Chapter 439: Chapter 437: The Lonely King Has Regrets
Haitang moved quickly and, in just half a day’s effort, obtained the sterilization medicine from Wen Liluo.
She tightly shut the doors and windows, presenting the brocade box containing the elixir pills to Shen Yinning. "Commandery Princess..."
Shen Yinning lifted the box lid.
A tiny elixir pill lay on the silk cloth inside, its cinnabar-red color vivid yet dangerous.
"Miss Wen said this pill was purchased from the black market at a high price. It dissolves instantly in water, is colorless and tasteless, and cannot be detected even with a silver needle. If a man consumes it, he will produce no offspring for three years," Haitang whispered cautiously. "But to poison the Emperor—such an act is a capital offense punishable by death. Commandery Princess, are you truly unafraid?"
Shen Yinning’s expression was blank. "What do you think happened to Cui Ji?"
Haitang froze, unsure why she suddenly brought this up.
Shen Yinning closed the brocade box. "Not a word from his mouth was believable. Someone like Cui Ji... even in a drunken stupor, would never behave dishonorably toward a foreign princess. Moreover, he was not the kind of man to indulge in drinking. That madman Lu Ying thought he could trick me like a clueless child, but his words were riddled with flaws. He made the first move, and I retaliated; he had no right to take my life."
Springtime sunlight filtered softly through the windows, flowers whispering their secrets.
Beneath the window, Shen Yinning wore plain pear blossom white attire, her countenance as cold and immaculate as jade buried in a snowy landscape.
Haitang’s brows furrowed lightly.
She had never loved anyone. Now, witnessing the intense entanglement between Shen Yinning and Lu Ying, she felt that love was something that could utterly devour a person.
That night.
Shangguan Min invited a high monk to perform a Water-Land Dharma ceremony for Cui Ji in the front courtyard.
The sounds of chanting and wooden fish drums drifted over high walls and through shadowed corridors, blending with the moonlight as they reached the deep inner sanctums.
After coaxing Zhuoyu to sleep, Shen Yinning returned to her chamber, only to find someone seated boldly on the round armchair, sword-like and imposing.
Her throat tightened, and she instinctively took half a step back.
The room was lit by a lone, solitary green lamp. Its flickering flame cast shadows on the desk, where the woman’s handwriting was sharp, like iron and silver hooks, blending Buddha and devil alike.
Lu Ying flipped through the pages one by one, the side of his face reflecting faint, dark glimmers. "When I issued the edict back then, forcing you to be made concubine to Cui Ji, you stayed at the Cui Mansion for quite some time. Were these notes written during that period?"
They weren’t records of leisure outings nor chronicles of carefree daily life.
The xuan paper was densely filled, line by line—all Buddhist scriptures.
Shen Yinning remained silent for a long moment before saying, "I didn’t know you had a habit of rifling through others’ belongings."
Behind her, the paneled doors were quietly shut by the eunuchs, leaving the enclosed bedroom with only Lu Ying and Shen Yinning.
Lu Ying closed the scripture. "During that time, I had just ascended the throne. Affairs of the previous court were overwhelming. Though the harem was managed by the Empress, many matters still required my personal attention. I was hurt by you and refused to hear any news of you, nor did I know how you fared at the Cui Mansion. Later, when I heard of your union with Cui Ji, I was consumed by jealousy. That’s why I transferred him to the Northwest Border."
Shen Yinning sat on the Imperial Concubine Couch near the window, over a yard away from him.
"Now, visiting the Cui Mansion and seeing with my own eyes the Buddhist scriptures you transcribed there," Lu Ying said, pressing his long, slender hand tightly on the scripture, "I realized you suffered greatly during that time, forced to rely on these scriptures to alleviate your inner torment. I used to think that Zhaozhao’s association with Cui Ji was born out of spite toward me, a way to defy me. Tonight, I understand—it must have been out of utter heartbreak and disappointment in me that Zhaozhao chose to be with Cui Ji."
Shen Yinning picked up the hot tea.
With her back to Lu Ying, a crimson elixir pill slipped silently from her wide sleeve and dissolved without a trace into the tea.
She stared at the floral latticework on the window. "What’s done is done. All things in this world change, let alone human hearts. Perhaps I once had feelings for Your Majesty, but once I decided to be with Cui Ji, I resolved never to regret it—nor to turn back."
"It was my negligence. It was my fault," Lu Ying said, walking to the couch and kneeling on one knee before her. He grasped one of her hands, pressing it to his cheek.
Shen Yinning lowered her gaze, looking at him.
The dim candlelight illuminated the young Emperor in his golden hairpin and dark robes. His cold elegance was tinged with threads of remorse.
Lu Ying’s voice trembled with pain. "I regret it, deeply."
Shen Yinning’s expression remained stoic as she asked calmly, "Did you kill Cui Ji?"
"Zhaozhao has always been astute," Lu Ying said, admitting without hesitation. "He was too much of an obstacle."
When he sought the Volcanic Ganoderma from the Emperor on Zhaozhao’s behalf to cure her ailment, he was an obstacle.
When he appeared in the Imperial Study with the Red Book Iron Certificate and the Imperial Decree of Marriage to defend Zhaozhao, he became even more of an obstacle.
How could there be any other man beside Shen Zhaozhao?
How could there be another man more important than him?
He held Shen Yinning’s hand tightly, lifting his crimson, almond-shaped eyes to hers. His sculpted face showed a trace of humble entreaty. "Zhaozhao, forget him, will you? Surely it’s because you saw in him a faint resemblance to me that you used him as a substitute. But now that I’ve returned to your side, why hold on to such a counterfeit?"
He fixed an unwavering gaze on Shen Yinning, his thin lips landing gentle kisses on her fingertips.
Shen Yinning’s eyes grew red.
After a long silence, she handed the tea to his lips.
Lu Ying received the tea and, without breaking his gaze from her phoenix-shaped eyes, downed it without hesitation.
Shen Yinning’s tone turned icy. "Do you know what tea this is?"
Lu Ying brushed his hand against her slightly furrowed brow and smiled faintly. "I know where Haitang went today, whom she met, and what kind of medicine she obtained. But since you poured the tea for me, I must drink it. There’s no reason not to."
Shen Yinning expected him to lash out, to berate her.
But to her surprise, this was his response instead.
She stared at Lu Ying with an intensity that seemed to devour, retreating in disbelief, trying to evade his touch.
Lu Ying followed her movement, his grip sliding up her leg.
Shen Yinning’s eyes reddened further as she stubbornly tried to push him away, only for him to seize both her hands.
Lu Ying pinched her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Cui Ji is gone. You’re no longer his concubine. Now that everything has returned to its starting point, why avoid me?"
"Returned to the starting point?" Shen Yinning trembled, her voice breaking into a hoarse accusation. "Cui Ji is dead. You married Huo Mingyan as your Empress, with three thousand concubines filling your harem. And now you’re telling me this is our starting point? Lu Ying, there’s no going back. From the moment you married Shen Yunxi as your Crown Princess Consort, we’ve been irreparably broken!"
She pushed Lu Ying away, intending to leave, only to be yanked back by her wrist.
Lu Ying locked his arm around her slender waist, his gaze boring into hers. "I know what you want."
Shen Xinghan and Shen Yunxi’s lives.
Huo Mingyan’s position as Empress.
That’s all she desired.
Lu Ying knew very well that, in her cunning, even he and Cui Ji combined could never hold as much weight in her heart as these two things.
His long, narrow eyes misted like melting snow.
The newly crowned Emperor, once brimming with ambition and commanding unchallenged power, now wore an uncharacteristic look of sorrow on this spring night.
His voice was soft. "I can turn a blind eye to Shen Xinghan and Shen Yunxi, letting you do as you please. I never had feelings for Huo Mingyan. In this lifetime, I have only ever admired you—Shen Zhaozhao. I cannot give you the position of Empress, but I can adopt Shen Jin’an and name him Crown Prince. Would that satisfy you?"
He had once been a man of unyielding principle.
So unyielding that even the slightest hint of betrayal from Shen Yinning would drive him to cruel retaliation.
But now, it seemed Shen Yinning had broken his spine.
He had lost his principles, abandoned his bottom line.
From scheming the deaths of officials to wielding blackmail over the younger generation of their families...
There was nothing Lu Jingwei would not do.