The Curtain Falls for Now

“No, there’s no need. Father Emperor, you don’t need to search anymore…”

Ling Muxue let out a broken whimper. As if all strength had been drained from her body, she slowly and painfully sank to her knees. Bean-sized teardrops broke free from her eyes, smashing onto the cold bluestone floor one after another, splashing into blossoms of despair.

This brief moment felt to her like a long and cruel torture. Regret was like countless red-hot steel needles piercing through her flesh and stabbing ruthlessly into her heart, grinding over and over again.

She regretted it so much. Boundless regret completely drowned her. For that Mufeng, she had personally stolen the only Nirvana Syrup that could save Sun Niang’s life.

If not for this, how could Sun Niang have fallen into this desperate situation of waiting for death? That divine medicine, which should have saved her closest relative, was personally given by her to that… that person who had only lent a helping hand once.

That bit of kindness could have been repaid in countless ways. But why… why did it have to be now? Why did it have to be repaid with Sun Niang’s life?

If, if the Nirvana Syrup were still here, she wouldn’t be in this powerless state where she could only watch Sun Niang suffer and wait for death.

Ling Muxue gripped her hair tightly with both hands, her nails almost digging into her scalp. Sun Niang’s voice and smile flooded her mind like a tide—the old woman who had raised her, given her care and doting that surpassed even a birth mother, taught her to grow, and tolerated all her willfulness… the person she regarded as her true mother. Now, the only chance for survival, which she should have instinctively used all her strength to secure, had been personally and foolishly ruined by her…

Immense, unbearable pain and self-blame made her curl up on the ground, tears crisscrossing her face like muddy paths washed by a rainstorm.

She hugged herself tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably, as if trying to shrink into a corner where she could escape reality. She was unwilling and unable to face this cruel ending she had brewed with her own hands.

Watching his daughter look so lost and weep on the ground, a trace of bearability finally flashed through Ling Ze’s heart.

Lu Qiancha’s plan advanced step by step, calculating the human heart to the extreme. Its precision and coldness made even him, an emperor, feel a chill.

But on his face, he maintained just the right amount of confusion and concern: “Muxue, what is wrong? Do not scare me!”

“Father Emperor…” Ling Muxue raised her head, tears flowing with despair, her voice choked and broken, “That bottle of Nirvana Syrup… actually… was taken by me… You don’t need to look for it anymore…”

Originally, she had tried her best to cover up this mistake.

Before, when she wasn’t caught immediately and no one noticed the theft of the Nirvana Syrup, Ling Muxue had even felt a secret delight.

But now, only endless shame and a heavy debt remained.

This heavy debt to Sun Niang was like the sharpest blade, ruthlessly shattering all the excuses she had made for Mufeng in her heart, exposing the absurdity and selfishness at the core.

“You took the Nirvana Syrup?!”

Ling Ze’s voice rose abruptly, filled with shock and deliberately increased anger, his brows locked tight like blades. “Such a precious item concerns the foundation of the state, yet you dared to take it without telling anyone?

“No, this isn’t taking, this is stealing! Muxue, how could you be so muddled as to commit such a rebellious act?!”

He scolded sternly, then seemed to suppress his anger, taking a deep breath, his tone carrying a hint of leniency, “Never mind. Since this is the case and you have the medicine on you, take it quickly to save Sun Niang. As for your crime… I will decide on it after you return from saving her!”

“Father Emperor…” Ling Muxue’s body trembled violently. She lowered her head deeply, almost burying her face in the cold stone slab, her voice weak but clear as a final verdict, “The Nirvana Syrup… I already… gave it to Mufeng.”

As soon as these words came out, she seemed like a completely different person from the self-righteous Ling Muxue who believed she was faultless.

Back then, she would have clamored, “I saved someone, you are the ones in the wrong!” Now, only regret so thick it couldn’t dissolve remained; every word was soaked in the juice of pain.

“What did you say?!” Ling Ze took a sharp step back, his face instantly covered in unbelievable horror, his voice trembling slightly from shock. “You gave the Nirvana Syrup… to… Mufeng?! That demon?!”

“Father Emperor! I’ll go find Mufeng right now!” Ling Muxue struggled to stand up, stumbling as if clutching at the last imaginary straw, defending urgently, “He definitely hasn’t taken it yet! I’ll go get it back! Definitely…”

She tried to use this sentence to comfort her heart, which was on the verge of collapse.

As if it were fate’s cruelest mockery, just before her voice faded—

“Report—!!!” A high-pitched, urgent announcement tore through the heavy air inside the treasure vault.

Ling Ze raised an eyebrow and walked quickly out of the vault. A dust-covered messenger knelt on one knee, his voice panicked: “Reporting to Your Majesty, an urgent report from the royal death row. The rebel Mufeng attacked the jailers, killed four people in a row, injured several others, and has already broken out of prison and escaped!”

This news, like a final death knell, passed precisely into the ears of Ling Muxue, who had followed him out.

“Urgh…” Her legs, which were about to stand, instantly lost all strength. Like being hit by an invisible giant hammer, she collapsed heavily back into a kneeling position. Her eyes instantly became hollow and dull, as if her soul had been extracted.

Mufeng being able to break out and kill could only mean one thing—he had already taken the Nirvana Syrup and completed the transformation of rebirth.

That last bottle of life-saving hope, that only remaining glimmer of dawn, was finally completely extinguished, vanishing into the boundless, desperate darkness.

“That bastard!!” Ling Ze erupted with terrifying pressure, roaring sternly at the guards standing solemnly outside the door, his wrath echoing through the treasure vault. “Lock down the royal city immediately! Chase him down! I want that evil spawn brought back to me even if you have to dig three feet into the ground! Dead or alive!”

The guards responded in unison, accepting the order with murderous auras and leaving.

In reality, Mufeng had already broken out and left in the early hours of the morning, with people assigned to track him.

The current situation was merely a play Ling Ze was putting on for Ling Muxue.

When the guards left hurriedly, Ling Ze turned around abruptly, his gaze like a tempered sword, stabbing fiercely at Ling Muxue, who was paralyzed on the ground: “Rebellious daughter—!!”

This scolding, full of shock, anger, and endless disappointment, was like the last straw that broke the camel’s back, completely crushing Ling Muxue’s nerves, which were taut to the limit.

The mountains of grief, regret, and despair piled up in her heart instantly broke the dam of reason. Her eyes rolled back, her body fell limply backward, and she fell into a complete coma.

Seeing Ling Muxue faint, the thunderous rage on Ling Ze’s face receded rapidly like a tide, returning to his usual depth and calm.

He waved his hand casually, his voice without ripples: “Take the Princess down to rest and look after her well.”

Palace servants immediately stepped forward, carefully lifting the unconscious Ling Muxue and leaving in a hurry.