Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 59

Chapter 59

“…Empress?” Ying Xiu had never thought that one day he would become the Empress of the Southern Dynasty. It sounded quite shocking. He hesitated and said, “But I’m a man.”

“So what?” the emperor asked in a low, languid tone, as if none of that mattered to him.

“And I’m still an assassin…” Lying side-by-side on the dragon bed, Ying Xiu faced Xie Zhou and looked up at him.

The youth was seriously contemplating all the obstacles he would face if he were to become empress, but the emperor didn’t care at all. “None of that is important. What’s important is that I want you to be. Are you willing?”

For the last sentence, the emperor softened his voice. His ice-like tone was particularly bewitching in the quiet of the night.

Ying Xiu swallowed. For some reason, he felt a little nervous, as if he wasn’t facing the person he saw every day but a cold and beautiful specter that devoured souls.

He couldn’t help but want to say yes, but the words were stuck in his throat. A sudden thought came to him. He said, “But I’m only seventeen this year. I’m afraid I can’t handle being the Empress of the Southern Dynasty.”

The job of empress sounded tiring. It was much better to lie in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and do nothing.

“You don’t need to handle anything,” Xie Zhou seemed to have read his mind. “You don’t have to do anything. I just need you to be willing.”

Whether Ying Xiu was willing or not, it wouldn’t change his mind. However, a qualified companion should learn to ask for their partner’s opinion.

Ying Xiu imagined what it would be like if he didn’t have to do anything… It actually wasn’t impossible to consider.

He hesitated for a while, his gaze falling on Xie Zhou.

Xie Zhou was a cold and beautiful man. Dressed in a white nightshirt, he lay beside him. His ink-like black hair cascaded down like a waterfall. With his fair skin and beautiful features, he was mesmerizing.

Ying Xiu closed his eyes. Who could bear to refuse Xie Zhou? Who could even refuse Xie Zhou?

He opened his eyes and said to Xie Zhou in a tone as if he were哄 a child, “When I’ve settled all of this, I’ll be your empress. Okay?”

The youth’s tone was serious, and he didn’t even realize that his words were full of fond indulgence.

The emperor gently caressed Ying Xiu’s black hair. His fingertips moved down, resting on the slightly sunken curve of his back. He slowly tightened his hold, completely embracing him. “Okay.”

He was still patient with Ying Xiu.

Feeling Xie Zhou’s actions, Ying Xiu was a little helpless. Xie Zhou was so clingy. He could only dote on him more.

He reached out and hugged Xie Zhou back. He found that the other man’s skin was surprisingly cold, as warm as cold jade. He couldn’t help but touch him a couple more times.

They hugged face to face, with Ying Xiu’s head resting on Xie Zhou’s chest. His black hair was spread all over Xie Zhou. They were incredibly intimate.

The candlelight flickered, a single flame like a bean.

…

The Vicious Cycle

While it was all warmth and affection here, in Guangling, it was like walking through fire.

At the Qionghua Platform, Wang Daokui stood on the waterside pavilion, his loose robes flowing in the wind. He stood with his hands behind his back, his expression grim.

He looked at the small stream, and behind him stood his trusted subordinate who was reporting the news. “Master, Wang Yu has been taken to the Yanwei Prison by the Imperial Inspectorate.”

…Wang Yu?

A retainer who had been with him for over a decade. He had once helped him take down a huge stumbling block and had done many things for him.

Wang Daokui’s face was tense, and his chest rose and fell in a way that was almost imperceptible. “You handle it.”

The subordinate understood immediately. Their master believed in karma and never spoke directly about killing people. He would only tell them to “handle it.”

“This subordinate understands.”

At the entrance of the Yanwei Prison in Jiankang…

Wang Yu walked out of the bronze door engraved with the mythical beast Xiezhi. He straightened his robes and looked like a high-ranking military official.

Next to him, the people from the Imperial Inspectorate smiled and greeted him, their tone polite, treating him like an honored guest.

The more they acted this way, the more uneasy Wang Yu felt. What if… what if his master thought he had revealed the secret crimes of that year and treated him as an accomplice of the Imperial Inspectorate? His life would be in danger.

The people from the Imperial Inspectorate just smiled and watched him leave.

That night, the bronze door was knocked on again. A bloody figure frantically pulled on the bronze ring. “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!”

The person was none other than Wang Yu, who had just been released from prison that day.

As soon as he returned home, he had been ambushed by his master’s assassins.

The bronze door slowly opened. The mythical beast Xiezhi, a symbol of justice, bared its teeth and smiled down at him.

That night, countless people inside and outside the capital had a sleepless night, but Ying Xiu slept very well.

He sat up lazily. He was alone. Xie Zhou had already gone to the morning court.

He gets up earlier than a rooster and goes to bed later than a dog. How does Xie Zhou live this kind of life?

The chief eunuch carefully walked in, standing far away at the hall’s entrance. In his hands, he held an owl that had gotten thinner.

It had flown to the Hall of Supreme Harmony early that morning. The Imperial Guards didn’t recognize it and wanted to shoot it down with an arrow. Thankfully, he recognized that it was the young master’s bird and quickly rescued it.

Ying Xiu turned his head and immediately saw the bird. He didn’t even bother to put on his shoes. He walked over barefoot and reached out to take the owl.

The chief eunuch took a small step back and slightly turned his head. The young attendant behind him immediately presented a tray.

The chief eunuch carefully placed the bird on the tray and then placed the tray on a long table not far away. Only then did he smile and say to Ying Xiu, “Young master, I found this outside the hall this morning.”

Ying Xiu watched the chief eunuch perform a series of unnecessary actions. He thought that it was probably his habit.

He politely said thank you, picked up the owl from the long table, but no matter where he went, the eunuchs would retreat far away, as if he were a great beast.

Ying Xiu: “?”

He was worried about the owl and didn’t have time to question them. He held the bird and walked back to the west wing, took out the message, and wanted to see what Wang Shouzhen had written.

As he slowly unfolded the message, Ying Xiu suddenly had a bad feeling. He felt as if this was the same one he had sent last time, and even the seal hadn’t been changed.

The message was completely opened. Ying Xiu’s heart sank. It was indeed the same message he had sent out, and it had never even been opened.

…What’s going on?

Did something happen to Wang Shouzhen?

For a moment, this thought lingered in Ying Xiu’s mind. He was very uneasy. A problem he had always ignored was now obvious—

Wang Shouzhen was also a member of the Wang clan of Langya, and they were related by bl00d, with countless connections.

If he wanted to investigate the Wang clan, he would inevitably run into Wang Shouzhen.

Ying Xiu looked at the message, which was soaked in rain, and said nothing.

…

A Long Time Coming

At the border of the Southern Dynasty, the wind and rain were grim.

The Yangtze River served as a boundary, a natural defense against the barbarians.

A rough-looking centurion impatiently shouted at a new soldier, “Hurry up! Keep up!”

The soldier was refined and handsome. He looked like he was from a noble family. He wondered what kind of fun this aristocrat was looking for at the border.

“Coming!”

Wang Shouzhen, dressed in a short jacket, quickly climbed the gangway. It was a patrol warship, patrolling the territory of the Southern Dynasty, facing the ferocious Qiang people.

Throughout history, countless people had been buried in the Yangtze River.

He walked straight onto the warship and didn’t look back.

The wind and rain behind him, and all the treacherous waves, were blown away by the endless wind.

The wind blew all the way south, from the border to the majestic palace. It rustled the records in front of Ying Xiu.

He had been staring at these records for a long time, and his eyes were sore. He finally blinked, and a subtle sound was heard as his eyelashes met.

Ying Xiu no longer dwelled on it. He just wanted to know if Wang Shouzhen was safe. As for the rest, he would worry about it later.

When Xie Zhou returned from the evening court, it was already late. The setting sun was slanting. As soon as he stepped into the hall, he saw the golden-robed youth sitting on a stool by the entrance, obediently waiting for him.

Ying Xiu’s eyes lit up. He stood up quickly and stared at Xie Zhou. “You’re back!”

Xie Zhou walked closer. He lowered his eyes to look at Ying Xiu, casting him in his shadow. “Waiting for me?”

“Yes!” Ying Xiu nodded. He said cautiously, “Um…” He hesitated, thinking about his words.

Xie Zhou waited patiently.

“Can you do me a favor?” the youth asked politely, in a pleading tone. “I want to know how the Eldest Son is doing.”

…The Eldest Son?

That member of the Wang clan of Langya.

The emperor frowned subtly. Although he didn’t want Ying Xiu to know, he didn’t hide it. He stated calmly, “He’s gone missing.”

Gone missing?

Ying Xiu’s face changed slightly. He instinctively asked, “When did he go missing?”

Xie Zhou didn’t answer right away. “Ying Xiu,” the emperor’s features were calm. He asked softly, “Are you questioning me?”

“I’m not,” Ying Xiu explained. “I just want to know what happened to him.”

Seeing that Xie Zhou was unhappy, Ying Xiu followed him like a little tail, saying seriously, “In my heart, you’re the best. I like you the most.”

The emperor stopped walking. Ying Xiu, who was following behind him, didn’t have time to stop and almost ran into him. He covered his head, and a hint of a tear appeared in his eyes.

Ying Xiu: “(QnQ)”

There was nothing Xie Zhou could do. He could only turn around and gently caress his head. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“Yes,” Ying Xiu blinked, trying to squeeze out a tear. He said pitifully, “But my heart hurts more.”

Xie Zhou: ?

He suddenly raised his eyebrows and bent down. He touched Ying Xiu’s chest through his clothes, in an unquestionable manner. “I’ll have the Imperial Medical Academy take a look at you.”

Ying Xiu was silent. He defended himself, “I wasn’t talking about that kind of pain.”

Xie Zhou’s gaze moved up and landed on Ying Xiu’s face. His expression was unusually serious, and his eyes were asking, “Then what kind of pain?”

In less than a moment, all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy came. They all knelt on the floor and then left.

Ying Xiu wanted to untie the red string on his wrist. The imperial physicians had taken turns using it to check his pulse by a thread, and it was a little painful.

It also reminded him of some not-so-distant memories—

Bl00d, darkness, a hanging rope, pain…

He closed his eyes, and the bright candlelight in the hall was still flickering before his eyes.

Ying Xiu suddenly opened his eyes, ready to untie the string, but he found that it was difficult to do with one hand. Before he could even say anything, Xie Zhou was already in front of him, sitting beside him and untying the string for him.

A long, slender red string was sunken into his fair skin, as if it had sunk into snow.

Ying Xiu didn’t pay much attention to himself. He lowered his head and looked at Xie Zhou’s hands.

Xie Zhou’s hands were beautiful, with distinct bones and smooth lines. They contained an unspeakable strength. His bulging veins were cold and beautiful, like ice jade carved by a master craftsman.

Xie Zhou naturally noticed Ying Xiu’s gaze. He didn’t speak. He quietly untied the intricate knot and pulled out the thin thread.

The untied red thread was casually placed to the side. The emperor stared at the red mark on Ying Xiu’s wrist. It was a thin line, a bright red.

He didn’t know how long it would take to fade.

Ying Xiu gazed at Xie Zhou. Xie Zhou lowered his eyes, and his hair layered beside his temples. He was truly beautiful.

The two of them quietly looked at each other. Neither of them said a word.

As if he remembered something, Ying Xiu couldn’t help but ask, “What happened to him?”

He started with “the Eldest Son” and ended with “what happened to him.” Xie Zhou endured it. “For some reason, he had a falling out with Wang Daokui. He abandoned his identity and left, and his whereabouts are unknown.”

He knew, of course. The reason Wang Shouzhen had a falling out with Wang Daokui was because he thought Ying Xiu was dead. He went against propriety and personally kept vigil and buried “Ying Xiu.”

He was dead. Who was he doing all this for?

A hint of contempt flashed in the emperor’s dark eyes, but he remained calm on the surface.

“He wouldn’t think I’m dead, would he?” Ying Xiu blurted out. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible. “The Eldest Son couldn’t find me and thought I died in the assassination, which is why he left the Wang clan.”

…His guess was spot on.

Xie Zhou was even a little confused. Did Ying Xiu understand him better, or did he understand Wang Shouzhen better?

It seemed like it was the latter.

The emperor let out a low laugh from his throat. His tone was incredibly calm. “You guessed right.”

Ying Xiu’s eyes widened slightly, but his attention wasn’t on Wang Shouzhen. “You lied to me again!”

The youth frowned, a rare look of anger on his face. His eyelids were a faint red. He held his breath, turned his head, and didn’t want to look at him anymore.

Ying Xiu faced the red wall. He waited for a long time, but the person behind him didn’t say anything. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn’t help but turn around and give Xie Zhou a piece of his mind.

When he turned around, he saw the noble and serene emperor quietly looking at him. Their gazes met silently in the air.

It was a very light collision, but it made Ying Xiu’s head buzz. Even he couldn’t say what he was feeling at that moment.

He could argue with Xie Zhou, but he couldn’t argue with the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty. What was even more difficult was that they were the same person.

He wasn’t afraid of Xie Zhou, but he feared Emperor Zhaosu.

He liked Xie Zhou, but he didn’t like Emperor Zhaosu.

He was willing to be Xie Zhou’s companion, but he wasn’t willing to be Emperor Zhaosu’s empress.

…How could a person be so conflicted?

Ying Xiu belatedly realized that this was what he thought. He liked Xie Zhou and feared the emperor.

The assassin was still young, his emotions were distant. He was as simple and sincere as a three-foot blade, an inch of bright light.

To him, if he liked it, he would stay. If he was afraid, he would leave. It was clean and straightforward.

…but leaving the emperor meant also leaving Xie Zhou. Leaving his fear also meant leaving his greatest love.

Ying Xiu didn’t know how to decide. He was silent for a long time. After a while, he said sullenly, “Next time, you’re not allowed to hide things from me anymore.”

In reality, if the emperor had intended to hide things from him, there was nothing he could do.

“Ying Xiu,” Xie Zhou quietly observed him and finally spoke. “Are you afraid of me?”

Ying Xiu didn’t say he was afraid or not afraid. He just asked a random question. “Four hours. You didn’t know?”

Four hours. He was locked in that small room for four hours. Didn’t Xie Zhou know? Why did he wait so long to save him?

Xie Zhou clearly knew what he was talking about. His cold features were calm, and he silently admitted it.

…It’s nothing. To ask a person you just met to come and save you at the first moment is very impolite, Ying Xiu thought.

The golden-robed youth smiled and said, “It’s fine. It wasn’t dark at all.”

It wasn’t dark in the small room at all. I wasn’t scared at all.

Xie Zhou’s expression changed slightly. He instinctively stepped forward, wanting to embrace Ying Xiu, but Ying Xiu took a step back, avoiding his touch.

Ying Xiu lowered his head and didn’t look at Xie Zhou’s face. He was afraid that if he did, he would soften up again.

“Ying Xiu, why are you crying?”

The voice from above was as warm and calm as ever, but it seemed to contain a hint of panic that Ying Xiu had never heard before.

Ying Xiu turned around and buried his head, not looking at Xie Zhou. Even when Xie Zhou came closer, he just buried his head even lower and sobbed quietly.

There was nothing he could do. Xie Zhou could only forcefully lift the youth’s face, making him look at him.

Ying Xiu’s cheeks were red, and his hair was messy. His eyes were also red, and tears fell one by one. Every single one of them landed on Xie Zhou’s heart.

“Look at me,” the emperor ordered him.

Ying Xiu glanced at him and closed his eyes. Xie Zhou had no choice but to beg him. “Look at me.”

Ying Xiu stubbornly kept his eyes closed, refusing to open them. He didn’t want to cry at all, but his tears wouldn’t listen.

Xie Zhou carefully hugged him, as if he were a fragile treasure. He slowly wrapped him in his arms and remained silent, not saying a single word.

…Was he wrong?

He had already been so gentle with Ying Xiu.

Ying Xiu cried for a while, feeling a little tired. He slowly fell asleep, his head moving down and leaning against Xie Zhou’s chest.

His tears wet the emperor’s dark robe, just like the second time they met. Ying Xiu gave him a lotus flower, and the dew on the lotus flower had wet his clothes.

Xie Zhou hugged Ying Xiu. He reached out with one hand and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks with his clean robe.

He had never noticed before how much Ying Xiu could cry. He was crying so much that for the first time in his life, he felt a sense of panic.

Since Ying Xiu thought he was wrong, then…

He would apologize.

Ying Xiu didn’t sleep soundly. He dreamed that a young Xie Zhou had turned into a great emperor, cold and merciless, arrogant and overbearing.

The great emperor said he was going to lock him up in a dark place and never let him out for the rest of his life.

Ying Xiu was terrified. He begged the great emperor to let his young Xie Zhou go. If he had to lock him up, please lock his Xie Zhou in with him.

The great emperor laughed coldly. “I am your Xie Zhou.”

Ying Xiu woke up in a fright. He was breathing heavily. He turned his head and saw a figure in white sitting outside the bed that should have been empty.

Xie Zhou was sitting at a long desk, handling memorials. He seemed to have heard the movement and turned to look at him.

Ying Xiu blinked twice in disbelief and looked at the sky. “You didn’t go to the morning court?”

Xie Zhou said, “I did.”

State affairs couldn’t be neglected for a single day. He just moved the urgent political matters to the west wing, to the side of the bed.

Ying Xiu fell silent. He didn’t care where Xie Zhou handled state affairs. He could be in the west wing or the east hall. It didn’t matter to him even if he moved to the corridor.

He pulled the quilt over his head and was about to go back to sleep.

“Ying Xiu,” Xie Zhou called out to him. Ying Xiu pretended not to hear and continued to hide in the quilt. “It was my fault.”

The youth, who was hiding under the quilt, suddenly lifted it, poked out his fuzzy head, and widened his eyes. “What did you say?”

—You were wrong?

For a moment, countless common people’s evaluations of Emperor Zhaosu flashed in Ying Xiu’s mind. What a tyrant, cruel, a reincarnation of Jie…

Every year, literati would hold a commentary gathering at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin. Since the first year of Yongning, they would implicitly curse Emperor Zhaosu as a tyrant every year, saying he was cruel and ruthless, which made people tremble with fear.

Such a monarch who was so criticized by the world said that he was wrong.

Ying Xiu’s thoughts were a little messy. He wondered if he hadn’t woken up and was still in a dream. He covered himself with the quilt and lay down stiffly.

He closed his eyes, then opened them. The words “It was my fault” still echoed in his ears.

Ying Xiu fiercely threw off the quilt, imagining himself fiercely questioning Xie Zhou. “What was your mistake?”

When he spoke, he said, “For the past half-year, you knew I treated you as a simple retainer, but you not only didn’t correct me but just went along with it.”

The youth paused and continued to ask, “What were you thinking during that time?”

Xie Zhou didn’t come to save him immediately. Perhaps he was busy, or perhaps he didn’t want to reveal his identity. What’s more, at that time, he and Xie Zhou weren’t that close.

The only thing Ying Xiu was conflicted about was that if he were the emperor and knew the other person was an assassin, he probably wouldn’t be friends with the assassin at all, and it would be even more impossible for him to pretend to be someone else to be in a relationship with the assassin…

How dangerous are assassins? They can kill a person in three steps. Once their sword is out, a head falls.

Wouldn’t Xie Zhou be afraid?

The emperor no longer looked at the pile of memorials. Through the layers of gauze, he lowered his eyes and looked at Ying Xiu.

Ying Xiu’s thoughts were easy to read. There was no one simpler or purer in the world than him.

“At that time, I was thinking,” the emperor answered slowly, “how can there be a person like you in this world?”

He was naive, sincere, and ignorant of the ways of the world. Like a sword’s edge, and also like sunlight, bright and brilliant.

He wanted to pluck a handful of sunlight and place it in his solemn hall, to keep him company for a very long time.

Ying Xiu didn’t understand, but when he thought that Xie Zhou had said he was wrong, his anger immediately dissipated. He puffed out his cheeks and gnashed his teeth. “Then I forgive you.”

Xie Zhou smiled faintly. That smile made Ying Xiu feel a little dazed for a moment.

The emperor thought to himself calmly, He’s still so easy to trick. My Ying Xiu.

He also remembered the night before Ying Xiu came to the palace to assassinate him.

Ying Xiu came to him, looking awkward and uneasy. He carefully told him that he no longer loved his face, that he was tired of looking at it…

The emperor’s heart was cold. If that day ever came, he would hand Ying Xiu a knife and have him change this face into a look he liked.

And if Ying Xiu didn’t like anything…

Xie Zhou stared at Ying Xiu’s eyes. Ying Xiu inexplicably felt a chill down his spine. The back of his neck felt cold, and a sense of danger arose.

He just assumed that the weather was turning cold again. He climbed up and hugged Xie Zhou.

Xie Zhou grabbed Ying Xiu’s hand and looked at him. He seemed to finally remember something and said, “Ming Xiluan has been found.”