Broken Jade - Chapter 138

Chapter 138

The Bronze Tally and secret order were delivered together to the Imperial Guard Camp.

Within the Imperial City, every faction began to stir.

Capital City remained shrouded in a facade of peace and splendor. It was not until three days later that the storm brewing in the shadows finally broke into the open.

It was a clear night, with the moon hidden behind the clouds, shedding only a hazy glow.

Sheng Zhaoning entered Mingyue Pavilion alone.

Wei Yi had been waiting for a long time.

The doors and windows stood wide open, letting the night breeze drift through.

From the moment she crossed the threshold, his gaze locked onto her, carrying a silent, oppressive weight.

“You came after all.”

Even Wei Yi could not tell whether he should be pleased or furious.

She had come, but not of her own free will. She was only here because she had no choice if she wanted to save someone else’s life.

Sheng Zhaoning raised her eyes coldly. “Where is Zhou Wei?”

Faced with such a blunt question, Wei Yi lowered his gaze and let out a quiet laugh. “You really can’t be bothered to pretend, can you?”

He drew a deep breath and stopped concealing the darkness in his eyes. He called into the shadows, “Bring him in.”

Footsteps receded outside the door.

A moment later, they returned.

A man covered in blood, his hands and feet bound with rope, was shoved unceremoniously to the floor.

Sheng Zhaoning looked down. The instant she saw Zhou Wei’s face, her breath caught.

“Zhou Wei.” She clenched her fists as she called his name.

At the sound of her voice, the man on the floor looked up in shock. With his mouth gagged, he could only make muffled cries.

Sheng Zhaoning saw the blood caked across his body. It had dried to a dark brownish red, clearly days old. The wounds must have been inflicted during a fight.

She could not show too much concern for him in front of Wei Yi, so she said coldly, “Let him go.”

Wei Yi stared at her for a long moment before slowly looking away.

“Release him.”

His men obeyed and untied the ropes around Zhou Wei.

He spat out the wad of cloth in his mouth and cried out in urgent concern, “Sheng Zhaoning-”

Sheng Zhaoning cut him off, turning to bark, “Go!”

Every extra moment he remained here invited another complication.

Zhou Wei swallowed the words he had yet to say.

He glared furiously at Wei Yi. He recognized him: the Prince Heir of Zhenbei, and Sheng Zhaoning’s… former master.

Remembering what Sheng Zhaoning had told him, Zhou Wei understood the situation almost instantly.

Wei Yi intended to take her back to the Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion.

Zhou Wei’s feet seemed nailed to the floor. He stared at Sheng Zhaoning’s slender figure, unable to make himself move.

When he still showed no sign of leaving, Sheng Zhaoning turned and shouted, “Go!”

“…”

His hands clenched tightly at his sides.

Zhou Wei knew full well that he was no match for Wei Yi. Staying here would accomplish nothing. Only by leaving first could he find a way to rescue Sheng Zhaoning.

He raised his head again and took one long, searching look at her.

Then he turned and strode out.

His figure soon vanished from Mingyue Pavilion.

Only after watching him leave safely did some of the tension in Sheng Zhaoning’s heart finally ease. She let out a faint breath.

With Zhou Wei gone, she had nothing left to hold her back.

Wei Yi watched as Sheng Zhaoning slowly approached him and stopped directly before him.

“I’m here now. If Your Highness the Heir has something to say, then say it.”

Wei Yi replied, “Haven’t you already figured it out?”

Sheng Zhaoning was clever enough. With her intelligence, there was no way she had failed to guess why he had summoned her.

Sheng Zhaoning sighed, then looked up and asked with utter seriousness, “Wei Yi, if I leave with you, can you promise never to enter Capital City again for the rest of your life?”

Never again to unleash another wave of bloodshed and slaughter, and never to let Liangzhou’s iron cavalry set foot in the Capital.

Instead, he was to remain in Liangzhou and safeguard the hard-won peace that had followed the war.

The warmth in Wei Yi’s eyes faded inch by inch.

Even now, she was still thinking about that man.

She was willing to go with Wei Yi only to keep him from marching on the Capital.

“Do you really think you have a choice?” Wei Yi scoffed.

Sheng Zhaoning caught the mockery in his gaze. Slowly lowering her eyes, she let out a quiet laugh.

“That’s right. I never even had a choice about coming here.”

Going to the Capital had never been her choice.

Neither was leaving.

Sheng Zhaoning had never had the right to choose.

Wei Yi failed to notice the icy resolve in her lowered eyes. Gripping her shoulders, he said softly, “Come back with me. Whatever he can give you, I can give you too.”

Once he conquered the Capital, he would become the new Heir Apparent.

The throne and the entire realm would then fall into his hands.

He would make Sheng Zhaoning the most exalted woman in all of Great Wei.

Wealth, glory, status, power-whatever she wanted, he could give her.

Wei Yi leaned down and pulled Sheng Zhaoning into his arms.

“I’ll marry you. I’ll seize the entire realm and give you everything you want. You can-”

His voice abruptly died.

Beneath the hazy moonlight, a dagger gleamed with a sinister chill as it plunged into his back.

Straight toward his heart.

Wei Yi slowly straightened, his body rigid with disbelief.

Blood spread across his back.

His mind seemed to go blank for an instant, his ears filled with a deafening hum.

Pain radiated from his chest through his entire body, only to converge once more and surge straight back into his heart.

“You want to… kill me?”

Wei Yi’s voice trembled with disbelief.

He stared at the woman before him, his eyes filling with an unfamiliarity he had never felt before.

This was not the Sheng Zhaoning he knew.

The woman he knew would stand behind him no matter what happened.

At a single word from him, she would brave fire and water without hesitation.

She would never leave him.

Much less… kill him.

Sheng Zhaoning’s hand fell limply to her side.

She closed her eyes in anguish. Her pale face was taut with restraint, almost translucent.

The dagger remained lodged in his back, drops of blood already staining the floor.

She could no longer tell whether the strike had failed to go deeper because she lacked the strength, or because she had deliberately held back.

Either way, it had not pierced his heart…

A tumult of footsteps poured toward the secret passage, drawing closer at frightening speed.

They were the private troops of the Imperial Guard Camp.

“Quick! He’s over there!”

“Go! Capture him!”

Hundreds of armored soldiers charged at Wei Yi with weapons in hand.

Outside the window, dozens of figures swiftly emerged and moved to shield him.

“Your Highness, go!”

The clash of blades rang out without pause.

At that moment, every deathsworn guard from the Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion who had accompanied him to the Capital sprang into action, fighting to escort Wei Yi out of the city.

Across the carnage and the cold gleam of crossing blades, a blood-red gaze settled on her.

It was as though they now stood in two separate worlds.

The last shred of hope hidden in Wei Yi’s heart was shattered in the cruelest way imaginable.

The blade aimed at his heart. The Imperial Guard Camp’s private troops surrounding Mingyue Pavilion…

Sheng Zhaoning truly had never intended to let him leave alive.

Wei Yi laughed soundlessly.

Tears gathered in his dark red eyes. His grief slowly transformed into… overwhelming hatred.

Before vaulting out the window, he turned and gave Sheng Zhaoning one last, searching look.

His eyes were blood-red and dark as an abyss.

A vicious shadow filled his gaze.

Sheng Zhaoning, one day, I will return.

And destroy everything you have.

…Everything.