It was a night of the waning moon.
Like all terrible beginnings, heaven did not comply with human wishes – when one feels anxious and uneasy, something is bound to happen.
And that kind of heart-wrenching pain entangled in nightmares, sweeping me toward an endless dark abyss.
In my dreams were helpless, desperate screams, cold and unfamiliar touches, and that ghostly laughter.
I knew I was trapped in nightmares, wanting to struggle desperately but unable to find the shore.
Dong.
A bell chimed, shaking the confused black and white world in my dream.
Dong.
Another deep, long bell sound echoed in my ears.
I suddenly awakened and sat up, causing the pearl curtains before the bed to sway gently, tinkling in my ears.
It was already dawn. The morning light filtering through the window into the room made me instinctively raise my hand to shield my eyes, and I immediately saw the deep marks on my wrists.
I was startled and looked back to see the belt tied to the bedpost. In that instant, thoughts surged like raging waves crashing over me.
I looked down to see my torn undergarment collapsed at the foot of the bed. Fear and trembling almost climbed over me again, but fortunately the brocade inner garment still clung to my body. Lifting the bedding to look, my undergarments were still on, and I felt no pain or discomfort between my legs, which gave me some relief.
Feeling a dull ache in my shoulder, I discovered deep bite marks on my right shoulder. The scene of Nie Ran leaning down to bite my neck suddenly flashed in my mind, making me tremble involuntarily. Though the blood on the wound had temporarily clotted after a night, the bloodstains on the bedding showed how viciously he had bitten – it was as if he wanted to bite me to death.
I looked around the empty room, unable to remember what had happened later that night for a moment, only vaguely recalling having spoken with Nie Ran, and then…
Knock knock – someone was knocking at the door. I hastily picked up the tattered undergarment to cover myself. The wooden door opened in response, and a woman in pink robes stepped in lightly. I gathered the quilt and shrank back, only then seeing clearly who had come.
Cai Mi? How could she appear here?
Thinking carefully, she was originally someone Feng Li had sent to Song Langsheng’s side to cause trouble. Now that it was no longer necessary to keep her there, it wasn’t strange for her to return to Feng Li’s side.
Cai Mi carried a steaming silver basin, looking at me with eyes full of pity. I figured she must think I looked particularly pitiful looking at me this way. Sure enough, she set down the hot water, wrung out a towel, and sat beside me wanting to help me wash my body. Seeing me turn my head to avoid her, she didn’t force it, only suddenly smiled strangely and said: “Princess… seeing you reduced to this state today… Cai Mi feels… truly delighted…”
Delighted? I looked at her expressionlessly. She said softly: “Cai Mi approached the Prince Consort for Young Master’s sake, but in the end, I fell in love with His Lordship…” As she spoke, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. “But His Lordship the Prince Consort never put me in his eyes. He never even treated me as a little sister for a moment. Cai Mi had no choice but to steel her heart and betray him. Now I’ve finally gotten my wish to return to Young Master’s side, but after doing so much for Young Master, he only treats me as a dispensable chess piece… Only then did I realize… in this world, no one has ever cared about whether I live or die…”
She closed her eyes and let tears flow freely, then suddenly grinned widely: “But Young Master actually treats you this way! Hahaha, if the Prince Consort saw the Princess’s current state, no matter how much he loves you, you would no longer be pure and clean in his heart. Haha, hahahaha, at least, I’m not the only miserable person in this world, am I?”
I pressed my hand to my forehead. This girl’s mind had become so twisted that I felt there was nothing to say to her. I simply kicked over the basin of hot water by the bed and told her unceremoniously to get lost.
Probably seeing this as my embarrassed rage, she laughed even more happily. Just as she was about to make some more frightening remarks with a menacing expression, Feng Li appeared silently at the door: “You may withdraw.”
Cai Mi nervously turned around, resuming her delicate and pitiful appearance, picked up the basin, and hurried out of the room.
After Feng Li entered the room, he glanced at me indifferently and walked to the window, standing with his hands behind his back. After a long while, he said: “Last night was such a beautiful evening – did the Princess enjoy it?”
Unable to speak, I could only look at him in silence. After a moment of quiet, he said: “Marquis Xia Yang urgently summoned the Young Master back. He left less than two hours ago and originally intended to take you with him, but I stopped him… I promised the Young Master that after everything is settled, I will deliver you into his hands.”
He turned back, curving his lips in a slight smile: “That’s right – I won’t let you go now. Since everyone cares about you so much, regardless of who ultimately wins or loses, as long as you’re still in my hands, they can only be controlled by me.”
I lowered my eyes. So this was the real reason he wanted Nie Ran to possess me – he believed that once having tasted the marrow, Nie Ran wouldn’t easily let me go.
Seeing me curled up lifelessly in the corner of the bed, Feng Li was extremely satisfied with my reaction: “Are you still waiting for Song Langsheng to come rescue you?”
I raised my eyes slightly, as if responding, but still didn’t look at him.
“I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed… the person the Young Master sent to deliver news to the capital was killed by my people halfway, so Song Langsheng doesn’t know at all that you’re trapped here by me, much less what you experienced last night…”
My heart constricted. So Feng Li had indeed been guarding outside the door last night monitoring us. From this perspective, Nie Ran truly had no intention of luring Song Langsheng to rescue me – he merely wanted Feng Li to act to obstruct him. This way, Feng Li naturally wouldn’t keep staying outside to investigate the truth. In a sense, Nie Ran and Feng Li were still on the same side after all, and he truly had no reason to let Song Langsheng escape danger.
Thinking that Song Langsheng probably truly didn’t know I was trapped here, an indescribable sadness gripped my heart. Seeing that I still showed no expression, Feng Li continued: “But even if he came looking, he might not be able to get in… Do you know where this is?”
Feng Li said: “This place is Prince Rui’s mansion.”
I was slightly startled.
Prince Rui – among Father Emperor’s several imperial brothers, he was the most brave and skilled in warfare, a prince who was upright and incorruptible. Though not a natural commander, he was a fierce general of Daqing, often stationed at the frontier to guard the borders. He was a prince with great prestige in the capital.
Thinking this way, the person Feng Li was impersonating must be a steward or trusted aide of Prince Rui’s mansion. No wonder he was so confident – Prince Rui and his wife and children were not in the capital. Who would think that the missing princess would be brazenly kidnapped and held in a prince’s mansion?
Worst of all, when Father Emperor rewarded Prince Rui for his military achievements and enfeoffed him, he had also permitted this imperial uncle to station mansion troops within his residence. Without an imperial edict, no one could trespass.
“Does the Princess know why I imprisoned you here?” Feng Li slowly took out a wooden box from his sleeve, opened it, and played with the military talismans inside. “This place is very close to the Western Suburbs Grand Altar. That bell chime just now marked the beginning of the Heaven Worship Ceremony. The Crown Prince has now entered the altar, from welcoming the imperial spirits to presenting the offerings and playing the Xianping chapter, then to献礼跪受福 presenting gifts and kneeling to receive blessings…” He closed his eyes and counted the heaven worship rituals. “Until finally望燎奏佑平之章 watching the sacrificial fire and playing the Youping chapter, the bell chime will sound again…”
He opened his eyes again, fixing his gaze on me, but his tone was ice-cold and forbidding: “With a thunderous roar, reduced to ashes, the whole world in mourning – today is the day.”
His robes fluttered in the wind, his eyes sharp as dangerous blades, particularly intimidating in this languid morning.
I lowered my eyelids. Knowing that in this situation I was completely powerless to salvage anything, as time passed bit by bit, my heart was strung tight like a bowstring about to snap. When that bell chime rang again, echoing across the distant sky, Feng Li’s eyebrows lifted: “Everything is about to begin.”
I forced myself not to close my eyes, but instead stared fixedly at the sky outside the window.
A gentle breeze lightly scattered the thin floating clouds, birds softly landed on tree branches making the bare twigs rustle, but aside from that, the sky was clear and pleasant, the weather mild and peaceful, with no other disturbance.
Feng Li’s expression gradually changed from excitement to disappointment. He slowly lowered his sleeve, and one military talisman from the box fell to the ground with a “crack,” the talisman shell actually splitting in half.
How could a tiger talisman that commanded thousands of troops shatter with one drop? His eyes grew increasingly cold and stern, instantly focusing on me.
After all his painstaking efforts, everything had ultimately come to naught – how could he not be furious?
I let out a long breath and opened my mouth: “Feng Li, it’s all over.”
“You… you can speak…” Feng Li’s expression changed dramatically. “This fake military talisman was something you deliberately brought out of the palace!”
I raised my eyes to look at him: “What does Young Master Feng think?”
Feng Li’s confused expression instantly cleared, showing traces of murderous intent, but he could still control himself. At this moment, urgent voices suddenly came from outside the door: “Young Master, something terrible has happened! Someone has brought troops with great momentum, saying they’re hunting criminals and are about to force their way in!”
“Outrageous!” Feng Li angrily slammed the table, overturning the teacup. “This is Prince Rui’s mansion – without an imperial decree, who dares to trespass!”
The servant stammered: “The, the people claim to be from… the Five Military Commissions…”
“The Five Military Commissions?” Feng Li suddenly swayed, obviously panicking. “How is this possible?”
“This, this small one doesn’t know either…”
Feng Li glanced back at me, probably seeing that I also looked surprised and knowing the visitors weren’t brought by me. Unable to get information from me, he immediately swept his wide sleeves, grabbed his sword and rose, calling Cai Mi into the room to watch me carefully, then pulled open the door and shouted hoarsely: “You two guard outside the door, the rest of you come with me!”
The situation was sudden, and Cai Mi was even more at a loss. She secured the door, drew her long sword and placed it at my neck, but her eyes kept glancing toward the window.
I couldn’t be bothered with her, my mind still uncertain, pondering that the Five Military Commissions appearing here was indeed strange.
The Grand Military Commission was the highest institution commanding Daqing’s armies.
Among civil officials, the Chief Minister of the Inner Cabinet had the most say, while among military officials, the Grand Marshal was undoubtedly supreme. Later, to prevent military commanders from monopolizing power, Father Emperor withdrew the commission’s troop deployment authority, which meant that aside from Father Emperor, no one could arbitrarily deploy the Five Army Camps’ forces.
The reason Feng Li had been confident before was that he had not only assembled former dynasty rebels but also controlled key positions in the Three Thousand Battalion and Divine Engine Battalion. Thus, the Feathered Forest Guards and Imperial Guard forces would be no match for him. Even if the Crown Prince and I wanted to deploy the Five Military Commissions’ troops, we would have to wait for war to break out, then have the Inner Cabinet deliberate and finally have the Ministry of War draft documents to deploy to various Regional Military Commissions and Guard Stations. With all these delays, he could turn the tide in so many ways.
But now his plan to murder the Crown Prince during the Heaven Worship Ceremony had failed, the military talismans were fake, and the Five Military Commissions could actually find their way here – how could this not throw him into complete confusion?
At this time, sounds of fighting and killing came from outside the window. It seemed someone really had brought troops to force their way in. If they truly were from the Five Army Camps, could they have gotten news and come to rescue me?
I thought about it briefly and felt it didn’t seem right. What the servant had said was arresting criminals, which meant the arrivals didn’t yet know I was trapped here. But having someone come was better than no one coming. I held hopeful expectations for them, turning to look at Cai Mi and planning how to find an opportunity to alert the people outside. Suddenly I heard whooshing arrow sounds nailing into the door panels, accompanied by miserable screams, blood spattering on the door leaves, and the two guards outside fell to the ground.
I was suddenly startled and was about to lean forward when Cai Mi’s sword blade pressed closer to my neck, signaling me not to act rashly.
Just then, a voice came from outside the door without warning: “Feng Li, the situation is decided. You have no way to retreat.”
This familiar yet long-missed voice, with just one sentence, was like finding driftwood after long drowning in an illusory sea, making my heartbeat skip half a beat.
I heard Feng Li backing up step by step to the door, saying: “Song Langsheng… how, how did you find this place?”
Song Langsheng laughed coldly: “You plotted with all your heart to harm the Crown Prince during the Heaven Worship Ceremony. Given your usual way of doing things, you would definitely arrange plans in hidden places around the altar, waiting for the right moment to act. Though there are many places to hide around the altar, when I released Cai Mi a few days ago, I placed Nine Hidden Fragrance on her. Dogs can smell it within nine li, which is how I was able to find your hiding place in one night.”
Hearing this, Cai Mi was like a stone or wooden carving, with turbulent waves in her eyes. Probably Feng Li was equally shocked. He said: “You’re a rebel wanted by the court – how could you possibly command the Five Army Camps! Hmph, don’t think that having those former dynasty rebels following you disguise themselves as court troops will make me submit! Right now I have troops on all four sides of the capital – do you think just these few broken soldiers and damaged armor can really trap me?”
Even if Feng Li didn’t mention it, I had the same question. I heard Song Langsheng chuckle: “That’s right, you secretly assembled forces, recruited martial arts masters from all over the world, and used Nie Guang’s former dynasty rebels in the capital intending to raise rebellion. Even the Three Thousand Battalion, Feathered Forest Guards, and Divine Engine Battalion have former dynasty rebels you arranged. If there really were only a few broken soldiers, how could they break your grand plan?” He paused: “But… do you recognize what this is?”
He must have taken out some object. I couldn’t see it from inside the room and was quite curious, but heard Feng Li exclaim in shock: “…The seal of the Central Military Commission… you… how could you…”
Song Langsheng said calmly: “In this world, only one person can grant me this seal…”
“The current emperor!” Feng Li said in a trembling voice: “You’re his man?! He, he actually entrusted the Central Military Commission’s seal to you! No, this is impossible – you’re just a civil official, how can you exceed your authority to lead thousands of troops!”
Song Langsheng said flatly: “Civil officials naturally cannot command troops, but I was already relieved of my position at the Court of Judicial Review two months ago, and this seal was personally bestowed by His Majesty yesterday…”
“Personally bestowed by the emperor?” Feng Li’s voice grew cold as he asked word by word: “You’re saying he… has awakened?!”
My heart couldn’t help but tremble – Father Emperor had awakened?
“Whether His Majesty is awake or not makes no difference to you.” Song Langsheng said in a deep voice: “The gunpowder you buried under the altar has been removed, your confidants in the Three Thousand Battalion have been arrested, half of the former dynasty rebels in the capital have been recruited and surrendered to the court, and as for those others who swore to follow you to the death… ha, without even needing to use the Five Army Camps’ forces, they’ve all been completely annihilated. Nie Guang is a clever man – on the surface he sent Nie Ran to assist you, but actually he had already withdrawn his troops and escaped overnight… Feng Li, your greatest support has already seen your decline. Right now you’re completely isolated – what winning chances do you think you still have?”
This speech inexplicably reminded me of what Song Langsheng had said so calmly on the day before our parting: he has already become our chess piece.
Everything after that was merely deployment to force him to reveal all his cards, thus catching them all in one net.
Perhaps for Father Emperor, for the Crown Prince, for Song Langsheng, defeating Feng Li was to officially declare war on Nie Guang.
Feng Li… he was a terrifying strategist with endless conspiracies, but for an emperor, only absolute military force and open schemes were truly formidable opponents to face seriously.
The overall situation had long been decided.
“This is impossible…” Feng Li still refused to give up: “How did you know there was gunpowder under the altar? How did you know that today’s Crown Prince at the heaven worship was real?! That day the Princess clearly sent you a message by flying eagle that the Crown Prince in the palace was an imposter – didn’t you receive it?!”
“I naturally received it.” Song Langsheng chuckled: “Only what the Princess mentioned in her letter wasn’t that the Crown Prince was fake, but rather…”
Rather, on the night before last after entering the Eastern Palace, when I was hiding outside the Crown Prince’s bedchamber listening to their conversation, I had already guessed the truth that the Crown Prince was still in the palace.
Everything was really too coincidental.
It just so happened that I discovered the Crown Prince was fake, just happened to encounter all the Eastern Palace guards moved to outside the hall so I could eavesdrop without concern, and I even happened to catch all the conversation I wanted to hear – it was like a perfect plan.
So before leaving the Eastern Palace, I had whispered to ask the guard commander: “Today in the Eastern Palace, was anyone carried out unconscious? Or did anyone move bags, boxes, or things like that out?”
The guard commander was very certain: “No, we subordinates have been guarding here all day and have never seen such situations occur.”
If not, it could only mean the Crown Prince had never left the Eastern Palace. Even if Feng Li had drugged the Crown Prince unconscious and disguised him, it would be impossible to send away a living person without anyone knowing.
I had made my judgment then and could roughly guess that since Feng Li was luring me to retrieve the military talismans, he would certainly follow. So I immediately went to the library, took the fake military talismans the Crown Prince had prepared before, and wrote a letter to Song Langsheng.
I conveyed all these suspicions through one small letter to Song Langsheng, hoping he could investigate the truth or tell everything to Zhao Gengnian to plan countermeasures together.
In the letter, the only lie I told Song Langsheng was one sentence: I have safely left the palace and am hidden in a secure place – please don’t worry.
I understood in my heart that to let Song Langsheng investigate the case wholeheartedly, I couldn’t let him have concerns.
How could I have expected that Sun Xuan was Feng Li in disguise, and even more terrifyingly, there was also Nie Ran.
All of this was because I was too self-important, only knowing how to take dangerous moves but not predicting that things would often be worse than imagined.
At this time, Song Langsheng outside the door said: “Did you really think the Princess would be played by you again and again? She had already seen through your plot and lured you into her trap. In this contest, you ultimately lost.”
Hearing this made me quite ashamed. If the Prince Consort knew I had dug a trap for myself then jumped in and nearly got buried, I wonder if he’d be angry enough to want to strangle me.
Feng Li obviously also found Song Langsheng’s last words quite laughable. Having far-reaching worries and near concerns, calculating everything, he had ultimately become a complete loser, so he suddenly began laughing maniacally. That laughter made people suck in a cold breath, making one’s chest feel chilly – though I truly did feel chilly in my chest area, but even Cai Mi couldn’t quite control herself and her hand wavered, the sword blade scraping my neck. I winced and couldn’t help crying “ah” –
Song Langsheng seemed to hear the sound and asked: “Who? Who else is inside?”
Feng Li finally recovered from his breathless laughter and said: “Song Langsheng, ah Song Langsheng, you won, I’m thoroughly convinced of my defeat, only there’s still one thing you don’t know…”
“The one who brought the Princess out of the palace was none other than Nie Ran and me.”
“Last night, Young Master Nie suddenly felt lonely, so… I had the Princess keep him company, letting them go to Wushan together… Who would have thought the Princess was rather unwilling, couldn’t succeed in seeking death, and suffered great torment…”
Before his words were finished, the door was smashed open with a bang.
I looked up – he had rushed into the room without warning, standing right in front of me.
I was completely stunned.
Those mere three steps seemed to span thousands of mountains, everything else fading away. Only when that person truly appeared did I realize how fierce my longing had been.
Strong waves surged in my heart, crashing against my internal organs. I couldn’t help but well up with tears, wanting to go forward and embrace him, but remembering my disheveled appearance, the bite marks and kiss marks on my neck and chest still there, my eyes still swollen from crying too hard last night – I didn’t know what he would think of me seeing such a sordid scene.
I trembled as I gathered the quilt, struggling to say something to him but unable to say anything.
Instead, it was Cai Mi who became nervous seeing Song Langsheng burst in, shakily gripping her sword and scraping it against my neck: “You, you mustn’t act rashly… if you take another step forward… don’t blame my sword for being…”
Before she could finish saying “merciless,” Cai Mi’s voice abruptly stopped, her sword loosening and clanging to the ground. I turned my head in confusion, not even able to see clearly how Song Langsheng had thrown the knife in his hand at Cai Mi, when I saw Cai Mi staring blankly at her abdomen pierced by the blade, stiffly falling into a pool of blood, as if she didn’t understand how she had died even unto death.
This was the first time I had seen Song Langsheng kill someone – one fatal strike, showing no mercy.
He was never such a ruthlessly decisive person. When surrounded by He Pingzhao, even though he was outnumbered and in mortal danger, he still couldn’t bring himself to seriously harm his enemies.
I looked at him trembling with fear. His entire face was pale as paper, showing how angry he was – even his eyes were red. Looking at me this way, I grew even more nervous, but my heart was full of deep grievance. I bit my lips and choked out: “Prince Consort, I…”
Just as I said these few words, my vision blurred and my body tilted – in what was clearly just the blink of an eye, I was already tightly embraced in his arms. He was ice-cold all over, his eyes full of helpless bewilderment. I was frightened by his appearance and tried to push him away to explain properly, but before the words left my mouth, my hands were grasped by his. He slowly lowered his gaze, using his fingertips to gently stroke the bruises on my wrists, trembling even more than I was. When my clothing slipped and he saw the bite marks on my shoulder where blood had not yet dried, shock overflowed from his eyes. I instinctively raised my hand to cover his eyes, struggling to keep my voice steady: “Don’t look…”
Warm wetness seeped through my fingers. My heart trembled as he turned his head, then spun around to pick up Cai Mi’s sword, striding toward Feng Li at the door. Feng Li also had a sword but didn’t raise it, only curving his lips slightly to ask: “You want to kill me? But if I die now, no one will know where Nie Ran has fled or what Nie Guang’s true strength is… Since the emperor sent you to arrest me, he naturally doesn’t want you to bring back a corpse…”
I quite agreed – what Feng Li said was right. If Song Langsheng had wanted to kill him, he would have acted earlier rather than waste words with him. I thought Song Langsheng wanted to interrogate him about something, but he said nothing and instead made a humming sound as his long sword broke through the air, striking without hesitation-
Feng Li was shocked and raised his sword to parry, but Song Langsheng’s momentum was like a rainbow, unstoppable, forcing Feng Li back to the corner. He swept his sword horizontally, but with a “hiss,” Feng Li’s eyes widened as he frantically covered his throat with one hand, but the blood simply wouldn’t obey and gushed out gurgling. Only when the light gradually faded from his eyes did he fall to the ground.
At the window, Song Langsheng gasped breath by breath, the sword in his hand stained with bright red. The soldiers gathered outside the door seemed frightened, not knowing whether to advance or retreat, looking at each other in confusion. Song Langsheng’s voice drifted out: “Everyone withdraw to outside the mansion and await orders. Anyone who speaks or acts without permission will be dealt with according to military law.”
His voice was low and calm, yet it made everyone outside turn and obey in unison, not daring to slack in the slightest. That natural majesty was completely different from the usually rigid and boring Prince Consort – like two different people.
Just as I was immersed in thought, warmth surrounded me as I was once again slowly embraced by Song Langsheng, tighter, then a bit tighter. Afraid of hurting me, he restrainedly and gently stroked my back, his chin lightly resting on my shoulder. He held me for a very long time in the quiet, peaceful room.
This warmth was too long-missed, so long-missed that I was also reluctant to part from him even an inch. I quietly lay against his chest, tears that had been suppressed too long pouring out, pattering down endlessly. I don’t know how long passed before he finally spoke, his voice so hoarse it didn’t sound like him: “It’s all my fault… from now on, I’ll never leave you again…”
Hearing him say this, my eyes grew hot again, my heart both sad and happy – sad that we had experienced so much suffering, happy that when he said this he would be able to do it, and everything would get better and better.
Song Langsheng loosened his hold on me slightly, discovering I was crying, and wiped my tears one by one. After a while, he said: “I will definitely kill Nie Ran, definitely…”
I was stunned, understanding he might have misunderstood something. I tried to calm the sad emotions in my heart and looked up at him: “He actually didn’t touch me…”
Song Langsheng paused, as if he hadn’t understood the meaning of my words for a moment: “You mean…”
I lowered my head and softly indicated: “You see, my inner clothes and undergarments are still on… Though he was indeed quite excessive, in the end he did nothing… The reason he did this was because I had been poisoned with Feng Li’s bone-softening powder. After taking bone-softening powder, one loses strength and voice. Without an antidote within ten days, recovery would be very difficult, so…”
So at that time, what Feng Li gave him in that bottle was the antidote, not some passion-enhancing aphrodisiac – it was because Nie Ran had also been poisoned with this toxin. Though he cooperated with Feng Li, Feng Li didn’t completely trust him. Only if he was willing to violate me in person could Feng Li believe that Nie Ran could still be on the same boat with him.
Nie Ran had performed such a long charade, and when he forced me to drink the antidote, he even used his sash to bind me – truly he himself didn’t have much strength left to restrain me.
Until finally he used all his strength to bite me, forcing me to cry out heartbreakingly. After Feng Li finally left, he released me and collapsed beside me as if drained of strength, closing his eyes and saying softly: “I know you hate me. Even if I tell you this was just an expedient, you will still hate me, but I don’t regret it. Everything I did tonight was what I wanted to do in my heart, though I know I ultimately cannot have more of you…”
I looked at him in shock as he struggled to sit up and untie my bonds: “I cannot rescue you tonight, but rest assured, Feng Li won’t harm you for now. Song Langsheng will come to rescue you tomorrow, Feng Li won’t succeed, and everything will calm down…”
After he finished speaking and helped me arrange the bedding, I suddenly wanted to ask him: “Without the antidote, how will you escape the capital?”
But I didn’t ask. I felt my consciousness gradually becoming unclear. Before closing my eyes, I saw him standing by the window, letting snowflakes blow on him, motionless for a long time.
After hearing me tell all this, Song Langsheng’s brow relaxed. He gently stroked me and murmured: “As long as you weren’t harmed and aren’t upset, that’s very good…” He paused, then frowned again: “If so, why didn’t you say this earlier?”
My heart was torn with conflict: “With so many people present, I didn’t know how to explain in detail, and besides, Nie Ran he…”
He asked: “What about him?”
“He still…” I struggled briefly, then said quietly: “Also kissed me… and touched me a little… Strictly speaking, I was still taken advantage of by him… I thought maybe you would mind just a little bit…”
Song Langsheng kept a straight face and said through gritted teeth: “I don’t mind…”
I looked at him and studied his expression, testing: “Really?”
“Mm…”
I breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good… I was worried and frightened all night…”
Song Langsheng pursed his lips and held back again and again, took a long breath, and asked: “Where did he touch you?”
Me: “…”
“Your face? Or your hands?”
I gave a dry laugh, gathered the quilt and subtly changed the subject: “Actually, what I’m more curious about now is… Feng Li’s true face…”
Song Langsheng raised his eyes and looked back at Feng Li lying in the pool of blood, frowned slightly, got up and walked over, slowly reaching out to remove his human skin mask.