Chapter 303: Chapter 300 Great Sorrow

The Emperor decreed, “The Empress is with the heir. Should something unforeseen befall me, let Feng Yicheng, Jiang Chongyu, Xie Sui, and Sang Jue serve as Assistant Ministers. The Empress will listen to state affairs behind the screen until the heir comes of age and I can pass governance to him.”

“I will obey the decree.”

Convinced that the Imperial Decree was genuine, Rong Shen knelt down to receive it.

He certainly needed to guard the Emperor’s safety, but he also needed to protect the Emperor’s will.

The Emperor had left such a decree before his grand marriage, risking his life to marry Miss Sang to make impeccable preparations to protect and escort her.

He was a loyal official and had to receive the command.

“Your subordinate is presumptuous; I hope the Empress will forgive my offense.”

Rong Shen bowed deeply, then stepped back two steps, giving way.

Sang Yan remained immersed in the decree He Ying had left behind.

So he too had considered his own danger.

But he still married her.

This madman!

This fool!

She cried, tears streaming down silently.

Great sorrow bears no sound.

“Xinyuan… Xinyuan…”

She wiped her tears, took a step forward, and walked toward the bridal bed.

Above the bridal bed,

He Ying’s eyes were firmly closed, and his face was pale.

He lay flat, his chest wrapped in white gauze, still seeping blood.

As she approached, he seemed to sense her, furrowed his brows, murmured faintly, “Ah Yan… don’t… don’t be afraid… Ah Yan…”

He called her name, became agitated, his body convulsing.

The convulsions were not severe, but they still affected the wound, causing the blood to quickly spread over the white gauze.

Seeing this, she hesitated in her steps, no longer daring to approach.

What a husband-killing fate!

Could she actually be the death of him?

Amidst the fear–

Pei Muyang rushed over, grabbed He Ying’s shoulders, and shouted in panic, “Emperor! Emperor! Imperial Physician! The Emperor’s wound has burst open!”

Sang Yan watched with tears in her eyes, too choked up to speak.

What to do?

Oh heaven, what about her Xinyuan?

The Imperial Physician was on standby right beside them.

There were four of them, all the finest among the Imperial Physicians.

Now, watching the Emperor’s increasing convulsions, they all turned pale: “This, this–”

Such convulsions, a sign of imminent death!

As He Ying convulsed and spit out fresh blood–

“Emperor!”

One of the Imperial Physicians lost his composure and knelt down, kowtowing, “Emperor, this is… this is bad!”

“Shut up!”

Pei Muyang yelled, grabbed the Imperial Physician who had just administered acupuncture to the Emperor, and threatened, “Quick! Save the Emperor! If anything happens to him, you will all pay with your lives!”

The trembling physician opened the medical box, calmed down once he picked up the silver needles.

From a distance, Sang Yan watched, retreating a step with each needle insertion.

As if responding to Rong Shen’s earlier words, as she distanced herself, He Ying’s condition gradually stabilized.

Haha!

Ridiculous!

She truly had a husband-killing fate!

Sang Yan’s composure also shattered.

She ran out of Qingning Palace, kept running, and running.

Red lanterns hung everywhere inside the palace.

Her bright red wedding dress still on her, fluttering and falling to the ground as she ran.

The ground was covered in gleaming white.

The cold wind howled around her ears.

She lifted her head and realized that, unbeknownst to her, it had started snowing.

“Empress! Empress!”

Qiuzhi led a palace attendant and chased after her.

Sang Yan stood there in a daze, reaching out her hand as snowflakes fell into her palm and quickly melted into a small puddle of water.

She was from the South, where snow was rarely seen.

In modern times, she had always loved snow; whenever she heard that it was snowing somewhere, she was overcome with envy.

She longed to play in the snow.

Building snowmen, having snowball fights, or even just boringly stepping on the snow, listening to the crunching sound–it all felt fun to her.

A few days ago, when the temperature dropped, she had asked He Ying–

“Will it snow in the Capital City? What kind of snow? If it snows, remember, don’t let the palace attendants ruin it. I want to see the first snow scene.”

What had he said at that time?

“Alright. I will remember. I will accompany you to see the first snow scene when the time comes.”

He had broken his promise.

Now it was snowing.

He lay on the bed, his eyes shut, his complexion paler than the snow.

“Bang.”

Her knees buckled, and she knelt directly onto the snowy ground.

The winter night was cold and the ground was hard.

From the sound of it, it was clear her kneeling was quite painful.

But she seemed numb, just kneeling there, slowly bringing her hands together, looking up at the bright moon in the sky, praying: Oh Heaven, please protect him. Let him be safe. If you require a life, then take mine. I am willing to exchange my life for his. He is the Emperor, your child! So, forgive him, please protect him.

She believed in the husband-killing fate, feeling that she had doomed He Ying.

She couldn’t accept such a reality.

“Empress, please get up. It’s cold on the ground, and you are frail, you can’t withstand it.”

Qiuzhi kept urging her, trying to help her up.

But Sang Yan shook her head: “Leave me alone. Go away.”

She was admitting her mistakes to Heaven, repenting–it was her greed that had harmed him.

If she had been more resolute and not married him, perhaps he would be well.

Tears fell again.

It was too cold.

The tears quickly turned into ice.

Her hair became stiff from the tears.

So did her body.

Completely cold and stiff, as if she had lost all sensation.

“Sister!”

It was Sang Jue’s voice.

Today, Sang Yan and the Emperor had their grand wedding, and he had been feasting guests at the Sang Mansion with their father. He had drunk too much and slept for a while, only to wake up not yet sober, to find that a great number of soldiers had surrounded Sang Mansion, and his father was arrested. After much inquiry, he learned that a calamity had befallen the Imperial Palace and immediately came over.

Seeing him, Sang Yan collapsed even more: “Sang Jue, Xinyuan… Xinyuan… something terrible has happened. Ruishui River… she wounded him…”

Saying Sang Ruoshui’s name, her hatred intertwined with her pain, strangling her.

“Woooo… Why did she have to do this? What did I ever do to her? I want, I want to kill her!”

She cried hideously: If anything happened to He Ying, she would certainly avenge him by killing Sang Ruoshui herself.

Then she would end her own life.

That way, she would at least fulfill his deep love.

“Sister, don’t be afraid. The Emperor will surely be alright.”

Sang Jue comforted her and helped her up, sensing her icy body. His expression changed as he shouted angrily: “Is this how you take care of the Empress? The Emperor isn’t dead yet!”

He knew the Emperor’s sincere love for his sister. If he saw her body this cold and unattended, he would surely execute these useless palace attendants.

“Spare us, second master.”

Qiuzhi was the first to kneel down and admit fault: “It was this servant’s negligence.”

Behind her, a swath of palace attendants also knelt down.

Just then, Little Guizi came running with a large cloak, and a palace maid handed over a hot water bottle.

These close attendants wouldn’t really neglect their mistress.

Seeing that the Empress refused to leave and return to the palace, they immediately went back to fetch a large cloak and a hot water bottle.

Seeing this, Sang Jue’s anger subsided.

He placed the large cloak over Sang Yan’s frail shoulders and took the hot water bottle, placing it in her hands, softly coaxing: “Sister, calm down, the Emperor needs you; you can’t collapse. Let’s go back. It’s snowing, and it’s cold; if the Emperor knew you were being so reckless with your body, who knows how heartbroken he would be.”

“He doesn’t know anymore.”

Sang Yan’s eyes were red with tears as she sobbed, “He doesn’t know anything now. Sang Jue… what do I do? How can I save him?”

She had nothing of her own; everything belonged to him.

She was utterly incapable and had nothing.