Chapter 231: Chapter 231

　　Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

　　“Empress Dowager, Your Majesty is alright. He needs to recuperate.”

　　The Empress Dowager chided as tears streamed down her face. “All of you! How do you do your jobs? If something happens to Your Majesty, all of you will die with him!” As she finished her sentence, she walked towards Yixin Palace.

　　The servants kneeled on the ground in fear, not daring to raise their heads. No one dared to block her way. Chu Qiao followed behind her, all the way to Yixin Palace. Li Ce was sound asleep; as the Empress Dowager saw him, tears streamed down her face. She leaned forward as she tried to touch his face.

　　One of the Empress Dowager’s palaces maids walked in front of Chu Qiao, frowned, and asked, “Who are you? Why are you here? The Empress Dowager is visiting Your Majesty. Outsiders are not welcome.”

　　Meixiang frowned. As she prepared to argue, Chu Qiao tugged at her sleeve, nodded, and said, “Got it.” As she finished her sentence, she stepped out of Yixin Palace with Meixiang and the others.

　　“Miss? Your Majesty asked you to keep him company.”

　　Chu Qiao sighed in reply. “His mother is back. What right do we have to stay inside?”

　　Qiu Sui added on from the side, “The Empress Dowager dotes on Your Majesty a lot.”

　　Suddenly, General Sun Di approached them from the front. As he saw them, he froze and asked, “Miss, why are you not inside?”

　　Meixiang cut in and said, “The Empress Dowager is back. She chased Miss out!”

　　“Empress Dowager?” Sun Di was stunned as he heard the news, taking huge strides towards Yixin Palace as he shouted in a low voice, “Who fetched the Empress Dowager back? No one knew of the assassination attempt on Your Majesty. Why is she back?”

　　Suddenly, an ear-splitting cry of agony echoed out from Yixin Palace. Sun Di and Chu Qiao were stunned as they pushed open the doors of Yixin Palace forcefully!

　　The Empress Dowager was holding a dagger in her hands, her sorrowful face stained with blood. She no longer looked like the warm, gentle lady. She appeared like a demoness as she stood in front of the window, shouting incessantly, “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you! I’ll take revenge for Luo’er!”

　　Chu Qiao’s mind blanked out.

　　The sunlight entered the palace from the gates. It was bright and blinding. The surroundings were chaotic; some people were shouting in panic, screaming for help, while others rushed to summon the imperial physician. The imperial bodyguards rushed in front as they wielded their swords, which gave off an intense silver glow, casting white shadows on the ground.

　　She stood there, rooted to the spot, her eyes feeling irritated by the excessive light. In that instant, the sun seemed to turn cold. As it shone on her, she felt chills at her fingertips, slowly enveloping her entire body. Her heart started to palpitate; it seemed like it could jump out of her mouth anytime. She began to feel choked, as breathing slowly became more and more difficult.

　　The Empress Dowager’s clothes had been stained red by blood. Her sickly, pale face showcased the state of madness that she was in. Her eyes were bright; her expression was savage. Despite being restrained, she did not struggle. With immense hatred in her voice, she declared coldly, “You beasts. All of you deserve to die. I killed him. Now, I will kill all of you to avenge my husband and son.”

　　That instant, Chu Qiao saw the look in his eyes.

　　For the first time in her life, she felt that she saw his heart through his eyes, unlike the past times where his expression had been so unpredictable. That instant, she saw the flurry of emotions in his eyes clearly – the feelings of suppression and the sense of disappointment.

　　He lay there, blood oozing out of his wound, staining his green robe red. He looked at his mother quietly without any shock or resentment in his eyes. All that he felt was a sense of overwhelming fatigue.

　　The winds blew past, causing the thin curtains to sway. The fresh blood on the ground continued to flow and branch out as clusters of people dashed forward to stop the blood. The panicked shouts of the servants sounded out once again outside the palace. Everything appeared mimed to Chu Qiao – she could not see nor hear anything. Her gaze was solely fixated on his eyes, as chills traveled along the ridges of her skin, inch by inch, all the way to the bottom of her heart.

　　She suddenly thought of a hunting session in the highlands of Yan Bei many years ago. A mother wolf was starving as the heavy snowfall ravaged the mountains. She had painstakingly managed to capture an elk. She was savoring its meat in large mouthfuls when its child sneaked to the side and took a small bite. The mother wolf was enraged as it raised its claws to strike out at its child, injuring it. The little wolf retreated to the tree branches far away, cowering in fear and crying out while it looked at its mother, not daring to take another step forward. The look in its eyes was sorrowful, like a child that had been abandoned.

　　Some people tried to pull her away, but she refused to leave.

　　She suddenly felt so afraid as her blood turned cold. Her fingers quivered uncontrollably. She did not want to go out. The blood had pierced her eyes. She feared that she would not be able to step in here again once she had stepped out.

　　More and more people clustered around her, shouting beside her ear. Her thin clothes could not stand the force which she felt as she was pulled, as it began to rip apart. Suddenly, she exclaimed loudly and ran towards the direction of the inner palace, breaking free of everyone’s grasp.

　　“Get her!” a bodyguard shouted out as more and more servants rushed towards her. She stepped backward, as more and more chills went up her spine.

　　“Let go of her!” a low, hoarse voice suddenly boomed out. Li Ce staggered to sit up, the wound on his chest still bleeding, as he pointed his finger at her.

　　“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Don’t move about!”

　　A series of shouts suddenly echoed out. His body collapsed on the bed as a large mouthful of blood splattered out of his mouth.

　　The sunlight formed some striped shadows on the walls as her mood plummeted down into the depths of the abyss. She stood outside of the crowd, unable to see his facial features. There was only a pale white hand, devoid of any color, hanging outwards from the bed.

　　As the sun rose and set, the moon climbed over the trees in the sky, forming a layer of white glimmer outside Yixin Palace. The sand in the timekeeping pot drained out grain by grain, resembling the life getting sucked out of that body.

　　The choked voice of an elderly, white-haired physician suddenly sounded out. The lady’s shadow appeared translucent behind the thinly-veiled curtains. Her eyes were not visible behind the layers of curtains. There was only the faint sight of the red candlelights flickering in the room.

　　When she woke up, there was silence everywhere. In that instant, she thought that she was in a dream. However, when she saw Meixiang’s look of surprise, her heart started to ache. Even before she put on her shoes, she threw her blanket aside and jumped off her bed.

　　“Where’s Miss Chu?”

　　A man’s hurried voice sounded out from outside. She ran outside, her face pale.

　　Sun Di was looking at her as his expression became sorrowful. He lowered his head and whispered, “Your Majesty wants to see you.”

　　It was silent in Yixin Palace. She walked inside as she pushed aside the curtains, layer by layer, all the way to his bed. In that instant, she felt that he and the palace were about to become one.

　　She knelt down by his bed, reaching out her icy-cold fingertips. As she touched his arm, she retracted her hand as his body was even colder than her fingers. It felt like the snow that fell all year in the highlands of Yan Bei.

　　Her breath and voice were light as it resonated around the palace.

　　“Li Ce, I’m here to see you.”

　　His eyebrows twitched slightly as he opened his eyes to look at her. His look was calm and peaceful, yet it showed the many thoughts and words that he had wanted to say. He reached out his hand with great difficulty and waved at her as he laughed and whispered, “Qiaoqiao…”

　　Tears started to stream down Chu Qiao’s face as she grabbed his hand. It had only been a few days, but he had lost a considerable amount of weight to the point that the ridges of his bones were visible. She started to choke as her voice became inaudible.

　　He frowned slightly and reached out his fingertips to caress her face. “Don’t cry…”

　　“It’s all my fault,” she said as her tears continued to flow. Her fingertips were cold.

　　“I promised that I would stay by your side. I shouldn’t have gone out.”

　　Li Ce laughed as he lay flat on the bed, looking at the complicated flower patterns on the roof of the bed and the calligraphic words. His voice was calm and did not carry a tinge of resentment as he said, “How can you be blamed for this? She’s my mother. Who…”

　　He started to pant breathlessly as his voice became weak. Chu Qiao tried to dash outside to summon a physician in shock but was restrained by him forcefully. It was hard to imagine that he had been heavily injured.

　　“Who… who could have thought of that?”

　　Yes, who could have thought of that?

　　The winds blew into the room through the windows, making a howling sound. From afar, the suppressed voices of the palace maids floated over.

　　“I wanted to marry you off personally. Now… I’m afraid I can’t anymore.”

　　“No,” Chu Qiao said loudly and stubbornly as her voice reverberated around the empty palace. She held his hand with strength, seemingly as if to snatch him from someone else. “Nothing will happen to you!”

　　Li Ce looked at her and smiled weakly; his smile seemed to pierce through Chu Qiao’s heart like a sharp knife. She had never been so fearful before. As her tears streamed down her face and into her mouth, the bitter taste was hard to bear.

　　“Li Ce, don’t go. Don’t go, please?” she shook his arm lightly, behaving as if she was a lonely child.

　　“What will happen to me when you’re not around? Who will help me when I’m in trouble? I won’t have a place to live in anymore. Who will let me live off them?”

　　A bizarre cheekiness flashed across Li Ce’s eyes. Pretending to be angry, he chided playfully, “Oh. So I bought a pig in a poke again.”

　　Many years had passed in a flash. She looked at him helplessly as her heart ached. His voice was as calm as spring water as he muttered, “I have sent someone to inform Zhuge Yue. Someone will escort you to him. Just leave with him and live a good life.”

　　As she bit her lower lip, he continued to stutter with intermittent pauses, “Don’t… don’t put on a strong front and be willful in future.”

　　The night was cold. He frowned and stared intently at her. Suddenly, he requested, “Qiaoqiao, help me up.”

　　Chu Qiao was shocked as she shook her head. However, before she managed to speak, she saw the stubborn look in his eyes that carried an unbelievable amount of determination in it.

　　Her heart ached again as she helped him up carefully, letting him lean against the chair by the window. He had a bright red outfit on, embroidered with dragon patterns. His appearance was desolate, just like the first time when they met.

　　“Qiaoqiao, my hair is messy.”

　　Chu Qiao acknowledged his statement as she picked up a white jade comb, unraveling his hair. The teeth of the comb brushed against his hair as her pale white hands caressed his temple, strand by strand. In that instant, they seemed to relive the memories and experiences that they had gone through together all these years. Her hand started to quiver, but he did not seem to know as he did not turn his head around.