Chapter 57
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Facing inquiries from the Doctor about the source of his burns, he remained tight-lipped and endured silently.
When they scraped away the necrotic flesh from his burns, Fu Nian turned his head away and clenched his tattered collar, refusing to make a sound.
After the burns were treated, his collar was in tatters, and many scraps of cloth laid scattered on the bed.
Sweat poured down his forehead, and no matter how hard he clamped down with his toes or twisted his body, he couldn’t alleviate the excruciating pain.
Fortunately, during the subsequent bone-setting, the Doctor gave him a bowl of medicinal soup in time, which allowed him to spend the latter half of his ordeal in a semi-conscious state.
As the effects of the medicine gradually waned, he had yet to fully awaken. In a daze, he heard hollow conversations outside the room.
“Is he alright? Has he said anything voluntarily?”
“Your Majesty, he has been treated properly, and there are no major issues with his arms and legs…”
“That’s good. Also, for the prosthetic limbs, use this set.”
“This is… this is the one that the great lord once used…”
“…”
Had Chu Zhaoyi arrived?
Fu Nian wasn’t entirely sure whether it was a hallucination in his dream or if he had genuinely heard something. All he knew was that he couldn’t fully wake up at this moment, and his limbs felt as heavy as lead.
When Fu Nian regained consciousness, the day was already beginning to darken.
He opened his eyes and lowered his gaze to the firmly secured bamboo splint and gauze on his left arm.
Before he could sit up, Fu Nian heard someone entering the room.
“Are you awake?”
“Doctor Xu…” Fu Nian began, struggling to sit up on the bed, leaning against the wall behind him.
The pain in his body had significantly subsided, likely due to the effectiveness of pain relief medication.
“While I was unconscious, did anyone come to visit?” he asked.
“Yes. Your friend, hearing that you had returned to the palace, should be named Rendong, attempted to visit you. However, the medicine child persuaded him to leave,” Doctor Xu replied.
“Besides Rendong, was there anyone else?” Fu Nian inquired.
Doctor Xu shook his head.
It was probably just a hallucination, Fu Nian thought.
After lying down for five days, Fu Nian was awakened early in the morning by a medicine child. After five days of rest, his left arm was mostly pain-free, but the bandages were still conspicuous.
Fu Nian got up and was informed that the Emperor wanted to see him after the morning court session. They were going to install his prosthetic limbs now.
“This time, please take care of these limbs. They are different from the prosthetic limbs you’ve used before. They belonged to a high-ranking individual by His Majesty’s side, and I believe you must have heard something about this person. Originally, they were kept as valuable items in the Inner Palace, but due to the difficulty in crafting similar replacements, they were temporarily authorized for your use.”
A high-ranking individual’s old items?
Fu Nian had a bad feeling about this.
He watched as Doctor Xu slowly opened a brocade box, revealing the pristine stone prosthetics inside. Fu Nian felt a tingling sensation in his scalp.
It’s over.
As he saw this familiar yet unfamiliar prosthetic limb being attached to him again, Fu Nian felt no joy, only a hollow look in his eyes.
It’s over.
He knew that Chu Zhaoyi had not given him this prosthetic limb “out of necessity.”
On a chilly morning in late autumn, as Fu Nian made his way to the court, he was dressed only in plain clothes, without a crown, and his long hair flowed freely behind him.
A plain attire without a crown was the attire of a criminal. As he ascended the jade steps, Fu Nian felt that eunuchs and palace maids were stealing glances at him.
“Do your work properly. Prepare the cloth for wiping away the bloodstains and the incense to cover the smell of blood. We will clean up later. You, stay here and watch!”
Fu Nian heard a Gonggong admonishing someone not far away.
Upon entering the hall, Fu Nian knelt on the ground without uttering a word, facing in the direction of the dragon throne.
After a long silence, Fu Nian finally spoke, “This guilty subject kneels before—”
Before he could finish, he saw Chu Zhaoyi make a hushing gesture with his hand.
Fu Nian fell silent.
“These past few days, do you have anything you wish to say to me?” Chu Zhaoyi asked. Seeing that Fu Nian had no immediate response, he continued, “It’s alright if you don’t. I’ve prepared a little surprise for you.”
A surprise?
Fu Nian had a growing sense of foreboding, but he couldn’t fathom what it might be.
“Bring them in,” Chu Zhaoyi ordered in a subdued tone.
Hearing footsteps and the clinking of shackles outside the hall, Fu Nian turned instinctively.
—He saw the jailer from the Bureau of Punishments escorting a man and a woman into the hall. The woman had an exquisite figure, even though she appeared disheveled, and it was clear she was exceptionally beautiful. The man…
Fu Nian looked at him for a long time, feeling a nagging sense of familiarity, but he couldn’t immediately recall who he was.
“Xi Wangfei, Lady Qiao, you may speak,” Chu Zhaoyi commanded without giving them much time to react.
Fu Nian was momentarily stunned.
It didn’t take him long to realize the identities of the two individuals before him.
It’s over.
At the beginning, when he had switched identities, Fu Nian had indeed harbored concerns. However, as time passed without any problems, he began to believe he could deceive everyone. Now, when he thought he had pulled off the impossible, reality struck him hard.
He had no idea when Chu Zhaoyi had started to harbor suspicions or when he had begun the investigation. How had he managed to catch these two individuals?
“Big Brother Lian, I…” the woman’s voice was gentle, and it had a hint of sorrow.
The man glanced at Fu Nian, who was kneeling in shock not far away, and eventually replied, “En.”
The woman continued, “On the night of my wedding to Xi Wang, it was this person who helped me escape from the Wang residence. Subsequently, he helped me and Big Brother Lian escape from the capital, guiding us along a southern water route and even providing us with some resettlement funds… As a condition, he asked for nothing but our loyalty. He didn’t take any money; he only wanted Big Brotther Lian’s waist token and his birthdate, and he requested that we change our names and never see each other again.”
“En,” Chu Zhaoyi responded with a grunt, indicating that he had heard enough.
“Your Majesty, it was all my fault. I was the one who violated the marriage decree, causing both Big Brother Lian… this heroic figure and my parents to be disgraced…”
Chu Zhaoyi’s gaze shifted to the disheveled man on the ground. “The one who helped Xi Wangfei elope, what is your name?”
The dirty and disheveled man glanced at Fu Nian but didn’t respond to Chu Zhaoyi’s words.
“Zhen asked you a question! What are you looking at him for?” Chu Zhaoyi’s voice grew louder.
Fu Nian nodded gently.
At this point, there was no more room for deception. If he continued to play Chu Zhaoyi for a fool, the palace maids would soon come in to clean up the bloodstains.
“This commoner is Lian Nian,” the dirty man said in a low voice.
This was indeed a surprise.
Fu Nian knelt on the ground, feeling as though his heart had turned to ashes.
He knew that Chu Zhaoyi despised deception and betrayal the most. All other offenses might be forgivable, but deceit and betrayal were hard to absolve.
“Take them away.”
As he listened to Lian Nian and Lady Qiao being led away, the people in the hall left, the doors were closed, and Fu Nian heaved a sigh, closing his eyes.
Would his punishment be execution on the spot? Or something else?
If he was truly going to die, before his death, Fu Nian wanted to ask… Who had been planted the gu for him?
In the silence of the standoff, he heard the man on the dragon throne rise and approach him step by step.
His toes came perilously close to touching his hair before the footsteps stopped.
“Still not planning to say anything?”
“You already know everything.”
“Zhen wants to hear you admit it in your own words.”
In the corner of his eye, he saw Chu Zhaoyi crouch down, looming very close, so close that if he raised his head even a bit, they might collide.
The hall was unusually quiet, with only the intertwined sounds of their breathing.
He could sense that Chu Zhaoyi was suppressing his anger, trying to speak to him as calmly as possible, with his patience almost depleted.
…
Suddenly, his collar was forcefully grabbed, and he was compelled to meet the gaze of the man in the imperial dragon robe before him.
“Fu Nian,” the voice was filled with gritted teeth, as if these two words held some deep-seated grudge.
Hearing this long-lost name, Fu Nian was momentarily stunned.
In those intense eyes, apart from the impending rage, there were other complex emotions he couldn’t quite decipher.
In his memory, Chu Zhaoyi’s eyes didn’t have this watery feeling.
“…..I’m here,” Fu Nian responded quietly under the pressure of that intense gaze before turning his gaze away.
“For so long, you’ve been playing with me, haven’t you?” Chu Zhaoyi’s grip on his collar remained unyielding, and his tone barely contained his anger. “You came back with a different identity, watching me suffer sleepless nights, self-blame, remorse, and constant longing. You must be delighted, right?”
Under such questioning, Fu Nian remained silent.
It’s not like that…
In this lifetime, when he saw Chu Zhaoyi suffering, neglecting meals, and holding his body as if he had lost his soul, Fu Nian had only felt heartache and other indescribable negative emotions.
“Speak!” Chu Zhaoyi’s voice suddenly rose several octaves, almost a roaring scream. “You’ve been playing with me for so long with that old fool, and it’s been such fun, hasn’t it?”
It’s not like that…
Fu Nian stood there, trembling hands.
Even though it wasn’t like that, the pent-up grievances over the years made him unwilling to deny it under this shouted accusation.
“Aren’t you going to admit it?”
“Yes! It was indeed quite fun!” After enduring for so long, Fu Nian finally spoke, his voice trembling.
The feeling of having already betrayed the emperor and committed high treason, facing inevitable death, made him dare to speak openly. “In the previous life, I endured it the same way! You used me as a tool to vent your desires, used me, and then discarded me at will,” he said, gritting his teeth.
No, that’s not what he originally intended to say…
“I betrayed the sect, attempted to assassinate the former emperor, bore all the blame, and I thought you would be pleased with my loyalty. But you, you questioned why I willingly shouldered the blame, why I didn’t clear my name and shift the responsibility to others… When my heart was pierced by my senior brother’s sword and I was poisoned by that old man, you said I shouldn’t have left the Imperial Guards, that I should have sternly faced the accusations and handed over all my duties to Chu Yao… I fought for you and got injured, yet I received scolding for my injuries. Even if I just exchanged a few words with others, you’d immediately change your attitude. But you would smile at Chu Yao, Li Gonggong, and Ze Wang! ”
As he spoke, Fu Nian realized his voice was choking up.
There were so many similar incidents, and in the end, he injured his left leg for Chu Zhaoyi… only to receive Chu Zhaoyi’s house arrest in return.
Chu Zhaoyi stood still, his eyes filled with shock.
In the past, he had never heard a single complaint from Ah Nian, nor had he ever heard him say that he was tired or weary. In fact… he would do his best to cater to his preferences, enduring the shame and discomfort until he was exhausted, and then he would still ask if he was satisfied?
“I didn’t expect to leave this hall alive, whether you want to kill me or…”
“Ah Nian,” Chu Zhaoyi’s voice was heavy.
Hearing the name “Ah Nian,” Fu Nian was momentarily stunned. Then, he saw Chu Zhaoyi approaching him step by step.
“Don’t come any closer!” Fu Nian instinctively extended his prosthetic limb to block him.
He was slightly shorter than Chu Zhaoyi, and when he blocked him like that, he didn’t expect his movement to be too vigorous, directly hitting Chu Zhaoyi’s cheek, leaving a red mark.
It’s over.
He was about to apologize when he saw that Chu Zhaoyi seemed to ignore the hit and continued to approach him, his face even darker.
“It’s not like that…”
Fu Nian instinctively stepped back.
When he felt his calf hit something, his knees bent unconsciously.
He quickly turned around and saw that there was no way to retreat behind him, with most of his body pressing against the dragon throne symbolizing the supreme authority.
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