Ji Wushang said, "Then let me ask you, why did the Third Prince suddenly appear? Although I'm very happy that he brought me that group of criminals, which naturally puts pressure on my father, the Marquis, and everyone else, I'm happy and grateful to him. But... if I remember correctly, I ordered you to arrest those people and then have you bring them to the Marquis's residence for me, without asking him to intervene. Hongfei, you're one of the Third Prince's men, aren't you?" Ji Wushang lowered his head slightly, then his cold eyes shot towards Hongfei.
"This servant is the master's person. This servant has always been by the master's side and served the master. Please believe this servant, Your Highness!" Hongfei kowtowed several times to Ji Wushang, then looked at Ji Wushang and said, "Please believe this servant, Your Highness!" Seeing that Ji Wushang did not speak, Hongfei quickly said, "This is what happened. This servant was working for Your Highness. It just so happened that the Third Prince came to Yixiang Tower. He saw through this. Knowing that the master and San Dianxuai were on good terms, I took it upon myself to tell the Third Prince about this. The Third Prince then ordered this servant to do so, saying that this was to help Your Highness and the master. This servant also thought so, so I asked the Third Prince to intervene."
"Oh, is that so?" Ji Wushang looked at her. "Since that's how it is, then get up. You don't need to kneel anymore. Hongfei, I just don't want anyone to be by my side and then stab me in the back! What I hate most are those who betray me! If I find out that anyone has betrayed Cong, or betrayed me, I will make them all wish they were dead!" Ji Wushang looked coldly outside. "You stay outside! Let Zhu'er come in and serve me."
"Yes!" Hongfei gritted his teeth, feeling timid, and then retreated.
Hongfei knew that Ji Wushang always kept her word, and today's events showed just how cunning she was… She knew she had to be extra careful from now on, but she had always been the master's person and had always worked for him. As for the Third Prince… the master said the Crown Princess couldn't know too much, and there was nothing she could do about it! Their matters should be discussed between them. With that thought, Hongfei walked out.
At this moment, Zhu'er walked in, carrying a bowl of lotus seed soup. "Miss, are you tired? Would you like to have a bowl of lotus seed soup and then go to bed?" Zhu'er said, placing the lotus seed soup on the table and then looking at Ji Wushang.
Ji Wushang put down the ancient book in his hand, which was about medicine and he had read quite a bit of it. "Leave it here, help me tidy it up and then you go down to sleep. Just let Cuiwu come in and keep watch."
"Yes." Zhu'er nodded and immediately went to make the bed. Ji Wushang glanced at Zhu'er and said, "No matter what happens tonight, don't come out, understand? Just sleep in your room." Zhu'er had been following him all along, and he didn't want her to get hurt in some pointless struggle.
Pearl replied, "Yes."
Ji Wushang picked up the lotus seed soup, stirred it, ate half of it, and put it down. "Go on! If Hongfei is still outside, let her guard the outer room, and let Cuiwu come in to guard this inner room."
"Yes." Zhu'er agreed, and after finishing tidying up, she left.
Soon after, Cuiwu arrived, "Princess Consort."
"Okay, go keep watch. Tonight won't be peaceful, so you'll have to take on a lot of responsibility." Ji Wushang got into bed and covered himself with the brocade quilt.
Cuiwu immediately stepped forward to cover Ji Wushang with the quilt, saying, "Yes, this servant will definitely keep a close watch on him."
"Do you know anything about Cong? I miss him," Ji Wushang asked with her eyes closed. Yes, she missed him. She wondered how he was doing. She knew he wouldn't really go for treatment of his legs; he could already stand up. But what about herself? Ji Wushang recalled everything she'd heard during the day. Yes, it wasn't that he was incapable; it was that her belly was letting her down!
Cuiwu paused, looking at Ji Wushang in a daze, and said, "This servant will immediately send someone to inquire about it."
“I’m waiting for your reply,” Ji Wushang said. “His stomach sometimes gets cold. Tell him to drink more warm tea.”
"Yes." Cuiwu nodded and immediately went to do it.
Ji Wushang opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. A small worry lingered in his heart; he wondered where Beigong Minhao was and what he was doing. Ji Wushang woke up in bed and rummaged through the cabinet for the comforting pills Beigong Minhao had given him, taking one after a while.
I still owe so many people favors, but I can't keep going.
But she really, really wanted to have a child for Nan Xuzong. It was her wish, and it was his wish too. She didn't want to think that one day he would have no children, and she would feel guilty... Ji Wushang looked at the medicine in front of her and murmured, "If it doesn't work after three months, then I'll just have to find him a concubine!" With a slight sigh, Ji Wushang carefully hid the heartwarming pill.
The candlelight flickered, casting a cold light. Ji Wushang sat under the desk, and, bracing himself for the moment, copied some scriptures. These could calm his mind, pray for Nan Xuzong, and perhaps, at the right time, please some elders. The Great Xia Zhou Dynasty was a Buddhist nation; all beliefs were related to Buddhism.
In a dimly lit room, a tall man knelt before a deity, his back to the light. His head was held high, his eyes were piercing, and he exuded a fierce aura that made people afraid to approach. His magnificent white robe fit him perfectly.
The Ghost Doctor and Doctor Cui walked in from outside. The two old men gestured to each other and immediately stepped forward, saying, "Cong'er."
Nan Xuzong did not move or answer.
"Cong'er, you've been kneeling for quite a while. Get up quickly. Let's go see Minhao at the old man's place, shall we?" Doctor Cui winked at the Ghost Doctor.
"I won't get up without Master's orders!" Nan Xuzong's tone was slightly cold, but he immediately added, "Go and check on Beigong Minhao, see how he is, and thank him for me!"
“Master said that you two should resolve your own issues; we cannot interfere.” Doctor Cui walked up to Nan Xuzong, then looked at the Buddha statue again. “I don’t understand why Master would make you kneel before such a Buddha statue. There’s nothing interesting about this Shakyamuni.”
Nan Xuzong shook his head. The Buddha said, five hundred glances in a past life are exchanged for a mere brush in this one. A hundred years of cultivation brings one to share a boat ride, a thousand years to share a pillow. How many years of cultivation had he cultivated to be able to stay with her? Yet why should he have to choose? He knew his master didn't mean to force him, but what difference was there between this and being forced?
Kneel down! Kneel before the Buddha for a thousand years, ten thousand years, and will there be a chance to stay together forever?
“Cong’er’s legs can’t kneel for so long, or they’ll be ruined. Let’s go and persuade Master!” Ghost Doctor pulled Dr. Cui. “Don’t you think he’s too stubborn?”
"How would I know his heart!" Doctor Cui glared at the Ghost Doctor. "Let me tell you, I've already taken Wu Shang as my apprentice! She's Cong'er's wife, haha! This relationship is strange, very strange!"
"No way, so fast? I only went to the palace to work as a royal physician for a short while. Old Cui, you've already kidnapped my Wushang girl, haven't you?"
"Who told you to go to the palace for no reason? Why didn't the chief eunuchs take you to be castrated? You look perfect for being a eunuch!"
"Get out of here, you old man! You're the one who's more suited to be a eunuch!"
...
Their voices grew softer and softer until they were completely silent. These two often bickered when they were together; it was a common occurrence for them.
Nan Xuzong looked up at the statue of Shakyamuni. Did this benevolent Buddha, who saved people from suffering, possess even a trace of spirituality? If so, could he possibly bless Ji Wushang to spend the rest of his life with him?
After a while, Nan Xuzong knew someone was coming. The old man who was making medicine called out from afar, "Zong'er, get up!"
“Master.” Nan Xuzong turned to look at the old man who had come to him.
"Have you thought this through? I made you kneel before the Buddha not to punish you, but to calm your mind! I hope you can understand some things."
"Yes, Master, but everything in Cong'er's heart will not change. Please grant my request," Nan Xu Cong said.
At this moment, the old man Pan Yao gently helped Nan Xu Cong stand up. Nan Xu Cong was a full head taller than the old man. He looked at the old man Pan Yao with deep eyes and said, “Master, the Demon Lord’s arrival is really not her. There are definitely many ways to deal with the Demon Lord. It’s not that I’m being stubborn. Please give it a second thought, Master.”
"Hmm." The old man nodded, then walked inside. "I showed you the scroll before, and you know how serious this matter is. I just didn't expect you to be able to stand up. I deeply appreciate Ji Wushang's love for you. She is indeed a good woman, but you also know... she is..."
"Master!" Nan Xuzong immediately knelt before her. "She wouldn't...she definitely wouldn't. She has a kind heart. She is my wife, she is my everything. Please, Master, don't be so cruel to her!"
“Cruel? No, Cong’er, you shouldn’t say such things.” The old man Pan Yao looked at him, but did not make him get up. “You have only one purpose in your life, which is to protect this world and the sky. But she was born to destroy this world. She should not be here. She should be… a dead person.”
"No, Master, it's not like that!" Nan Xuzong immediately knelt down and rushed forward, "I don't want to hurt her, please don't hurt her, Master! She was willing to risk her life for me. Such a woman, a woman who loves me deeply, a woman I love deeply, she, she is so wonderful, how could she be the Demon Lord? No! Master, there must be some mistake!"
“Cong’er, why don’t you understand?” The old man Pan Yao helped him up, but he insisted on kneeling. The old man Pan Yao shook his head and looked at Nan Xu Cong. “You may know too little, which is why you feel this way. But today I will tell you everything. You and her will not have a good ending… You and her will eventually fight each other. Only one of you can survive, and she will die! You will be the one to kill her with your own hands.”
"No!" Nan Xuzong shouted, "No!" He roared! He was asked to kill her? How could that be? He would rather be the one to die! It was definitely not her!
The old man who made the medicine shook his head slightly as he looked at him. Regardless of whether he wanted to leave or not, he dragged him into a stone chamber.
“Look at these murals for yourself! All your stories are here… It’s just that the person who painted these murals passed away three years ago… Otherwise, he could definitely have painted everything.” The old man Pan Yao stood to the side, looking up at the long murals. “But do you know why it wasn’t finished? Because it symbolizes that there is no ending.”
"Who painted this?" Nan Xuzong asked, avoiding his question.
“My master, Xuanjizi.” The old man Panyao gently patted his shoulder, then walked out. “Take a good look at yourself! You only have two months. This is your responsibility. You have no choice. A great calamity occurs once every thousand years, yet there is someone who will end this calamity with their own hands. You are the terminator, and she is… Alas!” The old man Panyao sighed heavily.
“No. There must be another way!” Nan Xuzong shook his head, but the old man who made the medicine had already left. Nan Xuzong glanced at the huge mural in the corridor, and a powerful force gathered in his hand. He raised his hand, intending to destroy the mural, but when he touched one of the scenes, he was stunned.
Ji Wushang smiled radiantly as she watched herself dance gracefully in the garden. She herself sat not far away in a wheelchair, holding a short flute, and looked at her.
I've forgotten when it happened, but I can't forget the feeling of my heart pounding.
He finally dissipated all the power in his hands and walked to the beginning of the corridor. His story with her should have started in the Luoyin Garden of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, but when he saw the first mural, Nan Xuzong was stunned. He stood there, completely frozen.
Ji Wushang sat there alone, but Nan Xuzong recognized it as an abandoned courtyard in Yuxue Garden called Xinyuan, not his own Moxuan Garden! Why was she in that abandoned courtyard? But, on the next page, she was being pinned down on the bed by a man. Judging from her movements, Nan Xuzong could see despair on her face as she struggled.
Nan Xuzong felt as if his heart was being choked. Wasn't this the current Crown Prince, Huangfu Yun?! That good-for-nothing! He was still lying in the palace, driven mad by his own actions! How could Ji Wushang be involved? Nan Xuzong recalled that day in the palace when Huangfu Yun had tried to force himself on Ji Wushang. If he hadn't arrived in time, she would have… Nan Xuzong clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as he stared at the person in the painting.
However, Nan Xuzong didn't understand why there was such a page! Then he saw a pool of blood on the ground, the Crown Prince lying in the pool of blood, and Ji Wushang covered in blood, holding a pair of scissors in his hand! Nan Xuzong's heart clenched, and his fists loosened slightly.
It turned out to be Ji Meiyuan and Nan Jinxue! Nan Jinxue even considered killing Ji Wushang with her sword, but Ji Meiyuan stopped her! After Nan Jinxue left, Ji Meiyuan used the gold hairpin in Ji Wushang's hair to slash her entire face! She then dripped hot candle wax into her eyes! The sight was ghostly and terrifying!
Nan Xuzong clutched her chest, feeling excruciating pain. Why did she have to endure such agony? But the most agonizing sight was Ji Wushang lying on the ground after being beaten to death, a stream of blood flowing from her lower body… It was her child, her and Nan Jinxue's child!
Nan Xuzong collapsed to the ground, his face blank. "No, no, how could she, how could she..."
When he saw the next page, Nan Xuzong felt like he couldn't breathe. Ji Meiyuan smashed a nail into Ji Wushang's head, which was already covered in blood and almost unrecognizable.
Ji Wushang was placed inside that coffin. Her hands were constantly struggling, and her whole body was filled with resentment like a vengeful ghost!
Nan Xuzong clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his flesh, yet he felt no pain. "Wu Shang, is this your past life or your present life?" In his sudden realization, he saw a figure in the distance, leaning on a pair of black canes... Wasn't that himself?
Clad in a white robe, a vermilion dot between her brows, her eyes deep and unfathomable, yet filled with an indelible sorrow and helplessness—yes, that was herself… So, she had known her all along, she had known her since the moment she died…
On the next page, Nan Xuzong saw himself touching the coffin. That dark coffin contained the body of a once beautiful woman… the woman he had always deeply loved, who had died just like that.
The snow fell all night, very thick and heavy. I found myself lying quietly beside the coffin until the snow buried me as well.
Nan Xuzong turned his gaze to the next image on the right and saw the Marquis's mansion engulfed in flames! Everything had been reduced to ashes!
Nan Xuzong gently stepped forward, walked to the first image, and softly stroked Ji Wushang's sorrowful face. "I was thinking then, why are my feelings for you so intense? How much I yearn for everything about you. It turns out, we've already met... In your past life, this is your past life... The person you loved wasn't me. In this life, we love each other, but things have changed. Wushang, Wushang, how much pain did you feel back then? How much hatred did you feel in your heart?"
No one answered.
Nan Xuzong shook his head, then looked at the painting behind him.
In purgatory, she signed a contract of reincarnation, a pact of life and death, but it contained only one line: "If there is an afterlife, even if I defy the heavens and do good or evil, I will surely repay a thousandfold for what I have suffered today!"
Nan Xuzong closed her eyes slightly, as if she could hear that hoarse voice in her ear. Her throat could barely utter a sound, but it was a tearing, desperate cry, a cry for her life. Pain, so much pain; she had endured far more than she had imagined!
Going against the will of Heaven, doing good and evil.
She transformed into a vengeful ghost, leaped into the sea of demons, and vanished without a trace. But after painting a picture, she returned to her boudoir in the general's mansion.
"A vengeful ghost reincarnated, his resentment is bound to spread, and he will surely destroy all living beings." These twelve words, summarizing his actions, made Nan Xuzong laugh maniacally! In this stone chamber, neither too large nor too small, only this loud laughter echoed, making the place incredibly eerie!
The eerie figure drinking far away and Doctor Cui, hearing such maniacal laughter, exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts trembling.
"Shall we go and see what happened?" Doctor Cui couldn't bear to say it.
"You forgot, Master said we shouldn't disturb him," the Ghost Doctor reminded him.
Both remained silent.
After a long while, Nan Xuzong finally stopped laughing and slowly began to walk over. Their meeting amidst falling blossoms, rescuing her at the crossroads, inscribing her painting in the Imperial Garden… and everything she endured and did in the General's Mansion—all were recorded in this painting. Even more so, everything between her and Yiyun Shangcheng! Seeing Yiyun Shangcheng trying to force himself on her, and her fighting to the death, Nan Xuzong wanted nothing more than to rush forward and kill that despicable man with a single blow! Hatred! Nan Xuzong suppressed his anger and looked down. He saw himself and Ji Wushang in the plum garden. She was clearly kissing him, but her hand, which had been behind his back, was raised high, holding a dagger.
There were tears in his eyes.
Nan Xuzong smiled helplessly to himself. He hadn't even realized how deep his love was. Yes, he knew from the beginning that she wanted to kill him, but he chose to always embrace and protect her with love.
So it turns out that she and he had always been in a dangerous relationship. Ha!
Thank goodness… Nan Xuzong sighed. She still married him, didn't she?
What I cherish most is that ten-mile-long red bridal procession, where I held her in my arms and whispered in her ear, "Look, Wushang, the ten-mile-long red bridal procession, Wushang, I did it."
Nan Xuzong smiled, touching the smiling face peeking out from under the red veil. She was extremely happy... Nan Xuzong looked at the next picture.
She sat upright on the new bed in the bridal chamber, her fingers twirling nervously. Meanwhile, he, in a wheelchair, dressed in red, stood not far away, watching her, his eyes filled with… Nan Xuzong's lips curved into a smile. If only everything had ended then, without all that that followed, how wonderful that would have been!
What follows is everything that happened between her and herself. She knelt down and begged Beigong Minhao to treat her legs. Under Yiyun Shangcheng's threat, she held a dagger to her own neck and begged Yiyun Shangcheng to let Beigong Minhao go... At that time, she was in that bathtub, and Doctor Cui was anxiously treating her legs!
Her final leap caused Nan Xuzong excruciating pain, as if his heart had been ripped out! Everything was so clear.
All of this involved Yiyun Shangcheng, Beigong Minhao, Beigong Jueshi, and even Huangfu Xuan and Huangfu Ting.
Nan Xuzong was overwhelmed with emotions, and for a moment, he looked at the painting behind him.
There was even a painting of officials paying homage, yet she stood alone outside the nine-tiered palace, while he himself was drinking with those civil and military officials! "Damn it!" Nan Xuzong cursed himself, he would absolutely not let such a situation happen!
I don't know what the painting means, but I absolutely will not allow such a thing to happen! I can't neglect her, I can't abandon her! She deserves my lifelong care and love!
Nan Xuzong looked at the next picture and saw that her eyes were filled with fire. Beside her was Yi Yun Shangcheng, dressed in all black! And he himself was standing alone opposite them, holding a long sword in his hand.
His breath hitched.
"No, it can't be like this!" Nan Xuzong stared at the scene. "It can't be like this! It can't be!" He shook his head violently, trying to see something else, but there was nothing there, just blank walls... Why, why didn't he finish the painting before ascending to immortality? Why leave behind these earthly pains and joys for him to bear?
Not a single painting was about him and her child… Haha! Nan Xuzong smiled bitterly. He and she had been entangled for at least a hundred times, yet there wasn’t a single one… not one! Was this destined to bring him endless regret?