When Emperor Shizong woke up, he looked at the red tent above his head and listened to the rain outside. He did not get up for a long time. It was only when Shizong's hand touched the sheet beneath him that he suddenly sat up in bed. It was so sticky that it was slippery. He put his sticky hands in front of his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers for a while. Under his body, he kneaded the white skin. With his legs wide open, he asked, "Ah Jin?" Shizong called from the bed.
The candles in the room exploded, and no one answered the shouts of the world.
Emperor Shizong got off his bed, but didn't have time to think about what had happened. He pushed open the door and saw a person sitting in the rain outside the eaves of the courtyard. The Emperor looked around but there was no one around. The woman who was sitting in the rain remained motionless even after hearing the door open. The Shizong walked into the rain and arrived before the woman in a few steps. "Ah Jin?"
The woman's clothes were tightly wrapped around her body, but she wasn't wearing any shoes or socks, revealing her bare feet and half of her calves. In the starless darkness of the rainy night, the legs were arched and the calves round and white like jade.
The Emperor pushed aside the woman's long, loose hair. The face under the hair was the face that the Emperor longed for. "Ah Jin," the sect master called out to the woman. His voice was very soft and careful, as if he was afraid of scaring her.
An Jinxiu only raised her eyes to look at Emperor Shizong, but nothing happened after that.
"Let's go in and talk!" The Emperor Shizong picked up An Jin and quickly headed into the room. As he held her in his hands, the Emperor thought to himself that such a light and nimble person like her did not hold much weight in his hands.
Even after she had been placed on the bed by the Emperor, An Jinxiu still wore a wooden expression. She didn't even look at the Emperor. Like a puppet, she allowed the Emperor to wrap her in a blanket.
"What happened?" the Emperor asked as he sat down next to her. "What happened?"
There was still no reaction from An Jinxiu.
"Ah Jin!" The Shizong raised his voice as he called out to her by name.
An Jinxiu's body trembled, and then she turned to look at Emperor Shizong.
Looking at his eyes, she cried bitterly. They were glowing red, but they were still black and white. The eyes of most people were dark brown, but they were as black as ink. Being stared at by such a pair of eyes, the Emperor couldn't help but soften its heart as it softly asked, "Why are there only the two of us here?"
An Jinxiu shook her head, and then she started crying again. She didn't make a sound, but a large tear drop fell to the ground.
"This Emperor did the deed with you?" Seeing An Jinxiu's expression, the Emperor believed that the person who had had such a hearty and joyful relationship last night was this little girl beneath him.
An Jinxiu suddenly covered her mouth and cried bitterly.
Emperor Shizong had never pitied any woman in his life, but this little girl had already in his mind he met her in the An Mansion's Fragrant Garden. Hearing the weeping sound so close to him, his heart ached again. "What, what's going on?" He softly said to An Jin, "Don't cry. With me here, you don't have to be afraid of anything."
An Jinxiu cried, "This concubine doesn't know what happened. When His Majesty came in, you were…" As she said this, An Jin seemed to not dare to continue speaking. She covered her face with her hands and started crying again.
Since they were already so close to each other, the Emperor no longer cared about the difference between males and females. He reached out and took An Jin into his arms. The Emperor was trying his best to comfort her.
If the women in the palace were able to be held in his arms like this, they would definitely be smiling and extremely happy, but to the Emperor's surprise, the moment An Jinxiu was touched by him, she jumped out of his arms like a frightened bird, but her legs were powerless to stand, and she instantly collapsed onto the ground.
"Ah Jin!" Emperor Shizong bent down to help her up.
"Your Majesty, this concubine deserve to die," An Jinxiu avoided the hands of the Emperor and cried, "You don't need to mind me."
"What are you guilty of?" The Emperor forcefully pulled An Jin up from the ground. He formed a circle with his hands and hugged her, trapping her in his arms. "When I wanted you, were you not in your right mind?"
"His Majesty being enlightened is all this concubine's fault."
An Jin's tears fell on the back of her hand, drop by drop they fell on the heart of the Emperor.
"This concubine ruined His Majesty's brilliance, so she's too ashamed to see the general again," An Jinxiu said mournfully. "After this concubine died, no one will know about what happened tonight. "I beg Your Majesty not to implore this concubine's family because of my fault."
He had clearly taken this little girl in his infatuation, yet this little girl said that she had seduced him and taken all the mistakes with a smile on her face. Holding the person in his embrace tighter, the Emperor whispered into An Jinxiu's ear, "Are you willing to accept this?"
An Jin's face was bloodless to begin with, and even her lips turned gray at these words. "This concubine is this subject's wife. How can I ruin Your Majesty's reputation?"
"My reputation?" Emperor Shizong said, "Then what about your own reputation?"
An Jinxiu shook her head. "My life is cheap."
"So you only care about my reputation?"
"Your Majesty, this humble one is a dying woman. It's better for you to leave quickly," An Jin struggled in the arms of the Emperor with tears in her eyes, wanting to leave.
"This Emperor only asked you one question. Are you willing to accept it?" The Emperor didn't care about An Jinxiu's struggle. He whispered into her ear, "I want the truth. Do you know that lying is a death sentence?"
An Jinxiu was silent for a while, and then she said to the Emperor, "When I was with my parents, my first mother always said that the seeds of a servant are not well-bred, and because they are born with low standards, they are shameless and cannot be shown. "I am indeed shameless, and this time, I will not regret it."
"Because I'm the Emperor?"
"If it wasn't for Your Majesty, how many days would this concubine have to spend in her family? I don't know how I would have been arranged to marry," An Jinxiu said faintly. "Your Majesty is a good person. This concubine has a debt of gratitude. Although I don't have the face to see my family's general again, this concubine will not regret it."
"So you actually like me?" The Emperor couldn't help but feel overjoyed upon hearing An Jinxiu's words. The smile on his face was as clear as day.
On the other hand, An JinXiu had a face full of shame as she said, "I shouldn't have lived any longer."
Seeing An Jin's painful expression, the Emperor didn't care about the struggling of the little girl and slowly wiped away the tears on her face. Her face was still beautiful even in such a pathetic state, just like when he first met her in An Mansion's Fragrant Garden. "I said that you won't die, so you won't die. I am the Son of Heaven, so how can I not protect a little girl like you?"
An Jinxiu looked at the Emperor with tears in astonishment, but her heart was filled with coldness. She wanted this man to feel pity for her so that she could continue living on. Fate with Shangguan Yong was definitely hopeless. The Emperor would not allow a woman he had used to lie under another man, even if they were husband and wife in the first place. Then what was the meaning of this life to her?
She originally abandoned her husband, a slut who could marry anyone in her previous life. She no longer had any fate with Shangguan Yong in this life, so why should she care about her body's innocence anymore?
If she stayed by Shangguan Yong's side, she could guarantee that after the Emperor thought occupying her body, the Emperor will be killing Shangguan Yong in order to protect his reputation, she would not have the chance to take revenge.
As she sat in the rain in the rain, she had already thought things through. Ping An, Shangguan Ning, those people who died in her family can't die in vain. If she could avenge them, she didn't want Shangguan Yong's hands to be stained with dirt like this.
He only felt that this little girl, who was silently crying in his arms, made his heart soften. He could give this little girl a lot of good things, and make this little girl's life change because of him. Therefore, as he wiped away the tears on An Jin's face, he softly said to her, "With me here, you don't have to think about anything."
"I deserve to die."
"I won't allow you to die, so you can't die!"
"Your Majesty."
"Do you not believe me?"
"What should I do?"
"I will protect you. Nothing will happen to you."
At this time, she was thinking about Ping An and Shangguan Ning, and thinking about Shangguan Yong. This pain could not be expressed through tears, but it was the only way she could express this despair.
"Your Majesty," Eunuch Xie voice called from outside the guest room.
An Jinxiu was so shocked that her whole body began to tremble.
"It's fine, don't be afraid," Emperor Shizong comforted her, as he opened his mouth to let her in.
"Don't, don't let anyone see me," An Jinxiu panicked at this moment and shook her head pleadingly at the Emperor.
The Emperor knew that this little girl was afraid of being seen by others. He put down the bed curtain and said to An Jinxiu, "You sit inside. He can't see your face. It's okay, I'm here."
An Jinxiu covered her face with her hands and buried her head in her knees.
The Emperor touched An Jinxiu's wet hair before rushing into the room, "Get in here."
Eunuch Xie had calculated the time it would take to arrive. He wanted the Emperor to settle An Jin and ask to wipe her out when there was no one around. This way, when they drove back to the palace, they would pretend nothing had happened. However, as soon as he entered the room, he saw a woman sitting on the bed. His face could not be seen, but this must be An Jin.
"What are you looking at?" Emperor Shizong asked, sitting on a stool beside the bed.
"I deserve to die," said Eunuch Xie, lowering his head and kneeling on the ground.
"You deserve to die," the Emperor coldly replied.
"This servant deserves to die," Eunuch Xie said these four words as he knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Soon, there was blood on the ground.
Emperor Shizong looked at the servant who had been following him around. He believed that this servant would not harm him. Thinking of what had happened today, this servant must have realized that his lust for Ah Jin could no longer be suppressed, and knew that he had been thinking of the An Jin all these days.
Thus, he decided to send himself to the An Jin's room to rest. There were no outsiders here. Even if he, the emperor, had molested this official's wife, no one would know of such things after a little treatment. This servant of his really knew how to arrange things for him. "Where is the Crown Prince and his wife? " The Emperor Shizong asked after letting him knocking his head against the ground for several tens of times.
"In reply to Your Majesty." Even if Eunuch Xie answered to the Emperor, he wouldn't dare stop and kowtow, saying to the Emperor as he did so. "This servant advised His Highness the crown prince and esteemed wangfei to return to the Eastern Palace first."
With these auspicious words, An Jinxiu, who was sitting on her bed, knew that this eunuch was one of the masterminds behind today's events.