"His Majesty has arrived!..."
Yan Zhao raised his eyes and looked faintly at the girl in front of him. A flicker of hope reignited in his desolate gaze, and the river of stars no longer seemed so dim.
He stood up. The wound on his back sent throbs of pain across his entire back, but he feigned indifference. He bowed, "Your Majesty..."
Xue Zining looked at the person bowing before her. She stepped forward and said coldly, "Look up."
Yan Zhao raised his head, and with a crisp sound, a clear slap echoed through the hall.
A red handprint appeared on his refined and handsome face, and blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
"What poison did you give Hua Yunjin?"
Her voice, icy and sharp, carried a chill. Yan Zhao slowly turned his head. The girl before him was no longer the weakling of the past; she now possessed a sharp edge and the dignity befitting a monarch.
She had truly grown.
He curved his lips into a slight smile and slowly said, "Your Majesty, what poison do you believe I administered to the Prime Minister?"
Xue Zining faltered slightly. She hadn't expected him to still be able to smile at a time like this.
"I don't care what poison you used. Give me the antidote, or else..."
Before she could finish, Yan Zhao interrupted, "Or else what? Kill me?"
His gaze was calm, yet it held a brilliance under the starlight, a radiance she yearned to extinguish.
"If you cannot provide the antidote, I will kill you..."
Her voice was as cold as ice, without a trace of hesitation.
"I regret to disappoint Your Majesty, there is no antidote." He looked up at her and said faintly.
"Do you think I wouldn't dare to kill you?" Xue Zining challenged, raising an eyebrow.
"Your Majesty is the sovereign of Huangze, possessing the power of life and death over Huangze. You dare."
Xue Zining turned away. She wanted to ask, if he knew she dared, why he still claimed there was no antidote?
"Your Majesty, would you care to sit and have a drink?"
Xue Zining paused. She looked at the wine on the table, intending to refuse, but his gaze was so compelling that she found herself unable to decline.
She sat down. Yan Zhao poured two cups of wine, not placing one before her, but setting them together. Then, he looked up at her and said faintly, "Your Majesty, do you dare to drink?"
Xue Zining raised her eyebrows. "Why wouldn't I dare?"
"Aren't you afraid I might poison you?" Yan Zhao asked indifferently.
She smiled. Her beautiful face bloomed with radiance, yet a hint of allure accompanied it. Her tone was as cold as frost, "Then you will surely die."
"Your Majesty, you have always harbored hatred towards me, why?"
Xue Zining blinked. She looked at Yan Zhao's calm gaze. The red handprint on his face told her that she had indeed slapped him just moments ago.
She lowered her gaze. "Why do you say that?"
"Because the way Your Majesty looks at me is filled with only indifference and hatred."
"You are mistaken," Xue Zining replied.
"Do you forget everyone who has ever crossed your path?"
Xue Zining faltered. She looked up to see him holding a cup of wine, slowly bringing it to his lips.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She couldn't let him drink it. "Don't drink."
His last gaze lingered on hers, the starlight brilliant, more dazzling than ever before.
He tilted his head and drank it all. The wine cup clattered to the floor. He looked calmly at the girl before him, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Slowly, faintly, he said, "Xue Zining, in this life, I repay you for a life. In the next, I hope there will be no more barriers between us."
"Yan Zhao..." She stood there, completely stunned.
Blood trickled from his lips, mingling with the earlier bloodstains.
He curved his lips into a smile, a smile that was startling and soul-stirring. "Next time, will you still meet me with hatred?"
"You..."
"Answer me..." he asked, word by word.
His expression was more solemn than ever before.
"Probably not!"
She looked at him and said slowly.
He smiled, and the starlight in his eyes slowly dimmed.
"Yan Zhao..." she cried out involuntarily.
She reached out a trembling hand to feel for his breath, but there was none.
She stood up, backing away a few steps, her hand fumbling for support. She finally touched a wall, managing to steady herself.
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has woken up! Imperial Physician Shen says the Prime Minister is recovered," Xue Yan's excited voice called from outside.
Xue Yan rushed to the cell door and saw the distraught girl. She quickly stepped forward to support the swaying monarch and asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
Following the monarch's gaze, she saw Yan Zhao sitting in the corner, his eyes closed, a trace of blood at the corner of his lips, his expression serene.
A flicker of realization crossed her mind. Was he dead?
"Your Majesty..." She looked up to see the monarch's lost expression.
"Your Majesty..." she called out softly.
"I... I am fine..."
Stepping out of the prison cell, Xue Zining felt as if she were walking the longest road of her life.
Yan Zhao, the past is now settled.
You owe me nothing, and I owe you nothing.
"Your Majesty, aren't you going to see the Prime Minister?" Xue Yan asked cautiously.
"Yes."
Now, she needed to see Hua Yunjin to feel at peace.
At the Prime Minister's mansion, Hua Yunjin saw the monarch rushing towards him.
He opened his arms and caught the girl who lunged at him. At that moment, his heart was full.
"Your Majesty..."
"He is dead."
The monarch's voice was muffled and heavy.
Hua Yunjin trembled all over. He said softly, "Your Majesty, have you heard me mention Jing Ge before?"
The monarch paused. She looked up and saw the sorrow in the young man's eyes. She seemed to understand something and asked, "Yan Zhao... is he..."
The young man nodded. "Yes, he is Jing Ge."
The monarch fell silent. The young man said slowly, "He probably realized he couldn't remain aloof, so he chose the death he deemed most dignified."
Jing Ge, forgive him. He did not want the Empress to bear any guilt.
"Your poison?" the monarch asked, looking up.
Hua Yunjin replied, "It has been neutralized."
"By him as well?"
Hua Yunjin faltered, then nodded after a pause. "Yes, I received a letter from Jing Ge. I went to the prison, and at that very moment, Jing Ge neutralized my poison."
The monarch remained silent.
Hua Yunjin asked softly, "Your Majesty..."
"I am fine..."
"Xue Zining, come out..."
Suddenly, a furious roar came from outside, followed by Feng Wu's voice, "Trespassing into the Prime Minister's mansion without permission, you court death."
"Get lost... I don't want to talk to you..."
Feng Wu's eyes turned cold. Since he became Feng Yin, no one had dared to speak to him like this.
"Courting death?" Feng Wu said coldly.
"Courting death? You're right, I came here today to court death. I want to ask Xue Zining why her heart is made of stone?"
"I am here."
Xue Zining's voice fell as she saw the man who had trespassed into the Prime Minister's mansion.
She had a faint recollection; this was Yan Zhao's personal guard.
"Yan Yi, what are you doing?" Xue Yan stepped forward, intending to push Yan Yi away.
Yan Yi sneered, "I want to ask Xue Zining, is your heart made of stone?"