She Is Such A Jerk, And Yet She’s The One Crying! - Chapter 52

Lin Dongruan looked at the palace attendants standing before her holding white silk nooses, and her gaze turned cold.

She called out the Emperor’s childhood nickname and returned to his bedside. “A-Man, have you truly resolved to make me be buried alive with you?”

The young man perhaps did not hear her; there was a long silence. It was only when Lin Dongruan asked him a second time that he provided an answer.

“Yes.” The Emperor’s eyes were filled with tears, and he spoke with lingering resentment. “I am the Son of Heaven. All the people under heaven should listen to me. What I could not obtain in life, I must obtain after death. Teacher, do not be afraid. The underground palace and mausoleum I ordered to be built are already finished. Come accompany me… accompany me.”

“I will not agree to this, A-Man. Even if I cannot walk out of this imperial palace today, my soul will not grant your wish,” Lin Dongruan said. “The four words ‘Respect the Teacher and Honor the Way’ were the first things I taught you when we first met. You have not only forgotten them entirely but are acting in direct opposition to them.”

“Teacher, I am not intentionally being rebellious. If there is blame to be laid, blame it on the year you abandoned me and left,” the young man said. “Why will you not submit to my will? Teacher, I ask you—have you ever liked me?”

“I only speak the truth to those I like,” Lin Dongruan said softly, her gaze fixed calmly ahead. “Therefore, I do not like you.”

This response was far too cryptic. The ailing Emperor lay on his couch and pondered it for a long time without reaching a true conclusion; it felt as though his head was about to catch fire.

“Teacher, what on earth does your answer mean? I don’t understand.” For a moment, the Emperor did not dare let his subordinates take rash action, and he simply asked her over and over again, “Dongruan, tell me.”

Lin Dongruan leaned over to look at him and asked if the attendants in the room could be dismissed first.

Thinking she was about to reveal a secret, the young man momentarily forgot about forcing her to hang herself and directly ordered the palace staff to withdraw.

Fearing he could no longer hear well, Lin Dongruan leaned closer and said, “A-Man, I once promised to take you south to see the rivers and mountains of our realm. I was not lying to you.”

The young man murmured despondently, “But I am dying. Even if Teacher wants to take me away, I will not be able to see it.”

“A-Man, you said that you wished to fulfill in death the desires you could not achieve in life,” Lin Dongruan reasoned with him. “When your five senses and six perceptions have faded, I can take a single lock of your black hair. Using that hair to represent your physical self, your Teacher will take you to see the rivers and lakes of the south.”

However, the Emperor said, “But… Teacher, you told me before that when an Emperor enters the mausoleum, his clothes, crown, skin, and hair must be complete. The body cannot be damaged, and the attire cannot be unkempt; otherwise, it violates the rites. Teacher, you are someone who upholds the rules and values worldly etiquette—would you truly be willing to break form for my sake?”

“We have been teacher and student. If, at the moment of parting, I would rather strictly observe such rules than fulfill your dying wish, would that not be a complete lack of sentiment?” Lin Dongruan spoke softly. “Your Majesty, go in peace. When your senses have all dissipated, your Teacher will take a lock of your hair in secret when no one is looking.”

The young man could hardly hear her words anymore. At the brink of death, he clutched Lin Dongruan’s sleeve. “Teacher, how about… how about snapping off a section of my finger bone to take with you instead? Hair scatters easily, but a finger bone can remain in the places I want to go for a long, long time.”

Lin Dongruan smiled. “If I were to break off Your Majesty’s finger bone, I fear I would not even be able to walk out of this palace.”

The young man struggled to make a sound. “My… My Ruyi Golden Command is hidden behind the inscribed plaque over there. Teacher… take it to leave the palace. No one will stop you.”

Lin Dongruan went to check, and indeed, there was a golden medallion with a dragon motif that granted immunity from death. The inscribed plaque was the very one she had personally written when the new Emperor ascended the throne, bearing the four characters: “Benevolence, Harmony, and Love for the People.”

She had not expected him to change his mind and release her from being buried with him.

“I suddenly thought that Teacher would not like me doing this. Just like… back then… my attempts to make you stay bore bitter fruit. I do not want to repeat those mistakes. So, I will let Teacher go after all.” The Emperor’s breathing became ragged, and a single sentence required multiple pauses to finish. He coughed while letting out long, labored breaths. “I had decided from the beginning—if Teacher still held our teacher-student bond in her heart, I would give you the immunity token. If Teacher was determined to sever all ties with me, then I would deliberately spite you and make you follow me in death.”

Lin Dongruan said, “Your Majesty is just as rebellious as when you were a child. Your outward obedience was all a facade; in your heart, you still harbored thoughts of defying your Teacher.”

The young man laughed, and the hand gripping Lin Dongruan’s gradually lost its strength, falling to the side.

Lin Dongruan reached out to close his hollow eyes. “A-Man, rest in peace.”

The poison would gradually erode the five senses and six perceptions. It was unknown if the young man heard her words, but he lay quietly on the couch.

Lin Dongruan checked his breath; it was already so faint it was nearly undetectable.

A promise made must be kept. Lin Dongruan rose, intending to take a lock of his hair, but she suddenly realized she had not brought a blade into the palace, and in this room, no dangerous or sharp objects had been left behind.

Left with no other choice, Lin Dongruan had to go out to find someone.

As soon as she opened the door, the palace attendants who had temporarily withdrawn stepped forward again. Still holding the white silk, they knelt and demanded she hang herself.

Lin Dongruan produced the golden medallion from a moment ago and faced the attendants. “This is the Golden Command of Immunity personally bestowed by His Majesty. The white silk is useless. All of you, withdraw.”

Just when she thought the matter had passed, the leading Head Eunuch gave a sinister laugh. Ignoring the token, he stepped forward. “This servant does not recognize what that golden token is. I only know the Emperor’s command—the Imperial Teacher must be buried with him.”

Lin Dongruan’s gaze fell upon the Head Eunuch, Liu Liansheng. She remembered that this man had once served the previous Emperor; it was no wonder he was so intent on killing her.

“Eunuch Liu is but a mere palace servant, yet you have the audacity to distort His Majesty’s intentions.” Lin Dongruan’s face showed no anger, but her voice was cold. “His Majesty is still awake. Do you dare repeat what you just said in his presence?”

Liu Liansheng was struck dumb; he truly had not expected the Emperor to still be alive.

Lin Dongruan remained composed. “Eunuch Liu, please come in and repeat your words before His Majesty.”

The Emperor was alive, but he was no different from being dead; naturally, he could not hear these words. Lin Dongruan knew the situation, but under the eunuch’s inexplicable harassment, she could only use the fact that the Emperor was still alive to bluff him.

If he believed her, she could leave smoothly.

But Liu Liansheng was cunning. Despite her caution, he refused to believe her and insisted on entering the room to check the Emperor’s condition himself.

Lin Dongruan feigned letting him pass.

Liu Liansheng’s gaze was scrutinizing for a moment, and he took a step to enter—

In the blink of an eye, Lin Dongruan moved. With one hand, she seized the passing Liu Liansheng, while simultaneously pressing the sharp tip of a hairpin from her sleeve against his throat. “Stay your hand, Eunuch Liu. Do not disturb His Majesty.”

Liu Liansheng felt a chill at his throat. He gritted his teeth and spoke. “To think the Imperial Teacher would also use such treacherous schemes. Truly, the human heart changes easily.”

Lin Dongruan applied pressure with her fingertips, and the hairpin slowly pierced the skin. Soon, Liu Liansheng was crying out in fear and shock, his high-pitched voice begging her to stop.

“When the late Emperor passed away, Eunuch Liu, you came to me in tears, begging. You said you didn’t want to spend the rest of your life in that lonely imperial tomb and wanted to stay in the palace to serve the new Emperor.” Lin Dongruan coldly brought up the past. “The Emperor was unwilling to keep you, but I thought your loyalty was rare and so I kept you. Eunuch Liu, you are so ungrateful—what are you plotting? Could it be that with the new Emperor’s passing, you intend for eunuchs to interfere in state affairs?”

Liu Liansheng shook with fear, the blood from his neck flowing down onto his clothes. “The Imperial Teacher is wise, this servant wouldn’t dare! How could this old servant dare to have such treasonous thoughts?”

Lin Dongruan said, “Order the attendants to withdraw.”

Liu Liansheng hurriedly waved his hands. “All of you, get out! Don’t offend the Imperial Teacher’s eyes!”

Lin Dongruan watched the chaotic scene in silence. Just as she was about to release Liu Liansheng, she suddenly heard the sound of clashing swords from outside.

“Liu Liansheng, you are quite bold. Have you hidden private soldiers to ‘clear the Emperor’s side’?” Lin Dongruan’s expression darkened. The hairpin in her hand moved closer to Liu Liansheng’s vital point. She said, “This is not a dream of grandeur you should be having. It only takes a fraction of an inch for this hairpin to take your life. Eunuch Liu, see if you have the life left to carry out a rebellion.”

Liu Liansheng was so terrified he was about to fall to his knees. “I am wronged! This old servant wouldn’t dare think of such things. Imperial Teacher, do not frame me.”

Listening to the sound of swords, Lin Dongruan realized that the soldiers outside were either forcing a palace coup or coming for her. She feared she would not be able to leave the palace unscathed.

If she were to die today, she could neither fulfill the Emperor’s dying wish nor see A-Ning one last time.

In the end… she would still be failing A-Ning’s feelings.

A chill rose in Lin Dongruan’s heart. As if having made a firm decision, she decisively ended Liu Liansheng’s wretched life and walked toward the outside—

The corpse of a guard fell at her feet. Lin Dongruan picked up a cold, blood-stained sword from the ground and looked calmly at the chaos before her.

She had broken her vow against killing.

She would try to fight her way out.

Even if only to hold on long enough to see A-Ning once more.