Смертная любовь в эпоху Северной Сун

Глава 49

"Actually, you didn't need to go to such lengths to kill me, because my time is up..." Accompanied by a muffled cough, she used her withered hands to support herself on the bed, stiffly and laboriously turning her body towards Rongyue...

An elderly woman, her face crisscrossed with blue veins, suddenly appeared before Rong Yue's eyes! What a face it was! Almost no flesh was visible; her entire face was covered in a dense network of blue veins, like an impenetrable spiderweb, firmly anchored to her face! As she spoke, the veins seemed to move incessantly, up, down, left, and right, sometimes merging into one, sometimes splitting into two, or three, each clearly distinct and going its own way! The moving veins were like writhing earthworms, crawling across the Empress Dowager's old face; to others, they appeared demonic, like ghosts!

A sour taste rose in her throat. Despite her best efforts to suppress it, Rongyue couldn't stop the churning in her stomach and desperately leaned against the cold stone wall, retching uncontrollably...

Rongyue's reaction was exactly what she had expected. Glancing coldly at Rongyue in the corner, she let her gray hair fall to cover her eerie and chilling face: "As you can see, this is the consequence of being devoured by the Gu King! Cough cough... If outsiders were to see me in this state, a bloodbath would be inevitable... Therefore, in order to preserve the few remaining bloodlines of our royal family and to safeguard the secrets of the Huye Kingdom, I have decided to take all these secrets with me to hell!"

Entering Hell... Entering Hell...

The four words kept reverberating in Rongyue's mind. Before she could even process their meaning, the black bricks in front of her suddenly caved in, and a row of iron bars gleaming with a cold, eerie light suddenly emerged from the ground with a clanging sound, reaching all the way to the carved beams and painted rafters of the palace roof, completely separating Rongyue and the Empress Dowager on either side!

"What... what do you want to do?" This scene caught her off guard. Grabbing the cold, hard black iron, she looked at the Empress Dowager, who sat cross-legged with surprise.

Ignoring Rongyue's questions, she reached for the tinderbox hidden under her pillow and lit the flammable silks, quilts, and curtains on the bed one by one...

The fire grew from small to large. What began as tiny, weak sparks coalesced and quickly transformed into tongues of flame capable of destroying everything in their path! The flames greedily devoured everything edible, rampaging and ravaging in all directions, spewing fire and smoke. The acrid smell of the deceased began to rise, seeping through the gaps in the iron bars, sweeping across the gloomy palace corridors, and drifting aimlessly into the sky outside…

Amidst the swirling flames, Rongyue clearly saw that the moment the Empress Dowager lifted the bright yellow curtain behind her, a black jar suddenly appeared! And inside the jar was naturally her mother's twin sister—Xue Yiyi!

Grabbing Xue Yiyi's hair, the Empress Dowager's face contorted with vengeful pleasure: "Xue Yiyi, even in hell, I will not let you go! In this life, the next life, and the life after that, you are destined to pay the price for what you have done in this life! Hahaha..."

His grip on the iron bars tightened, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. His lips were already bitten until they bled, his heart numb with cold. Looking at the bed collapsing in the firelight, an indescribable, overwhelming sorrow surged through him…

Upon hearing the news, Dongfang Lie and his group rushed to the scene and saw Rongyue emerging from the Cining Palace, which was billowing with thick smoke. Her gaze was unfocused and unblinking as she walked straight out of the palace, followed closely by a dazzling, bewitching flame!

"Mother..." he cried out in terror, watching as the Cining Palace was gradually engulfed by flames. Dongfang Lie turned and shouted to the palace servants behind him, "Quick! What are you waiting for?! Go put out the fire!!"

The palace servants, stunned by the scene before them, snapped back to reality. After hastily agreeing, they ran off shouting in a panic, "The Cining Palace is on fire!! Someone come quickly to put out the fire..."

As if she hadn't seen the anxious and flustered group in front of the door, Rongyue walked stiffly past them with a blank expression.

"Liu Rongyue!" He suddenly grabbed Rongyue's shoulder and forcefully turned her over. Dongfang Lie's expression was unusually violent and frenzied: "You're tired of living! You damned wicked woman! What reason did you have to try to harm my mother again?! I will definitely tear you apart!!"

Seeing Dongfang Lie's murderous intent, Chu Xuyao quickly recovered from the earlier commotion and stepped forward to press down on Dongfang Lie's forceful hand: "Lie, don't jump to conclusions before we understand the situation..."

"Please let go, and you'd better not make me say it a second time." A calm, emotionless voice came from those two cool lips.

These words shocked one person and enraged the other!

"I will kill you!!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and his handsome face was no longer the refined gentleman it once was; instead, it was a ferocious and bloodthirsty expression!

With lightning speed, Chu Xuyao gathered a swirling stream of air in his right palm, and the powerful air pressure hurtled toward Rongyue's face!

With a swift leap, Dongfang Lie's terrifying palm wind whistled past Rongyue's hair! At the same moment, Dongfang Lie's right hand, which had just unleashed a palm strike, fell limply to its side!

Three silver needles were embedded deep in his palm joints, causing excruciating, nerve-wrenching pain with every movement! Forcing out the three gleaming silver needles with his inner strength, Dongfang Lie roared in fury, a hint of shock in his voice: "So, you had this trick up your sleeve!"

The one who was most shocked was Chu Xuyao, who stood there dumbfounded!

Gazing at the silver needles shooting out of the air, he subconsciously reached for his back, for there had been times when such silver needles had penetrated deep into his body...

"Who are you?!" Filled with shame and anger at being deceived, Chu Xuyao grabbed Rongyue's slender arm and forcefully stopped her from moving forward.

She glanced at him coldly, her face remaining completely expressionless: "I believe you already know who I am, so why ask again?"

His jaw trembled violently. He desperately wanted to point his finger at her nose, unleash a torrent of curses and screams to vent the raging storm of anger, resentment, and hatred churning within him! But his lips trembled uncontrollably, and for a long time, he couldn't utter a single word. What she had said was nothing less than an open confession of her identity! Liu Rongyue, Murong Luo? Ha, ha ha ha! He, a dignified seven-foot-tall man, had been completely manipulated by this little woman, unaware of it all, even enjoying it. How pathetic, lamentable, hateful, and utterly laughable!!

Just then, the emperor's personal eunuch rushed over in a panic, collapsing at Dongfang Lie's feet with a thud, his voice choked with fear: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, the young prince..."

"Brother Yao!" Dongfang Lie's face tightened, and he grabbed the frail little eunuch from the ground with his left hand: "Where is Brother Yao? What happened to him? Tell me quickly!"

"The young prince was kicked in the head by a horse... he's about to die..."

The large hand trembled violently, abruptly releasing the eunuch's robe. Suddenly without support, the eunuch's body tumbled to the ground with a thud, like a spring pulled back. Fearing to anger the emperor, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown, he endured the burning pain in his buttocks and scrambled to his knees on the other side.

"My brother Yao is about to die..." These words struck him like a thunderbolt, leaving him dizzy, disoriented, and utterly terrified. He remained stunned by the shock for a long time.

When these words reached Rongyue's ears, she felt the world lose its color and all things fall silent. For a moment, she felt utterly hopeless and unwilling to live. She pried open Chu Xuyao's iron hand, her face deathly pale, and staggered towards the prostrate eunuch, grabbing him from the ground: "Where is Brother Yao? Take me there!"

"You have no right!" Dongfang Lie shoved Rongyue to the ground with a ferocious, beast-like glint in his eyes. "Anyone has the right to see Yaodi, but you have absolutely no right! You're the one who caused Yaodi to become like this! Liu Rongyue, you poisonous woman! If anything happens to my Yaodi, I will make sure you die a horrible death!!"

"Boom..." As if in response to his venomous words, the roof beams of Cining Palace collapsed with a crash as soon as he finished speaking, and the entire palace was engulfed in a fiery red wave.

"Mother..." With a mournful roar, Dongfang Lie collapsed to the ground, all his strength drained away. But in an instant, his bloodshot eyes pierced Rongyue with hatred: "Liu Rongyue! I will make you wish you were dead!!!"

Volume One, Pear Blossom Courtyard, Melting Moon, Chapter Fifty-Four: Loss of Virginity

The Imperial Medical Academy was packed with kneeling imperial physicians. They prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling and sweating profusely, too terrified to speak.

"Ah!!!" At this moment, Dongfang Lie had transformed from a ruler into a raging beast in the wilderness, searching for prey to vent his fury! Everything that crossed his gaze trembled, teetering on the brink of destruction! Then, a deafening crash ripped through the air, followed by a deafening clatter, like pearls falling onto a jade plate. Vases, antiques, ornaments, Buddha statues… all toppled over, colliding with the earth and shattering into pieces!

The enraged beast charged again, kicking the trembling people on the ground with frenzied brutality: "Useless idiots!! Useless idiots!! What use are you to me! Guards! Drag you all out and execute you!!"

A wave of immense fear washed over the people kneeling on the ground! Their heads slammed against the ground, and their trembling words repeated over and over again the same phrase... "Your Majesty, have mercy!"

Chu Xuyao frowned. It seemed that Lie had been blinded by the successive blows! Executing these nearly one hundred imperial physicians would not only brand Lie as a tyrant, but also alienate the people, alienate their support, and even shake the foundations of the country, causing turmoil and allowing foreign tribes to take advantage of the situation!

Iron Palm pressed down on Dongfang Lie's furious shoulder, stopping his vicious kicks: "There is someone who might be able to save him..."

These words instantly filled the enraged beast with ecstasy: "Who? Who can save Yao Di? Whoever can save Yao Di, I will overthrow the throne and make him a king of a different surname, guaranteeing him eternal wealth and glory!!"

Gritting his teeth, Chu Xuyao practically squeezed out three words—Liu, Rong, Yue!

...

Looking down at Rongyue, who was slumped on the ground, lost in thought, Dongfang Lie sneered: "So the Murong Luo who is rumored to be a god among men is you, Liu Rongyue! The reincarnation of the Medicine Saint? You truly live up to your reputation! But I am quite puzzled as to why you, the reincarnated divine physician, could not cure Yaodi's amnesia?"