Half a month after the ministers' petition, Xue Liulan issued a decree. Murong Yan was stripped of his rank and imprisoned for high treason.
By law, the entire Murong clan should have been executed. But the Emperor, in his mercy, spared them for the sake of the Empress and her recently deceased son. Instead, the clan was stripped of nobility and exiled to the borderlands, never to return to Jindu.
In the harem, everyone watched Zhaoyang Palace. Die Man and Guo Lingyu waited for the explosion.
But Zhaoyang Palace was silent. Like a stone dropped into the sea, not even a ripple disturbed the surface. It was a silence that hinted at danger.
"Why is she quiet?" Guo Lingyu twisted her handkerchief, leaning against the doorframe.
"If she reacted, that would be strange," Die Man said, a cold smile on her lips. She had become a frequent visitor to Guo Lingyu's palace since Murong Jin's return.
"You've fought her many times. Don't you know her temper?" Die Man adjusted her sleeve.
Guo Lingyu flushed. "Are you mocking my defeats?"
"I'm just stating facts." Die Man turned to look outside. The autumn wind swept the courtyard, carrying a chill. "Murong Jin values her family above her own life. With the Murong clan destroyed, she won't sit idly by."
"What can she do?" Guo Lingyu sneered. "My godfather is handling the exile. Who knows if they'll even reach the border?"
Die Man nodded. Guo Shangzhong would not let his enemies survive.
"The Emperor is truly heartless," Guo Lingyu mused. "When she was hurt, he stayed by her side day and night. He looked like he would die if she did. But now? For the sake of his throne, he exiles her entire family."
"Emperors are ruthless." Die Man remembered what the First Prince had once told Xue Liulan. An emperor belongs to no one. Only by being ruthless can he have no weaknesses.
But was Xue Liulan truly ruthless? Neither of them knew. And neither did Murong Jin, who sat across from him now.
"Ask what you want," Xue Liulan said, sipping his tea. The bitterness lingered on his tongue.
"Why did you do it?" Murong Jin asked, her voice low.
"What do you think I should have done?" He sighed, suppressing his emotions, and asked her in return.
"You know my family guarded the border for years. The Turks want us dead. Exiling my family to the border is a death sentence. Isn't it clear you want to exterminate the Murong clan?" She stood up, staring at him.
"Yes. I know all that." He stared into his tea cup. The leaves swirled, aimless and adrift, like his heart.
"Then why? Xue Liulan, you promised me that even if you took down the Murong family, you would minimize the bloodshed." Her hand trembled on the table, her voice shaking with emotion.
He looked away at the closed door. Murong Jin, have you closed the door to your heart as well?
Shing.
The clear sound of a sword being drawn. He turned. Her soft sword was at his throat. Her hand shook, her eyes avoiding his.
"Do you want to kill me?" He smiled sadly and stood up.
"I…" She faltered, stepping back.
He stepped forward as she retreated, grabbing the hand that held the sword. Her hand was ice cold, like the hand of a corpse.
"Your hand isn't as steady as it used to be." He chuckled, tightening his grip on her wrist. The blade was less than half an inch from his neck. One slip, and his blood would spill.
"Xue Liulan, let go." She panicked, trying to pull away. But his grip was like a vice.
"You want to kill me? My life is in your hands. Just a little push, and you can kill me." He smiled, but his eyes were full of sorrow.
He guided her hand toward his artery. The blade touched his skin.
"Xue Liulan, let go!" She gasped in panic. It was futile. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed the cold blade with her other hand.
Blood dripped from her hand, soaking into the fabric on his shoulder. The warm touch felt like a burn to him. He immediately released her wrist and grabbed the hand that was clutching the blade.
"Let go!" He roared.
His red, angry eyes startled her, and she released the blade. It clattered to the floor, breaking the silence.
He frowned at her bloody hand. Wordlessly, he pulled her to the couch and sat beside her. He picked up the bottle of wound medicine.
"Give me your hand." His voice was cold.
She froze, not reacting immediately.
He grabbed her injured hand, uncorked the bottle with one hand, and poured the powder onto the wound.
The medicine was strong. She hissed in pain. The old wounds hadn't healed, and now there was a new one. Not just on her hand, but in her heart.
"Now you know it hurts? What were you thinking when you grabbed the sword?" He glared at her coldly, but his touch lightened as he carefully wrapped her hand with a handkerchief.
She lowered her head, silent, staring at her bandaged hand.
He put the medicine away and stood up. "Why did you stop just now?"
"What?" She looked up at him.
"I pushed the Murong family to their deaths. You had the chance to kill me and avenge them. Why did you stop?" His face was still icy, but deep in his eyes, there was a faint trace of a smile.
"I don't know." She lowered her head again. After a long while, she murmured, "Maybe… I just didn't want to kill you."
"That doesn't sound like Murong Jin. The Little General of Wuchuan has always been clear about gratitude and revenge." He looked down at her, hands behind his back.
She was silent. He saw a tear fall from her eye, sinking into the handkerchief on her hand.
"Is it so hard to answer?" He clenched his fist behind his back, fighting the urge to wipe her tear away. He wanted to know the answer. He had wanted to know for a long time.
"I am useless. I know you destroyed the Murong family, destroyed my father. As a daughter of the Murong clan, I should have killed you, then gone to find my exiled clansmen. But… I couldn't do it. I actually couldn't bear to."
She suddenly covered her face with her hands, sobbing as she spoke.
"Xue Liulan, why is it you? Why is it you?"