Chapter 126 I Want You Only

At that moment, Uncle Zhi had mixed feelings about her. He didn’t hate Shui Yinzhu. Instead, he simply felt that she had too much influence on Xuan Zhi. Besides, her reputation had been discredited by Zuo Xin. But the woman in front of her had only several months to live. Uncle Zhi agreed to her request, partly because of his selfishness and partly out of sympathy. Shui Yinzhu wiped the tears on her face, kept down her sadness, and told Uncle Zhi to get Li Yi in. No matter how bad she felt, she had to keep up with the show. The conversation was quite simple with Li Yi. Shui Yinzhu promised her that she would give an answer to everyone in a month. She got Li Yi reassured and told him to treat Paner well before sending him away. To her surprise, Xiaoba showed up right after Li Yi left. He shook Shui Yinzhu’s shoulders as his eyes went red for sadness. “Did you hear our conversation?” Shui Yinzhu immediately realized that. “Don’t tell him. Don’t do that. Please don’t.” Tears formed Shui Yinzhu’s eyes again, but the woman didn’t let it fall while begging for secrecy. “Don’t tell whom?” Xuan Zhi walked into the room. He got jealous when he saw Xiaoba. But the new emperor was different from the old one. He trusted Shui Yinzhu and their relationship, yet her anxiety made him concerned. Shui Yinzhu looked pleadingly at Xiaoba. The guard left without speaking a word. Xuan Zhi wanted Xiaoba to be the leader of the imperial guard, but he would only serve as the confidential guard of Shui Yinzhu. After knowing that her life was coming to an end, that deep love started to ache Xiaoba’s heart. It drove him out of the palace to a tavern. “Nothing, Zhi. I’m hungry. Shall we get to your palace?” Shui Yinzhu chose to change the topic instead of explaining it. She had to get her out of Xuan Zhi’s memory in the final months. Her love for him wouldn’t allow her to break the man’s heart again. She knew the feeling of losing someone she loved better than anyone else. The warmth of spring couldn’t chase away the woman’s agony in the study of the Xiyan Palace at night. It was the first time for Shui Yinzhu to get Xuan Zhi out and not allow him to sleep with her. “Why is it, Yinzhu?” “Zhi, I’m too dirty. I can’t forget what Yun Su did to me. There is no way I can face you properly.” “Yinzhu, it’s not your fault. I don’t care. All I want is you.” “But I care. Please give me a break, Zhi.” Tears rained down from her eyes when she closed the door. She covered up her mouth so that no one would hear her crying. After all their effort to reunite, why did they have to suffer the opprobrium and eventually get parted by death? Maybe that was what Shui Yinzhu deserved. Her hands were stained with blood, and even god wouldn’t forgive her. “Zhi, do you know it? I love you so much, so much...” she whispered to herself. As the woman ran out of her tears, she knew she had to harden her heart. To protect her beloved man, Shui Yinzhu had to cut herself off from the love of Xuan Zhi. Zuo Xin had never ceased spreading rumors to discredit the already poor reputation of Shui Yinzhu. That would be her way to attract Xuan Zhi. Even though it wasn’t a decent method, at least that girl loved Xuan Zhi. Shui Yinzhu might as well help her fulfill her desire. It was during the morning session of the following day when Xiaoba showed up again. He had been suffering from the headache of the hangover. But still, he hurried to see Shui Yinzhu. It was the first time for him to break the rule as he held Shui Yinzhu tightly in his arms and said, “Your Highness, I understand that you don’t want His Majesty to know your condition. I’ll take you away from this place and stay with you.” “Xiaoba, I’m worried about him. Can you help me? Please.” Shui Yinzhu didn’t push him away. Instead, she started to form a plan. “Okay, I will. But how?” Shui Yinzhu gave Xiaoba a nudge and took out a bottle of aphrodisiac Uncle Zhi gave her. “This is a bottle of aphrodisiac. Take it to Zuo Xin and tell her to do whatever she wants with it. Don’t let her know that it comes from me. You can pretend you leave it by accident after chatting with your colleague.” “Okay.” “Remember, always be careful. Don’t leave any trace. As for what she’s supposed to do with it, I believe Zuo Xin has a plan herself.” “Sure.” “And wait for some time before doing it. I’ll snub Zhi these days.” “Okay, I see.” The first one that came to Xuan Zhi’s mind after the morning session was Shui Yinzhu. But the woman refused to meet him for days. Even Xiaoxin and Paner were kept in the dark. Neither of them knew the condition of Shui Yinzhu. At the same time, Uncle Zhi had been delivering her medicine, so Shui Yinzhu stopped losing hair. But it’s still unknown how long she would be able to stay alive. Shui Yinzhu was waiting for Zuo Xin’s action. She had to control her emotion no matter how bad she felt. Zuo Xin didn’t let her down. On the third morning after Zuo Xin got the aphrodisiac, there was news saying that Xuan Zhi, the new emperor, had picked Zuo Xin at night. Paner went to beat up Li Yi that day. She felt sad for her sister and couldn’t do anything to the emperor. Li Yi ended up becoming the punching bag. Her old husband had been trying to help Zuo Xin all the time, and now his wish was fulfilled. While at the same time, Shui Yinzhu resisted the impulse. She shut the door, kept everyone out, and started crying on the bed. Tears couldn’t relieve the pain in her heart. She herself pushed Xuan Zhi to someone else’s bed. But why did it hurt so much that it was killing her? She was about to be a dead person. Why could it hurt so much? Spring breeze couldn’t warm Shui Yinzhu’s heart. A eunuch came with an imperial edict and read it outside of the study. It was the first time for Xuan Zhi to require her presence at the Imperial Study Room as the emperor. Shui Yinzhu cleaned up the tears and asked Xiaoxin to dress her up. A eunuch opened the door of the Imperial Study Room for her. The woman in a white dress wearing a simple hairpin with two pearls remained just as beautiful. She walked into the room. Her feet had never been so heavy as she moved step by step to the center of the room. She didn’t dare to have any eye contact with the man sitting on the chair with dragon relief. “Yinzhu, come over here.” After so many days, Xuan Zhi had finally met with the girl he loved. But he never expected that he would have to summon her. That felt pathetically funny. Shui Yinzhu walked slowly towards him. Xuan Zhi couldn’t resist stepping down and carrying her up. He took her back to his chair, totally ignoring the kneeling girl Zuo Xin as well as Li Yi and Uncle Zhi standing by the side of the room. Shui Yinzhu was still holding a grudge, thinking that he had touched another woman. Her body was stiffened, and she struggled to get out. “Let go of me, Your Majesty.” “No. Why do you start calling me Your Majesty instead of Zhi?” “Your Majesty, you should treat her well now that she’s lost her virginity on you.” “You are the only one I want. Why should I take any responsibility since Zuo Xin offered herself to me?” It was quite unorthodox for an emperor to say such a thing. Everyone was surprised. “Your Majesty, I strongly suggest against that. Zuo Xin was a virgin before. If you don’t take up your responsibility, how will you be the example of the entire empire?” Li Yi couldn’t help but express his opinion. “Yes, Your Majesty. You should at least marry her as a concubine,” Uncle Zhi followed. “The reason I summoned you here is to get you an answer,” Xuan Zhi said as he held tight to the struggling girl in his arms. “But before that, there is one thing I need to know.” “Your Majesty, I will never scramble for power with Miss Shui. All I want is to serve you, even as a servant girl. Please don’t kick me away. Please allow me to stay and serve you and Miss Shui.” Zuo Xin appeared so piteous as if she was a clean white lotus. “Tell me in front of everyone what happened last night.” “Your Majesty, you got drunk last night and mistook me for Miss Shui. I understand that you never loved me. But I do love you. Besides, I’m just a weak woman.” “Did I? I can drink a lot. Even if I was drunk, I wouldn’t mistake the wrong person.” Xuan Zhi ignored the delicate-looking girl and said, “Guards, take the wine last night to Master Zhi.” A guard came with a flask. The moment Uncle Zhi smelt it, he knew there was an aphrodisiac in it. He himself made the prescription, and no one could know it better than him. He remembered that Shui Yinzhu had asked for such a thing before and understood that it was a trap. But still, he admitted, “There’s aphrodisiac in it.” Zuo Xin started to knock her head on the ground hard, “Your Majesty, I didn’t do this. The drug got me, too.” “Really? Zuo Xin, your servant girl has confessed. Are you going to keep on with your show?” “No, Your Majesty. It wasn’t me.” “Guards, bring me the servant girl.” After he sent the order, a girl covered in blood was brought in. Xuan Zhi didn’t intend to punish Zuo Xin, but she crossed the line. No one would take the place of Shui Yinzhu in his heart. And Zuo Xin did way more than that. “I’m wronged. The girl is lying. She’s simply jealous of me.” Zuo Xin was scheming, but she wasn’t clever enough to consider the outcome. She believed that being the first woman to sleep with Xuan Zhi would earn his pity. But she shouldn’t have shirked her responsibility. The badly battered girl never expected to hear that from her master. “Your Majesty, Miss Zuo ordered me to do so. She asked me to put the aphrodisiac in the wine.” “You little b*tch, why do you lie? Your Majesty, kill her, kill her now. It must have been her.” Zuo Xin wasn’t calm anymore. “Your Majesty, I am telling the truth. In order to get you, Miss Zuo required us to spread rumors on Her Highness that she was a lustful and cruel woman. She had been fawning on Master Li and Master Zhi to be sympathized and get closer to you. She even intended to poison Her Highness but never got the chance. She had prepared the poison. You may search for it in her room. There is also the birthday and eight characters of Her Highness on a voodoo doll. They’re all under her bed. And you can ask her other servant girls.” The little girl completely sold her master. “It’s not like that, Your Majesty. I do love you. I really do.” No matter how piteous she looked, no one would ever pity her again. Li Yi and Uncle Zhi never expected her to be so evil. As for Xuan Zhi, he came up with an unusual idea. As a general, he didn’t believe in voodoo dolls. But he wanted to sentence Zuo Xin to death for cursing his beloved girl. Compared to a trial, he cared more about Shui Yinzhu’s thoughts. He ignored the crying woman kneeling on the floor and started talking to Shui Yinzhu. “Yinzhu, I’m not clean anymore. I have slept with another woman. Will you please forget the past with Yun Su and marry me?” That idea made Shui Yinzhu feel a mixture of anger and laughter. “Zhi, do you really believe we can get married when neither of us is clean?” “Why not?” “I can’t accept the fact that you have touched another woman.” “Really? Fine. I didn’t touch her.” “What? I thought you...” “Xiaojing, come in,” Xuan Zhi ordered. He was clearly prepared. “Your Majesty.” A guard came in. He kneeled and cupped his hand. “Up on your feet, Xiaojing.” Xuan Zhi stared at Shui Yinzhu after he finished his sentence. His eyes were filled with love. As Shui Yinzhu still looked confused, he said, “Yinzhu, after all the time we spent together, I knew the smell of the aphrodisiac. When I found it in my wine, I added some roofie in it and required my bodyguard Xiaojing to have it with Zuo Xin.” “Why did you do that?” “You’ve always cared about the loss of your impurity, and I thought that you wouldn’t mind it anymore once I lose mine. But even if it was a show, I didn’t touch her. You are the love of my life, my afterlife, and my life after that.”