“I’m not even going to speak about other matters, she’s pregnant with a child, do you not even want your own child?”
Zhao Zhi quietly lowered his head, his palms slowly clenched into fists. With much difficulty, he squeezed out of his throat extremely flat words: “There isn’t anymore.”
They were both gone.
There was nothing left anymore.
Chapter 167
(60.2)
Song Luan was stunned for a moment after hearing these words, she rarely saw this expression on her son’s face, his eyes were a gloomy dark color, there was no emotion on his face, and there was an obvious sadness among his cold and indifferent words.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Looking at him, Song Luan was at a loss. What, did he feel like he was the one being wronged?
Zhao Zhi shook his head, “Mother, I’m fine.”
Song Luan wanted to say that “You do not look like you are fine”, but she swallowed back the words. In fact, after her son grew up, he became quite distant with her, he would not necessarily talk to her about what was in his heart.
“Think about it over again, marriage is a big matter, not a child’s play.”
“Hmm. Father says the same thing.”
“Don’t listen to him, he doesn’t have anything good to say.” Song Luan put this point of vexation behind the back of her mind and went on to say, “I won’t force you to marry someone you don’t want to marry, but you can’t be irresponsible, you have to take care of the child.”
Zhao Zhi remained silent for a long time. Struggling to pull up the corners of his mouth, his smile looked a little ugly, there was a sour taste in his throat, which he gulped, before he replied with a “mmh”.
Seeing that his complexion looked really bad, Song Luan couldn’t bear to say anymore reprimanding words, she had said everything that had to be said clearly, he had to figure out everything else on his own.
“Remember to take care of your health, look at you, you’ve gotten thinner.”
“I will.”
Zhao Zhi walked out of his mother’s residence and stood on the long stairs with his back straight. The blazing sun on top of his head was so blinding, his head felt dizzy. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, the piercing daylight leaked through his fingers, his sore eyes blinked multiples times, dry and stinging.
As he walked out the door of the palace main hall, Zhao Xin, with her skirt lifted up, ran madly to him. Her eyes, which had turned into those of a rabbit, were very noticeable, “Zhu Zhu was pregnant with a child?”
The knife in the soft flesh of Zhao Zhi’s heart plunged an inch deeper, his complexion was so white it was terrifying, and his voice was almost too low to be heard, “Yes.”
Zhao Xin’s body staggered back. Fortunately, a palace maid supported her in time. Her tears were like big beads falling continuously. She really didn’t expect her big brother, whom she both respected and feared, to be so cruel.
She cried so much her face was full of tears. She had just learned that Ming Zhu had died in a fire, and she didn’t believe that a fire would start so coincidentally out of nowhere.
“Even if you refuse to give her a funeral, could it be that you’re not even willing to find out the one killed her?”
Hearing this, Zhao Zhi wanted to laugh, but in the end, he was unable to. With a hoarse voice, he retorted back, “Who killed her?”
Inside the man’s dark, deep eyes, there were striking lines of blood, revealing his extreme hatred.
Seeing his appearance, Zhao Xin was afraid of him, and she immediately turned silent.
Zhao Zhi told the palace maid behind her, “Don’t let the princess run around, and don’t let her listen to nonsensical rumors.”
Zhao Xin was both angry and scared. The lady who had run her mouth in front of her didn’t have any good intentions, but what she said was all true.
They were all black-hearted people.
She said, “Don’t try to stop me, I will go to the temple tomorrow and ask the abbot to release sister Ming Zhu and the poor child in her belly from their suffering.”
How wrong she was before to think that her big brother loved Ming Zhu very much. Now he was unwilling to even do such a simple thing for Zhu Zhu.
She could also be considered a good friend of Zhu Zhu’s. She couldn’t bear to let her die like that.
Not bothering to be courteous with her, Zhao Zhi called Wei Liu over, and furiously said, “Keep an eye on her, if she dares to leave the palace, lock her up.”
Zhao Xin was about to die of anger, “If I was Ming Zhu, even as a ghost, I wouldn’t let you rest! She and Wei Chiyu were the ones meant for each other.”
“What are you doing? What are you doing! Let go of me! You’re making me so mad!”
“I’m going to tell father! I’ll tell him you’re bullying me!”
Zhao Xin’s mouth was full of curses as she got carried away.
Zhao Zhi listened to her words with a blank expression. She wouldn’t let him rest even as a ghost?
He wanted her to do that.
But she wouldn’t even enter his dreams.
The few times he occasionally dreamed of her, all he saw, time and time again, was her dying in front of him. Every time, he was dismembered, tortured, his heart was dig out and cut into pieces, his face turned hideous, twisted from the pain. Kneeling on both knees, the voice in his throat sounded like a sorrowful cry of agony.
Those few scattered dreams, were nightmares.
He was either burning in a raging fire, or a million arrows pierced through his heart. Everything was of his own doing.
He handed over the arrows, and he ordered the death sentence with his own mouth.
Zhao Zhi came back to his senses and left the palace.
The crown prince’s residence was like a pool of dead water, it was completely quiet.
It was unsure how, but the memorial tablet that the intendant Lin had secretly ordered someone to make for Ming Zhu before was discovered by the crown prince.
The intendant Lin watched with his own eyes as the crown threw the black wooden tablet engraved with white characters, into the fire pot, burning it to ashes.
His bowed body trembled so much he turned into jelly. He said those words in his mind: “That’s committing a sin.”
Fortunately, the child’s memorial tablet was not yet ready, or else if the crown prince saw it, even he, as the intendant, wouldn’t be able to escape the punishment.
It was so pitiful to see such a small child dying without even having a name.
