Chapter 182: Malice
The carriage stopped after moving forward for a while.
Xue Sui calmly avoided the scrutinizing gaze and looked up at the man’s handsome face.
“Your Highness is joking. This humble wife is acting on Princess Wen Jia’s orders to go to the temple to copy scriptures and pray for blessings for the Empress Dowager.”
After a slight pause, she bowed slightly.
“On the other hand, Crown Prince, you are making such a grand show. Are you perhaps going out of the city to inspect?”
Li Zhao: “I wish I could go out of the city, but unfortunately, my Imperial Father has ordered me to guard the capital and not to leave without permission…”
His tone was calm, but it reminded Xue Sui of the embarrassment when Emperor Chong Zhao forced him to drink at Lin De Hall that day. Furthermore, due to the matter with Ping Le, he had been repeatedly reprimanded for “acting rashly and losing the dignity of a Crown Prince”…
She looked up and saw Li Zhao gazing down at her.
The sunlight fell on his straight back, revealing a hint of loneliness.
“Your Highness—” she finally spoke, her voice as light as falling leaves, “The autumn rain is cold and can easily cause a chill. Your Highness should take care of yourself.”
Li Zhao’s lips curved slightly.
Suddenly, he flicked the reins, and the Wuzhui horse reared its head and neighed.
“Send my regards to my Imperial Sister Wen Jia and tell her I will prepare a congratulatory gift and visit another day.”
“Yes.”
Xue Sui calmly lowered the carriage curtain and bid farewell through the gauze curtain.
As the sound of hooves faded, Xue Sui’s palm formed crescent-shaped marks, but her face showed no emotion.
She watched the figure disappear at the end of the long street, and suddenly felt her qi and blood surging, even more intensely than usual.
She needed to find Senior Sister Yuheng as soon as possible to get to the bottom of things.
One
Imperial City.
In Rui Jin Hall, Emperor Chong Zhao stared at Consort Xiao’s pale and haggard face on the bed, his expression as dark as iron.
Consort Xiao had “attempted suicide” in her bedchamber to force him to come.
At this moment, the hall was silent, save for Princess Ping Le’s intermittent sobs.
Ping Le knelt on the ground, her long hair disheveled, tears flowing like broken beads.
The Grand Princess sat to the side, the teapot in her hand making a crisp clinking sound.
“Ping Le is so spoiled, she deserves to be punished,” the Grand Princess sighed. “But she is, after all, His Majesty’s cherished daughter, the only daughter of His Majesty and the Consort…”
Emperor Chong Zhao slammed his palm on the desk, interrupting the Grand Princess. “I have punished her with three months of confinement and copying the ‘Nu Jie’ one hundred times. This is already leniency. How else do you expect me to spare her… Do you want me to abolish the law altogether?”
He suddenly stood up and pointed at Ping Le’s face. “From now on, you will stay in Rui Jin Hall and copy scriptures with your Imperial Mother to atone for your sins. Without my decree, you are not allowed to step out of the palace gates. Anyone who pleads for her again will be punished along with her!”
“Imperial Father!” Ping Le wailed on the ground, heartbroken.
“This son is wronged, it was Wen Jia and Xue Liu who colluded to frame this son…”
She looked up with tear-filled eyes, meeting the Emperor’s cold gaze, her voice suddenly sharp: “You said before that you would always protect me!”
Emperor Chong Zhao turned his back, his voice laced with anger.
“I gave you dignity, but you did not cherish it. You acted recklessly time and again, and I tolerated it repeatedly, never investigating deeply. But you? You used Red Musk Powder to fake a pregnancy and framed your sisters at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, making a spectacle of yourselves for all the noble ladies. Even now, you not only fail to admit your guilt but also argue stubbornly? Are you trying to force me to disregard our father-daughter affection?”
He said sternly and flicked his sleeve, leaving.
The dragon robe brushed against the screen with a rustling sound.
Ping Le suddenly looked up, watching the Emperor’s retreating back, and scrambled to follow him two steps.
“Imperial Father!”
Emperor Chong Zhao paused but did not turn around.
Ping Le suddenly let out a bitter laugh, tears streaming down her face as she laughed.
“You told me, daughter, that with you as my support, I could fear no storms in this world. No matter how big the trouble, you would back me up. If I made a mistake, it was because you spoiled me—a son’s unfilial conduct is the father’s fault. You indulged me in my recklessness before, but now, for the sake of this so-called imperial dignity, you cruelly abandon me…”
Emperor Chong Zhao slowly turned around.
He looked at the tears on Ping Le’s face, his fingertips slowly tightening, a flicker of pain in his eyes…
In a daze, as if in deep meditation, he slowly raised his hand and waved it after a long while.
“Guards,” he closed his eyes, his voice low, “Convey my decree: send Princess Ping Le back to her mansion, have the Imperial Hospital examine her daily, and ensure she rests well. She is not to leave the mansion without my summons…”
–
Princess Ping Le’s Mansion, West Courtyard.
Gu Jie had just climbed over the wall when a soft body lunged into his embrace.
He stumbled a couple of steps, inhaling the faint fragrance, and swallowed hard.
“Princess…”
Ping Le dug her fingers deep into his back, her voice trembling with a hint of hatred.
“Gu Jie, you said you could die for me, is that true?”
Gu Jie straightened his back and gasped.
After he half-carried, half-embraced her into the room, he finally saw clearly.
Ping Le was wearing only a plain white nightgown, her long hair falling over her shoulders. In the flickering candlelight, she appeared exceptionally pale.
Gu Jie asked, “What happened?”
Ping Le looked at the phoenix trees outside the window. “Gu Wulang, I have nothing now. My Imperial Father doesn’t want me, and my Imperial Mother cannot protect me… Will you abandon me?”
“Upon hearing of the Princess’s return, I rushed here without delay.” Gu Jie stood stiffly, letting her hold him. His gaze inadvertently fell on the scattered medicine packets on the table. He patted her back comfortingly, paused, and then said:
“The Princess is of golden branches and jade leaves, a body worth ten thousand pieces of gold. Why must you torment yourself? How can you have nothing?”
Ping Le looked up, a flicker of displeasure and ferocity in her eyes.
“I only ask you—you said you could die for me, is that true?”
Gu Jie was startled. “I am willing…”
Ping Le suddenly lowered her voice and giggled, “Gu Jie, I’m pregnant with your child…”
Before Gu Jie could react, she showed another eerie smile.
“Unfortunately, the child died. It died inside me, its life taken by a packet of Red Musk Powder…”
“You’re insane!” Gu Jie suddenly pushed her away, looking down at her abdomen. “You could bear to harm your own flesh and blood?”
“It’s not my fault. Xue Liu and Wen Jia killed it… If they hadn’t pushed me so hard, I wouldn’t have taken the Red Musk Powder…” Ping Le smiled slowly, tears falling as she laughed.
“Tell me, shouldn’t they pay for their blood debt with blood?”
Gu Jie stared at her, dumbfounded.
For a long time, he couldn’t react.
Ping Le’s eyes were filled with venom as she stared intently at him. Slowly, she took out a palm-sized brocade box from her sleeve and placed it in Gu Jie’s palm, her voice laced with temptation.
“Gu Wulang, as long as you remove the great troubles from my heart, I will regain imperial favor. At that time, I will beg my Imperial Father to make you my Imperial Son-in-law. From then on, we will be one couple, enjoying glory and wealth.”
Gu Jie looked at the madness in her eyes, his voice trembling.
“You want me to poison them… Wen Jia? Xue Liu?”
“Poisoning them would be good, of course. But they shouldn’t die like that. I have plenty of ways to deal with them…”
The suffering she had endured would be repaid tenfold.
She wanted to ruin their reputations and make them the laughingstock of the town. She wanted to strip the title of “Princess Protector of the Nation” from Wen Jia, then make her suffer greatly. She wanted Lu You’an to obey her every word and be completely convinced. She wanted Xue Liu to endure endless torment, wishing for death.
Destroying the heart is more painful than killing!
Ping Le tightly clutched her handkerchief, thinking of ways to get revenge that were more satisfying than killing them, her eyes full of venom.
“There is one person now who deserves to die even more than them.”
“Who?” Gu Jie asked.
“Fu Qingsong.” Ping Le’s gaze was distant. “He knows too much.”
Gu Jie looked at the entwined floral patterns on the brocade box, feeling a wave of dizziness.
“Imperial Physician Fu is the head of the Imperial Hospital. If something happens to him, it will have far-reaching consequences.”
“That’s why we need to use the Xizi Death Warriors.” Ping Le leaned closer to him, her warm breath brushing his ear. “The brocade box contains Xizi Crane’s Crest Toxin. It’s colorless and odorless, so even he, an Imperial Physician, won’t detect it…”
Seeing Gu Jie standing still, she suddenly took his hand and placed it on her abdomen.
“The child is gone, but I can have another for you… In the future, we can have one that belongs to you and me.”
“Princess!”
“Don’t you hate Li Yan? Don’t you want revenge?”
Gu Jie took two steps back, his shoulders tense.
“Princess, I have no dealings with Imperial Physician Fu. I cannot get close to him…”
“Hmph! That’s exactly what I want—that you have no dealings!”
Ping Le’s face contorted, a flame of madness dancing in her eyes. “I’ve already thought of it for you. Tomorrow, Wen Jia will go to Pu Ji Temple to copy scriptures and worship Buddha. I’ve arranged for Fu Qingsong to be there. You will act when the opportunity arises… You just need to strike secretly, and you can kill him without anyone knowing… Then, we can frame the Xizi Death Warriors who are causing trouble in the capital…”
She made a killing gesture with her hand and smiled slightly.
The phoenix trees outside the window rustled, like the wails of vengeful spirits.
Suddenly, Gu Jie remembered what Xue Sui had said.
“To make someone hurt, you must destroy what they cherish most…”
Wasn’t Ping Le the same?
Some fight in the open, some scheme in the dark. This Shangjing City has never lacked grudges and enmities.
Love is the sharpest knife in this world, and also the most fatal medicine.
Ping Le has it, but Xue Liu does not, so Xue Liu will always have an edge…
Gu Jie couldn’t help but shiver.
Li Zhao: Xue Ping’an finally cares about me…
Xue Liu: I’m afraid if you die, I’ll have to be buried with you.
