"An Ning, you are quite aware of your own value." Xiao Jinxing said coldly.
"Xiao Jinxing." An Ning called his na softly, "I know what you’ll face if you let Gu Xingchuan go. You’ll lose the people’s support, cause unrest in the court, and be criticized, but these can all be resolved. If we lose the people’s support, we can win it back. If there’s unrest in the court, we can stabilize the regi. If we’re criticized, we can do more good for the country and its people. As long as there’s a will, anything can be redied. But once a person dies, they cannot be brought back to life."
A person cannot be brought back to life after death.
But can a dead heart be revived?!
"An Ning, don’t you know that Gu Xingchuan’s rebellion has implicated you as well?" Xiao Jinxing looked at her.
An Ning’s heart trembled slightly.
"If I spare Gu Xingchuan, the civil and military officials, and all the people will think I’m a foolish ruler, bewitched by a woman, and you’ll beco the scapegoat in everyone’s eyes!"
"I don’t care. Even if Your Majesty wants to depose from my position to appease everyone, I am willing!" An Ning stated firmly.
Xiao Jinxing laughed again.
He thought, to An Ning, saving Gu Xingchuan was all that mattered now. She would give up not just her position, but even her life to save him.
Originally, she never even wanted the position.
If not for Gu Xingchuan’s actions, An Ning would have long been wandering the world.
If not for Gu Xingchuan’s life being in his hands, An Ning would never have willingly returned to the palace.
He said, "My dignity cannot be sullied. I’ve made things clear to the Empress about Gu Xingchuan. Whatever happens to him is an issue of the past dynasty and has nothing to do with the Empress! I don’t want to hear the Empress ntion Gu Xingchuan again, or else, I’ll hasten his execution and show no rcy!"
With those words.
Xiao Jinxing waved his hand and his tall, straight figure turned and left.
"Xiao Jinxing." An Ning called out to him.
Xiao Jinxing paused montarily.
"Once Gu Xingchuan dies, there will be no possibility between us anymore." An Ning said each word slowly, not as a threat, but as a fact.
"Does the Empress think there’s any possibility between us now?" Xiao Jinxing did not turn back, asking An Ning before clearly giving her an answer, "Why should I place my heart in the hands of a woman who doesn’t love ? I don’t absolutely need you."
After leaving those words.
Xiao Jinxing walked away briskly.
The words "I don’t absolutely need you" demonstrated her current place in Xiao Jinxing’s heart.
Right.
Xiao Jinxing’s feelings for her weren’t deep from the start.
It was just guilt.
Over ti, guilt was mistaken for love.
He thought he could use love to make up for the hurt he had caused her, to fill that part of his conscience.
When soone else appeared who was willing to risk their life for him, he was ready to shift his affections onto that person.
To her, his feelings had already faded.
Thus she chose to use her own worth to negotiate with Xiao Jinxing instead of relying on his feelings for her.
She never truly believed his feelings.
It’s hard to trust soone who always gives up on you can truly love you.
She was only leveraging his human conscience and guilt, and the value she still had in offering strategic counsel.
However, these didn’t seem to work on Xiao Jinxing anymore.
An Ning couldn’t help but cough a few tis.
"Your Majesty." The palace attendant worriedly expressed concern.
An Ning steadied herself for a while and waved her hand dismissively.
She paid little attention to her health.
All her thoughts were on how to save Gu Xingchuan, but her mind was a blank.
If Xiao Jinxing and Song Yanqing were on her side, it would be better; they could co up with plans together, but they had evidently given up on Gu Xingchuan...
But she couldn’t.
"Your Majesty, the decoction made with your formula has been delivered to you." A palace attendant announced outside the hall door.
An Ning looked at the bowl of decoction and instructed, "Pour it out."
"Your Majesty..." The palace attendant was surprised.
"One shouldn’t take two types of dicine." She had just taken Feng Xiyun’s dicine.
"Understood." The palace attendant respectfully complied.
An Ning touched her forehead, clearly showing signs of a fever, and instructed the palace attendant, "No matter what happens with my health next, outwardly claim that I have recovered, understand?"
The palace attendant was puzzled, evidently confused.
"Only if I am recovered will His Majesty not force to take the young Imperial Physician Feng’s dicine." An Ning stated frankly.
Endure for two more days.
Then she could go back to taking her own decoction.
"Yes. But if Your Majesty faints again..." The palace attendant expressed concern.
"I won’t faint, just fall into a deep sleep for a while."
"Understood." The palace attendant respectfully replied.
"I shall go back to sleep for a while." An Ning instructed.
"Your servant will help you to the inner chamber, Your Majesty." The palace attendant quickly supported An Ning.
"Keep the Princess and Crown Prince from visiting for the next few days; colds are contagious."
"Yes."
An Ning returned to her bed.
The fever ca quickly.
Soon she was burning up, her mind increasingly muddled.
For three consecutive days, after taking Feng Xiyun’s dicine, this cycle persisted.
Repeatedly reducing and rising fever.
Her body was increasingly weak.
"Your Majesty." The palace attendant called out to An Ning.
Her whole body was burning and she had started speaking deliriously.
She mumbled but it was unclear what she was saying.
The palace attendant was frightened.
But the Empress ordered not to report her illness. However, letting it drag on like this, what if the Empress...
The palace attendant’s eyes welled up with fear.
In the end, the attendant couldn’t help but inform His Majesty.
If sothing were to happen to the Empress, they, as servants, wouldn’t care about their lives, but the Empress was the country’s mother...
Xiao Jinxing arrived at Fengqi Palace.
He thought An Ning had already recovered.
The news from Fengqi Palace these past few days also stated that the Empress had recovered.
But why had she suddenly fallen into a deep sleep again?!
From what he knew of An Ning, she would not repeatedly use her health to coerce him. After he had clearly expressed that she was no longer important, An Ning would never debase her own body. She still held her pride and dignity. She wouldn’t let herself deteriorate like this; she would even choose to recover faster, so she could focus on finding other ways to save Gu Xingchuan.
Xiao Jinxing walked to An Ning’s bedside, looking at her feverish face and rapid breathing, her face obviously looking gaunt.
"Did the Empress take her dicine?!" Xiao Jinxing suddenly erupted in anger.
All the palace attendants were so frightened they knelt on the ground.
"Report to His Majesty, the Empress faithfully took the decoction delivered daily from the dicinal Food Room." The palace attendant replied tremblingly.
"Then why is she like this after taking dicine?!"
"Your servant doesn’t know..."
"Why didn’t you inform of her condition earlier?!" Xiao Jinxing questioned.
His fierce deanor almost scared the palace attendant into fainting.
The palace attendant trembled all over, voice shaky, "The Empress didn’t allow us to report to His Majesty..."
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