The girl became increasingly agitated: "My sister was alive and well in the Mu Prince's mansion, but she died when you came back. I can't kill you, but I can make the princess die."
"Your sister is Linglong, who serves Consort Li, isn't she?" Luo Zhiheng suddenly shouted, her eyes flashing. Seeing the girl's face grow even more sorrowful, she knew she had guessed correctly.
Luo Zhiheng had witnessed the young maid Linglong desperately protecting Consort Li, but that fool Consort Li valued Huakai more, ultimately ruining her and causing the loyal Linglong to die tragically. This made sense; the young maid was Linglong's sister, no longer in the Mu Prince's residence. Consort Li had somehow found her, spoken ill of her, and used her for revenge and sabotage.
Luo Zhiheng gritted her teeth in hatred; they were still too soft-hearted. Consort Li was truly a master strategist, targeting Mu Yunhe's weakness—the Princess Consort—and stabbing her in the back. The Princess Consort was dying, Mu Yunhe was nearly driven to despair, and Consort Li herself gained nothing. This chain reaction resulted in heavy casualties on her side. Consort Li could also easily wipe out their masked followers without shedding a drop of blood.
"What did Consort Li tell you and the Princess? You'd better tell me straight. Otherwise, I'll take your sister's ashes and feed them to the dogs!" Luo Zhiheng suddenly said fiercely.
"What did you say? My sister still has ashes?" The girl suddenly exclaimed in shock, then screamed, "No, you're lying to me!"
Luo Zhiheng scoffed, "Hmph, what are you? Why would I lie to you? It's true that the Mu Prince's Mansion burned down, but all the ashes inside had to be collected and buried. Your sister was lucky; she was in her room at the time, so the ashes found in her room's location are naturally hers. I manage everything at the Mu Prince's Mansion. Believe me or not, this is your only chance. Tell me everything you said to the Princess Consort, and I'll give you your sister's ashes without missing a single word, and I won't make things difficult for you; I'll let you leave."
She was too clever; her lie formed in an instant, flawlessly perfect, reaching deep into a person's vulnerable soul, making it impossible to refuse. Finally, the girl slowly began to speak…
Second update! Haha, that's all for today's update. I'll keep working hard tomorrow! I love you all! Please vote, leave comments, and give me monthly tickets! Group kisses! Goodnight, my darlings!
372 Hurtful words, three sentences can be deadly!
Updated: 2013-10-06 18:11:07 Word Count: 7594
"If I tell you everything, will you really return my sister's ashes to me?" The girl was skeptical, but she preferred to believe it rather than not. Her question was merely a way of confirming her suspicions.
"Luo Zhiheng keeps her word, but your answer must be exactly what I want, and it must be true. Tell me quickly," Luo Zhiheng said, frowning.
The girl seemed to be thinking about where to start, and then she began to speak: "My sister is the most capable maidservant of Consort Li. Consort Li treats my sister very well. I was arranged to live in another place by Consort Li when I was young. My sister did not allow me to be a slave. Although my family is not well-off, we have been able to get by thanks to my sister's help."
“My sister and I have relied on each other for many years. We have always been taken care of by Consort Li, and we are very grateful to her. This time, Consort Li came to me and told me that the Prince’s mansion was gone, burned down by the young prince. At that time, I felt like I had been struck by lightning. But I thought that if Consort Li was still alive, then my sister must still be alive. My sister never left Consort Li’s side. But Consort Li told me that my sister… she died in that fire.”
The girl was sobbing uncontrollably, showing how deeply she loved her sister. But the little girl was too naive; she lost her composure and felt as if the sky had fallen. Her sister, with whom she had always depended on each other, was suddenly dead—a death the girl couldn't accept.
At this moment, Consort Li told her that it was all Mu Yunhe's fault. If Mu Yunhe hadn't gone mad and burned down the Mu Prince's Mansion, her sister wouldn't have died. If she wanted to avenge her sister, there was only one way: to make Mu Yunhe experience the pain of heartbreak. Only by making Mu Yunhe suffer a thousand times more than she did could she truly be avenged.
The girl had lost her composure and was only thinking about how to get revenge. She even begged Consort Li to teach her what to do.
Consort Li had come looking for a scapegoat and thugs, so she naturally seized the opportunity and immediately told the girl that avenging her sister was absolutely impossible for her on her own. She might even get herself involved. But everyone has a weakness. If she couldn't kill Mu Yunhe, she could find a way to kill his mother. Mu Yunhe's most cherished person in his life was his mother; if she died, Mu Yunhe would be half-dead.
The girl was utterly naive, focused solely on revenge. Upon hearing Consort Li's advice, she agreed without hesitation. With Consort Li's help, she finally entered the General's mansion today. Following Consort Li's instructions, she spoke to the Princess, who said that if she relayed these words verbatim to the Princess, the Princess would surely perish.
The girl did as she was told, but she didn't expect that after she finished speaking to the princess, the princess would be stunned and then completely distraught. The girl was terrified and felt extremely resentful. She was afraid that what Consort Li said was wrong, and what if the princess didn't go and died at the target's location? So, taking advantage of the princess's momentary lapse in attention, the girl pushed the princess into the pond.
The girl was also panicked and didn't have time to escape before she was caught.
The girl recounted her crime: how she infiltrated the General's Mansion with the help of people arranged by Consort Li, how she lured the Princess to the pond, and how she pushed the Princess into the water. Then the girl added, "Consort Li asked me to tell the Princess how intimate she and Prince Mu were, and how she gossiped about and looked down on the Princess behind her back."
"Prince Mu once said that he had never seen a woman as shameless as the Princess Consort in his life. He never knew that there was such a clueless woman in the world who dared to cause trouble in the Prince's mansion just because she was a daughter of the Tong family. She even dared to dream that he would give her special treatment. It was simply a pipe dream."
"Prince Mu also said that the last thing he would do in his life was to obey the Emperor's orders and marry the Tong family's daughter as his princess, thus betraying Fangfei, who loved him most, and breaking their vows of eternal love. He hated the princess for standing between him and Consort Li, like a thorn constantly stuck in his throat, wishing he could get rid of her as soon as possible, finding even a glance disgusting. This woman should never dream that he would look at her again, that he would have any feelings for her, it was simply wishful thinking!"
"King Mu once said that he and Consort Li were childhood sweethearts, and no one could interfere. Even if the princess were a celestial being descended from heaven, he would not love her any more. In this world, only Consort Li was worthy of his sincere devotion and boundless tolerance. There was no other woman who could move his heart."
"Prince Mu also said that he has only ever loved Li Fangfei in his entire life."
"These words were what Consort Li made me say to the Princess. After hearing them, the Princess seemed to have lost her soul. I didn't know the meaning of these words, but I knew they were not kind. Some of them were extremely humiliating to the Princess, but at the time I was only thinking about revenge..." The girl recalled those horrifying words intermittently.
Luo Zhiheng was extremely shocked and furious, let alone Mu Yunhe, who had been standing outside the whole time.
With a loud bang, Mu Yunhe kicked the door open, his handsome face contorted with rage. He rarely struck anyone, feeling that others would dirty his hands, but today, Mu Yunhe slapped the girl hard across her stunned face, knocking her to the ground, where she coughed up blood.
"You scoundrel! Spouting nonsense! Guards, rip out her tongue!" Mu Yunhe roared, his eyes bloodshot. When he was angry, he was like a thunderbolt!
The girl was terrified and huddled to the side, too timid to speak.
Luo Zhiheng suppressed the uncontrollable anger and cold laughter in her heart, and pulled Mu Yunhe's arm, saying, "Calm down. Wasn't Consort Li's plan to make you suffer and provoke you? Aren't you playing right into her hands? She wanted to kill the Princess, but Heaven just wouldn't let her succeed. Now the Princess is perfectly fine, but she's dead. This is retribution. Heaven doesn't mistreat or treat anyone unfairly."
"That vile woman, not grinding her to dust and tearing her to pieces is the last thing I'll ever do in my life! I will not let her go, even if she dies, even if King Mu returns, no one will let me go!!" Mu Yunhe roared with hatred, his body filled with a contradictory yet urgent aura of anger and coldness.
"Don't be like this. If you get angry and ruin your health, what will the Princess Consort do?" Luo Zhiheng could only try to persuade her gently.
But wasn't she angry inside? Of course not! On the contrary, she was furious, so furious that she wanted nothing more than to chop Prince Mu into pieces!
How could there be such a despicable man? So heartless, so incompetent and immoral! He can't even distinguish between good and bad people. How could he say such things to Consort Li? When Prince Mu said those words, did he ever consider that his words could instantly kill the Princess? Was he destroying one woman just to protect and please another?
But is Consort Li truly worth such a great sacrifice by the Prince, who would rather sacrifice his own wife to make her happy? Is Prince Mu's indulgence and flattery towards Consort Li truly love? Does Prince Mu hate the Princess? Otherwise, how could he utter so many humiliating words towards his principal wife, especially to a concubine?
Of course, this could be false, something Consort Li fabricated to provoke the Princess, and Prince Mu might not have actually said it. But regardless of whether it's true or not, since it's now out in the open, it can't be baseless. Everyone understands that Prince Mu's coldness towards the Princess and his indifference towards Mu Yunhe over the years, even if he did care later, was more out of guilt than affection.
Prince Mu is definitely not a good man; at the very least, some of these words must have been spoken by Prince Mu himself. Consort Li has achieved her goal; she truly understood the Princess's thoughts and knew these words would genuinely hurt her.
The princess may have seemed indifferent all these years, but how could she not care about the prince? You can see the deep love and tenderness in her eyes and expression when she looks at the prince.
But all of this is meaningless, because Prince Mu doesn't care about the princess's concern and love. Prince Mu even coldly regards this love as an obstacle, as cheap and dirty garbage, and doesn't even want to give it a second glance.
Women's hearts are always fragile and sensitive, especially the princess who had to live cautiously in the treacherous Mu Wang Mansion.
A single sentence—"daydreaming," "wishful thinking," "I only love Li Fangfei"—was enough to take the princess's life, shatter her lifelong dreams, leave her with no will to live, and make her fall into despair, leaving her without any hope of survival.
What a brilliant move to undermine the enemy's defenses! What a vicious woman! Consort Li is truly remarkable. In that seemingly idiotic mind, at the crucial moment, she so ruthlessly and keenly grasped the woman's weakness and launched a decisive attack, utterly defeating the princess and bringing her to the brink of death.
In this psychological warfare, Consort Li, without firing a single shot, utterly defeated the princess, with whom she had fought for years, leaving her defenseless. With Consort Li dead, the princess was doomed as well. This wasn't a case of mutual destruction; it was a lose-lose situation, a complete annihilation of both sides!
The consequences were too tragic. Consort Li died in Prince Mu's arms, but the princess was dying and did not receive even a glance from Prince Mu.
No wonder the princess was so determined to see Prince Mu, so eager and unwilling to give up.
It turns out that what she wanted to see was not only the man she had loved her whole life, but also an opportunity—a chance to give her hard-won and waited-for relationship a chance to break free of its shattered foundation.
She wanted to know whether Prince Mu truly loved only Li Fangfei.
Unfortunately, she didn't live to see it.
Luo Zhiheng suddenly felt a deep sadness and bitterness. They didn't know the inside story; they only knew that the Princess Consort had been living a life of unbearable hardship these past few days, and every time she looked towards the door, her eyes were filled with such expectation and humble pleading. They couldn't understand why she waited for Prince Mu with such eyes.
But now, Luo Zhiheng finally understood that she was risking her life to wait for that man to turn back, to wait for that man to appear and break a curse that prevented her from closing her eyes even in death.
Mu Yunhe gave a bitter laugh, his expression sorrowful and dejected, mocking himself: "I am a diviner, yet I cannot fathom my mother's thoughts, nor can I fathom how cruel that man truly is. He must understand my mother's feelings. Even if I didn't beg or plead with him, shouldn't he at least come to see her, considering the youth and happiness my mother devoted to him throughout her life? Even if he doesn't care about those things, after so many years of marriage, even if there's no marital affection, shouldn't there still be familial love? My mother even bore him my sister and me; why should he hate her so much?"
Too much worry, too much love, too much anger—all these things made Mu Yunhe's face contort with rage. His reddened eyes held an indescribable desolation and ruthlessness; every word he uttered was a venting of deep-seated hatred. He was like a caged beast, suppressed for too long, finally poised to pounce.
If he moves, it will be an earth-shattering, unstoppable rage of wind and clouds!
I'm afraid even Prince Mu won't be able to withstand it, and Luo Zhiheng might harm innocent people.
"Yunhe, please, don't be like this. Do you know how terrifying your expression is? The princess is still alive, isn't she? We'll try our best. We have the best doctors. Lady Huoyun will definitely not let us down. Even without Prince Mu's arrival, we will definitely be able to keep the princess alive." Luo Zhiheng hugged him tenderly, but she could only hold his body, not his already cold heart.
"It's too late. Mother has been defeated by Consort Li. She persevered for so many years, but in the end, she still lost to that vile woman! And Prince Mu is the instigator, he is also a cruel accomplice!!" Veins bulged on his forehead, and Mu Yunhe's face was a terrifying crimson red like never before. Blue veins could be seen on his pale face, as if they would burst if he exerted any more force.
Luo Zhiheng was terrified and hugged him even tighter: "No, the dead can never defeat the living. The Princess Consort won because she is still alive. Consort Li is dead, and no one can defeat the Princess Consort anymore. Don't be so extreme, we will definitely find a way. Besides, these words may not really be what Prince Mu said. Consort Li is cunning, we can't just listen to one side of the story."
Luo Zhiheng's self-deception only elicited a mocking laugh from Mu Yunhe, but the laughter gradually turned into a desolate, fragile, and sorrowful one: "Aheng, if Mother dies, I will be an orphan, a child without a mother. Do you understand the confusion and heartache I feel right now? If Mother had died naturally, I wouldn't blame heaven or earth, but Mother's death was man-made. Even before she died, she was unwilling, and she will not rest in peace after death. How can you expect me to live with myself? I am right beside Mother. In her whole life, she painstakingly managed everything, every step she took was for me. Even if I don't want to admit it, even if I hated everything she did, she is still my mother. She loved me, and that love was the purest, truly without any impurities."
Mu Yunhe's gaze suddenly turned so sorrowful and broken. His voice trembled as he laughed, a mixture of hatred and self-loathing: "But her love is only love for the house because of the owner! She loves me because I am her flesh and blood. Tell me, should I hate him, or should I hate myself?"
He hated Mu Yunhe so much that even his father, Du, refused to call him Prince Mu anymore. Prince Mu's cold-heartedness had likened a knife to Mu Yunhe's heart, and Mu Yunhe was unwilling to pull it out, which was why he was in so much pain.
Torn between his father and mother, he was torn between love and hate!
Luo Zhiheng was speechless, feeling her heart grow cold. She could only hold Mu Yunhe's hand tightly, her nose stinging with tears. She felt so sorry for him, but she couldn't say it. What Mu Yunhe needed now was not sympathy, pity, or tenderness, but a calm and collected person who could watch over him and prevent him from making mistakes.
"If it's so hard to choose, then let's not hate anyone. Let's not look back on the past, nor think about what the future holds, let's just focus on the present, okay? Let's find a way to keep the princess alive, so that my Yunhe won't be an orphan, okay?"
He said his mother was dead, and he was now an orphan. He no longer acknowledged his father. He knew his father didn't love him, so he no longer expected the fatherly love he had always fantasized about.
But how could she comfort the deeply wounded Mu Yunhe? Luo Zhiheng wanted to share his anger and pain, but there were some things she simply couldn't truly understand.
"I miss my sister Ning." Mu Yunhe suddenly turned his head and glared fiercely at the girl who was trembling with fear. His sinister gaze and cracking fists revealed his murderous intent!
He wanted to kill that vile woman for saying such heinous things to her mother. 19.
"No, no! You said you would let me go!" The girl finally lost her composure. No amount of hatred could compare to the terror and despair she felt at this moment. She looked at Luo Zhiheng pleadingly, backing away repeatedly, her voice trembling. She sensed Mu Yunhe's murderous intent.
Luo Zhiheng hesitated for a moment, but finally said softly, "The problem is not her. Even if she is wrong, she can be punished. But can killing her really save the princess? It is true that she pushed the princess down, but if the princess had not lost her will to live, why would she have let her push her down? Why would she not have asked for help?"
Mu Yunhe stopped, gave a self-deprecating laugh, and abruptly turned and strode away.
Luo Zhiheng urged Xiao Xizi to hurry up and follow. She turned back to look at the girl and asked, "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"No, no. Please give me back my sister's ashes." The girl's big eyes were full of innocence and urgency. Even at this point, she still hadn't forgotten her sister, which showed how much she truly cared about her.
Seeing her loyalty and affection, Luo Zhiheng wouldn't make things difficult for her. Besides, this whole thing started because of Mu Yunhe. Mu Yunhe's actions killed Linglong, which led to the little girl's revenge. Cause and effect are cyclical, and she didn't want Mu Yunhe to bear another blood debt.
Luo Zhiheng had someone bring her a bag of ash, which she placed in a jar. It was incense ash; where could she find her sister's ashes for the little girl? Although she had deceived the girl, she considered it as a way of atoning for Mu Yunhe's blood debt. Let the little girl have something to remember her by.
They killed Linglong, but spared her younger sister's life. This feud should come to an end.
Luo Zhiheng had the wet nurse personally send the little girl away and gave her a sum of money. What happens to her in the future is up to the little girl's own fate.
Luo Zhiheng sat on the bed. This was the first time she had been alone in her room since she and Mu Yunhe had confessed their love. Mu Yunhe was nowhere to be found. She neither looked for him nor asked, seemingly indifferent, but everyone knew that the little princess was the most anxious of all.
In the dark and silent room, a sound suddenly came. Luo Zhiheng looked up and saw a swaying figure walking towards her. Before the person even arrived, she could smell the stench of alcohol. Then, the figure pounced heavily on her, fell onto the bed, and pinned Luo Zhiheng down as well.
"Aheng, Aheng..."
He murmured incoherently, repeatedly calling her name. Luo Zhiheng listened quietly, neither blaming nor questioning, but gently responding to him. 17129634
"I'm so sad, it hurts so much here. I can't kill him, he hates me so much, I really want to kill him, but killing him would be against all reason, and I wouldn't live either. If I die, what will you do? What will happen to my Ah Heng...?"
"He hates me! He knows Mother is dying. But he just won't come; he's taking revenge on me. He hates me for killing Li Fangfei; he hates me for disgracing him. But how can he use this to take revenge on me? Mother was his woman too..."
Mu Yunhe pressed his hand tightly against his heart, murmuring that sorrow and struggle flowed through his words, a deep reluctance, a profound hatred, and intense entanglement.
This incident has brought Mu Yunhe to the brink of collapse.
If he didn't let his mother see Prince Mu, she would die with her eyes wide open in disbelief. He would be tormented by guilt for the rest of his life. Yet, letting Prince Mu see his mother filled him with such resentment and bitterness. But what was most hateful was that if Prince Mu had come, perhaps he wouldn't have been so calculating and tormented. But Prince Mu was so heartless, as if he had forgotten his princess in the dust. He wouldn't come, and Mu Yunhe stubbornly refused to invite him. In this stalemate, his mother's life was being consumed day by day. He didn't know when, when Mu Yunhe opened his eyes to visit his mother, she would never open them again.
Given Mu Yunhe's decisive character, he could kill Prince Mu, but Prince Mu was his father. If Mu Yunhe killed him, he would violate some rule of the divination priest, and Mu Yunhe would also suffer a terrible death.
Luo Zhiheng had no way to persuade him; she could only listen quietly, gently caress him, and kiss him.
The night passed amidst Mu Yunhe's incoherent murmurs. Mu Yunhe drifted off to sleep, but Luo Zhiheng found it difficult to fall asleep.
An hour before dawn, Luo Zhiheng got out of bed, dressed herself, and stood in front of the bronze mirror. Looking at her dim reflection, she asked herself, "What else can you do for Mu Yunhe? What can I do? If I can do something, but it requires sacrificing something, would I do it? Would I? Would I not?"
Her hand fell to her waist, to the cane that seemed to have become a part of her body, still warm from her own body, pressed tightly against her waist and legs. She pulled it out and slowly felt for the cane with her hand. The light illuminated the dark room, revealing her exquisitely beautiful, expressionless face.
A lingering feeling seemed to cling to her fingers; she wanted to open the cane one more time, but the position she'd held for so long wouldn't come to her, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Gradually, her clenched fist tightened around the cane, and her gaze shifted from reluctance to determination: "For him, I will!"