Chapter 155
Chapter 155: Luo Ning Kills Yu Zhuo
Luo Ning’s eyes shimmered, as if holding a trace of tears.
She was moved.
A woman might sulk, grow distant, or be angry, but once her feelings were noticed by the man she loved, all that was left in her heart was grievance.
So wronged that she looked delicate and pitiful.
Yu Zhuo’s heart softened completely.
He had never felt so much heartache for Luo Ning as he did now.
Maybe it was because Luo Ning had become Prince Yong’s intended consort that her position in Yu Zhuo’s heart was no longer the same – only when someone else fought over her did she seem more important.
Luo Ning had gone from being dispensable to being extremely precious. And she also admired him.
Qiu Shi Dong was right. Luo Ning clearly could have struck back with an even more vicious scheme, yet she let Yu Zhuo go. She knew that if she really did that, Yu Zhuo would have no choice but to marry Bai Ci Rong.
She could not accept that.
“…It doesn’t matter who opened my eyes,” Yu Zhuo said, his voice turning gentle and tender. “A’Ning, today I will save you from this sea of suffering.”
Luo Ning said: “It’s very important to me. Was it my uncle, Qiu Shi Dong, or Bai Ci Rong?”
“You know Qiu Shi Dong?”
“It seems it was him,” Luo Ning said, the corners of her lips lifting. Her smile looked both innocent and mocking. “Yu Zhuo, you really are too fortunate. So young, with such a bright future, and yet you’ve already grown overly arrogant.”
Yu Zhuo frowned slightly: “A’Ning, why must you still say such sulky things?”
“No, I’m just very surprised. How stupid does a person have to be to believe what Qiu Shi Dong says?” Luo Ning asked.
Yu Zhuo said: “You’re still feeling wronged, aren’t you?”
“Yu Zhuo, do you really think I don’t want to be Princess Consort Yong, that I would give up the status of an imperial prince’s consort to follow you instead? That I would let bandits abduct me, fake my death, and then become a concubine, spending my whole life depending on you and Bai Ci Rong’s mood? All just for that bit of love between a man and a woman?” Luo Ning asked again.
Yu Zhuo stared fixedly at her.
That was exactly what he thought.
No wonder that in his previous life, after he was granted the title of Valiant Cavalry General, he achieved nothing more.
A single military achievement had ruined all his sense. He grew conceited about his talent and looked down on everyone.
He felt that no one was as good as he was, and that everyone should take pride in being close to him.
“A’Ning, if you still feel wronged, I’ll make it up to you slowly for the rest of my life. I have to go now. You can’t get out of this courtyard. Someone will come to pick you up in a while,” Yu Zhuo said.
He no longer wanted to coax her.
Women liked to put on airs too much. It took half a day to coax them, and he was truly a bit tired.
Clearly her whole heart was filled with him, yet she had to say one thing and mean another. Yu Zhuo did not know what to do with her.
He turned around.
Suddenly, his throat tightened and a sharp pain struck. Yu Zhuo’s mind went blank for a few breaths, and his body collapsed before he could control it.
The intense pain could not be stopped, and he could not breathe through his throat. Yu Zhuo’s hand moved on its own to his neck.
A short arrow had pierced his neck.
The sharp arrowhead, wet with blood, cut his hand again. He began to convulse uncontrollably. By the time a will to survive seemed to form in his mind, his consciousness was already scattering.
He even wanted to pull the short arrow out.
There was no strength left in his hands. His body kept jerking. Fresh blood filled his throat, and the feeling of suffocation turned his cheeks dark purple, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
Someone came closer.
The hem of a white silk skirt swayed gently. The shoes under her sleeves had no decoration at all. Higher up, her face was against the light, so her expression could not be seen.
She looked down at him from above, watching as his life slipped away bit by bit.
Yu Zhuo wanted to reach out and grab the hem of her skirt.
Why?
Luo Ning admired him so much and wanted to monopolize him. She would never let him have the chance to marry Bai Ci Rong, so how could she bear to kill him?
She was just a woman. How would she dare to do it?
This short arrow had been shot from a hand crossbow. Where had she gotten such a weapon?
In Yu Zhuo’s mind, the worst he had expected was that she would refuse to leave with his men without some guarantee, or that she would burst into loud sobs and make him coax her for a long time.
He had never imagined that Luo Ning would kill him.
Luo Ning wouldn’t dare.
Ordinary people did not dare to kill.
Besides, his personal guard was still outside the courtyard. Luo Ning was clearly just a young lady obsessed with love, with no strength to even truss a chicken. How could she dare?
As his consciousness slowly faded, Yu Zhuo’s struggles stopped, and his eyes became empty.
Luo Ning stepped past him and took the hand crossbow off her wrist.
She opened the courtyard gate, thinking Lin Zhao would be at the door, but instead she saw a man in dark clothes.
His deep eyes passed over her shoulder and fell on the body in the corridor. His gaze shifted slightly.
“Prince.”
Luo Ning spoke softly.
Xiao Huai Feng took her hand.
Her hand was very thin and icy cold. No wonder she always lacked strength.
His palm was burning hot as it wrapped around her hand. His voice was light and calm: “You arranged to meet Imperial Elder Sister to have a vegetarian banquet, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go. I am going too,” he said.
He walked forward, and Luo Ning followed the pull of his hand a few steps, almost at a trot.
“Prince, where is Sister Lin?” Luo Ning asked.
“She will help Deputy General Zhou take care of the aftermath,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning handed him the hand crossbow. “This is the murder weapon. Sister Lin and I agreed that it would be put on one of Yu Zhuo’s trusted men. But I heard Yu Zhuo mention bandits, so giving it to the bandits would be even more fitting.”
“…I received a report that bandits were active near Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. I didn’t expect they were people arranged by this Valiant Cavalry General. I thought there was going to be another bandit problem.
“All the bandits have already been captured. My men have slipped into their stronghold and will wipe them out to the last. Don’t worry, there are a hundred crimes we can pin on this Valiant Cavalry General,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
When Luo Ning heard this, she seemed to finally come back to herself a little.
She gripped Xiao Huai Feng’s hand in return, very tightly. “Prince, I have a better idea! Keep a part of it for now. I recently did a divination, and this matter can be used.”
Xiao Huai Feng looked at her. “What are you in such a hurry for?”
Luo Ning then relaxed her grip.
Xiao Huai Feng also let go of her hand.
Luo Ning’s hand crossbow was passed to Xiao Huai Feng. He gave it to the man beside him, telling him to give it to Lin Zhao later.
In a meditation room in the rear courtyard of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, Luo Ning told Xiao Huai Feng about her plan.
She said that the Emperor would die in the twelfth lunar month next year. Xiao Huai Feng’s expression did not change.
“The Imperial Physician estimated the same and has already told Imperial Mother,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning was surprised. “The Imperial Physician dared to say that?”
“It is the Imperial Physician Imperial Mother uses most often. Imperial Mother needs to plan ahead. The Imperial Physician said the Emperor’s body is so depleted that lasting two more years would be the limit,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning said: “…Then his medical arts really are good.”
Xiao Huai Feng’s face was expressionless. “Have you told Imperial Mother about your divination?”
“Not yet,” Luo Ning said. “If the Prince doesn’t let me say it, I will never say it.”
“You can tell her,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
In fact, Luo Ning did not want to say anything.
The risk was huge. Why should she?
The Emperor’s life and death were not something she could control and had nothing to do with her. There would be no benefit if she was right, and if she was wrong, it would be a great offense, bringing punishment.
She did not argue with Xiao Huai Feng.
The two of them talked for quite a while, until a novice monk’s voice came from the door: “Princess has arrived. She asks whether the Prince and Princess Consort have finished talking.”
A bodyguard told him: “The Prince will be there at once. Please ask Princess to wait a moment.”
Xiao Huai Feng looked at Luo Ning.
He reached out and brushed his fingers over her lips.
Luo Ning jumped in fright. Her first instinct was to dodge, but she forced herself to stay still.
Xiao Huai Feng rubbed her lips hard a few times. He used enough force that her lips went numb first, then began to sting slightly.
“Let’s go,” he said, standing up.
Luo Ning answered that she would.