Chapter 214

(75.3)

Zhao Zhi interrupted him in a cold voice, “Don’t worry about it, cousin.”

Song Huaiqing gave him a deep look, feeling that his cousin the crown prince was smashing his own feet, tumbling in utter defeat.

He smiled, “Good, so when do you plan to return to the capital?”

Zhao Zhi said, “Very soon.”

He also couldn’t wait for much longer.

That evening, Song Huaiqing intentionally gave Zhao Zhi a lot of wine. Without realizing it, Zhao Zhi drank half a pot of Nü’erhong wine, his snow-white cheeks didn’t change color, but his ears and neck turned completely red.

He was not very different from how he usually was when he was drunk, he remained quiet and did not throw a drunken fit.

Song Huaiqing found it a pity that he wasn’t able to see the crown prince lose decorum, and left the room feeling unsatisfied.

Zhao Zhi’s stomach was very uncomfortable, he threw up twice, and drank a few cups of warm water to rinse his mouth. Then he felt a bit more comfortable.

His head was a little dizzy, he leaned against the bedpost with his eyes closed, the back of his head was aching, and his slightly drunken breath was overflowing with the dense smell of alcohol.

As the dim candle flame shone on his face, he remained still and quiet, as if he had fallen asleep.

The hour was actually still early, the sky had just gotten dark.

Zhao Zhi could not resist the onslaught of sleepiness, and slowly fell asleep.

After drinking wine, the sleep was even deeper.

He did not wake up again and again with a start, but was instead continuously tortured by those disjointed fragments of dreams, where real and fake couldn’t be distinguished.

He had not slept so well for a long time, inside the dream was his long long life, from sixteen or years old to the age of thirty, which passed in a fleeting glance.

Zhao Zhi finally connected the whole story, many familiar faces came and went, and Ming Zhu was the first one to leave him.

Five springs, summers, autumns and winters passed in the dream.

She died in the winter of the fifth year.

Before dying, she struggled desperately, the tears that came out of her clear, transparent eyes seemed to be red. Her voice was hoarse from crying, and she didn’t seem to believe he would do something so cruel at all.

She didn’t run away, and didn’t lit a fire, trying to burn herself to death in order to leave him. She stayed very well behaved by his side for five years.

Finally she died, poisoned by a cup of wine.

Zhao Zhi saw the scene of her dying in front of him too many times, so his heart had long since turned numb to it, but it never hurt as much as it did now.

He heard her ask over and over again with tears in her eyes, “Why does he want to kill me? Didn’t he say he liked me? I want to see him, I beg you please let me see him.”

Zhao Zhi’s heart felt like it was clutched by a pair of hands, he rolled off the bed, and his forehead hit hard the corner of the bed.

He stumbled to get up from the floor, staggering as he opened the door, running out.

He seemed to have remembered a lot of things.

The night breeze was cold and icy, the man with no expression on his face got on his horse, the whip in his hand was flinged with force on the horse’s back as he rushed out.

The wine wasn’t completely dissipated. When Zhao Zhi dismounted, his body swayed twice, he barely managed to stand firm by holding onto the horse’s back. He took a deep breath. His face was paler than paper.

Ming Zhu, who had just bathed and dressed, was about to blow out the candles to sleep, when the door of the room was suddenly knocked open from the outside, with a loud noise. When she raised her head to look at where the sound came from, she saw Zhao Zhi walking towards her with unsteady steps.

The jade crown on Zhao Zhi’s hair was nowhere to be found, and his long black hair was spread out on his back. His lapel was also a bit messy, and his forehead was still leaking undried blood. It was unsure how he ended up like this.

His eyes were beautiful, bright as the moon, but at this time there seemed to be a thin layer of watery mist clouding his eyes. He slowly stepped forward, and when he was about to reach her, he fell down heavily, kneeling on one knee in front of the bed, looking very wretched, not like him at all. Ming Zhu did not have the time to put on socks and hid her feet under the quilt, hugging her knees, while moving subconsciously toward the inside of the bed to avoid him.

Zhao Zhi knelt in front of her and extended his hand to touch her cheek, his fingers were cold, with a mix of the cool fragrance of pearwood.

The man’s fingertips cautiously caressed her face, as he asked with difficulty, word by word: “Zhu Zhu, did I kill you ?”

He was breathless as if close to death, and his eyes were full of blood streaks.

His words were so shaky that they were almost silent.

Under the dim candlelight, a transparent tear slowly rolled down his jade-like face.

(76.1)

The expression on Ming Zhu’s face looked a little bewildered, her hands and feet turned cold, her beautiful eyebrows gradually wrinkled into a ball, as the look on her face slowly turned into an expression of pain.

The face of Zhao Zhi was as flawless as jade, the tear that rolled down his face, was gone in a fleet.

The light coming from the candle flame through the lampshade was a little somber, and seeing his tear, Ming Zhu thought she was mistaken.

Next chapters

Translator : Laura

Other novels : His One Love  & Ancient Eden & Unaware that My Legitimate Sister is my Husband

If you’d like to read more 😉