Emperor Ji instinctively wanted to pull away, but in the end, he let her be.

In any case, these two legs had lost all feeling long ago — they were of no use whatsoever.

“In that calamity, the damage went far beyond just these two legs.” Once Madam Butterfly’s hand had withdrawn, he gave the armrest of his wheelchair a firm push, rolling himself back several paces.

Had there not been so few people in this world who shared his era, he would never have permitted her to touch him.

Moreover, many people did not know that Madam Butterfly was a healer — a physician of exceptional skill. The reason he had not pulled away earlier was that he had harbored a small seed of hope.

But after seeing the expression that passed through the depths of her eyes, Emperor Ji knew with certainty: where she was concerned, there was no possibility these two legs would ever recover.

“All these years, you have been quietly, persistently training these two legs?” Seeing his complexion sink slightly, Madam Butterfly smiled with quiet ease.

“Indeed — the Prince Ji of those days was so magnificent, so full of vigor and spirit. How could he ever resign himself to spending his entire life seated in a wheelchair?”

“I wish to heal them — not for any so-called magnificence!” A flicker of irritation surfaced in Emperor Ji’s eyes.

“Then for vengeance?” Madam Butterfly regarded him, but her expression suddenly grew somber. “But Prince Ji, what are you doing right now?”

“You have allowed a woman who poses a threat to A’Jiu to remain at A’Jiu’s side. More than that — you know full well that this woman’s blood can save A’Jiu, and yet you have brought her away.”

Her icy gaze fixed hard upon his face, and her voice in that instant seemed to freeze into frost.

“In doing this, are you seeking to avenge the Di Family, or are you seeking to bring the Di Family line to extinction?”

Emperor Ji’s heart gave a violent shudder, and in an instant Madam Butterfly’s words plunged him into frantic, tormenting conflict.

Madam Butterfly seemed to perceive his turmoil. Her expression finally softened somewhat, though her gaze remained grave and cold.

“I know you are unwilling to see A’Jiu suffer, and I know you act with a single heart for Di Ji’s sake. Though we have not seen each other for nearly twenty years, the state you are in now must surely be the price of nearly twenty years of worry.”

She returned to her seat and looked at the somewhat aged man not far from her.

In truth, he was no more than fifty years old. For someone who had cultivated to such a level, fifty was no age at all.

How many men of such deep inner power, who had lived the life of a great warrior, still looked as though they were barely past thirty?

And what of him? His martial arts were so formidable, yet he always appeared so unremarkable, so inconspicuous — even deliberately living a low-profile existence, taking care not to attract notice.

In the past, he had been a great general of his era! Now he was someone who, set among a crowd on any street, would be nearly impossible to find — a nobody.

Could he truly be content with this?

If not for the sake of Di Ji, what would have driven him to this?

“Yet what you are doing now is precisely the sort of thing that brings ruin to the Di Family.” Madam Butterfly’s voice sounded considerably warmer than before.

She fixed her gaze on his brooding face and said gently, “Prince Ji, hand Feng Jiu’er over to me. I promise — I will return to you a healthy and whole A’Jiu.”

“If she comes to harm, Wu Ya will never know happiness for the rest of his life.”

Wu Ya’s attachment to Feng Jiu’er had already far surpassed what anyone could have anticipated. For Feng Jiu’er, he would not even spare his own life!

Such a Wu Ya — one the Emperor Ji had never once seen in all the years he had raised and cultivated him.

If anything happened to Feng Jiu’er, Wu Ya feared would spend the rest of his life like a walking dead man — and even if he still breathed, he would be a person drained of all blood and flesh.

“Prince Ji, when did you become so indecisive?” Madam Butterfly laughed softly, entirely unperturbed.

“Even setting aside the matter of A’Jiu now needing that girl’s blood to remove the Gu Poison — just the fact that A’Jiu was injured so gravely for that woman before, nearly losing his life over it, is alone enough reason for you to make your decision clearly: Feng Jiu’er cannot remain at A’Jiu’s side.”

“If you allow her to remain, she will become A’Jiu’s fatal weakness. If A’Jiu can be injured for her once, he can be injured a second time, a third time…”

She accepted the tea Hu Shuang brought over and lifted the cup to her lips, taking a small sip — yet even this finest fragrant tea tasted bland and flavorless.

In the end, she casually set it aside.

“Prince Ji, can you guarantee that in every future injury A’Jiu sustains for Feng Jiu’er’s sake, he will come through unscathed and alive?”

Emperor Ji said nothing, because he could not guarantee it.

Madam Butterfly suddenly rose to her feet, that gentle voice drawing closer and closer to his ear.

“Prince Ji, if you cannot protect A’Jiu well, how will you face the Di Family’s ancestors when you meet them in the afterlife?”

“And now, A’Jiu suffers under a great affliction and may succumb to the poison at any time — yet a clear path forward lies before you.”

“As long as you hand Feng Jiu’er over to me, I promise that A’Jiu will recover quickly. He will live in safety. And in time, he will find his enemies and avenge the Di Family.”

“Prince Ji, will you hand Feng Jiu’er to me? Please?”

The man in the side hall seemed still to be submerged in his own thoughts — so deeply that even when Madam Butterfly and Hu Shuang had already left the side hall, he remained entirely unaware.

Hu Shuang had not uttered a single word the entire way. The Madam’s illusion arts had grown more refined — who would have thought that even someone with such deep inner power as Emperor Ji could be bewitched by her.

Though in truth, the most important factor was still Emperor Ji’s own internal conflict over this matter.

He did not wish to see the Ninth Prince come to harm either. And besides, what was Feng Jiu’er to him? A person who could be here today and gone tomorrow.

Compared to the Ninth Prince, Feng Jiu’er was not even worth a single strand of the Prince’s hair. Who was of greater worth and who could be sacrificed — Emperor Ji understood this better than anyone.

The two of them arrived at the door of that guest room. Aside from Qiao Mu, who had gone to the main hall for news and had not yet returned, Long Eleven and Long Twelve had been keeping steadfast watch at the door, not having moved an inch.

“Do you know that only Feng Jiu’er’s blood can save your Prince?”

Madam Butterfly looked at the two of them, her lips curving into a slight arc. “If you stop me, A’Jiu will die from the Gu Poison. Do neither of you wish to see your Prince again?”

Long Eleven and Long Twelve’s hearts lurched. The words seemed to circle endlessly in their ears: only Feng Jiu’er could save the Ninth Prince — they must ensure the Ninth Prince remained safe and unharmed!

Gradually, those two pairs of eyes became muddled and vacant in an instant.

Even Emperor Ji could not withstand the illusion art — how could Long Eleven and Long Twelve hope to resist? They were, after all, just two young men. Their martial cultivation was far behind Emperor Ji’s.

Hu Shuang pushed open the door to the room. Inside, Leng Yue was standing guard right at the doorway.

She was watching Feng Jiu’er, who lay in an unconscious sleep on the bed. Her complexion was not good at all — and deep in her eyes, there even flickered a few traces of intense, concentrated hatred. When she heard the door being pushed open, Leng Yue did not even turn her head. She said flatly, “There is no need to use illusion arts on me. I am more desperate than any of you to see my Lord recover. However — if you do this, my Lord will surely hate you for it.”