From his past observations, the bond between Liu Yuanxun and the Emperor wasn’t entirely sincere. Apart from the Emperor, the only one left was the Consort Dowager. Moreover, Noble Consort Ling was spending her twilight years in the palace. Given Liu Yuanxun’s temperament, he would surely visit the palace every few days to keep his Consort Mother company. But he hadn’t done so, which meant her situation was far more complicated than it seemed.
Gu Lianzhao knew the best course right now would be to come up with some excuse to brush it off and let the matter drop. Yet the urgency of being just one step from the truth overpowered everything else. Instead of backing down, he pressed forward, meeting Liu Yuanxun’s gaze head-on. With a bold guess, he said, “It’s Noble Consort Ling, isn’t it?”
Liu Yuanxun’s expression changed in an instant. His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The way he looked at Gu Lianzhao was utterly unfamiliar, filled with a gravity and calculation that made Gu Lianzhao wonder if Liu Yuanxun was considering killing him to silence him.
The agitation in Gu Lianzhao’s heart gradually turned to ice. Though he lay atop a warm bed, a bone-chilling cold surged from his abdomen, freezing him rigid. Even his voice trembled as he spoke. “Do you want to kill me? If I learn the truth, will you kill me then?”
Liu Yuanxun pressed his lips together without answering. He simply stared at Gu Lianzhao coldly and demanded, “What exactly do you know?”
Liu Yuanxun was still recovering from his illness, his fever having only just broken. A faint flush lingered on his cheeks, and his jet-black hair, straight as sandalwood, cascaded down his back, accentuating the jade-like pallor of his skin. He usually resembled a gentle moon god, handsome and refined. But now, his eyes held a frost-like chill.
So, even someone as warm as him could harbor such ruthless intent.
That icy stare felt like tacit confirmation. Gu Lianzhao stared back in a daze for a long moment before snapping out of it. Then, to his own surprise, he burst into laughter. He laughed so hard he doubled over, drawing a frown from Liu Yuanxun. Only when he was gasping for breath did he finally stop.
He felt utterly ridiculous.
In his own world, he had struggled desperately, clinging to his life yet worrying about Liu Yuanxun’s. Even his pursuit of the truth stemmed from a desire to find a third path to survival for them both.
But now that he had brushed against it, he realized the warmth he thought they shared only existed because he had never crossed Liu Yuanxun’s bottom line.
He had always believed he understood Liu Yuanxun. Only in this moment did he see how little he knew—how much of that warmth and tolerance came from Liu Yuanxun’s gentle nature, and how much from simple indifference.
Because Liu Yuanxun didn’t care, he met coldness with a good-natured smile. Because he didn’t care, he always indulged with a laugh. Because he didn’t care, the moment Gu Lianzhao crossed that line, killing intent flashed like a sharpened blade.
In that instant, a wave of utter despondency washed over Gu Lianzhao.
He leaned back against the headboard and casually pulled the dagger Liu Yuanxun had given him from the outer robe beside him. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it over, tilting his head back carelessly. “Yeah, I know everything. Go ahead and do it. If you’re worried about the mess, call in those two eunuchs from the door.”
Liu Yuanxun fixed him with a stare, enunciating each word. “Don’t push me.”
“Push you?” Gu Lianzhao wanted to scoff, but his earlier outburst had drained his strength. He could only gaze at this stranger before him and rasp, “I’m not pushing you. What could I even push you to do? I know nothing, that’s why I asked. I just wanted to see if I could help you. I never imagined… you’d want to kill me.”
By the final words, Gu Lianzhao still felt a dreamlike disbelief. Yet there sat Liu Yuanxun, scrutinizing him with an icy gaze Gu Lianzhao had never seen before.
He even found his own reaction strange.
Shouldn’t he be furious? Furious that Liu Yuanxun had called them “family” and “friends,” only to turn around and harbor merciless killing intent.
Shouldn’t he feel relieved? No more agonizing choices or hesitation, since Liu Yuanxun didn’t care about him anyway. Why should he trouble himself for someone who felt nothing?
But all he could feel was cold.
A cold like being five years old again, thrashing desperately in the moat waters around the city walls, nearly drowning over and over in that frigid river.
He closed his eyes, unwilling to look any longer. For the first time in his life, he spoke in such a feeble tone. “I know nothing. It was just a guess. Believe me or not.”
Liu Yuanxun watched him in silence for a long while, saying nothing.
Gu Lianzhao kept his eyes shut, half-reclining against the headboard. Perhaps sensing no movement for some time, he opened them again. His tone turned mocking and frigid. “Still want to kill me? If you’re not going to do it, then I’m leaving.”
Liu Yuanxun remained silent, though the sharpness in his gaze had softened slightly.
But that subtle concession wasn’t enough to sway Gu Lianzhao. He didn’t bother picking up the dagger. After slipping on his shoes, he grabbed his outer robe with one hand and strode out without even putting it on.
As Gu Lianzhao reached the courtyard gate, he must have run into Ling Qing. Liu Yuanxun vaguely heard her ask if he wasn’t staying for dinner. He didn’t know if Gu Lianzhao replied—he only knew that he left.
Liu Yuanxun sat there rigidly until Ling Qing entered the room and set the meal on the table. Only then did he murmur, “You two eat. I’m not hungry. I’m going to sleep.”
With that, he lay down, pulled the covers over his head, and made it clear he wanted no more talk.
Ling Qing fell instantly silent and glanced instinctively at Ling Ting, only to find him equally baffled.
The clink of bowls and chopsticks started and stopped. The Ling Clan siblings finished their meal and cleared the dishes. Liu Yuanxun heard footsteps approaching, then the sound of the candle being snuffed out.
They left, and he was alone in the room.
He had never wanted to hurt Gu Lianzhao, let alone kill him. The inadvertent chill he had let slip was aimed at himself.
That remark from Gu Lianzhao had been too pointed, striking right at his raw nerves.
If anyone else had said it, Liu Yuanxun might have had the composure to parry. But Gu Lianzhao was too clever, and their bond too close—close enough that Liu Yuanxun had let down his guard, close enough that he had overlooked Gu Lianzhao’s sharp instincts and revealed far too much he shouldn’t have.
If Gu Lianzhao had sensed something, it was surely Liu Yuanxun’s own doing. Only four people knew the secret and still lived: himself, Liu Yuanze, Hong Fu, and his Consort Mother.
Beyond them was one other who had known—the late Emperor’s wet nurse to his Consort Mother, Gu Momo, long dead.
Gu Momo had been the one to reveal the truth to him. She had personally poisoned the Late Empress. And she had begged him to plead with Liu Yuanze to spare Noble Consort Ling’s life.
Back then, their Imperial Father lay gravely ill, three days without water, lost in a coma. The imperial physicians never said it outright, but their demeanor made it clear: he might not last much longer.
Liu Yuanze had just ascended the throne, swamped with court affairs. He could only visit their father at night. So most of the time, it was Liu Yuanxun and his Consort Mother at the bedside.
That afternoon, after taking his medicine, Liu Yuanxun had gone to rest. Halfway through his sleep, someone shook him awake—Gu Momo, tears streaming down her face.
She kowtowed repeatedly before his bed until her forehead bled, mingling with her tears and smearing her face. She begged him to save his Consort Mother, saying Liu Yuanze had issued a secret decree. If he was even a step too late, Noble Consort Ling would be force-fed poison and made to “accompany” their Imperial Father in death.
Amid her sobs and explanations, Liu Yuanxun’s head spun. The world he knew shattered before him.
It turned out his gentle and radiant Consort Mother had killed the Late Empress. It turned out the Imperial Brother who doted on him had been biding his time in humiliation. It turned out the brother who vowed to grow old with their mother alongside him had secretly ordered her death…
He alone had been ignorant, lost in grief over losing their father, nearly missing his chance to save his Consort Mother.
In that fleeting moment, he made his choice. Without time for shoes or even to change clothes, barefoot in his night robes, he stumbled through the shocked stares of the palace servants straight to the Imperial Study.
Early autumn was stiflingly hot. Sweat drenched him after two steps, his vision blacking out in waves. But the conviction in his heart held him up, propelling him into the Imperial Study.
He didn’t want to dwell on what followed.
Through threatening his own life, he forced his Imperial Brother to relent. But Liu Yuanze had one condition in return: death by a thousand cuts for the poisoner, Gu Momo.
Liu Yuanxun could save his Consort Mother but had neither the face nor the right to save Gu Momo. She was the woman who had raised him alongside his mother, nursed Noble Consort Ling, more mother to her than her own. In the end, she endured a thousand cuts over three agonizing days.
He had hated Liu Yuanze, but what right did he have to hate him?
Gu Momo had said his Consort Mother poisoned the Late Empress to become Empress herself—and that she sought the throne so the child in her belly could one day rule as Emperor.
Liu Yuanxun refused to believe it.
Yet he had no choice.
He remembered his childhood, when his Consort Mother always told him she wanted to be the most exalted woman under heaven, to reign over Shou Kang Palace as mistress of the harem.
He had always known his Consort Mother deeply loved their Imperial Father—and power just as fiercely. Her ambition burned as brightly as her beauty.
But he had underestimated her love for their father. When he died, she lost her mind. If Liu Yuanze hadn’t hated her so much, delighting in watching her waste away sane within Shou Kang Palace’s walls, Liu Yuanxun might have suspected he drove her mad.
Too many lives tangled in the palace’s secrets. The more who knew, the more who died. He had kept it from the Ling Clan siblings to shield them from the Purple Forbidden City’s turmoil. He hadn’t denied Gu Lianzhao’s accusation for the same reason.
Even now, Liu Yuanxun couldn’t be sure what Gu Lianzhao knew or how much. But his probing questions made one thing clear: spending more time together, with Gu Lianzhao’s keen instincts, he would eventually piece it all together.
No wall was airtight. If Liu Yuanze learned of a fifth person in the know, he would kill Gu Lianzhao without hesitation.
Liu Yuanze was the Emperor.
Unable to avenge his mother was the deepest wound since his coronation. He might swallow that blood debt when Liu Yuanxun threatened his life, but he would never tolerate anyone else knowing.
It was Liu Yuanze’s greatest taboo—and Liu Yuanxun’s reverse scale. If it leaked, the pressure from courtiers and public outcry would force him to execute Noble Consort Ling without mercy.
He had repaid what he owed Gu Lianzhao. From here, Gu Lianzhao must walk his own path.
If Gu Lianzhao went with him to Jiangnan, it would be months away. With the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s frequent power shifts, returning after so long might leave him no foothold.
Since what he wanted most was the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commandant Office, let him pursue that road. Forcing him away like this would at least honor the last of their bond.
