For Jing Xuan, death was nothing more than a disguised form of release.

Throughout this past year, she had never concerned herself with trivial matters. Facing the strange looks from everyone in the prince’s manor, she never paid them any mind, simply staying here quietly.

That kind of life was what she wanted.

Yet it was also what she hated most!

Because every time she opened her eyes, what she saw was still exactly the same scene as yesterday.

Day after day repeating the torment of the previous day.

Never stopping.

At this moment, she raised those crimson, tear-filled eyes to look at the fierce and malicious man before her, her eyes full of the desire for death.

Just like her words moments ago!

“Then you can kill me!”

Her words clearly provoked Na Tuo.

A murderous aura immediately burst forth from Na Tuo’s eyes, as if he wanted to devour alive this woman before him with her delicate appearance but extremely rebellious demeanor.

But he also completely saw through what Jing Xuan was thinking.

“You want to die? It’s not that easy!”

Finishing his words, Na Tuo seized her delicate neck in one grip.

As if he wanted to wring her neck!

“Right now I’m keeping you alive to let you taste torment worse than death!”

As the words fell, a “slap” was heard.

Na Tuo raised his hand and struck Jing Xuan viciously across the face.

Her entire body completely fell sideways to the ground.

Both palms once again scraped against shards of the wine bottle.

The shards directly pierced into her flesh.

At the same time, blood was also struck from the corner of her mouth.

One could see how fierce this slap was.

The drunken Na Tuo was exactly like a brutal Tibetan mastiff!

He stood up, looking down from above at the woman on the ground, saying, “Rest assured, I won’t keep you around too long either. Once I ascend to power, I will personally deal with you.”

Leaving these words behind, he left.

How much must one hate a person to torture them like this!

Jing Xuan lay on the ground, her hair disheveled and scattered, covering half of her pale face.

Both hands stained with blood.

Blood at the corner of her mouth.

Utterly miserable.

Yet she laughed coldly, bitter to the extreme.

After Na Tuo left, the maid hurried in from outside.

When she saw the scene before her, she was frightened on the spot. After being stunned for quite a while, she finally reacted.

She rushed over to Jing Xuan and asked, “Princess Consort, are you all right?”

Jing Xuan seemed to not hear at all. Her powerless eyes were open, wandering for a long time, as if her soul had left her body.

The maid could only help her up from the ground.

Sitting her on the daybed.

The maid said, “Princess Consort, please don’t scare me!”

“…”

“Princess Consort?”

The maid couldn’t really say whether she was worried or not—she was truly frightened. Seeing Jing Xuan not speaking, she found a medicine box to bandage her wounds.

Two very deep gashes had been cut in her palms. It took quite a while to stop the bleeding.

The maid then cleaned up all the wine bottle shards scattered on the ground.

But Jing Xuan still didn’t say a single word throughout.

The maid asked, “Should this servant help you go rest first?”

Jing Xuan still didn’t speak. She slowly raised her eyes to look at her own pale face in the distant mirror.

She looked for a long time…

Only then did she say, “You may leave.”

Her voice was extremely cold.

“Princess Consort?”

“Leave!”

The maid hesitated for a moment but ultimately left.

Closing the door!

Jing Xuan looked at the bandages wrapped around her palms. The blood seeping from the wounds was gradually soaking through the white bandages bit by bit.

She rose and walked to sit before that mirror, taking out a hairpin from a box beside her.

The hairpin was very exquisite.

Its head was inlaid with a piece of blue jade.

Simple and elegant!

She pointed the sharp end of the hairpin at her own wrist.

Pressing down bit by bit.

Just as it was about to pierce into her flesh—at this very moment—

A window behind the screen opened.

Making a sound.

Her movement came to an abrupt halt. She raised her eyes and looked through the mirror before her toward the direction of the screen behind her.

She could sense someone had come in!

She asked softly, “Who?”

A figure was seen flashing past the screen and walking out!

When Jing Xuan clearly saw that person’s appearance, her hand loosened and that hairpin fell to the ground.

A clear “ding”!

A crisp sound!

Her entire body stiffened. Her face was full of shock, her pupils dilated, and her blood seemed to suddenly stop at that moment. She slowly stood up and turned to look at that person, her eyes instantly completely moist.

“Imperial… brother?”

She couldn’t believe it!

These two words—she had thought she would never speak them from her mouth again in this lifetime.

Jingrong stood before the screen looking at her.

His face full of heartache!

He stepped closer to Jing Xuan.

Looking at his sister he hadn’t seen in a year, his heart ached terribly. “You’ve become much thinner.”

That familiar voice immediately made Jing Xuan’s tears impossible to hold back any longer.

She said crying, “I thought… thought I would never see Imperial Brother again in this lifetime.”

“Silly girl.”

“Imperial Brother, is it really you?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

She touched Jingrong’s face. Her fingertips could feel the warmth of his face.

Yes!

It was real!

This wasn’t a dream.

She smiled happily and excitedly, “It’s truly not a dream. It’s truly you, Imperial Brother.”

Tears blurred her vision.

Jingrong noticed her palms wrapped in bandages and immediately carefully grasped her wrist, asking, “Did he do this?”

Jing Xuan quickly pulled her hands behind her back. “I’m fine.”

“How can you be fine when you’re like this?” Jingrong was very angry. He also noticed the hairpin that had fallen on the ground. “So if I hadn’t come in just now, you were planning to end your life quietly, weren’t you?”

“Imperial Brother…”

“I’m taking you away right now.”

He was about to pull her away.

But Jing Xuan called out to stop him. “Imperial Brother! I cannot leave.”

She pulled her hand free!

Taking two steps backward.

Shaking her head at Jingrong.

Jingrong said, “I cannot leave you here alone.”

“I cannot leave, and I must not leave.”

“Xuan’er, I cannot let you continue staying here.”

Jing Xuan said with tears, “But Imperial Brother, this is impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible! Just say the word and I will handle everything.”

Handle everything?

How could he handle everything?

Jing Xuan bit her lip hard and desperately shook her head again. She said, “I know. I know Imperial Brother will definitely take me away from here regardless of everything. But I don’t want you to take risks for me, to bear all the consequences this would bring. If it were before, I would fight with my life to have you take me away. I wouldn’t want to stay here even one moment. But now is not before. I cannot implicate you just for my own sake. If it were like that, I would rather stay and bear what I should bear.”

“What you call bearing—is that using that hairpin to commit suicide?” Jingrong forcefully controlled his voice to prevent those outside from hearing. He gripped Jing Xuan’s arms and said seriously and solemnly, “Don’t forget that you are a princess of our Great Lin. The blood flowing in your body is the blood of our Jing imperial family. No one can harm you in the slightest. As your imperial brother, how can I watch you like this and not care? Xuan’er, listen to me—come with me.”