[Intelligence Function activated, System automatically upgrading. As the Host is currently in a coma, she cannot wake up until the upgrade is complete.]
One System Notification after another sounded, but Chu Shengsheng, unconscious, did not hear them.
As for Pei Zhen, realizing that he had actually shed tears, he sat there in a daze. At this moment, he finally understood.
Deeper and more profound than what he had realized back in Jiangnan.
He had truly fallen in love with Chu Shengsheng.
It wasn’t just the longing he had felt in Jiangnan, but the anger upon seeing her covered in wounds, the regret for leaving her alone here, and the pain of knowing she had been bullied.
As for the miscarriage, it was merely the final straw that shattered his composure.
Upon deeper reflection, all these emotions ultimately stemmed from his genuine feelings, sincere affection, and true love for the young woman.
Once he realized this, his gaze toward her softened, filled with endless longing and love.
He reached out, taking her hand back into his own, holding it tightly without letting go.
Time passed minute by minute, the sun rose in the east and set in the west, candles burned out and were relit. In the blink of an eye, he had remained in this position, sitting here for two days and two nights.
Yet, Chu Shengsheng still had not awakened.
This began to fill him with panic and fear. Several times during this period, he summoned Imperial Physicians, but they all said her condition remained stable, though the time of her awakening was still unknown.
“Your Highness…”
Zhao Dequan carefully entered with a bowl of hot porridge. The dim candlelight in the room illuminated the figure of the man sitting rigidly.
In just two short days, his eyes had sunken, and dark stubble covered his jaw. Seeing this, Zhao Dequan couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.
“Your Highness…” he called softly.
Pei Zhen was abruptly startled awake. A flicker of violent irritation at being disturbed flashed in his eyes, but upon recognizing Zhao Dequan, that hostility faded into silence.
“What is it?” His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken in a long time.
Zhao Dequan immediately bowed and whispered, “His Majesty… has sent someone again.”
The man’s gaze didn’t even shift from the face of the unconscious girl on the bed. He coldly uttered two words: “Get out.”
Zhao Dequan had expected this. He knelt with a thud and said with difficulty, “Your Highness, please calm your anger.”
“But… but this time, Eunuch Su came personally. He said that no matter what, Your Highness must go to the palace. His Majesty has urgent matters to discuss…”
“Tell him to get out.” Pei Zhen’s voice was not loud, but it carried a chilling coldness. “Inform the palace that I am not going anywhere now. If anyone else comes to disturb me, I won’t hesitate to have the Eastern Palace guards escort them out.”
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the bright yellow imperial edict placed on the table. It had been delivered a few days earlier, conferring upon Chu Shengsheng the title of Lady of Goodness and bestowing countless rewards of gold, silver, and silk as consolation.
Compensation?
How could such lifeless things compensate for his Sheng Sheng and the child they had lost?
Following the man’s gaze, Zhao Dequan also saw the imperial edict. Understanding dawned on him, leaving only a sigh.
Pei Zhen ignored him again, turning back to the person on the bed.
“Sheng Sheng, can you hear me?”
He spoke softly, his tone gentle. “Father has issued an edict, conferring upon you the title of Lady of Goodness.”
“When you wake up, you won’t have to go back to that remote courtyard anymore. From now on, you’ll live here. We can be together every day, alright?”
He paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his voice carrying a trace of barely suppressed choking as he slowly said, “Wake up and look at me, Sheng Sheng… As long as you wake up, anything you want is fine… We’ll have children in the future, many, many…”
“I promise you, no one will ever bully you again, never again…”
Zhao Dequan watched this scene, his heart aching even more.
Having served the Crown Prince for many years, when had he ever seen His Highness in such a state?
He knew that this time, Consort Chu had truly carved herself into the very bones and blood of His Highness.
But this couldn’t go on any longer.
Thinking this, he took a deep breath, stepped forward, and spoke with unprecedented earnestness and gravity, “Your Highness, please pull yourself together! If Consort Chu were aware at this moment and saw you so despondent and haggard for her sake, how heartbroken and distressed would she be?”
Pei Zhen’s body trembled slightly.
Seeing the man react, he continued, “And… the suffering and injustice Consort Chu endured this time, and that unborn Little Imperial Descendant… can it really just… be forgotten?”
“Your Highness, vengeance has not yet been taken, the wicked have not yet been punished. If you fall first, how will Consort Chu face herself when she wakes?”
“Moreover, in the future, you and Consort Chu will surely have new little princes!”
“New… little princes…” Pei Zhen murmured these words, a faint light gradually appearing in his dull eyes, dispelling the lifelessness and despondency of the past days.
He slowly placed Chu Shengsheng’s hand back under the covers, then gently tucked in the blanket around her, his movements impossibly tender.
Then, he stood up.
Having sat for too long, his legs prickled with numbness, but he seemed oblivious, only straightening his back bit by bit. The sharpness and majesty belonging to the Crown Prince returned to him, deeper and more imposing than ever before.
Like a sword of ice, finally unsheathed to taste blood.
“You are right.”
He lifted his gaze, his face covered in coldness, murderous intent spreading as he said,
“Sheng Sheng’s vengeance, our child’s vengeance, and those who dared to reach out their hands… it’s time to settle accounts.”
He took one last deep look at the sleeping face on the bed, then turned and strode out.
“Zhao Dequan, have all those who saw Sheng Sheng that day been captured?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, everyone in the courtyard of the guilty concubine Liu Shi has been captured, and the guards from that day have also been imprisoned.”
“Take me to see them.”
Their voices faded into the distance. On the bed, the unconscious Chu Shengsheng suddenly frowned slightly before falling quiet again.
In Liu Yiyi’s courtyard.
All the servants belonging to this courtyard, from Liu Yiyi’s personal maids and attendants down to the lowly cleaning boys, were tied up and kneeling there. The guards from that day were also kneeling in a row.
Seeing the man approach, they all cried out and begged for mercy.
Pei Zhen’s face was cold and unmoved. Before meeting Chu Shengsheng, he was already the decisive and ruthless Crown Prince of today; his only gentleness was reserved for Chu Shengsheng alone.
And this time, he had come to avenge the woman he loved.
“Your Highness, spare us!”
Listening to their cries and pleas, he merely swept a cold glance over them and ordered, “Kill them all.”
These people, who did not help Chu Shengsheng back then, were all accomplices!
There was no need for them to continue existing.
“Yes.”
The guards following behind felt a chill in their hearts and immediately stepped forward.
Amidst flashes of cold steel, the earlier cries and pleas for mercy vanished, leaving behind only corpses and blood covering the ground.
Seeing this, Pei Zhen slowly turned and left, heading to the next location. His final words drifted on the wind:
“Demolish this courtyard and fill it in.”
Zhao Dequan followed closely behind him, his expression stern. The scene just witnessed seemed long familiar—this was more like their Crown Prince.
Outside the rear courtyard’s side room.
“Your Highness.”
The guard stationed outside immediately spoke respectfully upon seeing the arrival.
“How is the person inside?”
“Your Highness, the guilty concubine Liu Shi has been suspended inside the whole time. At first, she resisted fiercely and hurled insults, but after two days of confinement, she fell silent. However, she is still breathing.”
“Open it. I will enter.”
Pei Zhen watched as the side room door slowly opened and walked in with a cold expression.
Previously, he had intended to wait until Chu Shengsheng awoke to let her personally take revenge on Liu Yiyi. But now, he had changed his mind.
He would first exact revenge for Sheng Sheng, leaving the final breath for her.