Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

129. Gong Che’s Past

Translator: Flying Lines

Gong Che went there with the intention to die. When he used the blade to cut Su Jie’s leg, he already bit the poison hidden in his mouth.

The poison had already spread inside him. After he was knocked unconscious, he would never wake up again.

He was loyal to Lan Buhui. Back when he was a beggar in his young age, he had to go without meals and was often beaten up. He didn’t believe in the immortal. There was a time when he wanted to enter the immortal’s temple to pray, the temple was closed because it was already night-time. He was ravenous. He kowtowed and prayed for the immortal to bless him so that he could have food to eat and warm clothes to wear outside the entrance. However, a passer-by beggar saw the display and said that he was polluting the immortal, claiming that a street urchin like him didn’t have the right to worship the immortal, and then gave him a cruel beating afterward.

From that time onwards, Gong Che no longer believed in the immortal, since the immortal didn’t let him have a good life and even caused him to be beaten up.

Gong Che lay on the floor, hurt, hungry, and extremely cold. The pain in his body caused him to feel numb. He thought he was going to die.

Was he going to die in front of the immortal’s temple?

Gong Che found it funny.

But he didn’t die, because Lan Buhui saved him. Lan Buhui was the person who pulled Gong Che out of his dark life.

So, Gong Che was willing to be loyal to Lan Buhui to the point he was willing to sacrifice his life for Lan Buhui.

He completed the task Lan Buhui gave him. He could use unjust methods, because he had nothing to be worried about, and nothing to be afraid of.

In this world, the only one who gave Gong Che warmth was Lan Buhui.

Thus, Gong Che was willing to use his life to protect Lan Buhui even if he had to use all his energy or give up his life.

As long as Lan Buhui commanded it, Gong Che wouldn’t have the slightest hint of hesitation, no matter what he had to face.

So, after pretending to be a messenger to sneak into here, Gong Che could get down on his knees and act terrified, just like when he was beaten up and humiliated when he was younger.

The only difference was that he was grovelling outside the immortal’s temple back then and was tortured and abused, yet now, he kowtowed towards the immortal’s descendant and then used a blade covered with poison to injure the noble immortal’s descendant.

He died without regrets.

Before he died, Gong Che even wanted to laugh a little. He thought that he was an assassin that would be recorded in ‘History of Yanling’ because he successfully injured the immortal’s descendant.

He must be the best assassin in State Yanling.

The corner of Gong Che’s mouth revealed a faint smile. His only regret was that he could no longer serve under His Majesty, Lan Buhui…

*

At this moment, no one cared whether Gong Che was dead or alive. Everyone’s attention was focused on Su Jie.

“Your Highness, how are you?” Lian Cang was the first to ask.

Zhou Zaiyue was the first to half-kneel down to inspect Su Jie’s injuries as he was right by Su Jie’s side when the assassination happened.

“It’s Heartbroken Poison!” Zhou Zaiyue took a look at the bluish-violet blood oozing out of the injury and then tasted the blood, his face changed drastically after finding it to be slightly sweet.

The poison on the blade was Heartbroken!

“How does Your Highness feel?” Although the vice-generals were anxious, they didn’t panic because Zhou Zaiyue was a good doctor. They could only hope that Elder Zhou would be able to heal the crown prince.

“Heartbroken is highly toxic. The victim will gradually feel pain in all four limbs, and the situation will worsen day by day. On the seventh day, the liver and the intestines will be corrupted by the poison into pieces, and the victim will die of extreme pain.” Zhou Zaiyue’s eyes revealed a raging fire, but his mind was calm, already starting to consider how to make the antidote.

“Can the poison be cured?” Ju Liandao became angrier the more he listened. It hadn’t been easy to hold out until today when there was hope to retake the throne, yet the situation was messed up by an assassin pretending to be a messenger, who actually dared to assassinate His Highness. What an unforgivable sin!

“It is curable, but the antidote is extremely bothersome to make.” Zhou Zaiyue frowned. He had planned for sixteen years, but just when they were about to succeed, they fell into the hands of this assassin. Did it mean the crown prince’s suffering wasn’t over yet?

Zhou Zaiyue was a little perturbed, partly because of the poison, and partly because he knew things that others did not…

But, the most important thing right now was to undo the poison.

Anxious expressions showed on the vice-generals’ faces, especially Lian Cang who blamed himself the most. If he knew what was going to happen, he would never have given the assassin a reason to approach His Highness the Crown Prince. Look where he got them – His Highness was poisoned with an extremely deadly poison.

Lian Cang felt guilty towards Su Jie and the immortal. He even thought about going to the immortal’s temple to commit suicide in an attempt to atone for this. This was the first time that this tall, buff man became red-eyed and blamed himself for his mistakes.

On the other hand, Su Jie was extremely calm. He even smiled slightly and said, “I thought the poison would kill me immediately, but unexpectedly, there are seven days to undo the poison. These seven days should be enough for Elder Zhou to prepare an antidote, right?”

Su Jie saw that Zhou Zaiyue was frowning, yet, he didn’t look hopeless, and so Su Jie guessed that the antidote could be made before the poison killed him.

Hearing this, Zhou Zaiyue said hurriedly, “This matter involves Your Highness’s safety. I will give it my all. This matter shouldn’t be delayed, I will immediately send people to buy the medical herbs.”

Even though Zhou Zaiyue was confident about successfully making the antidote, this matter involved Su Jie’s life and couldn’t tolerate the slightest mistake. Although Zhou Zaiyue couldn’t personally buy the herbs, he would check the herbs and then decoct it himself. Su Jie was the only remaining male of State Yanling’s royal family. Even though a message came from State Liukong that there was news of the princess rescued during the court change at that time, everyone’s hopes were placed on Su Jie.

“Then, I must trouble Elder Zhou.” As usual, Su Jie maintained a calm and cool expression.

The cut on Su Jie’s leg was very deep, causing a heavy bleeding. After all, Gong Che was aiming to kill. Zhou Zaiyue always carried around a box of medicine with him whilst traveling with the army these few days, and so, naturally, it was with him now. After stemming Su Jie’s bleeding, Zhou Zaiyue left in a hurry to make the antidote.

It would be best to get the antidote ready as soon as possible. After all, Su Jie’s bodily functions would be affected as the poison spread. Also, it was now a critical moment for their great course of taking the throne. If Su Jie’s poisoning was made known, then it would probably cause a big adverse effect on the army’s morale.

At this point, Su Jie didn’t feel anything uncomfortable on his body. His gaze swept around the room and saw the vice-generals all wearing the same nervous look. Lian Cang, in particular, looked like he was torn by grief.

“Lian Cang.” Su Jie called out.

Hearing this, Lian Cang immediately dropped to his knees and said loudly: “Your Highness, I admit to my wrongdoings. I am willing to suffer any punishment Your Highness may give. I will die without regrets!”

Su Jie frowned, looking like he was deep in thought.

Lian Cang lowered his head and said, “I am willing to receive any punishments Your Highness may give.”

“What crime have you committed?” Su Jie asked.

“I shouldn’t have let the assassin approach Your Highness, causing Your Highness to be poisoned…”

“You are not blamed for this. Besides, I’m not dead, am I?” Su Jie laughed. He glanced at the lifeless assassin and said to Lian Cang without revealing the slightest surprise, “Get up. We can only blame the assassin for being cunning enough to fool all of us. However, he is already dead, so I’ll let you be responsible for his burial.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” Lian Cang stood up. He did feel ashamed and uneasy, but he buried the guilt deep in his heart. He yanked the assassin’s hair and roughly dragged Gong Che out.

“Wait,” Su Jie suddenly said.

Lian Cang stopped.

Su Jie walked over and told a soldier to bring some water and tree leaves over. Then, he wiped Gong Che’s face for a while.

Su Jie removed a skin-mask from the dead assassin’s face, revealing Gong Che’s true appearance.

Gong Che had extremely delicate features. The smile on his lips before he died formed a beautiful expression. His eyes were closed, looking as peaceful as a sleeping child.

Ju Liandao shouted in alarm instantly, “Gong Che!”

“Gong Che?” Su Jie couldn’t help but give the assassin a few more glances.

Unexpectedly, the assassin was one of Lan Buhui’s four generals.

Ju Liandao knew Lan Buhui’s four generals because he had interacted with Lan Buhui back in the days and then opposed him all these years. However, he couldn’t help but sigh in pity when he recognized Gong Che.

If only he thought more about it before. He knew Gong Che was a small soldier, yet he never linked the messenger in front of him to Gong Che. Instead, Gong Che was easily able to infiltrate into the camp by using disguises.

“Now that three of the four generals are dead. It looks like Lan Buhui plans to go down fighting. Xu Lingtian was killed by me, Xia Zhi died in the hands of that man who sticks around His Highness, and now Gong Che committed suicide by swallowing poison. Now, the only capable underling Lan Buhui has left is Yun Hui. It looks like the attack on the imperial city and the palace will be rather fierce.” Ju Liandao felt a little disturbed. Even though he had obtained many achievements during this journey, he was still human in the end. He wasn’t cautious enough. If he was, Gong Che wouldn’t have been able to approach His Highness.

Truthfully, Ju Liandao couldn’t be blamed for this matter. After all, he didn’t know exactly what Gong Che looked like. Originally, he thought Gong Che was a fierce soldier who killed enemies bravely on the battlefield. But who would have thought that Gong Che was actually that head-shaking messenger who nagged a lot?

Ju Liandao thought the four generals all had a sense of morality, courage and uprightness and all were good at leading troops. Yet, unexpectedly, Gong Che was so under-handed.

“Go bury him, and make him a burial plaque.” Su Jie greatly admired Xu Lintian and his like. He had pledged his loyalty to someone too. Now, seeing Gong Che die, Su Jie couldn’t help but be moved, compassion blossoming inside him.

Lian Cang was originally going to drag Gong Che’s corpse out and whip it to vent out his anger. But hearing Su Jie’s serious tone, Lian Cang didn’t dare to disrespect Gong Che’s corpse any longer. He carried Gong Che’s body on his shoulder and left.

Ju Liandao was about to speak to Su Jie, yet he stopped himself.

His Highness was truly benevolent. Lan Buhui already resorted to such filthy means to… – why wasn’t His Highness angry?

Before, he’d seen the crown prince kill people without blinking, yet, how come he turned so compassionate all of a sudden?

Ju Liandao frowned. He discovered that even though Su Jie was quick and decisive in killing, there were still some hints of kindness in him. However, this kind of kindness was nothing good, because the enemy wouldn’t repent just because of His Highness’s kindness. Instead, they would only become even more cruel.

Ju Liandao thought that they should hang up Gong Che’s corpse to let the citizens know about Lan Buhui’s despicable ways. The messengers they sent before were tortured to death by Lan Buhui, and then their heads were hung on the city gates. And yet, when someone tried to assassinate the crown prince, His Highness actually told people to make a plaque for the assassin?

Ju Liandao became more and more furious.