Chapter 46 The Emperor Lives
I suddenly looked up.
Through my tear-blurred eyes, I saw Yuwen Huang at the entrance of the sleeping chambers, supported by two imperial physicians.
His face was deathly pale, his lips white, yet he forced a smug, annoying smile while gazing at me.
He... he was not dead?
I froze in place, my mind completely blank.
The old eunuch stood nearby, wiping sweat while crying and laughing at once.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty had just fainted from the poison. His breathing was too weak, and this old servant... this old servant mistakenly thought... Thankfully the imperial physicians used their treasured antidote to pull Your Majesty back from the brink."
Yuwen Huang gently pushed the physicians aside and walked toward me step by step, slow yet resolute.
He reached me, bent down, and wiped the tears from my face with cool fingertips.
"It seems..."
His voice was soft, carrying the exhaustion of survival and a trace of incredulous tenderness.
"Empress... has me in her heart."
I stared at his regained handsome face and felt the real touch of his fingers. The huge sorrow was instantly replaced by an even fiercer wave of emotion.
Relief, ecstasy, grievance, and... the urge to punch him hard.
This bastard.
He had nearly scared me to death.
If I had known, I should have finished him on the battlefield.
I opened my mouth to curse or hit him, but all the words collapsed into one nasal sentence.
"Yuwen Huang... you bastard!"
He paused, then gave a low chuckle. Ignoring his heavy wounds, he pulled me tightly into his arms.
"Yeah, I am a bastard."
He rubbed his cheek against my hair and sighed with satisfaction.
"So you had to stay and look after me for the rest of your life."
The empress enthronement ceremony?
It seemed there was truly no escape this time.
And I... seemed no longer to want one.