Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: What’s Your Pain?

Ying Xiu lowered his head and took a serious look at the golden chain on his ankle. He bent down and tried to pry it apart, only to find in surprise that the chain had bent a little.

It’s made of gold. Xie Zhou… the Emperor is so rich.

This was the first time in his life he had seen so much gold, let alone a chain of it to wear on his ankle. Wasn’t this an absolute waste of a treasure?

The youth’s dark hair was loose, and his skin was like jade. He was now held back by the heavy golden chain and could go no further. After studying it for a while with no success, he seemed to give up the struggle and turned to walk back to the dragon bed.

The golden chain dragged along the fine sandalwood floor, making a jingling sound.

The noise echoed in the dead silence of the great hall, unpleasantly piercing.

Ying Xiu lay down on the bed and no longer looked at the emperor outside the curtain.

He was the emperor, above everyone else, holding the power of a nation. Even if something were to happen to him, it was not his place to worry.

The tall and imposing figure outside the curtains did not speak. He clutched his chest, standing there silently, not far away.

The distance between them was clearly so close. If he wanted to, he could pull Ying Xiu out from the layers of curtains and force him to look at him.

But he didn’t do so.

There was only an endless, creeping silence in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The warm underfloor heating burned without stopping, and the charcoal below the floorboards made faint cracking sounds.

Ying Xiu couldn’t sleep at all on the dragon bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, memories came flooding back.

The mountain scenery and water views, the bright lanterns. Every scene he had seen with Xie Zhou, every word they had said, floated before his eyes.

Every scene was incredibly clear, and every word was a deafening shock.

That handsome, cool face that became beautifully elegant under the moonlight, like a black ink drawing, with every line filled with deep ink. The image was deeply etched in his mind.

He couldn’t forget it or shake it off.

Ying Xiu took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and looked outside. The emperor was still standing there, motionless. Dressed in a white robe with his dark hair loose, he truly looked like a statue of ice and jade.

Bravery fueled by desperation rose in him. He said to the emperor fiercely, “Come here.”

The youth was curled up in the bed, his bones delicate and his posture elegant, like a beautiful sword lying in soft clouds.

It had been stripped of its scabbard and its edge had been dulled, but its spirit remained unchanged.

The emperor looked down at him, his gaze deep. This time, he was obedient and walked to Ying Xiu, sitting on the edge of the bed without getting any closer.

As the distance closed, the other’s cool, beautiful features became clearer. There seemed to be bl00d on his lips. His dark hair, his pale skin, his brilliant lips, and a rare, stunning beauty beyond his usual coldness.

Ying Xiu seemed to be enchanted by something. He stared at him uncontrollably. The golden chain jingled in his ears, and he came back to his senses, realizing he had voluntarily moved closer to the emperor.

Since I’ve already come this far, there’s no reason to back down.

The young assassin took a deep breath and looked directly at the emperor, questioning him, “Why did you lie to me?”

Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning that I had mistaken your identity? Why didn’t you tell me that you were actually… the monarch of a nation?

If “Xie Zhou” had revealed just a little bit, or if he had concealed himself less, he would have noticed something was off and wisely backed away.

Facing the youth’s questions, the emperor’s expression was calm, with no hint of guilt or a bad conscience. He didn’t seem to care, and his tone was light.

“Did I lie to you, or did you lie to yourself?”

The end of the sentence should have risen slightly, expressing doubt, but he said it with a calm, flat tone, just stating a fact.

Over the past six months, there were many clues and odd things that Ying Xiu had found seemingly reasonable explanations for, so reasonable that the emperor didn’t even have to make an effort to conceal anything.

He had never intended to hide it. It was the same whether he hid it or not.

He liked Ying Xiu, so Ying Xiu had to be by his side. If he didn’t like Ying Xiu anymore, he would still have the right to decide what happened to him.

Ying Xiu was stunned. The retainer’s identity was indeed strange, and he had not failed to notice it. He had just chosen to turn a blind eye because of that face.

After a long time, even he himself was convinced. He was certain that the retainer was just a retainer, with the eyebrows of a Bodhisattva and the heart of a Bodhisattva.

“…What do you want to do by keeping me here?” the youth asked directly. There was no fear of imperial power in his eyes. He felt weary all over and just wanted to curl up in the quilt. He didn’t have the energy to be afraid of the other person anymore.

In the end, it’s either beheading or torture. What’s there to be afraid of?

The emperor did not answer him. He glanced to the side, and a palace attendant silently walked in with a tray. On the tray lay a piece of moonlight.

The sword blade was clean, bright, and sharp. It was none other than Ying Xiu’s Heart-Seeking Sword.

Seeing his own sword, Ying Xiu suddenly sat up. The golden chain clanged loudly.

As he sat up, the distance between him and the emperor grew even closer. They were only separated by a few layers of gauze. If he reached out, he could touch him.

The emperor reached out and picked up the Heart-Seeking Sword. His knuckles were like jade, long and clearly defined. He held the long sword in his hand, twisted his wrist, and held the blade upright.

…What is he doing?

Ying Xiu was stunned once again. Was he going to use his own sword to take his life?

He nervously closed his eyes, not daring to look anymore.

After waiting for a while, the sword never pierced his heart. Ying Xiu’s delicate eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes and looked up.

The emperor in white was holding the sword upright. The sharp blade was pressed against his features, from his brow bone over his eye to his jaw. It was clear how deep a cut it would make if it were to slice down.

…Is he crazy?!

Who does that to themselves!

Ying Xiu was furious. He didn’t care that his wrist was still dislocated. He knelt up, letting the quilt fall, and reached out to snatch the sword from the emperor’s hand.

He cursed, “Are you crazy? Doesn’t it hurt? I’d feel pain even if you don’t!”

The emperor lowered his long eyelashes. His dark gaze fell on him, and he asked in a low voice, “What’s your pain?”

Ying Xiu didn’t have time to think. He pounced on him, raising his hand to snatch the sword. The golden chain jingled, becoming louder and more intense.

His ankle felt light, as if a restraint had been broken. Ying Xiu was already pouncing on the emperor’s waist. He grabbed the emperor’s dark knee-cover with one hand and stretched the other hand high to grab the sword hilt.

Clang!

The sword blade lightly fell on the carpet.

Ying Xiu only felt a chill on his neck. A large hand gently grabbed his neck from above. The long fingers spread out, gently supporting his chin. The owner of the hand lowered his eyes, looking down at him.

“It is I who is injured,” the emperor’s voice was low and his cool, jade-like tone contained an unspeakable danger. “What’s your pain?”

Ying Xiu looked angry, his clear eyes glaring at him. He said petulantly, “Fine, you’re the one who’s hurt. I’m not in pain. You might as well just stab yourself with the sword.”

After scolding the emperor fiercely, Ying Xiu belatedly noticed something. He looked down and saw a red mark around his ankle. The golden chain was gone.

It had been loosely locked, as if it was meant to be broken free.

“You…” Ying Xiu didn’t know what to do with him. They were so close that he could even see the long, distinct eyelashes of the other person, as black as ink, covering his handsome eyes.

He thought for a moment and decided to treat him the way he had been treated. “Xie Zhou” had “bitten” him all night, and he had to “bite” him back.

They were just a few inches apart, one looking down, one looking up, confronting each other, neither willing to give in.

The youth looking up suddenly tiptoed, wrapped his arms around the young man’s slender waist, and kissed him in retaliation.

He successfully bit his thin, cold lips and used his sharp, small teeth to bite down. A bloody taste suddenly spread in his mouth. It was the other person’s bl00d.

Xie Zhou was bleeding.

Ying Xiu was inexplicably flustered. He hadn’t even bitten through Xie Zhou’s lip. When he remembered that he had seen bl00d on the other person’s lip when he woke up and that he was clutching his chest, a strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

He didn’t care about revenge anymore and quickly tried to back away to look at Xie Zhou’s expression.

But the other person forcefully held his chin, bent down, and pried open his jaw, invading him step by step.

Ying Xiu couldn’t help but fall backward. There was nowhere to retreat. He fell onto the dragon bed. The layers of bed curtains behind him had not yet been hooked up. They hung down quietly, pulled taut by the youth’s slender, pale body.

“Xie…” Ying Xiu had just uttered one word when he was further suppressed and his body was invaded.

His tongue went numb, and he couldn’t even form a coherent sound.

He extended his hands and pushed the emperor with his feet, trying to push him away. His dislocated wrist was useless. Instead, it throbbed with a sharp pain, making his eyes slightly red.

The youth’s body was half on the dragon bed, his skin as white as a patch of snow. His cheeks were flushed red, his eyes were teary, and his lips were swollen. He looked very pitiful.

He gasped with difficulty, taking in large gulps of air. He was breathing, breathing, like a drowning white fish, motionless, with only his chest heaving violently.

After a moment of recovery…

Ying Xiu could finally breathe. He muttered something in a low voice, his eyes full of anger.

The emperor calmly tidied his white robe and then bent down to hear what he had said.

He listened carefully for a moment and finally heard clearly. Ying Xiu was saying, “Xie Zhou, I hate you!”

He wasn’t Xie Zhou. The person Ying Xiu hated wasn’t him.

The emperor thought so.

The moment the other person bent down, Ying Xiu suddenly froze and stopped muttering.

He widened his eyes slightly. When he woke up, his eyes, which had been hurting faintly last night, were much better. He didn’t know who had put medicine on them. His vision was clear, and he could see everything clearly.

Because of this, he could see clearly that the white-robed young man was looking down at him. Their gazes met, and the face that had driven him crazy came into his sight clearly.

The emperor’s silky black hair hung down, creating an endless expanse of ink. His skin looked even paler, its texture like cold frost. His face was as beautiful as snow and ice, cold and aloof.

Ying Xiu was mesmerized. He finally came back to his senses, lowered his head to think for a moment, and no longer paid attention to the emperor. He turned and crawled toward the inner side of the bed, picked up the golden chain in the corner, and began to put it on his own ankle.

Behind the layers of curtains, the youth put on the golden chain seriously for a while. He finally put the chain on. The gilded, exquisite gold ring was around his slender ankle. It was a little loose and could be broken off with a single tug.

He studied it for a moment, found that he couldn’t put it on any tighter, and didn’t bother with it anymore. He turned to the emperor, raised the golden chain in his hand, and smiled with his eyes.