Free Web NovelChapter 233: Chapter 233: Let’s Go Back to See Our Daughter
"Qingwu, what are you doing here..."
Ji Qingwu helped the dazed Tao Wanxin to her feet.
She then popped a dark abortion prevention pill into her mouth.
"You’ll feel better in a moment. Don’t be afraid, Princess Consort."
The moment she saw Ji Qingwu, the pain in Tao Wanxin’s abdomen began to subside.
Tears still clung to Tao Wanxin’s face, and she looked like a lost child who couldn’t find her way home.
"The Prince... he said he wants to separate from me. You shouldn’t call me Princess Consort anymore."
Ji Qingwu said, "To separate, you must first have been truly together."
Since their wedding, the two of them had never spent a single day as a truly loving couple. They hadn’t even had the usual spats and make-ups of a normal marriage.
Tao Wanxin said dejectedly, "The Prince said that it’s all in the past, that he won’t turn back."
From her hiding spot by the wall, Ji Qingwu had heard Prince Yong’s confession and thought the misunderstanding between them was about to be resolved.
Who would have thought that Prince Yong would drop such a bombshell in the end? He would probably wake up sober and cry with regret.
Ji Qingwu asked, "Do you trust my words, or Prince Yong’s?"
Tao Wanxin answered without hesitation, "Of course, I trust you."
Remembering there was a third person present, Ji Qingwu whispered a few words in her ear.
Tao Wanxin looked helpless. "Qingwu, I... I can’t do that."
Ji Qingwu knew that right now, Tao Wanxin was just missing a reason to convince herself.
In this situation, Tao Wanxin must have felt like a burden to Prince Yong.
So, Ji Qingwu said decisively, "Even if not for yourself, you must summon your courage for the child you’ve fought so hard to have. What does a moment of saving face matter? It’s not important."
She continued, "It’s miserable for a child to not have a father. Believe me, I speak from experience."
Tao Wanxin’s heart was a mess. After a moment’s hesitation, she said a quick goodbye to Ji Qingwu and ran out after him.
Watching Princess Yong’s running figure, Ji Qingwu understood. She wasn’t doing it for the child.
She was doing it for herself, even if she hadn’t realized it yet.
"How miserable?"
Emperor Wu Su’s deep, cold voice sounded from behind her.
’He heard that last part.’ Ji Qingwu’s eyes flickered, hoping to bluff her way through.
She lamented, "Princess Yong suffered a terrible ordeal in her youth, has had a strained relationship with her husband ever since they married, and now she’s being cast aside by Prince Yong. She’s all alone. It’s truly miserable."
Emperor Wu Su walked to her side and asked, "What happened to you and Jiu Jiu?"
Ji Qingwu lowered her lashes and said softly, "Nothing more than the usual troubles that plague a widow."
’There’s no point in bringing up or reliving the bad things from the past.’
"But I—" ’I always found a way to pay them back.’
CRACK!
The sound was very close to her.
The hairs on Ji Qingwu’s body stood on end, and a cold sweat broke out on her back.
The base of the very tree they had been hiding behind moments ago had been severed by Inner Strength, and it came crashing down with a tremendous THUD.
Ji Qingwu stared in shock at the culprit, only to find Emperor Wu Su’s expression was absolutely foul.
The commotion from the falling tree was so loud it woke the sleeping residents of the rear courtyard. Lights began to appear in many rooms, and the sound of the mansion guards’ running footsteps echoed.
Ji Qingwu grabbed Emperor Wu Su’s sleeve.
But he remained motionless, looking at her. "Are you going to run again?"
’A drunk Emperor is far too destructive.’
Ji Qingwu tried to coax him, "This time, let’s run together, alright?"
Emperor Wu Su stared at her stubbornly.
Ji Qingwu’s hand slid down and took hold of his, shaking it. "If we don’t go now, it’ll be too late."
She continued, "If word gets out that Your Majesty was up in the middle of the night, drunkenly chopping down trees at the Princess Mansion to vent his anger... such news would damage Your Majesty’s reputation."
Emperor Wu Su wasn’t buying it. "What do I need with something as empty and fleeting as a reputation?" he said indifferently. "I don’t want it."
The Emperor of Beili didn’t even care about his reputation anymore. Ji Qingwu was so anxious that beads of sweat formed on the tip of her nose.
In the window of a nearby room, a shadow could be seen of someone throwing on clothes, about to step outside.
She said seriously, "Well, I still care about my maidenly reputation."
Emperor Wu Su said nothing, his dark eyes just stared at her grimly.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, Ji Qingwu felt her own argument was weak. She thought about her own "reputation," which was the talk of the town—a good deal of which was her own doing.
Ji Qingwu thought for a moment, then played her trump card.
She said softly, "Let’s go back and see our daughter. Jiu Jiu might be dreaming of Your Majesty right now."
Just as Ji Qingwu expected, her words had an immediate effect.
By the time the guards had surrounded the fallen tree, they could only stare at each other, baffled by the clean-cut surface of the trunk.
There hadn’t been any thunder, so how could such a thick trunk have suddenly snapped?
It never even occurred to them that a person could have done it, as they had never seen anyone capable of splitting a tree with a single palm strike.
Up on the rooftop, Ji Qingwu’s calves were trembling slightly.
Being whisked up to the rooftop in an instant was too much for Ji Qingwu, who had no martial arts training. Her head swam with waves of dizziness.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around Emperor Wu Su’s waist, her face buried in his chest, and she didn’t dare look down.
The wind on the roof was stronger and more biting, whipping Ji Qingwu’s hair into a bit of a mess.
Suddenly, Emperor Wu Su said, "I know."
Ji Qingwu didn’t understand the Emperor’s out-of-the-blue statement. She looked up at his jaw.
She asked, "What?"
Emperor Wu Su looked back down at her. "So, give me a chance to make up for all that I owe you."
He was talking about the hardships she faced on the road while fleeing with their child, and the sadness Jiu Jiu felt growing up without a father. He knew it all.
Ji Qingwu lowered her head, her heart swaying with the wind.
One moment it was racing, the next it was missing a beat, THUMPING and CLANGING more erratically than the guards’ footsteps below.
Her lips parted. "Your Majesty doesn’t owe me anything."
From beginning to end, he had never wronged her in any way. Everything had been her own choice.
Emperor Wu Su said, "Ah Wu, you’re so clever. You must know what I’m talking about."
Ji Qingwu’s fingers gripped the jade belt at his waist.
It’s cold at the top. The wind up here was chilling, blowing in from all directions.
She had nowhere to hide from it; only his body was warm.
’The Imperial Palace is just like this rooftop. One wrong step and you fall. If I want to survive, my only choice is to hold on to him and never let go.’
Ji Qingwu’s hands, which had been wrapped around his waist, slowly loosened their grip.
The roof tiles beneath her feet were glazed and very slippery.
She shuffled carefully, trying to stand up straight. Without his body heat, it was indeed very cold.
The light in Emperor Wu Su’s eyes instantly went out. The aura around him grew heavy, as if the wind itself was avoiding him, gusting instead entirely toward Ji Qingwu.
Her shimmering brocade dress billowed and floated, separating the two of them like the Milky Way in the sky.
Ji Qingwu’s gaze fell on the corner of the wall where they had been standing. Not long ago, they had been there, so intimately close.
She asked, "Your Majesty, why must I enter the Imperial Palace?"
