"You...!"
Everyone was speechless.
Even Chi Yun was not expecting that.
"How could you kill him? Do you have any idea of the consequences?" He Ming could not believe the sight before him.
Lingxi, on the other hand, remained completely calm.
"Kill him?" she asked before turning to He Ming, "when did I kill him?"
He Ming was baffled, "you literally just killed him in front of everyone. How can you deny that?"
"I killed him? But....." Lingxi looked like she was confused as she lifted the sword up to see it clearly, ".... this sword clearly belongs to Prince Jing. How am I the one who killed him?"
She looked at He Ming, "Prince Wen, please speak with evidence"
Everyone was dumbfounded. She literally killed Eunuch Go in everyone's presence and is now casually pinning the crime on He Rui.
"Grandaunt, what's the meaning of this?" He Rui's face was anything but pleased.
"Prince Jing, don't look at me like that. Does this sword not belong to you? Or am I lying?" Lingxi asked looking at him.
Chi Yun now understood why Lingxi had returned his sword and took He Rui's sword instead.
"Everyone here witnessed you killing Eunuch Go. You can't deny that", He Rui said with a straight face.
"Oh? Everyone witnessed it?" Lingxi pretended to be surprised as she looked at the imperial guards who were the supposed witnesses.
Then she looked at Chi Yun, "Chi Yun, did you see me kill anyone?"
"I didn't", Chi Yun answered immediately.
"He didn't see", Lingxi said looking back at He Rui said.
"Do you think His Majesty will trust his one sided words. He works for Channing Palace. Obviously, he would speak for you", He Rui said.
"In that case, these imperial guards work for you too. Will His Majesty trust your words?" Lingxi asked in return.
He Rui stared at her, speechless.
"Now, neither of us has any credible witness. But the sword used to kill Eunuch Go does belong to you, doesn't it? That's an interesting piece of evidence", Lingxi said.
"I am only a weak woman. Eunuch Go tried to attack me after finding out I knew he was responsible for the Grand Prince's assassination. Fortunately, Prince Jing came over to send me New Year gifts and saved me. With no way out, Eunuch Go killed himself to atone for his crimes", Lingxi said walking out.
She had already reached the entrance of the hall when she paused and turned back to look at He Rui, "that's a very interesting story, right?" she said with a smile and walked out of sight.
Chi Yun followed behind her.
He Ming had never seen someone so outrageous. She dared to kill someone and just walked out like it wasn't her business.
He turned to He Rui, "Brother, what should we do?"
He Rui was silent for a while before responding, "we will do as she says"
"Why?"
"She has already lured us into coming here. If we were to tell the truth before Father, he would not believe it and we may even implicate ourselves", He Rui explained.
'What a calculating woman', he thought.
*****
Lingxi walked back to the room to check on He Yu's condition.
He looked much better than before.
She turned to Xu Yicheng, "how is he feeling now?"
"The acupuncture treatment was successful...." Lingxi gave a sigh of relief. ".....but His Highness's lifespan has shortened", he added.
Lingxi held He Yu's hand, "how much time does he have left?"
"About five years" Lingxi felt sad.
He Yu had ten years left before now because of her, he had lost half of his life.
"When will he regain consciousness?"
"Soon. He may regain consciousness anytime from now", Xu Yicheng answered.
"That's good", Lingxi commented then seemed to remember something.
"Chi Yun had told me you came with your sister so she could celebrate the New Year in the Capital with you, right?"
"That's right", Xu Yicheng confirmed.
"Where is she now?" Lingxi asked.
"She is staying at an inn currently", he answered.
"I want you to stay in Channing Palace for a while to monitor He Yu's condition. How about this? Bring your sister over. The both of you may stay here for the meantime", Lingxi suggested.
Xu Yicheng bowed, "thank you for your consideration", and he left.
Chi Yun walked into the room, "How is His Highness's condition?" he asked.
Lingxi smiled lightly to reassure him, "he's fine now"
He also wanted to ask her about Han Ren but felt it was not the right time.
"I'll go take a bath. Take care of His Highness", Lingxi said and walked out.
[The Palace]
"What are you saying?" He Jingcheng was furious, "Eunuch Go was killed in Channing Palace?"
He Rui and He Ming bowed. "Father, calm your anger", He Rui said.
But how did they expect him to be calm? He had sent Eunuch Go to deliver a gift to Lingxi and now he is hearing that he had suddenly died.
He Jingcheng tried to control is fury, "what happened?" he asked trying to keep his voice steady.
"Father, today I and He Ming had gone to pay our respects to granduncle and grandaunt. However on getting there, we found out that granduncle had been attacked during the New Year's festival", He Rui explained.
"What? What's wrong with Imperial Uncle?" He Jingcheng asked.
First, Eunuch Go had died and he is hearing that He Yu had been attacked. Wasn't the New Year supposed to be a day of celebration?
"Granduncle had been attacked by assassins and got poisoned. Fortunately, Physician Xu had come for his monthly examinations and was able to aid granduncle in time", He Ming added the truthful part.
"That's a relief. If something bad had happened to Imperial Uncle, the consequences would have been unimaginable", He Jingcheng was truly relieved.
He Yu's life was connected to the Northwest. If anything bad happened to He Yu and they hear that he was assassinated, they were most likely to rebel.
"What happened next? How does this relate to Eunuch Go's death?" He Jingcheng asked further.
"Father, one of the assassins was caught by grandaunt's guard. Eunuch Go found out about it and realized the truth was found out. When he went to pass the edict to grandaunt, he tried to attack her. Fortunately, I and He Ming passed by in time and saved her", He Rui continued his explanation.
"He tried to attack..." He Jingcheng found it difficult to believe.
"He Ming went on to call some Imperial guards. We were about to take him away and bring him to you but he took my sword and slit his own throat", He Rui finished explaining the fully fabricated story.
"I never expected Eunuch Go to be such a person. I kept someone like him by my side for twenty years!" He Jingcheng felt incredibly foolish.
"Father, while interrogating the assassin, we found out that he was also responsible for the assassination attempt on First Brother", He Ming said.
"What? Even He Yan?" He Jingcheng was surprised.
But what did Eunuch Go stand to gain by trying to assassinate He Yan and He Yu? Was he trying to turn the empire upside down?
"We believe Eunuch must not have acted alone. As for who was behind him, we will try our best to find out", He Rui concluded.
Where did Eunuch Go's loyalty actually lie? Which faction would benefit most if He Yan and He Yu were gone?
[Channing Palace]
It was already evening.
He Yu was still yet to regain consciousness while Lingxi was brewing medicine for him in the kitchen.
Hadn't Xu Yicheng said He Yu would regain consciousness soon? Why wasn't he awake yet?
Lingxi served the medicine in a bowl absent mindedly. She carried the medicine in a tray and walked in the direction of her room.
Halfway through, Xin Xie ran to her, panting. "Your Highness..." she tried to catch her breath.
Lingxi was startled, "what happened?"
"His Highness..." Xin Xie tried to say.
Lingxi immediately began to worry, "what about His Highness? What happened?"
"His Highness has regained consciousness", Xin Xie finally said.
Lingxi immediately handed the tray to Xin Lan who was behind her and immediately rushed to see He Yu.
She entered the room and met him sitting up and drinking water with Chi Yun next to him.
He Yu turned to look at her with a smile.
That smile.
The smile she was silently afraid she would never see again.
Lingxi walked up to him and sat on the bed.
Chi Yun realized it was time to leave and left immediately.
"He Yu...." She called softly, way too soft that He Yu realized she was afraid of losing him. Her eyes were a bit moist.
He Yu touched her face, "was Zhizhi afraid of losing me?" he asked in a teasing voice.
"Have you forgotten what you said in the past? You said I was like an annoying pest you couldn't get rid of", he quoted her words.
Lingxi recalled her words when they met in the past two years ago. She had said the exact same words because she found him annoying back then.
"Even if you want to get rid of me, it won't be that easy", He Yu smiled.
Lingxi looked at him before speaking, "Xu Yicheng... he said that you had five years left", she revealed as she watched his reaction.
It remained unchanged, "what's wrong with five years? As long as you're with me, it's fine. After all, a day with you is like a thousand years with you. It's worth it", He Yu said.
Lingxi realized that no matter his condition, He Yu would never change.
How else could she explain him teasing her at a serious moment like this?
"They were after me. You got hurt because of me", Lingxi said.
"I protected you by my own choice. Besides, there are many people who want me dead. Just because they didn't mean to hurt me doesn't mean there won't be someone planning to hurt me in the future. Hurting you is hurting me. In the end, they are all the same", He Yu said.
Lingxi stared at the smile on his face, "you do know how to look at the bright side of things"
He Yu laughed and caressed her hair.
Lingxi finally smiled, "no matter what, I hold some responsibility. How about this? From today on, as long as I can do it, I will do anything you say. For the remaining five years of your life, I'll do my very best to keep you happy", Lingxi promised.
He Yu paused for a while and looked into her eyes, "anything?"
Lingxi nodded, "anything"