Chapter 86: Nightmare

“Remembering my childhood, Ah Chen and I used to row and play here, chatting and enjoying ourselves,” Xue Cen looked at the rugged and barren lotus leaves on the water, as if recalling a distant past. “At that time, Second Miss was not feeling well, so she would watch from afar in this waterside pavilion.”

Yu Lingxi thought that Xue Cen might harbor some resentment, or be as aloof and proud as their last encounter in the previous life. Unexpectedly, he was very calm, almost mournful.

“When I was ten years old in the autumn, I saw you all rowing through the lotus leaves, full of envy, clamoring to eat lotus seeds. But where could there be lotus seeds at that time? My siblings all lied and made excuses, but only you reached out to pick them.”

Yu Lingxi stood at a distance of half a yard and whispered, “But unexpectedly, you slipped and fell into the pond, leaving behind a fear of water since then.”

Xue Cen smiled, “Childhood is the most joyful, and youth pays no attention to parting sorrows.”

He chose this time to come, indicating that it should not be just a simple reminiscence.

Yu Lingxi’s gaze fell on the pair of dragon and phoenix glass wine cups. The cups were translucent and exquisite, obviously of excellent quality.

“The pot contains ‘Bai Sui He’ that has been stored for ten years, originally intended for toasting at weddings. I no longer need it now, so I might as well give it to Second Miss.”

Xue Cen’s eyes fell on the unopened bottle of wine. His Adam’s apple rolled a few times, and he spoke in a warm voice, “Can I have a small drink with Second Miss, as a farewell?”

Yu Lingxi asked, “Farewell?”

Xue Cen hastily shifted his gaze, a bitter smile on his face, “Tomorrow is Second Miss’s wedding banquet, and I won’t disturb the celebration by visiting.”

He made a gesture of invitation.

Yu Lingxi took her seat, instructing the maidservant to bring fresh tea and snacks. When she turned around again, she saw the servant brought by Xue Cen stepping forward, opening the jar of ‘Bai Sui He’ that had been preserved for ten years.

Xue Cen took a glass cup, poured two glasses of wine himself, and Yu Lingxi had to swallow the words she hadn’t uttered yet. The amber golden wine in the cup gently rippled, reflecting her clear eyes.

On the shores of Qujiang Pool, within a secluded courtyard, the faint sound of clinking echoed.

“Rest assured, Your Highness. I have ordered the refinement of the ‘Hundred Flowers Poison.’ Its toxicity is now stronger, and the onset can be delayed by a day to ensure complete success.”

Xue Song closed the hall door and turned to the shadow behind the screen, “My younger brother has already brought this poison into the Yu Mansion. After tomorrow’s bridal chamber ceremony, it will be the time for the Prince Ning to meet his demise.”

Behind the screen, the sound of a tambourine being played gently reached their ears.

A slightly hoarse voice spoke, “To stoop so low as to rely on implicating a woman to achieve one’s ambitions, I can’t help but feel ashamed in my heart.”

“Your Highness is benevolent, achieving great things requires overlooking trivial matters,” Xue Song said. “Prince Ning’s residence is as solid as a fort, and the man is cunning and deceitful. We can only start from the weakness of the Yu Mansion.”

The person behind the screen set aside the tambourine, stood up, and said, “There is no antidote to this poison. I heard that my younger brother specifically tasted a cup of wine before leaving as a verification. Could it endanger his life?”

“Though my younger brother is naive, he won’t blindly follow my orders. He will definitely taste the wine first to ensure it’s not poisonous before agreeing to meet Yu Lingxi,” Xue Song replied. “Rest assured, Your Highness, the poison was never put in the wine.”

“Oh?”

“I applied the ‘Hundred Flowers Poison’ to the rim of the glass cup. As long as Yu Lingxi holds the cup and drinks a farewell toast, even if it’s just a light sip, she will undoubtedly be poisoned.”

“How do you know that your younger brother will give the poisoned cup to Second Miss Yu?”

The person behind the screen sighed, “Xue Erlang is full of infatuation, not something that can be dispelled in just a few months. What if he can’t bring himself to do it?”

Xue Song seemed to have anticipated this, nodding, “Your Highness is correct. Ah Cen’s nature is pure, and he surely won’t be able to do it.”

There was a moment of silence behind the screen, and the person asked, “Then why let him…”

“It’s precisely because I know that I told Ah Cen to give the Phoenix Cup to Yu Lingxi and let him hold the Dragon Cup himself.”

Xue Song remained silent for a while and then said sternly, “If Ah Cen becomes suspicious, he will surely switch the cups, taking the poison meant for Yu Lingxi.”

He never believed in his seemingly blank-slate younger brother. What he believed in was his own understanding of human nature. 

So, in reality, the poison was applied to the Dragon Cup.

In the Yu Mansion, in the waterside pavilion, Xue Cen’s breath tightened, and he said hastily, “Wait.”

Yu Lingxi withdrew her hand, looking at him with a slight confusion.

“Second Miss enjoys spicy food; this wine’s flavor is a bit light.”

Xue Cen reached for the small silk pouch hanging at his waist, seemingly absent-minded, and struggled to open it for a while. Apologetically smiling, he took out two peppermint candies and placed them in the glass cup in front of him.

For so many years, Xue Cen had been carrying something she liked with him. However, today, as they were about to part ways, was this gesture too intimate and unnecessary?

While pondering this, Xue Cen pushed the dragon-patterned glass cup toward her with a smile, “Second Miss, please.”

He lifted his own phoenix-patterned cup, making a solemn gesture, “This cup is a toast to the past, with no regrets.”

After a pause, he raised the cup and drank it all in one go. Xue Cen, who was normally restrained and temperate, rarely indulged in alcohol, and drinking hastily caused his eyes to redden.

He stopped Yu Lingxi, who was about to offer words of comfort, and poured another cup, saying, “This cup is a toast to the future, with a boundless spring breeze.”

Yu Lingxi felt that at this moment, there was too much hidden in his eyes, as if it were about to overflow. Suppressing her inner hesitation, Yu Lingxi calmly raised the dragon-patterned glass cup in front of her, mirroring Xue Cen’s raised cup.

The servant holding the wine jug stared unblinkingly at the rim of the cup as Yu Lingxi slowly brought it closer to her lips. At the moment before the cup touched her lips, Yu Lingxi paused. Then, unexpectedly, Xue Cen reached over, took the cup from her hand, and drank it in one gulp.

Caught off guard, Yu Lingxi couldn’t stop him, and the servant was frozen in shock.

Taking advantage of the servant’s delayed reaction, Xue Cen, with red eyes, hoarsely exclaimed, “The wine is poisoned, don’t touch it!”

In an instant, the servant snapped out of his stupor.

Realizing the danger, he turned to run, but was knocked down by Yu Huanchen, who rushed over. The agile servant quickly got up, climbed the narrow slope, and escaped over the wall.

Yu Huanchen, torn between pursuing and the situation in the waterside pavilion, hesitated for a moment. Eventually, he assigned the pursuit to his subordinates and rushed toward Xue Cen.

“Clean up the glass on the ground, and call the imperial physician! Hurry!” In a moment of realization, Yu Lingxi’s surprise turned into horror as she took a step forward, “Is there ‘Hundred Flowers Poison’ in my cup? Spit it out quickly!”

“It’s too late,” Xue Cen said with a gentle shake of his head.

Since his older brother deliberately provoked him with the repeated mention of the marriage between Yu Lingxi and the Prince Ning, Xue Cen began to have suspicions. The despair of being betrayed by his closest kin shattered the remnants of his hope.

He had no other choice. Instead of letting someone else deal with Yu Lingxi, he decided to take the risk himself. Xue Cen’s eyes were slightly red, and he mustered a gentle smile, “If I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t have had a chance to inform you.”

Yu Lingxi was momentarily speechless.

As the former fiance, Xue Cen’s sudden visit was somewhat abrupt. If this were in their previous life, Yu Lingxi might not have been on guard.

She agreed to the meeting, thinking that if the Xue family were plotting against her and Ning Yin as they did in their past life, using Xue Cen as a tool, she could use this opportunity to catch Xue Song red-handed, using the threat of the “Hundred Flowers Poison” to expose his murderous intentions.

However, she did not expect that Xue Cen would be foolish enough to drink the poisoned wine himself. Supported by Yu Huanchen, Xue Cen, who was now being held by Yu Lingxi, struggled to maintain composure, “Elder brother, induce vomiting for him.”

“Ah Cen, spit it out!”

Yu Huanchen, with a stern expression, pressed acupuncture points on Xue Cen’s abdomen to induce vomiting, but it was already too late.

No one knew better than Yu Lingxi how ruthless the poison of the Hundred Flowers was.

“No… no need to worry about me.”

Xue Cen grabbed Yu Huanchen’s hand, looked up at Yu Lingxi, and hurriedly said, “They have made preparations on both hands. There is an assassin hidden among the guests at the wedding banquet, intending to assassinate the Prince! I failed this time, exposing their plot prematurely… Go and help them, hurry!”

Xue Cen’s eyes remained warm and tender, with a touch of resolute calmness.

Taking a step back, Yu Lingxi used her eyes to entrust her older brother with dealing with the current situation, then swiftly turned and ran away. 

The setting sun gathered the last remnants of light, and the slightly reddened eyes of Xue Cen faded into tranquility.

“Fortunately…”

Fortunately, this time he didn’t come too late.

…

The carriage left the Prince Ning’s mansion and headed towards the Yongle Gate.

The fragrance of incense wafted from the table, and Ning Yin supported his forehead with his fingers, closing his eyes for a brief rest. The lowered eyelashes cast a shadow beneath his eyes.

He rarely dreamt, but in these two days, he repeatedly dreamt of walking in a long, dark tunnel that seemed endless.

However, this time, he reached the end.

Like a door being pushed open forcefully, a faint blue light welcomed him. It was a narrow compartment, and the blue light emanated from the ice bed in the compartment. In the center of the blue light lay a quiet beauty with black hair and red lips.

“Lingxi.”

Ning Yin examined the sleeping beauty on the ice bed, reaching out to touch her stiff mouth, only to feel an icy coldness.

His heart suddenly ached.

Sensing something, the falcon perched on the eaves suddenly flapped its wings, and its sharp cry, accompanied by the piercing cold sound of breaking air, cut through the night. Ning Yin abruptly opened his eyes, tilted his head slightly, and a cold blade came at him.

The cold light reflected in his eyes, a scene of frost.

In a moment, a crisp sound echoed from the arm of the assassin, and then the blade that had pierced through his throat flew out, nailing him to the wall like a ragdoll, splattering a burst of blood.

“Finally took the bait.”

Hidden in the shadows, Chen Feng breathed a sigh of relief, then adjusted the axe on his side, “Why, Your Highness, didn’t you deal with these assassins in the mansion? Why go through the trouble of luring them here?”

Glancing at the flashes of blades in the alley, Chen Feng said with only one sentence, “Because the wedding in the mansion is tomorrow.”

The Prince would never allow these small fry to tarnish the tiles and walls of his mansion. He wanted to welcome the second Miss Yu with a clean and tidy wedding.

“Charge.”

Chen Feng took out the heavy sword on his back, found the right moment, and rushed out first.

On the wall, the peach blossoms bloomed brightly, casting a pink glow. A gentle breeze stirred, moonlight filtered through the branches, and peach blossoms floated down, stained by the viscous fluid into a bizarre shade of scarlet.

Ning Yin frowned, wiping off a bit of bloodstain on his hand with disgust, and looked towards the corner where the limbs of the assassins were all broken.

This was the only survivor among the top-notch assassins, yet he was as good as dead. The assassin, like a puppet with severed strings, sat slumped in the pile of corpses, blood oozing from his nose and mouth, still smiling madly.

“Even at the brink of death, you’re still so arrogant?”

Chen Feng muttered and approached, “Hey, why are you laughing? Is there still some trick up your sleeve?”

The assassin chuckled twice, then suddenly spurted out a jet of blood.

Splatters of blood filled the air, and a certain image flashed rapidly through Ning Yin’s mind.

On a jade bed, someone spat out a mouthful of black blood, staining his snowy clothes.

Sui Sui.

When the pain pierced his heart, he staggered in confusion.

“Your Highness!”

Chen Feng subconsciously wanted to support him. However, Ning Yin steadied himself, suppressing the sweet and fishy taste surging up his throat.

Sensing something, he went straight past the attendants, mounted the horse, and stabbed the short blade into the horse’s hip, then raced towards the Yu Mansion with blood all over him.

“I had a dream.”

“I dreamt that I would die because of this, leaving you alone in this world.”

Was it a dream?

If it was just a dream, why did his heart ache so much?

If it wasn’t a dream…

The foaming horse neighed, standing on its hind legs. Ning Yin saw Yu Lingxi leading a group of guards preparing to leave.

The two locked eyes from a distance, and there was a silent moment.

“Ning Yin!”

Seeing him appearing unharmed in front of her, Yu Lingxi’s eyes lit up, and she let out a breath.

But then, her heart tightened again.

Because Ning Yin’s complexion was too terrible. His cheeks were almost pale in the dark night, blood droplets splattered on his jaw, and his eyes were deep and sunken, displaying an unprecedented sense of coldness.

His eyes were so dark, with a hint of hidden red. Yu Lingxi couldn’t fathom the emotions swirling in his eyes.

Worryingly, she ran over, saying, “Are you okay? I just heard that the Xue family bribed the assassins…”

Before she could finish her words, Ning Yin had dismounted. His tall figure enveloped her entirely.

He stared at Yu Lingxi’s face for a long time, then raised his clean fingertips, as if confirming something, gently touching her mouth.

“Ning Yin?” Yu Lingxi was puzzled.

Ning Yin, however, smiled lowly, with a touch of madness, tainted by blood.

“It’s warm.”

He stroked Yu Lingxi’s cheek, showing a satisfied expression.

“Ning Yin.”

Yu Lingxi held his fingers, allowing him to feel her warmth more directly, and asked softly, “What happened to you?”

The lantern light flickered below the wall, and the glow of light was swallowed by Ning Yin’s eyes.

“I dreamt that you were lying on the ice bed in the dark room, not smiling, not speaking. When I touched your cheek, there was only stiff coldness.”

Ning Yin’s voice, always deep and pleasant, was elegant and stubborn, “How could my Sui Sui turn into that appearance.”

Yu Lingxi’s heart tightened, as if someone had struck her with a heavy blow, spreading a dense and painful ache.

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