gnovel Chapter 164 This is my biggest secret, you mustn't tell anyone else.
Chapter 164 This is my biggest secret, you mustn't tell anyone else.
Inside Yuxiu Palace, the lights were on.
Jiang Qingxue was placed on a carved rosewood couch by Qin Mu. Her moon-white nightgown was stained dark red with blood on the shoulder.
The flickering candlelight made her already pale face appear even more translucent, and fine beads of cold sweat trickled down her forehead, but her clear, cold eyes were unusually bright at that moment.
"The imperial physician! Why hasn't the imperial physician arrived yet?!"
Qin Mu's voice was filled with obvious anxiety and anger. He knelt on one knee in front of the bed and carefully lifted the torn fabric of Jiang Qingxue's nightgown from her shoulder.
The wound wasn't long, but it was deep, with the skin and flesh torn open and fresh blood gushing out.
"Your Majesty, I'm fine..." Jiang Qingxue's voice was soft, tinged with suppressed pain, "It's just a superficial wound..."
"You call this nothing?!"
Qin Mu interrupted her, his brows furrowed, his usually lazy and smiling eyes now filled with anxiety and heartache.
He raised his hand, his fingertips wanting to touch the area around the wound, but then stopped in mid-air, as if afraid of hurting her.
He looked intently at Jiang Qingxue, his voice low and earnest, each word seemingly squeezed from the depths of his heart: "My beloved consort, the sight of you rushing out to shield me from that knife just now... it truly broke my heart to see it."
Moonlight streamed obliquely through the window, outlining the profile of Qin Mu's face at that moment.
He shed all his usual laziness and playfulness, and his deep eyes held only pure worry and a tenderness that Jiang Qingxue had never seen before.
Jiang Qingxue's heart skipped a beat at that moment.
She endured the burning pain in her shoulder and looked up to meet Qin Mu's gaze.
The candlelight danced in his eyes, reflecting his undisguised concern.
She pursed her pale lips, trying her best to keep her voice steady:
"Your Majesty is of inestimable worth. It is my duty to shield Your Majesty from a knife."
She said this very naturally, even with the submissiveness and loyalty expected of a concubine.
But the moment she finished speaking, Jiang Qingxue herself was stunned.
Is this my duty?
When did protecting Qin Mu become her duty?
This realization made her heart sink, and a complex mix of emotions surged forth like a tidal wave.
She had discovered that Qin Mu was faking it and trying to lure Xu Longxiang into a trap.
This discovery should have excited her, and she should have immediately found a way to pass this crucial intelligence to Xu Longxiang.
but……
Why?
Why did that thought that should have been acted upon immediately only flash through my mind before being suppressed by an even stronger voice?
There's no need to tell Xu Longxiang.
The voice was calm and indifferent, as clear as if it were whispering in her ear.
Jiang Qingxue was stunned by this sudden thought.
She stared blankly at Qin Mu, who was carefully treating her wounds, and a strange and panicked feeling began to spread in her heart.
Why would she think that?
Xu Longxiang was her childhood sweetheart, the person she was once willing to give everything to wait for and believe in.
Wasn't her purpose in entering the palace to help him accomplish his great cause?
but……
Jiang Qingxue slowly lowered her eyes, her thick eyelashes casting trembling shadows on her pale cheeks.
She began to examine all the information she had come across in the past few days.
Xu Longxiang's every move seemed to be exactly what Qin Mu had anticipated.
From Qinglan Mountain to the Imperial City, from Chen Feng and his wife to the appearance of Cao Wei...
Qin Mu was like a chess player looking down from the clouds, while Xu Longxiang was like a chess piece on the chessboard being pulled by invisible threads.
Being passive and constrained at every turn, every move is exposed to the opponent.
On the other hand, what about Qin Mu?
He is powerful, mysterious, and unfathomable.
The supernatural methods he used to defend against enemies from afar on Qinglan Mountain, the effortless shattering of the Xuan Tie Heavy Sword in Luoying Ravine, and the Dragon Shadow Guards behind him who were like ghostly shadows...
What gave Jiang Qingxue an even more distorted sense of security was Qin Mu's "possession" of her.
Brutal, unyielding, and imbued with the arrogance and controlling nature characteristic of emperors.
Strangely, this domination actually gave her a sense of inexplicable peace of mind.
Because it means that she is useful to him, she has value, and he will not easily abandon her.
As long as she plays the role of "Xue Fei" well.
And what about Xu Longxiang?
When he sent her into the deep palace, did he ever think about what kind of situation she would face?
When he was planning his grand scheme, did he ever truly consider her safety?
And then there's Chun'er... her childhood playmate. Xu Longxiang had promised her that he would take good care of her, but he couldn't remember who she was at all.
Xu Longxiang simply said, "Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles."
At that moment, Jiang Qingxue felt a chill that penetrated to her very bones.
She asked herself: Did she still have feelings for Xu Longxiang?
The answer is complicated.
Perhaps there are more.
After all, he was the person she had loved for over a decade, the person she had made a vow to under the plum tree at Tingxuexuan in the Northern Territory.
But this feeling had long been worn down by reality, becoming weaker and weaker with each disappointment.
Just like now, when she realized that Xu Longxiang's chances of successfully rebelling were extremely slim.
The thought of "helping him," which should have been firm, began to waver.
If you continue to follow Xu Longxiang, the outcome is almost certain: death.
But what if we could take this opportunity to fully demonstrate our loyalty to Qin Mu?
She might not have had to die.
The thought slithered into her mind like a venomous snake, carrying an alluring vitality, yet also making her feel an unprecedented sense of self-loathing and panic.
"What is my beloved concubine thinking about?"
Qin Mu's voice pulled Jiang Qingxue back from her chaotic thoughts.
She looked up and met Qin Mu's deep eyes.
His eyes had regained their usual calm, but the worry had not completely faded away.
Jiang Qingxue looked at Qin Mu with an extremely complex expression.
There was panic over her own thoughts, lingering feelings for Xu Longxiang, confusion about her twisted dependence on Qin Mu, and a sense of relief as if she had given up entirely.
Since we've come this far, and there's no turning back, why not choose a path that offers a better chance of survival?
The thought sent a sharp pang through her, yet also brought a strange sense of relief.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know where to begin.
Just then, Qin Mu suddenly smiled.
"Is my beloved concubine thinking...?"
He spoke slowly, "Since I possess such formidable strength, why didn't I unleash it just now? Instead, I appeared flustered and panicked?"
Jiang Qingxue froze!
She suddenly looked up at Qin Mu, a hint of barely concealed nervousness flashing in her eyes.
Qin Mu took in her reaction, and the smile on his lips deepened.
He sighed, a sigh tinged with a rare honesty and helplessness:
"Actually, it's because of a special cultivation technique I practice."
He paused, his gaze falling on Jiang Qingxue's face, and spoke slowly and deliberately:
"This technique has a flaw: between midnight and dawn, my power will decline significantly, even... to the point where I am only at the level of an ordinary person."
"boom--!!!"
Jiang Qingxue's mind went completely blank for a moment!
She stared blankly at Qin Mu, at the "frank" expression on his face, and felt as if she had been struck by lightning!
Power diminishes at night?!
Only the level of an ordinary person?!
How...how is this possible?!
But if that's not the case, how do you explain Qin Mu's utterly vulnerable performance in the Imperial Garden just now?
How do you explain why he needed a woman like her to take the blow?
But if this is true...
The weight of that secret is as heavy as Mount Tai!
A king's fatal weakness, a secret powerful enough to overthrow an empire—Qin Mu actually... told her that?!
Jiang Qingxue's heart was pounding wildly, almost as if it would jump out of her chest.
She looked at Qin Mu, her eyes filled with disbelief and shock, her lips trembling slightly, but she couldn't utter a single word.
Qin Mu quietly watched her shocked expression. He reached out and gently grasped Jiang Qingxue's uninjured hand. His palm was warm, and his grip was gentle.
"My beloved concubine, this is my biggest secret."
His voice was very low, carrying a strange sense of trust and entrustment:
"Now, I have told you."
He paused, his gaze fixed intently on Jiang Qingxue's eyes:
"You mustn't... tell anyone."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
Jiang Qingxue's voice trembled as she looked at Qin Mu, at the unguarded trust in his deep eyes, and an unprecedented shock completely overwhelmed her.
This trust came too suddenly, too heavily, and too unexpectedly.
She didn't even have time to think about whether the matter was true or false, to analyze Qin Mu's motives for telling her this secret, or to weigh what consequences this secret would bring.
She was simply overwhelmed with gratitude.
An emperor, a powerful emperor strong enough to awe the world, actually revealed his greatest weakness to this concubine who had only been in the palace for a few months and whose identity was questionable.
What does this mean?
It means absolute trust.
This means that her position in his heart is far more important than she imagined.
This means... she can really rely on him to survive in this deep palace.
This realization struck like a lightning bolt, shattering the last line of defense of hesitation in Jiang Qingxue's heart.
She looked at Qin Mu, at his handsome and honest face, at his eyes filled with trust, and a complex warmth welled up from the bottom of her heart.
"Your Majesty..." Her voice choked, tears welling up in her eyes without warning, "This concubine... this concubine is unworthy of..."
Qin Mu gently patted the back of her hand, his tone mild: "You are my beloved concubine, and it is only natural for me to trust you."
He paused, then turned to look outside the hall:
"Yunluan".
The palace doors opened silently, and Yunluan's figure appeared at the entrance like a ghost.
She was still wearing her silver soft armor, her long hair tied up high, her face cold and stern, only her deep eyes gleaming with a dark light in the candlelight.
"Your Majesty." She knelt on one knee, her voice cold and clear.
Qin Mu looked at her, his tone calm yet unquestionable:
"Go and summon the imperial physician."
"Yes," Yunluan replied, and was about to get up and leave.
Qin Mu added another sentence, his voice carrying a subtle, unspoken meaning:
"It is said that the imperial physician is named Wang Jimin."
Yunluan paused slightly.
She raised her eyes, her gaze quickly sweeping over Jiang Qingxue, whose shoulder was stained with blood, on the bed, before looking at Qin Mu.
In the instant their eyes met, a silent exchange was completed between them.
"Understood, Your subordinate." Yun Luan nodded emphatically, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes.
She rose and quickly left the hall, her silver soft armor gleaming coldly in the candlelight, soon disappearing into the night.
The hall returned to silence.
Qin Mu looked at Jiang Qingxue again, gently brushing away the stray hairs damp with cold sweat from her forehead, his gesture almost tender:
"I am a skilled physician, especially adept at treating external injuries. Only with him treating you can I feel at ease."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Qingxue's heart trembled. She slowly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes casting trembling shadows beneath them.
At this moment, she didn't want to think about whether Qin Mu's words were true or false, nor did she want to analyze what the secret of "nighttime power decline" meant.
She was even less willing to dwell on her already wavering feelings for Xu Longxiang.
All she wanted was to... enjoy this moment of warmth.
Even if this warmth might just be an elaborately woven illusion.
Even if there might be deeper scheming behind this trust.
But so what?
In this deep palace, in this predicament of being surrounded by enemies, it seems... a luxury to have someone willing to offer her a false warmth, a superficial trust.
Qin Mu's hand was still holding hers, his palm warm and his grip gentle.
With his other hand, he gently stroked the stray hairs on her forehead that were damp with cold sweat, his movements so tender they were almost pitying.
Jiang Qingxue could feel the warmth of his fingertips, smell the faint scent of ambergris on his body, and feel the shadow he cast over her as he leaned down.
She closed her eyes and let herself indulge in this moment of peace.
After an unknown amount of time, footsteps were heard outside the palace.
It's very light and very stable.
Yunluan has returned.
She pushed open the door and entered, her silver soft armor gleaming with a cold, hard luster in the candlelight. Behind her followed a middle-aged imperial physician dressed in a blue official robe and carrying a medicine chest.
It was Wang Jimin.