The Sickly Emperor Is Only Immune to Me-Chapter 331 - 328: Deposed Imperial Consort
Chapter 331 -328: Deposed Imperial Consort
Smart people should know when to cut their losses.
Qi Wuya was smart, but in the realm of emotion, he walked a single path to darkness.
“I will make you accept it. A day, a month, a year, ten years, Sang Yan, I can wait.”
“…Madman!”
She was helpless against this madman.
Qing Wu was different.
She had a way with madmen.
Dahe Palace
Qingning Palace
The sky had cleared, the snow had melted.
The weather was exceptionally cold.
This coldness seemed to seep into one’s bones.
He Ying huddled tighter under the blankets, yet he couldn’t suppress the chill.
Sang Yan ah.
How did she cause his illness to flare up?
He looked at the red welts on his hands that had not yet faded, the image of him touching her flickering through his mind: in fact, before his hand even reached hers, the welts had spread from his hands to his neck.
No, not right.
Something was off.
At the moment he started to suspect—
“I’ve already said, I have a husband-killing fate.”
Qing Wu had already learned of He Ying’s strange illness and knew that Sang Yan wouldn’t trigger his episodes. In order to not arouse his suspicion, she could only attribute it to her husband-killing fate.
“Emperor, please depose me.”
Qing Wu asked with a cold face, requesting to be made a former imperial consort.
However, she had a reason for saying this.
Since He Ying’s episode the night before, it was as if he had taken up arms against his own illness, experimenting over and over again. Just today, she had been asked to touch him three times.
It was practically self-torture. The welts flared up and faded, faded up and flared, endlessly repeating.
What a madman!
She grew fearful of this madman and wanted to eliminate the root of the problem, stopping him from continuing his experiments.
So, she adopted a hurt and helpless demeanor, “Emperor, why torment yourself? Now that I have come to harm you like this, please depose me.”
She believed he wouldn’t depose her.
She didn’t want to be deposed either.
The reason she spoke this way was to have him accept the fact—that touching her would cause his illness to flare.
“No! That’s impossible! How could I depose you for something like this? Ah Yan, don’t think like that.”
He Ying, his face covered in red welts and fighting the urge to scratch, soothed her softly, “There’s always a solution. If you’re afraid, go back to the side hall. The ointment prepared by Doctor Luo is effective; it’ll subside in a little while.”
Knowing he looked frightening, he covered his face with his hands.
Qing Wu, watching him like this, felt both pity and amusement at the sight—such a mighty Emperor so deeply in love with a woman that he had become weak.
She looked down on him, yet she was immersed in it, even harboring the malicious thought of toying with him, “I’m not scared. I just don’t want to see you suffer. If you don’t want to depose me, then just don’t let me touch you anymore.”
“No, no…”
He Ying, his brows furrowed in turmoil, pondered for a moment before finally nodding, “Alright, for now… but if we are to test medications later, I’ll still need you to touch me.”
He wanted to touch her too.
Even if it meant just holding her hand.
Even if the price was the pain of an episode.
“Ah Yan, I love you.”
He lowered his voice, the tone plaintive and obsessive, “Nothing can stop me from loving you.”
Qing Wu listened and simply looked at him and smiled, “I know.”
Having impersonated Sang Yan for so long, or perhaps having seen He Ying’s irredeemable love for Sang Yan, she now dared to meet his eyes directly.
Confident with Sang Yan’s face, she felt she could do as she pleased.
But the ministers would not give her this opportunity.
Upon learning that the Emperor would fall ill if touched by “Sang Yan,” the opposition from the ministers grew even louder.
Kneeling outside Qingning Palace, they pleaded for the Emperor to depose her:
“Miss Sang is born under an ominous sign, and now she has caused the Emperor to fall ill, surely a warning from the heavens!”
“Indeed, from causing no illness to triggering episodes, such a change surely indicates her own moral corruption, her blessings completely lost!”
“We implore the Emperor to discern wisely and cherish your health!”
“Emperor, please come to your senses, depose her!”
…
The voices outside the hall grew increasingly louder.
He Ying lay on the bed, quietly listening for a while before issuing an order, “Let them come in.”
Seeing this, Qing Wu took her leave, “Your Majesty must be busy. I will return to the side hall.”
Her departure at this moment was to give He Ying the opportunity to deal with the ministers.
Some of those ministers should have been chopped long ago.
She didn’t want to be present; when He Ying decided to execute someone, she’d have to feign Sang Yan’s disposition and express a saintly compassion to plead for them.
So it was better to avoid it and enjoy the show from a distance.
“Mhm. Off you go.”
He Ying did not stop her departure.
He also couldn’t bear for her to hear the ministers discuss deposing the imperial consort before her.
“Greetings, Your Majesty—”
The ministers came in one by one, kneeling to pay their respects.
Unlike his usual passionate self, He Ying sighed and went straight to the point, “My dear ministers, I barely escaped death, not to listen to you speak of such things!”
Upon hearing this, the ministers were almost heartbroken, “Your Majesty, please reconsider.”
He Ying raised his hand to have them stand up, “I have pondered long enough. You should know that when it comes to the Empress, I have never compromised.”
His words were forceful yet carried a hint of solicitous tenderness, “Today is indeed cold. I share your suffering, and I do not wish for you to kneel outside in the cold. All of you return home. I am much better and will resume court sessions soon.”
His words were gentle yet authoritative, more soul-stirring than his past thunderous fury.
The ministers looked at each other, uncertain, but eventually retreated.
The Emperor seemed different today, as if he suddenly understood human intricacies, becoming a benevolent and magnanimous ruler who even showed concern for them.
Little did they know that He Ying was simply tired of contending with them.
He only wanted to speak softly to dismiss them as quickly as possible.
Once they left, his face turned cold, and he asked Pei Muyang, “Who spread the word that the Empress’s touch would make me ill?”
Pei Muyang knew he wanted to avenge the Empress, and fearing innocent people might be implicated, advised, “Your Majesty, this cannot be kept secret; the ministers are concerned for your safety.”
He Ying sneered, “Don’t speak up for them. Whether they care for me or wish to control me, I’m well aware.”
Pei Muyang dared not discuss the actions of the ministers privately and kept silent.
Seeing his silence, He Ying still asked after a while, “Do you also think the Empress has a husband-killing fate?”
He had once firmly believed that Sang Yan did not possess such a fate.
Even his narrow escape from death proved she did not.
But how then did she cause his illness?
From never triggering his illness to now causing it, what was the reason?
Could it be as the ministers said, that she was immoral and lost all her blessings?
“Your Majesty, please do not dwell on these thoughts.”
Pei Muyang dared not confirm that the Empress had a husband-killing fate and chose to change the topic, “As long as you recover soon, it would prove wrong the Empress’s supposed fate.”
He Ying, hearing this, felt enlightened and nodded incessantly, “Yes. Yes. That’s exactly it.”
But he couldn’t control his overthinking—how could Sang Yan have caused his illness?
It was too uncanny!
After much thought, he still gave the order, “Summon someone from the Observatory.”
Chu Jun of the Observatory had once divined Sang Yan’s future but said it was as unclear as looking at flowers through fog.
Now, after further research, had he made significant progress?
Chu Jun was quickly summoned.
At the prime of his youth, he was as radiant as the morning sun, but after being appointed as Director of the Imperial Observatory, his every action carried a greater dignity, “This humble official greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live forever—”
“Rise.”
He Ying lay propped up in bed, gesturing, “Come here.”
Chu Jun bowed his head in acknowledgement and stepped forward.
He stopped three steps away from the Dragon Bed.
“Your Majesty has summoned this humble official, what are your commands?”
He bowed respectfully, maintaining a dutiful posture.
He Ying gazed at him, his visage handsome as jade, his stature straight as a rod, adorned in the blue and white official uniform of the Observatory, exuding a transcendent aura.
Yet, it was unknown whether his abilities had exceeded his past self.
Thinking this, he asked, “Lately, I’ve faced a series of misfortunes; has the Ziwei Star shown any anomalies?”
Upon hearing this, Chu Jun understood his meaning and hastened to respond, “Your Majesty, rest assured, I guard the Observatory day and night. Although the Ziwei Star has fluctuated, it shines brighter, signifying good fortune, with no other anomalies.”
He Ying, relieved by his response, shifted the topic, “You once read the Empress’s fortune and discovered nothing. I am giving you another chance now. Go to the side hall and pay a visit to the Empress.”
When he said ‘visit’, he meant for Chu Jun to discreetly read her fortune without letting “Sang Yan” know.
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