The Slender Waist-Chapter 799 - 567: Old Friends of the Hermitage_3
She is not even thirty yet.
So young, and she must spend the rest of her life in this decrepit temple?
Pei Jue is too cruel.
Too cruel.
There are no mirrors in the nunnery. Li Sangruo gazes into the water basin to observe her bald reflection.
A smooth scalp, shaved clean, but still rough to the touch with short stubble.
She’s not used to it, not used to it at all.
Angrily, her finger instinctively jabs into the water basin.
The water ripples faintly.
That thin, frail reflection wavers on the water’s surface, just like her turbulent and displaced life...
Li Sangruo laughs.
At the basin.
At the reflection within the basin, laughing with a madness that consumes her...
A breeze drifts through the window, stirring her wide-sleeved, ash-blue monk’s robe. In the silence, footsteps approach, drawing closer, halting at the door.
Li Sangruo’s residence is the most secluded spot within the nunnery.
She has a Palace Maid named Mei Xiang by her side, but Mei Xiang is not loyal to her. She was assigned by Tang Shaogong to serve her.
As the sound of the door opening reaches her ears, Li Sangruo turns her head, seeing Tang Shaogong enter and Mei Xiang lower her head and retreat. Her expression changes immediately.
Coldly, as though steeped in venom.
"Why have you come here? To mock me?"
Tang Shaogong says nothing, standing silently before her. His eyes are icy as his gaze locks onto her.
"Get out. Leave at once!" Li Sangruo pushes at his chest with both hands, her bottled-up fury shaking even her voice.
"Leave, I said—leave!"
Normally, Tang Shaogong would not argue with her.
When words fail, he would turn and leave, not wasting an extra syllable.
But today, he does not leave.
He watches Li Sangruo with a gaze full of pity, watching, watching, until she forces him step by step backward. Even then, his face betrays no change.
Until his back presses against the wall, retreating no further. Only then does he slowly extend his hands, gripping Li Sangruo’s arms to urge her to quiet down.
"Before I leave, let me say a few words."
Li Sangruo sneers.
Her eyes shimmer coldly, as if concealing hidden blades.
"Don’t feign kindness. If not for you, would Pei Jue have treated me like this? He ascended the throne, became Emperor. I should be with him right now, basking in luxury in West Capital City. Not trapped in this place..."
She sweeps her gaze sharply around her surroundings, her expression nearly deranged, "Look around here – does this look like a place fit for human beings to live? Do you think this looks like a place for people?"
"All of this is thanks to you. You’re the one who brought this upon me. Do you know how humiliated I am living like this... Humiliated to the point that I would rather... I’d rather I had never lived at all..."
"Do you understand? I would rather die, rather die than linger here in disgrace."
"Tang Shaogong, take me back, bring me back!"
"I want to see Pei Jue! I want to see Pei Jue!"
The once Empress Dowager Linchao, reduced to such a fate.
Li Sangruo cannot comprehend her destiny, and hates everyone.
She glares viciously at Tang Shaogong, her voice alternating between pleading and cursing.
"You, a weak man—what use are you? You had me, but you can’t even protect me. You’re unworthy, utterly unworthy... Coward, scum!"
Tang Shaogong’s lips press into a thin line, the flicker of pity in his eyes extinguished, replaced by an utter and chilling indifference.
"If that’s the case, I’ll grant your wish."
His voice is icy, devoid of warmth, as he slowly wraps an arm around Li Sangruo’s waist, lowering his head and letting his cold breath linger upon her pale neck...
"You brought this upon yourself."
Li Sangruo instinctively recoils her neck, her limbs turning to ice...
At the moment she senses the danger, countless thoughts flash through her mind.
"Help!"
The cry for help comes instinctively...
But alas, Tang Shaogong’s dagger is too swift.
So swift that before her voice can fully escape her throat, the blade has already pierced diagonally into her abdomen...
Li Sangruo’s brow furrows in pain, her shock slowly giving way to resignation as she gazes at the blood surging from her waist and belly. Slowly, her eyes rise to meet his.
"Why?"
"To grant your wish."
"No... you’re vile... You fear Pei Jue finding out... that you slept with me... He would have your life..."
Tang Shaogong lets out a cold laugh, his eyes blazing red.
"I kill you because you are filth... You defiled the Xie Family’s legacy of loyalty, you disgraced the name of my lord..."
Li Sangruo’s eyes widen, "What are you saying..."
"That’s right. You are a daughter of the Xie Family, you always were." Tang Shaogong stares coldly at her, "But Pei Jue will never hear it..."
Li Sangruo’s gaze dims, filled with unwillingness. Her eyes widen, her face pale, lifeless.
All along, Tang Shaogong had been deceiving her, leading her to believe "Xie Family daughter" was merely a ploy, a perfidious ploy to deceive Pei Jue’s trust.
"Why... why did you deceive me?"
"Because—" Tang Shaogong’s expression remains unmoved, his eyes burning with a sharp, murderous intent, ready to pierce her at any moment.
"You’re unworthy."
Thud!
Tang Shaogong thrusts his arm forward.
Li Sangruo coughs up a mouthful of fresh blood.
At that moment, a commotion comes from outside. Mei Xiang’s voice calls out.
"The Princess has arrived... His Highness is still resting... Please wait while I make the report..."
More words are spoken, but Li Sangruo can no longer hear them.
Yet the color of Tang Shaogong’s face before her begins to change.
-
"Ah!"
Mei Xiang’s scream pierces through the nunnery.
Feng Yun and Xiaoman exchange a look. Stepping forward, they pull aside the trembling Mei Xiang, cross the threshold, and approach the woman lying in the pool of blood.
"Xiaoman, save her."
