Volume 1, 22

Volume 1, Chapter 22

It was hot, causing sweat to drip continuously from faces.

“Give Pingting one last chance. Let Pingting prove herself to you with the truth, Pingting would never do anything to hurt you.”

She was still in those arms, smiling upwards.

“PIngting doesn’t dare hurt you, and would never hurt the people around you.”

“I’ll wait for you in Dong Lin.”

Let’s swear to the moon…

Never turn against each other…

“Geez geez, Chu Beijie, you’re such an idiot!” And the shrill laughter that followed spread pain through her ears.

It felt as if someone had ripped open her skull, tearing at the nerve cells with nails, even biting with sharp teeth.

A dream, it had to be a dream.

Hot too, as hot as lava.

This was a dream, but she couldn’t wake up. Pingting was within the dream, slowly munching on wild berries. It seemed that the berries were ripe with a nice red colour on them, but each one was bitterer than the last. It was miserable.

Why so bitter?

Why are they this bitter?

This is a dream, an unwakeable dream.

The flashy carriage was trotting towards home. There was no command flag on top and the curious Bei Mo onlookers did not know that the person who’d saved their country was inside — a woman, a woman who didn’t even belong to Bei Mo.

She was once part of Gui Le, possibly Dong Lin but now, she probably no longer belonged to herself.

“I’ll wait for you in Dong Lin.”

Wait for you…

Their mumbled conversation and eyes filled with loved, was as soft as that night’s moonlight.

But it was just a dream, an unwakeable dream.

But she had to wake up, to see who had ruined her. Ruined Bai Pingting so easily. Ruined everything she’d so painstakingly waited for.

She gritted her teeth and struggled with all her hate to push open, her heavy, heavy eyelids, little by little.

Light leaked into her eyes, stabbing sorely at them. She opened her eyes wide, not wanting to succumb to the glare. She mustered all of her strength to stare hard at the person in front, as if she’d continue to stare at her until her eyes were cracked.

Main General’s wife, Yangfeng.

She was already back by Yangfeng’s side, lying on the bed that she had once spent the whole night chattering to her. The silk pillow was still soft, still just as gorgeous as before.

Yangfeng, who had been waiting by her side for several days, was absolutely delighted to see Pingting open her eyes but when she looked at Pingting’s expression, she suddenly felt scared and shivered. “Pingting, you’re finally up.” Those words were usually easy to say, but these felt caught in her throat after seeing Pingting’s expression.

“Who did you give the anaesthetic too?” Pingting’s voice was hoarse.

“The King…”

“Did the King see anyone else after getting it?”

Yangfeng bit her lip, suddenly asking, “Why did you just say it was an anaesthetic? Although it can’t kill adults with a strong build, it’s enough to kill a child. It doesn’t even need to be much, just a little would do.”

Pingting’s heart felt so twisted and her bone-thin fingers desperately clutched her heart. She closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them again, mustering some strength into her voice. “So you gave the anaesthetic to poison two of Dong Lin’s princes to death? Yangfeng, are you that cruel? Didn’t you think about doing more good deeds so your unborn child would have a more blessed life?”

This seemed to stab at Yangfeng, who stroked her convex belly while taking two steps back. She slumped to her knees, tears brimming. In a quiet voice, she said, “I took the anaesthetic to the Royal Residence, but the King only called for me several moments later. He asked me if I knew that it could poison young children. The King said that the King of Dong Lin being in a coma wouldn’t actually cause Dong Lin to be in a mess, but if their two young princes were dead, then they’d be in a mess for several years. Pingting, I was imprisoned in the Royal Residence and couldn’t pass any messages. Really, I couldn’t pass on anything! Ze Yin…Ze Yin wasn’t at Bei Yali either…” She had been living in fear for many days of her life and at that moment, she couldn’t hold back anymore. She started to cry.

“Yangfeng,” Pingting propped her upper body up with much difficulty, her black hair hanging to one side of her gaunt face. Barely managing to get out of the bed, she shuffled towards Yangfeng, pressing down on her shoulders. She stared into her eyes, asking, “Yangfeng, who told the King of Bei Mo about the other properties of the anaesthetic? Tell me, you know right?”

“I…” Yangfeng raised her eyes to meet Pingting’s, her face full of tear stains. She shook her head vigorously, “Don’t ask, Pingting…don’t ask.”

Pingting continued to stare at Yangfeng for a little longer, her eyes momentarily brightening with understanding. She turned back, her piercing gaze no longer, only sadness and disbelief in her eyes. She held her breath, hesitatingly spitting out two words, “He Xia?”

Yangfeng couldn’t help but looked away.

Pingting helpless numb fingers loosened the grip on Yangfeng’s shoulders and leaned back on her knees. Her bloodless lips quivered for what seemed a long time, until they broke into a bleak smile. “Yeah, apart from him, who else knows about the other properties? We were the ones who compiled the prescription together to begin with.”

She remained dazed for a little longer, then as if remembering something, she started to struggle up. Yangfeng came forward to help her, but she gently waved her hand away, using a chair to help herself up instead. “Get a horse.”

Yangfeng saw that she was even unable to stand stably and made a strange expression, asking carefully, “Where are you going?”

“See He Xia.” Pingting’s white back teeth were grinding gently and her gaze was aimlessly in the distance. Her voice was hollow as she said, “I want to ask him personally…why did he do this to me?”

Yangfeng was silent for a while, finally sighing sadly. “You don’t need to go look for him. He’s in this General’s Residence right now. Ever since you came back, he’s been waiting for you to wake up.”