A long time passed, and Ji Yunshu still showed no response whatsoever.

Her faint breathing gradually came to an abrupt stop.

The guard: “Your Highness, Minister Ji, she…”

“Shut up!” Jingrong rebuked angrily. “No! She won’t die.”

At this moment, his tightly strung nerves were like a taut rubber band that could snap at any moment.

Wei Yi tightly grasped Ji Yunshu’s hand, continuously rubbing it, calling out worriedly: “Shu’er, Shu’er, wake up, wake up!”

The surrounding guards hung their heads, their expressions extremely grave.

They all knew it was futile—Minister Ji was already dead.

But—

Jingrong refused to give up. He frantically pressed Ji Yunshu’s abdomen like a madman, then pinched her nose and gave her artificial respiration.

“Nothing will happen. Yunshu, I won’t allow anything to happen to you. Do you hear me? Without my permission, you’re not allowed to leave me.” He shouted heart-wrenchingly, over and over again.

From those crimson eyes, rainwater dripping from his hair flowed down, mixing with scalding tears like a tide—an extremely sorrowful sight.

Only after exhausting all his strength did he stop.

He looked at Ji Yunshu—pale-faced and soaked through—and in that moment, his entire world collapsed!

His whole body trembled!

His mind was completely blank.

Wei Yi collapsed sitting on the ground, crying until his whole body shook.

He couldn’t believe it at all!

At this moment of life and death separation, he truly understood clearly for the first time that he could do without the empire, without his life, but… he could not be without Ji Yunshu.

Jingrong pulled Ji Yunshu into his embrace, his chin lightly resting on the top of her head, tears streaming down as he shook his head slightly: “Impossible, impossible… Yunshu, you can hear me, can’t you? I order you not to die! Not to leave me! I promised you I would definitely take you away from the capital. I’ll take you to the grasslands, to ride horses and shoot arrows together, and to see the sunset over the snowy mountains. I haven’t fulfilled any of this for you yet. You’re not allowed to die, not allowed! Yunshu…”

Utterly heart-wrenching!

Jingrong’s love for Ji Yunshu was known to all.

Now that woman had died, which was equivalent to completely hollowing out his internal organs.

Naturally, he too could not go on living!

Ji Yunshu’s ice-cold body suddenly moved—

“Cough cough cough…”

She felt a churning inside her body. Accompanied by coughing sounds, consciousness returned, and she coughed up all the water in her stomach.

The instant she opened her eyes, she saw Jingrong.

The man looked at her with incomparable excitement, tears falling uncontrollably.

“Jingrong…” A faint sound emerged from her mouth.

She was alive!

“Yunshu.” He was overwhelmed with emotion, crying and laughing at once.

Ji Yunshu finally understood the feeling of returning from death!

Her eyes reddened as her hand slowly reached toward Jingrong’s face. With a weak voice she said, “I thought… I would never see you again.”

“I’m here. I’ll always be by your side.”

A smile spread across her lips. “Do you know? In that last moment… all I could think of… was only you.”

“I know, I know…”

“We still need to go… to the great grasslands, to the snowy mountains, to…”

Before she finished speaking—

She fainted.

“Yunshu!” Jingrong scooped her up and ordered someone: “Go fetch a physician.”

He was about to carry the unconscious Ji Yunshu back to the residence, but after walking a few steps, he remembered Wei Yi and stopped to tell him, “I’ll take good care of Yunshu. You should return to the palace first.”

Wei Yi nodded.

Watching Jingrong’s retreating figure carrying Ji Yunshu away, he didn’t know whether he should feel happy or heartbroken at this moment!

The words Ji Yunshu had spoken when she woke up just now were like a knife, cutting countless wounds bit by bit into his heart.

Flesh and blood mangled!

In Ji Yunshu’s eyes, the person she saw was only Jingrong!

Even in life’s final moment, the person in her heart was only Jingrong.

There was no place for him!

The cold wind whistled around him, like winter, making him shiver from the cold.

Guard Gao said: “Your Majesty, let’s return to the palace.”

Like a puppet, he nodded.

…

At this very moment, the Commerce Festival continued lively and bustling.

No one realized what had happened by the lake!

Soon, the Circuit Censor sealed off the entire city and secretly arrested everyone related to this matter into the prison.

Awaiting judgment!

After Ji Yunshu was brought back to Prince Rong’s residence, the Imperial Physician from the palace immediately rushed over.

After examination, the Imperial Physician said: “Your Highness, Minister Ji’s body has no major problems. Fortunately, it was a close call. As long as she rests well for one night, she’ll be fine.”

As long as she was alright!

Jingrong breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Imperial Physician.”

“Then this subject will take his leave.”

After the Imperial Physician withdrew, Jingrong also sent everyone else out of the room. He kept watch by the bedside the entire night.

He didn’t close his eyes even once!

The next day, when Ji Yunshu awoke, the person she saw was Jingrong.

The man before her had become much more haggard overnight. His eyes were probably still red from crying too hard.

“You’re awake!”

She sat up from the bed, looking directly at Jingrong.

Continuously looking!

“Why are you looking at me like this?”

Her pale lips parted lightly: “I thought… I would never see you again. But I haven’t looked at you enough yet—your eyes, eyebrows, mouth, nose… I haven’t looked at any of them enough.”

When she finished speaking, Jingrong pulled her into an embrace.

Very forcefully, unwilling to let go.

“Then look at me for a lifetime!”

He buried his face deeply into Ji Yunshu’s neck, as if only by feeling the body heat emanating from her could he feel that this was real.

Ji Yunshu didn’t struggle either, letting him hold her like this.

She clearly felt the man’s urgent breathing, thick and powerful. That breath puffed against her neck, tingly and cool!

After a long while—

Jingrong finally released her.

His gaze fell upon her, unwilling to move even a fraction. He said: “Do you know how terrified I was in that moment? It was like… countless sharp swords shooting toward my heart. Besides pain, there was only pain!”

“Jingrong…”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let go of your hand. I should have held you firmly, should have risked my life to not let you leave my side even half a step. Yunshu, I’m sorry.”

Guilt!

She gazed at his tear-streaming eyes and shook her head.

Jingrong: “At that time, my mind was filled with ‘what ifs.’ What if I had held onto you and not let go? What if we hadn’t gone out? What if we had left the capital long ago? What if… what if… countless what ifs. I truly wish there were ‘what ifs’ in this world.”

Ji Yunshu reached out, cupping his face, and said: “No matter how many ‘what ifs’ there are, at least now… I’m right before you. I’m real, I’m tangible, I’m clear. Death couldn’t separate us—it couldn’t before, it can’t now, and it won’t be able to in the future either.”

Having said that—

She leaned forward, her pale lips touching Jingrong’s burning lips.

Like a dragonfly skimming water.

“Let’s leave the capital.” she said.

He nodded emphatically!

The next moment, he wrapped his arm around her slender waist, his hand hooking her delicate, pointed chin.

He kissed her passionately and intensely…