His highness's Allure - Chap 84
“Master, you’re awake.”
Cheng Feng was standing at the side of the bed, his eyes filled with worry.
At that moment, Jiang Yubai entered, carrying a bowl of medicine, and hurried over to check on him.
His chaotic pulse had stabilized slightly, but it was still extremely weak. The symptoms of his internal bleeding had also been alleviated somewhat.
“Here, drink your medicine.”
The bowl of medicine was placed at Pei Zheng’s lips, but he didn’t move.
Jiang Yubai thought that since he had just woken up, he didn’t have any strength, so he had Cheng Feng help him up from the bed.
But unexpectedly, as soon as Cheng Feng supported him to sit up, Pei Zheng suddenly raised his hand and smacked the bowl of medicine away.
The bowl instantly shattered to pieces on the floor, and the black medicinal juice spilled in all directions.
Jiang Yubai was scalded by a splash of the hot liquid. He was already angry to begin with, and suddenly stood up.
“Pei Zheng! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Pei Zheng raised his eyelids slightly, and his eyes were packed with threads of red veins.
That smack had exhausted the rest of his energy, and his lips were now as pale as snow. He kept panting, and his eyes landed on Cheng Feng.
Cheng Feng lowered his head and avoided his gaze.
Pei Zheng’s heart suddenly felt cold. It was as though a chill had swept over him, freezing all the blood that flowed through his body.
A sudden sweetness rose in his throat, and he bent over, spitting a mouthful of blood on the dark bedsheets.
After vomiting the blood, the pain in his body had actually intensified…
Jiang Yubai hurriedly pulled his wrist over to check his pulse, but Pei Zheng refused to cooperate. He thrashed away and tried to get off the bed.
He was littered with both external and internal injuries, and had only just awakened, so he had no strength, and struggled to make it out of the bed. Unexpectedly, Pei Zheng disregarded his current condition and stood up by himself, one hand clutching his chest, the other grabbing onto a nearby desk.
He was still barefoot, and the broken shards of porcelain on the floor pierced the soles of his feet, blood flowing from the wounds.
Cheng Feng tried to go over and support him by the arm, but Pei Zheng reached out and grabbed him by the collar instead. He didn’t have any strength left at all, but Cheng Feng still didn’t dare to break away.
“Where… is he…”
Cheng Feng said, “Master, you should lay back down. Drink your medicine first.”
Pei Zheng’s eyes were completely scarlet, “Answer… me…”
Cheng Feng saw that he could hardly stand properly and was about to collapse, so he quickly held Pei Zheng by the arm.
“Master, His Highness… there hasn’t been any news of him thus far. It’s already been five days. The wind and snow outside is heavy, anyone who stays outside for even a day will freeze, so… there’s no need to continue looking…”
Pei Zheng swayed, and he almost fell to the floor.
“Continue searching!” he roared hoarsely. A wave of dizziness instantly washed over him, and he had to press both hands onto the table in order to stand properly.
At this time, a little maid came in, and quietly placed a food box on the table. Jiang Yubai had her go and get another bowl of medicinal soup. Then Jiang Yubai walked up to Pei Zheng, an indifferent expression on his face.
“Lord Pei, your internal energy has already sustained severe damage, and your pulse is weak. If you continue to push your luck like this, forget about just losing your wugong1; do you really want to spend the rest of your life paralyzed in bed?”
The veins in Pei Zheng’s forehead were bulging, and the hands pressed against the table were trembling uncontrollably. The qi in his body was charging wildly, completely out of his control.
“You’re alive after falling from such a high cliff because you were protected by the abundance of qi in your body. If it was a normal person with no internal energy, they would have died from their internal organs bursting apart; there would be nothing left of them. They wouldn’t even leave any bones behind.”
Jiang Yubai’s eyes reddened, “Lord Pei, I think you understand what I mean. You’re awake now, so I’ve completed the task that His Majesty entrusted me with. Make sure to drink your medicine. I’ll be returning to the palace now.”
After he finished speaking, Jiang Yubai turned around to leave, but his wrist was suddenly grasped from behind.
Every drop of Pei Zheng’s strength was condensed into his hand, squeezing Jiang Yubai’s wrist until the bones clicked together. His eyes were so red that it looked like they were about to bleed, and he stared fixedly at Jiang Yubai.
“You… say that again…”
Jiang Yubai ignored the pain in his wrist and used his other hand to forcefully shove Pei Zheng away.
“It’s the truth, no matter if I say it three, four, a hundred, or even a thousand times! Do I have to explain to you what ‘not leaving any bones behind’ means?!”
Jiang Yubai couldn’t hold himself back any longer. During the five days that Pei Zheng had been in a coma, he had also gone to the bottom of the cliff to look for the prince. Having to search aimlessly in that vast stretch of white only intensified that feeling of powerlessness and despair.
It took him five days to accept this reality, and in the dead of night, he had cried in secret.
But as he faced Pei Zheng now, he didn’t have a shred of control over his emotions, and roared without restraint.
“His Highness is dead, he disappeared, he’s gone, he’ll never come back! Do you get it now? You, you were the one who forced him to jump off the cliff, why were you the only one who came back?! Why are you the only one who’s still alive?! His Highness… just what kind of deep hatred do you hold towards His Highness to force him to this point…”
Jiang Yubai couldn’t continue speaking, he stumbled, turned around, and ran out the door.
Pei Zheng staggered and knocked over the food box on the table. The hot dishes inside all spilled out, soiling his robe, and scalding his hands; a patch of red bloomed on his skin.
But he stood in place, unable to feel any pain.
The memory of that bright, flame-red figure came back to him, floating amidst the cold wind of the cliff, beautiful and flamboyant.
He reached out and tried to touch him, but the figure suddenly dodged backward and fell rapidly into the abyss below.
Pei Zheng’s heart suddenly tightened, and he hurriedly ran forward to hug the figure into his arms, but all he caught was a handful of air.
Unsatisfied and indignant, he continued to walk forward, and stepped through the door in a daze.
The moment the door was pushed open, the wind and snow flew inside. It was so bright, all he could see was the snow; the white glow was so radiant and intense that it stung his eyes.
Pei Zheng’s eyes couldn’t handle the glaring white light. It pierced his eyes and blurred his vision into a haze; he nearly toppled to the ground.
He gripped the door frame, panting slightly. He was dressed in a thin robe, so his body had thoroughly frozen in a matter of moments.
In the past, he wasn’t afraid of the cold at all. But now, the wind and snow could freeze his entire body to the point of numbness. Maybe it was because the blood flowing through him was already cold.
Cheng Feng followed silently to keep an eye on him, just in case he really did faint and fall to the ground.
Pei Zheng felt as though the strength in his entire body was slowly being pulled out of him. The dregs of internal energy he had left were almost gone.
That’s right, when they had fallen off the cliff, he had used all of his internal strength to protect that small man. It was because he didn’t have enough internal energy left in his body that he sustained such serious injuries.
But how could the prince have disappeared without even leaving his bones behind?
He didn’t believe it!
He didn’t believe it all!
He didn’t believe that Qi Changyi could die so easily!
He didn’t believe that he could disappear from this world so easily!
That band of useless things definitely didn’t search thoroughly enough; there was definitely someplace that hadn’t been searched!
Pei Zheng stepped out the door and onto the fresh snow blanketing the ground. The warm blood on his feet immediately mixed into the snow, dying it red.
He would search for the prince by himself!
The heavy snow was still falling. It fluttered onto Pei Zheng’s shoulders, sprinkled onto his feet, and clung to the ends of his hair.
His body was so cold that even the smallest bits of ice and snow didn’t melt as they touched his skin.
Cheng Feng watched as his master walked, on the verge of collapse with every step. A string of bloody footprints trailed in the snow behind him, and a sharp sadness lanced his heart.
In reality, everyone else had already accepted that the Ninth Prince, Qi Changyi, had fallen off the cliff and perished; there was nothing left of him. The Emperor had already announced the news to the entire country.
But not many people knew of the Ninth Prince’s existence to begin with, so no one really cared.
There were, indeed, many officials in the court that had appealed to the Emperor countless times, demanding him to execute the son of the treasonous Noble Consort Ning. But as the Emperor had cut off almost all contact with the Ninth Prince, and had maintained this distant relationship for many years, those ministers gradually stopped pressing the issue.
Now that the prince was dead, those same ministers all expressed grief and sorrow on the surface, but inside, they were rejoicing secretly in their hearts.
Cheng Feng stripped off the thick cloak he was wearing, quickly stepped forward, and draped it over Pei Zheng.
“Master, please wait here, this subordinate will prepare a horse.”
Pei Zheng didn’t say a word, but Cheng Feng knew that his silence meant acquiescence, so he hurried away to make the preparations. Pei Zheng stood alone in the snow. Those once sharp, spirited eyes were now pale and glazed, listless and unfocused.
The clenched palm that was hidden beneath his cuff had long since started oozing blood.
Whenever he felt like his body couldn’t take it any longer and was about to collapse, he would clench even tighter, until fresh, hot blood began to roll down his skin, and drip down, drop by drop, onto his bare feet.
It seemed that another red figure had appeared in the corridor a little ways away. That figure was moving toward him, its red cloak fluttering in the wind. Pei Zheng’s eyes were pinned on the figure, unblinking. He was afraid that it would vanish the moment he closed his eyes.
Only until his eyes were stinging and painful, and everything was a hazy blur, did that figure finally walk up to him.
The hope in Pei Zheng’s eyes disappeared in an instant. His gaze instantly chilled, and the hope was immediately replaced with immense disgust.
It wasn’t him. Instead, it was the red-clad Qi Bingzhi.
The wedding ceremony between her and Pei Zheng hadn’t been completed, so she wasn’t officially Pei Zheng’s wife, yet she was already living in the Prime Minister’s Manor, in the waterside pavilion in the back garden.
Even though everyone in the palace was practicing frugality for a period after the prince’s death, Qi Bingzhi was still wearing such bright, beautiful red.
“My Lord, I heard that you woke up, so I wanted to hurry over to visit.” Qi Bingzhi’s eyes were full of worry, which, at a first glance, did look sincere.
“Here is your medicine, hurry and drink it. It’s so cold out, and you just woke up, how can you stay out here and let your body freeze like this?
Qi Bingzhi directed the maid beside her to present the bowl of medicine she was holding to Pei Zheng; she did indeed have the air of the Mistress of the Prime Minister’s Manor.
Pei Zheng didn’t take the bowl, but instead swept his cold gaze over Qi Bingzhi.
Pinned under his eyes, Qi Bingzhi was a little frightened, and lowered her head. Only then did she notice the huge puddle of blood beneath Pei Zheng’s feet, and she hastily grabbed Pei Zheng’s arm in panic.
“My Lord, your injury is terribly serious, why didn’t Imperial Physician Jiang bandage it up for you, this is complete negligence…”
Unexpectedly, Pei Zheng raised his hand and thrashed her away. Although his body was extremely weak, he was still much stronger than Qi Bingzhi.
Qi Bingzhi was thrown to the ground by his sudden movement, and accidentally knocked over the bowl of medicinal soup, which spilled all over her.
“Aghhhh…”
Qi Bingzhi was scalded by the hot soup, and cried out. She had fallen into a sitting position in the snow. Aggrieved tears instantly poured down her face.
“My Lord…”
Pei Zheng looked down at her condescendingly, and without saying a word, walked past her with indifference.
The little maid standing at the side hurried over to help her up. Qi Bingzhi wiped her tears, and looked at Pei Zheng’s back, her nails slowly digging into her palms.
Pei Zheng walked to the gate of the Prime Minister’s Manor by himself. Cheng Feng had already prepared a horse and was waiting. Behind him were several teams consisting of the manor’s guards, along with the imperial troops, all standing in formation.
Even though everyone knew that there was no way they would find anything, this was the will of the Prime Minister, so they had no choice but to obey.
A servant beside him wrapped Pei Zheng’s bleeding feet in a simple layer of gauze, and helped him put on his boots.
Pei Zheng mounted the horse. He was in a terrible condition, his head hurt and his vision was fuzzy; it seemed like he could fall off the horse at any moment.
His palms were already covered in blood, so they could no longer aid him in regaining his senses. Pei Zheng violently bit the tip of his tongue, and the taste of blood spread through his mouth in an instant.
The salty, pungent taste traveled directly to his brain. A single droplet of blood in his mouth could preserve his consciousness and keep his mind clear for much longer.
He took several deep breaths, and forced what was left of his internal energy to flow through his body. He felt all of his muscles and meridians fighting against him, but he ignored it. He stared forward, whipped the horse, and charged ahead.
The soldiers behind him also rushed out, heading straight for the hunting grounds beyond the Imperial Capital.
The wind and snow cut past his ears. Pei Zheng’s heart was beating furiously.
He was uneasy and restless; he was unwilling, and didn’t dare to believe it…
How dare he, how dare that little prince leave him for no reason?!
Was he against the idea of me marrying someone else?
Then why didn’t he say so, why didn’t he tell me?!
In the past, the little prince was willing to tell him anything and everything. Even when he was irritated and didn’t want to listen, that small man wouldn’t be able to control himself, and would mumble endlessly into his ear.
But when did he start to drift away from him…
He was angry: angry that the prince had distanced himself, angry that he kept pushing him away, and trying to escape from him.
If that fragile man had just been willing to lower his head, cave to his demands, and beg him in a soft voice, he simply would have refused to get married. As long as Qi Changyi could return to him, and stay by his side, it would be all right.
As long as he came back, he would tell him, he would tell him everything that he didn’t have the chance to say before…
The little prince had agreed to wait at the little pavilion; why did he leave so soundlessly, without saying a word to anyone?
Was it because he had injured the Third Princess, and was scared of the Emperor blaming him for it?
But with him around, he wouldn’t stand idly by and let Changyi fend for himself. If the Emperor blamed him, he would be there to take responsibility for it.
The little prince had done so many things that had deviated from his plans: it should be said that, though he didn’t know when it had begun, but he had long since included the little prince in his plans.
He would imprison the small man at his side; it didn’t matter if he was willing or not, and he would resort to any methods to keep him. In reality, everything he had done was to ensure that the little prince wouldn’t leave him.
It couldn’t be more clear what this feeling was.
But it was something that the cold-hearted, cold-blooded Pei Zheng – who had lived for twenty-something years – had never experienced before…
The horse galloped into the hunting grounds, which was also blanketed in a thick layer of snow.
He rode the horse into the forest, and finally reached the bottom of that steep cliff.
Everywhere he looked, the snow covered vast stretches of land in every direction. The undulating mountain range in the distance was also coated in stark white.
Pei Zheng wanted to dismount, but he could hardly take a step on his own. He leant on the horse’s body to stabilize himself, his boots sinking deeply into the soft snow.
He walked forward by himself, carefully searching under every bush and tree. He even knelt on the ground, and looked into the deep tree hollows.
Nothing…
Nothing….
Still nothing…
There isn’t a single trace of him…
Pei Zheng’s knees were numb from the cold. He tried to stand up, but failed, and collapsed heavily into the snow again.
That small man had also injured his knees before, and had been in so much pain that he was unable to stand; how did he treat him?
Pei Zheng’s vision blurred slightly, and his entire body was overwhelmed by a wave of heart-piercing pain.
The soldiers behind him rushed over and fanned out, carefully beginning to search the chasm once more. Cheng Feng got off his horse, saw Pei Zheng kneeling motionless beneath a tree, and hurried over.
“Master, quickly get up, it’s too cold, you can’t handle it in your current state.”
Pei Zheng allowed Cheng Feng to help him up. His eyes were hazy gray and unfocused. He had just stood up, still shaky, and he began to walk forward once more.
Cheng Feng had never seen him like this before, so he could only follow behind from a short distance.
He had once thought that his master was the cruelest, most ruthless person in the world. If one didn’t care about anyone else, they wouldn’t have any weaknesses. In eternal pursuit of power and status, they would have to remain cold and tough forever…
But now, he realized he was wrong…
***
The sky gradually darkened.
Pei Zheng walked extremely slowly. After searching for quite a while, he separated from the others, and came across a mysterious pool.
The weather was bitterly cold, but the water in this pool still hadn’t frozen; it was even exuding a faint heat.
Pei Zheng walked to the edge of the pool and looked into it. The water was pitch black, reflecting his pale face and scarlet eyes.
He suddenly had a strong feeling that something was off about this pool.
He lifted a foot and stepped into the pool. The water was actually warm; the gentle heat flooded into his bones. Even the wounds on his body didn’t seem to hurt as much anymore.
He continued to walk toward the center of the pool, until the water rose to his legs, his waist, then chest…
Upon seeing this, Cheng Feng was extremely anxious; it looked like he was about to jump into the pool as well. But the water only reached Pei Zheng’s chest – this was as deep as the pool got.
“Master, people have searched this pool several times, but there was no trace of the prince. You should hurry and come back up now.”
Pei Zheng stiffened; it was as though the last bit of hope in his heart had suddenly been shattered.
He stood there and didn’t move for a long while.
He couldn’t fend against the warmth in his eyes any longer; the wall holding it all back was smashed apart, and everything flowed out at once. Droplets of hot water dripped into the pool, creating small rings of ripples.
Pei Zheng closed his eyes, and felt that all the strength in his body had been torn out of him. He was enveloped in heat, but it was as though he was stuck in a cold, wintery cellar, freezing him to the depths of his heart and the marrow of his bones.
The last breath of qi in his body had also completely disappeared. Without anything left to support him, his body crashed and submerged into the pitch-dark pool.
Warmth covered the top of his head, and everything in his vision was chaotic and dark. The blood from his heart seemed to stop flowing, and the person in the pool slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the overwhelming blood red in his eyes had dissipated. Pei Zheng was lying on a warm bed, and the fire in the room was blazing.
There were wounds all over his body, inside and out; he was ruined and riddled with holes.
His external injuries had already been bandaged, and he could feel that his body had recovered a bit of strength.
But the deadliest, most painful wound had been inflicted on his heart; it was as though someone had cut open his flesh, tore his veins, crushed his bones, and dug out his bloody heart at an agonizingly slow pace, before throwing it out in the snow to freeze.
Right now, his body was lying here, but his soul had long since fallen off that cliff, resting forever with that small man…
Upon seeing Pei Zheng wake up, Qi Bingzhi, who was sitting by the bed, finally had a joyous expression on her face. The red robe she was wearing had been swapped for a simple, plain dress.
“My Lord, you’re awake. How are you? Do you feel better? Has your fever gone down?”
As she spoke, Qi Bingzhi reached out to touch Pei Zheng’s forehead, but was stopped by his tight grip on her wrist.
“My Lord, what are you doing…”
Qi Bingzhi struggled twice, but her wrist was suddenly squeezed even tighter, and she almost cried from the pain.
Pei Zheng flicked her hand away, and, with great effort, sat up in the bed.
“Get out.”
Qi Bingzhi’s tears suddenly poured out, “My Lord, I know you must be very sad right now, I-I just wanted to comfort you, I don’t have any other intentions, I’m just worried about you…”
“I said, get out.” Pei Zheng stared forward, his thin lips bloodless. The words he spat were cold to the extreme.
Qi Bingzhi bit her lips hard, and the wounds on her palms also split open again.
She didn’t understand. That person was already dead, why couldn’t Pei Zheng spare her even a single glance? For him, she had ignored her mother’s attempts to stop her, and endured countless humiliations in order to marry him; it was all just because she liked him.
“My Lord, as an older sister, I am also very sad about what happened to Changyi. When he was alive, he suffered great humiliation and was falsely accused many times. Third Sister was also inconsiderate, always clashing with Changyi, but Changyi, no matter what she said, shouldn’t have used a knife on Third Sister, that was extremely discourteous…”
Pei Zheng suddenly turned his head and looked at Qi Bingzhi, his eyes dark and complicated.
Qi Bingzhi actually thought she was getting through to him, and continued, “Fortunately, Third Sister’s life was preserved. Otherwise, even if Changyi was alive, Royal Father would have had him trade his life for hers, so for him to leave like this, it would have been somewhat of a relief-“
She hadn’t even finished speaking before her neck was suddenly choked.
Pei Zheng glared fiercely at her, “What did you say?!”
Qi Bingzhi was having trouble breathing, her cheeks reddening slightly, “Changyi, he’s already dead, My Lord, even if, you don’t accept it, it’s the truth…”
Dead?
She dares to say that he’s dead?
Pei Zheng raised his hand and threw her to the ground. Then he began to cough violently, coughing until a fishy sweet taste swelled in his throat.
He threw off the quilt, staggered out of bed, and walked up to Qi Bingzhi, who had fallen on the floor.
“Truth? Just what is the truth, did you see him fall off that cliff, or have you personally seen his corpse?”
Qi Bingzhi was slightly stunned, and shook her head, “I didn’t see any of that, but…”
“But what?” Pei Zheng wiped at the blood at the corner of his mouth, “You haven’t even seen it, yet you dare to talk such nonsense? I’ll leave you some face, not because you’re a princess, but because you are the Empress’s only daughter. You had better learn some self-awareness! If you dare to say something like this again, I won’t be afraid to punish you!”
Tears poured in an uncontrollable torrent from the corners of Qi Bingzhi’s eyes. Every one of Pei Zheng’s words stabbed her heart. She had wasted so much effort just to reach him, and stand beside him, yet this was how he treated her.
“You really, like that idiot that much?”
Qi Bingzhi suddenly laughed, “Then how could you force him to jump off the cliff?”
Pei Zheng’s gaze changed in an instant. He squatted down, pinching Qi Yirou’s chin hard.
“You dare, say that again!”
“To see someone you like so much fall to his death, yet to be unable to save him, it must not be a good feeling.”
Qi Bingzhi looked at him, and her lips curved upward,”Then did you also know, that in the past, he wasn’t always been such a stupid fool?”
Notes
Urghhh cliffhangerrrr
So I’ve made a mistake, a terrible mistake, I have been referring to 内力 (internal energy) as qi, but they’re different, very sorry. Will change that ASAP.
1. 武功 (wǔ gōng): previously ‘martial arts’, but I’m going to change it to the romanized version which is moreso ‘the ability to use/practice martial arts’ which is more applicable to most situations, sorry for always changing shit up o.O
Thanks for reading~~
