Addiction—what a terrifying thing!

Even the most iron-willed person, once addicted, had no willpower left to speak of.

Even before Beiyue had objected, from the moment she’d discovered that planting the poison in herself had left her dependent, addicted, she had wanted to be cured. She had wanted to break free.

But forget purging the poison from her body entirely—even going without it for just a few days was more than she could bear.

The wound on her leg was the mark left behind by that struggle between willpower and instinct.

The addiction couldn’t be suppressed through sheer will alone—only by shifting her attention, only by replacing it with another sensation. And pain, without question, was the strongest, most effective method.

She could no longer remember exactly how many times she had cut into that same wound, over and over, but no matter how many times, she could never control herself.

In the end, she no longer had the willpower to cut herself. Whenever the craving struck, the only relief was to take the poison.

This time, she didn’t trust herself either. She handed Liuguang to Imperial Physician Gu.

That single word—”addiction”—and Imperial Physician Gu understood everything at once. Looking at the wound, at Ziqing’s pale but resolute little face, and then back at the peacefully sleeping Prince Yao, his nose suddenly stung and his eyes grew wet.

He knew that if his lord held that knife right now, he would never be able to bring himself to cut her, not even once.

Had he known it would come to this, he never would have agreed to the cure!

This was addiction. This was nothing else.

Curing the poison already required a hundred needles—did it also need a knife for every one? And there was a very real chance that even one cut wouldn’t be enough to control her.

Which was why she needed to be restrained. Wasn’t that right?

Imperial Physician Gu stepped back, shaking his head over and over. “Your Highness, I… Your Highness, this poison… can we please not cure it?”

“No. If I said cure it, then cure it. This is for my own good—I know that.” Ziqing tossed the rope over to him without a glance, not daring to look at the sleeping man, terrified that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to hold on.

This might be the very last of her willpower. It might be the very last of her pride and dignity.

“I’m ordering you. Hurry,” she said coldly.

The poison master and his assistant were also frightened by her sudden clarity, momentarily at a loss. Ziqing shot them both a cold glare and said sharply, “This princess consort warns you both—whatever you see in this room today, if either of you dares breathe a word of it, this princess consort will personally flay the skin from your bodies, layer by layer.”

The two of them trembled with fear. They didn’t need Ziqing’s warning to be afraid—anyone who could be that ruthless with herself would surely be even more ruthless with others.

Imperial Physician Gu had no choice but to obey. He took up the rope, still wanting to talk her out of it, but Ziqing cut him off coldly. “Shut your mouth.”

Tears streamed unbidden from Imperial Physician Gu’s old eyes. He didn’t dare speak, but kept glancing back at Prince Yao again and again. He thought—since there was no escaping this, he would take on this pain in his lord’s place.

Sniffling, Imperial Physician Gu swallowed his heartache and finally bound Ziqing to the heated couch. She half-reclined there, eyes lowered, her voice eerily calm in a way that broke his heart. “Imperial Physician Gu, add two more ropes. Make it secure.”

Tears streaming down his face, his hands trembling, he added two more ropes. Now, if Ziqing tried to struggle, she would have to shatter the couch itself to move at all—there was no denying it, she was utterly immobilized.

The poison master rearranged the needles. Ziqing’s sleeves were rolled up, and Imperial Physician Gu sat by her feet, Liuguang held lightly against the scabbed wound.

Everything was ready. Ziqing gritted her teeth, and the resolve that had once been so firm in her eyes gradually gave way to fear, her gaze locked helplessly on the poison master’s needles. Her whole body tensed against her will, some part of her wanting to retreat, wanting to fling his hands away—but it was all useless. She was bound tight.

Ziqing said nothing, only stared with such terror and tension that the poison master grew even more nervous than she was. Imperial Physician Gu knew—now was the moment he had to steel himself.

But looking at her like this, bound, her long hair in disarray, her small face pale with fear, like a wounded rabbit facing down a beast baring its fangs—how could he bear to be so cruel to her?

Ziqing had already begun shaking her head. She didn’t want this, she didn’t want it!

The more Imperial Physician Gu looked at her, the more his heart ached. Their Prince Yao’s manor, their mistress—she was a woman of such brilliance, such extraordinary talent!

How could she be reduced to this, so terrified, so wretched, so utterly unable to control herself!

Imperial Physician Gu couldn’t bear to look any longer. He turned away, and even he wanted to give up, wanted to stop, truly stop—not go through with the cure at all.

But then his gaze fell on the peaceful, unmatched face on the couch across from them, and his heart clenched with grief. The Princess Consort had gone through so much, suffered so deeply—her resolve until now couldn’t be allowed to go to waste.

With that—

“Poison master, begin!” Imperial Physician Gu finally barked, harshly, turning his face resolutely away. He didn’t look at his lord again until it was all over.

At the command, the poison master finally dared to act, quickly driving the first needle into an acupoint. Immediately, Ziqing let out an agonized scream. “No… I don’t want this! I don’t want this…”

Her sudden, violent thrashing was so intense that had it not been for the three ropes, she truly might have broken free.

Her features twisted, veins bulging along her neck and forehead, her whole body convulsing. She shook her head over and over, teeth snapping wildly. “No… I don’t want this! Let me go, let me go!”

Imperial Physician Gu absolutely refused to use the knife if he could avoid it. The poison master, not daring to delay, drove several more needles in quick succession, and with each one, the sensation of the poison being drawn out grew even more intense—as if it were pulling her very soul out along with it.

“I don’t want this!”

Ziqing let out a furious roar and suddenly unleashed her inner energy, instantly snapping two of the ropes. She thrashed wildly, and even the last remaining rope was on the verge of breaking, her legs already beginning to kick free.

Imperial Physician Gu still didn’t want to resort to the knife, pressing down urgently with both hands—but just then, Ziqing suddenly kicked him away with brutal force, her other leg immediately trying to break free as well. With no other choice, Imperial Physician Gu gripped Liuguang tight, pinned that leg down firmly, aimed at the thin layer of scabbed skin, and plunged the blade straight down.

“Ahh—”

That scream shattered the hearts of everyone in the room. Only Jun Beiyue remained deep in unconsciousness, utterly unaware of just how much agony the woman he cherished above all else was enduring at that very moment.

That cut did manage to bring Ziqing some clarity—though not entirely. Her leg stilled, but the moment the needles moved to pierce her again, she abruptly wrenched her arm free of its bindings and swung out wildly.

Imperial Physician Gu knew that if he didn’t stop her now, everything would have to start over, and all her suffering would have been for nothing—there was no one in this room who could overpower her in a fair fight.

He turned his face away, gritted his teeth, and drove the knife down again, hard—into the very same wound, a fresh cut. Wounding an already-wounded spot hurt the most of all.

This cut was vicious, so vicious that it tore a startled cry from Ziqing: “Beiyue…”

At last, she was completely lucid again. At last, she couldn’t help but turn to look at Jun Beiyue. But even so, she pressed on. “Imperial Physician Gu, hurry, tie me down again, quickly—I can’t hold out much longer, hurry…”

She looked at Beiyue, her face covered in sweat, her eyes red and wet, but the tears never fell. She simply couldn’t tear her gaze away.

In her heart, she screamed: Hold on, Han Ziqing!