“Taking this medicine for a long time will cause the palace to remain cold and unable to conceive again!”
Yuanxi listened quietly, each word feeling like a sharp knife stabbing into her heart, shattering everything she had once believed in. Her lips trembled, and then she suddenly laughed. With a twisted smile, she said, “Doctor Zuo, you must be joking, right? How could such a thing happen in this world?”
Zuo Qiao clenched his fists tightly, unable to reply for a moment. He had spent over thirty years in the medical field, witnessing countless despicable acts, but he had never felt such heartache for someone. What kind of heart could allow someone to be so cruel to their daughter? What kind of ruthless plan would use a woman’s entire life as a sacrifice?
Yuanxi stared at him intently, unwilling to miss any of his expressions. But soon, she was disappointed. Zuo Qiao just hung his head, his face heavy with sorrow, kneeling there without saying a word to correct her.
She blinked slowly, feeling something shattering in front of her eyes. Then, a black hole appeared behind Zuo Qiao, swallowing him whole. The hole grew larger and larger, devouring everything in the room… She gazed into the void, finally exhaling a long breath. “It’s not real, it’s just a dream. That’s good.”
When Yuanxi woke up again, she saw Xiaodu’s eyes, bloodshot and filled with concern. She grabbed his hand urgently, saying, “Ado, I had a terrible dream just now!”
Xiaodu held her hand back, his eyes filled with even more sorrow. Yuanxi froze a hint of fear in her eyes. She asked hesitantly, “Is it true? Doctor Zuo… the medicine… and my inability to conceive… is it all true?”
Xiaodu couldn’t bear to see the expression on her face anymore, so he simply nodded heavily. The light in Yuanxi’s eyes faded completely, and she began to tremble as if she were a helpless child. Xiaodu noticed her distress and held her tightly, saying, “It’s okay, we’re still young, we can find a way, maybe we can still find a cure!”
But Yuanxi seemed to hear nothing, staring blankly ahead. Even the warm embrace couldn’t bring her any comfort. Suddenly, her gaze fell on a corner of the cool pillow, where a piece of bright red brocade was visible. She pushed Xiaodu away, grabbing the corner of the pillow and tearing at it fiercely until all the painstakingly stitched seams were ripped apart, turning all her hopes and dreams into a tangled mess of fabric.
Xiaodu was shocked by her actions and held her hands, shouting, “Yuanxi, stop it!”
But Yuanxi stared at him, her eyes like those of a wild animal out of control. She clung to his arm as if holding onto a piece of driftwood that prevented her from falling into an abyss. Then, tears finally streamed down her face, each drop feeling like a blow to her heart. Xiaodu’s heart ached as he let her cry, letting her soak his sleeves with her tears. He whispered, “It’s okay, I don’t care about anything else, I only care about you! Do you understand?”
But Yuanxi seemed not to hear him. Her head was filled with screams, causing her body to ache all over. So she buried her head in his chest, telling herself over and over again: sleep quickly, when asleep, nothing will happen, when asleep, there will be no pain.
For the next few days, Yuanxi hardly ate anything, either staring blankly or sleeping all day. Xiaodu stayed by her side constantly, forcing her to eat a little rice gruel. On the third day, Yuanxi finally woke up from her stupor. She called for the maidservant and Anhe to clean her up, and then made a request: she wanted to go back to the Prime Minister’s Mansion.
But Xiaodu didn’t want her to leave. He was afraid that she would disappear from his side again as she had done before. Yuanxi just smiled and said to him that she had something very important to ask Xia Mingyuan. She promised that she would come back, after all, she had nothing, and she knew nothing. Besides, where else could she go except for the Marquis’ Mansion and the Prime Minister’s Mansion?
Seeing her determination, Xiaodu was afraid that she would suffer another setback and return to her previous state. He had to allow her to go quickly and return quickly. He also secretly sent two shadow guards to follow her, instructing them to bring the Madam back at all costs.
When the carriage covered in black cloth stopped in front of the Prime Minister’s Mansion, Yuanxi walked down with one hand holding up her skirt and the other holding a small box. She looked up at the golden plaque on the vermilion gate, a cold smile playing on her lips.
Then she glanced at the box in her hand, the only thing she had brought out of the Marquis’ Mansion when she left. After that, she told the coachman to wait outside and raised her voice, “I will be back soon, don’t worry.” Two dark figures flashed past behind the carriage, lurking on either side of the Prime Minister’s Mansion gate.
Yuanxi had someone announce her arrival and was led to see Xia Mingyuan. Xia Mingyuan was in the study, spreading out paper to write something. When he saw her come in, he raised his eyebrows slightly, put away the paper, and wiped the ink stains from his hands, saying, “Why are you here again today? I’ve told you, your seventh aunt’s illness shouldn’t be seen by anyone.”
Yuanxi coldly scrutinized the person in front of her. His features and figure were so familiar, yet now they felt distant and cold. She sighed deeply and said, “I’m not here to see Aunt Seven. I have something I want to discuss with you alone, Father.”
Xia Mingyuan became increasingly surprised. He waved his hand to dismiss the servants in the room and sat down, absentmindedly playing with a paperweight on the desk. “What is it? Speak quickly,” he said.
Yuanxi smirked, but her eyes seemed to hide a layer of ice. “I want to ask Father, why me?”
Xia Mingyuan’s hand trembled, and the paperweight fell onto the desk with a “clatter.” He looked at her strangely and then turned away, feigning indifference. “What are you talking about? Why you?”
Yuanxi’s expression became more ironic with each word. “You know why, but when did it start? When I was born, or after I turned eight? Why did you choose me? Because… I was born without a mother?”
Xia Mingyuan could no longer maintain his composure. He looked at Yuanxi in horror, seeing the intense confusion and accusation in her eyes. His body suddenly felt weak. She knew everything already. How had she found out so quickly, and who had told her?
Countless thoughts raced through his mind, but before he could decide how to respond, Yuanxi had already approached him. Softening her voice, she said, “Father, for the sake of the fact that I still call you ‘Father,’ can you tell me the truth? Why me? Why did you do this?”
Xia Mingyuan met her gaze, suddenly recalling how she had run to him with those same watery eyes when she had just learned to walk, calling him “Father” with a childish voice. A dam in his heart broke. The guilt he had deliberately buried for years finally surged forth. He closed his eyes and sighed, saying, “Blame it on you being a daughter of the Xia family. Since you bear the Xia surname, it was inevitable that someone would be sacrificed. I… I didn’t want it either.”
He remembered how the woman with the exquisite phoenix crown had once arrogantly told him, “Big Brother, the rise and fall of the Xia family’s fortunes are all on us. As long as we find a lowly concubine, this sacrifice is worthwhile.” So he did it. He thought he could face all the consequences calmly, until this moment when she questioned him.
It took Yuanxi a long time to understand his words. Suddenly, she felt somewhat ridiculous. “So you didn’t want to get close to me from an early age because I was destined to be the one sacrificed? So you couldn’t even spare a little warmth for me?”
Xia Mingyuan was pierced by her icy words and hastily explained, “No, Father didn’t want to, but he didn’t dare…” He was afraid that if he got too close, and watched her grow up with smiles, he would feel too guilty to push his flesh and blood into the abyss.
Yuanxi finally understood everything. She took a step back and suddenly opened the box in her hand, saying to Xia Mingyuan, “Do you still remember this box? It contains all the memories I have of you since I was little. Every little thing inside, even if it was casually given by you, I treasured it like a treasure. That way, I could feel that perhaps Father still cared about me.”
Xia Mingyuan’s heart ached even more, and he said, “Yuanxi, I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”
But Yuanxi’s face showed a mysterious smile. Then, she raised her hand and fiercely threw the box on the ground. The once treasured items, the ordinary pearl flowers, and even the box of rose ointment from her marriage scattered and rolled on the ground as if they were broken hearts trampled on carelessly. She looked at the mess on the ground with an incredibly relieved expression and said word by word, “From now on, I have nothing to do with the Xia family. I wish your wish to be fulfilled, and your power to be everlasting. May you have no descendants to carry on your name!”
Xia Mingyuan was stunned on the spot until Yuanxi left without looking back. He realized that she hadn’t shed a tear from beginning to end.
He stumbled a few steps and collapsed onto the chair. Before making that decision, he had thought countless times that he might regret it, but he had never expected the regret to be so strong.
It turned out that this daughter he had never dared to pay much attention to was the one who resembled him the most among all his children. No matter how fragile and shy she appeared on the outside, once she made a decision, she was so resolute and decisive. So he knew very well: she wasn’t un-sad, she just didn’t want to cry in front of him.
Yuanxi strode into the courtyard, biting her lip tightly, telling herself not to shed another tear. At this moment, the sound of children playing with laughter came into her ears. She suddenly stopped and walked towards the source.
Beside the lotus pond, her five-year-old niece and nephew were playing happily. As soon as they saw her, they ran over, calling out, “Aunt Seven, you’re back.” They were her third brother’s children, and they had been trained to be very smart and polite from a young age. Yuanxi looked at the two innocent and tender faces in front of her and suddenly felt a kind of helplessness that she couldn’t solve. She hugged her niece tightly and couldn’t bear to let go for a long time. The little girl felt her shoulder get wet and asked in surprise, “Aunt, why are you crying?”
Yuanxi wiped away the tears from her eyes, forced a smile, and said, “It’s nothing. Can you two tell Aunt where the little hole you sneaked out to play is?”