Su Fuliu's eyes reddened: "If I could, I truly wish we had never met..."
After saying that, he squatted down, covered his face, and burst into tears.
Xiao Shixun stood there, his figure looming over Su Fuliu, just like he had back then, standing in the shadows.
He successfully bound his "warmth" to himself, thinking he would never feel cold again, thinking that even in the dark, he would see that warm smile.
But now, his "warmth" has lost its smile, replaced only by tears.
Xiao Shixun tried to reach out, but found his arm felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
He knew he was wrong, but no one told him how to do it right.
And so, one crouched in the darkness, sobbing uncontrollably, while the other stood in the sunlight, silently shedding tears.
None of the palace servants who passed by dared to approach; they all held their breath and retreated, then turned around and took another route.
Su Fuliu cried for a long time, feeling breathless and dizzy from squatting. She then sat down on the ground and leaned against the palace wall.
His eyes were bloodshot, his chest heaving, and he stared blankly at the sky.
Xiao Shixun followed his gaze and looked up at the sky.
After a while, he looked back at Su Fuliu and said, "Jing'er, the ground is cold, get up."
As she spoke, she reached out her hand to him.
Su Fuliu sneered, slapped Xiao Shixun's hand away, then leaned against the cold palace wall to stand up, and slowly walked away, still holding onto the wall.
For the next few days, Su Fuliu walked around the vast palace several times a day.
He waited and waited, hoping and hoping, until finally the day Lu Chimo said he had recovered.
He missed his beloved Tinglang so much...
So, as soon as Xiao Shixun arrived, he immediately went over excitedly and said, "You said you would take me to see him once I'm fully recovered!"
Xiao Shixun's gaze darkened slightly. He had thought Su Fuliu was so excited to see him, but it turned out she was thinking that once she recovered, she could go see Feng Muting.
Feng Muting, oh Feng Muting, how can I tolerate you?
“Alright, I will take you to see him. However, after you have seen him, you must elope with me,” Xiao Shixun replied.
"Let me see him first." Su Fuliu did not answer him directly.
Xiao Shixun didn't get the answer he wanted. He only saw Su Fuliu, who was eager to see Feng Muting, and his brows furrowed, his eyes unfathomable: "Then come with me..."
Chapter 590: Life and death are inevitable
Su Fuliu was very happy; he would soon see his beloved Tinglang.
They will be reunited soon.
Xiao Shixun looked at Su Fuliu's undisguised joy, an expression Su Fuliu had never shown him before.
That's true. Su Fuliu hates him too much to even think about liking him.
"What would you do if he died?" Xiao Shixun suddenly asked.
Upon hearing this, Su Fuliu's face turned deathly pale. He grabbed Xiao Shixun's collar and exclaimed, "You...you wouldn't really kill him, would you!"
“I don’t want to see you care so much about someone, and that person isn’t me,” Xiao Shixun replied. This time he used “I” instead of “朕” (the imperial “I”), as if he wanted to get closer to Su Fuliu.
But he knew very well that after Su Fuliu pulled him into the sunlight, he chose to bring that warmth into the darkness, and the distance between him and Su Fuliu grew further and further, a distance that could only be resolved by death.
But can the separation of life and death truly resolve the issue?
"Xiao Shixun, you can't do this. Tinglang is my hope for survival. If he's gone, what do you think I'll do?" Su Fuliu's hand, which was gripping Xiao Shixun's, was trembling.
Looking at Xiao Shixun's ruthless appearance, he was terrified that Xiao Shixun would really kill Feng Muting.
If Feng Muting dies, he absolutely cannot go on living.
Xiao Shixun chuckled lightly, then took out a string of bells from his person and handed them to Su Fuliu: "Jing'er, look, this is what I prepared for you. Isn't it prettier than the one he gave you?"
Su Fuliu slapped his hand away and shouted at him, "I want to see Feng Muting! I want to see him!"
"Alright, I'll take you to see him, I'll take you to see... Jing'er, don't cry, your brother will take you to see him." Xiao Shixun looked at Su Fuliu, who was already crying, and gently wiped away his tears.
Then, grabbing his wrist and pulling it off his clothes, Xiao Shixun smiled slightly at him: "Brother, take Jing'er to see him, to see Jing'er's sweetheart."
As he spoke, Xiao Shixun took Su Fuliu's hand and walked forward, his other hand tightly clutching the bell he wanted to give to Su Fuliu.
Su Fuliu walked a step slower than him, so when she looked up, she could only see the back of his ear and not his expression.
Xiao Shixun seems a bit strange today.
"If... Jing'er could always be so obedient and let me hold her hand, how wonderful that would be," Xiao Shixun said softly.
Su Fuliu, who was following behind, could hear him clearly, but he did not respond.
"Jing'er, do you know what day it is today?" Xiao Shixun asked.
Su Fuliu was slightly taken aback.
Xiao Shixun chuckled lightly: "Today is my elder brother's birthday."
Su Fuliu did not respond.
But Xiao Shixun continued to mutter to himself, "I've never celebrated a birthday in my entire life. As far back as I can remember, every birthday my mother would beat me severely, saying what use I am. Ha, let's not talk about that anymore. I'm so happy to have Jing'er with me today."
Xiao Shixun suddenly stopped and turned to look at Su Fuliu: "If only Jing'er could be with me for every birthday from now on..."
Su Fuliu then noticed his face and the redness in his eyes.
Seeing Su Fuliu remain silent, Xiao Shixun smiled again: "Jing'er, don't be afraid. Your brother will not force you anymore. This time, I will keep my word. If I can't, then I will make sure that your birthday wish will never be fulfilled."
Chapter 591 Is it fun to mess with me?
Su Fuliu remained silent.
Seeing his expression, Xiao Shixun couldn't help but smile wryly, and then asked, "Does Jing'er know what your brother's birthday wish is?"
Su Fuliu looked at him, thought for a moment, and then spoke: "You want to start all over again, but that's impossible. What's lost can never be regained."
Xiao Shixun shook his head. He suddenly reached out and hugged Su Fuliu, whispering in her ear, "Your Majesty's birthday wish is that my Jing'er will be happy in the future and never meet someone like you again. Although I am very reluctant, I also wish you and him a long and happy life together."
Su Fuliu was slightly taken aback. Had Xiao Shixun been switched with someone else?
Does his statement prove that he truly intends to let him and Feng Muting go?
"Today is my birthday. Can I hear Jing'er call me Shixun just once? Just once, please?" Xiao Shixun's tone was humble and full of pleading.
"I only want to see Feng Muting." Su Fuliu lowered her head, not responding to Xiao Shixun's plea.
Xiao Shixun paused for a moment, then let go of him and took his hand again: "Okay."
Afterwards, Xiao Shixun led Su Fuliu to the top of the tower, where Su Fuliu shivered from the cold wind.
"Where is Feng Muting?" Su Fuliu asked after looking around.
Xiao Shixun suddenly laughed: "Jing'er is really silly. You should have asked me before you came up here. Who would lock someone up in this tower and let them starve?"
Su Fuliu frowned slightly, feeling that she had been tricked. She turned around angrily to leave, but was stopped by the guards.
He turned around angrily to look at Xiao Shixun: "Is it fun to play me for a fool?!"
Xiao Shixun laughed and said, "Jing'er is so beautiful even when she's angry. If I told you that I would have killed Feng Muting long ago, would Jing'er cry? Jing'er would definitely be more beautiful when she cries than when she's angry, right?"
"What did you say?!" Su Fuliu's pupils widened suddenly, and fear instantly filled her heart.
Xiao Shixun took out the half of the golden mask that Feng Muting was wearing from his body: "I burned down the entire prison with a fire, and only this half of the golden mask is left."
"No, it's impossible! You must be lying to me! You're just trying to make me give up so I can give in to you. I don't believe it! I won't believe it!" Su Fuliu said emotionally.
"Heh, Jing'er, come over here. You should know which way the prison is without me pointing, right? Look over there, isn't there still black smoke rising?" Xiao Shixun beckoned to Su Fuliu.
Su Fuliu said she didn't believe it, but her feet, which felt like they were made of lead, still walked in that direction.
He saw that there were still wisps of black smoke drifting in the direction of the prison.
"No, no!" Su Fuliu's eyes instantly reddened. He turned to look at Xiao Shixun, "Why did you do this? Why did you kill him? You might as well have just killed me!!"
“I can’t tolerate him. I want to remove him from your heart,” Xiao Shixun said in a flat voice.
Su Fuliu shouted at him, "When we came here, who said they wished me happiness from now on? Who said they wished me and Feng Muting a long and happy life together? Who said they wished I would never meet someone like you again? How ridiculous! I can't even avoid you, so who else could I possibly meet?!"
Xiao Shixun looked at Su Fuliu, who was crying and sobbing, and slowly stretched out his hands, holding the string of bells in one hand and the half of the mask in the other.
Chapter 592 Birthdays and Death Anniversaries
Su Fuliu grabbed the half of the golden mask and pressed it to her chest.
He knelt down on the ground with a thud, curling up his upper body as if trying to take that half of the mask into his heart.
"Tinglang..." Su Fuliu could no longer hold back and burst into heart-wrenching sobs, "Tinglang, come back... come back—"
Xiao Shixun looked down at Su Fuliu, who was kneeling in front of him, heartbroken. His face was expressionless; he just stared at her numbly.
"Tinglang—!!" Su Fuliu cried out hoarsely, tears falling incessantly to the ground, blooming into cold flowers.
He clutched the mask tightly, pressing it against his chest, and cried out in despair, "My heart hurts so much, Tinglang, it hurts so much, I'm going to die from the pain, Tinglang, your A-Liu is dying from the pain, you don't love me anymore, you don't want me anymore, you don't care about me anymore?! It hurts so much, it really hurts so much—ah, ah—!!"
Su Fuliu's face was reddened, whether by the cold wind or by crying, it was hard to tell. Another gust of cold wind blew, carrying his desperate cries far away.
After crying for a while, Su Fuliu actually laughed: "Tinglang, slow down, I'll come find you."
After saying that, she suddenly stood up, preparing to jump, but Xiao Shixun pulled her back: "Jing'er, wait, let's die together..."
"Get away from me! That's enough! That's really enough!!!" Su Fuliu shoved Xiao Shixun away. "You won't even let me die peacefully! Xiao Shixun, I hate you, I hate you, I really hate you so much—!!!"
At this moment, tears are the most worthless; they keep falling, and no matter how much Su Fuliu wipes them away, she can't wipe them clean.
Xiao Shixun laughed: "It's good that you hate me, it's good that you hate me, so that you can remember me for the rest of your life, then I won't have lived in vain."
As he spoke, he took a sword from the guard beside him and threw it in front of Su Fuliu: "Kill me and avenge him."
Su Fuliu stared blankly at the long sword at her feet for a moment, then her eyes darkened, and she grabbed the long sword from the ground and stabbed it at Xiao Shixun.
He thought Xiao Shixun would dodge, but instead the longsword pierced through Xiao Shixun's body, and blood dripped down the blade, staining the ground a deep red.
Su Fuliu let go of his hand and stood there in a daze.