In the end, he said it. Mei Lin sighed inwardly with resignation, her expression unchanged as she quietly waited for him to continue.
However, Murong Jing He didn’t say anything further. He lifted his hand, as if to touch her face.
Mei Lin turned her head away to avoid his touch, stepping back with a slight smile. This was the Jingbei Royal Residence, not her home; she didn’t want to accept any warmth from him here.
His hand fell empty, and for a moment, his expression froze. Then he quickly withdrew his hand, flicked his sleeve, and left.
The smile faded from Mei Lin’s lips as she slowly walked to a chair in the hall. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she gripped the armrest and carefully sat down.
She was no longer his servant. She had left Qing Yan behind, no longer part of his household. She knew her time was short, and having nothing to lose, what could he do to someone with no ties, no life left? She simply didn’t want to spend her last moments being bullied by his power, or let herself be forced into a humiliating situation. At least this time, she had made the choice herself.
Mei Lin was placed in the guest quarters, with two maids attending to her, though there was no sign of Di Tang. She remembered that Di Tang had stayed behind in Jingbei. Mei Lin spoke to no one, simply sitting quietly in her room. Occasionally, she would open the window to look out at the bleak courtyard. There were no plum blossoms, no snow, and she found that she liked it that way.
Yue Qin came to deliver the antidote. The boy’s eyes were swollen and red, his face full of displeasure. He threw the antidote onto Mei Lin's lap without a word, then turned to leave.
"Yue Qin, have you been crying again?" Mei Lin asked, her voice hoarse and weak.
Yue Qin froze, then stiffly turned back to see her smiling face. Tears suddenly burst from his eyes, and he rushed into her arms, crying out loud.
Mei Lin almost shed tears herself. She tilted her head back to hold them in, then looked down with a gentle smile, stroking Yue Qin’s tousled hair.
"Crying like this, aren’t you happy to see me?"
Yue Qin nodded, then quickly shook his head. After a while, he finally looked up, sniffling. "A-Jie, why are you so thin?" It had only been a month since he last saw her, but she had become so gaunt that he almost didn’t recognize her.
Mei Lin pulled him to sit beside her, taking out a handkerchief to wipe his tear-streaked face. Smiling, she asked, "Yue Qin, has the prince treated you well?" The pockmarked doctor had said that the Gentleman Gu could grow within a person’s meridians, but it fed on the life force of its host. Even though she was the first known case of someone living with the Gu, she couldn’t withstand its voracious hunger. He had been unable to remove the Gu, which was why he had predicted her death the first time he saw her. Mei Lin decided not to tell Yue Qin this, to avoid making him cry even more.
Yue Qin was simple-minded and easily distracted. At her question, his eyes brightened with admiration, though they soon dimmed again.
"A-Jie..." he started, but then fell silent.
Mei Lin responded with a soft hum, noticing that his sleeve had a tear, probably from their earlier struggle. She turned and took out a needle and thread from the bundle by the bed, beginning to mend it.
Yue Qin looked at her thinning hair, her calm, serene face, and the faint smile at her lips. His eyes stung again, and he quickly turned away, using his other sleeve to wipe his face before slowly explaining everything.
Murong Jing He had received an imperial edict as soon as he returned to the capital, taking command of the southwestern army and leading the charge to drive out the invaders. His wedding with Luo Mei was postponed again. To everyone’s amazement, after arriving in Qingcheng, Murong Jing He not only seized control of the southwestern army but also took command of the Tibetan army led by Yang Zexing. Despite the traditional enmity between these two forces, Murong Jing He successfully united them, leading them with unparalleled precision. With meticulous preparation, he launched a series of victories that struck fear into the hearts of the southern Yue army, forcing them into retreat.
In less than a month, the southern Yue forces were driven across the Heima River, with the borders collapsing under the relentless advance of the imperial army. In desperation, the king of southern Yue deployed a national witch doctor to set a deadly Gu formation, intended to destroy both armies. Murong Jing He, leading the Tiger Wing Seventeen Cavalry, personally entered the formation, with Luo Mei secretly following him. No one knew what happened inside, but it was said that Luo Mei shielded Murong Jing He from the Gu, allowing him to break the formation.
Although Shigui was also skilled in witchcraft, he was helpless against the Gu. It was a bloodthirsty creature that could devour a person’s flesh and blood in seconds. Murong Jing He had no choice but to use his inner strength to freeze Luo Mei’s entire body, trapping the Gu inside.
In his fury, Murong Jing He not only sought out someone to lift the curse but also led his army to capture the southern Yue capital. His knowledge of the terrain, along with inside help, made the conquest surprisingly easy. Yet even after capturing the southern Yue king and the witch doctor, he couldn’t save Luo Mei. The people of southern Yue regarded the blood Gu as an ancient, unbreakable curse, which was why they rarely used it.
Just as all hope seemed lost, a mysterious figure appeared, claiming to have a cure, but it required using the host of the Gentleman Gu as a medium. So, Murong Jing He personally brought Luo Mei back to the capital, leaving Qing Yan behind to clean up the mess in southern Yue.
As Yue Qin recounted all of this, Mei Lin finished mending his sleeve, smoothing the uneven stitches with a smile. "So, that’s why Prince Murong hurried to find me?"
Yue Qin nodded, looking at his sleeve and then smiling foolishly. His face was still streaked with tears, making him look particularly pitiful.
Mei Lin ruffled his hair gently. "Yue Qin, stay with Prince Murong and don’t make him angry, okay?" She could tell that Murong Jing He was especially indulgent with Yue Qin, though she didn’t know why. But it was clear that staying with him was in Yue Qin’s best interest.
Yue Qin nodded, but his eyes suddenly reddened again. "A-Jie, you... you..." He had wanted to ask how she let herself be found, but then realized that with Murong Jing He’s many skilled men, who could even navigate the treacherous terrain of southern Yue, it was no wonder they had found her. So, he swallowed his words.
Mei Lin smiled, "Is it such a bad thing, something that would cost me my life, for you to not want to see me?" Yue Qin’s earlier reaction made her think this, and her already cold heart seemed to freeze over even more.
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