The princess slowly turned her head, tears already streaming down her face. Her eyes were cloudy at that moment, but they contained shame and guilt, as well as a despair so deep that it made Luo Zhiheng feel a little pained: "I'm sorry, I've let you down."
With a faint smile, a smile that held both relief and helplessness, Luo Zhiheng winked playfully and said, seemingly genuinely, "There's nothing I can do but forgive you. After all, you're Yun He's mother."
She didn't embellish or elaborate, nor did she need to express how magnanimous she was to forgive the accomplice who almost ruined her reputation, caused her to leave her lover, and die tragically in a foreign land. Luo Zhiheng had simply let go. She understood a profound truth: love is always more painful and blissful than hate.
She's a very realistic person; she's willing to love anything, as long as that love brings her joy and happiness. She loves Mu Yunhe and understands the princess's helpless situation back then. Dwelling on the past only makes everyone unhappy, so why cling to it? If letting go of hatred is the beginning of redemption for the soul, then she's willing to forget hatred and forgive those she's missed. After all, she too has missed out; she, too, needs forgiveness. It's simply about empathy.
A glimmer seemed to appear in the princess's dull eyes. She gripped Luo Zhiheng's hand slightly tighter, her breathing rising and falling, rapid and labored, yet also carrying a gentle, delicate warmth: "Thank you. I can die in peace now that Yunhe is in your care."
"You won't die. As long as you cooperate with the treatment, you can live a good life. Don't you want to see the day when Yunhe's children are around you? Don't you want to hear your children call you grandma?" Luo Zhiheng used every tempting thing she could think of to bewitch the princess. She wanted to give the princess a will to live, and there was nothing better than Mu Yunhe.
But Mu Yunhe is now healthy and can live a peaceful life. The princess is relieved and has no worries. Once a person gives up on themselves, they will die quickly.
The princess seemed to smile slightly, but having not eaten, she was already exhausted. Even speaking a few more words left her breathless. Forgetting the beautiful dreams Luo Zhiheng had given her, she pleaded urgently, "Let me see him, I want to know… I need to know him… Please, let me see him…"
The princess spoke haltingly, yet her words were so persistent, as if she were clinging to something extremely important. Her eyes held a deep pleading, as if she were grasping at Luo Zhiheng as her last straw. It was the final, humble plea of a dying person.
Luo Zhiheng quickly said, "Don't get agitated. If this is your wish, I will find a way. I will find a way to let you see Prince Mu. But I will be taking a great risk. I might lose Mu Yunhe's favor because of this. So, could you please help me out, considering the great risk I'm taking?"
The princess blinked quickly, her words falling short of her actions.
Luo Zhiheng knew she had agreed, and felt slightly relieved. She said, "Don't provoke Mu Yunhe anymore. You know how fierce his temper is. If you keep going against him, neither of you will be happy, and it will only provoke him more, making him resent the Prince. Naturally, he will be even less willing to let you see the Prince. But if you can be well, let him see that you still have hope of living, let him feel that you are still there every day, and that you can still stay by his side, let him feel your will to live, his mood will naturally be better. In that case, even if you want to see Prince Mu, I'm afraid I don't need to do anything. He will be eager to do it for you because he wants to keep you here, he wants you to be well. As long as you are well, he won't mind putting aside his dignity and begging Prince Mu."
Luo Zhiheng's words were reasonable and heartwarming. They were a wake-up call after both mother and son had become stuck in a rut.
Neither mother nor son was calm; both were stuck in a stalemate due to the impending separation and unfulfilled wishes. How could they possibly think rationally? Only a composed and intelligent woman like Luo Zhiheng could dare to speak like this at such a moment. Her words, combining emotion and reason, were so compelling that it was impossible not to believe her.
The princess remained silent for a long time, staring intently at Luo Zhiheng, her gaze beautiful, as if deep in thought. After a long while, the princess suddenly smiled, slowly closing her eyes, saying with a mixture of sigh and resignation, "Yun He married you; you are his wife for three lifetimes. Bring me the porridge; I'll eat."
Luo Zhiheng laughed without any arrogance, as if she had already anticipated the princess's reaction, and everything seemed perfectly natural. She stood up and called out, "Has Xiao Xizi returned?"
"Coming, coming, Master." Xiao Xizi quickly responded, bringing in food that was covered tightly with lids.
"Bring the porridge."
Xiao Xizi was taken aback. He glanced at the princess and, seeing Luo Zhiheng reach out, quickly opened the package and handed it to her. He looked at Luo Zhiheng with a surprised expression, seemingly not optimistic about her. After all, even the young prince himself, after countless pleas, couldn't get the princess to eat. Even when the princess asked to take her medicine, it was only because she herself was holding on to her last breath, waiting for the prince to arrive.
Luo Zhiheng lifted her skirt and sat down beside the princess. She scooped up a spoonful of fragrant, soft porridge, gently blew on it to cool it, and, under the wide, expectant gaze of Xiao Xizi, who was staring intently at her, she brought the porridge to the princess's lips. 19.
Then, Xiao Xizi was stunned. The princess actually opened her mouth and drank a spoonful. In that instant, in the eyes of this simple-minded Xiao Xizi, Luo Zhiheng was like a goddess!
The princess had not eaten for a long time, and her esophagus and throat were dry. Because she could not sit up and could only eat while lying down, she immediately started coughing and could not swallow anything.
Luo Zhiheng quickly said, "Xiao Xizi, quickly bring me a handkerchief."
Xiao Xizi quickly and cheerfully responded, grabbing a handkerchief and offering it over. Just then, Luo Zhiheng ordered someone to quickly bring warm water, and Xiao Xizi immediately rushed out with great joy. His high-pitched voice was full of vitality and happiness: "The Princess Consort is eating! The Master has made the Princess Consort eat!"
A moment later, Xiao Xizi came in carrying a teapot, poured a cup of warm water for Luo Zhiheng, and grinned, saying, "The room is full of tea. This is warm water that's been simmering in the kitchen. This is for you, Master."
She didn't know when it started, but Xiao Xizi no longer addressed Luo Zhiheng as "Master" or "Your Highness," but as "Master," the same way he addressed Mu Yunhe. Luo Zhiheng was somewhat surprised. Was he treating her with the same respect as Mu Yunhe?
With just a slight, faint smile, Luo Zhiheng remained calm and unperturbed by praise or criticism.
Mu Yunhe rushed into the room and saw Xiao Xizi leaning against his mother, his wife feeding her, a stubborn mother who was driving him to the brink of collapse from pain and anger. His mother was unusually well-behaved. His wife wore a gentle smile, her warm aura almost filling the room, which was filled with the bitter, pungent smell of medicine, with a sweet fragrance.
This scene instantly warmed Mu Yunhe's wounded heart, which had been frozen by the Mu Prince's ruthlessness. 17129751
A kind mother, a gentle and generous daughter-in-law, and a loyal companion—how fortunate Mu Yunhe was! If he could live his life like this, he wouldn't seek a life of glory, but only peaceful and quiet years. That would be enough.
Luo Zhiheng didn't dare give the princess too much to eat, after all, she hadn't eaten for many days. She only gave her a small bowl of thin porridge and half a cup of warm water. She didn't look at the person beside her, simply placing the empty bowl aside, while praising the princess with a gentle and delicate tone and smile, as if she were treating a child who needed to be cared for.
Aren't they just children? Old people are like children, and young people are like children too. Looking at the elegant and poised princess and Mu Yunhe eating together for the past three days, their awkwardness and childishness are strikingly similar. The princess is like an old child, and Mu Yunhe is like a young child. Now I finally know who Mu Yunhe inherited his awkward personality from.
Until the bowl was taken away, her slender fingers inadvertently touched the hand of the person who received the bowl. As if by telepathy, Luo Zhiheng slowly turned her head, her gaze rising and falling unexpectedly into Mu Yunhe's long, elegant phoenix eyes. The subtle light in those eyes, mixed with a strange smile and childlike shyness, rippled through Luo Zhiheng's heart, warm and itchy.
His gratitude, his happiness, his sweetness, and his unspoken affection were all conveyed in his awkward yet deliberately domineering gaze. Luo Zhiheng smiled, a playful and teasing smile. Mu Yunhe gritted his teeth at the sight.
A single glance between the couple speaks volumes.
"Your Highness, please rest well. I will definitely keep my promise. You will also keep your promise to me, right?" Luo Zhiheng tucked the blanket around the princess who had already lain down and whispered.
The princess smiled weakly: "I will do my best."
Luo Zhiheng then stood up with a sense of relief, placed her hand in Mu Yunhe's outstretched hand, and the two left hand in hand. They did not see the princess behind them, looking at their tightly clasped hands, her eyes filled with relief, envy, and deep disappointment.
"I've longed for this my whole life, and he's never held my hand like this before. In the end, did I do something wrong, or was his affection just too indifferent..."
In the empty room, no one answered the princess's words. Only the mingled scents of her son and daughter-in-law's filial piety and the smell of medicine enveloped her. Whether it was sweet or bitter, her already desolate heart could no longer taste it. (The last sentence appears to be a fragment and doesn't translate directly.)
"How did you do that?" Mu Yunhe's gaze as he looked at Luo Zhiheng at this moment, beneath his awkward attempt to conceal it, contained a hint of... admiration?
Luo Zhiheng smiled smugly, winked, and said, "I said let's let bygones be bygones. I don't hate you anymore. Give me some face and have a bite." She ate it.
"That's it?" Mu Yunhe was astonished. Seeing Luo Zhiheng smiling like a little fox, he knew he had been tricked. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her face haphazardly, making Luo Zhiheng burst into laughter. Mu Yunhe's eyes also held a smile, but the smile and ease did not belong to him now. He asked, "Don't lie. With your personality, if the other party isn't too outrageous, you can forgive and forget. But Mother will never easily forgive you. I know my mother. She's very stubborn. Well, you should know, she's very inflexible. Mother comes from a large Confucian family, and she's inherently pedantic and obstinate."
Unexpectedly, Mu Yunhe would comment on his mother in this way. Luo Zhiheng tilted her head and smiled, "Aren't you afraid I'll go and complain to your mother?"
"Isn't this what you're used to doing? You're such a hypocrite!" Mu Yunhe raised an eyebrow, as if he had just thought of something, and looked at her with gentle eyes.
Luo Zhiheng also thought back to the time in the Ai Mu Prince's mansion, when Mu Yunhe disliked her and called her a two-faced sycophant. She remembered that back then, she had even tricked the princess into giving her many treasures. Now, it all seemed like yesterday.
Nestled in his arms, Luo Zhiheng's voice was unusually wistful: "If I could always be two-faced, I wouldn't have to live in fear anymore. Unfortunately, my heart has fallen in love with someone who has destined me to never have a peaceful and carefree life."
"Do you regret it?" Mu Yunhe's voice sounded somewhat sinister and ambiguous.
"What regret?" She looked up, her gaze clear yet lost.
"Do you regret falling in love with me?" He lowered his head, his gaze deep, and stroked her delicate face, asking with sincere emotion, yet it seemed as if his teeth were clashing together.
Luo Zhiheng didn't answer immediately, but stared intently into Mu Yunhe's eyes, until his eyes gradually dimmed, his hands grew cold, and he lowered his head. When Mu Yunhe's breath carried a sense of oppressive and ruthless power, Luo Zhiheng smiled gently, her light voice brushing against Mu Yunhe's heart like a feather: "Luo Zhiheng never does anything she regrets!"
In an instant, the oppressive domineering aura, the cold gaze, and the sinister atmosphere vanished. Mu Yunhe kissed her fiercely, his lips and tongue entwining with hers urgently and tremblingly, demanding, wanting, and embracing her.
"You know how scared I was just now that you said you regretted it." His voice was hoarse beyond words, with audible anger and unheard panic.
Luo Zhiheng rubbed against his chest, patted his pert bottom, and said, "Don't be afraid, I will always cherish you."
"Heh!" Unable to suppress a soft laugh, Mu Yunhe patted her head: "Don't try to take advantage of me."
Luo Zhiheng was furious: "If your tender tofu isn't for me, who else would I give it to? If you dare to find me a younger woman like your father, I'll drown you!"
The smile on Mu Yunhe's face vanished instantly, his gaze turning somewhat sinister. He gripped her hand tightly, his voice serious: "Aheng, don't worry, I only want you as my woman in this life. If I, Mu Yunhe, fall in love with another woman, may I be a eunuch for the rest of my life!"
Luo Zhiheng was somewhat taken aback. This vow was a bit too harsh, but unlike those weak women who would be overjoyed by a man's harsh words and wouldn't let him continue, Luo Zhiheng was quite domineering. She hugged Mu Yunhe and kissed him, laughing loudly, "I'll remember those words. You'd better remember your vow today. If you dare to break it, I really will drown you."
His answer was firm and resounding: "I will never betray your heart!"
Chapter 371: Interrogating the Girl, Using Lies to Force a Confession! (Bonus Chapter for 58,000 Recommended Votes)
Updated: 2013-10-05 20:06:02 Word Count: 3347
Luo Zhiheng believed in Mu Yunhe, and Mu Yunhe's promise was merely icing on the cake for her. She never imagined that one day she would fall in love with a man so confidently and without any doubt.
"You still haven't told me how you got Mother to eat?" Mu Yunhe's promise wasn't made lightly. Although such a promise was difficult in ancient times, especially for someone of his status, wanting to have only one woman for life was even more challenging. But since Mu Yunhe had made the promise, he was certain he could keep it. However, after saying it, Mu Yunhe seemed a little embarrassed, so he changed the subject.
Luo Zhiheng neither pointed it out nor hid anything from him, and told him everything she and the princess had said.
Mu Yunhe was very agitated and angry: "Even if Mother is willing to eat, I will absolutely not let her see him."
Luo Zhiheng didn't try to persuade him; she just looked at him with a helpless and amused expression. She felt more resigned than reprimanding him for his childishness.
Mu Yunhe was angry for a while, but then his anger subsided. After thinking about it for a bit, he realized that this was the only way to save his mother's life. However, he was still unwilling to give up and said resentfully, "What is it that is so important that makes Mother so insistent on seeing him?"
“I also feel that something is very wrong with this matter. The princess seems very stubborn. It seems that she has something she must ask the prince? But I didn’t feel that the princess had anything to ask before. Do you think it could be related to the princess falling into the water this time?” Luo Zhiheng said strangely.
Mu Yunhe pondered for a while, and Luo Zhiheng, seeing this, told him about the abnormal person they had caught at home. She then added, "I suspect that this person's drowning and his current obsession with life are related to the princess's death."
Mu Yunhe's eyes were filled with murderous intent: "Where is he?"
"It's not appropriate for you to handle this in the woodshed; you're not in a good mood. I'll do it. I'm sure I can find out the answer. Once we know what's bothering the Princess, we can find a way to resolve it," Luo Zhiheng said.
——
Luo Zhiheng found the person who had infiltrated the General's Mansion on the day the Princess fell into the water in the woodshed in the backyard. She had always thought it was a man, but the wet nurse saw through his true identity at a glance.
“Young master, this person is a woman. She’s dressed as a man.” The nanny was worried about Luo Zhiheng meeting someone of unknown origin, so she followed her, only to discover something unexpected. She stepped forward and pulled off the person’s beard, revealing a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Luo Zhiheng was also surprised, but being suddenly exposed as a woman gave her a sudden idea. She looked at the person coldly and said, "How did you sneak into the General's Mansion? What is your purpose? You had better tell me the truth, or you will have to taste my ruthlessness."
The girl showed no fear whatsoever. Although she had only drunk a little water in the past three days, her eyes had not lost any moisture. Instead, they were bloodshot from dryness. She said defiantly, "I've long heard that Luo Zhiheng is ruthless and vicious. I've wanted to experience it for a long time. I'm lucky today."
Her uncooperative and defiant words were blatant provocations against Luo Zhiheng, but Luo Zhiheng saw another meaning behind it: this girl didn't want to talk. She was willing to endure possible torture rather than reveal her purpose for being there. What supported such a young girl's determination?
Luo Zhiheng frowned slightly, her gaze probing the girl's face. She saw anger and satisfaction.
When can anger and pleasure coexist? Luo Zhiheng was completely baffled. She voiced her doubts: "Do you think I wouldn't know if you didn't tell me? You came in for the Princess, didn't you? Although I don't know how you got in, your purpose is clear: you want to kill the Princess, don't you!"
Luo Zhiheng's question was both thunderous and imposing, with a strong sense of intimidation. Her purpose was twofold: first, to frighten the girl and force her to reveal her true colors; second, to confirm her own suspicions. If her suspicions were correct, the girl would inevitably display a different expression. 17129751
As expected, Luo Zhiheng discovered the clues. The girl's expression was quite unnatural, with a hint of panic and unease in her eyes. She was no longer calm.
"Hmph, don't make false accusations! Just because you're the daughter of a general doesn't mean you can frame people. I'm just a commoner, how could I possibly know the princess? Besides, I have no grudge against the princess, why would I want to kill her? You're the one who wanted the princess dead, so you're framing me, aren't you?" the girl shouted defiantly.
Luo Zhiheng calmed her breathing and said casually, "If I'm wrong, why are you reacting so strongly? You may not know the Princess Consort, but there are other reasons, such as seeking revenge for others."
Luo Zhiheng's words finally caused the girl's expression to change! After all, she was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, where would she get so many thoughts? At this moment, all her thoughts were written on her face. Although she tried her best to hide them, in front of the experienced and sharp-eyed Luo Zhiheng, the girl could not hide any secrets.
"You're Consort Li's person, aren't you?" Luo Zhiheng suddenly leaned forward and asked with a smile.
The girl's straight body suddenly went limp, and she couldn't help but fall backward. She looked at Luo Zhiheng as if she had seen a ghost, seemingly unable to react, and wondering where she had given herself away. How had Luo Zhiheng... seen through her?
Luo Zhiheng giggled, but to the girl, the laughter sounded arrogant, knowing, and the calm and confident air of someone in control. The girl felt as if she had instantly become meat on Luo Zhiheng's chopping block, passively at the mercy of this female butcher.
"You say you have no grudge against the Princess, and I believe that." Luo Zhiheng brushed the tassel from her forehead, her ethereal face displaying a calm smile, yet revealing a ruthless glint that chilled the girl to the bone. She continued to smile, but that smile sent shivers down one's spine: "But you say you came to the General's Mansion without a purpose, and I don't believe that. If you had no purpose, why did you come to the General's Mansion? If you had no purpose, why did you disguise yourself as a man and a woman? Little girl, lying requires careful planning, otherwise a novice like you will only be devoured by cruel wisdom, leaving not even ashes."
"No, I'm not! Don't talk nonsense." The girl was still struggling. She couldn't fail in her mission and end up harming her master instead.
A hint of pity flashed in Luo Zhiheng's eyes as she sneered, "People say Qin Hui still had one or two close friends, and now I believe it. He's not stingy with his cronies, is he? It's quite a surprise that Consort Li has someone as loyal as you to protect her. I don't care what your relationship with Consort Li is, but you shouldn't have set your sights on the Princess. You should know that by touching the Princess, you've touched Mu Yunhe's sore spot, and you've touched my weakness. Unfortunately, you've done both, so you're doomed."
The girl fell silent, trembling all over, her eyes red, but there was no sign of retreat in her eyes. For her master, she could persevere to the end.
"You'd better think this through. Keeping your mouth shut for a dead person is simply not worth it. Even if you don't think about yourself, you still have family. You're risking your life, but are your family members risking theirs too? Can you bear to let them all die with you?" Luo Zhiheng pressed on aggressively, her words incredibly sharp. 19.
The girl suddenly became agitated: "I have no family anymore! My sister was burned to death by that madman Mu Yunhe! I hate you all, I hate you so much!"
"Burned to death? Your sister is from the Mu Prince's mansion? What is her relationship with Consort Li?" Luo Zhiheng immediately got to the point.