Shen Qingfeng had suffered severe damage to his heart and lungs and had been in a coma for nearly five days.
Within these five days, Xia Chuli, with the help of Cen Shuning and Liu Mei, had taken advantage of the recent palace coup to purge the entire court of Li Xia. The Prince of Qi had been imprisoned, the Prince of Yu had gone missing after being seriously injured, Qi Shuhuan and Li Yanqing had been beheaded one after another, and Qi Yan had hanged herself after learning of the deaths of her father and brother. From then on, the partisans of the Prince of Qi and the Prince of Yu could no longer stir up any trouble.
Compared to these events, the imprisonment of General Lu Yan of the North and the mysterious disappearance of the entire Shen family from the Prime Minister's Mansion were more thought - provoking.
Moreover, the disappearance of the Shen family was involved in many things. Many people came to question Xia Chuli, but in the end, they dared not say a word due to the threat of Cen Shuning's military power. At the same time, the officials who had been on good terms with the Shen family were either demoted or exiled. Everything was done very neatly.
Seven days later, Shen Qingfeng finally woke up slowly. The first thing he said was, "Where is Lu Yan?"
No matter what Xia Chuli asked afterwards, Shen Qingfeng remained silent.
Xia Chuli was so angry that he overturned the table. Bottles and jars shattered on the ground. He then ordered that Shen Qingfeng be placed under house arrest.
Shen Qingfeng was already in poor health. After this period of mental and physical exhaustion, he spat blood every day and couldn't even eat. In just a few days, he had become so emaciated that his cheeks were sunken in.
Seeing this, Xia Chuli was even more furious. He killed all the people in the Eastern Palace who had been taking care of Shen Qingfeng, but he still did not lift the house - arrest order.
In fact, it didn't really matter whether the order was lifted or not. Shen Qingfeng would faint after spitting blood and was simply unable to get out of bed.
One day, after Shen Qingfeng woke up, he found a tear - streaked girl standing by the window.
It was A Man.
Just as he was about to struggle to sit up, A Man hugged him tightly and cried loudly, "Young Master! How could you have become so thin!"
Tears welled up in Shen Qingfeng's eyes. Choking with sobs, he asked, "A Man, were you... released by him?"
A Man wiped away her tears and replied, "Yes. He said he wanted me to come here to take care of you, Young Master. The Crown Prince..." When she mentioned Xia Chuli, she suddenly paused. Hatred filled her once innocent face.
Shen Qingfeng asked anxiously, "How are the family members? My father, my elder brother... How are they?"
"They're all fine. We've been locked up in a side palace and aren't allowed to go out." A Man said, "Although our living conditions are a bit cramped, there are still people who bring us food on time."
"Hehe..." Shen Qingfeng forced a weak smile. "Just as I expected... something he would do."
"Young Master..."
Shen Qingfeng shook his head wearily. He covered his mouth and coughed violently. This scared A Man into crying even louder. She quickly fetched the medicine and wanted to feed it to Shen Qingfeng.
"It's useless." Shen Qingfeng said weakly. He grabbed A Man's hand. Since they were the only two people in the palace at the moment, he confessed, "I've been poisoned. Taking medicine won't help."
A Man's eyes widened in horror.
Shen Qingfeng patted her and said, "It wasn't he who poisoned me. It was myself."
A Man stamped her foot in frustration and said, "Young Master! You were already in poor health, and yet you..."
Shen Qingfeng sneered and said, "There's no other way..."
In his previous life, Shen Qingfeng would never have used the ruse of feigning illness on Xia Chuli. After all, the Xia Chuli of the past had personally killed him. But this life seemed different. It seemed that Xia Chuli didn't actually want him to die.
Shen Qingfeng knew that Xia Chuli's twisted feelings were not love. They were more like a primitive sense of protecting one's territory. It was just a kind of paranoid possessiveness, like saying "My things can only be broken by me."
By feigning illness, firstly, he could ensure Lu Yan's safety to a certain extent. As long as he was seriously ill enough, Xia Chuli wouldn't dare to kill Lu Yan. Secondly, it could buy time for Yu Shuang. According to the schedule, if everything went smoothly, Su Huanyu should already be on his way to Lige City. If he came, then Lu Yan would have a chance to turn the tables.
Just thinking of Lu Yan, Shen Qingfeng's eyes flashed. A huge wave of grief washed over him, squeezing his internal organs into a tight ball. He felt suffocated by the pain.
"Be sincere and let your heart die. That would be good."
Lu Yan's words before he fell were like a red - hot iron rod, piercing through Shen Qingfeng's heart. It couldn't be pulled out, and he couldn't forget it. All that was left was a heart - wrenching pain.
On that night, Lu Yan's eyes were blood - shot. He had questioned Shen Qingfeng heart - rendingly—
We don't share the same sorrow. Why do you keep acting?
Shen Qingfeng grabbed the lapel of his robe and gasped for air. Sorrow and desolation welled up in his eyes and slid down his cheeks in tears.
We don't share the same sorrow. Why do you keep acting... How heart - broken must one be to say such words...
Lu Yan...
Lu Yan was really heart - broken.
Shen Qingfeng didn't dare to guess whether Lu Yan still believed in him or still loved him. Just thinking of the last look Lu Yan had given him made Shen Qingfeng almost faint.
"A Man..." Shen Qingfeng said in a trembling voice. He slowly grabbed A Man's hand and almost pleaded, "Could you go to the Shen Mansion to get something for me? Since I'm so seriously ill, Xia Chuli will agree."
Seeing Shen Qingfeng in such pain, A Man's heart ached too. "Sure, Young Master. What do you want me to get?"
"The wedding dress..." Shen Qingfeng looked at her. "The wedding dress. Please get it for me..."
-
Xia Chuli sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy face. Because of Shen Qingfeng's illness, he had changed the location of the court meetings to the Shanhe Palace. Although he hadn't ascended the throne yet, Xia Chuli casually sat on the dragon throne, and no one dared to complain.
Below the steps, Cen Shuning, dressed in a dark - green brocade robe with gold trimmings and a seven - holed unicorn - patterned waistband around his waist, his long hair half - tied up, was about to leave expressionlessly.
"You don't want to go?" Xia Chuli asked in a deep voice. There was already the majesty of an emperor in his tone.
Cen Shuning turned to look at him. His almond - shaped eyes were cold and emotionless. "What's the condition?"
Xia Chuli seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment. His tone became even colder. "The Eastern Hu have already sent out their troops. I don't know who leaked the news."
Cen Shuning sneered and said, "Your Highness, there's no need for you to beat around the bush to test me. I don't want to help you because there's no immediate benefit for me. It doesn't mean that I'm the one who leaked the news. I'm not that idle."
He put down the teacup in his hand and said coldly, "Moreover, it's impossible to stop people from talking about the palace coup. When Chu Jietian saw that Lu Yan didn't return, he could probably guess most of it. It's not necessary to be too surprised that the Eastern Hu took advantage of the chaos to launch an attack."
Xia Chuli said, "Chu Jietian won't be able to withstand the attack of the Eastern Hu."
"What does it matter to me? Didn't you just promote Fei Yu?"
Xia Chuli slapped the table angrily. "Fei Yu is still young. He has no combat experience!"
"Your Highness." Cen Shuning slowly turned around to face him. There was still no expression on his face. "When you entrusted someone to give me Li'er's box, you should have known that I came to Lige not for you. Killing King Xia Jie has always been something I wanted to do."
"If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. Are you just going to let the Eastern Hu break through Qimen! The next target will be Yushan!"
Cen Shuning stared at him silently. His eyes were as deep as ink.
The two stared at each other for a long time. Suddenly, Xia Chuli cursed under his breath and slumped down on the dragon throne dejectedly.
"I know you've always had feelings for my mother." Xia Chuli rubbed his temples and said with a bitter smile. "You even named the King of Yushan Yue Li."
Cen Shuning's eyes flashed, and he lowered his head.
"You want conditions." Xia Chuli said. "If you lead the troops to resist the Eastern Hu, I'll divide the Northern Kingdom to you."
Cen Shuning looked up at him.
Xia Chuli gave his assurance. "I won't let Lu Yan go back alive. You can rest assured."