Broken Jade - Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Wave after wave of dull resistance traveled up through his palms as he pressed down on her chest.

After dozens of forceful compressions, Sheng Zhaoning finally responded.

Her brows drew tightly together, pain surfacing on her face. With another hard press, the water trapped in her chest and stomach suddenly burst from her mouth.

Wei Heng quickly helped her upright and patted her back, helping her cough up the rest of the water.

After expelling several mouthfuls, she finally began breathing through her nose and mouth again.

Sheng Zhaoning’s hand unconsciously tightened around his sleeve. Wei Heng took it and cradled it in his palm.

She opened her eyes. Countless points of light scattered across her vision before slowly converging again, and as they did, everything before her gradually came into focus.

“Your Highness…” Her gaze became lost in Wei Heng’s features until he was the only thing left in her eyes.

Seeing that she had regained consciousness, Wei Heng finally felt the weight lift from his heart. He pulled Sheng Zhaoning into a fierce embrace, as though holding a precious treasure he had lost and miraculously recovered. His grip was so tight that it seemed he wanted to crush her into his very body.

“It’s me. I’m here.”

Sheng Zhaoning could barely breathe beneath the force of his embrace.

She tried to raise a hand and pat his back, signaling for him to let go.

But the instant her arm moved, excruciating pain tore through it.

Her right arm had been broken against the reef.

Helpless, Sheng Zhaoning could only pat him with her left hand instead.

Wei Heng carefully felt the warmth slowly returning to her body. Only after forcing down the sting behind his nose did he loosen his grip at her urging and slowly release her.

Sheng Zhaoning stared at the man before her. Only when every inch of his silhouette was clearly reflected in her eyes did the terror of losing everything in that dream abruptly fade away.

All the strength had drained from her body, and every limb, bone, and organ screamed in pain.

Even so, relief washed over her.

Thank goodness he was still alive.

They were both alive.

Sheng Zhaoning struggled to sit up.

As she withdrew from Wei Heng’s arms, a small distance opened between them.

Only then did the late-autumn chill make itself known. Cold air swept over their skin, sending visible shudders through them both.

Wei Heng felt the chill and glanced at her, only for his gaze to be seared by the vast expanse of pale skin. He immediately looked away, his fingers clenching as the tips of his ears turned scarlet.

“Y-You should put your clothes on first,” he said with difficulty.

The moment the words left his mouth, he lowered his head, not daring to steal so much as another glance at her.

Sheng Zhaoning had only just regained consciousness, and her mind was still sluggish.

She did not immediately understand what he meant and looked at Wei Heng in confusion. Then her gaze slowly drifted downward to her own body.

At a single glance, Sheng Zhaoning went rigid, as though struck by lightning.

Her robes were gaping wide open. From her neck and shoulders all the way down to her waist, her skin was completely exposed to the air. Only the layers of white cloth tightly wrapped around her chest concealed her most private area.

Yet such a flimsy attempt at concealment only made the secret beneath the cloth more obvious.

Sheng Zhaoning fumbled frantically to pull her robes closed. There was none of the maidenly shyness one might expect after being seen by a man-only stunned panic and utter dread.

The faint color that had only just returned to her lips vanished at once. Even her face turned deathly pale.

Wei Heng saw the fear and panic in her eyes, and a trace of aching tenderness passed through his own.

The identity she had struggled so desperately to conceal had now been exposed just like that.

And she was a Jinshi-the top-ranked member of the First Class, the Zhuangyuan.

The more illustrious her position, the graver her crime of deceiving the emperor would be once her secret was exposed.

How could she not be terrified?

Wei Heng could not bear to see her consumed by such panic. He hurried to reassure her. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t tell anyone.”

He could not begin to imagine how much courage it had taken for Sheng Zhaoning to come this far as a woman, or how difficult the journey must have been.

She had guarded a secret that could destroy her entire clan while studying tirelessly like any man for the sake of her family’s honor, advancing through one imperial examination after another from Xuzhou to Capital City.

How much hardship had she endured to reach his side and stand beside him today?

He did not even dare imagine all she had suffered.

Sheng Zhaoning raised her head, the whites of her eyes gradually turning bloodshot. “Your Highness, you… know?”

Her words were phrased as a question, but she already knew the answer.

Wei Heng’s heart ached as he watched her last shred of hope crumble.

“…Yes.”

He knew that if he denied it now, perhaps she would no longer sink deeper into terror.

But he did not want to lie to her.

Even if the truth left Sheng Zhaoning frightened and uneasy, he refused to pretend ignorance and continue interacting with her as nothing more than sovereign and subject.

Before he understood his own feelings, he had regarded her as his dearest friend and closest confidante.

But now he was utterly certain of his heart. Even when he had believed she was a man, he had still recklessly refused to restrain his feelings in the slightest.

That alone meant he would never give up so easily.

Now that he had discovered her true identity, how could Wei Heng possibly remain content with a relationship confined to sovereign and subject?

And so, selfishly, he admitted that he knew.

Wei Heng made her raise her head and look at him.

He gazed into her eyes, sincerely revealing all the joy and relief in his heart.

“Zhaoning, I’m so happy.”

Sheng Zhaoning fell helplessly into his gaze, one so intense it seemed ready to engulf her whole. The overwhelming tide of emotion, fierce and scorching, bore down on her like an inescapable mountain, leaving her nowhere to flee and forcing her to confront it head-on.

The corners of her eyes were scarlet. Her heart seemed to plummet into a bottomless abyss, trembling with panic.

“I know this may seem sudden, and I don’t know what you’ll think… But these aren’t empty words, nor am I some shameless libertine. I mean every word with absolute certainty and sincerity. Not a single word is false.”

He stared intently into her eyes, refusing to allow her the slightest chance to retreat or escape.

His unwavering voice rang clearly in her ears.

“Sheng Zhaoning, I like you.”

“…”

At that moment, all color drained from heaven and earth, and the world fell silent.

A deafening hum filled Sheng Zhaoning’s ears. Her heart stopped for an instant. After a breathless pause, it began beating again-more violently than ever before.

I like you-

I like you…

The words seemed bewitched, echoing endlessly in her ears.

Nothing else remained in her world.

“I know this will be difficult for you to accept all at once. I never expected you to return my feelings, either. But I don’t want to hide how I feel anymore.”

“I want you to know.”

He wanted her to know how he felt. He wanted her to hear these words so that she could no longer cling to a sliver of doubt and use it to hide from the truth.

Wei Heng could not force her to like him in return. But once Sheng Zhaoning knew, he wanted her to see him from a perspective beyond that of sovereign and subject, then consider her own feelings earnestly and carefully.

From this moment forward, he would hide nothing from her.