Chapter 76
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Chapter 76:
It was windy at night, with a slight chill in the air. Li Chunzhou ran over and skillfully slipped under Second Prince’s cloak, tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek.
The coldness in Second Prince’s eyes softened slightly, Jian Yi quickly turned his head aside, not daring to witness the intimacy between his master and someone else.
"Is Second Master angry?" Li Chunzhou winked mischievously, without directly explaining anything for Xu Yanqu.
Seeing her like this, the Second Prince no longer held onto the previous matter, instead he held Li Chunzhou’s hand and asked, "Did you enjoy the play?"
Li Chunzhou smiled and nodded vigorously.
The Second Prince chuckled, took off his cloak and draped it over Li Chunzhou, raising his eyebrows and asking, "What play did you hear?"
Li Chunzhou walked side by side with him out of the garden. Upon hearing the Second Prince’s question, she glanced back at the empty stage, and recited a couplet nonchalantly, "Like birds seeking refuge in the forest, the land seems pure and clean…".
After finishing, she turned back without any longing, put on a pleasant smile and pulled the Second Prince to continue walking forward, "Let’s quickly go back, Second Master."
The Second Prince made a non-committal sound, and looked down at Li Chunzhou who was wearing his oversized cloak. His eyes darkened as he felt a strange sense of satisfaction, like a possessiveness that only a bratty kid would have, something he had never experienced before.
After passing through an inner gate, the Second Prince let go of Li Chunzhou’s hand, saying he had matters to attend to and asked her to go back and rest.
Li Chunzhou breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the Second Prince’s expression, she felt that the matter was over. So, she jokingly asked if he wanted her company, but when he refused, she went back to sleep reassured.
However, in the middle of the night, Li Chunzhou was awakened by a feeling of itchiness on her face.
Li Chunzhou woke up feeling sleepy, but realized her hands and feet were tied, and her mouth was gagged.
Qi Leyuan was hopping around frantically on the ground, trying to wake up Li Chunzhou when Liang Changfeng came in. However, she was sleeping too deeply. Before Qi Leyuan could peck her, Second Prince grabbed him by the neck and threw him off the bed.
Li Chunzhou was confused by the situation. She looked at Qi Leyuan on the floor. Qi Leyuan dared not say a word, afraid that speaking would lead to being taken away by Second Prince.
"Jian Yi." Second Prince called out Dark Guard’s name as Li Chunzhou looked at the chicken on the floor. Jian Yi quickly came in, picked up the chicken, and left within seconds.
Second Prince touched Li Chunzhou’s face with a ringed hand, smiling. He lowered his gaze, looking at her face trembling with emotion.
Li Chunzhou bit her lip tightly. There were bite marks on her neck. She felt nervous and angry inside, but she couldn’t speak because her mouth was gagged.
…………………
Li Chunzhou stared at him intensely, trying to maintain a sense of dignity and composure.
Second Prince’s dark eyes were deep and unfathomable. He licked her sweaty wrist. The bite marks on Li Chunzhou’s neck were fading. Liang Changfeng pressed his sharp canine teeth against them and slowly bit down. Li Chunzhou made a pained gasp in disbelief.
He bit deeper into the bite mark on her neck, causing Li Chunzhou to whimper and cry. Liang Changfeng’s warm breath touched her skin, making her shiver before she finally stopped.
Second Prince held her chin and pulled her head towards him, skillfully kissing her. His agile tongue entered her mouth, wrapping around hers. Li Chunzhou could feel his tongue exploring every inch of her mouth and tangling with her warm lips.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
It was only then that Liang Changfeng removed the fabric from Li Chunzhou’s mouth, bringing it close to her ear as he softly asked, "Why are you crying again? Look, aren’t you comfortable now…?"
He smirked maliciously, his bony fingers pressing on her lower abdomen while affectionately kissing her cheek and pinching her face to make her stick out her tongue for him to suck on.
Li Chunzhou, on the verge of tears, shivered as she lifted her trembling fingertips and looked at him, saying, "Go find someone else."
Her eyes teared up with a sickly blush on her cheeks, trembling lightly with each breath. She whispered, "If you like… this kind of thing… go find… go find someone else… okay?"
"Don’t cry." Liang Changfeng wiped the tears from her cheeks, kissed the corner of her moist eyes, and calmly said, "Why? I only love Lady Chun. Doesn’t Lady Chun know that?"
Li Chunzhou, feeling ashamed, bit her lip and could not push him away. Like an ostrich, she shut her eyes and cried softly, choking out, "Then, could you… let him go, please? Li Zhexuan…"
Liang Changfeng paused, a shadow passing over his face. After a moment, he regained his composure and whispered to Li Chunzhou, "Little trickster, are you mentioning him now because you’re truly worried about him?"
"You’re trying to anger me," Second Prince said, playing with her flushed cheeks. With a hoarse voice, he let out a mysterious laugh, "If you really care, you shouldn’t mention him in front of me."
Just like if back then he truly cared about Yunxiao more than himself, he shouldn’t have shown his love for it.
"If you care about him so much, you’ll harm him and yourself," Liang Changfeng said in a tempting tone to Li Chunzhou’s ear.
I killed Yunxiao with my own hands, and since you’re so similar to me, you should also kill the thing others use to threaten you with your own hands.
Li Chunzhou glanced at his subtly dangerous expression, fear creeping onto her face. She instinctively shrank back, trying to look tough but shouted, "A’xuan won’t harm me! I hate you! Do you understand? I hate you! I hate you so much! I don’t want to bow down to you, I don’t want to be a slave! Who are you to control my life?!"
After shouting the words she had held back for over ten years, Li Chunzhou collapsed onto the bed as if all her strength had left her. Tears streamed down her face, unsure if they were tears of relief or pain. She turned away, not wanting to look at him, nor wanting him to see her vulnerable expression.
Liang Changfeng stared at her like the snake she had seen in the bushes as a child, with those cold eyes that never let go, his scales rustling around her, with a cold exterior flowing with hot, twisted blood.
Looking down at Li Chunzhou’s teary face, Liang Changfeng felt a kind of pity that was strange and not respectful, more like a murky mix of love and desire to destroy.
He hugged Li Chunzhou and whispered in her ear, asking if she really hated him despite her angry words and actions.
Li Chunzhou stared in disbelief at his sickly eyes, wondering why they had been in conflict with Second Prince for so long, prolonging their pain.
"You should just kill me, Second Master…" Li Chunzhou murmured with empty eyes, looking blankly ahead, saying, "Or one day, I will kill you."
Li Chunzhou’s face pale, lips bright, spoke with a strange and alluring tone. Liang Changfeng, feeling a bit lost, caressed her cheek, memories suddenly brought back to the day of the accident.
…
After Liang Changfeng killed Yunxiao, his hands stained with blood grew cold in the wind. Rumors spread throughout the palace that Second Prince was possessed. The Emperor, who had always been devoted to studying ghosts and spirits, took this opportunity to show his skills, burning talismans and making Liang Changfeng drink water mixed with ashes.
The Emperor personally performed the rituals, whether or not Second Prince was truly possessed, it was necessary for him to get better.
The Empress Dowager, holding a recovering Second Prince, cried in front of the Emperor, who smiled warmly at their reunion.
In order to rid himself of the "possession", Liang Changfeng was cleansed and purified in the Buddha hall for three days and nights, only given water and porridge to sustain himself.
On the third afternoon, people from the queen’s palace came to take him back to Chang Le Palace for a meal.
Today, Liang Changfeng had long forgotten how that meal tasted, but because he was so hungry, he swallowed the first bite of meat without much chewing.
The former queen just smiled at him and didn’t eat. Liang Changfeng still remembers that moment vividly. In his memory, the queen’s face seemed distorted and blurry, without clear features, more like a watercolor painting blurred by rain, or like a monster wearing human skin, making people fearful and disgusted.
The chefs in the palace were skilled, and the meat was cooked especially tasty. Liang Changfeng slowly finished the plate of meat in front of him.
Then the former queen calmly asked him, "Do you like it…?"
Liang Changfeng nodded, and the former queen suddenly smiled mysteriously.
The face without features opened a blood-red mouth and said to Liang Changfeng with a smile, the words he would never forget in his lifetime, "Chang Feng, what you just ate was ‘Yunxiao’…"
Upon hearing her words, Liang Changfeng seemed to lose his ability to understand language. After a moment of daze, he felt like something was rotting inside his body, smelly and gross. Rings of ringing echoed in his ears. He desperately clenched his throat, trying to vomit something out…
The physical nausea was bearable, but the psychological disgust of being deceived was so strong that it couldn’t be ignored. His tears mixed with drool dripped onto the floor through his fingers. Liang Changfeng covered his mouth tightly, his eyes red, his hands involuntarily shaking. He wanted to say something but couldn’t. A sense of disgust surged up, making him close his eyes, trying to control his emotions. His breathing became rapid and difficult, as if even breathing had become a luxury.
Only the Empress’s recent words kept echoing in his mind, making him feel sick and unable to bear it. A wave of nausea tightened his throat, and a sour liquid surged up like a tide, causing Liang Changfeng to vomit uncontrollably.
Remembering these things now, Liang Changfeng no longer felt the childhood breakdown and despair. He even had a sick thought that maybe consuming Yunxiao was a good thing – because then it would always be with him. To this day, Yunxiao still lives inside his body, becoming a part of his flesh and blood.
On the night he consumed Yunxiao’s flesh and blood, besides the anger he chewed on, the stronger emotions in his heart were despair and helplessness. After all, Liang Changfeng was only a five or six-year-old child at the time, crying until his eyes were swollen in the middle of the night, gritting his teeth and pushing away the palace maid’s hand to run towards Chang Le Palace.
The Empress had long been deprived of the emperor’s favor, so the entire Chang Le Palace was eerily quiet. Liang Changfeng rushed into the main hall as if he was trying to shake off some terrifying, indescribable thing behind him.
The Empress had already fallen asleep but was awakened by his commotion. She tiredly opened her eyes and looked at him, reaching out to embrace her child in a phantom hug.
Liang Changfeng buried his tear-stained face in her loose hair, silently shedding tears. The night seemed like a dividing line, separating the Empress into two different people – one during the day and one at night, giving him a glimpse of his mother in the quiet night.
Liang Changfeng remembered the Empress asking him in a half-dreamy state, "Chang Feng, have you been crying all this time? Son, you really liked that dog, but it will eventually pass away. You will be the Crown Prince in the future, the ruler of the country. Don’t get attached to such things. Do you understand? Whether it’s Yunxiao or the servants in the palace, they will all leave you, Chang Feng. But I will always be by your side, always protect you. So, you mustn’t make me angry again…"
By then, Liang Changfeng’s hand had reached her neck, trying childishly to strangle her.
He wished his mother would be as helpless as he was during the day, lying on the ground gagging and crying. Yet at the same time, he longed for someone to love him, to endlessly embrace him as they did now.
The former queen’s voice was soft and long in the night. She sighed, then slowly said, "I know you are a good child, but your heart is too soft and your nature too kind to be an emperor…"
Kind…?
Liang Changfeng buried his head in her long black hair, surrounded by darkness. He blinked slowly, then suddenly wanted to ask her, "Mother, do you truly not know anything? Or do you know everything but pretend nothing has happened? I wish I could kill you… One day, I will kill you with my own hands, just like you ‘killed’ me…"
However, the former queen held him tightly in her arms.
Love and hatred blurred together. The former queen’s arms seemed so frail, yet Liang Changfeng felt as if he could never break free.
From then on, Liang Changfeng became indifferent to most things. He couldn’t differentiate if his feelings towards anything were love or aimless possession. There weren’t many things in the world that interested him, just Li Chunzhou now.