Chapter 909: The Young Empress (46)

"Brother Yunchuan, have you forgotten what it's like to be born inferior to women? Have you forgotten being mocked by those women? Forgotten the humiliation you felt when, simply because you were born a man, you had no choice but to enter the palace?”

“Brother Yunchuan, wake up. The Empress was always heartless. She's only revealed her true nature ahead of time. Even without what happened before, sooner or later she would have abandoned you.”

Nan Yunchuan remained unmoved, gently caressing the exquisite jade in his hand. It was the gift Her Majesty had given him on his birthday.

Seeing this, Su Qing snatched the jade away.

The sudden emptiness in his hand brought life back to Nan Yunchuan's vacant eyes. Su Qing's heart leapt with joy.

“Brother Yunchuan—”

“Give it back.”

“Return the jade to me.”

This was the birthday gift Her Majesty had given him.

His eighteenth birthday gift.

“Nan Yunchuan, wake up already!”

Su Qing, angered by his obsession, raised his hand and prepared to throw the jade away.

But in the blink of an eye, Nan Yunchuan lunged forward and tackled him to the ground.

Grabbing Su Qing's wrist, he desperately tried to seize the jade.

Su Qing clenched his fist tightly around it. In response, Nan Yunchuan viciously bit down on his wrist.

The pain forced Su Qing to let go.

The moment the jade returned to his hand, Nan Yunchuan smiled vacantly, holding it as if it were the greatest treasure in the world. He kissed it gently, then pressed it against his cheek, whispering softly,

“I won't let anyone take you away.”

He had already lost Her Majesty.

He could not lose this as well.

Every gift the Empress had ever given him—he would preserve them carefully and treasure them forever.

He would never allow anyone to damage them.

“Nan Yunchuan, you…”

Su Qing stared incredulously at the bite marks on his wrist.

Nan Yunchuan had gone mad.

For the sake of a lifeless object, he had bitten down on his wrist like a madman and refused to let go.

Had he not released it, Su Qing felt certain the man would have bitten straight through his wrist.

“Do you even know what you're doing?”

Remembering what Su Qing had nearly done to the jade, Nan Yunchuan's expression turned cold.

“Get out.”

“What did you say?”

Su Qing thought he had misheard and asked again.

Yet Nan Yunchuan repeated coldly,

“Get out. I'm telling you to leave. Don't ever set foot here again.”

“You're telling me to get out because of an Empress?”

Nan Yunchuan looked at him indifferently.

“You're not worthy of speaking of her.”

After a pause, his eyes dimmed.

“Neither am I. We are both unworthy of speaking of her. Neither of us deserves her.”

“You've gone insane!” Su Qing shouted. “You've actually fallen for her. You've forgotten your dreams because of her!”

“Yes, I've gone insane.”

“Only now do I understand how meaningless life is without her.”

“Only after losing her did I realize that there was actually someone in this world who treated me so well.”

Su Qing's face darkened.

In the end, after one final glance at Nan Yunchuan, who was immersed among those gifts, he turned and left.

She was only an Empress.

What was so special about her?

He refused to believe that simple kindness from the Empress could make Nan Yunchuan become so obsessed.

Without Nan Yunchuan, he would do it himself.

He still had Xiao Jin as an ally.

Surely Xiao Jin hadn't been bewitched by the Empress as well?

Even if things became more difficult from now on, he was confident that with his own abilities, he could overthrow the Empress's rule.

From that day onward, Su Qing appeared frequently at the Empress's side and soon became the most favored man around her.

With Nan Yunchuan's downfall as a warning, he guarded his heart every moment.

At every second, he reminded himself not to follow in Nan Yunchuan's footsteps.

He was certain—

He could obtain the Empress's sincere affection while still keeping his own heart firmly under control.