Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Xiao Chengxu’s letter arrived in the fifth month.

It was a secret missive, hidden within the lining of Qingwu’s medicine pouch. There were only a few short lines written upon it.

“Zhaoxue, internal strife is about to break out in Northern Yan. Find a way to steal Qi Yan’s military tally. Once my Great Liang army crosses the border, you shall be the empress.”

The signature was the name I knew so well: Chengxu.

I stared at it for a long time, and then I suddenly laughed.

So, the phoenix carriage was coming after all.

But I would have to step over Qi Yan’s bones and the blood of the people of Wuxu to board it.

I was still holding the letter when Qi Yan entered the room.

He didn’t ask about it. He simply placed a bowl of medicine on the table. “It is time to neutralize your Hail-Frost Pill.”

I froze.

“You know the cure?”

“I do,” he said. “The monthly pain you suffer from the cold is because the poison has entered your heart’s meridians. If this is delayed for another half a year, you will die before I do.”

I stared at him. “Why are you only saying this now?”

He lowered his eyes. “Because the antidote requires my blood as a catalyst.”

The room fell silent.

I suddenly understood. The reason he hadn’t died after drinking the nuptial poisoned wine wasn’t because he was immune to all toxins.

It was because he had been fed Cold Poison since childhood; the toxicity in his blood was similar to mine. He had tested the poison for me, and he had been searching for a cure for me.

I handed Xiao Chengxu’s letter to him.

“Look at this.”

Qi Yan finished reading, his expression showing not a hint of surprise.

“Empress of Great Liang,” he said softly. “That sounds nice.”

A sharp pang pierced my heart. “You want me to leave?”

“I want you to live.”

“And what about you?”

He gave a faint smile. “For someone like me, living has always felt like an unpaid debt.”

I stood up abruptly. “Qi Yan, stop acting so noble with your life. You locked me here, made me look over your ledgers, forced me into your schemes, and made me walk by your side until today. And now you’re telling me to leave?”

He looked at me, a flicker of heartbreak visible in the depths of his eyes for a fleeting moment.

“Shen Zhaoxue, it was my own baseness that led me to trap you.”

“No.” I walked toward him, step by step. “You trapped me because there isn’t a single clean place left in this world. At the very least, you let me see where the bars of the cage are.”

I tossed the letter into the candle flame.

The tongues of fire curled around the name Chengxu, quickly turning it to ash.

Qi Yan watched the fire and asked in a low voice, “Do you know what you just burned?”

“I know.”

I said, “My dream of being an empress.”

After a pause, I added, “And the last of my naivety.”