Chaos
Su Jing built an ice room for Chu Yiran and ordered people to change the ice bricks every day.
The ice bed, made entirely of cold jade, was covered with a snow-white fox fur coat. Chu Yiran's body lay quietly on it, his face still the same as before his death, with a specially made preservative pill from the imperial physician between his lips, his brows relaxed, as if he had just fallen into a deep sleep.
Su Jing took off his dragon robe, wearing only a plain brocade robe, and lay beside Chu Yiran every day. The chill of the ice bed seeped through his clothes, making his fingertips turn purple, but he seemed oblivious, simply turning to the side, staring unblinkingly at Chu Yiran's lifeless face.
"Ah Ran, do you hate me that much?" His voice echoed in the empty ice room, trembling slightly.
The only sound in the ice room was his breathing; it was empty and desolate. He received no response.
Su Jing's fingertips gently brushed against Chu Yiran's cold cheek, the movement so tender it was as if she were afraid of disturbing his dream: "I've guessed countless times... what exactly did Shen Ruoqing tell you? I thought she would say I used you, that I was trying to quell public anger by using your death, that all my kindness towards you was calculated..."
He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing: "But I never expected that, despite all my calculations, you knew that the cup wasn't poisoned, knew that I had faked your death, yet you still used this hairpin to commit suicide right in front of me..."
Su Jing's hand moved to Chu Yiran's hair, and the silver hairpin that Chu Yiran had cut himself was returned to his hair, tied into a neat hair crown.
Su Jing pulled the hairpin out and held it against her neck, murmuring, "Does it hurt a lot...?"
"Hey, you—!" Seeing that blood was already seeping from Su Jing's neck, Chu Yiran reached out in vain to stop him, but could only watch as his hand passed through Su Jing's body.
"You really want to get revenge on me that badly?" Su Jing finally put down the hairpin. His voice lowered, filled with deep grievance and confusion. "Am I that bad in your heart? So bad that you'd rather die than give me another chance to explain?"
Before he could finish speaking, a long-suppressed sob suddenly escaped his throat. Su Jing, who had remained calm in the face of danger amidst swords and shadows, who had carefully navigated the intrigues of the palace, and who had never shed a tear even when abandoned by his own father, bullied by his brothers, and imprisoned by an enemy country, was now like a child who had suffered a great injustice. His shoulders trembled violently, and his tears fell onto the ice bed, instantly freezing into tiny ice beads.
"I just wanted to be good to you..." He sobbed, reaching out to tightly grasp Chu Yiran's cold hand in his palm, trying to draw a sliver of warmth from that chill. "I just wanted to spend my life with you, to fulfill your long-cherished wish, to give you the best things in the world. Why did things turn out like this?"
"You think I did something wrong, you can scold me, hit me, or even ignore me, but why did you have to take your own life to get revenge on me?" His voice was broken and filled with desperate sobs. "What should I do now, A-Ran? Tell me... shall we just lie here like this forever? When we get to the underworld, will you still hate me this much? Will you... never forgive me?"
He turned to the side, carefully nestling against Chu Yiran's shoulder, as if grasping at the last straw. His once upright back was now hunched over, all his fierceness gone, leaving only a deep-seated fragility and helplessness.
Chu Yiran's "soul" hovered to the side, watching him like this, feeling a lump in his throat, a bitter and aching sensation, his eyes uncontrollably reddening. He wanted to shout, "If only you had known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?" But the words only escaped his lips in a silent sigh.
Su Jing practically lived in this ice chamber, completely neglecting state affairs. Huo Yan came countless times, anxiously reporting on the tense situation in Jiangnan and the criticisms from the court, but Su Jing just listened, his eyes vacant, giving no instructions, as if everything outside was no longer his concern.
His body visibly deteriorated, his face turned ashen, and he would often cough violently while speaking. He was drowsy and disoriented, as if he were about to burn out the last embers of his life.
Chu Yiran had never seen Su Jing like this before.
At this moment, Su Jing seemed to have lost all will to live. He spent his days in the ice room, in a daze, his appearance withered and emaciated. He neglected important matters of the court, and paid no attention to the rebellion in Jiangnan or Shen Ji's unusual activities. In his eyes and heart, there was only his cold body on the ice bed.
——
After an unknown amount of time, the chill of the ice chamber seeped out through the cracks in the door. Huo Yan, his eyes red, pushed aside the soldiers blocking the door and staggered in.
Inside the ice chamber built of cold jade, Su Jing lay on her side on the ice bed, her fingertips tightly gripping Chu Yiran's icy hand. Her back was hunched over like a withered tree after being struck by frost, and she did not react to his intrusion.
"Your Majesty! You can't go on like this!" Huo Yan's voice was particularly jarring in the empty ice chamber. "Are you really going to abandon Shen Ji? He's now colluding with the former Crown Prince Su Qi's old subordinates and controlling Su Qi's son, Su Zhi, spreading rumors everywhere that you framed the Crown Prince and usurped the throne!"
"They are using the banner of 'upholding the rightful ruler and purging the court of corrupt officials,' and their treasonous words have long been spread throughout the streets and alleys..." Huo Yan knelt heavily on the ground, his voice trembling with urgency: "They are heading north all the way, and the southern defense line is about to fall. If this continues, they will eventually invade Yanjing!"
"We fought bloody battles to quell internal strife and recover lost territories. Are we just going to let all of this slip away?" Huo Yan's eyes were red, and his voice was filled with heartache. "Your Majesty, are you going to abandon the people and the world? You can't just give up like this!"
Huo Yan's words struck like heavy hammer blows in the deathly silence of the ice room, but Su Jing remained unmoved, not even lifting his eyelids. His gaze was fixed on Chu Yiran's lifeless face, his fingertips tracing the other's cold skin, as if everything around him was irrelevant.
Chu Yiran's "soul" hung to the side, and a bittersweet understanding welled up in his heart.
He knew Su Jing too well. This vast land and its people were never Su Jing's final destination, but merely a stepping stone to fulfill his obsession. Huo Yan's words were destined to fail to awaken someone who had already lost sight of what lay ahead.
But countless questions also flooded Chu Yiran's mind.
Why did Shen Ji suddenly cause trouble? And why did he find Su Qi's son? ...Su Zhi? Is that the name Shen Ji gave him?
Back in the Crown Prince's residence, his senior brother Shen Zheyu risked his life to save Su Qi's child. Chu Yiran didn't want to see his senior brother die in vain, and knowing Su Jing's personality well, he was afraid that Su Jing would regret it later and eliminate him completely. So he specially went to a farmer in a remote village in Lingnan and secretly entrusted the child to him. Even Su Jing was kept in the dark.
How did Shen Ji know Su Zhi's whereabouts? And why would he kidnap a child and raise an army in rebellion under the banner of the former crown prince?
Chu Yiran's thoughts were in turmoil, with countless guesses swirling in his mind. He wanted to figure out the ins and outs of everything, but he could only follow Su Jing and observe everything from his perspective.
The cold air in the ice room made one's bones ache. Huo Yan knelt on the ground, his knees already numb, but looking at Su Jing, who remained unmoved on the ice bed, he finally threw out his last bargaining chip with tears in his eyes.
"Your Majesty! Even if you don't care about the people of the world, or this vast land, don't you think about General Chu?" His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded, carrying a desperate resolve. "Throughout history, the victor is king and the loser is villain! If Shen Ji really marches into Yanjing, what will become of you and General Chu? He's already gone. Do you want him to be unable to rest in peace even in death, to tarnish his lifelong reputation?"
These words were like a knife chilled to the bone, finally striking at Su Jing's weak spot.
His previously stiff back suddenly trembled, and his fingers tightened their grip on Chu Yiran's hand, his knuckles turning white. His eyes, which had been empty for so long, slowly opened, and a crack appeared in the icy mist that had shrouded them, finally revealing a faint glimmer of light.
Seeing this, Huo Yan quickly pressed his advantage, raising his voice with a heart-wrenching urgency: "And General Chu's mother! Your aunt—Princess Anning! Didn't you say you would protect the princess for General Chu and ensure her lifelong peace?"
"boom--!"
Chu Yiran's "soul" was struck as if by a thunderbolt, instantly freezing in place.
What?
Is his mother still alive?
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