Countless thoughts collided wildly in my mind, until in the end they all dissolved into a ruinous darkness and bone-deep cold.
My mother dismissed, the Chancellor's residence surrounded, my eldest sister imprisoned… the Su family was finished.
And I was trapped within this deep palace. Other than watching helplessly, I could not even send out a single tear, a single cry for help! I was the most useless burden, the very source that had drawn down this calamity!
"Pfft—!"
The blood and qi congested in my chest could no longer be suppressed. I suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, the vivid red splattering across the spotless floor in a horrifying sight. Immediately after came racking coughs, as though I were about to cough up my very organs.
"Young Master!!"
Aunt Qin and Chunyu, who rushed in at the sound, cried out in alarm, scrambling to support my collapsing body.
My vision began to blur, the panicked shouts at my ears growing distant. Before sinking completely into darkness, the last things I saw were the bleak, powerless winter sunlight outside the window, and Aunt Qin's face etched with despair and heartbreak.
And also, the incomparably clear realization in my heart—
Xiao Yuhuang.
It was you.
You locked me in here, broke my wings, and now, even the last remaining support and attachment behind me—you intend to destroy that as well.
Is this what you call "never leaving"?
An eternal prison… forged from blood and the suffering of one's closest kin.
In my coma, my consciousness did not completely sink away. It felt as though I were floating in icy seawater, my ears filled with intermittent, suppressed sobbing and anxious calls. Someone poured bitter medicinal liquid into my mouth; someone drove cold silver needles into my acupoints, trying to awaken the remnants of vitality left within this ruined body.
I did not know how much time passed. Amid chaos and pain, I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids.
What came into view was the familiar canopy of the Fengqi Palace bedchamber, and Aunt Qin's eyes, reddened from exhaustion.
"Young Master! You're finally awake!" Her voice was hoarse, carrying the relief of having survived a disaster, yet it was quickly covered by deeper worry.
I opened my mouth, my throat dry and burning, unable to make a sound. Aunt Qin hurriedly moistened my lips with a damp cloth and carefully fed me a few sips of warm water.
"I… how long was I asleep?" My voice was faint and raspy.
"One day and one night," Aunt Qin said softly. "The imperial physician said you suffered a surge of blood attacking the heart from extreme anger. Fortunately, treatment was timely… but Young Master, your body truly cannot withstand any more stimulation." She looked at me, her eyes full of pleading. "No matter what is happening outside, you must first protect yourself."
Protect myself? Under the shadow of a ruined family and destroyed home, how could I protect anything?
"Outside… is there any new news?" I closed my eyes, then opened them again, a dead calm filling them.
Aunt Qin hesitated, but in the end still spoke in a low voice. "My Lady… has been ordered to remain at home to reflect, forbidden to go out. The Chancellor's residence is still under guard. Captain Su… is still in the Heavenly Prison, with no new edict for now. The Second Young Lady… entrusted someone to pass a message in, telling you to rest assured and recover, that the Su family… has not yet fallen."
Not yet fallen? My mother dismissed, my eldest sister imprisoned, the residence surrounded—does that not count as fallen? Is my second sister comforting me, or comforting herself?
"Has… His Majesty come?" When I asked this, there were no ripples left in my heart.
Aunt Qin was silent for a moment. "He did come. But he stayed only briefly before leaving in haste, and dispatched the Chief Physician of the Imperial Medical Bureau to keep watch day and night in the outer chambers."
Heh. Afraid I might truly die? If I died, wouldn't her display of authority and punishment for "disloyalty" lose its most crucial audience?
I turned my head and looked out the window. The sky had grown gloomy again; it seemed snow would fall once more.
The halls of Fengqi Palace were still magnificent and warm, yet more than ever they resembled a tomb. One that buried my health, my freedom, and now, even my last ties of kinship and concern.
Beyond the vermilion walls, my closest family were suffering.
Within the vermilion walls, there was only this broken body of mine, for whom even shedding a single tear for them felt like a luxury.
Xiao Yuhuang, you have won.
In the most cruel way, you have made me understand what true "imprisonment" is, and what price is paid for an emperor's wrath.
And I… seem to have exhausted even the strength to hate.
All that remains is boundless cold, and the despair of sinking into an abyss.