Jing Mu stared straight into Shu Changyu’s eyes. He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
Shu Changyu merely stood there looking at him, yet just that was enough to make Jing Mu feel cold all over, almost as though he wanted to flee through the door.
The next moment, he strode forward two steps and fiercely seized Zhao Langzhi by the collar, nearly lifting him off the ground. Jing Mu clenched his teeth hard, the veins on the back of his hand bulging as his finger joints cracked.
He said, “What did you tell him?”
Zhao Langzhi merely gave a faint smile, his face filled with the pleasure of having everything settled and his great vengeance finally accomplished.
“Your Highness, judging by your reaction, I’m afraid you’ve already guessed what I said.”
He had always wanted these two to die miserable deaths, yet he had never realized there was a way to make both of them wish they were dead. Thinking about it now was rather amusing. These two people, both guilty of countless sins—one was determined to become a good person, while the other, for the sake of that person, was desperately afraid that he would learn of the evil things he had done.
Looking at the two of them, Zhao Langzhi felt a great sense of relief.
Jing Mu gritted his teeth without speaking. The next moment, he let out a hoarse, low roar, raised his saber, and struck directly at Zhao Langzhi’s neck.
Watching the blade flash coldly as it came straight toward his throat, Zhao Langzhi felt a peaceful, almost relieved acceptance settle over his heart. He closed his eyes, waiting for his blood to spray across the ground.
Yet in that instant before he closed his eyes, the image of Shu Changyu faintly surfaced before him.
He thought, With Shu Changyu in this state now, if Zhao Langzhi were to see him like this, he would surely be terribly heartbroken.
But the pain he expected never came.
The next moment, he opened his eyes and saw that, at some point, Shu Changyu had raised a hand and pressed down on the Mo Saber in Jing Mu’s hand. He was not using much force, yet that simple movement seemed to carry the weight of a thousand jin, making it impossible for Jing Mu’s hand to advance even an inch.
Jing Mu still had Zhao Langzhi in his grasp, but his eyes had turned toward Shu Changyu.
Shu Changyu met his gaze and said calmly, “Jing Mu, you cannot kill him.”
Jing Mu looked at him, and tears gradually welled up in his eyes. His lips trembled slightly, yet he tightly pressed them together, looking unbearably pitiful.
The next moment, the Mo Saber fell to the ground with a clang. Jing Mu threw Zhao Langzhi down and turned to leave.
He did not dare stay here for another moment. He was afraid Shu Changyu would speak. He knew what sort of words Shu Changyu would say, words that would pierce straight into his heart.
There was nothing he could do. He was the one who had been wrong in the first place.
Shu Changyu watched Jing Mu’s retreating back. His foot moved, almost as though he were about to chase after him. But his movement came to a sudden halt, and he merely stood there, staring as Jing Mu rushed away.
After a moment, he lowered his eyes and looked at Zhao Langzhi on the ground.
“This time, I am sparing your life entirely for Dai Wenliang’s sake.” Shu Changyu’s voice was calm and cold. His chin was slightly raised as he looked down at Zhao Langzhi, still wearing the same condescending posture that Zhao Langzhi remembered.
“You thought I was gentle and easy to bully, but I may not be unaware of the things you have done behind my back. If you value your life, have Wenliang take you away later, and never appear before me again for the rest of your life. The next time I see you doing anything, I will be the first to kill you.”
After saying this, he turned and walked out.
But this time, Zhao Langzhi watched him from behind and suddenly did not know how he could possibly hate this man.
Since Shu Changyu knew everything he had done… why had he not killed him?
Shu Changyu had always regarded human lives as worthless as blades of grass. Why would he still leave him a way to live?
——
Jing Mu returned to the imperial palace and went straight to the Cold Palace.
Originally, Jing Shao had intended to kill Consort Hui and her three children all at once. However, the Empress had committed the act of seizing the imperial edict and was currently in a state of panic, so they had been temporarily spared.
When Jing Mu arrived, the first person he saw was Jing Kuang. He was sitting in a dilapidated corner of the Cold Palace, holding a thick copy of the Book of Documents in his hands. His eyes were lowered as he read, without making a sound.
When he saw Jing Mu arrive, he raised his eyes straight at him and stood up from the corner.
“…” For a moment, he did not know what he should call Jing Mu. He opened his mouth and softly addressed him, “Second Highness.”
Jing Mu could not be bothered to correct him. He glanced at him before walking into the Cold Palace.
“Second Highness, although my mother consort has had some grievances with Her Majesty the Empress, her nature is not bad.” Jing Kuang called out from behind him, pleading. “My younger brother has been playful since childhood and poses no threat to His Majesty. Please, for the sake of the little affection we once shared, spare their lives.”
News traveled poorly within the Cold Palace. Only today had they vaguely learned that Jing Shao, who had usurped the throne, had already summoned Jing Mu back to the palace to assist him with state affairs in the future. Seeing Jing Mu arrive today, Jing Kuang had assumed that Jing Mu had come to deal with the three members of their family.
After all, Jing Shao had wanted to kill them on the very night the incident occurred.
Jing Mu did not even turn his head. He walked straight into the Cold Palace.
Jing Kuang stood there, watching his back. The book he had been holding had fallen into the dust because of his movement, and several pages had become creased.
Jing Kuang had been obsessed with books since childhood and especially cherished them. Yet at this moment, he did not even spare the book on the ground a glance. He only looked at the desolate gate of the Cold Palace and remained silent for a long while.
The moment Jing Mu entered the Cold Palace, he heard faint, broken sobs coming from inside. He walked in and saw Jing Cong sitting beside the bed, silently comforting Consort Hui, whose face was drenched in tears.
When the two saw Jing Mu enter, they hurriedly stood up. Upon seeing that it was Jing Mu, Consort Hui cried even more bitterly, almost to the point of losing her voice.
Jing Cong patted her back in comfort and looked up at Jing Mu pleadingly.
“…Second Imperial Brother.”
Four years had passed. Jing Cong and the chubby little boy who had snatched Jing Mu’s kite back then were almost no longer the same person. His figure had stretched out, and although his face still retained a little baby fat, he was already a handsome and refined young boy.
Jing Mu looked at the sight of the three of them clinging to one another, and for a moment, a bleak restlessness and irritation stirred in his heart.
Living in this world, people would always have things they could not let go of. Whether family or friends, humans were ultimately social creatures who lived by supporting one another. Yet from childhood, he had always been an outsider. Fortunately, Shu Changyu had appeared afterward, becoming both teacher and friend and caring for him in every possible way. Only because of Shu Changyu had Jing Mu been fortunate enough not to spend his entire life utterly alone.
But now, he had done something wrong, and this person was going to leave him as well.
He had no patience to look at the scene before him.
“Pack your things. Go back wherever you are supposed to go.” Jing Mu looked at them and said coldly, like an outsider.
Consort Hui and Jing Cong before him, as well as Jing Kuang, who had hurried over behind him, all froze where they stood upon hearing his words.
The entire room fell utterly silent, leaving only Consort Hui’s suppressed sobs.
“Second Imperial Brother, you mean…?” Jing Cong asked cautiously.
“What? You’ve gotten used to living in the Cold Palace and don’t want to move?” Jing Mu asked with a frown.
Then he said, “Before sunset today, return to your own palace. From now on, if anything happens, follow my arrangements.”
After saying this, he turned and walked out.
When he had just reached Jing Kuang’s side, he stopped.
Jing Kuang stood there, holding the dusty copy of the Book of Documents in his hands. Jing Mu turned his head toward him and asked, “Can you drink?”
Jing Kuang was stunned. Although he hardly ever drank alcohol, he still nodded.
Jing Mu said, “Come with me.”
That night, Jing Kuang was practically carried back to their palace by the palace eunuchs. Consort Hui loved extravagance, and the entire palace was magnificent and lavish, with nothing that was not exquisitely made and valuable. Jing Kuang returned in a daze, almost as though he were in a dream.
Only after Consort Hui returned did she learn what had happened from the servants. As it turned out, Jing Mu had not returned to assist Jing Shao. Instead, he had already executed Jing Shao and the Empress. He possessed the late Emperor’s imperial edict and was now the next Emperor.
Consort Hui and Jing Cong could only wait in the palace for Jing Kuang, whom Jing Mu had taken away. Yet no matter where they tried to inquire, they could not find out what Jing Mu intended to do with Jing Kuang.
Consort Hui had always possessed a few clever tricks when it came to palace intrigue, but she had never been able to understand the conflicts among the ministers and princes of the previous court. Thus, she could only wait here for news of Jing Kuang.
When the eunuchs brought Jing Kuang back, she asked him about it, only to learn that, for some inexplicable reason, Jing Mu had taken Jing Kuang to climb up onto the city wall and drink for an entire night.
“Kuang’er, did Second Highness say anything to you?”
After Consort Hui had ordered someone to give Jing Kuang some hangover medicine and he gradually woke up, she asked cautiously.
Jing Kuang thought for a long while before sluggishly shaking his head.
“He didn’t say anything to me.”
——
Jing Mu walked unsteadily all the way from the imperial palace back to the Prince’s Residence.
Although he was now the Crown Prince and the entire imperial palace belonged to him, he was unwilling to sleep on the imperial bed in Yonghe Palace.
In his previous life, he had slept there alone for so long. That place was empty and cold, without the slightest trace of human warmth.
He was repulsed by it.
He had drunk quite a lot of alcohol, and his head was still dizzy and muddled. But even so, he remained clear-headed. After all, Jing Kuang’s tolerance for alcohol was so poor, yet he had still told Jing Mu that he could drink. Just after night had fallen, Jing Kuang had already become dead drunk atop the city wall, nearly falling over.
Jing Mu had therefore sat alone atop the city wall and stared at the stars for a long while. He then drove away all the palace guards who had been sent to take him home. Alone, without even riding a horse, he crossed the deserted streets after curfew and walked back to his residence.
When he reached the entrance of the residence, he saw from afar a single lamp standing before his gate.
He assumed that his eyes had grown blurry from staring at the stars and simply continued walking forward. But the closer he got, the larger and brighter that tiny flame became.
When he approached, he realized that it was actually a person holding a lantern, standing tall and straight before the entrance of his princely residence.
Jing Mu staggered to a stop.
That person seemed to have noticed him and walked toward him carrying the lantern.
And so, amid his hazy drunkenness, Jing Mu stood there and stared fixedly as that person approached and stopped before him.
“Why were you in the palace so late?” that person asked. Then, as though he had been bothered by the smell of alcohol on Jing Mu, he frowned slightly. “Who did you drink with? You drank this much, and you even walked back alone?”
Jing Mu lowered his head and did not answer. He only stared fixedly at him.
This person’s expression was the same. His eyes and brows were the same. Even the curve of his frown was the one Jing Mu knew best.
This person was none other than Shu Changyu.
Author’s Note: The main story will conclude tomorrow! However, there are still a few chapters afterward, followed by various extra stories. There should be fewer than ten chapters left in total. (╯3╰)
I told you all it wouldn’t be angst! See! When has Liu Goufa ever lied to anyone?