Chapter 50 - 050: Instigate

The opponent’s strength was overwhelming.

Their nails were also very sharp, piercing directly through the skin of her neck.

Blood flowed.

The intense pain, accompanied by a suffocating sensation, made her dizzy.

“Let go of Miss!”

“Someone come quick! There’s been a murder!”

Qiuzhi and Yun Qiao screamed, trying to pry the madwoman’s hands off, but failed several times.

Just as Sang Yan was about to be strangled to death, Yun Qiao found a stick and knocked the assailant unconscious.

Freed from the constriction, Sang Yan collapsed to the ground, her pale neck marked with a ring of bruise from the fingers and deep blood stains, clearly having been choked severely.

“Cough, cough, cough—”

She coughed so hard that tears came out.

The blood from her neck flowed even more.

Qiuzhi cried in fear, “Miss, Miss, are you okay? I’ll go call the Imperial Physician!”

Sang Yan was in a state of shock, trying to say something, but everything went dark, and she fainted.

This body was too weak.

It would faint at the slightest provocation!

Sang Yan gave a self-deprecating smile and fell into a prolonged darkness.

She couldn’t wake up, but in her haze, she heard the Emperor’s furious scolding, “In my Qingning Palace, she was let out to face danger! What are you useless fools doing? Drag all of them out and execute them! Execute everyone in the Cold Palace as well!”

“Emperor, please spare us—”

A pitiful plea for mercy.

Sang Yan wanted to wake up, to plead, “No! Don’t kill anyone! Don’t kill because of me!”

But she couldn’t wake up.

She broke out in a sweat in her urgency.

“Emperor, look at the Lady, she is distressed.”

“Miss, Miss, what’s wrong with you? Please wake up!”

It was Qiuzhi’s voice, urgent and panicked.

“Sang Yan! Sang Yan!”

It was He Ying’s worried voice.

“Imperial Physician, what’s the matter? Why can’t she wake up?”

“Emperor, please be at ease. Lord Sang is just overly frightened which unsettled her soul. She has now taken the Soothing Soul Soup and after some rest, she will wake up.”

“And her neck wound?”

“They are merely superficial injuries and won’t be bothersome.”

The area around her grew quiet.

A bitter medicinal taste seeped into her mouth.

It tasted awful!

She didn’t want to drink it, clamping her mouth shut.

“Ah Yan, be good, take your medicine, you need it to get better.”

Was the Emperor personally feeding her?

Sang Yan slowly opened her mouth and drank it, thinking to wake up soon to save those people.

She didn’t want them to die unjustly because of her, didn’t want to create more bloodshed.

“Ah Yan, why do you always make me worry?”

The Emperor’s tone was helpless yet gentle.

But it inexplicably made her feel secure.

Sang Yan then drifted off into a deep sleep.

When she woke again, it was broad daylight.

She opened her eyes and saw He Ying sitting by the bed, resting his head on his hand, taking a nap.

Had he watched over her all night?

A warm feeling filled Sang Yan’s heart, touching her as she whispered softly, “Emperor?”

Her voice was very hoarse.

It was an aftermath of being strangled.

He Ying, a light sleeper, heard the noise and opened his eyes, smiling as he saw her awaken, “Ah Yan, you’re finally awake.”

Sang Yan nodded, the movement causing pain in her neck, and she winced.

He Ying quickly said, “Don’t move around.”

Sang Yan remained motionless as her mind gradually cleared, recalling last night’s massacre by the Emperor, she said, “What happened to those people? Emperor, please don’t kill them.”

He Ying nodded, “Yes, rest assured, I did not kill.”

He was now relieved that he had listened to the Imperial Physician’s advice about how Sang Yan’s soul was unstable and that murderous aura would hinder the return of her soul.

Otherwise, had Sang Yan known that he had killed people, she would have definitely been heartbroken.

She was always tender-hearted.

The tender-hearted Sang Yan said, “Also, don’t hurt them. I alone did this, and I alone should face the consequences.”

He Ying disagreed, his voice turning cold, “A death sentence can be pardoned, but living sins are inescapable. Do you know, you almost died at the hands of that madwoman.”

Sang Yan was also frightened and resentful, having almost been wrongfully killed by that woman despite her innocence.

But seeing their madness, she also pitied them.

“I wasn’t harmed, right? They are quite pitiable too.”

Being women, it was easy to empathize.

If possible, Sang Yan very much wanted to release those pitiable women from the palace.

But she knew this matter needed careful planning.

The Emperor was still angry.

“A pitiable person must have a detestable side.”

He Ying wrinkled his brow, not wanting to argue over this trivial matter, and changed the subject, “What were you doing in the Cold Palace?”

Unable to reveal the truth, Sang Yan lied, “It was nothing much. I just couldn’t sleep last night and thinking that Consort Xuan was ill, I whimsically decided to visit her.”

It seemed He Ying could only accept this explanation, frowning as he said, “Let this not happen again.”

Sang Yan nonchalantly nodded, seeing that he was still in yesterday’s clothes, she couldn’t help but say, “Have you not slept all night, Emperor? Please go rest.”

“Now you remember to care about me.”

He Ying felt aggrieved, having watched over her all night, yet upon waking she only cared about the lives of others.

Sang Yan gave a wry smile, “Why are you acting like a child, Emperor?”

Are men in love really this childish?

The childish He Ying looked at her, his voice muffled, “Ah Yan, I almost lost you.”

His tone was inexplicably melancholic.

With a hint of fear.

Did he love her so much that it scared him?

Sang Yan felt touched, her expression unconsciously tender as she smiled reassuringly at him, “Emperor, I am all right, don’t worry needlessly.”

She knew nothing.

He Ying looked at her, his gaze filled with extreme sadness, “You really don’t understand my feelings.”

What Wan Zhang had said about not being of this world, deserving to remain a fragrant soul, seemed to be continually proven.

Since her arrival in the palace, she had indeed fainted, fallen ill, and encountered danger many times.

He had thought it was due to her frail health, but it seemed not to be the case.

Sang Yan, seeing the sadness in He Ying’s gaze, was shocked, “Did I really hurt him that much? Or is the Emperor overly sensitive?”

As she doubted life itself, a voice from outside, that of Sang Ruoshui, called out.

“Sister, sister—”

She cried out for her sister, rushing in, dramatically shedding tears, “Sister, you scared me to death. What would I have done if something had happened to you?”

Sang Yan numbly watched her performance of sisterly affection.

“My poor sister—”

Sang Ruoshui cried for a while, then indignantly said, “Emperor, you must do justice for my sister! Why did that woman go mad specifically when my sister was there, directly lunging to strangle her? There must have been a plot!”

Sang Yan, “…”

She instinctively felt—was Sang Ruoshui using this as an opportunity to eliminate rivals?

Not wanting her to cause a bigger scene,

Sang Yan sighed, “Enough. There’s no need for such conspiracy theories.”

Her visit to the Cold Palace had been impulsive; how could anyone have calculated so cunningly, waiting there just for her?

But Sang Ruoshui thought differently and retorted, “Sister is too naïve. In the Imperial Palace, who doesn’t know how kind-hearted sister is? Otherwise, how could the Xuan Family have had someone plead before you? Since you helped her once, there is bound to be a second time, and visiting the Cold Palace would be inevitable. Hence, the mastermind waited there!”

Sang Yan, “…”

Impressive!

That actually made sense.@@novelbin@@

Had she underestimated Sang Ruoshui before?

Such skill in stirring up discord!

She looked towards the Emperor, who appeared deep in thought, revealing a look of disbelief, “Emperor… surely you don’t think the same?”

Could it be that Sang Ruoshui really succeeded in inciting him?