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"What did you do to her?" I asked in a trembling voice.

She said casually, "I haven't done anything to her now, but who knows what might happen in a little while."

I closed my eyes and said desperately, "Don't touch her. I promise you, I'll do anything you want."

Volume 3, Chapter 124: Rebirth (Part 1)

What happened during those days became the deepest and most unforgettable nightmare of my life. But from beginning to end, I never uttered a single word about it, nor did I tell anyone about its existence. No one knows what exactly happened.

I put on a moon-white long robe over my blood-stained white clothes. In fact, she had me go to the back hall to tidy myself up. I don't know why she did that, and she just sighed softly. She wanted to understand whether, even now, the Emperor still had me in his heart.

This was a foolish bet. She was betting on my importance and status in the emperor's heart. I was already accused of treason; would he still care about me? Besides, she naturally couldn't let him know that she had used torture; the marks she left on me were concealed beneath the disguise of that long robe.

I looked at myself in the mirror. My face was heavily made up, a stark contrast to my usual natural beauty. The makeup was intense, with phoenix-shaped eyes and a touch of crimson rouge. A subtle smoky hue graced the corners of my alluring eyes, making me incredibly seductive and alluring.

Beneath the layers of magnificent scenery lies my deep wounds and profound sorrow.

I raised a bewitching smile, a charming and alluring one, my bright eyes sparkling, still possessing a face of unparalleled beauty. Still that person of extraordinary grace. Still possessing an unyielding pride. Still standing proudly against all gazes, aloof from the world.

With unparalleled pride and beauty, adorned in dazzling finery, her complexion as pure as snow, she seemed like a celestial being from a dream.

The sounds of silk and bamboo instruments, the gentle strains of a zither, the orange glow of the moon, and the drifting shadows of people.

I walked up step by step, where a crescent-shaped zither had been prepared for me. But unexpectedly, I saw Xiao Quanzi, who was supposed to be at Junjin Villa, in the crowd. He was carrying a strange instrument. Seeing that familiar guitar, my eyes welled up with tears.

He came over, handed me the guitar, and said with tears in his eyes, "Master, I'm sorry, I can't leave you. Xiao Quanzi wants to stay by your side at all times."

I took it and smiled faintly: "Little Quanzi, why are you so silly? You just need to wait there obediently. Didn't I tell you that I would come to find you soon?"

Xiao Quanzi's tears finally burst forth: "I'm afraid that if you go too far, you won't be able to find your way back to Xiao Quanzi."

"Fool," I scolded him softly, my eyes filled with tenderness.

"Master, what happened to your hands?" Xiao Quanzi asked in a panic, only then noticing. He reached out to take my hands and examine them.

"I'm fine." My forehead was already beaded with sweat, but compared to the excruciating pain of that day, what was that? Because my hand bones were almost broken, I had no strength to lift anything. So I found a lot of gauze and wrapped it layer by layer, these bandages practically supporting all my fingers. Although it was difficult, I wouldn't let Consort Wang see the show. Failing to please her would be a disappointment.

"Xiao Quanzi, come here." I leaned close to his ear and whispered something to him, then asked him to take care of it.

"I'm leaving everything to you, Xiao Quanzi. Since you're here, you might as well stay here. It'll be good for you to keep him company."

Xiao Quanzi looked at me and nodded heavily, but after hearing what I said next, he choked up and said, "Master, don't you want Xiao Quanzi anymore?"

I shook my head and wiped away his tears with the back of my hand: "Silly boy, you've sacrificed so much for me. Xiao Quanzi, I'm relieved to have you here. He'll treat you well."

After saying that, I hugged my guitar and walked onto that lonely, desolate stage.

The palace was originally filled with the continuous ringing of bells and the playing of ceremonial music. The deep and resonant sound of the bells seemed to reach almost to the heavens.

Suddenly, a woman with flowing sleeves, dressed in spotless white clothes, walked up from the side. She was elegant and refined, exuding an indescribable aloofness and purity.

The woman possessed a captivating and alluring charm, her beauty breathtaking, like a night elf arriving silently. She drew everyone's attention.

She had long, seaweed-like hair that was loose and flowing. In her hands she held a strange instrument that resembled a pipa, but anyone who knew music would know that it was not a pipa.

The woman completely ignored the stares and whispers of the crowd and sat down on the ground.

"Mom—" Sima Shao, sitting at the banquet, cried out when he saw this familiar yet somewhat unattainable person. He then rose to his feet and rushed toward the figure on the stage, as serene as a wisp of water on the horizon.

"Your Highness, calm down." Li Jiu, who was sitting beside him, pulled him back from leaning forward and said in a low voice, "Now is not the right time to save the Empress. Acting rashly now will surely displease the Emperor, and saving the Empress will become even more difficult."

"I don't care." Sima Shao, whenever it came to her affairs, would become like a child concerned for his mother, completely lacking his usual composure and maturity. "Father has been staying indoors the whole time; he insists on not seeing anyone. If it weren't for the grand banquet held today with all the officials present, he wouldn't have shown up at all."

Li Jiu also found it strange, but he still trusted his instincts: "Trust your teacher, the Emperor cares about her." Although she was imprisoned, she probably hadn't suffered much hardship or distress. They had to wait for the Emperor's anger to subside before they could go up and persuade him; anything they said now would only add fuel to the fire and make the Emperor even angrier.

He has a knot in his heart that he needs time to untie.

The Emperor never intended to kill her. That's why he disappeared when all the officials petitioned for her execution, remaining outside the palace for days and nights, giving those old scoundrels and others from the Xie family, who were eager to wipe them out, no answer. However, it's said he went to that place—the only forbidden area in the palace. Intruders are killed without mercy.

That place. Even he had never been inside. No one in this palace had ever been there. And those who had were all dead.

However, he believed that Wei Ying would not rebel; how could someone who proposed a strategy to repel the enemy possibly rebel? He believed that the emperor would soon understand.

Volume 3, Chapter 125: Rebirth (Part 2)

The woman lightly tested the instrument in her hands. With gentle strumming and plucking, she seemed to be holding a pipa, half-concealing her face.

Her beauty truly made everyone envious. The empresses present were filled with hatred, while the assembled ministers were utterly amazed.

"Husband, that's Wei Ying! What's she doing here?" Su Da, the Princess of Nankang and wife of General Huan Wen, was utterly astonished. They had been honored as meritorious officials, and both she and Huan Wen had been invited to today's victory banquet. The Emperor didn't seem to intend to pin the blame on Wei Ying. But why was Wei Ying here? Shouldn't she be imprisoned in the Imperial Prison? The Emperor had issued an edict forbidding anyone from approaching the Imperial Prison.

Huan Wen's face darkened slightly as he looked at the woman in white robes, with a calm expression and eyes that seemed to see through the world's ups and downs as she sat leisurely on the ground. He also noticed that her once delicate hands were now stiff and strange.

He once jokingly remarked that her ten fingers were like lotus flowers, exquisitely beautiful. But today they look like they're wrapped in white bandages.

His eyes were filled with worry, and he almost wanted to rush forward and take her away. However, there was a woman by his side, willing to fight and risk her life for him. Wei Ying had also said that being good to this woman was being good to her. Therefore, he carried too many responsibilities on his shoulders; he couldn't.

But, what exactly happened to you, Wei Ying?!

Her gaze was desolate and hopeless, like a river of spring water that never ceases to flow.

Suda noticed her husband's unusual behavior. Although she felt heartbroken, she was even more forgiving. Because the other person was Wei Ying, the one who had sacrificed for her and everyone else, but who had suffered herself in the process.

The most peculiar gaze belonged to the emperor among those seated. He took a sip of wine, then held the cup, gazing at the people on the platform, forgetting to put it down for a long time. His expression was one of strange bewilderment, his broken gaze like that of a child lost in a deep forest, unable to find his way out. It was the deepest, most intense wound in the darkest night.

The music began softly, growing ever more distant and profound. The melody carried a touch of melancholy, but more than that, it conveyed a sense of liberation, a joy at impending freedom, and a magnanimous smile even in parting. Sorrow and joy mingled; how much sorrow, how much joy, ultimately dissipated into the longest wisp of smoke in the hazy sky, becoming the most enduring symbol in this world.

In the resplendent palace, her robes fluttered, her beauty surpassing all others. She seemed otherworldly.

Her unparalleled beauty and detached, breeze-like gaze swept over everyone present, as if she wanted to remember them or forget them all. It was unclear whether she was commemorating them or erasing the memories of this place.

She held her guitar and played alone, the notes from her two fingers strumming together shattering the sunlight that bathed the city in its golden glow. She was just a lonely man and woman amidst the prosperity of the world, unwilling to lose themselves again for a misguided love.

She finally spoke, her voice tinged with melancholy, sweeping through the ethereal thoughts of everyone present:

This time, I've really decided to leave.

Stay away from those lingering sorrows.

I want you to forget your worries and forget your care.

Let go of all the hustle and bustle and be free.

That time you left without warning.

This has become a sorrow I haven't understood for so long.

Thus, the allure of worldly pleasures faded, and joy could no longer be found.

So I remained, shrouded in loneliness, unable to return.

ah……

Embrace the fading afterglow and let it fall as you please.

ah……

Hold onto that fleeting moment, and let it bloom forever for you.

That time you left without warning.

This has become my unchanging sorrow for so long.

So I forgot about worldly pleasures, only to bring you joy.

I want to be with you, away from loneliness and free.

That time you left without warning.

This has become my unchanging sorrow for so long.

Thus, the allure of worldly pleasures faded, and joy could no longer be found.

So I remained, shrouded in loneliness, unable to return.

ah……

Embrace the fading sunset and let it fall as it may.

ah……

"Preserve this fleeting moment, and let it bloom forever for you."

Years later, when those of you here today see someone who resembles you again, what you will remember is this stunningly beautiful woman; what you will remember is her eyes, a hundred times brighter than the stars in the night sky; what you will remember is her gaze, purer than the snow lotus that blooms only once every thousand years on the Tianshan Mountains; what you will remember is her voice, seemingly having witnessed the vicissitudes of life, like a gentle, flowing stream; what you will remember is her resolute departure after she finished singing, her moving and ethereal figure. What you will remember is a dream from which you will never awaken.

How can such vibrant colors, blooming everywhere, be left to nothing but broken wells and ruins?

It cannot be washed away, wiped away, thrown away, or erased. Her and his, their love and sorrow spanning years, have vanished without a trace.

Volume 3, Chapter 126: A Shocking Secret (Part 1)

I thought I would be incredibly reluctant to leave, but unexpectedly, I was still able to leave with a smile. After stepping off the stage, I left. However, I was still escorted back to the jail by those waiting outside. But that no longer mattered; after days of hesitation, I had finally come to my senses. I had made my decision.

I walked quickly and resolutely. My hands were bleeding from strumming the guitar. The pain was excruciating, but I still smiled. Actually, I wasn't worried at all. That day, Feng Fei had expended too much power to kill those villains and had fallen into a deep sleep. When it awakens, it will naturally repair my body again.

I walked away resolutely, without looking back, so I would never have known that after I left, a eunuch and a woman in a turquoise palace dress stood there in the crowd, tears streaming down their faces. Therefore, I would never have known that after I left, Consort Wang said sweetly, "Your Majesty, I wonder if you are satisfied with the grand gift I prepared for you? Let everyone have some fun."

Consort Wang fully expected the Emperor to praise her and be delighted, but she was wrong. As if waking from a dream, the Emperor smiled captivatingly, causing the assembled concubines to blush and lower their heads in embarrassment. Their faces flushed slightly, making them incredibly alluring.

But his words were as terrifying as a demon's: "My beloved consort, have you forgotten? I said that anyone who approaches the imperial prison or visits the grave criminal Xie Weiying without permission will be severely punished. Have you forgotten, my beloved consort?" The emperor glanced at her indifferently, his eyes devoid of their former tenderness and affection, replaced by icy coldness: "Could it be that my beloved consort is also a member of the rebels, deliberately approaching the grave criminal in an attempt to let her go?"

Everyone looked at the emperor, who seemed different from before. He was no longer the gentle and kind emperor he once was; he was like a completely different person. His eyes were filled with violence and cruelty.

Consort Wang hurriedly explained, "I didn't, I didn't! I wasn't going to visit her, but rather—"

"And what?"

A sinister glint flashed in Consort Wang's eyes: "She deserves to die, she deserves to die...!" So she would use the most direct method to deal with the Four Eccentrics of the Western Regions, who were notorious throughout the martial arts world. She wanted to torture her to death, she wanted to make her wish she were dead, and she wanted to force her to confess under torture.

The emperor remained silent, but suddenly raised his voice and said, "Guards, take him away and throw him into the dungeon."

The dungeon?! Consort Wang's face turned deathly pale, devoid of any color. She couldn't believe it, she couldn't believe it. How could the Emperor possibly throw her into the dungeon? She was his most beloved concubine! But when she met those emotionless, icy purple and silver eyes, she despaired. It was all true.

Suddenly everything went black, and Consort Wang fainted on the spot from fright. She lost consciousness.

The guards came forward and, without caring whether she had fainted or not, dragged her away from the ground.

From beginning to end, the emperor didn't even glance at her. He showed her not a shred of pity or compassion.

The dungeon is a place that coexisted with the celestial prison. It is said to be a hellish place, where those who enter never emerge alive. There are countless ways to torture people to death there. It is often used to imprison special criminals—those who cannot be brought into the open. The dungeon is usually guarded by a secret door.

The dungeon's eerie and terrifying nature remained unknown to all. Occasionally, palace servants passing by the cell gates would hear painful groans and screams emanating from the depths of the earth, sounds that sent chills down one's spine. Those who had been there were long gone, their whereabouts unknown.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, my daughter was ignorant, please forgive her." Wang Dun, the patriarch of the Wang family and a meritorious official of the previous dynasty, walked out tremblingly and knelt down to plead for his daughter.

On the contrary, Wang Dao, the brother of Consort Wang, had a cold look in his eyes. This arrogant and domineering sister, who had never known her place since childhood, was his half-sister, and they had never been close. Yet now, she dared to humiliate that person. She deserved to die. He felt no sympathy whatsoever.

The Wang family's existence was originally for his sake.