The man in the red changshan smiled in response. “What you’re trying to ask is if I’m interested in the throne, right?”
As if he had asked a rhetorical question, the man continued before Hua Zirong could answer. “There shouldn’t be traces of someone who doesn’t exist in this world, so I’ve never regretted it.”
The man then left right after.
The words ‘I’ve never regretted it’ kept ringing in Hua Zirong’s ear.
I know you don’t regret it, and I know that you’ve never coveted the throne. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t be here either, but one cannot change destiny.
Sadness flitted briefly across his eyes as he immersed himself in his thoughts.
~~~
In the bamboo grove.
The man in the red changshan seemed to be flitting gracefully across the bamboo grove, only coming to a stop when he arrived at a small building.
Opening the door, he looked around at the decorations with a look of melancholy on his face. He laid his hands upon each item, as if trying to commit them to memory.
It felt as if he had been instantly transported back into the past, when he was about to kill someone else.
The floor was stained with fresh blood as screams and moans were heard everywhere. All he could remember was seeing a sea of red, and nothing else.
He could still remember the disbelief on that man’s face morphing into one of acceptance very quickly.
He wondered if it was because the man had already learnt about what he did, which was why the man was able to accept everything so calmly.
The man in the red changshan seemed unable to extricate himself from his own nightmare as he waited for his judgment.
As the man reminisced, the door opened, and Zisha walked in, donning her purple garment and wearing a gentle smile on her face. Seeing the man in such a state, she raised a silver needle to strike one of his acupoints. However, the man’s eyes suddenly fluttered open before he mirrored her smile.
“I’m fine.” His eyes met hers.
Zisha looked upset. “Why are you doing this? Let’s leave. Xiliu has nothing to do with us now.”
“No, we have to return what we owe.” The man in the red changshan disagreed with a bitter smile.
“You have yet to tell Lanshan that you couldn’t make it in time to save him despite trying your best.” Zisha looked at him, taking his hands in hers.
The man smiled. “So what if I told her? That changes nothing. Xiaoshan has her own opinions, but it’s not like she’s making things up either. That man was too extraordinary and he was a threat to the throne. He was an enemy of the Xiliu imperial family from the very beginning.”
“But you saw him as a friend, didn’t you?” Zisha comforted him gently, knowing how much pain he had been through.
The man in the red changshan stroked her hair. “Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that I betrayed him, and it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve disappointed Xiaoshan either. I’ve let her carry the burden for far too long.”
“Let’s go. Let’s leave and stop caring about these things. If this goes on, I’m afraid that you will…”
Zisha’s eyes were filled with tears now, her heart engulfed by a burning pain.
“It’s what happened in the past that is causing Xiliu’s problems now. I can’t leave when there are so many eyeing the throne.” The man in the red changshan spoke with determination.
Zisha gave an inward sigh. He was adamant, but there were some things that were just not up to men.
