nucmednet Chapter 262 At worst, one of them will die.
Chapter 262 At worst, one of them will die.
"Girl, hurry... hurry and go..."
"no, do not want……"
"Xianglan, no!"
Chu Qingyin suddenly woke up from her nightmare. She sat up instinctively, but the dull pain in the back of her head made her gasp.
When I opened my eyes again, everything had changed. It was no longer that simple yet cozy little courtyard, but that familiar, magnificent yet cold palace.
The magnificent curtains fluttered in the breeze, the sandalwood incense wafted upwards, and a suffocating pressure filled the air.
She struggled to sit up, and memories of her capture flooded her mind.
The leader of the secret guards, Gu Li, led his men in a surprise attack on the courtyard where she was hiding.
Chu Qingyin still remembers Gu Li's cold eyes, sharp as a knife.
"Knock him out and take him away."
After Gu Li gave the cold order, he immediately chopped her neck with a hand chop.
At that moment, everything went black and she lost consciousness.
I never imagined that after all this time, I'd end up back in this cage...
Chu Qingyin smiled bitterly, looking down at her hands, her slightly swollen eyes filled with melancholy and confusion.
Was she destined to be trapped in this magnificent prison for both lifetimes?
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.
Chu Qingyin was taken aback, then looked at the palace gate with a wary expression.
With a creak, the palace door was suddenly pushed open, and through the nine-foot-high silk screen, a tall figure could be seen rushing in.
Before Chu Qingyin could react, the man in the black dragon robe strode over.
The man's handsome face looked slightly haggard, but his dark eyes gleamed with a fanatical light, and his face was filled with a morbid excitement.
"Yinyin!"
Pei Yuanling strode to the bedside and pulled Chu Qingyin into his arms. "You're finally awake."
His voice trembled, and his breathing was rapid, as if he were holding a lost treasure that he had found again.
Chu Qingyin was held tightly by those two steel-like long arms, her head pressed against them. She could feel the man's violent heartbeat with perfect clarity, vibrating her eardrums like a drumbeat.
"Yinyin, my Yinyin."
Pei Yuanling rested his chin on her forehead, then lowered his head and kissed her a few more times before releasing her.
But her two long, slender hands still held Chu Qingyin's face firmly, and her beautiful phoenix eyes seemed to be glistening with tears.
"Yinyin, do you know how worried I've been these past few days? I thought I would never see you again."
His tone was filled with pain and ecstasy as he pulled her into his arms again: "Thank God for his mercy, sending you back to my side."
Looking at the distraught man before her, Chu Qingyin felt a mix of emotions.
The once high and mighty emperor is now as vulnerable as a child.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Pei Yuanling gripped Chu Qingyin's hand tightly with his large palm.
"Yinyin, I promise you, once I have dealt with that traitor Lu Zhiheng, I will definitely eliminate the Wang family and make you my empress!"
His eyes gleamed with a fanatical and insane light. "Trust me, I will never let you down this time."
Hearing these words, Chu Qingyin felt a pang of bitterness in her heart.
She had heard this kind of talk far too many times.
Time and time again, expectations were met with disappointment.
Thinking of Xianglan, the maid who died last night to save her, the girl who always called her "mistress" with a gentle smile, now her soul has returned to the netherworld...
"Xianglan..."
Chu Qingyin murmured softly, tears welling up in her eyes.
It was as if I could see Xianglan's final, relieved smile again, and a wave of grief washed over me.
She slowly withdrew her hand and turned her face away.
Pei Yuanling was taken aback: "Yinyin, what's wrong?"
What's up with her?
Does he really not know what's wrong with her?
"Why did you kill Xianglan? She was just a maid. How could you not tolerate her?"
Chu Qingyin finally couldn't hold back anymore. Her eyes reddened as she glared at the man in front of her: "Even Lu Zhiheng knows that I care about her and risked his life to save her. And you? Don't you know what I truly care about?"
"You know, you've always known! You just don't want to care."
"Pei Yuanling, you keep saying you love me and care about me, but in reality, the only person you love and care about the most is yourself! This was true in our past life, and it will be true in this life too!"
"If that's the case, why won't you let me go? Why put on this act of deep affection and go to all this trouble to drag me back into this cage?"
After finally letting out the words that had been bottled up in her heart for two lifetimes, Chu Qingyin felt completely relaxed.
Even though Pei Yuanling's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water, she was not afraid at all.
At worst, I'll just die.
In any case, when she faked her death to leave the palace, she was already prepared for the plan to fail.
She was already content with the freedom she could enjoy in the villa.
"Voice..."
Pei Yuanling's voice was extremely hoarse, and his hand, hanging at his side, clenched into a fist.
For a moment, he was indeed furious and wanted to kill her to end it all.
But seeing her so determined to die rather than surrender, my heart still aches.
If he didn't love her, why would he have made himself into this inhuman, ghostly state?
If he didn't care about her, why would he go to such lengths to mobilize the entire capital's military to search for her?
But she turned against him and argued over a mere maid.
"Yinyin, I am not what you think."
Pei Yuanling said in a hoarse voice, "I did not order them to kill Xianglan."
Chu Qingyin didn't say anything, but silently lay back on the bed, her back to Pei Yuanling.
Seeing this, Pei Yuanling wanted to say something, but seeing that indifferent back, he ultimately remained silent.
"Alright, you've just returned, get some rest. I'll come see you after I've finished my business at the front."
He stood up, gave Chu Qingyin a deep look, and then turned and left the palace.
Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away, Chu Qingyin was filled with mixed emotions.
She knew that after this incident, she and Pei Yuanling could never go back to the way things were.
Even the carefully maintained facade has been completely torn apart.
A broken mirror cannot be mended, just as the deceased Xianglan can never be brought back to life.
I just wonder if Lu Zhiheng knows what happened at the villa yet?
If he saw corpses all over the ground, he probably wouldn't feel good either.
Chu Qingyin gently closed her eyes, silently praying that Lu Zhiheng would not act impulsively.