Chapter 128
"Di Gu's punishment?" Zhou Yanqing laughed sarcastically. "Why don't I see Di Gu punishing me? I only see my mother trying to kill me! For a man, a man who abandoned you!"
"Shut up!" These words seemed to have touched a raw nerve with Consort Qin. "You can't speak of your father like that!"
The more she acted this way, the more ironic Zhou Yanqing felt. "Even now, you're still listening to that man. What am I to you then? Just a tool to get you into his harem?"
Zhou Yanqing was stunned when she thought of this possibility.
He knew his mother loved that man, but he never imagined she didn't love him even a little bit.
If she doesn't love him, why would she care about his marriage? Why would she want him to have a child?
Is it all just to gain a foothold in front of the Southern Emperor?
Now it seems that Zhou Yanqing's head is throbbing more and more. He grips Si Yanmo's hand tightly, his voice weak, "Amo, I'm tired..."
Si Yanmo quickly helped him walk to the bedside, and glanced back at Consort Qin, saying, "Someone, confine Consort Qin to her quarters and keep a close watch on her."
The guards, having received the order, immediately rushed in and tried to force Consort Qin out, but she struggled, crying out, "Zhou Yanqing! You can't treat your mother like this! You'll be punished by heaven!"
Her cursing grew fainter as she was led away by the guards.
Zhou Yanqing, however, seemed to have been ripped from her soul, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at Si Yanmo, "Amo..."
Si Yanmo felt heartbroken and regretted telling him all this. She hugged him and gently patted his back, saying, "It's okay, I'm here for you. If you're sad, just cry it out."
She had barely finished speaking when she felt a damp patch on the front of her clothes.
“She doesn’t love me, does she?” he asked, his voice choked with emotion.
If the Southern Emperor's desire to kill him was merely a blow, then the poison administered by Consort Qin was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
He had struggled for so many years, desperately escaping from slave traders and fighting recklessly on the battlefield, all for the sake of one day giving his mother a better life and making her like him.
But the time when she treated herself best came from that man's attention.
He tried time and again to prove that his mother loved him, but now it's all become a joke.
Si Yanmo had never seen him so vulnerable, like a withered tree that could no longer see spring, just waiting for its roots to fall away and it to collapse completely in the forest.
She tenderly cupped his face in her hands, saying, "Silly boy, it's okay. I love you, and I'll stay with you."
Zhou Yanqing revealed a vulnerability like a child, wanting to say something to her, but her headache was getting worse and worse.
He gripped her hand tightly.
"Amo..." She had barely uttered two words when the metallic taste in her throat became unbearable, and her vision went black as she fainted.
Before he completely lost consciousness, he seemed to hear Si Yanmo calling his name.
He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't, and could only struggle in the darkness.
Gradually, darkness transformed into the gates of the Qin Prince's mansion, and he saw Si Yanmo carrying a bundle as she walked out.
He tried to chase after her but couldn't catch up no matter what he did, and no one responded when he called her name.
He saw someone comforting her, saying that the dead cannot be brought back to life, and that they would find her a better person.
He desperately wanted to be seen, crying out, "Amo, don't go, I'm right here!"
Unfortunately, no one could hear his voice. He watched as someone brought Si Yanmo to meet a certain man, and they introduced him in glowing terms.
He saw Si Yanmo put on her wedding dress and bow to that man.
"No! Ah Mo! I won't let you marry someone else!" He ran over, trying to grab Si Yanmo's hand, but the moment he touched her, the person turned into a vengeful ghost, picked up a dagger and plunged it into his heart.
He suddenly woke up and realized that the witch doctor was giving him acupuncture, and one of the needles was stuck in an acupuncture point on his chest.
Seeing that he was awake, Si Yanmo was overjoyed, and tears of fear streamed down her face as she gripped his hand, saying, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."
She then asked the witch doctor, "Is His Highness alright?"
The witch doctor glanced at Zhou Yanqing, not daring to speak casually.
Although Zhou Yanqing had woken up, her face was still pale.
He gestured for the witch doctor to leave, then grasped Si Yanmo's hand tightly, his voice hoarse, "Amo, if... if I can't hold on any longer, you..."
"Then I'll remarry!" Si Yanmo interrupted him, tears welling in her eyes. "I'll never speak to you again. I won't give you a proper burial; I'll leave your body to rot in the wilderness!"
Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, and she choked up more and more as she leaned over the headboard and sobbed softly.
Zhou Yanqing felt heartbroken seeing her like this, and tried her best to raise her hand to rub her head.
"You are not allowed to...remarry..."
"Then you can't get hurt either! Otherwise I won't listen to you." Si Yanmo pretended to be fierce, but her heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand arrows.
He found his lover's appearance adorable and chuckled softly, "Then I'd better get better quickly."
After saying that, he understood the truth.
He put on a serious expression and said, "Amo, I... I might really not live much longer."
When the symptoms first started, the witch doctor examined the patient and said there was no cure, and at most, they could only use herbs to keep the condition going.
Over time, the toxins will enter the lungs and internal organs, and death will still occur.
If it weren't for Si Yanmo supporting him, he would have given up long ago.
Now that the matter of Consort Qin has come to light, he feels even more strongly that...
"Maybe this is my fate. Just like that old woman's daughter-in-law, those destined to die can't escape it." He tried to force a smile, wanting to appear more relaxed, but it only made Si Yanmo's heart ache.
"No, you won't die. I won't let you die." Tears streamed down her face as she gripped his hand tightly, as if that would keep him with her.
Zhou Yanqing didn't want her to be so sad, "Amo, listen to me... cough cough cough..."
He propped himself up, forehead to forehead, his reddened eyes filled with a smile. "For me, meeting you is already incredibly lucky... You see... cough cough... I'm someone no one loves... no one cares for me, someone others call a wicked... jinx... to meet you... to hear someone say... she wants to save me... she loves me... cough cough cough..."
He forced a smile. "How lucky is that already?"
The more he said that, the more heartbroken Si Yanmo became.
She shook her head frantically, trying to rouse him. "Fool, you should hold on even more now! You can't leave me alone, can you? Have you forgotten that if you die, I, as your queen, will have to be buried with you? And now that so many things have happened, what will happen if they all bully me after you're gone? You must hold on, you can't leave me!"
She cried harder and harder as she talked, until she could barely make a sound.
Zhou Yanqing tenderly pressed her head into his arms, kissed her cheek, and comforted her, "It's okay, I'll arrange everything. You can change your identity and live a good life. No one will be able to find you."
"Zhou Yanqing!" Si Yanmo truly couldn't understand how he could say these things so calmly, feeling both sad and angry. "So you don't want me anymore?"
“It’s not that I don’t want you,” he said, reluctantly wiping away her tears, “it’s that I can no longer protect you.”
"Who needs your protection!" Si Yanmo sniffed and sat up straight. "You said I would come to save you, and that means I'm here to save you. I don't need any new identity or a good life. I just want you! I will definitely find a way to save you!"
Seeing her stubbornness, Zhou Yanqing wanted to persuade her again, "But..."
"No buts!" she interrupted him. "Unless you really want me to remarry, then I'll divorce you right now. I, Si Yanmo, won't be dumped! Even if we have to separate, it will be me who doesn't want you anymore!"
The little madman always manages to say some shocking things.
Zhou Yanqing really couldn't do anything about her.
He liked her stubbornness and the way she would do anything to achieve what she wanted.
Whenever he saw her like that, he was always willing to believe that she really could do it.
"Okay, okay." He took her hand. "I was wrong, don't be angry, okay?"
Si Yanmo grasped his hand in return, pursed her lips, and said, "I'm not angry, I just don't want you to give up. Zhou Yanqing, I love you. Do I need to tell you this seriously again? Is this the first time I've ever loved someone?"
"Your first time?" He couldn't help but feel pleased, gently stroking the back of her hand with his fingertips. "And what about Zhou Junsong?"
"Of course not."
Perhaps she was a little confused before, but now she knows clearly that she treats Zhou Yanqing and Zhou Junsong completely differently.
She wouldn't be so worried when Zhou Junsong was injured, nor would she willingly die for him.
But she was willing to do so with Zhou Yanqing.
She leaned down and nuzzled his nose with her own. "So...husband, just for my sake, hang in there."
"What did you call me?" Zhou Yanqing's sickly eyes lit up, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Say it again."
"Once you get better, I'll call your name as many times as I want." Si Yanmo gently brushed the stray hairs from his forehead. "Promise me, my husband."
As she spoke, she lowered her head and kissed his lips.
This sudden action startled Zhou Yanqing, but she quickly reacted and reached out to hold the back of her head in response.
Perhaps due to illness, he quickly lost his strength, releasing her and panting heavily, but his eyes held a smile, "Amo..."
Si Yanmo kissed his cheek again and said with heartache, "I'm here, don't worry."
Yes, as long as she's there, he'll always feel at ease...
The Southern Palace, Xuanzheng Hall.
With a snap, the entirely green jade bracelet shattered on the ground, scattering its fragments everywhere.
"Queen Nan, Queen Nan, you have such audacity!"
The man sat on the high seat, glaring furiously at the people in front of him.
Even with guards holding her down with knives on either side, Qi Tingyun remained unfazed. "I think Your Majesty is the one who is truly audacious. In this difficult time, you still dare to treat your only ally like this."
She sneered, "Now that the Qin army has captured Jiangwan City, none of the other three kingdoms have come to reinforce it. Don't you understand your current predicament?"
He knew it, of course, but he still stubbornly maintained his pride.
"It was you, wasn't it?" he said, enraged. "You were the one who told your brother to hold back; you all wanted to rebel!"
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