Hearing my voice, he released me as if electrified. He dropped a “Sorry” and fled, leaving me standing bewildered, wondering why even his embrace was as fleeting as the wind.
I couldn’t let Liu Yu hurt Ruohan, absolutely not. I rushed out but could no longer find Shui Ruohan’s figure.
“Where is Shui Ruohan?” I caught and asked one maid after another, who mechanically shook their heads.
“Where is the Prince then?”
“Responding to Miss Blue, the Prince just left the back garden. This servant doesn’t know where.”
The back garden? I rushed over, the surrounding wind gradually draining my strength. Ruohan must be safe.
Autumn chrysanthemums bloomed charmingly in the sunlight. A tall, slender figure stood with his back to me, a light belt tied in his hair fluttering in the wind, making him look even more delicate. I silently walked behind him. He seemed to hear the movement and turned his face, a faint smile spreading across his pale face.
“These flowers are blooming beautifully.” He reached out to touch a white chrysanthemum. Bright red liquid dripped from his wrist onto the white flower, startlingly. The chrysanthemum was too red in the sunlight, blood dripping intermittently between the flower stems, unbearable to witness.
All the strength in my body seemed to be drained in an instant, tearing my heart.
“It was him. By what right…” My voice was hoarse, my body continuously stepping back.
e cruel… I said I would find the last medicinal catalyst to dissolve his blood and then lead him to death, but he was unwilling. He has already endured to his limit.” Shui Ruohan continued smiling, as if the wound on his wrist didn’t exist.
“I’ll take you to a doctor.” I didn’t want to see his heartbreaking smile anymore. I reached out to support him, but he collapsed weakly among the flowers. I knelt down with him. He lay lightly in my arms, a satisfied smile at the corner of his mouth. I uneasily caressed his increasingly pale face. “It’s my fault…”
“This is my only way out.” His hand lay casually among the flowers, blood gradually spreading.
“How did it become like this? Does Liu Yu want to do more?” Would he rather die without the antidote than let Shui Ruohan live?
“Listen.” He tilted his pale face, his bleeding hand difficultly rising to caress my face. “No matter whether you can recover your memories or not, don’t go against the Prince. He’s more terrifying than you imagine. There’s nothing in the world he can’t obtain, nothing he can’t do.”
A bloody smell seeped into my nose, my face feeling wet…
“How can I repay Ruohan’s kindness? I can’t…” I lowered my head, closing my eyes and forcing back the tears about to surge out.
He saw through my small action and laughed, “I like seeing your uninhibited smile.”
I blinked my moist eyes, pulling at the corner of my mouth, but found I had no strength to raise a smile. “Ruohan, did you love me in my memory before I lost it?”
“There’s a portrait of my beloved in the bundle.” He laughed like a mischievous cat, more gentle than the breeze.
I laughed along, tears rolling down, and when he looked at me, I quickly shifted my gaze to the autumn chrysanthemums in full bloom.
He laughed more freely, his eyes losing focus, “Don’t be like me… even if you’re at your wit’s end… you must liv
“Miss Lan, the Prince wants us to send Doctor Shuo back to Qiliu Town for a proper burial.” Several servants stopped outside the flower bushes, Liu Yu’s actions were indeed quick.
“Qiliu Town?”
“According to the Prince, it’s Doctor Shuo’s hometown.” The servant was reluctant to say more, stepping forward to support Shuo Ruohan from my arms, brushing off the chrysanthemum petals from his clothes.
I couldn’t bear to watch anymore and ran straight to Shuo Ruohan’s room. Two maids were locking the door.
“Move!” Startled by my cold voice, the two maids quickly retreated.
I pushed the door open, it was a very clean room. I opened the wardrobe and took out the bundle Shuo Ruohan mentioned, placing it on the table and opening it. A scroll rolled out, with some soft goods and silver inside.
I smiled bitterly. Did you mean not to oppose Liu Yu by telling me to escape? You already knew about your fate, so why did you still help me…
I unrolled the scroll, colorless, like a sketch delicately placed on paper. A breathtaking face with a spontaneous smile, yet carrying a hint of melancholy.
I picked up the copper mirror and slowly reflected my own face. The person in the painting immediately appeared in the mirror, with three distinct red marks on the right cheek.
Shuo Ruohan, you fool… I collapsed on the table, weeping uncontrollably.
On the eighteenth day after Ruohan left, the chrysanthemums in the Suzhou City government office began to wither, petals scattered everywhere, a desolate scene…
“The Crown Prince’s wedding, we’ll head back to Yue City these days.” Liu Yu walked to me.
y side, dropping a few surviving chrysanthemum flowers.
“Understood.” I responded mechanically, turning to leave but being pulled into an embrace as usual. He lowered his head and whispered by my ear, “Ye Xi is hosting a banquet tonight. Don’t stay cooped up, come along.”
“Since Ruohan left, you only say these three words.” He left his hand suspended in mid-air, his tone dissatisfied yet still gentle.
“I can say other things.” I looked up and coldly met his gaze.
“Let me go.” I didn’t care about challenging the limits of his emotions, speaking coldly, “Forcing someone who doesn’t want to stay by your side is imprisonment, which is illegal.”
His gentle eyes immediately became crystal clear, like a water pool, desperately suppressing his anger, “You must do this? When we were young…”
“But you’ve changed, becoming increasingly terrifying. Why did you kill Ruohan? Just because he privately helped me? Why did you kill Ye Suo, just because he was my love? Is your love so shallow?” I burst out all the resentment I’d been holding for days.
“You all leave first.” Liu Yu coldly dismissed the maids waiting nearby, then slowly walked to me, smiling bitterly, “The only one who can hurt me in this world is you, and you’ve said all the words that could hurt me.”
I stared at him in shock. He continued, “Do you think if I didn’t kill Ye Suo, the court would spare you? By me stepping in, I could still save your life. Don’t you understand?”
“For the me before losing my memory, dying together was the true happy ending.” I understood myself. I used to be moved to tears watching martial arts dramas where the male and female leads died together.
hesitating, firmly believing they would love freely in another realm. Now I only possess the dialogue from that blank memory, but can’t recall the exact tremor of that love…
“Yes, if you died, I could focus without distraction, but I can’t bear to… Are you satisfied? This is how shallow my love is!” He roared self-mockingly, and surprisingly, my heart ached, momentarily unsure what to say.
A maid slowly approached, timidly looking at the angry Liu Yu, curtsying, her voice like a mosquito, “My Lord, Master Ye asked what needs to be prepared for the evening banquet?”
“Leave.” Liu Yu shouted harshly. The maid was so scared she quickly backed away. I paused, then asked, “Can we invite a theater troupe to perform?”
The maid stood frozen, looking at me with Liu Yu’s puzzled gaze. I smiled softly, “I’m feeling stifled staying in the mansion all day. I want to hear some opera.”
Liu Yu was the first to come to his senses, telling the maid, “Go now, invite the best and liveliest theater troupe from Suzhou City.”
“Yes.” The maid curtsied and quickly retreated.
Liu Yu still looked bewildered at me. I spoke directly, “I don’t want to continue being cold with you.”
