Chu Shao still had a smile on her face.
She looked gently at everything on the stage.
She watched Rong Lian draw her sword and fight against the skilled warriors in front of the empress's palace.
One slash, two slashes, three slashes.
The heavy sword struck Rong Lian's body, and the copper rings on the blade clinked.
Blood flowed on the ground.
It was like a small river with peach petals floating on it.
Suddenly, Xiao Jin couldn't tell whether it was real blood or just props.
No one called a stop to the performance.
So the show would continue.
The empress sat on the high seat.
She looked at Rong Lian, who was held by heavy weapons, and sighed, "What a pity. If it weren't for Shen Lang's visit that day, how would you have remembered who you are? And now, even with the power of the Three Successes, you can't escape my grasp."
The empress looked at Rong Lian with a smile, "Shen Rong Lian, you must also hate Shen Lang very much. If it weren't for him coming to find you, how would you have remembered your identity... and how would you have remembered the deep hatred between you and the national teacher?"
The blade cut into the silver-blue pattern on Rong Lian's shoulder, creating a beautiful blood flower.
At this moment, no one knew what Rong Lian was thinking.
On the stage.
The slender figure, once graceful and elegant, was now bent under the weight of weapons.
Blood stained every inch of Rong Lian's face, with fresh blood oozing from her lips.
After a moment, she calmly said to the empress, "I don't hate anyone."
The empress, dressed in a gorgeous phoenix robe, looked down on Rong Lian and said, "Is that so? You don't hate anyone, but everyone in the Shen family hates you."
"Even the national teacher, whom you have spared multiple times, and the entire Jianjia building is her lackeys. Do you think she doesn't know who you are?"
Upon hearing this, Rong Lian's body trembled imperceptibly.
The empress smiled and said, "The national teacher knows, she knows who you are."
She leaned in close to Rong Lian's ear and whispered, "But in the end, she still... sent you to the Yao Palace with her own hands."
A long silence followed.
After a moment, Rong Lian said slowly, "She deserved it."
The empress smirked and said, "Yes, everyone in the court knows that the national teacher is someone who seeks revenge at the slightest provocation."
"Rong Lian, since you say she deserved it, then what about you? After regaining your memories and martial arts skills... shouldn't you, both emotionally and logically, kill her?"
Rong Lian didn't answer.
With those words, it seemed like the two had said everything they wanted to say.
The empress gently lifted Rong Lian's chin, which was smeared with blood, and opened a brocade box. She took out a pill hidden with insects and put it between Rong Lian's teeth.
Behind the screen, Su Tan, with a pale face, was standing there.
The young imperial physician, Su, looked at Rong Lian.
She watched the stunning beauty forced to take the poisonous potion, struggling on the ground and vomiting up puddles of blood.
Doctor Su stared blankly at her clean and fair palm, which seemed to be stained with blood.
...
Xiao Jin knew she should stop the performance.
But her heart didn't want to.
She watched the blood dripping from Rong Lian's robe.
On a sunny day in Yao Country, the spring flowers bloomed beautifully.
That figure stumbled through the sparse shadows of the flowers, step by step back to the Liuli Palace.
The distance from one end of the stage to the other was not long.
Everything was about to come to a head.
Xiao Jin did not interrupt the performance on stage.
Because she didn't want the show to end here.
She wanted to keep watching.
It had to be admitted that Xiao Jin was harboring some hopeless expectations.
Even in her heart, she held a glimmer of hope that the fragrant pill did not contain the poison of despair.
She also hoped that the National Teacher, who was thousands of miles away, would learn about what was happening in the capital and come back soon.
But in fact, Xiao Jin already knew the outcome.
She had once looked through that book, which recorded the toxicity of the gu poison
The so-called gu poison often lurked in the throat.
The toxicity was divided into three levels.
The first level is aimed at controlling people's minds, causing those who are affected to undergo a major change in personality and becoming puppets of the person using the gu.
The second level is that the gu worm eats away at a person's flesh and blood, causing them to wither away like dry wood and suffer from the pain of ten thousand gu worms eating their heart every night.
The third level is that it can turn a beautiful face into white bones and turn black hair into white.
Thus, ultimate sorrow.
This is called the "Ultimate Sorrow" gu.
Suddenly, Xiao Jin remembered the scene of examining a corpse in a dark room that day. When she mentioned the "Ultimate Sorrow" gu, Chu Shao's face did not show much emotional fluctuation.
However, Su Tan's reaction was very strange. The face, which was already as cold as snow, seemed to turn even paler.
At this moment, Xiao Jin realized a possibility.
Although the "Ultimate Sorrow" gu was jointly developed by Su Tan and Bai Lidan, Su Tan may not have developed an antidote. Therefore, no matter what, Rong Lian would suffer torment and die.
The Rong Lian on the stage did not know this.
She dragged her blood-stained dress and walked into the Liuli Palace, slipping softly against the vermilion pillar.
She knew her daughter was playing the "Chang Xiang Si" outside.
"Chang Xiang Si" in Chang'an,
In a trance, Rong Lian smiled lightly.
She watched Princess Shao put down the jade flute and walk over to her.
Princess Shao opened her bright black eyes.
She reached out and stroked the bloodstains on Rong Lian's shoulder.
Looking at the fresh blood stained with silver-blue patterns, Chu Shao asked in confusion, "Mother, why are these petals broken?"
Rong Lian knew that her daughter was a somewhat strange child. But at this moment, she was a little tired. Instead of answering Chu Shao's question, she smiled and spoke of another matter.
Rong Lian said softly, "Actually, I hate this piece of music very much."
Princess Shao was a little surprised. "Mother, why do you hate this piece of music? Chang xiang si is so beautiful, and you have played it many times... Shao'er knows how to play it."
By now, the peach blossoms in the yard had completely withered.
Rong Lian looked at the withered branch and smiled, "In the third month of last year, when the peach blossoms were red, I was entrusted by many people to assassinate the most hateful traitor in Yao Country."
"At that time, I was very ignorant and arrogant. With an anonymous sword, I broke into the traitor's mansion alone."
"I thought that the assassination would be over soon, but when I entered the backyard, I heard a very melodious and beautiful flute sound."
Princess Shao asked, "Mother, who was playing the flute?"
Rong Lian smiled and said, "It was the traitor who was to be punished by everyone in Yao Country."
Princess Shao seemed to understand something. "Oh, that's the person you wanted to kill, and she was playing the beautiful Chang xiang si in the yard... So what happened afterwards? Did you kill the most hateful traitor, Mother?"
Rong Lian replied, "After listening to the song, I didn't forget my purpose here. So I picked up my sword and continued to assassinate the traitor leaning against the peach tree."
"Then I made a mistake."
Princess Shao saw a faint regret on the cold face of Rong Lian for the first time. Curiously, she asked, "What mistake did you make, Mother?"
Rong Lian replied, "I was wrong by an inch."
Princess Shao, with her big black eyes wide open, did not understand.
In a trance, Rong Lian seemed to recall something very distant.
She raised her eyebrows and smiled faintly, "When I saw the face of that wicked national teacher, perhaps because of the falling peach blossoms and the gentle breeze, I thought the scene was really beautiful."
"Perhaps because I was surprised that the most wicked national teacher of Yao was a woman, and such a beautiful one at that."
"So my sword missed by an inch."
A moment later, something fell to the floor with a "click."
Princess Shao lowered her gaze and stared at the water droplet on the tile.
Faintly, a crimson hue was visible within its crystal clearness.
Amidst the crystal-clear tears, a faint hint of scarlet can be seen.
Princess Shao suddenly realized that she should comfort her mother.
She thought for a moment, and a shallow curve appeared at the corner of her mouth. "It's okay, Mother. It's just one inch."
Shen Rong Lian, the third Miss of the Shen family.
The once unrivaled sword genius was now curled up in a corner of the Liuliu Palace, smiling as she shed a tear.
The night breeze was a bit chilly.
The peach blossoms on the stone steps had been blown away by the wind.
Shen Rong Lian whispered to herself, "Yes, just one inch."
Who knows?
A moment of absent-mindedness led to a lifetime of regret.
...
Everyone in the palace knows.
Concubine Rong has gone mad.
A maid whispered, "Concubine Rong has really gone mad. She spends her days in the courtyard, acting crazy. She even makes the Ninth Princess practice sword with her."
Another maid sighed, "Yes, those sword shadows look scary, but the Ninth Princess isn't afraid. Even if she gets hurt, she just smiles at Concubine Rong."
An old nanny said sarcastically, "If you ask me, the Ninth Princess is also a freak. Concubine Rong feeds her some strange medicine, and she just swallows it without a sound."
The maids whispered to each other, "Nanny, do you think this is the Empress's idea? After all, the medicine the Ninth Princess takes seems to be developed by Doctor Su."
The old nanny was shocked and scolded, "You foolish girls, don't talk nonsense, or you might lose your heads!"
After discussing the gossip, the maids left the scene.
At this moment.
On the stage, Rong Lian and Princess Shao were standing.
Princess Shao was slim, dressed in a white robe, with sleeves fluttering, and looked as gorgeous as silver.
A gentle breeze blew by, and the swaying petals fell onto the glazed tiles.
Princess Shao smiled softly, as if she had thought of something.
In the late spring, the light shone into the glazed hall, and even the scattered dark bloodstains on her white sleeves seemed more beautiful.
Princess Shao rolled up her sleeves and stared at the faint blue veins on her wrist.
Her arm was covered with many wounds, some of them short and deep, while others were shallow and small wounds cut by a sword.
At first, Princess Shao would feel pain, but later on, she gradually learned to enjoy the long process.
Princess Shao watched as Rong Lian picked up a knife and cut into her own flesh with a thin blade.
Even though she had learned to enjoy the entire process, she still couldn't help but sweat on her smooth forehead due to the physical pain which was completely uncontrollable.
The crimson blood dripped onto the glazed tiles like a broken string of coral beads.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
It was a very pleasant sound.
As the blood gathered more and more on the glass tiles.
A beautiful smile appeared on the pale and bloodless face.
Princess Shao found it very beautiful.
She admired the scene and tried to raise her other hand to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead.
However, her fingers were trembling.
After trying hard for a while, she couldn't lift it up very well.
Princess Shao gave up this boring behavior altogether.
She smiled lightly and thought to herself, it turns out that the mother can also smile so beautifully.
It turns out that cutting someone else's skin with a blade can bring genuine pleasure and happiness.
It turns out that the mother would be happy to see her bleed.
But why?
Princess Shao looked at the blood splattered on her skirt.
Having seen enough, she looked up, and a gentle arc formed on her lips, " Mother, why?"
"Why do you look so desperate?"
On stage, tears filled the face of Rong Lian.
Trembling, she raised her hand and touched the pale blue blood vessels on Princess Shao's wrist.
Soft skin, warm blood. Rong Lian looked at the bright red in the palm of her hand with obsession.
Then, Rong Lian took out a small bottle from her sleeve. Inside, there were wriggling and crawling insects.
Rong Lian held the glass bottle and whispered to Chu Shao, "Shao'er, wait until the mother puts these insects into the cut just now, and then play a song for the mother...how about playing that song of Longing?"
Princess Shao looked at the hope in Rong Lian's eyes.
She looked at the colorful insects wriggling and sliding in the bottle.
Those insects should be sucking her blood and gnawing on her flesh.
Parasites in a certain part of her body.
However, her Mother's smile was really beautiful.
She wanted to see it again.
Princess Shao turned her gaze away, no longer looking at the disgusting wriggling insects.
Like a obedient puppet.
She nodded.
A strange smile appeared on Rong Lian's pitiful face: "Good girl, my Shao'er is really obedient... much more obedient than that slut Shen Rong Lian."
Bloodstains speckled her white clothes. Princess Shao lifted her blood-drenched wrist.
She looked at the blood drops dripping from the wound, always smiling faintly, as if she didn't understand what Rong Lian wanted to do.
Rong Lian reached out her slender, desolate finger and uncovered the bottle full of insects.
She moved closer bit by bit. Then she stopped in midair, pinching Princess Shao's wrist.
"Bang!"The cup suddenly shattered.
The tea water splashed on the stage, still emitting heat. Looking at the countless fragments of the teacup.
The two actresses on the stage woke up as if from a dream.
They stared at each other in stunned fear, turned around, and looked at the person who threw the cup.
Inside the Sunlit Pavilion.
It was all brilliant with lamps and candles. Xiao Jin sat in a wheelchair with no expression on her face.
But the blood in her body was a bit cold. She looked at the two actresses on stage.
But found it difficult to speak, even just to utter a few words.
After a while, Xiao Jin moved her lips and said two simple words."That's enough."
"Enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution for me during the period from 2022-04-0923:49:00 to 2022-04-1023:59:33.
The translator's has something to say: Love tragedy is truly hateful!. 🙂
TO BE CONTINUE...