Chapter 418 – That rotten Zhangjun Prince (1)
“What nonsense are you saying?!” Zhao Li angrily said, “How has this emperor mistreated her? The things that she should have, the things that this emperor has, this emperor has given all of it to her. How could it be a mistake to marry me?”
“If she had chosen my third imperial brother back then, she would have been beheaded with him. If she had chosen my first imperial brother, his princess consort would have definitely made her life miserable. If she hadn’t acted so stupidly, how could this emperor have lost?”
Ji Man shook her head and walked past him to the bed. “If marrying you was the right choice, then she wouldn’t be so unhappy.”
“Stop!” Zhao Li angrily shouted, “I still have a score to settle with her. Even if you want your revenge, you have to wait!”
Ji Man paused. She turned her head and disdainfully looked at him, but she did stop walking.
His unfeeling legs were a heavy burden as Zhao Li desperately crawled a few more feet. He finally reached the bedside before Ji Man. He was gasping for breath as he sat up. When he opened the bed curtains, he saw Pengyue’s peacefully sleeping face.
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“You can still peacefully sleep when this emperor has fallen to such a state?!” Zhao Li fiercely grabbed her hand. “Is your heart made of stone?”!”
When he grabbed that weak hand, something to seemed have snapped. Shocked, Zhao Li hurriedly lessened the force he was using. “Your hand… This emperor didn’t mean to do that… This emperor clearly wasn’t using that much force…”
Even though the bones in her hand had been broken, the person on the bed didn’t react at all. The expression on her face remained exceptionally serene.
Zhao Li was taken aback.
An angry, but also panicking expression froze on Zhao Li’s face. He blankly looked at the person lying on the bed for a long time before stretching his hand to her nose to see if she was still breathing.
As soon as his hand came into contact with her icy-cold face, he knew. Only a dead person would have this temperature.
Zhao Li quieted. His stomach full of anger had turned into shock. Widening his dulled eyes, he pursed his lips and foolishly asked, “What happened?”
From behind, Kangyuan looked at Pengyue’s appearance and couldn’t resist laughing. “She’s dead.”
Kangyuan walked to the bedside, knelt down by the emperor, and happily said, “Your Majesty, look. She’s dead. You don’t have to worry about her any longer because Yuzhen. When all is said and done, you love Yu-er the most, right?”
It had just been a business transaction. From beginning to end, the relationship between these two was only a mere business transaction. If it wasn’t because the emperor needed Yuzhen’s help, he would have never married this woman.
Zhao Li slightly turned his head and looked at Kangyuan.
Tears had accompanied Kangyuan’s smile. Wrapping her arm around his, she said, “Your Majesty, let’s go. There’s nothing left to see here. She’s already dead.”
Zhao Li showed Kangyuan away and struggled to pull himself onto the bed by gripping the edge of the bed. But, he didn’t have the strength, and his legs were too heavy. He couldn’t get onto the bed no matter how hard he tried.
“She wouldn’t die. She’s perfectly fine. She’s just pretending to be sick so that this emperor will feel bad for her. This emperor will do that, and she’ll get better.” Zhao Li’s eyes were widened. More and more tears gathered in his eyes, but they didn’t fall. He just continued to look at her with glassy eyes. He wanted to go onto the bed.
Ning Yuxuan sighed and helped him.
Once Zhao Li was siting on the edge of the bed, he pulled Pengyue into his arms.
*Snap*
It wasn’t clear which bones had snapped. Frightened, Zhao Li trembled. He wanted to tightly hug her, but he didn’t dare. At a loss, he said, “How did you become like this… Why do you seem like you’re going to shatter from just a touch? This emperor will have the servants make you bone broth, okay? It must because you were being too picky with your food and that’s why your body has become so weak.”
Kangyuan, who had been fallen to the side, quietly laughed. “Your Majesty, hug her more, hug her tightly. Hearing the sound of her bones breaking, it quenches my hatred.”
Zhao Li turned to look at her with thoroughly reddened eyes.
Ji Man had initially been too shocked to react after finding out about Pengyue’s death. Hearing Kangyuan’s words, she frowned. “You did this?”
“Haha, yes, it was me! This is the outcome that she deserves!” Kangyuan’s laughter sounded somewhat deranged. “After I married Zhenyuan General, I came to the palace to pay respects to Her Majesty, and I fed her Bone Erosion Poison then. It’s a slowing-acting poison that’s tasteless and colorless. I didn’t expect that she would be able last for over a year. Her bones are certainly hard enough.”
*Snap*
As Zhao Li held Pengyue’s upper body, the sound of Pengyue’s bones breaking started and didn’t stop. Zhao Li had originally been glaring at Kangyuan, but he turned his head back when he heard these frightful sounds. Still, he was unwilling to put Pengyue down.
If he didn’t let her go, then he would have to hear the sound of all her bones slowly breaking.
“Ahhh!” Zhao Li angrily shouted. Tears spilled out from his reddened eyes. He wanted to put her down, but he couldn’t bear to do so. He helplessly watched as her body became distorted in his arms from her disintegrating bones. In the end, he simply hugged her tighter.
He opened his mouth to suck in air. He couldn’t stop his tears from falling. Men shouldn’t cry. Moreover, he was an emperor. He still had an entire country to consider. How could he stay here hugging her and crying like this?
By now, most of Pengyue’s bones had broken into pieces. As Zhao Li clutched her soft body, he had to support the back of her head so that her head wouldn’t fall down
Ji Man couldn’t bear this sight and turned her head. Pengyue, who was so innocent, was gone. Although Ji Man hated Zhao Li, she wanted to cry after seeing this scene.
Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out to hold her. When she turned her head to the side, she saw his calm expression as he said, “We won’t get to this point.”