Chapter 12
The End
Extra
The crown prince’s birth mother died young.
He struggled to survive in the palace.
The emperor disliked him. The noble consort plotted against him.
Then he was hunted down and almost lost his life, until Xu Jingniang saved him.
He’d never known much care or affection.
His life had been spent in the cold palace and endless scheming.
His heart was full of hatred, cold and merciless.
But Xu Jingniang seemed to have no bones. She wanted to stick to him.
She wanted to cling to him every moment, to feel his warmth and his embrace.
It was the first time he’d ever been physically close to anyone.
Back in the palace, he’d been afraid the palace servants would harm him.
He didn’t dare trust anyone.
So this was what an embrace felt like.
Sharing tenderness with someone, falling asleep in their arms, brought such peace.
Happiness was so simple.
Kissing her.
Teasing her.
He felt as if he’d become a different person.
But he constantly reminded himself that a woman’s tender embrace could be a hero’s grave.
He still had great things to accomplish and enemies to kill.
Either they died, or he did.
He didn’t want to die.
He took Xu Jingniang and Wang Jinbao’s money and went to the frontier.
His maternal grandfather’s former soldiers were there. He could rebuild his power there.
If he was stripped of his title, he would raise an army and rebel.
He won glory on the frontier, wearing a mask as he fought his way through bloodshed.
The first thing he did on returning to Chang’an was kill his father with his own hands.
His father pointed at him with a trembling finger and cursed him. “You beast! You killed your father and brought death to your mother. No one will ever truly love you!”
He watched coldly as the man whose embrace he’d once longed for breathed his last.
Dimly, he thought of the woman who recklessly told him she loved him and liked him, who wanted to be endlessly close to him.
Did she truly love him?
He didn’t dare think about it.
He was afraid.
People who have never been loved either desperately seek love or force themselves to stay calm, presenting a cold exterior.
However much his heart longed for it, he would never make the first move.
As long as he didn’t make the first move, he couldn’t be rejected. He couldn’t be hurt.
But that woman came looking for him.
And brought a son and a daughter.
She wept as she spoke.
She didn’t blame him for taking the money.
She didn’t blame him for suddenly vanishing.
She spoke of missing him, of worrying about him.
She said she wanted to stay in the palace with him, to reunite with him.
She had also borne two lovely children who looked just like him.
His body was stiff, but his heart had softened more than he could believe.
The hard shell he’d built from years of vigilance was slowly cracking, little by little.
At last, the light outside could reach the darkness within.
Wang Jinbao truly loved him too…
At the thought of Wang Jinbao’s gaze, he couldn’t help shuddering.
He’d send him as far away as he possibly could.
The next year, Xu Jingniang gave birth to a son and was made empress.
(The End—bring on the confetti!)