Chapter 180

"Princess Consort, you… you get up first… the ground is cold!" Ling Feng really panicked; if anything happened to the Princess Consort, he feared the Prince would flay him alive.

Gu Jiu Ling gave a cold laugh: "Whenever Xiao Yin calls me in, that's when I'll get up; anyway, this Princess Consort can afford to wait him out."

"If he's capable, let him not attend court, not come out to receive guests, not…"

"Jiu Ling!" Xiao Yin's hoarse voice came from behind Gu Jiu Ling, tinged with helplessness.

Gu Jiu Ling's back stiffened slightly, she let out a cold snort, but a hint of tears lingered in her eyes; she had wanted to hold them back, yet resentment seeped out and fell uselessly.

She raised her hand and fiercely wiped the tears from her face, then coldly said: "It's just that he doesn't want to marry me; why make a fuss like this?"

"Either be like before, when you took in those six chief wives and tossed them to the rear courtyard to ignore, letting them live or die on their own; instead you come here to flirt, flirt, then turn vicious, choking necks and pinching faces."

"I owe you!"

"Who are you putting on this act for? Bullying me is bad enough, but you won't even let me reason with you, you…"

The rest of her words were a mix of crying and scolding, utterly chaotic.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault, I…" Xiao Yin's voice choked, yet he slowly half-knelt behind Gu Jiu Ling.

"Prince!" Ling Feng exclaimed.

Gu Jiu Ling also stood up, turned to look, and immediately stepped back.

The man half-kneeling on the ground, in just a few days looked as if he had aged over ten years, his face deathly pale.

He wore a black robe embroidered with silver patterns, over which he draped a great coat trimmed with wind fur; white fox fur set off his peerlessly handsome face, making his clear yet pallid complexion all the more striking.

He was half-kneeling before Gu Jiu Ling, yet his stature remained towering.

Gu Jiu Ling stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, intending to pull him up from the ground, but as soon as she touched his wrist, Xiao Yin's brows furrowed slightly and his distinctively jointed hand recoiled backward.

Gu Jiu Ling then remembered something, quickly released his wrist, focused her gaze, and saw a hideous scar running across his wrist.

It was the same wound from when Ling Feng had cut open the skin to insert the poison worm, leaving this scar; it likely hadn't healed properly in just a few days.

"Get up!" Gu Jiu Ling's voice trembled slightly.

Xiao Yin dared not look at her face; the torment he had endured these past days was no less than hers.

He hadn't expected this poison outbreak to come so fast; previously it occurred once a year, always in spring, but this time it surged violently.

Without waiting for spring, it erupted in winter, amounting to two outbreaks a year.

The previous outbreak had been in late spring to early summer; he had originally not been in Jing Cheng, but later, hiding from everyone, he secretly returned to Jing Cheng to investigate something, only to find it was the poison acting up.

At that time he didn't know where he had gone, vaguely wandering into a garden; thereafter his body was taken over by a demon, while another self vanished completely.

Until Ling Feng brought people to summon him at a small gambling house in the southern part of the city, by then he was on his last breath and his clothes were in disarray—utterly embarrassing to speak of.

It was like a person walking fine, suddenly fainting, then waking to find himself in another unfamiliar place, covered in mud, his clothes in rags, like a beggar.

This time it was the same situation; he knew that once the poison erupted, his soul would be replaced, he would do many absurd things, possibly even kill and set fires unconsciously.

Previously, he would mark the days; when the outbreak came, he would take Ling Feng alone to a villa in the suburbs, seeking a secluded courtyard.

Then he would have Ling Feng administer the poison‑worm antidote while locking him up and bolting the door.

After enduring a day and night, he would be fine.

This outbreak caught Xiao Yin off guard, and this year's two poison eruptions were not at the times he had previously calculated.

Xiao Yin dared not look at Gu Jiu Ling, nor at the bruise he had strangled onto her neck.

He felt himself growing more dangerous, and also increasingly disgusted with himself.

He really should have died seven years ago, beside his brothers at the bottom of Seven Slaughter Valley, so he wouldn't have become such a monster.

From today onward, Xiao Yin doesn't know when he will erupt, nor when Gu Jiu Ling will see him in such a wretched state.

He instinctively stepped back: "Jiu Ling… you…"

"Come inside and speak!" Gu Jiu Ling stared firmly at Xiao Yin.

Xiao Yin startled; he really didn't dare be with her, constantly worrying she would despise and loathe him, and in her presence he couldn't maintain even a shred of self‑respect.

Actually, what he feared more was not knowing when his next loss of control would occur, and Gu Jiu Ling wasn't always lucky enough to escape unscathed.

One must know that in this world, the calamities of those around us are the hardest to evade.

"Xiao Yin, I'm standing outside in the cold," Gu Jiu Ling lifted her gaze to him and added softly.

Xiao Yin ultimately couldn't withstand her; he took her hand and walked toward the warm pavilion in the eastern garden.

Ling Feng and Jiu Yue hurried to follow, but Gu Jiu Ling called them back: "You don't need to come along; I want to speak with the Prince alone."

Xiao Yin startled, thinking it would be better to have someone nearby to guard him, in case he lost consciousness again violently, so someone could help shield Gu Jiu Ling.

Just as he was about to speak, he met Gu Jiu Ling's clear, lovely eyes; she stared at him and said, "I want to have a private talk with the Prince."

Xiao Yin completely surrendered, ordering Ling Feng and Jiu Yue to wait outside.

The warm pavilion in the eastern garden was much larger than Gu Jiu Ling's Peach Blossom Pavilion, but it held few furnishings: a few racks of military texts, various treasured swords hung on the walls, a writing desk, a guqin, and a couch.

Because there were few items, the pavilion felt especially empty and spacious.

Gu Jiu Ling and Xiao Yin sat on chairs; Xiao Yin released her hand, then rose and moved farther away, squatting beside the charcoal basin to stir the silver‑frost charcoal.

Gu Jiu Ling fixed her gaze on him and asked, "What poison have you actually been afflicted with, and did you previously conceal anything from me?"

Xiao Yin's heart trembled slightly; after a long pause he said softly, "I didn't tell you because I didn't trust you, after all, if others learned of this it could cost me my life."

Gu Jiu Ling nodded, rose, and walked to stand before Xiao Yin.

Xiao Yin instinctively dodged her, intending to rise and walk away, but Gu Jiu Ling seized him firmly.

"Where do you think you're going? In this little place, do you still want to fly up to heaven?"

Xiao Yin gave a bitter smile: "No… I'm just worried…"

"Answer my question—what poison have you actually been struck with?" Gu Jiu Ling declared she wouldn't let him off this time.

Xiao Yin sighed helplessly: "Later I came to like you quite a bit, and I thought you were trustworthy, but I still didn't dare say it; I feared you would look down on me, even fear me, and leave me."

"After all…" Xiao Yin lowered his head, stood stiffly there, gazing at his own hand, "After all I am—a—monster!"

"A monster hidden deep inside!"