshu's body suddenly arched upwards, convulsing all over. Her eyes widened abruptly, but there was no spirit in them. Like a dying fish, her mouth was slightly open, but she could not make a sound.
An intense, indescribable pain exploded within him, engulfing all his senses.
The emperor twisted his wrist sharply, pulled out the dagger, and crimson blood gushed from Chu Wangshu's chest.
The moment the blood gushed out, Chu Wangshu's head slumped down limply, but her consciousness was held aloft by the medicine she had just drunk, a state that was both chaotic and clear.
Blood dripped onto the compass, but the black iron remained completely unchanged.
The emperor instantly grabbed Chu Wangshu by the neck, roaring urgently, "Speak! Say you're willing to be sacrificed! Speak!"
Chu Wangshu simply repeated the curse: "If... even the slightest... reluctance... forces... the one who is forced to... be forever condemned to... a realm without light..."
The emperor picked up the dagger and was about to stab Chu Wangshu in the heart again.
He had just raised his hand when Shen Qingmeng exclaimed from behind, "Let him go! I, I'll return the imperial seal to you!"
The emperor turned around and saw Shen Qingmeng all alone, without any weapons, holding only the jade seal symbolizing the imperial power of the Qing Kingdom.
"Or whatever you want, I'll help you tell the Queen not to kill him!" Shen Qingmeng said, kneeling straight in front of the prison cell and presenting the imperial seal forward.
"What use is a dead jade! I want Cangning to withdraw its troops, how can you make that decision!"
The shouts of battle outside had ceased. Shen Qingmeng's appearance meant that Cang Ning had indeed breached the last line of defense. Emperor Qing was only close to madness, but not in a state of mental confusion. He knew that Shen Qingmeng was merely stalling for time, but it was difficult for him not to consider what she had said.
Shen Qingmeng's voice suddenly rose: "You know better than anyone that the palace has fallen and the situation is hopeless! If you are willing to spare Chu Wangshu's life, I will guarantee that your royal family will live out the rest of their lives in peace!"
She stood up, stepped forward, and stared intently at the emperor: "I can even let you leave the capital safely and take your imperial treasury treasures with you, as long as you don't kill him!"
Emperor Qing seemed to be pondering what Shen Qingmeng had said, and did not react in any way.
The prison was eerily quiet. Shen Qingmeng stood there, staring intently at the dagger hanging over Chu Wangshu's chest in Emperor Qing's hand.
In a corner unnoticed by anyone, a wisp of white smoke had already slowly spread, engulfing the entire prison.
Author's Note:
Ouch, my arm got stabbed through. Just thinking about it hurts.
And my fingers too, I feel so wicked [cracked face]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
