Chapter 255: Candle Wick Love Threads
In the monastic room at midnight, only an oil lamp was lit.
The wick had a bean-sized flame, about to extinguish, making faint popping sounds.
Xue Sui knelt on the cushion. The ink on the Xuan paper on the desk was not yet dry. The final stroke was sharp, tearing through the characters “Ping An” on the plain white paper.
Yuheng’s glazed pottery bottle sat beside the inkstone. Inside, blood-like threads coiled as if alive. The lamplight flickered across the bottle, causing it to sway gently, emitting a warm, blood-red glow that appeared particularly eerie in the darkness.
The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, seeped in through the window cracks.
The monk’s robe she wore was blown tightly against her back, her silhouette appearing and disappearing in the lamplight.
“Creak!”
A soft sound.
The window lattice was struck open by the north wind. The bamboo hanging curtain swayed violently, and with a crisp clatter, a figure wrapped in a black cloak, carrying wind and snow, slowly stepped over the threshold.
Xue Sui turned her head. “Your Highness has arrived.”
Li Zhao did not speak, his face extremely tense.
The moment the cloak was lifted by the wind, new bandages on his shoulders and back were faintly visible, and the astringent scent of trauma ointment filled the air.
Xue Sui lowered her gaze, holding the glazed pottery bottle with both hands, her fingertips slightly stiff.
“I have fulfilled my promise to Your Highness. The antidote for the Love Silk Gu is here. Please accept it, Your Highness!”
Li Zhao slowly took it, his fingertips brushing against the cool bottle. His Adam’s apple bobbed in the shadow.
“Antidote?”
He suddenly chuckled, gripping the bottle tightly in his palm. He kicked away the cushion and approached her. His right shoulder sagged unnaturally, clearly aggravating his whip wounds.
“Xue Ping’an, you are my antidote.”
Xue Sui looked up sharply, watching the snowflakes on his eyelashes melt and fall. She trembled involuntarily.
“What does Your Highness mean by this?”
“My intention—”
As the last syllable fell, his palm bones suddenly exerted force. With a cracking sound, the glazed pottery bottle shattered instantly.
Crimson blood dripped down his palm, like red plum blossoms blooming on the snow.
Xue Sui lunged to grab it but was forcefully held by the waist.
She elbowed him hard in the chest. Her fingertips had just touched the shattered fragments when he twisted her arms behind her back and pinned her by the inkstone.
Buddhist scriptures scattered across the floor.
“You’re courting death!” she said, her eyes red with anger, and fiercely drove her knee into his abdomen.
Li Zhao suppressed her, locking one shoulder with one hand and heavily bracing himself on the desk with the other.
Perhaps due to the forceful movement, the whip wound on his shoulder tore open. The blood seeping from his shoulder and back quickly spread, dyeing his robe a deep brown.
Xue Sui was so angry she spoke without thinking.
“Having destroyed the antidote, you dog, just wait for the Love Poison to attack your heart and send you to the Yellow Springs Road!”
“I won’t be lonely on the Yellow Springs Road if you’re there.” Li Zhao smiled as he tightened his grip, his sleeve accidentally knocking over the bronze brazier.
Incense ash spilled all over the floor.
Xue Sui felt overwhelmed, her mind in a mess.
“Scoundrel!”
Li Zhao grabbed her hand. Seeing blood on her finger, he suddenly lowered his head and bit her bleeding fingertip.
A salty, fishy taste spread between his lips and teeth. He looked up at her, his eyelashes casting trembling shadows beneath his eyelids.
“You want to dismiss me with a bit of charity? Xue Ping’an, I will be entangled with you until death in this life.”
With that, he pulled her hand and pressed it against his chest.
“I entrust my life to you. If I die, I will die by your hand.”
Xue Sui tilted her head back, gazing into his bloodshot eyes, her ribs aching with anger.
“Does Your Highness forget the itching that gnaws at your skin and flesh, and seeps into your bones when the Love Poison attacks, making you wish you could dig out your own heart with a sword? Are you willing to endure such torment…”
“If I must endure it, then I will!” Li Zhao raised his eyebrows dismissively.
“I’ve endured this long, why should I fear enduring more? You went to such lengths to find an antidote, wasn’t it precisely because you wanted to sever ties with me?”
He was the one who wanted the antidote.
He was also the one who destroyed it.
Xue Sui suddenly let out a cold laugh, poking his bleeding shoulder armor with her fingertip.
“Why go to such lengths to torment yourself?”
“This is fate, and I accept it!”
“The Love Poison’s attack is not for a moment, but for a lifetime.”
“Then I will cling to you for a lifetime.”
The love and hate, the entanglements in the mortal world, are not all suffering.
At least at this moment, the warmth in his embrace was real.
The sound of the water clock mingled with the wind and snow. Xue Sui couldn’t break free from his iron-like embrace. Frustrated, her chest felt blocked as if by cotton wadding, and her eyes began to sting, her eyelashes seeming to gather moisture.
“You are so infuriating! Do you know this antidote is my…”
Her voice abruptly cut off.
Li Zhao lowered his head. “Your what?”
Nourished by heart’s blood, exchanged for a lifespan.
Xue Sui gritted her teeth, wanting to curse him fiercely, but when she saw the whip marks on the back of his neck that he hadn’t hidden, she swallowed her words.
“Your Highness is injured. You shouldn’t get angry, nor should you resist the detoxification…”
Li Zhao chuckled. His right shoulder trembled with pain, yet he held her tightly.
“Are you trying to gamble and see how much sincerity I have without the Love Silk Gu?”
Xue Sui was so angry she was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, wanting to scratch him, but she had to consider that he was a pitiable person who had just been whipped by his own father.
Thus, unable to suppress her indignation, she could only grind her teeth and accuse him.
“I don’t care how much sincerity you have… I only know that the pain of digging out one’s heart when the Love Poison attacks is unbearable for ordinary people… You are willing to endure it, but I am not willing to die with you…”
“If we are in love, then I won’t die, will I?” He narrowed his eyes and chuckled, a playful heat in his gaze.
An ambiguous atmosphere permeated the snowy night.
Xue Sui’s cheeks flushed crimson. She raised her hand to hit him, but he leaned down and pinned her with his weight.
“Ping’an.”
Li Zhao called her name softly, his voice carrying a vulnerability he had never shown before.
“I have to leave.”
Xue Sui froze, her gaze meeting the un-melted mockery in his eyes.
“Young lady, don’t be so fierce.”
Li Zhao lowered his head, his light kiss landing on her smooth forehead. His stubble grazed her skin.
She heard his muffled voice from his chest: “In three days, I must go to Chishui Pass to oversee the battle. If I return victorious… I will use my military achievements as a betrothal gift and marry you with a grand procession. If I die in battle…”
He paused, his lips brushing against the soft flesh of her earlobe.
“If I die in battle, then you will chant scriptures before my memorial tablet for the rest of your life…”
A hint of imperceptible nervousness was hidden in his eyes, making Xue Sui want to laugh.
Li Zhao was truly a difficult person!
Even when speaking softly, he didn’t lose any advantage.
There was no tenderness or affection, only a harshness.
“You want me to be a nun for the rest of my life? That’s fine too—”
She considered his words and agreed, raising her hand to push his shoulder. But upon touching the wound on his neck, she snatched her hand back as if burned.
“Has the wound become infected?”
“I won’t die.”
“Consider me meddling…” Xue Sui’s expression darkened.
“Are you angry?” Li Zhao chuckled, reaching out to ruffle her hair. He paused due to his whip wound, then coaxed her tenderly, “Then ask me again? I’ll answer again?”
“I really owe you…”
Xue Sui forcefully pulled her hand away, kicked the cushion at her feet, her eyes reddening at the corners, but she refused to look at him.
“Your Highness is about to depart for battle, and you insist on seeking soft words. Then I shall break my vow once and have someone prepare some side dishes and warm some fine wine to see Your Highness off…”
Li Zhao’s lips curved slightly, revealing a faint smile.
“Then I— will accept your kind offer.”
So easily appeased!
Behind the screen, Lai Fu, with his neck hunched, muttered to himself.
The dignified Crown Prince, with just a few words, was so coaxed that he was about to overflow with sweetness, as if he wanted to wag his tail.
–
A moment later, a steaming wooden desk was set up.
The earthenware jar containing green plum wine was placed by the charcoal stove.
With a “pop!”
Xue Sui personally opened the mud seal.
The wine being heated in the copper pot bubbled with fine bubbles, and the aroma of wine mingled with the scent of charcoal fire, filling the air.
The two sat opposite each other, the atmosphere as subtle as melting spring snow, lingering and ambiguous.
This scene was like a farewell between ordinary lovers, filled with warmth and reluctance.
Xue Sui raised the celadon cup. The wine vapor misted her eyes, reflecting the fiery red glow of the charcoal, making them exceptionally radiant.
“May Your Highness achieve victory in battle and return to court soon!”
“Good. When I return victorious, you will be waiting with wine!”
Li Zhao’s gaze shifted. As he spoke, he was about to raise his cup.
Unexpectedly, Xue Sui gripped the half-cool wine cup, tilted her head back to swallow the liquid, and suddenly grabbed his collar, kissing him.
Li Zhao’s eyes widened slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing fiercely.
The wine entered his throat, and a soft body suddenly crashed into his embrace.
Xue Sui’s lips were colder than the accumulated snow on plum blossoms.
He instinctively swallowed, and suddenly felt a turmoil in his abdomen. His pupils contracted sharply.
“What did you give me to drink?”
“The antidote is in the wine.” She pointed her fingertip at his throbbing neck vein. The skin there was astonishingly hot. Her voice trembled, and her eyes were also red-rimmed.
“I guessed Your Highness wouldn’t take the medicine properly, so I kept an extra eye on things… Oh, right, I didn’t tell Your Highness earlier. This antidote is only effective if drunk by two people.”
“Xue Ping’an, you lied to me again!” Li Zhao glared at her angrily, his eyes as red as a wounded trapped beast, gritting his teeth.
“You woman… you woman…”
After his anger subsided, he reached into his throat.
The strong, sweet,fishy taste that rose in his throat did not come up to be coughed out.
Li Zhao was exasperated. “Your volunteering at You Huang Ju was a lie, luring me to plant the Gu at the Hundred Flowers Banquet was a lie, coughing blood and falling ill in the Ministry of Justice Prison was a lie, and now even the farewell wine is mixed with schemes… Xue Ping’an, what about you is true?”
Xue Sui remained silent.
She quietly put the prayer beads back on her wrist.
She knew that when the Love Silk Gu attacked, it would gnaw at the bones and burn the heart, and that Jiu Sheng had a one-in-nine chance of survival.
Pushing Li Zhao away was the best repayment for the kindness she owed him from the past.
“Your Highness, our fate ends here. Let us each be well.”
“Is this something you get to decide?” Li Zhao cupped her chin, his gaze suddenly turning as cold as ice.
“Didn’t we agree that once the Gu was resolved, I would owe you nothing more…”
“I forbid it! Don’t harbor foolish fantasies.” Li Zhao let out a hoarse, cold laugh, grabbed her wrist, his fingertip tracing her palm, then slowly wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. He then gently kissed her forehead, softening his tone.
“Ping’an, when I return, will you tie my hair for me?”
Xue Sui’s nose tip stung.
For some reason, her chest felt as if something was blocking it.
She had just remembered she forgot to ask Senior Sister Yuheng how long it would take for the antidote for the Love Silk Gu to take effect.
How long until Li Zhao would stop acting so crazily.
–
That night, Li Zhao left amidst the wind and snow.
Scouts reported that the grain and fodder supplies had been raided, and the military situation was critical, requiring him to immediately enter the camp and muster troops to depart.
He had to leave. He didn’t look back, nor did he say another word to her. Man and horse, reflecting cold light in the snow, seemed to merge into a long saber that sliced through the wind and snow, disappearing into the vast expanse of flying snowflakes.
Xue Sui stood in the corridor, letting the snowflakes fall onto her shoulders.
Finally, it turned into a sigh, barely audible at her lips.
