“……Where is the Princess rushing off to? Surely even the antidote cannot be foregone?” Fu Xuanmiao spoke.

Shen Zhuxi said nothing, but her gaze drifted around the interior of the tent, finally coming to rest on the teapot on the table.

She had barely fixed her eyes on the teapot when Fu Xuanmiao sat down at the table. He lifted the teapot, picked up a teacup, and slowly filled it to the brim.

“I hear the Princess still won’t touch the food and drink this subject sends……” He picked up the teacup and set it before him, gazing at a floating leaf rising and sinking in the tea, and said softly, “The finest Yuhua tea — what a pity.”

“The abbot of Anxisi Temple……did you kill him?” Shen Zhuxi said, pressing herself against the tent fabric.

“What if I did, and what if I didn’t?” Fu Xuanmiao raised his eyelids. “Does Xi’er still believe anything I say now?”

Shen Zhuxi answered with silence, her vigilant gaze fixed on him without moving.

“So it really was you, behind the Buddha statue that day.” Fu Xuanmiao said. “You would rather remain among the common people as the wife of a man of low birth than step out from behind the Buddha statue and make yourself known to me. Xi’er……why?”

“Li Wu may come from humble origins,” Shen Zhuxi said, looking at him, “but what he gives me — ten thousand of you could not compare.”

“That is impossible.” Fu Xuanmiao said flatly. “What could he give you?”

“He can give me care, dignity, and the courage that allows me to stand here right now and face you.” Shen Zhuxi suppressed the surge of grief and indignation within her, and at last spoke aloud those words that had been ringing faintly in her heart for years — words that had always been negated by the outside world and doubted by herself. “But everything you gave me, from beginning to end, was nothing but pressure and inadequacy……”

She would not doubt her own feelings any longer.

Even if the entire world said he treated her well — as long as her heart continued to echo with the feelings of inadequacy and pain he had given her, then his so-called “kindness” was nothing but charcoal wrapped in the color of candy.

“That is nothing but his deception. He has his own designs on you, so he indulges whatever makes you happy — and you have mistaken this for being treated well. Everything I did, perhaps you did not find happiness in it, but I did it all for your own good……”

“I will not be deceived by you again!” Shen Zhuxi cut off his words and exposed his hypocrisy in her fury. “You never once thought of me — everything you have ever done was only ever for your own sake!”

“I……”

“You would not let me wear fine clothes, would not let me adorn myself, you forced me to suffer through learning the zither and se, you confined me to Cuiwei Palace, and would not let anyone come near me——” Shen Zhuxi said in a furious voice. “Everything you did was solely to ensure I could only remain by your side! Your so-called kindness toward me was to break my wings and trap me in a cage that only you could open!”

An expression finally appeared on Fu Xuanmiao’s face.

“……Xi’er, I was doing it to protect you.”

He rose to his feet and walked toward Shen Zhuxi.

Shen Zhuxi’s instinct was to retreat, but the thick tent fabric blocked his steps.

“Don’t come any closer!” She suddenly pulled the gold hairpin from her hair.

Yet Fu Xuanmiao did not stop walking.

“Do you truly dare to kill me?”

The pale blue figure stepped forward, one slow step at a time, steadily advancing toward Shen Zhuxi.

“Your imperial brother is in my hands.”

“The antidote is in my hands.”

“You may not want your imperial brother — but can you truly forsake even the antidote?”

“What have you done to His Majesty?” Shen Zhuxi asked.

“He placed poison in your wine, giving no thought whatsoever to your safety. Do you still wish to worry for him?”

“I am not asking out of concern as an imperial sister — I am asking you this question as a subject of Great Yan——” Shen Zhuxi asked once more, “What have you done to His Majesty?”

“His Majesty has already retired to his royal tent to rest — the Princess may set her mind completely at ease.” Fu Xuanmiao said. “What is urgent right now is the rare venom within the Princess’s body.”

Fu Xuanmiao came to a stop before Shen Zhuxi. He reached out his hand and clasped the gold hairpin that was being thrust toward his chest. The gold hairpin trembled in his grasp as he calmly met Shen Zhuxi’s pair of almond eyes.

Within those gentle and beautiful eyes, only his own reflection was cast.

How he wished that they would forever reflect only him.

“I know you, Xi’er……you are too tender-hearted. You always put yourself last — and because you are too tender-hearted, you are always the one who ends up hurt in the end.” Fu Xuanmiao said softly. “To make you hurt someone else causes you more pain than hurting yourself.”

As though to refute those words, Shen Zhuxi yanked the gold hairpin back and thrust it forcefully toward his chest.

Fu Xuanmiao seized her wrist and exerted a sharp force — the gold hairpin slipped from her hand, which had gone limp with pain, and fell silently onto the fur-covered floor.

Shen Zhuxi clenched her jaw hard, swallowing back the cry of pain that had nearly burst from her throat.

Fu Xuanmiao retrieved from his sleeve two small porcelain vials, one red and one blue, and said: “The blue vial contains the Restoration Powder, which can neutralize all poisons and dispel the rare venom in your body — but its medicinal properties are cold in nature, and upon taking it, the child in your womb will certainly not survive. The red vial can also neutralize the poison without harming the child in your womb, but it will leave behind residual toxins that are difficult to eradicate — every winter hereafter, it will flare up and cause you suffering beyond endurance, between life and death. Xi’er, of these two vials, how do you choose?”

Shen Zhuxi endured the pain in her wrist as tears rolled out of her eyes one after another. She did not move, doubting how much sincerity lay behind his words.

Fu Xuanmiao watched her conflicted expression and said: “If you do not choose, I will choose for you.”

Shen Zhuxi reached out her hand toward the red vial. Fu Xuanmiao watched her action in quiet silence; the tips of her fingers were just about to touch the red vial when she paused, then gradually withdrew. She looked toward the blue vial beside it, and uncertainty appeared in her eyes.

“You are hesitating for the sake of the child?” Fu Xuanmiao asked.

“Not for the child — but for you.” Shen Zhuxi raised both eyes, her blazing gaze piercing through her tears and shooting straight at Fu Xuanmiao. “You know what I would choose — so how could you have told me the truth?”

“You are correct — I have indeed deceived you. You can try to guess——” a faint smile rose at the corner of Fu Xuanmiao’s lips, “Which vial is it that preserves the child — the blue one, or the red one?”

Shen Zhuxi hesitated briefly, then her fingers touched the blue porcelain vial. Fu Xuanmiao relaxed the force in his hand — yet she let go at the last moment.

The blue porcelain vial fell.

“……I was never poisoned at all, so there is no need for any antidote.” Shen Zhuxi stepped back, her heel pressing against the tent fabric, pulling the canvas taut behind her into a firm wall. “You have deceived me — both of these vials contain abortifacients!”

Fu Xuanmiao looked at her deeply and said nothing for quite a long while.

“How do you know you were not poisoned?”

“You were fully aware of Shen Suzhan and Wang Jue’s entire scheme from the very beginning — how could you not have known they still had a card in reserve?” Shen Zhuxi said. “You’ve been here so long — do you look the least bit anxious?”

“Perhaps it is because I have already taken the antidote — and the one who still has poison in her body is only you.” Fu Xuanmiao said.

“If you did not care whether I lived or died——” Shen Zhuxi fixed her gaze on him and said, word by deliberate word, “then why would you expend so much manpower and resources to capture me and bring me back?”

Fu Xuanmiao was silent for a long while, then slowly opened his mouth:

“……You are right.”

He stepped forward, driving Shen Zhuxi back until she had nowhere to retreat, nowhere to move. The sleeves of snow-blue were spotless and immaculate, yet his eyes were ice-cold and black as pitch, like a frigid pool where no daylight ever reached.

“……Xi’er, because I care about you. I care about you……and so, do not blame me.”

Before Shen Zhuxi had time to react, Fu Xuanmiao suddenly popped the stopper from the vial and tipped out a brown medicinal pill.

Seeing something was wrong, she immediately tried to turn and flee.

But Fu Xuanmiao had already grabbed her back before she could. He gripped her jaw, attempting to force the pill into her mouth. No matter how much Shen Zhuxi struggled, she was no match for the strength of a grown man — her kicks and blows against Fu Xuanmiao left nothing on his snow-blue outer robe but several footprints.

In the midst of the struggle, Shen Zhuxi fell to the ground, and suddenly a rush of heat welled from her lower abdomen.

Her expression changed instantly. Giving no thought to whether Fu Xuanmiao was still before her, she reached her hand in — and drew it out stained with bright crimson blood.

“Blood……the child……”

The Shen Zhuxi who had been so courageous and fearless just moments before now drained of all color, and the five fingers wet with blood trembled ceaselessly in the air.

Fu Xuanmiao’s expression changed abruptly too.

“Someone come!” He supported Shen Zhuxi’s arm, his own face pale and ashen as he cried out toward the outside, “Someone come! Summon the Imperial Physician immediately!”

In no time at all, several palace maids had hastily carried Shen Zhuxi to the bed. She dared not move a single inch, her heart filled with terror as she felt the heat continuing to well up from beneath her, and was certain her child could not be saved. The moment that thought came to her, tears poured from her eyes in a torrent, and she did not know how she would explain this to Li Wu.

The Imperial Physician who had accompanied Shen Suzhan on the journey came running with his medicine chest, met by Shen Zhuxi’s tear-blurred gaze. He pressed his fingers to her wrist, and the grave expression on his face shifted into one of puzzlement.

He looked at Shen Zhuxi, whose face was streaked with tears, and seemed to want to say something, but hesitated, his expression thoroughly baffled.

“Might this subject be permitted to examine the Princess’s personal effects and her usual daily food?” the Imperial Physician said.

After Shen Zhuxi nodded tearfully, the Imperial Physician examined her everyday clothing and the accessories she wore, as well as the remnants of the food she had eaten that day, and finally picked up the sachet that rested beneath her pillow and kept her company each night.

With both Shen Zhuxi and Fu Xuanmiao watching, the Imperial Physician shook out the herbs inside onto his palm.

“As I suspected.” The Imperial Physician said. “The herbs in this sachet are a contraceptive preparation. When carried about by a woman, it serves the function of preventing conception. The formula shows some thoughtfulness — it would not harm the health of the person carrying it. As for side effects, it is nothing more than a delay of monthly cycles. Because the herbs in the sachet had not been replaced for a long time and the medicinal efficacy had gradually worn away, the Princess’s monthly cycle has now resumed. Remove this sachet, and if this subject prescribes two additional formulas for the Princess to take for recuperation, the Princess’s constitution will be restored to what it was before.”

The Imperial Physician said all of this in a single breath, then bowed his head and refrained from looking at either of their expressions, nor did he ask where the sachet had come from.

After a long moment, Fu Xuanmiao said: “……You may withdraw.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Imperial Physician, who had long since been won over by Fu Xuanmiao, clasped his hands in salute, and silently departed with his medicine chest.

Shen Zhuxi sat in a daze on the bed for quite a long time before she came back to herself.

Fu Xuanmiao picked up the now-empty sachet and said: “Did Li Wu give this to you?”

“No!” Shen Zhuxi came back to herself and snatched the sachet away sharply.

Without a child, she would be rid of one piece of leverage in Fu Xuanmiao’s hands. Though she did not quite know whether she felt more disappointment or relief at that moment, since no child had come, she no longer needed to live in fear of losing one.

But……would Li Wu be very disappointed?

After the Imperial Physician left, only Shen Zhuxi and Fu Xuanmiao remained in the tent.

He sat down at the bedside. Shen Zhuxi immediately shrank to the corner of the bed, watching him with wariness.

“……I will forget the past two years — you forget them too.” Fu Xuanmiao said softly, after a long silence. “We can still start over again, Xi’er.”

“I will not forget!” Shen Zhuxi glared at Fu Xuanmiao with fearless resolve, grinding out through clenched teeth, “The past two years are the most beautiful two years of my entire life — not a single day or night will I ever forget — what I want to forget are the nine years I was imprisoned by you!”

That cloud blocking all light from reaching her had cast its shadow over her head for a full nine years.

In one lifetime, how many nine-year spans are there?

He had carved obedience to him into her blood as instinct. Nine years of gradual, imperceptible influence — all for the purpose of stopping her ears, pulling out her tongue, gouging out her eyes, and turning her into something crippled that could not survive without him.

She had never hated anyone so deeply.

He had nearly killed herself.

And had tried to kill the person she loved most.

“I will never again — let you control me as you once did——”

“Then what can you do?” Fu Xuanmiao leaned in close, his low and composed voice carrying the cold chill of a viper. “Do you still dare to hope that someone who has plunged from a ten-thousand-foot cliff will come out to save you?”

“Care, dignity, courage……these are things that only people who have nothing put on their lips. Because beyond words, they have nothing.” Fu Xuanmiao said. “If one knows the way ahead leads to a wall, yet charges headlong into it with all their might — is that courage, or foolishness?”

“A person of nothing, from humble origins, still possesses benevolence within and righteousness without — yet you, born into a family of noble rank, well-versed in the classics, deceive your sovereign and bring ruin to your state, and have long since ceased to mend your ways. On what grounds do you look down on Li Wu?” Shen Zhuxi was unmoved, and declared with unwavering certainty. “Moreover — as long as one perseveres without faltering, even a wall of stone will fall — to say nothing of a body of flesh and blood such as yours.”

Fu Xuanmiao looked at her and said:

“……Xi’er, do you truly have not the slightest regard for the bond we once shared?”

Shen Zhuxi answered with silence. Fu Xuanmiao also fell silent in turn, and a repressed quiet flowed through the air. Her entire body was taut, ready at any moment to spring up and flee.

“There is no need to be afraid.” He said. “I can wait.”

“……”

“Xi’er, you will change your mind.”

Fu Xuanmiao rose, turned, and walked out of the tent.

“The Princess is unwell — for this period, she is to rest in her tent, and no one without cause may seek an audience.”

The guards standing at attention at the entrance immediately bowed and said: “Yes, sir.”

“Young Master——” Yan Hui, who had long been waiting to one side, stepped forward and fell into step beside Fu Xuanmiao as he walked on. “The hundreds of officials have each returned to their tents. Tomorrow — shall we set out back to Jianzhou, or……”

“Take three hundred men and go tomorrow to search the place where Li Wu fell from the cliff. I want him to disappear without a trace. Send another hundred to stand guard outside Tiantian Cave — anyone who attempts to enter or leave is to be killed on sight.”

“Yes, sir!” Yan Hui was inwardly startled and immediately acknowledged the order.

“As for the hunt——” Fu Xuanmiao raised his eyelids, his gaze carrying a chill, aimed directly in the direction of the royal tent. “His Majesty wishes to hunt — then let him hunt to his heart’s content.”