Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Sheng Zhaoning savored the cruel joy of killing.

All those involved in the Palace Coup had paid the price they deserved.

Except Wei Yi.

She could not kill him.

Peaceful seas and clear rivers, a prosperous and peaceful age-that was the Crown Prince’s wish.

If Wei Yi died, the realm would descend into chaos.

The magnificent land His Highness had sworn to defend would rapidly crumble and collapse.

That was not what he wanted to see.

Besides, Wei Yi was too guarded, too wary.

Surrounding him were countless Shadow Guards hidden in the dark.

If it were her former self, she might have been able to fight him.

If schemes couldn’t bring him down, she would take up a blade and cut him down.

Not like now, when she couldn’t even escape from his side.

Wei Yi fiercely gripped her wrist. “Shut up!”

His voice trembled uncontrollably, and the faint quivering in his hand traveled to her. Sheng Zhaoning suddenly felt a sense of relief that she couldn’t kill him.

“So you love me this much.” Her smile was full of mirth.

So that’s how it was.

She had always mocked Wei Yi for mistaking his unattainable possessiveness for so-called “love,” but now the trembling from her wrist and the undisguisable panic in his eyes finally exposed his heart.

Wei Yi might truly love her.

Then, if she died, would Wei Yi also feel searing pain, just as she had used against others-striking at the heart above all.

But her own heart, ever since the Crown Prince’s death, had been like a knife carving into it day after day, each living night a torment that left her suffocating with pain.

Sheng Zhaoning, too, deserved punishment.

She was destined to die in agony and longing, as punishment for the heart’s torment.

Wei Yi watched the light slowly fading from her eyes, his voice panicked. “Sheng Zhaoning, you dare die!”

He gripped her wrist, blood dripping through his fingers onto the ground.

“If you dare close your eyes, I will dig up his bones and scatter his ashes!”

Sheng Zhaoning only sighed, no fear in her gaze. “You can’t find him.”

Her voice was already very faint, her head leaning against the pillar, her eyes showing rare sorrow. “He wasn’t even buried in the Imperial Mausoleum!”

Wei Yi had used this threat too many times.

But he could not deceive her.

The day the rebels broke through the imperial city, she ran with the Crown Prince along the long, seemingly endless palace corridor. The pouring rain mercilessly pelted their faces, blurring their vision.

She thought she could lead him out through the secret passage.

But the passage was blocked.

Wei Yi chased them with his soldiers. She knelt before his horse, begging him to spare the prince. Blood from her forehead mixed with rain streamed down. Wei Yi dismounted, his gaze sinister, stepping toward her step by step.

He lifted her chin, handed her a sword, and with a cruel smile said, “Only one of you can live.”

Sheng Zhaoning almost snatched the sword from his hand and without hesitation aimed for her own chest.

But as if gone mad, he deflected her sword, the force on her wrist seeming to crush her.

“Do you love him that much?” Wei Yi asked, his eyes red.

Sheng Zhaoning said, “Yes.”

In that instant, the light in Wei Yi’s eyes shattered.

Fiercely gripping her wrist, he guided her strength and thrust the sword into the one she would die to protect.

With a “shlick,” the blade pierced the heart.

That sword accurately stabbed into the Crown Prince’s chest.

Wei Yi hated her, so he made her kill the one she loved most with her own hands.

Sheng Zhaoning’s mind exploded with a buzz. She stared in disbelief at the long sword in her hand. The bright red blood seared her vision, and her mind went blank.

Wei Yi revealed everything-her identity, her purpose in the Capital City, and… the fact that she had worked for Prince Zhenbei, which led to today’s catastrophe.

But the Crown Prince seemed to have expected it. With great effort, he raised his hand, wiped the tear tracks from the corner of her eye, and smiled: “Don’t cry. I know.”

How could he not have known?

Several times when they faced life-and-death situations, the person beside him remained unbelievably calm. Even with a broken arm, she reset it without changing expression. Injured, she uttered not a sound, and only when the Imperial Physician came to diagnose did deep, bone-visible wounds come to light.

She had things she wanted to hide, things she didn’t want him to know.

So he never asked.

Sheng Zhaoning was willing to die for him, so naturally, he was equally willing to die for her.

“Fortunately… you can survive.”

Those were his last words.

After his death, Wei Yi, in overwhelming jealousy and hatred, hung his body on the city wall, then threw it into the mass burial pit, letting wild dogs devour it until no bones remained.

She pulled out of the memory. The suffocating pain swept over her overwhelmingly. Sheng Zhaoning saw only darkness, and all the scenes abruptly faded.

“You can’t find him,” she repeated.

Sheng Zhaoning closed her eyes, tears rolling down from the tails of her eyes.

“I… can’t find him either.”

She had sent countless people to search, but to no avail. Nowhere was he.

He had died in such a brutal way, yet she could not even find a scrap of his robe.

Sheng Zhaoning’s eyes shut tightly, all strength vanishing in an instant.

In her ears came Wei Yi’s voice, enraged to the extreme.

What was he saying?

It no longer mattered…

Her consciousness rapidly slipped away. In the last fading sensation, it seemed someone softly called beside her ear, “Ningning.”

Sheng Zhaoning dazedly turned toward the sound.

In her mind, there was only a blurry silhouette.

Is it you?

My, Wei Heng…