Chapter 119: Feeling Wronged Proves There’s Still Hope
That pufferfish said Xu Xingchen only had three days to live, so Xiao Yang had already anticipated his condition would be poor. When she saw him with her own eyes, however, the sight still shocked her, stinging her deeply.
A man was bound to a cross, his entire body drenched in blood. Every inch of his skin was soaked through, turning him into a crimson figure.
His hair was hacked into a messy state, each strand dripping blood. The brands on his shoulders and chest were festering and black, like gaping, bloody holes.
He wore nothing but a pair of pants, and even those were stained a dark, blackish-red with blood.
At a glance, it was impossible to recognize him, but Xiao Yang knew. This was Xu Xingchen.
A guard moved to take him down, but suddenly, someone emerged from a hidden door behind the cross, pressing a dagger to Xu Xingchen’s neck.
"Xiao Jin! Stop! Or I’ll kill him!"
Xiao Yang stopped and saw the person clearly. "Liu Yumian!"
Liu Yumian stared at Xiao Yang, her eyes burning with venomous flames. "Xiao Jin, no wonder you hate me. No wonder the Empress Dowager wanted my brother to accompany you. You’re a woman."
"You ungrateful wretch! You ruined my family, killed my father, and left me destitute! You wretched bitch!"
Xiao Yang simply raised her hand and took Xiao Cheng’s sword.
Liu Yumian pressed the dagger harder against Xu Xingchen’s neck, her eyes fearless. "You’d better not move, or I’ll kill your man."
Xiao Yang looked up. "He is not my man. You’re threatening the wrong person."
Liu Yumian didn’t believe her. "If he wasn’t, would you have come to save him yourself?"
"I’m telling you, don’t try any tricks. Release my brother and the others immediately, and kowtow to my father three hundred times! Otherwise, I’ll kill him right now!"
Xiao Yang looked at her as if she were an idiot. ’Even after all this, Liu Yumian hasn’t gotten any smarter.’
She glanced at Xu Xingchen. He hadn’t reacted to any of the commotion, clearly deep in a coma. ’The system said he only has three days to live.’
"Your bargaining chip isn’t good enough. A dying man is not enough to threaten Us."
She raised the sword, looking as if she was about to attack. But before she could step forward, an arrow struck the hand Liu Yumian was holding the dagger with.
"AHH!!"
Liu Yumian recoiled in pain, and the guards, who were already prepared, rushed forward to subdue her.
Liu Yumian broke down. "Ah, Xiao Jin, I hate you! You bitch!"
The next moment, someone dislocated her jaw, and she couldn’t say another word.
"Quickly, quickly!"
Han Yang rushed in with two Imperial Physicians skilled in surgery. They all gasped at the sight before them.
’Can this man even be saved?’
’No matter. The Emperor is here. We have to do everything we can, even if it seems hopeless.’
The physicians hurried forward. They first stuffed life-prolonging pills and slices of century-old ginseng into the man’s mouth. Then, with the help of the guards, they carefully took him down from the cross and laid him on a prepared wooden stretcher.
They quickly carried him out of the dungeon. Propping up the stretcher with stools, they surrounded it with cloth to create a clean, isolated space and began treatment on the spot.
They began by wiping away the blood with a prepared medicinal solution, then cleaned the wounds, cut away the necrotic flesh, stopped the bleeding, stitched him up, applied medicine, and bandaged him.
The injuries on Xu Xingchen’s body were too numerous to count: lash marks, knife wounds, and burns from a branding iron. They even found three nails embedded in his flesh.
The three of them divided the work, and it still took them a full two hours to finally finish bandaging him.
Throughout this time, Xiao Yang just stood there, watching.
She watched as Xu Xingchen went from a man of blood to a mummy, even his head shaved and wrapped in bandages.
Xiao Yang didn’t move a single step, seeing every last one of his wounds clearly.
When they finally finished, Han Yang stood up, dizzy and disoriented, and collapsed onto the ground.
Xiao Yang asked him, "Will he live?"
Han Yang couldn’t make any promises. "This servant has done my best. Whether he lives or dies is up to fate. Even if he survives, he will require countless medicines to recover."
Xiao Yang walked over to stand beside Xu Xingchen, her gaze icy. No one knew what she was thinking in that moment.
Whether it was because of the medicine or some other reason, Xu Xingchen slowly opened his eyes. He looked at Xiao Yang, his voice raspy, but she understood his words.
"I am a dying man, Your Majesty... You needn’t have bothered..."
’He must have heard what I said earlier. Is he feeling wronged?’
’But the fact that he can feel wronged proves there’s still hope.’
Xiao Yang slowly lowered her head, and a kiss, as light as a butterfly’s wing but undeniably real, landed on his cracked and bleeding lips.
Seeing Xu Xingchen’s dazed yet uncontrollably wide eyes, Xiao Yang spoke with a gentle but commanding tone, "Someone said you wouldn’t live past three days. I forbid it. Survive, and I will grant you one request."
Xu Xingchen stared at her blankly. "Okay."
His reply was so quiet it was almost inaudible.
Xiao Yang heard him. She straightened up. "Send him into the palace. Place him in Luoyun Palace."
As for Liu Yumian, Xiao Yang had already ordered her to be locked in the Heavenly Prison. ’If Xingchen doesn’t die, he will repay these injuries with his own hands.’
When Xiao Yang came out of the Liu Family residence, she saw a disheveled Xu Shikai. He had already seen Xu Xingchen’s condition and was in disbelief.
’He can’t handle this? If he’d seen Xu Xingchen before he was bandaged, he would have been scared to death.’
"Your Majesty... Xingchen... is he..."
Xu Shikai wanted to ask, but he didn’t know where to begin, and he was even more afraid of hearing an answer he didn’t want.
Xiao Yang fixed him with an icy gaze. "If you had told me the very day he went missing, he wouldn’t have ended up like this."
"Xu Shikai, even a beaten dog knows to run to its master. Something this major happened, yet you stayed silent for days. Your stupidity is truly an eye-opener."
"Did you actually want to save him, or were you afraid he wouldn’t die completely?"
Xu Shikai was speechless.
He just hadn’t wanted to trouble the Emperor. He had already arranged for everyone to search for him.
He wanted Xu Xingchen to live, too.
But with Xu Xingchen in this state, all his explanations seemed pale and weak.
He hadn’t found a single clue in five or six days, yet the Emperor had rescued him in less than two hours.
If the Emperor had known about this earlier, Xu Xingchen would never have been so grievously injured.
He was the one at fault...
On the palace walls, someone watched with their own eyes as Xu Xingchen was carried into the palace. The gates of Luoyun Palace opened once more, but this time, no one drew a sword to stop it.
Rong Yin looked up and saw Meng Xuechen looking back at him from another section of the wall.
Ever since they had realized Meng Xuechen’s feelings for the Emperor were different, there had been a subtle animosity between them. They had maintained a temporary truce only because the Emperor was so busy. But they both knew that once the Emperor’s affairs were settled, a rivalry between them was inevitable.
But the Emperor’s feelings for Xu Xingchen were also different. It was truly uncertain who would emerge the victor in the end.
However, they were both resolute. No matter what, they would never give up.
Rong Yin was the first to descend from the palace wall, striding toward the Emperor.
Meng Xuechen watched from afar. He was not in a hurry. Not even life and death had managed to separate him and Xiao Yang, and nothing could now.