The Blood Crown - Chapter 287

The two of them couldn’t quite face each other’s gaze. After a long silence, Yan Sikong finally spoke in a low voice: “Yuer, this is all my fault.”

 

Yuan Nanyu adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, leaning against the soft cushion, tilting his chin slightly as he looked at Yan Sikong. “You say it’s your fault, but why?”

 

Yan Sikong froze for a moment. “I… I originally thought that if we exchanged identities, I could get you out of the city, but I miscalculated…” His voice trailed off, growing quieter.

 

“Did you know that Qi Manbi would drug me?”

 

Yan Sikong’s eyes widened: “What… are you saying?”

 

“Qi Manbi said that Chen Mu had taken a legitimate wife, while she herself had a low status and lived in constant fear. You called her your sister and even promised her you’d help.” Yuan Nanyu spoke slowly.

 

“She’s lying!” Yan Sikong said in a deep voice. “Qi Manbi is a fool… I only humored her. Their petty fights for favor have nothing to do with me. Do you… do you really think I knew what would happen and deliberately handed you over to Chen Mu?”

 

Yuan Nanyu looked at Yan Sikong silently, saying nothing.

 

Yan Sikong stiffened, his body trembling uncontrollably. “…You really think that.” A sense of utter desolation swept over him, leaving his vision spinning and pale.

 

Yuan Nanyu’s expression shifted slightly, and he sighed softly. “I don’t want to doubt you, but you’re too clever, and I can’t see through your thoughts. Falling into enemy hands was my own incompetence. Whether I escaped or not was fate, but why did things turn out this way? I can’t understand. Twenty years ago, I volunteered to take the blame for you and was exiled to the northwest. Twenty years later, I volunteered to swap identities with you, enduring humiliation just to stay alive…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to doubt you or assume the worst, but I can’t comprehend it. Was I born just to suffer in your place?”

 

“Yuer, no, that’s not… this…” Yan Sikong found himself at a loss for words. Seeing the desolation and coldness on Yuan Nanyu’s face, his eyes grew red, and his heart twisted with pain.

 

At last, even his Yuer doubted and resented him. Finally. He suddenly felt a strange sense of relief; heaven seemed determined to take everything from him, and now that he had nothing left, he felt a sort of liberation.

 

Seeing Yan Sikong’s grief-stricken expression, Yuan Nanyu said miserably, “I know you came back here to save me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have returned. I’m not blaming you. I only blame myself for being incompetent. This is all my own fault. But… I’m a little afraid of you. In front of you, I feel like a fool. Feng Ye, Chen Mu, Shen Hexuan, all those cunning officials and generals—so many brilliant people were played by you like pawns. You created this world with your own hands, and I feel like you’ve always been in control of me. I finally understand why those close to you ultimately dare not trust you.”

 

Yan Sikong’s voice trembled: “Yuer, I would never, ever harm you.”

 

Yuan Nanyu looked dazedly at Yan Sikong. After a long time, he finally said, “But I can’t trust you anymore.”

 

Yan Sikong closed his eyes, a grief so intense that he could hardly breathe. It was as if the final thread holding him together had snapped.

 

Snapped so insignificantly, snapped so silently. He had experienced so many heart-stopping moments in his life, yet this one seemed pale and plain by comparison. Only he knew the enormity of what had just collapsed within him.

 

Yuan Nanyu was right. A life lived walking on thin ice had made him suspicious and calculating. He was skilled at manipulation, and even if he got what he wanted, he lost people’s trust.

 

He and Yuan Nanyu shared only a resemblance in appearance. Their natures were worlds apart. Yuan Nanyu had a light he could never touch, and just a glimmer of that light in the darkness was like the warmth of the sun to him. That was why he had done everything to protect it, why he was drawn to sincere, straightforward, upright people like the young prince he had once known.

 

But in the end, even those people had fallen into darkness alongside him, and he had only pushed them further.

 

What had he done with his life?

 

“You shouldn’t have come,” Yuan Nanyu said calmly. “No amount of humiliation from Chen Mu compares to the shame I feel for dragging down the Feng family’s army. Now that both of us have fallen into Chen Mu’s hands, what will Feng Ye do? If Chen Mu hadn’t kept such close watch on me, I would have taken my own life the moment my identity was exposed.”

 

“No! Chen Mu will let you go,” Yan Sikong said through clenched teeth. “He promised just now. Yuer, you have to live. Only by surviving can you avenge yourself and the soldiers and help Feng Ye achieve his great work.”

 

“But if I escape, what about you?”

 

“I have my own ways to escape. I’ve already made arrangements.”

 

Yuan Nanyu looked doubtful. “Really?”

 

“Of course. How could I come here alone without a backup plan?” Yan Sikong forced a smile and comforted him gently. “Yuer, you’ve suffered so much. It’s understandable if you don’t trust me. But right now, all that matters is escaping this place. You’re a man, a general of the Wolf King. You must endure and rise again. Don’t let these humiliations shackle you.”

 

Yuan Nanyu stared into Yan Sikong’s eyes, a cold flame burning in his gaze. “Everything Chen Mu did to me, I will repay a hundredfold.”

 

Yan Sikong met Yuan Nanyu’s eyes and, for a moment, it seemed he saw the bright, innocent youth from twenty years ago. Those clean, clear eyes had once held boundless curiosity, joy, and unreserved trust.

 

Now, they were only cold.

 

He had even lost his Yuer.

 

Gained, then lost again. A fleeting happiness that left him utterly empty.

 

Yan Sikong grabbed Yuan Nanyu’s hand, speaking softly: “Yuer, one day, if you ever think back to those four years we spent together, make sure to remember. Write it down, draw it if you must, but remember that those were the best times of our lives.”

 

Remember for me.

 

Yuan Nanyu suddenly felt his nose sting and his heart ache inexplicably.

 

Yan Sikong gently touched Yuan Nanyu’s face, took a deep, searching look at him, then rose and left without looking back.

 

Yuan Nanyu watched Yan Sikong’s lonely figure retreat. His lips parted, wanting to call out, but he swallowed the words. He closed his eyes wearily, retreating into the darkness.

 

—

 

Yan Sikong was confined in his tent. The guards brought food, but he didn’t take a single bite.

 

Late at night, Chen Mu arrived.

 

Chen Mu glanced at the untouched food and sneered, “Sir, are you really planning to starve yourself?”

 

“When will Your Highness release Que Wang?”

 

“I’ve already sent someone to notify Feng Ye. Tomorrow, I’ll have him sent away.” Chen Mu sat cross-legged opposite Yan Sikong, poured a cup of wine for each of them, and then turned the golden jade cup between his slender fingers, his voice suddenly darkening. “Tomorrow.”

 

“You won’t play any tricks, will you?”

 

Chen Mu snorted. “Tricks? Who in this world is better at tricks than you, Sir? Why would I flaunt my skills before you?”

 

Yan Sikong silently stared at him.

 

“How did you kill Shen Hexuan?” Chen Mu asked.

 

“I pushed him off a cliff,” Yan Sikong replied expressionlessly.

 

Chen Mu squinted. “You two passed the imperial examination in the same year, studied under the same master, and were colleagues for ten years. You really have a heart of stone.”

 

“He did me no small harm and stood in my way.” Yan Sikong lowered his gaze. “I always admired his talent, hesitated to kill him several times, and ended up planting the seeds of disaster for myself.”

 

“Heh.” Chen Mu sneered meaningfully. “You truly are cold and heartless.”

 

Yan Sikong’s eyes turned icy. “If you have what you have today, it’s primarily due to me. No need to act as if I’ve wronged you.”

 

A flash of anger crossed Chen Mu’s face. “Yes, you’re right. Precisely because of that, others may betray me, but you cannot. After my mother died, you were the only one I trusted, the only one I cared about, yet you used me again and again, rejected me repeatedly. You never truly cared for me. No matter how much I showed you goodwill, it couldn’t compare to that Feng Ye, who is full of suspicion toward you!”

 

“Feng Ye’s mistrust of me is partly thanks to you.” Yan Sikong said coldly. “Framing, sowing discord — is this how you treat the one person you claim to trust and care about?”

 

“I learned from you.” Chen Mu smiled crookedly. “Your teachings, vividly demonstrated, are far more engaging than those grand but empty or obscure texts.”

 

Yan Sikong looked at Chen Mu, and after a moment, let out a sinister laugh. “Very well, you truly are my student, but you still have much to learn.”

 

“If you’re willing to teach, I’m still willing to learn.” Chen Mu narrowed his eyes. “Guess what Feng Ye will offer to exchange for you?”

 

Yan Sikong mocked, “You’re no longer a child. Why are you still so naive? Feng Ye would never hand over the kingdom for anyone. If it were you, would you?”

 

“Feng Ye is not like me, and that kingdom was never his to begin with.” Chen Mu said viciously. “If not for your support, how could he have taken the Forbidden City in just six years?”

 

“If Your Highness hates me so much, how do you plan to deal with me?” Yan Sikong asked with a calm voice. “Do you intend to see how I differ from my brother?”

 

Chen Mu’s face darkened. “You really are fearless.”

 

“What else can I be? Your Highness visits so late, and there’s no old friendship to renew between us.”

 

Chen Mu kicked over the low table in front of them, sending the food and drink scattering across the ground. Yan Sikong didn’t even blink.

 

Gritting his teeth, Chen Mu pinned Yan Sikong to the bed, tearing open his collar.

 

A large expanse of pale white chest was exposed before Chen Mu. The whip marks, now healed into faint pink scars, still appeared shocking.

 

Yan Sikong looked at Chen Mu expressionlessly, completely numb inside.

 

Chen Mu’s hand slipped inside Yan Sikong’s collar, trembling as it touched the warm skin, then moved downward, feeling the raised scars under his palm.

 

Lowering his head to gaze at the person he had coveted for years, Chen Mu suddenly found himself unsure of how to proceed. After a moment’s hesitation, he withdrew his hand and sat up.

 

Yan Sikong also sat up and quietly adjusted his clothing.

 

Chen Mu grew inexplicably irritated. “Are you really willing?”

 

Yan Sikong looked as if he had heard a joke. “Willing? Who would be willing?”

 

Chen Mu grew even more agitated, his gaze condescending. “And what if you’re not? Whether it’s you or him, you will both bow to me. Under heaven, all land belongs to the king. All within the seas are the king’s subjects. No matter who or what it is, they will submit. Otherwise, why do so many people want to be emperor?”

 

“I have no desire to be emperor.” Yan Sikong said plainly.

 

“Why? Because you’re not a good person?”

 

“A good person?” Yan Sikong scoffed. “No, a good person cannot be a good emperor. I don’t want to be emperor because I believe no one is smarter than me, and a self-willed person like me cannot be a good emperor.”

 

“You’re right.” Chen Mu mocked. “But look at the mess you’re in. Isn’t it a case of outsmarting yourself?”

 

Yan Sikong couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. “Yes, all my success and failure stem from that intelligence.”

 

Chen Mu straightened his clothes and leaned close to Yan Sikong, whispering in his ear. “Do you know why I’m letting you go tonight?”

 

Yan Sikong remained unmoved.

 

“You used to reject me so fiercely, like a snow lotus on a high mountain, unattainable. But now, you don’t resist at all. How boring.” Chen Mu murmured, wrapping an arm around Yan Sikong’s waist suggestively. “Not even as interesting as your brother.”

 

Yan Sikong’s expression grew cold.

 

“Yes.” Chen Mu chuckled darkly, his voice both elegant and cruel. “Humiliating you is far less satisfying than humiliating your brother. So tonight, I’m not interested in touching you. I’m going to spend the night with your brother. After all, tomorrow he will…”

 

Yan Sikong grabbed Chen Mu’s neck, forcing him down. Chen Mu seized Yan Sikong’s wrist and twisted it, pinning him down on the bed. They wrestled in silence, but after just a few moves, Chen Mu had Yan Sikong firmly subdued.

 

“Stop wasting your strength, Sir. My martial arts teacher was the palace’s top master, and I’ve trained rigorously for years. Your brother could pose a threat, but alas…” Chen Mu laughed gleefully. “He’s tied up. I control his every move.”

 

Yan Sikong glared at Chen Mu, his gaze so cold it could kill.

 

Chen Mu let go, stood up gracefully, and gave a formal bow. “I’ll be spending the night with your brother. Rest well, Sir.”

 

Only after Chen Mu left did Yan Sikong get up, his eyes bloodshot.

 

Chen Mu, as your teacher, I will give you one final lesson that you will remember for life.