As the darkness in his eyes just gathered, a green figure suddenly appeared before him.
Suixing stood in front of him, smiling as she handed him a bracelet, saying, "This is one I made from turquoise. The craftsmanship is a bit rough, but it's the chain I'm most satisfied with so far. I'm giving it to Your Majesty as thanks for fulfilling my wish."
"..."
Rong Huai's deep eyes moved from her face to her palm, finally settling on the unremarkable stone chain.
Great Xuan was a powerful nation, and every year countless smaller countries sent tribute, some rare treasures, some beauties. Rong Huai would glance at them, but none ever caught his eye.
They were his spoils of victory, merely a backdrop for his achievements, not something to be integrated into his life.
In some ways, Rong Huai was like a Buddha without desires, but due to his intense bloodlust, he also resembled an evil Buddha seated on a lotus pedestal.
Rong Huai grabbed her hand before she could pull it back. Seeing a scratch on her jade-like fingertips, his pupils contracted in shock, and anger almost filled his eyes: "Who allowed you to..." injure yourself?!
"Is Your Majesty angry?"
Faster than his hurtful words, her concern came out: "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. It's just that this turquoise isn't very expensive, so I had to personally craft it to make it worthy of Your Majesty."
The woman slowly bent down, meeting the gaze of the man seated behind the long table.
Turquoise wasn't inexpensive, nor could a single chain truly be worthy of the Emperor of Great Xuan—she said this because Rong Huai believed nothing could make her harm herself, and she wanted Rong Huai to know he was worth her doing so. She was perfectly willing.
"..."
Rong Huai took a deep breath. The anger that had almost made him lose control was diffused by the woman's gentle words.
He held the woman's hand tightly, enunciating each word: "There won't be a next time."
"Okay!" Suixing smiled and nodded.
Rong Huai guided her hand to touch the bracelet: "Help me put it on."
Suixing's smile deepened, and she lowered her head to comply.
From then on, Rong Huai never took it off—some courtiers noticed that no matter what clothes His Majesty wore, there was always a hint of green peeking out from his sleeve.
That was the reflection of the turquoise.
System: "It's like he's secretly showing off his affection~"
Ye Wan'er in the medical hall sneered when she learned that the tyrant in the palace had actually agreed to let the medical hall disciples enter the palace.
She had thought Suixing was truly favored by the tyrant like in her previous life, but it turned out she was nothing special!
In her previous life, the tyrant, in his desire to monopolize her, was unwilling to let her see anyone from the medical hall. Every meeting resulted in many deaths, and she had broken down multiple times because of it.
Now, Suixing had only been in the palace for how long, and the tyrant was already letting the medical hall disciples enter the palace—
Ye Wan'er's smile froze, and her expression suddenly turned to horror.
The tyrant wouldn't be using the pretext of letting medical hall disciples enter the palace to still try to get her into the palace, would he?! In this life, she still couldn't escape the fate of being imprisoned?!
At this thought, Ye Wan'er couldn't calm down at all. She even wanted to pack her bags and leave the capital immediately.
But the guards who came to escort them into the palace surrounded the medical hall, not even a fly could get out!
Ye Wan'er anxiously bit her fingernails, completely out of place among the excited female disciples around her.
Before getting into the carriage, Ye Wan'er found the right moment to try to slip into the crowd of onlookers, but she was quickly grabbed by the arm by a quick-eyed guard—
"Ahhh!"
She screamed.
The guard was a martial artist, and the Emperor's command was inviolable. If someone escaped, he would be beheaded, so of course, he used more force in his urgency.
Several sisters immediately gathered around: "Let go of our Second Senior Sister!"
"Oh my god, her arm's dislocated! How despicable!"
This guard happened to be the captain of the guards and immediately said, "I will apologize to His Majesty when we return. Now, all of you get in the carriage! Don't miss the time to enter the palace!"
Two of them still wanted to argue with the guard, but another female disciple, who had watched the entire scene coldly, said, "She doesn't want to enter the palace to see Eldest Senior Sister; she tried to escape just now."
"...Ah? Sister Wan'er, you..." The two female disciples instantly froze.
"Why?" The female disciple asked, puzzled, "Eldest Senior Sister has always been so kind to us. Now that she's injured, do you not even think it's necessary to see her?"
Ye Wan'er couldn't be bothered to say more to them. They had no idea how terrifying that man was! Nor did they know that the man was having them enter the palace not for Suixing, but for... her.
Ye Wan'er's silence made the sisters look at each other.
"Sister Wan'er, speak up. Why don't you want to go? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" The junior sister hesitated, "Eldest Senior Sister would never force us. This must be His Majesty's will. Don't blame Eldest Senior Sister."
"Don't talk to her anymore," the Fifth Senior Sister still sneered.
"Exactly, what's there to say? If it weren't for Eldest Senior Sister, how could she have learned medicine from Master? The money she used to bury her parents was saved from Eldest Senior Sister's own mouth!"
The Third Senior Sister pouted, "These past few years, how has she treated Eldest Senior Sister? Not even a smile, as if someone owed her silver—when it's clearly her who owes so many years and hasn't repaid it!"
Ye Wan'er's face turned red from their endless chattering. She shouted, "I'll repay her tenfold, a hundredfold! Are you satisfied now?!"
"..."
"A mere fifty taels of silver is worth you all arguing like this?!"
In her previous life, she had repaid Suixing with a chest of gold!! That was a chest of gold!
Just because she was given a little bit of money when she was in dire straits, did they expect her to bow and scrape whenever she saw Suixing, and serve Suixing for a lifetime to repay it?!
"What big talk, a mere fifty taels," the Fifth Senior Sister said sarcastically.
The Third Senior Sister chuckled, "Alright, alright, we're going to see Eldest Senior Sister soon, let's all be happy."
Ye Wan'er's chest heaved with anger. She looked at this group of so-called sisters and felt utterly disgusted.
In her previous life, if they hadn't benefited from her, how would they have been qualified to enter the palace as imperial physicians? How would they have been qualified to treat high-ranking officials and nobles? They would only have been able to shrink in a small medical hall for a lifetime, earning just enough copper coins to get by!
Now they thought she was a burden? Truly foolish beyond belief!
When they entered the palace later and saw that tyrant abandon Suixing for her, what expressions would this group of sisters have?!
Although she greatly resisted and abhorred the tyrant... perhaps palace life was actually suitable for her. All this scheming and deception outside was too disgusting; she couldn't stand this life for another day.
Ye Wan'er thought self-pityingly, unable to believe that after all these twists and turns, it was still the same outcome as her previous life. Were she and Rong Huai destined for three lifetimes of entanglement, unable to escape no matter what?
Alright... in this life, she would try her best to control her aversion to Rong Huai.
In her previous life, she had always rejected Rong Huai, so Rong Huai hadn't really done anything with her... in this life, she would endure it. As long as she didn't have any physical intimacy with Rong Huai... she could reluctantly...
The carriage finally entered the palace.
A great nation had its grand demeanor, evident from the imperial palace.
Dragon-adorned towers, phoenix ponds, carved railings, and jade-inlaid structures, displaying the utmost luxury. This was the foundation of Great Xuan, built over hundreds of years.
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