Chapter 3: Buried in a Sea of Flames

  In the dimly lit underground chamber, everything had been newly arranged. The carved bed and embroidered quilt were luxurious and exquisite, with red candles shining brightly, every item was placed with luxury and precision.

  Chu Youyang leaned against the corner of the wall, with one knee bent and an air of nonchalance, sitting quietly. The candlelight on the table beside her cast a few unnatural flushes on her pale face.

  Her eyes were bright but empty, slightly raised, staring at a strand of spider silk on the beam that hadn't been cleaned.

  After a while, accompanied by steady and rhythmic footsteps, the tall figure of a man appeared on the steps at the entrance.

  He descended the stairs and waved away the maidservant at the door, who walked towards him with a gentle pace.

  Chu Youyang glanced at him with the corner of his eye, still leaning motionless against the wall.

  A change from his usual cold and decisive demeanor, Chu Qiyan's expression was solemn and deep, he walked up to her, squatted down, pulled over one of her hands and grasped it in his palm.

  "Jiuyang, don't blame me, for your own safety, I can only do this!" Zhu Qiyan said, "The Emperor has given the order to eradicate the Eastern Palace, even if I don't go, someone else will."

  "What about my second brother?" Chu An's expression didn't change, he just asked straightforwardly, "I didn't see him at the execution ground yesterday."

  "Jiuyang..." Chu Qiyan let out a sigh, her expression filled with helplessness and pain. She got up and sat beside her, grasping her hand tightly before speaking in a bitter tone: "The night before last, in the secret chamber of Zhong Cui Palace, even before your family was taken to the execution ground, he... had already been poisoned to death by the Emperor!"

  "Hah——" Chu Nanyang heard the words and let out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes and laughing mockingly.

  "Jiuyang!" Chu Qiyan grasped her hand tightly, his tone even more helpless. "You're also aware of the Emperor's temper. Even if he has always valued Qifeng, loving deeply and hating intensely, now that he knows Qifeng is a remnant of the previous dynasty, you should also know what kind of ending this would lead to."

  "Now that it's come to this, why do you still need to deceive me?" Chu Jinyang reopened her eyes, the sparkling pupils flashing with a hint of inexplicable sorrow. She gazed steadily at the man's handsome face in front of her, enunciating each word clearly and slowly: "I grew up with Second Brother since childhood, almost inseparable. Whether or not he is Father's son, no one knows better than me."

  Chu Qiyan's eyes paused for a moment, her expression on her face was undisturbed, but in her heart, a string was slowly tightening.

  "Do you all know?" Chu Qiyan asked, her thick eyebrows furrowed, her expression complex.

  "They are all my loved ones." Chu Youyang looked at him with a slow smile, but the smile had too much desolation. "If it is said that among Father's children, there must be one person who is a remnant of the previous dynasty, then the answer can only be one - that person can only be me!"

  She spoke with conviction, leaving no room for anyone to interject even a single word.

  Chu Qi's eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief, her gaze fixed intently on her face, yet she remained silent for a long time without uttering a word.

  This woman has courage and backbone, and what is even more rare is that she has an extraordinary sharpness of observation and judgment in military and political affairs.

  This can be seen from the fact that she has been stationed on the southern border of China for six years and has never lost a battle.

  He likes her beauty and intelligence, appreciates her boldness and courage, as if enchanted, unable to extricate himself, but at the same time——

  All the more deeply feared, always on guard and vigilance at all times.

  Because he had a faint feeling that this woman was beyond his control.

  Now she has lost her background and support, and even the ability to counterattack. He can finally possess her without any burden.

  "Jiu Yang, it's all in the past!" With a sigh of relief, Chu Qiyan gently held the woman in his arms and whispered, "Yesterday, I arranged for a female prisoner who resembles you to take your place with the Emperor. No matter what the truth is, no one will ever know your true identity again. You can stay by my side at ease, and when the time comes, I'll give you a new identity. As for everything that happened before today, let's just forget it."

  Chu Youyang closed his eyes, shook his head indifferently: "After all this time, you still don't understand me. Do you think that after knowing they died for me, I can still live in peace and contentment?"

  "I knew you'd be like this, and I'm most afraid that you'll be like this." Chu Qiyan furrowed her brow, straightened her shoulders, and looked at her with pained eyes. "Jiuyang, you should understand the Emperor's thoughts better than anyone. To protect you, he can even give up his own life. Now that we've finally managed to find a glimmer of hope for you, if you were to throw your life away again, how would that be fair to the hundreds of lives lost in the Eastern Palace?"

  "Should I still be alive?" Xun Yang's lips always had a brilliant smile, even though his face was pale, this face was still stunningly beautiful, and the tragic beauty was even more shocking.

  Chu Qiyan's heartbeat suddenly paused for a moment.

  Chu Youyang had already pushed open the door and stood up by himself, his pale slender fingertips brushing against the crack in the wall brick beside him before walking to the table in the center of the room, holding a jade jug to pour two cups of wine.

  Chu Qiyan got up and followed her, looking at the delicate tips of her fingers reflected on the jade vase with a thoughtful expression.

  Chu Youyang handed him a cup of fine wine: "Accompany me in seeing off Father!"

  Chu Qi hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out to take it.

  Chu Zhaoyang smiled and raised his head to drink the wine in the cup, then picked up the jug and poured the remaining wine on the ground.

  Chu Qiyan had no choice but to swallow it down.

  The corners of his mouth curled up into a faint smile, and Chu Yu suddenly glanced around the room, saying: "This is the secret chamber behind my father's study. If you can put me here, it means that Second Uncle has already taken the throne, congratulations to you, new... Crown Prince!"

  In the end, her voice suddenly carried a cheerful smile.

  But when he heard her first sentence, Chu Qiyan's face had already changed color.

  "I'm surprised you know about this secret room?" Chu An Yang just smiled calmly, "Father has no secrets from me, and the same goes for this Eastern Palace."

  "Jiuyang — you — " Suddenly, a surge of blood rushed to his chest, and Chu Qiyan stumbled backward, retreating two steps while on guard.

  "I know you're cautious, and before bringing me here, you've cleaned everything off your body. But what about this secret room?" Chu Jiu Yang smiled, his eyes scanning the wall cracks where her hand had previously touched, "Do you think that by crippling my martial arts skills, I'm completely helpless? I can kill someone at any time, regardless of the location or occasion."

  "Why——" Qi Yin's face changed color, as if he was being torn apart from the inside out, "I've made the greatest concession for you, even going against the emperor's decree to save your life, and yet you treat me like this?"

  "How much courage and ability Chu Qi Hui has, I am very clear about it. If there wasn't someone secretly pushing him, he wouldn't be able to do such a thing. So don't continue acting!" Chu Mo Yang's expression turned cold in an instant, and he said coldly: "This poison is incurable! You deliberately plotted to harm the 368 people of the Eastern Palace, I killed 367 people of the Golden Armor Guard, one life for one life, it's just right. You... are the last one!"

  "Chu Qiyan's face turned iron-green as she suffered a severe attack of poison, exacerbated by her rage and fury."

  "Yes, there is poison in the wine. I've also drunk it. If not, you wouldn't have fallen for it either, would you?" Chu Nanyang's eyes curved upwards as he smiled slowly, and a thread of black blood trickled down from the corner of his lips.

  As she spoke, she swept her arm across the table and knocked over a candlestick.

  The wine spilled on the ground ignited instantly, flames burst forth and quickly merged with the hanging canopy nearby.

  She was willing to sacrifice herself as bait; it turned out she had been planning all along to take her own life.

  A pang in his chest, Chu Qiyan hastily used her inner strength to calm herself and shouted loudly: "Who's there?"

  As soon as the words were spoken, a mouthful of black blood suddenly spurted out.

  "Your Highness!" The large group of guards who had been arranged outside the door rushed in, seeing that his face was dark and his expression was shocked. "Crown Prince Changsun has been poisoned, hurry up and invite the imperial physician."

  Chu Qi's heart was not reconciled, about to be supported out by others at the same time still gritted her teeth and rushed over one step ahead, forcibly hugging Chu Mo Yang up, quickly walking outside, word by word squeezed out from between her teeth: "Today even if it's death, you can only die by my side."

  Chu Youyang's body was injured, and he was already extremely weak. Chu Qiyan could still temporarily suppress the toxicity with her internal strength for a while, but she was already on the verge of collapse, without any energy to resist.

  Chu Qiyan hugged her and quickly went up the stairs, seeing that there were only a few more steps before they could exit.

  Chu Youyang's lips suddenly curled up into a strange smile, and the right hand behind his neck lifted, pulling out the jade hairpin that held his hair in place, and inserted it straight into the back of his neck.

  "Your Highness, be careful!" The guard who was following him shouted in alarm and swiftly struck out with his palm, sending the woman who had intended to stab him flying.

  The entire sealed chamber behind her had been engulfed by the flames, and the woman's slender and fragile body was like a butterfly with its wings completely damaged, falling backwards.

  Chu Qi's eyes turned red as if they were about to split open. Subconsciously, she reached out her hand to grab something, but only managed to grasp a wisp of empty air.

  In the midst of the raging flames, the woman's smile remained as elegant and refined as ever. Her words emerged clearly from the sea of fire: "Even if we are destined to die on the same day, you and I will never be buried in the same grave!"

  The autumn wind is howling, and a fire is raging in one corner of the Eastern Palace.

  The handsome young man on the street heard the confidential report from his subordinate, and the elegant and refined eyebrows seemed to be dotted with a bit of coolness by the night wind.

  "Return!" The cloud is light and the wind is gentle, riding a horse back home.

  Digression

  No matter in the past or present life, scumbags can't be let off, but why did I suddenly feel that because of the last sentence, I have fallen in love with Yanling Guoguo, pointing to my fingers~