wake
Su Jing had been waiting for this day for a very long time.
While Jinling City was still immersed in song and dance, Su Jing had already led his army south under the banner of "purging the emperor's corrupt advisors".
For three months, Shen Ji tried countless times to stop Su Jing from advancing south, but he persisted, marching from Linzi all the way to Jinling. Thousands of miles of scorched earth were trampled flat by his iron hooves, and Su Jing's army, like a poisoned dagger, precisely pierced the most corrupt heartland of the dynasty.
Chu Zhongling stood at the last line of defense outside Jinling City.
The old general, his white hair billowing like a lion's mane, pointed at Su Jing on horseback and roared, "Traitor! How dare you rebel against your superiors?!"
"Traitor? Heh... Marquis Zhenyuan prides himself on being loyal and virtuous," Su Jing sneered. "Is your loyalty to be a watchdog here, to have your wife and children held hostage? To let the Chu family army be slaughtered at will? To let the people exchange their own children to eat?" He spurred his horse forward. "As a husband, you couldn't protect your wife; as a father, you couldn't protect your son; as a subject, you are even suspected by the king to this extent. Marquis Zhenyuan's loyalty is truly laughable!"
Chu Zhongling's face turned deathly pale, and he almost crushed the hilt of his sword.
"The soldiers behind me have all fought bloody battles in the northern border. As for these Jinling soldiers behind you, they've been cooped up in comfort for too long," Su Jing's voice suddenly turned icy. "Can they still lift a gun and draw a bow?"
"Kill them all!" Su Jing shouted, brandishing his sword, and personally charged into the enemy ranks.
As Su Jing had expected, the soldiers of Jinling were routed in the blink of an eye. He stormed through the city gate with lightning speed and threw Chu Zhongling off his saddle: "Men, take the Marquis back to the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence and have someone keep a close watch on him!"
While being restrained, Chu Zhongling shouted, "Traitor—!"
Su Jing, however, drew his sword and stepped forward without looking back.
When Su Jing stormed into the imperial city, the jade steps were soaked in blood, making his shoes sticky.
He stepped over the corpses of the Imperial Guards like a bloodthirsty Yama, and when he kicked open the door of the Golden Palace, he heard a chattering sound coming from under the table.
“Father,” he said with a smile, tapping the imperial desk with the blood-stained tip of his sword, “it’s been a long time.”
Su Yan crawled out from under the table, frantically pleading, "Jing'er, please spare your father! He raised you after all—"
"Give birth to me?" Su Jing squatted down, his eyes as cold as knives. "Father, do you know that I have died many times? When I was born, my mother suffered a difficult childbirth and hemorrhaged, almost killing both her and her unborn child, but Father didn't even glance at her; when I was five, my wet nurse mistakenly ate my food and died of poison in front of me; when I was ten, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince teased me, pushing me into the lotus pond; when I was seventeen, Father personally sent me to Northern Qi, where I escaped death in a land of tigers and wolves, and now Father still won't let me go, sending people to Luoyang to test me time and time again..." He suddenly shoved the sword into Su Yan's hand. "Father, do you want to try killing me again?"
When the blade was pressed against Su Jing's chest, Su Yan's hand trembled like a withered leaf in the wind.
Su Yan broke down in tears: "Jing'er, your father was wrong. Whatever you want, your father will give you..."
Su Jing slammed Su Yan onto the imperial desk, the jade seal digging painfully into Su Yan's ribs. The blood-stained edict was spread out, ink splattering onto the dragon-patterned sleeves.
"Write—" Su Jing's voice was icy, "Pass the throne to me now, and perhaps you can live out your retirement as an emperor emeritus, otherwise..."
He traced his fingertips across Su Yan's trembling Adam's apple, and Su Yan cried out, tears streaming down her face, "Write! I'll write right now! But...but Qi'er..."
“Su Qi? Father doesn’t know yet…” Su Jing turned his back to the towering flames outside the palace. “Right now, my men should be ‘suppressing the rebels’ at the Crown Prince’s residence.” He chuckled. “Oh, right, they might also ‘accidentally’ discover a hidden dragon robe at the Crown Prince’s residence… So Father doesn’t need to worry! Since the Crown Prince harbors rebellious intentions, I will naturally clean house for you…”
Su Yan slumped down, tears blurring the imperial edict. Just as his pen was about to finish writing, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he grabbed the sword beside the desk and stabbed it into Su Jing's back—
The sword's edge was suddenly clamped tightly in mid-air.
Su Jing twisted the emperor's wrist, pressing the blade against his neck. "Father... has never disappointed me." Blood seeped from his aged skin, but his eyes were desolate. "It seems Father doesn't want to leave this Golden Palace alive today?"
Su Yan immediately cried and begged for forgiveness, "Jing'er, Father was wrong! Father will write it now!"
Su Jing snorted coldly and moved the sword away from his neck.
After the imperial edict was written, Su Yan was dragged out of the Golden Palace like a tattered sack, his hoarse cry of "Qi'er—" still echoing from the beams and pillars inside the palace.
Su Jing seemed to have exhausted all his strength, sitting alone on the steps of the Golden Palace, staring blankly at the imperial edict beside him—
"I have been under the Mandate of Heaven for forty-nine years, and have been vigilant day and night. However, in recent years my health has declined, and I fear I may fail the nation. Crown Prince Su Qi is acquainted with treacherous officials and has secretly possessed the imperial crown; his crimes are clear. Furthermore, he was the mastermind behind the embezzlement of disaster relief grain and the massacre of displaced people at the Imperial Examination Hall. He has truly betrayed my trust and his crimes are unforgivable. The Seventh Prince Su Jing is loyal and filial, and possesses the talent to govern. He led a righteous army to purge the court of corrupt officials and quell the rebellion in Nanjing. I am greatly comforted, but considering the heavy responsibility of the nation, I hereby pass the throne to the Seventh Prince Su Jing, who shall ascend the throne."
See? History and rules are always written by the victors.
Su Jing scoffed, feeling utterly disgusted, both for the blood-stained imperial power and for himself.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but his wounds continued to bleed. The sounds of fighting outside the palace gradually subsided, and moonlight shone through the broken window, illuminating the dark blood seeping out from under his black armor. The blood meandered down the jade steps like a stream.
After a long while, Huo Yan rushed into the hall and gasped when he saw the pool of blood on the steps: "Your Highness, you—"
Su Jing seemed to be suddenly awakened, and looked up at him: "Where's A-Ran?"
——
When Su Jing collapsed heavily into Chu Yiran's arms, a sticky warmth seeped out from under his black robe. Chu Yiran hurriedly checked his breath, but his fingertips touched burning hot skin, like holding a piece of scorching coal.
"Jing'er—"
Rushing over, Shen Ji shoved Chu Yiran aside, frowned, patted Su Jing's face, and then glared at Chu Yiran: "What kind of time is this to keep dragging Jing'er into this nonsense? Do you know that the plan was to start the uprising six months later, but because you were captured by the Crown Prince, he ignored everyone's objections and marched straight towards Jinling! If we had followed the original plan and lay low for six months, we could have saved 50,000 lives! But what about now?" Shen Ji became more and more angry as he spoke, his gaze towards Chu Yiran growing increasingly disgusted. "Do you know that the coup almost failed? To buy time to attack the city, he personally led troops to ram the city gate! Even with an iron chain piercing his left shoulder, he didn't stop!"
"Someone! Quickly, someone get me a doctor!!" Shen Ji roared outside, ordering soldiers to hurriedly carry Su Jing out. Before leaving, he warned Chu Yiran, "You jinx! If anything happens to Jing'er, we'll all die! If my daughter's path to becoming empress is ruined by you, I will never let you go!"
Chu Yiran stared blankly at the pool of blood on the ground for a long while before following after it as if waking from a dream.
Su Jing was in a coma for more than a month. The Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the Eighth Prince were all making trouble in their fiefdoms. Even the Northern Qi began to send troops to harass the border. Everyone thought that Su Jing was in grave danger this time. Only Chu Yiran remained steadfast and led Huo Yan to suppress all the turmoil and maintain the superficial peace of Jinling.
Inside the bedchamber, the imperial physician shook his head for the umpteenth time: "His Highness Prince Jing's injuries are too severe. The most critical issue is that he seems to have no will to live. Even a celestial being couldn't save him..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Ji, who was standing to the side, plotted to find an opportunity to escape with Shen Ruoqing, but Chu Yiran waved everyone away and knelt alone in front of the bed, holding Su Jing's cold hand, guarding her from day to night.
“Su Yan is burning incense at the ancestral temple every day, begging you to die quickly…” Chu Yiran whispered in Su Jing’s ear, “If you really die, the history books will only record that ‘the traitor Su Jing forced the emperor to abdicate and died suddenly,’ and you will be cursed for all eternity. Can you accept that?”
Chu Yiran's tears dripped onto Su Jing's shoulder, and the person on the bed suddenly chuckled very softly, "...Then you have to...take the scolding with me..."
He suddenly looked up at Su Jing, his eyes red, and said, "You're awake. I'll go call the imperial physician—"
“Ah Ran—” Su Jing suddenly interrupted, her fingertips gripping his collar, “You’re not allowed to regret it… You can call me a usurper, you can hate me for killing people, but you’re not allowed to say you regret choosing me.”
Chu Yiran paused, but did not answer.
Su Jing's face turned pale, his fingers loosened, and he said in despair, "Anyway, now that I've avenged my great enemy, there's no point in trying to conquer the world. I might as well just die!"
"You dare—" Chu Yiran grabbed his wrist before it came down and glared at him intently.
The two remained silent for a long time before Su Jingxian finally softened his tone: "Then I'll listen to you from now on, okay? I know your ambitions, and I'm willing to be a good emperor and bring you peace and prosperity, okay?" He rubbed Chu Yiran's palm as if coaxing a child, "Are you willing to continue to stay with me?"
Chu Yiran's ears turned red, and for some reason, he suddenly remembered that ambiguous kiss. After a long while, he said in a muffled voice, "Isn't there still Shen Ruoqing..."
"Why bring her up?" Su Jing frowned, then gripped his hand tightly. "Wenxi, once things are settled, I only wish to rule the world with you."
Chu Yiran asked in confusion, "How do you know my handwriting?"
"Is there anything I don't know about you?" Su Jing chuckled. "Every day you return to Jinling, I worry about you."
And so, Chu Yiran and Su Jing seemed to have returned to their days in Northern Qi, reconciling as before and trusting each other again.
But Chu Yiran didn't know that this was just the beginning.
——
When Chu Yiran received Lin Wanxing's message, he had just finished filming a surgical scene and was leaning wearily against a lounge chair.
"Su Jing is awake, do you want to go see her?"
Chu Yiran stared at that sentence, her fingertips hovering over the keyboard for a long time, before finally replying with only, "Okay, send me the ward number."
The VIP ward was packed with people.
Su Jing's parents sat on the sofa with red eyes, Zhao Wei was peeling an apple, and Lin Wanxing and Xiao You were busy arranging flowers. Su Jing, sitting on the hospital bed, had bandages wrapped around his head, his right hand in a cast, and his left hand holding a soup spoon, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
When Chu Yiran pushed open the door, this was the lively scene he saw.
The moment their eyes met, Su Jing's spoon clattered into the bowl. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he suddenly clutched his right hand, which was in a cast, and frowned deeply. "Sigh, it's so awkward to eat with my left hand..." he said, accidentally knocking over the soup bowl and spilling hot porridge all over the table.
"Oh dear—" Su's parents exclaimed and rushed over.
Zhao Wei frantically grabbed a tissue.
Su Jing, however, only stared at the person at the door with wet eyes, her tone aggrieved and innocent: "Teacher Chu...you came to see me too?"
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