At this moment, Mo Xuanjing suddenly dismissed everyone present. Zha Muxi felt a start; he was beginning to doubt her. As the son of destiny in this world, Mo Xuanjing was naturally far more perceptive than ordinary people.
Sure enough, Mo Xuanjing demanded sharply, "Who on earth are you? This Prince has never heard of any Miss Zha possessing such skills."
If Zha Muxi was an enemy imposter using disguise techniques, he would have no choice but to kill her or lock her up—though keeping her around as a fake Princess was not entirely out of the question.
Zha Muxi calmly sat down. "Does the Prince truly understand me? As for me, in order to stay alive, I've had no choice but to play all these melodramatic roles with every single one of you."
Hmph, a man's mouth is a deceiving ghost. One second he was looking at her with deep affection, and the next he wanted her dead.
"That's impossible." Mo Xuanjing's tone was laced with disbelief.
"How could it be impossible? Back when the late Emperor was on the throne, he was incompetent and foolish, leaving treacherous officials to run rampant. In the end, he even sold out the country to save his own skin. The territory was torn apart, and the common people were reduced to slaves of other nations, unable to even fill their bellies."
"While my grandfather was fighting battles on the frontiers, he had no provisions from the rear and no reinforcements from outside. On the day the city fell, my grandfather chose to die rather than surrender. He led over a thousand of his men in cutting their own throats for the country, turning the rivers red with blood," Zha Muxi said coldly.
After a brief pause, she continued, "May I ask the Prince, under those circumstances, what fate would have awaited me if I had not bided my time?"
Mo Xuanjing fell silent. The old general had once shown him kindness, yet on the day he died, not a single reinforcement had been sent. Mo Xuanjing instantly realized that his father had been wary of the old general's immense power and influence, and had used the situation to get rid of him. But never had his father imagined that the Mo Kingdom would be left with not a single capable person, forcing Mo Xuanjing himself onto the battlefield at the age of thirteen.
If Zha Muxi had been too extraordinary, both the former Emperor and the new Emperor would have found a way to force her into the Imperial Palace as a consort just to keep the old general's former subordinates under control.
Mo Xuanjing asked in a hoarse voice, "Then why were you so insistent on marrying me?"
There was not a trace of emotion in Zha Muxi's voice. "When I attended an imperial banquet at the age of thirteen, I crossed paths with the late Emperor. To my surprise, he couldn't stop thinking of me afterward, losing his appetite and sleep over it. To please the Dragon's gaze, those treacherous officials drugged me and sent me straight into the Imperial Palace. You had just returned to the capital at that time, Your Highness, and you happened to save me on a whim. It was from that exact moment that I knew I had to tightly grasp the Prince as my straw to cling to if I wanted to survive."
Although the old Emperor had suddenly dropped dead around that time, he had actually left behind a secret decree ordering the original body to be buried with him upon turning sixteen, claiming that she would surely be peerlessly beautiful by then—such utter absurdity. To protect the original body, her family had simply gone with the flow and married her off to Mo Xuanjing.
Because the new Emperor and the Prince shared a deep fraternal bond, the new Emperor would certainly never make that secret decree public. The original body had mistakenly believed her family fully supported her, never once suspecting that every move behind the scenes was an act of helpless resignation by her family.
Zha Muxi did not reveal everything. She knew Mo Xuanjing would definitely investigate the matter himself; after all, second-hand accounts always left room for doubt, and only what one witnessed with one's own eyes would ever be truly believed.
Mo Xuanjing held no deep affection for his own father, which was precisely why Zha Muxi dared to speak so openly. Back then, to coax a smile from his favorite concubine, the late Emperor had even forced his own wedded wife to dance in public. The male protagonist could never forget how his mother's heart had grown blocked with sorrow from that day onward, living in daily gloom until she finally withered away.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Mo Xuanjing's expression shifted drastically. "I'm sorry. This Prince hasn't protected you properly these past two years."
"It's fine. It is I who have intruded upon the Prince for so long."
For a moment, Mo Xuanjing didn't know what to say. He could sense the keep-your-distance attitude radiating from Zha Muxi. All he could manage was, "It's no trouble. You can intrude for as long as you like from now on."
Zha Muxi's expression remained cold. "Let us divorce."
Mo Xuanjing's face instantly darkened. "This Prince has said before: this Prince only knows bereavement, never divorce."
Yet Zha Muxi merely swept a detached glance at him. "Your Highness, you will agree to a divorce."
Mo Xuanjing asked urgently, "Are you hating me because I didn't choose you back then?"
He knew deep down he was longing to hear a "yes," because at least then there would still be some tie between them; even if it was hatred, he could never let her go.
Watching Mo Xuanjing gaze at her with a look bordering on supplication, Zha Muxi suddenly turned serious. "Your Highness, whether you believe it or not, I have truly never blamed you. If I were in your shoes, I would have chosen the person I loved, too."
"She is not that person," Mo Xuanjing instinctively retorted.
Zha Muxi could only marvel at how fast romance arrives, sweeping in just like a tornado. Mo Xuanjing had actually fallen for someone else, though to her, none of this mattered in the least.
"Your Highness, every encounter is predestined by fate, but some people can only accompany you for a stretch of the road, while others will forever stand quietly guarding you not far behind."
Mo Xuanjing knew she truly wanted nothing more to do with him. In the past, whenever she saw another woman approach him, she would throw monumental tantrums. Now, she was actually telling him to cherish another woman. A bitter smile touched the corner of his mouth, while his chest felt as though it were being crushed beneath a massive boulder.
"No matter what, this Prince will never agree to a divorce." Mo Xuanjing knew that doing this would make her hate him, but he had no way to watch her walk away with his own eyes. If so, they would just stay here and torture each other.
At a single glance, Zha Muxi understood what was running through Mo Xuanjing's mind—nothing more than a scheme of mutual torment until she eventually fell in love with him. But she had no time to play these lingering, sentimental games of romance; Lan Chenyu would be coming for her very soon.
Zha Muxi said coldly, "Your Highness, you profess your love for Ye Shuxin over and over, claiming you've loved her for so many years, and yet now you suddenly declare you don't love her anymore and love me instead. Can you even tell who you actually love anymore? Or perhaps your heart is loving two people at the same time?" With that, Zha Muxi flashed a mocking smile.
Mo Xuanjing hurried to say, "This Prince would never treat you like that. Xiner once blocked a sword for me; that is a debt I owe her. At first, I thought I loved her, too, but after meeting you, I realized how wrong I was. Do you have any idea? The moment I imagined you staying with Lan Chenyu for so long, I went mad with jealousy. Every time I watched you suffer through the detoxification, I wanted to take the pain in your place."
"I originally thought that after spending so many years on the battlefield and growing accustomed to death, I would look upon mortality with indifference. But the moment I heard that your detoxification put your life in peril, my heart couldn't help but ache. I was terrified—terrified of losing you."
Seeing the love in Mo Xuanjing's eyes, Zha Muxi was momentarily stunned. For a thousand years, she had wandered the abyss all alone, watching the world's endless entanglements, griefs, and joys. Thus, she was lonely; she desired love and longed to be loved in return.
Yet now, the man before her was declaring his love, and all she wanted was to stay as far away from him as possible, ideally leaving no further intersection between their lives. Romantic affection was best left untouched, lest it drag her down into utter ruin one day.
"Your Highness, is your idea of love keeping me locked away in some forgotten corner? That kind of love feels rather insulting, doesn't it?"
"No, this Prince only wants you by my side," Mo Xuanjing hastily explained.
A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Zha Muxi's lips. "Your Highness, save these words for the day you truly understand what I want! Until then, everything you say is just idle, painless nonsense. Besides, how could a Princess consort who can never bear children ever hope to keep the Prince by her side?"
"You knew all along? You..." Right—with her exceptional medical skills, how could she possibly be unaware of her own physical condition?
"Your Highness, do you know how this child disappeared?" Zha Muxi said flatly.
Hearing this, a wave of unease rippled through Mo Xuanjing. He had originally suspected Lan Chenyu of meddling, but seeing the expression on Zha Muxi's face, his heart sank heavily.
"I willingly discarded it. I didn't want any further entanglements with the Prince."
Mo Xuanjing was left in a daze, struck by a tearing agony. She would actually rather spend her entire life never becoming a mother than have any connection to him? An indescribable torment flickered in his eyes. His face turned ashen; he felt a bone-deep chill and an all-encompassing ache throughout his body.
"It must have been Lan Chenyu who forced you, right? Don't be afraid, I won't let him off. Rest assured, I will definitely avenge our child!" Mo Xuanjing anxiously scrambled for excuses on Zha Muxi's behalf, hoping that way he could pretend nothing had happened at all.
Zha Muxi remained silent, watching him quietly.
"Why won't you even tell a lie to this Prince? As long as you say the word, this Prince will believe you. Just say it!" By the end, a trace of desperate pleading colored Mo Xuanjing's tone.
"Your Highness, stop deceiving yourself. Haven't you already figured out that I orchestrated all of this? I am so clever; if I had wanted to protect that child, how could I possibly have failed?" Zha Muxi declared sternly.
Mo Xuanjing closed his eyes in agony. That was right—Zha Muxi possessed boundless resourcefulness, with stratagems linked together like interlocking rings. Every single person's reaction had been entirely within her grasp; how could she have failed to protect a single child?
"This Prince has always considered himself heartless, cold, and devoid of feeling. Hahaha... You are the one who is truly without a heart," Mo Xuanjing said with a hint of hatred.
He hated her ruthlessness, yet he could not stop himself from loving her. If love was poison, then she was his only antidote.
The original body had indeed loved Mo Xuanjing, but she was not the original body. She knew that the current Mo Xuanjing might genuinely love her a little now, but what did that have to do with her?
Moreover, ever since arriving in this world, she had been having the same recurring dream, where a man would always gently call out her name. She tried her hardest to make out his face, but could only see a pair of cold yet sorrow-laden eyes. It was enough to drive her mad.
With a cold expression, Zha Muxi said, "Your Highness, I hope you will take some time to reflect properly. I shall take my leave now."
She did not deny it; she felt she was indeed such a person.
Mo Xuanjing gazed blankly at her resolute retreating figure, feeling as though he had been cast into an endless, icy sea of darkness, sinking deep into a whirlpool of agony with no light in sight.