Chapter 1900 (2/2)
“Miss! If I’m going to die anyway, you may as well let me finish what I have to say! If I don’t get it out now and I somehow survive this, I’ll still die from sheer frustration anyway!”
At this point. Rui Yi was going for broke. She took another step forward and raised her voice, “It has been more than a year since you forced the young miss to become the Deep Sea God Emperor and your so-called Consort Grace! And yet, you haven’t visited the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm or summoned her to the Emperor Yun City even once this whole time!”
“Do you even know how many people in the Southern Divine Region, no, the entire God Realm are making fun of the young miss behind her back? Nearly all of them believe that she is just a tool you’re using to control the Southern Divine Region!”
“...” Yun Che’s brow knitted.
“...” Yun Wuxin’s eyes widened even further.
She had gotten used to people groveling before her father with the utmost fear and respect, but this was the first time she saw anyone pointing a finger at her father’s nose in a spitting fury.
“Rui Yi! Get out! Get out now!” At this point, Cang Shuhe was experiencing a full blown panic attack. She dashed up to her attendant and tried to push her out of the bedroom.
However, Rui Yi saw her coming a mile away and easily dodged out of the way. While doing so, she continued to shout angrily at Yun Che, “When you first showed up, I thought that young miss’ eternally suffering has finally come to an end! But no, you ignored her, humiliated her, and even used her like a tool!”
“Even so, the young miss kept toiling with almost no breaks for the past year or so! She… she is the best person in the entire universe, and you, Emperor Yun, are nowhere close to even deserving of her! You—Mm!”
Yun Che raised a hand, and space itself froze in place. A killing intent sharp enough to penetrate the marrow cut off whatever it was Rui Yi was trying to say.
“I see you’re trying really hard to court death,” Yun Che said coolly.
“Your Majesty… no! No!!” Cang Shuhe rushed over and grabbed Yun Che’s raised arm in a death grip. Her eyes were full of pain and begging.
“What’s… so scary about death!?” Rui Yi continued in a fatalistic tone despite Yun Che’s killing intent. “You know as well as I how much lifespan the young miss has left… if she dies, I’m not living either! You think I am afraid to die!?”
Yun Che: “...”
“I’ll prove it with my death that not everyone will allow you to bully my young miss as you please, even if you’re the so-called great emperor of the God Realm!”
“Hah!” Yun Che let out a faint sneer. “You are surprisingly loyal for a brat, aren’t—”
“You’re the brat!” Rui Yi cut him off angrily, “You think I don’t know that you’re only thirty some years old? If we’re looking purely at age and experience, you’re not even old enough to be my bratty baby!”
“Pooooo!”
Yun Wuxin spat out the half-eaten biscuit she had been holding between her teeth.
“Noooooo what have I done!” Yun Wuxin exclaimed in regret immediately after. Her heart was literally aching at the loss of the biscuit. She had never felt more wasteful than she did right now.
The half-eaten biscuit wasn’t the only one who had suffered. At least half of Yun Che’s killing intent had been extinguished by Yun Wuxin’s spitting act as well.
The young woman lifted the part of the dress that had been dirtied by the spit and said in a miserable voice, “I’m so sorry for wasting your delicious snack, Auntie Shuhe…”
Suddenly, she perked up as if she remembered something. “Auntie Rui Yi, can you take me to the dressing room? Father told me that there exists a dress called the ‘Illusory Water Sea Dress’ in the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm, and that it’s the gift of the realm’s infinite sea. I’ve been looking forward to seeing it for a very long time.”
“Eh?” Rui Yi was prepared to die by Yun Che’s hands so that Cang Shuhe could finally give up on the loathsome man, but Yun Wuxin’s interruption had disrupted her momentum completely.
“What are you waiting for, Rui Yi? Take the princess to the dressing room already!” Still clutching Yun Che’s wrist, Cang Shuhe urged again, “Go!”
“Come on!” Yun Wuxin was already pulling Rui Yi’s sleeve and dragging her toward the exit already.
And so Yun Wuxin half-dragged a confused Rui Yi out of the door and finally vanished from Yun Che’s sight.
Yun Che’s palm was still suspended in the air, but he didn’t kill Rui Yi.
Cang Shuhe’s nerves finally loosened up as she let out a long sigh of relief. She then bowed her head before Yun Che and said, “Thank you for showing mercy, Your Majesty. I promise I will discipline her more strictly from now on… if that is insufficient, I can order her to keep out of your sight as well.”
Expression unchanged, Yun Che said slowly, “On the day I met you for the first time, I was at the height of my infamy and inauspiciousness. The god emperors and even your own brother feared me to the soul.”
“However, you barely reacted when we first met or when I was treating you. I couldn’t sense any fear from you at all.”
“Later on, I forced your body to adapt to the Deep Sea divine power and put you through an unimaginable amount of pain. You could clearly feel your lifespan shortening to a flicker throughout the process as well. However, you remained as calm as a pool of dead water.”
He stared at Cang Shuhe’s eyes before continuing, “That is why I thought you to be a woman of extreme indifference. Until yesterday, I had believed that all but the smallest vestiges of your emotions had died with your ten thousand years of suffering.”
Cang Shuhe: “...”
“But… that wasn’t the case. Your terror and panic were almost tangible when I expressed the intent to kill your attendant…” he looked down at her chest. “Even now, your heartbeat is still out of control.”
He had clearly made an error in judgment.
Cang Shuhe looked up. “Is this why you’ve neglected me all this time, Your Majesty?”
“...” Yun Che didn’t answer her.
Cang Shuhe lowered her gaze before replying, “It was a cold and painful ten thousand years. Without her constant companionship, I wouldn’t have lasted long enough to meet Your Majesty.”
“She may be my personal attendant in name, but we are really closer than blood-related sisters. One might even say that our bond has transcended common comprehension.”
“I think I understand,” Yun Che replied. “You think I didn’t notice she was glaring at me like she could swallow me the whole time? She really can’t stand you suffering even the slightest bit of injustice. Hmph!”
Yun Che’s words caused a faint ripple across Cang Shuhe’s eyes. “You’ve forgiven her, Your Majesty?”
“I am the Great Emperor of the God Realm after all. Like I would lower myself to the level of a bra—” he paused for a second before correcting himself, “—an old hag!”
Cang Shuhe burst into a giggle. “Oh, Your Majesty. The Empress or Consort Ice will leave you out to dry if they knew what you just said.”
Cang Shuhe’s smiling face was incredibly beautiful. It was as infectious as the autumn wind and clouds.
In fact, Yun Che had regretted his words the second they escaped his lips… it wasn’t his intention, but he had still offended Chi Wuyao, Mu Xuanyin and even Cang Shuhe herself all in one go.
That damned little… attendant! She may have a screw loose, but I suppose it’s a little petty to kill her for wanting to defend her mistress’s honor to the death. There is no way that I’m letting her go without some punishment, however!
Just you wait. I swear by my title I’ll make you cry!
“Naturally, my Empress and consorts do not belong to the same level as she.” Yun Che paused for a moment before adding, “By the way… you won’t tell them what I said, will you?”
Cang Shuhe neither nodded nor shook her head. Instead, she smiled like a deep spring of infinite wonders that could draw in one’s eyes and thoughts until they drowned themselves in it, “Your Majesty, do you know that the biggest mistake countless men have made in history is in believing that a woman will keep their secrets?”
Yun Che laughed in spite of himself.
For the first time, he realized that basking in Cang Shuhe’s gaze and listening to her voice were a pleasure.