Soon, Fu Quan realized his worries were unnecessary.
When the sun was high, the door to the sleeping quarters finally opened, and a man in a dark common robe walked out, his expression one of indescribable satisfaction.
Fu Quan knelt down without a second thought.
Rong Huai: “Give the order to prepare for the Empress’s enthronement ceremony.”
Fu Quan dared not question him: “Yes, Your Majesty. Should the Phoenix Luan Palace be prepared?”
Rong Huai frowned, his eyes deep: “No need.”
The Phoenix Luan Palace was the residence of previous Empresses, yet the Emperor now said the new Empress would not reside there.
This…
Fu Quan kowtowed in congratulations and hurried off to make preparations.
He had been by the Emperor’s side for many years and was very sensitive to the Emperor’s displeasure; the moment he suggested the Empress reside in the Phoenix Luan Palace, the Emperor had a murderous intent towards him.
Fu Quan scurried out, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, thinking that such words must never be spoken again!
His Majesty was only approachable in front of Sui Xing… no, in front of the new Empress.
Rong Huai stood outside, letting the cold wind blow for a moment, dispelling the murderous aura around him, before slowly returning to the hall.
The person on the bed was still asleep, her lightly closed eyes adorned with lashes like black butterflies, delicate and fine, making one reluctant to even touch them with force.
In the past, Rong Huai enjoyed crushing and destroying fragile things, watching beautiful yet fleeting scenes turn into a mess.
But for the person on the bed—he was utterly unwilling; he wanted her to stay by his side forever.
The pain after taking the medicine last night was like a persistent disease, tormenting him to the point of near madness, his craving for blood reaching its peak, wishing he could immediately immerse himself in a pool of blood, letting it soak his entire body.
His eyes could only rely on her fragile, slender body; he remembered holding her very tightly, so tightly that in a daze, he heard a cry of pain.
This person did not pull away, did not show fear; she seemed to offer a sacrifice, actively presenting her wrist to his mouth, trying to stop him from biting his own tongue.
Finally, he opened his bloodied lips and teeth, gently and softly licking her wrist, leaving a moist and hot breath on this never-to-be-stained pure white surface.
He deeply regretted hurting her so badly last time; there would never be a next time, he had sworn in his heart.
In the latter half of the night, the intense pain in his body lessened, and he relaxed, leaning into her embrace.
She was also awake, her fair palm gently stroking his back intermittently; he loved her gentleness immensely.
From beginning to end, their clothes were intertwined, but there were no further actions.
Just holding her could alleviate the pain of his poison flare-up that had tormented him for over twenty years; he was unwilling to take her when his poison flared and his mind was unclear, as that would be too disrespectful to her.
Rong Huai sat by the bed for a long time, his reddened eyes fixed on the person on the bed, like a devotee with fervent loyalty.
“…”
Sui Xing slowly woke up, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she met the man’s deep, bottomless gaze.
She blinked, half-propping herself up, and soon an arm, warmer than her own body temperature, encircled her waist.
Rong Huai’s poison had not yet been fully cleared, so his body temperature fluctuated between extremely high and extremely low.
Her dark hair cascaded over her snow-white clothes; the woman leaned quietly on his shoulder for a moment, and as soon as she moved, the arm around her waist instantly tightened.
As if fearing she would disappear in the blink of an eye.
Sui Xing turned her head to look at Rong Huai, only to find that Rong Huai had been staring at her profile, his gaze inscrutable.
“Your Majesty, you neither bit me nor hurt anyone last night; you’re truly amazing.” She smiled, her eyes seemingly holding countless stars.
Doctors at the clinic would coax crying children who didn’t want to take medicine this way.
Rong Huai naturally heard the teasing in her words, yet he showed no anger at all; instead, he moved closer to her.
Like a child who received one candy but wasn’t satisfied and wanted two more.
Sui Xing made a gesture that would terrify anyone else—she raised her hand and patted His Majesty the Emperor’s head, truly the way one would comfort a child.
Not only did His Majesty the Emperor not change his expression, but he even curved his lips and asked, “Is there a reward?”
Sui Xing pondered for a moment: “Shall I make Your Majesty another bracelet?”
“…”
Rong Huai grabbed her wrist and played with it in his hand, his expression still unchanged: “I told you not to hurt yourself again. Choose something else.”
If those ministers in the court heard the Emperor’s tone, they would have already knelt all over the floor.
Once Rong Huai rejected something, his displeasure extended not only to the matter itself but also to the person who proposed it, whom he would kill along with it.
When had he ever so calmly said, ‘Choose something else’?
The ministers wouldn’t even dream of this.
“I haven’t thought of anything yet.” Sui Xing’s eyes curved into crescents.
—This was simply audacious! How could an ordinary person speak to Rong Huai like this? When did anyone ever meet Rong Huai without being fully prepared and trembling with fear? One wrong step meant eternal damnation!
Rong Huai stared at her, his eyes dark and gloomy.
“Then save it. I’ll tell you when I’ve thought of it.” His throat was dry as he spoke, his Adam’s apple moving again, “Xing’er, are you willing…?”
He paused, holding her even tighter, then spoke the next sentence with difficulty: “Are you willing to marry me?”
Sui Xing listened as the man holding her tried to suppress certain emotions, speaking as steadily as possible: “You said you are my chain; as long as you move your wrist…” Her wrist was gripped tightly.
“I won’t kill anyone.”
“And there will never be anyone else.”
The Emperor, with his iron-fisted methods, did not hesitate to use a coaxing tone: “Don’t you want to cure illnesses and save people? If you watch me, you can save many people.”
After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent.
He was usually impatient, but at this moment, he wished for this silence to last longer—anything was better than her rejection.
He didn’t know what he would do.
She entered the palace to detoxify him, to save people; he was hopelessly drawn to her, but she had no obligation to abandon her past and stay by his side.
Rong Huai’s breathing hitched.
After only a month of acquaintance, he could no longer accept the remaining days without her.
He didn’t want to see her disgusted gaze; if it came to that, he could take the poison again, force her to stay in the palace under the guise of detoxification, and then…
“Your Majesty, I am willing.”
Suddenly, those extreme and dark thoughts in Rong Huai’s mind quietly dissipated.
His pupils contracted in surprise, and the surging ecstasy made his voice tremble slightly: “You, you said what…?”
Just like last night, the woman’s slender arms gently wrapped around his shoulders, her soft, pale cheek resting against his face.
Like a harmless and obedient small animal revealing its most precious sincerity.
“I am willing, Your Majesty.”
The gloom gathered in his eyes immediately vanished, replaced by an inexpressible joy.
He hugged Sui Xing tightly, murmuring, “Thank you… I love you.”
The word ‘love’ he once disdained the most, believing it to be the most ridiculous thing in the world.
But the moment she appeared, he became self-taught; he was willing to use any means to keep her, but these means would only harm him—because he knew she was kind, and she wouldn’t leave if she saw him hurt.
This, which was absolutely impossible before, now happened so easily.
Rong Huai mentioned the Empress’s enthronement ceremony and the Phoenix Luan Palace; he gazed steadily at her, enunciating each word: “From now on, there will be no Phoenix Luan Palace; you will live with me.”
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