The ground was littered with shredded flesh and gore, blood everywhere…
The young man's expression was dazed as he heard Wang Mu'ai's barely suppressed cry of shock from inside the carriage, her terrified eyes fixed on him.
"The Wang family…"
He muttered, clutching what he held to his chest and turning to flee, paying no heed to the countless small wounds on his feet.
"Stop!"
Wang Mu'ai grabbed her silk skirt and leapt down from the carriage. "Quick, stop him! Stop that young man ahead!"
The servants of the Wang and Xie families immediately gave chase, seven or eight sturdy men catching up to Sima Zhi in an instant and surrounding him in a tight circle.
With no way out, Sima Zhi hugged his burden tightly and burst into loud sobs.
"Stay away! All of you, get away from me!"
"I am the Emperor! You cannot treat me like this!"
Wang Mu'ai pulled Xu Qiaoxi along as she hurried forward. Seeing Sima Zhi's deranged state, she struggled to steady her own uneasy breathing.
"No, we won't harm you."
She waved at the servants, signaling them to step forward and protect Sima Zhi.
"Get away! Get away!"
As the people around him moved closer, Sima Zhi flew into a frenzy, swinging his blood-drenched sleeves at them.
The townsfolk and refugees on the street all stopped to watch the spectacle, their murmuring rising like boiling water.
Wang Mu'ai's heart pounded faster and faster.
She absolutely could not let word spread that the Emperor was outside the palace—it would cause chaos.
She swallowed hard and steeled herself to step forward.
"Young master, do you recognize me? I am a young lady of the Wang family. Why don't you come back with me…"
"Pah!"
Suddenly, Sima Zhi lunged at Wang Mu'ai like a wild dog and viciously spat at her.
"The Wang family… the Wang family… you… I dream of you… I can never forget…"
Wang Mu'ai was frightened by his mad behavior and stumbled backward. Xu Qiaoxi wrapped her arms around her, stepping forward to shield her from Sima Zhi.
This mental state… this was the Emperor?
"Sir? Young master?"
Sima Zhi muttered to himself incoherently. Xu Qiaoxi called to him softly, and he lifted his head slightly, his tangled hair concealing a pair of wary eyes.
Xu Qiaoxi released the trembling Wang Mu'ai from her embrace, pushing her toward the Wang family maidservants, signaling them with a look to protect their young lady.
"Young master, look at me. I am not of the noble clans."
He reacted with alarm at the mere mention of the Wang family, and Xu Qiaoxi guessed that this child harbored a deep resistance toward the high-born aristocrats.
Sure enough, Sima Zhi stopped his rambling and stared fixedly at her.
Xu Qiaoxi smiled, walking toward him step by step. She did not offer to take him back to the palace, but instead, with the curiosity of a friend, pointed at what he held in his arms.
"What is that you have there? A ball? Do you like playing with balls?"
"No, it's not…"
Sima Zhi shook his head, desperately clutching the round object pressed against his chest.
"Oh, it's your treasure, isn't it?"
He nodded, saying nothing.
Xu Qiaoxi continued: "But young master's clothes are dirty, and they'll dirty your treasure too. How about we go change into some new clothes?"
Sima Zhi's gaze dropped to himself—his disheveled state, the growing patch of bloodstain around his stomach…
Xu Qiaoxi focused intently, practically pressing her ear against him, until finally she heard a soft "mm" like a kitten's mew. She let out a long breath of relief.
Inside the Red Jade Pavilion, Xu Qiaoxi had servants heat water and led Sima Zhi by the hand to the bathing pool.
When Lan Yan saw her return with a person covered in blood, she nearly fainted on the spot. Fortunately, Lu Yun caught her, and the two huddled together by the pillar outside the bath, trembling like chicks caught in the rain.
Xu Qiaoxi wanted to tremble too, but Sima Zhi gripped her hand with desperate force, leaving her no room to keep her distance.
He was terribly thin—his hand felt like nothing but bone, claw-like, and his grip was agonizing. Xu Qiaoxi gritted her teeth and endured, thinking that once he got into the water to bathe, she could finally relax.
But Sima Zhi refused to take off his clothes, clinging to his "treasure," standing motionless by the edge of the pool.
Xu Qiaoxi coaxed and persuaded: "Your Majesty, there's no one else here. You can set your treasure by the pool and keep watching it the whole time."
Sima Zhi muttered like a small child: "No one will steal my treasure?"
"No, I promise no one will."
He turned his head, carefully examining every corner of the bath, and only when he confirmed there was truly no one else did he break into a delighted smile.
"Then you guard it for me."
He untied his sash, supporting it with one hand while pulling it out with the other.
But the round object was a woman's head—hair styled in a bun, severed cleanly at the neck!
Pale powder and rouge on her face, eyes split wide open, still frozen in the ghastly expression of her final moment.
"Ah! Ah!!"
Xu Qiaoxi screamed in terror. Lu Yun and Lan Yan rushed in worriedly, and upon seeing Sima Zhi holding the head in one hand, both retched and vomited against the wall.
Sima Zhi seemed displeased by Xu Qiaoxi's reaction, stubbornly approaching her, holding the head up to her face.
"She looks so much like my elder sister."
"It's been so long since I've seen a face that resembles my sister so closely. She truly is a treasure."
Madman, madman…
Xu Qiaoxi squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her palm tightly over her mouth and nose, doing her best not to smell or see, to protect herself.
In the deep darkness before her eyes, stars gradually emerged like the cosmos. Sima Zhi was still passionately recounting the thrill of discovering his treasure when, suddenly, a warm, large hand shielded one of Xu Qiaoxi's ears, and another cradled her neck, pressing her against a broad, solid chest.
The steady rhythm of a heartbeat came through her ear canal, and in that moment, all her terror found refuge.
Xu Qiaoxi still dared not open her eyes. She buried her face and clung to the newcomer's waist, as if trying to burrow into his very flesh and bone.
"Your Majesty, stop this."
"Lingjia…"
Sima Zhi's exuberant expression instantly wilted. He hid his hands behind his back and tucked his head away.
Xie Jilian wrapped one arm around Xu Qiaoxi's shoulder, patting her gently in comfort, while extending the other hand toward Sima Zhi with an unmistakable tone: "Your subject will handle this."
"I…"
Sima Zhi still struggled, but Xie Jilian's lips curled into a smile—one devoid of any warmth, so cold it made Sima Zhi tremble.
"Your Majesty, if you keep this up, the entire court will come looking for you."
"No! No!"
Tears instantly welled in Sima Zhi's eyes, and fat droplets fell as he dropped his head at Xie Jilian's feet.
"Take it, take it—just don't lock me away again…"
The candlelight flickered, its hazy glow softly filling the entire bedchamber.
Xu Qiaoxi sat at the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the floor, her mind utterly vacant, still reeling from the shock.
"This morning His Majesty did not attend court. The attendant said he was unwell—it seems something had already gone wrong in the palace by then."
Under the relentless pressure of state affairs, Sima Zhi had finally broken. In his delirium, he saw that a serving maid bore some resemblance to Princess Xincheng, and in his terror, believing his elder sister had come to claim his life, he drew a guard's blade and cut off her head, then fled the palace clutching it to his chest.
Xie Jilian gently took Xu Qiaoxi by the shoulders, crouched before her, and met her gaze with earnest seriousness.
"Qiaoxi, you did very well. You prevented chaos across the court and the realm."
Did she?
Xu Qiaoxi's gaze drifted slowly until it met Xie Jilian's eyes, and a wave of drowning sorrow surged through her heart.
She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but so many people and matters were entangled that she didn't know whether to first ask why the refugees kept multiplying without end, or why the emperor had gone mad and could even slip out to wander the streets.
It seemed that everyone in this world, high and low alike, was unhappy.
Xu Qiaoxi was silent for a long time, her hands resting on her knees trembling ceaselessly, her lips moving faintly:
"That palace maid… can she at least have an intact body? What about her family? Will there be compensation?"
Xie Jilian loosely cupped Xu Qiaoxi's hands, as if offering her some comfort.
"Compensation there will certainly be—you need not worry. As for an intact body…"
He paused.
An intact body was somewhat difficult. How could bloodshed be allowed in the palace? The corpse had likely been hauled off to a mass grave within the hour. Only the head remained now.
"It can't be?!"
Seeing his hesitation, Xu Qiaoxi suddenly gripped his hands in return, all her emotion gathered in her eyes, turning into scalding teardrops.
"She was already suffering enough as a slave serving others, and then she was beheaded by her master for no reason at all—without even an intact body! What did she do wrong?!"
"Qiaoxi, calm down."
Xie Jilian brushed away her tears, his fingertips catching that rootless water, a faint, intangible connection lingering between his skin and hers.
Xu Qiaoxi bit her lower lip, weeping until her whole body broke into a sweat, as though she had entered a fiery hell.
Xie Jilian watched her, a flicker of bewilderment passing through his eyes.
A serving girl—beheaded, stabbed, hanged, or dashed to death—was a trifle these people could settle with a flick of their fingers. Why weep over it?
If a potted flower withered, one simply replaced it. A serving girl was the same.
He thought Xu Qiaoxi was a little foolish.
He waited a long time, but Xie Jilian gave no answer. Xu Qiaoxi suddenly felt a suffocating despair, as though all her bones had vanished, leaving her a thin balloon that could be popped at any moment.
The ground was strewn with fragments of flesh and blood—and all of it was herself.
She could bear it no longer. She bent down, wrapped her arms around Xie Jilian, and sobbed unrestrainedly against his shoulder.
Her soft body trembled.
Xie Jilian froze for an instant, then his hands traced along her ribs and gently encircled her.
Her weeping made Xu Qiaoxi gasp rapidly, her ribs expanding and contracting like butterfly wings folding and unfolding.
Her sorrow became the curve cradled in Xie Jilian's palms.
A desire called "control" was subtly sated. He could pinch her, squeeze her, whenever he pleased, and she would never even realize her own situation.
Mental domination and abuse were a rarer, more precious pleasure.
His chest felt filled with fine downy feathers; he was so delighted he wanted to cough.
Where Xu Qiaoxi could not see, Xie Jilian tilted his lips into a faint smile.
"There, there, no more crying." His palm pressed warmly against her spine, his voice gentle as a clear stream. "Lian will send someone to find that maid's body and give her a proper burial."
A flick of the fingers—doing it was fine.
Consider it a reward for giving him a small moment of amusement.
Xu Qiaoxi didn't process it at first. She lifted her tear-swollen face and looked at him in bewilderment.
That's it…?
The silent candlelight enveloped them both when, suddenly, a slight noise came from beyond the door.
Xu Qiaoxi and Xie Jilian looked over together as Sima Zhi's figure drifted in.
"I—I had a nightmare!"
"I don't want to sleep alone."
His hair hung loose over his shoulders, his frame thin, his silk underrobe slipping off but not quite falling. He sat on Xu Qiaoxi's bed and refused to leave.
Xu Qiaoxi mustered her courage and gave him a push, only to find his body burning hot.
"Your Majesty, why not rest in your subject's quarters? I can have the household physician—"
"No!" Sima Zhi curled his legs up onto the bed, covering his ears. "I don't want to see physicians! They'll poke me with needles!"
He was utterly impervious to reason, and Xie Jilian's head ached. "Then would Your Majesty care for some warm wine to calm your nerves?"
"Wait!" Xu Qiaoxi suddenly cut in. "With a body like his, what wine should he be drinking? Switch it to warm honey water."
Being fond of drink was one thing, but there was a time and place for it. Xu Qiaoxi strongly disapproved of how the people here treated alcohol like a panacea—some of their habits were practically courting death.
Before long, Lu Yun delivered a cup of honey water.
Xu Qiaoxi brought it to Sima Zhi. "Would Your Majesty like a drink? It's sweet, not bitter medicine."
Sima Zhi crawled over from the edge of the pillow, peered at the liquid in the porcelain cup, and opened his mouth.
He wanted her to feed him?
Fine. You really are the little emperor.
Xu Qiaoxi scooped up a spoonful of honey water and fed it to him. Sima Zhi obediently drank. He was young and fond of sweet things, clinging to Xu Qiaoxi to keep feeding him.
Xie Jilian stood by with his hands lowered, watching Sima Zhi's every move.
Kneeling on the bed with both knees, tilting his head up to beg someone to feed him water. If not for him, could this simpleton have become emperor?
Stupid dog.
Xie Jilian should have been delighted at his own handiwork of torment, yet inexplicably, he felt restless.
Especially as Xu Qiaoxi fed Sima Zhi spoon by spoon, so carefully, as if afraid his tongue might get scalded.
Xie Jilian silently took the honey water from Xu Qiaoxi's hands, stood before the bed with his back to the candlelight, his expression hidden in the darkness.
"Lian is Your Majesty's close attendant. I wouldn't rest easy letting others handle such intimate matters."
He raised his hand to grip Sima Zhi's jaw and poured the entire cup of honey water down his throat.
His force was too abrupt—Sima Zhi choked and slapped at his own chest repeatedly.
Xu Qiaoxi was stunned, not understanding why Xie Jilian had suddenly become a different person. She was about to take the empty cup from his hand when Xie Jilian flung it away instead, the porcelain shattering with a crack.
He grasped the hand Xu Qiaoxi had extended, unhurriedly leading her out, leaving Sima Zhi choking and gasping for air.
"There are attendants everywhere here. Your Majesty is not alone. If you have another nightmare, just call out loudly."
Xu Qiaoxi followed Xie Jilian down the steps of the bedchamber in a daze. Moonlight fell like frost, the whole world clean and bright, and the night breeze carried lingering summer heat against her face.
The little emperor had taken over her room, so she couldn't say much about it.
"It's late. I'll go find Lu Yun and the others to sleep."
Xu Qiaoxi turned toward the maids' quarters, but Xie Jilian didn't release her hand. He kept pulling her wrist forward.
"Come to Lian's place."
"With His Majesty in residence, it wouldn't do for him to discover that our relationship is a sham."
Xie Jilian looked back at her, his eyes full of weariness and a helpless, bitter smile.
"Dealing with a child of incomplete mind is the hardest. Once he latches onto you with endless questions, there's no end to it—we wouldn't get a wink of sleep all night. What do you think, Qiaoxi?"
"Ah? Oh, oh."
…That did make sense.