The autumn wind was bleak, and the ground was covered with fallen yellow leaves.
On the bed lay a woman, as thin and lifeless as a stick.
"Sister!"
Connie Fu, dressed in a splendid nine-phoenix gown, approached. Her vibrant attire clashed with the dilapidated surroundings: "Your maid, Caiyu, accused me of seizing the Feng familys business and stealing your identity—didnt the Feng familys business come to me as a gift from you? And the title of the Battle Kings only daughter, wasnt it something you disdained and asked me to take?"
"Her ramblings are truly annoying; how could they ( means in English) our sisterly bond? So, I had her tongue cut out, her limbs chopped and minced, and fed to the dogs."
The woman lying on the bed, Fiona Feng, wished she could tear into Connie Fus flesh and drink her blood, "You wicked——cough cough——"
"Sister," Connie Fu called gently, sitting by Fiona Fengs bedside, "do you want to see that person?"
Fiona Feng glared at her with intense hatred.
Connie Fu whispered with a smile, "Hes in the Great Ming Palace, just a cup of tea away, sister, shall we go?"
Fiona Feng stared at her, finally croaking, "Is he... alive?"
"Of course," Connie Fu giggled, "hes certainly alive, let me take you to see him now."
Connie Fu lightly raised her hand, ordering her men to drag Fiona Feng outside.
Fiona Feng, with a heart as dead as water, could no longer care about the excruciating pain as her legs scraped against the ground.
She just wanted to see him, even if it was the last time.
...
The heavy palace doors creaked open, and sunlight streamed in through the opening.
The entire hall was empty, with the curtains fluttering in the autumn wind.
Thud.
Fiona Feng was thrown into the hall.
She struggled to lift her head and saw a man in plain clothes kneeling behind the central desk.
The long confinement had robbed him of his former glory.
Fiona Feng gritted her teeth, using all her strength to drag her frail body to him.
"Nathan Beiming——" she managed to say, clutching his wrist.
When she distinctly felt the crisscrossing scars on Nathan Beimings wrist, memories flashed before her eyes, and she choked out, "It was my fault... Im... sorry..."
Back then, she was poisoned and needed the core of a fire lily for the antidote, but the fire lily was difficult to cultivate and required human blood to grow.
It was he who, every fortnight, used his own blood to nourish the fire lily, doing so for years until her poison was cured.
He always held her in the palm of his hand, always pampering her, protecting her, loving her.
But she was blinded, unable to see clearly; her heart had already fallen, yet she kept running away from him, hurting him.
If it werent for her, he would still be the pillar of Qian Nation, not fallen to his current state.
"You were wrong?" Nathan Beiming murmured, finally opening his eyes to look at her, "Fiona Feng, I told you long ago, whatever you want, I can give it to you——you want my life, I can give it."
"You want the vast lands of Qian Nation, I can give them to you too."
"But why did you harm Hao?! Hes the only bloodline my brother left behind! Hes the last family I have in this world, hes just a ten-year-old child, he was so kind to you, how could you bear to do it?"
"I didnt!" Fiona Feng kept shaking her head, tears streaming down her face, "It wasnt me!"
Nathan Beiming looked at her deeply, his eyes lifeless and still, clearly not believing her.
"What wouldnt you do to leave me, to get back at me?" he slowly closed his eyes, "Youre not wrong, I am. I thought, with sincere devotion, even the hardest of hearts could be melted."
"But your heart isnt just cold, its a stone..."
"A stone that cant be warmed——" Nathan Beimings lips curled into a bitter smile, with traces of red blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.
Then, blood began to flow from his nostrils, the corners of his eyes, and his ears.
"Nathan Beiming!" Fiona Feng sobbed, "Please... dont die——"
She lunged forward, her trembling hands wiping the blood from his face, as if by cleaning the blood, he would be fine.
She dared not cry, as if by not shedding tears, nothing had happened.
The person before her would lift his eyes in the next moment, looking at her with his always sharp eyes, gently and coaxingly saying, "Fiona, pay attention to me."
Fiona Feng knelt there, dazed, her heart torn apart.
She vaguely remembered the Feng family, her grandfather, the man entangled with her for years, and... the times of deep sisterly affection with the woman behind her.
She felt her life had been so laughable.
Blood surged up her throat, and the poison in her body flared up.
She struggled to move closer to Nathan Beiming, "Please... wait for me..."
"Dying together in the same tomb, such a romantic thing, how could I let my sister have her wish?" Connie Fu laughed triumphantly, "Drag her away."
Fiona Feng watched as the person she was moving away from, and she vowed with a bleeding heart: "If theres an afterlife, I will definitely make you suffer!"
...
In the third month, the night wind was warm.
In the bedroom of the Jiangzhou guesthouse, a green-clad girl lay on the bed.
The girls face was flushed, constantly tugging at her clothes and murmuring "hot."
A man in a dark robe and tall hat sat by the bedside, the particularly pleasant cold fragrance on him attracting the girl to keep getting closer.
"Fiona Feng," the man murmured, a low call that seemed to contain many suppressed emotions.
"Hmm?" Fiona Feng responded hoarsely, her fair and beautiful hand reaching for the mans collar, her voice coquettishly alluring.
Vaguely, she felt herself being lifted.
A moment later——
Splash!
The sudden cold water entering her mouth and nose choked Fiona Feng into a violent cough, she struggled to surface, instinctively grabbing a wide sleeve.
On that wide sleeve, there were auspicious clouds embroidered with dark gold thread, and on the side of the sleeve was a sash, with a rare Kunshan yellow jade carved with a dragon in the center.
This was……
Fiona Fengs gaze extremely slowly followed the dragon upwards, and when she saw that stern and familiar face, she almost forgot to breathe.
"Ah Chen——" Fiona Feng blurted out.
Nathan Beimings pupils shrank: "What did you say?"
Fiona Feng stared at him blankly, completely unaware of the shock in the mans eyes, thinking that this moment was just a fleeting illusion, just a dream.
Rustle.
Fiona Feng broke the water and rose, tightly embracing the mans waist, tears of excitement welling up.
Nathan Beiming stiffened there, his eyes faintly showing disbelief, but soon, he came to his senses, slowly but firmly holding Fiona Fengs shoulders, pushing her away: "How dare you!"