Chapter 126 The Strange Illness is Completely Cured. ...
Not far away, the Imperial Guards brought by Xiao Che noticed something amiss and were about to step forward when suddenly a soldier from the Eastern Palace, who had silently appeared behind them, slit their throats.
They turned around in an eerie manner, and when they saw who was behind them, their eyes widened in shock. They staggered backward and fell to their deaths. Even in their dying moments, they could not believe that their killers were not rebels, but their comrades.
This bloody massacre, because one side was completely unprepared and died without even struggling, was almost completely silent.
Xiao Jue slowly curled the corners of his lips, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
He casually withdrew his gaze and looked up again at the two people not far away who were completely unaware of everything happening around them.
——
Yan Jiarou finally couldn't hold back her tears and cried out. Even though she was the one who stabbed him in the chest with the dagger, she was trembling all over.
The moment the dagger was pulled out, blood splattered, and a few drops landed on her face, warm and wet.
She seemed to have been burned, and retreated in a panic.
The dagger's tip drooped, and blood trickled down onto the snow. The extreme white and the startling red resembled red plum blossoms blooming in the snow, possessing an eerie and bewitching quality.
The snowflakes fell in a flurry, and he grew colder and colder. Xiao Che looked up, his pale pupils reflecting the snow-covered sky. Snowflakes landed on him and melted instantly, but the chill seeped into his bones. He could feel his life slipping away bit by bit.
Even keeping his eyelids open was extremely difficult, but he still forced himself to speak.
"That brocade pouch containing my vital point... did you open it?"
Yan Jiarou was taken aback. Her first thought was: How did he know? At the same time, a strange feeling arose in her heart that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Why would he ask this question at such a critical moment?
However, at such a moment, with thoughts in disarray, I couldn't quite grasp the idea and could only answer truthfully—there was really no need to lie now: "Yes! What, didn't expect that? Did you think that I loved you to the bone and would never have the heart to harm you, and would never open that brocade pouch? But Xiao Che, not all women would risk their lives for you and be willing to be used by you. I am no longer the fool you thought you could play with at will."
Xiao Che gave a bleak smile, a smile that only made him weaker. After a long pause, he finally asked, "Why..."
Although it was only three words, Yan Jiarou knew what he wanted to ask.
She clenched her hands tightly and took a deep breath: "Why? Because only by doing this can my strange illness be completely cured, and I won't be forced to pretend to be nice to you or get entangled with you endlessly."
Xiao Che murmured, "...Forced?"
"Oh……"
Once the words were spoken, naturally, one wanted to say them all at once. Why? And there was more than one reason.
Her emotions suddenly intensified, her eyes reddened, and she almost lost her composure as she said, "You set up the scheme that caused my brother, the Crown Prince, to be seriously injured and fall from his horse. In order to seize the position of Crown Prince, you did so many heinous things... You have been lying to me all along, and you have been using me all along. You did all of this. I am only seeking revenge for him and for myself!"
Her desperate shouting seemed to be an attempt to prove that she had never done anything wrong!
"Xiao Jue? It really is because of him... You actually like him this much..."
"And what about me?" He thought he still didn't want to believe it, which was why he asked such a foolish question at this moment: "Have you ever, even for a moment, truly loved me?"
Yan Jiarou's eyelashes trembled. Her face, which was originally snow-white, was now completely bloodless, almost blending into the snow-covered landscape.
Her dark eyes stared at him indifferently as she said, "No, never."
Now, she desperately tries to erase everything about Xiao Che, memories that cause her immense pain, memories she avoids acknowledging.
Besides, Xiao Jue said that she didn't truly love Xiao Che, but was being controlled by the wicked fox spirit, which was why she acted this way. Yes, that must be it... After today, she will return to normal and will no longer suffer any pain, as long as she gets through today...
Thinking of this, she clenched her hands, her tone becoming even more resolute: "The only one I've ever loved is my Crown Prince brother. Everything between you and me was just due to the influence of the wicked fox spirit; it wasn't my true intention!"
She chose the most vicious and cutting words to stab him: "How could I like you? You are from Lanling. People are right, the Lanling clan specializes in seduction and bewitching, manipulating people's hearts. They are the most despicable." She knew this was Xiao Che's deepest sore spot. She knew better than anyone how devastating these words were to him. She did it on purpose.
That's not what she really thought, but she insisted on saying it that way.
She had said it before: if she felt five parts pain, he would suffer ten. He had betrayed her first; she only wanted him to taste the pain of heartbreak. What had she done wrong? She suppressed the indescribable heartache in her heart and told herself again and again that she had done nothing wrong.
Those words weren't her true intention, but the hatred in them was genuine. Love and hate are intertwined, inherently inseparable.
With such an expression and tone, no one could find a single flaw.
Xiao Che thought that this was her true feeling.
Every word was like being slowly sliced to death.
Perhaps because I have already experienced extreme pain, hearing these things now brings a kind of numb calm.
He barely reacted, except that his fingers, hanging at his sides, curled up almost imperceptibly.
He gazed at her for a moment, then suddenly chuckled, "Okay, okay..."
He reacted like this; she thought he would get angry like before…
Yan Jiarou felt a moment of unease. Taking revenge on Xiao Che didn't seem as satisfying as she had imagined. She frowned and said, "After today, the bond between us will be completely severed, and my strange illness will be cured. I no longer need you, and I no longer have to pretend to be nice to you. Xiao Che, from now on, we owe each other nothing."
The snow finally started falling heavier and heavier.
He was so weak that he could clearly feel the weight of the snowflakes falling on him. Finally, he couldn't hold on any longer and slowly knelt before her. Even raising his head required a great effort: "You always said to let me wait for you... You said... you like me, you just wanted... me to give you a little more time..."
"You say it over and over again, and I listen to it over and over again..."
"The more you say it, the more I start to believe it..."
"I thought I could always wait... I don't expect you to like me as much as I like you... I just thought that with time, you would like me a little more..."
"For this pitiful illusion, I waited again and again..."
"And what I got in return... was this knife you stabbed me with today..."
"How ridiculous. I've forgiven you every time you've lied to me... But Yan Yan, this really is the last time..."
For some reason, Yan Jiarou's heart suddenly clenched.
She staggered back a step, looked down at him, and saw that a pool of blood had accumulated beneath him.
The wound she had pierced was oozing blood continuously.
How could one person have so much blood? Xiao Che... how could he have lost so much blood...
She only stabbed a trivial spot with a dagger...
She stood frozen, helpless, watching him slowly collapse into the snow, his gaze gradually unfocused. With his last ounce of strength, he asked her, "Did you see the two snowmen I built for you in the yard...?"
Boundless and completely unrelated.
—The last thing he left her was this sentence.
However, that soft voice quickly dissipated into the wind and snow, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier; he could no longer hear her reply.
In his last moments before losing consciousness, he gazed at the swirling snowflakes and suddenly thought aimlessly that with such heavy snow falling on his hair, it wouldn't melt in time, and he would be white-haired by then. By some twist of fate, it wouldn't be a betrayal of their promise to grow old together.
That's fine too.
Thinking this, he gradually closed his eyes.
...
Yan Jiarou stood there in a daze, frantically trying to reach out and touch him.
But at that moment, a shrill scream suddenly rang out: "Yan Jiarou, you killed him! You killed him!"
It was Ji Le; she had appeared here at some point.
Yan Jiarou only saw that she looked like a madwoman, staring at her intently with a murderous intent in her eyes, as if she wanted to pounce on her and tear her apart piece by piece.
She didn't know why she was so agitated; she had only stabbed someone with a trivial stab.
Yes, she loved Xiao Che so much that she became a demon. Let alone stabbing him, even causing him to lose a single hair would make her hate her to the core. Yes, that must be it…
Lanling's constitution is different from ordinary people, and he will not die easily unless his vital points are pierced.
Ji Le was too concerned about Xiao Che.
Turning her head, she saw Yingxue standing under the corridor looking at her with the same incredulous expression.
Why, why do they all look at her like that...?
She couldn't help but cry out, "I didn't... I didn't... I didn't kill him!"
How could she possibly kill him? Even though she knew that he had gone so far as to frame Xiao Yan and seriously injure Xiao Jue in order to seize the position of Crown Prince, and that he had been toying with and using her from beginning to end, deserving to die a thousand deaths, she had never thought of killing him!
She just wanted to stab him and sever all ties with him!
Why, why are they all looking at her like that! As if she's done something utterly heinous and unforgivable!
It's as if... she really killed Xiao Che...
No, that's not true, she didn't, she didn't!
Suddenly, a commotion arose outside. There were the sounds of orderly footsteps approaching from afar, the clanging of metal from clashing armor... She also heard Yan Xiao's voice, shouting, "The traitors have all been executed!"
Then came the cheers of the Imperial Guards.
So the rebellion has been quelled, Yan Xiao has arrived... Ji Le is here too... They will definitely go to the imperial physician to treat Xiao Che...
It seemed there was no need for her to stay.
When Xiao Che wakes up, he won't want to see her again. That's fine, since they've already severed ties and owe each other nothing.
She really didn't want to stay any longer.
Perhaps it was because she couldn't bear the way they looked at her, or Ji Le's shrill questions...
If Yan Xiao had seen the scene inside, she would probably have felt the same way. Although she hadn't killed Xiao Che, she still couldn't stand their almost hysterical accusations, which gave her the illusion that she had really killed Xiao Che.
The mere thought of it sent chills down her spine, and her instinct was to run away...
She finally couldn't bear it any longer and turned to run back to the inner palace.
——
After Yan Jiarou left, Ji Le seemed to wake up from a dream and staggered to Xiao Che's side.
The sheer amount of blood, set against the backdrop of the snow, appeared even more strikingly red.
She immediately knelt down beside him.
He lay quietly in the pool of blood, his handsome features unchanged. Apart from being slightly pale, he showed no other abnormalities, as if he were simply asleep.
However, when the finger touched the tip of the nose, there was no breath.
Ji Le trembled as she withdrew her hand, her face drained of color, and she could only murmur, "No, no..."
She closed her eyes, calmed herself, and once again probed her fingers into his heart.
Fortunately, a trace of a heart pulse remained there.
Lanling's constitution is different from ordinary people. The absence of breath does not mean death; the complete loss of heart pulse is.
But the complete loss of breath meant that death was not far away. If nothing was done, the loss of his heart would be inevitable sooner or later.
Time is running out for her.
“Xiao Che…you won’t die…” She reached out and touched his face, her fingertips lingering on his features: “I will save you…”
She murmured softly, "No matter the cost, I will save you..."
She thought she shouldn't have made a deal with a tiger. At that time, she didn't know that this cooperation with Xiao Jue would become the most regrettable thing in her life.
Today was supposed to be the day he told her that her wish would be fulfilled, and that Yan Jiarou and Xiao Che would have no further connection from now on.
But Xiao Che did not return home last night, and this morning she heard that the Maitreya Sect rebels had attacked the inner court. Her eyelids kept twitching and she felt uneasy. After most of the rebels were wiped out, she finally found an opportunity to come to Chenghuan Palace.
But upon entering, a commotion arose, and following the path to the [redacted], one stumbled upon a scene that utterly horrified the soul—
Xiao Che was stabbed in the vital spot by a dagger, and blood was flowing freely. Standing opposite him was Yan Jiarou, whose lotus-pink skirt was stained with winding bloodstains, but these bloodstains did not come from her. A bloodstained dagger lay quietly at her feet, and she looked at Xiao Che with a panicked and helpless expression.
It's clear who stabbed Xiao Che in the vital spot.
But she simply refused to believe that this matter had nothing to do with Xiao Jue and was all the work of that idiot Yan Jiarou.
However, now is not the time to dwell on that; finding a way to save Xiao Che is the most urgent task.
But when they were about to leave, they were stopped by the guards of the Eastern Palace.
Xiao Jue narrowed his eyes, turned to look at her, and said with an ambiguous expression, "Miss Ji Le, where are you going?"
"Your Highness, the Third Prince has already passed away. General Yan is outside. This servant only wanted to let him in to see the Third Prince one last time and to help with his body preparation. Is Your Highness not even allowed to do that?"
Xiao Jue slowly smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "No need. I heard that there's no more noise outside, so Yan Xiao must have gone far away. As for collecting the body, I am your master's elder brother. With me here, why bother outsiders?"
As she spoke, she gave a wink to the guards beside her. The guards understood and immediately tried to capture her. However, seeing that she was just a woman and very thin, they underestimated her. They did not expect that she knew martial arts and were caught off guard, which allowed her to escape from Chenghuan Palace.
Seeing this, Xiao Jue flicked his sleeve and coldly rebuked, "A bunch of good-for-nothings!"
But he didn't take it to heart and didn't let them continue to pursue it.
In his view, she was just a lowly palace maid and shouldn't be able to cause any trouble.
Are they spreading rumors that Yan Jiarou killed Xiao Che?
Ha, who would believe that?
Xiao Che's death could only have been caused by the rebels.
Thinking of this, he curled his lips into a smile, tilted his head back, and took a deep breath.
Xiao Yuangan suffered a stroke, and the Empress Dowager, overwhelmed with anxiety, also lost consciousness. It was time for him to take charge of the palace.
——
Ji Le left Chenghuan Palace and ran quickly northward, her mind racing: Fortunately, Chenghuan Palace was not far from the North Palace Gate, and the sedan chairs of noble ladies were all parked outside the North Palace Gate, and Cui Lingyi was no exception.
The rebellion had just been quelled, and they were still shaken. They must have been eager to leave the palace, and they should have reached the North Palace Gate by now.
Xiao Jue is probably confirming whether Xiao Che is dead right now. He has hated him for so many years, and now that he is dead, he must have many feelings and will say some comforting words to him. He will not immediately deal with his "corpse".
She had to be faster, much faster... before Cui Lingyi left the palace, before Xiao Jue disposed of the "corpse," and before... Xiao Che's last faint pulse completely disappeared.
As for why she sought out Cui Lingyi, Emperor Wei Xi and the Empress Dowager could no longer be relied upon, and only Cui Lingyi could secretly take Xiao Che out of the palace to recuperate from Xiao Jue's hands. As the eldest daughter of the Cui family, Xiao Jue would give her face, and Xiao Jue knew her thoughts, so it was not suspicious that she wanted to obtain Xiao Che's "corpse".
More importantly, the Cui family possesses the Xuanlin Pill, which can bring people back from the dead; perhaps that is the only hope to save Xiao Che.
——
Outside the North Palace Gate, Cui Lingyi, supported by her maid, was about to step into the sedan chair when she suddenly heard an urgent female voice behind her—
"Miss Cui, please wait!"
Cui Lingyi turned her head and recognized the palace maid who was running towards her as Ji Le, who was by Xiao Che's side.
Ji Le ran all the way to Cui Lingyi, her face filled with anxiety and sorrow. She knelt down in front of her with a thud and said, "Miss Cui, please save my prince!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Lingyi's expression trembled, and he immediately frowned.
——
Chenghuan Hall, inside [missing information].
The guards went to check on Lanling Xiao Che's breathing and returned to report to Xiao Jue: "Your Highness, the Third Prince... has indeed passed away."
Xiao Jue closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his eyes were still brimming with excitement, and the muscles in his face were twitching slightly.
He slowly walked towards Xiao Che, bent down and personally placed his finger under his nose... Sure enough, there was no breath at all.
A strange smile gradually appeared on his face, and he felt his blood rushing through his veins, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. He had hated him for so many years, and now that he was finally dead, how could he not feel exhilarated!
"Third brother, don't blame me. Blame yourself for being born into the wrong body, born into the womb of a vixen, an ominous birth, and a lowly mixed-race bastard. Yet, you somehow managed to win all of Father's favor, just like the saying 'love me, love my dog.' But why? Why should I bear his utter hatred?! Even my mother died a tragic death because of you two, this vixen and your son. What did she do wrong?!"
"You two, mother and son, are of the same lowly lineage, always trying to steal what belongs to others. One of you stole my father, the emperor, and the other stole the woman I love most. You even want to steal the crown prince position that belongs to me. Ha, do you deserve it?"
"Now that you've come to this end, it's nothing more than divine retribution, a fitting end. Third brother, oh third brother, in truth, you also have your own fault. Tsk, to die at the hands of the woman you love most, that must be a bitter pill to swallow. Go down to the underworld and see how I ascend to the throne, and how I live happily ever after with the woman you love most, raising children together, hahahahahaha..."
He said a lot to Xiao Che, and after venting all the resentment and anger he had felt over the years, he finally felt much better—the inner demons that had accumulated over the years had finally dissipated with Xiao Che's death.
He straightened up and was about to order his men to collect Xiao Che's "corpse" when he suddenly heard a woman's voice from the boudoir: "Your Highness, wait a moment."
Lan Gui Gate is a side gate of Cheng Huan Palace and also a gate connecting to the courtyard. From the entrance of Lan Gui Gate, one can clearly see everything happening in the courtyard.
Now, the gates of the boudoir are wide open, but the entrance is guarded by soldiers from the Eastern Palace.
Xiao Jue turned around upon hearing the voice, and narrowed his eyes slightly upon seeing who it was: "Miss Cui?"
What are you doing here?
"Me? I just had some things I couldn't figure out and wanted to ask Princess Qinghe for advice. But Your Highness, why did you bring your guards to the princess's back palace... And how did the Third Prince end up lying in a pool of blood? Could it be that you killed him?"
“Miss Cui, you can’t say things like that. The Maitreya Sect is causing trouble, and I was afraid Jia Rou might be in danger, so I brought the guards to Chenghuan Palace. As for my third brother, he died at the hands of the Maitreya Sect, and it has nothing to do with me.”
"Is that so?" Cui Lingyi pondered, "But if it is really as Your Highness says, why are there no signs of a fight around this courtyard? There are many corpses of Imperial Guards lying on the ground, but not a single corpse of a traitor... The Third Prince is quite skilled. Does Your Highness mean that he and those Imperial Guards risked their lives but did not kill a single traitor?"
"If the rebels were truly so powerful, how could they have been completely quelled in less than half a day?" Cui Lingyi smiled slightly. "Your Highness, don't you find it strange?"
Xiao Jue's eyebrows twitched. How could he not know that his defenses were full of flaws? There would naturally be signs of a fight later, and there would also be corpses of the rebels. It was just that he hadn't had time to set things up yet. Who knew that Cui Lingyi would suddenly come over and see through his tricks at a glance?
Cui Lingyi was indeed difficult to deal with, unlike Yan Jiarou who was easy to fool.
Xiao Jue looked at her, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and at this moment he couldn't help but feel murderous intent: "Miss Cui, what exactly do you intend to do?"
“Your Highness, there’s no need to be nervous. I have no intention of angering you. The rebellion has been quelled, and I was just about to leave the palace. The Cui family is still waiting for me outside the North Palace Gate. I don’t want to end up like the Third Prince before I leave, losing my life in vain. What do you say, Your Highness?”
Xiao Jue gritted his teeth inwardly, his killing intent forced to subside, and said with a forced smile, "Miss Cui is joking. The rebels have all been executed, so how could we possibly take your life?"
“Is that so?” Cui Lingyi said with a half-smile, “That’s good.”
She said, "Your Highness, I have some private matters to discuss with you. May I come in?"
Xiao Jue's Adam's apple bobbed, and with a slight gesture, the guards released her.
She walked towards Xiao Che step by step, her heart tightening with each step. When she finally stood before him and saw his face lying in a pool of blood, her heart clenched, but she tried her best to appear calm and collected: "It really is Xiao Che. He died just like that?"
"Indeed, he is dead. I wonder if Miss Cui is more sad or happy? After all, he was so ungrateful that he dared to betray the feelings of the most noble lady in our Great Wei."
Cui Lingyi seemed not to hear, but squatted down and tentatively placed her finger under his nose. Sure enough, there was no breath at all...
Her breathing suddenly became rapid, and her heart pounded violently. It took her a long time to calm herself down. Following Ji Le's instructions, she quietly placed her palm on his chest.
Fortunately, a tiny pulse still remains...
However, it was already very weak, and we couldn't wait any longer.
She suddenly stood up and looked at Xiao Jue, saying, "Your Highness, I don't care what you want to do, and I won't reveal what happened today. I only have one request: I want to take Xiao Che with me."
Xiao Jue frowned: "What do you want his corpse for?" His expression held a deep, unspoken meaning, as if he had thought of something: "I know that Miss Cui has always been in love with my third brother, but surely I wouldn't go so far as to take his corpse? He was, after all, a prince. If I give you his body, how will I explain it to Father when he wakes up? Even for burial, I can't just put an empty coffin in the mausoleum, can I?"
"All Your Highness wants is Xiao Che's life. Once he is truly dead, what else would Your Highness really care about?" As she spoke, she bent down and picked up the dagger that Yan Jiarou had left behind. She slowly wiped the bloodstains off it with her fingertips and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Such an exquisite dagger. The hilt is even inlaid with a ruby. It must be something a woman would use."
"Such a thin blade is perfect for the extremely fine wound on Xiao Che's body. To injure someone with a dagger, one must be at close range. To get so close to Xiao Che and kill him with a single blow, catching him off guard, and to be a woman, Your Highness, do I need to tell you who it is?"
"...Speaking of which, with such a major incident occurring in Chenghuan Palace, why is Princess Qinghe nowhere to be seen?"
"My brother is dead. Why doesn't she, as his sister, come out to mourn? Even if she's not that heartbroken, didn't she hear such a commotion? Isn't she curious? Or is it that she actually knows better than anyone how Xiao Che died, so there's no need for her to be curious?"
Xiao Jue narrowed his eyes dangerously and said in a deep voice, "Cui Lingyi, what exactly do you want to do?"
“Your Highness, I have already said that I only want Xiao Che. I don’t want your precious younger sister to get involved in this mess. I still advise you to agree to my request as soon as possible. This will give you more time to find a corpse that resembles Xiao Che and to arrange everything here properly. What do you say?”
"You say Jia Rou killed Xiao Che, do you think others will believe you?"
"Believe it or not," Cui Lingyi looked up, a slow smile blooming on her lips. Against the backdrop of the snow-covered landscape, her beauty appeared even more ethereal and otherworldly, yet inexplicably sent a chill down Xiao Jue's spine: "Why does Your Highness think I touched the blade with my fingertips instead of the hilt when I picked up the dagger?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jue's pupils suddenly contracted, as if he had just realized something: "You..."
Cui Lingyi said, "It's quite a coincidence. This dagger fell into the snow, with the blade exposed, but the hilt was covered by fallen leaves from a sycamore tree not far away. Most of it wasn't soaked in snow water, and the marks left on it are still quite clear..."
“The fine texture of the prepared Xuan paper is not easy to bleed. After wetting it, place it on the knife handle paper and press it gently to transfer the mark to the paper. In this way, the pattern on the hand of the person who killed Xiao Che can be imprinted. Your Highness, how similar do you think it is to your beloved imperial sister?”
"Cui Lingyi, you!"
"Alright, Your Highness, as I said, I don't want to interfere in other matters. As long as you give me Xiao Che, I will pretend I know nothing about everything else—he's already dead, so what harm will it do you to give him to me?"
"Since he is already dead, what use would he be to you?"
Cui Lingyi simply said, "Since Your Highness knows that he has betrayed my feelings, then you should also know that I am not one to swallow this insult so easily. Your Highness should know why I came to see Princess Qinghe today. I simply want to take a closer look at what kind of person he likes."
"Who knew the front hall was closed and unguarded? I went around to the side door of the back hall and stumbled upon this scene at the door. I didn't see the princess, but I saw Xiao Che dead. Oh well, it's not so bad that he's dead. In the end, even when he was alive, things couldn't go my way. Now that he's dead, if I can get his body and put it in an ice coffin, I can have him with me as I wish. Before I die, I can burn him to ashes and bury him with me. On the path of reincarnation, we can be together."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jue's lips twitched slightly: "Miss Cui is indeed..." shocking.
The Cui family had a harsh family style and strict rules that suppressed human nature and placed great importance on social status. It is not surprising that she gradually became psychologically twisted after being immersed in this environment for many years, as she liked Xiao Che but could not like him.
He had only heard that the Cui family possessed the Xuanlin Pill, which was rumored to be able to bring people back to life. Could Cui Lingyi have ulterior motives for taking Xiao Che's corpse back? A hint of doubt crept into his eyes.
Cui Lingyi, however, seemed to see through his thoughts and smiled, saying, "Your Highness, are you saying that our Cui family possesses the Xuanlin Pill, which has the power to bring the dead back to life, and you're worried that I'll use it to save Xiao Che? But everyone knows that's just a gimmick. Has Your Highness forgotten that my father said at the palace banquet years ago that the Xuanlin Pill is only effective when taken by someone who is seriously injured or ill and on the verge of death, and that it doesn't actually have the power to bring the dead back to life? Otherwise, after the patriarch committed suicide, the clansmen would have used the Xuanlin Pill to prolong their lives long ago, so how could it have been passed down? Besides, that pill is extremely precious and has always been kept by my father. How could he casually entrust it to me to save an unrelated person?"
Xiao Jue pondered for a moment upon hearing this, knowing that what she said was true. Well, the Cui woman was meticulous and her scheming was beyond the reach of ordinary people. She also had the entire Cui family as her backing, making her quite troublesome. It was better to grant her wish and avoid further entanglement with her: "Alright, then so be it."
——
The snow was still falling outside, and the whole world was a vast expanse of white.
Such heavy snow is enough to wash away all traces.
The bloodstain in the courtyard will soon be completely buried.
It was as if it had never happened.
Yan Jiarou huddled in the corner under the bed, sitting there in a daze for who knows how long.
A slight rubbing sensation suddenly came from her arm. As if she had remembered something, she immediately rolled up her sleeve and saw that the mark on her arm, which represented the bond between her and Xiao Che, was slowly fading...
She opened her eyes wide, realizing that her strange illness had finally been completely cured at this moment, which meant that she would no longer be influenced by the fox to like Xiao Che, and naturally she would no longer feel pain because of his betrayal.
She was free.
However, the joy that had just reached the corners of her lips suddenly froze.
Why, why is it that even though her strange illness has been cured, she still feels unbearable heartache when she thinks of Xiao Che, even more so than before?
Why? Why is this happening? Xiao Jue clearly said that as long as she did this, the strange illness would be cured and she would no longer feel pain... Wasn't it said that she was bewitched by a fox spirit and that's why she liked Xiao Che? Why is it that now that the bond has been broken, her emotions are still completely controlled by him, and she's thinking about him all the time?
The heartache that had been suppressed was now backfiring violently, as if a dull knife was slowly cutting into my heart.
An indescribable panic spread through my heart.
An extremely terrifying thought belatedly surfaced in her mind. She felt a sharp tightness in her throat. Just as she was about to struggle to get up, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and Yingxue walked in, bringing with her the chill of the wind and snow, clearly having just come from the outer room.
Yan Jiarou held onto the bed railing, staring at her intently.
"...What about Xiao Che?" she asked, her voice choked with emotion. "How is he?"
Yingxue was taken aback, seemingly not expecting her to ask such a question. She had thought that she no longer cared about the Third Prince.
After all, she witnessed firsthand how she treated him...
And the way she asked the question seemed rather strange.
What else could the Third Prince do? Didn't she know that?
However, she ultimately had no choice but to answer. Seeing Yan Jiarou's dazed expression, she carefully chose her words and said, "His Highness the Third Prince... his body has already been taken out of the palace by Miss Cui... The Crown Prince warned me to keep everything I saw to myself, but you are no stranger, mistress. Since you asked me, I naturally have no reason not to answer. I believe the Crown Prince will not blame me..."
She didn't hear anything Yingxue said afterward, only repeating the word "corpse" over and over. Her face turned deathly pale, and she felt a dizzying sensation, her ears ringing. After a long while, she finally stammered, "Xiao Che's...corpse," she stared blankly at her, a trace of confusion still in her dark pupils, her tone cautious and questioning, as if she truly couldn't understand the meaning of those two words: "...What does that mean?"
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