Chapter 205: Si Lu Commits Suicide

Chapter 205: Si Lu Takes His Own Life

"What, surprised to see me?"

Wu Tuyin spat out the blood in his mouth and shot a provocative look at Xie Nai and Xie Xuanran, "You didn't seriously think your clumsy schemes would work, did you?"

At Wu Tuyin's words, Xie Nai's eyes turned sharp.

Qin Jiao, standing nearby, was completely lost. What scheme? What poison? What the hell were they talking about?

The heavy floral scent still hung in the air, and Wu Tuyin tightened his grip on Shen Fuqing's neck. "So you're the brother Si Lu went looking for?"

Wu Tuyin looked Shen Fuqing over as his eyes nearly rolled back, and sneered, "Too bad you don't mean as much to him as I do."

Such a simple line, but Wu Tuyin delivered it dripping with smugness.

He continued, "You dressed He Zhao up as a princess and shipped him off to Mengqin, supposedly to rescue Qin Jiao, but really, you wanted him to secretly team up with Si Lu to poison me."

As he talked, Wu Tuyin ripped the hibiscus-patterned silver sachet off Shen Fuqing's belt. With a crack, he hurled it to the ground, where it split open, the scent inside flooding out even stronger. "But you never figured Si Lu wouldn't betray me this time!"

"Truly, the hardest thing to read in this world is the human heart."

Lin Wen, who'd just slipped out of danger, glanced at the arrogant Wu Tuyin and let out a helpless sigh, "Our plan failed."

Yeah, just like Wu Tuyin had guessed, He Zhao's whole undercover gig in Mengqin was to poison him. After all, as the saying goes, cut off the head and the body falls. If they could hit Wu Tuyin where it hurt, the two nations could skip a lot of bloodshed.

But Xie Nai and the others hadn't planned on He Zhao playing the princess in the first place, since the risk was huge—one slip-up and he might never come back.

But He Zhao wouldn't budge, and in the end, they all gave in and let him go. To make sure the "undercover plan" went off without a hitch, Xiao Baiyu even faked He Zhao's "disappearance" as a cover.

Since Wu Tuyin was a poison expert himself, and with Wu Fei at his side, any run-of-the-mill poison would get caught fast. So Xiao Baiyu cooked up a brand-new toxin.

This poison was one of a kind—it had to be used in two stages to hit full strength. The first stage was "sowing the seed," where the poison was mild. The second stage used the sachet Shen Fuqing wore to "reap the harvest."

Originally, the plan was for He Zhao, in princess drag, to meet Wu Tuyin right after arriving in Mengqin and slip him the poison while he wasn't looking. But unluckily, Wu Fei showed up to greet the "princess" that day and saw right through He Zhao's disguise.

Stuck, He Zhao changed tactics—he deliberately ran into Si Lu while escaping and passed him Shen Fuqing's secret letter plus some of the poison.

This was the backup plan Shen Fuqing and the others had cooked up. Earlier today, when Xie Xuanran saw Wu Tuyin looking worn out and dodging a fight, he'd figured He Zhao and the crew had pulled off the poisoning. But little did he know—not only had He Zhao's poison attempt failed and left him hanging by a thread, even Si Lu, soft-hearted as ever, had picked Wu Tuyin's side...

The wind screamed past their ears. After Wu Tuyin's speech, Qin Jiao quickly put two and two together—Wu Tuyin had flipped their own scheme back on them. He'd planned from the start to use the red-eyed girls to bait and snag Shen Fuqing and Lin Wen.

On top of Qin Jiao, he wanted the Grand Court Secretary and the Tianyuan Prime Minister as hostages too. Good news: Lin Wen got away. Bad news: Shen Fuqing was about to get choked out.

"Young Emperor, what are you offering this time to buy back Lord Shen? Thirty thousand catties of grain with tea and salt, or pulling your troops out of Jing Pass?" The mountain wind carried Wu Tuyin's voice to everyone there. "Still want to pick between the two?"

As Shen Fuqing's face went more and more purple, Xie Xuanran's brow furrowed tight. Just as the tension peaked, Shen Fuqing forced a few words out through his crushed throat:

"Xie Nai... cough... grab your bow and shoot me dead!"

His throat was crushed and the air was being slammed out of his lungs, but Shen Fuqing felt a rush he'd never known. That brush with death nearly drove him insane with excitement.

"Wu Tuyin! Cough... you'd better just kill me now." A wild glint flashed in Shen Fuqing's eyes. "Otherwise, I swear you'll die by my hand!"

Shen Fuqing's taunt made Wu Tuyin's murderous intent spike!

"You think I wouldn't dare?"

The calm on Wu Tuyin's face instantly shattered. Just as he was about to snap Shen Fuqing's neck, a familiar figure came running from not far away!

"Wu Tuyin, stop!" Si Lu shouted in terror, "Release my elder brother quickly!"

Seeing Si Lu appear, Wu Tuyin's green eyes trembled slightly, and the force in his hand loosened. "Why are you here?"

When Wu Tuyin had left Mengqin earlier, he had specifically ordered people to place Si Lu under house arrest at his mother's place. Amidst the thousands of troops, Si Lu, dressed in a plain white brocade robe, stood in stark contrast to the surrounding smoke of war.

"Elder brother, are you alright!" When Wu Tuyin had loosened his grip, Shen Fuqing had already taken the opportunity to escape his control. Now he was coughing violently on the ground, and Si Lu rushed over to support him. "I'm sorry, it's all because of me."

Si Lu then looked at Qin Jiao, "And Young Master Qin, I'm sorry to you both."

"You..."

Qin Jiao opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. It was Shen Fuqing, having recovered his breath, who comforted Si Lu: "It's alright, you have the right to make your own choices. You only did what you believed was right."

Hearing Shen Fuqing say this, Si Lu's gray-blue eyes gradually welled up with tears. "Elder brother, rest assured, my heart has never changed."

Si Lu smiled bitterly. Although his biological parents had died early, his Mengqin mother had raised him well. He could analyze pros and cons, distinguish good from evil, and understand right from wrong.

So he hated Wu Tuyin's brutality and knew deeply that he and Wu Tuyin could never be together.

The reason Si Lu hadn't poisoned Wu Tuyin earlier was partly because love made it impossible for him to do so, and partly because Si Lu wanted to personally end the entanglement between him and Wu Tuyin.

Not far away, Wu Fei watched Si Lu's resolute expression, and a sense of foreboding suddenly flashed through his mind. Just as he was puzzled, Si Lu suddenly pulled out the jade hairpin from his head and, without any hesitation, tossed it to Wu Tuyin!

"Return it to you!"

Wu Tuyin caught the jade hairpin almost instinctively. "What are you doing?" The man's gaze froze.

Everyone present was baffled by Si Lu's action, except Qin Jiao and Xie Nai, who unconsciously furrowed their brows.

That jade hairpin held the same special significance for Wu Tuyin and Si Lu as the Fengxue Bracelet did for Qin Jiao and Xie Nai. And now Si Lu was returning the jade hairpin to Wu Tuyin...

"What? Do you want to sever ties with me?" Wu Tuyin gripped the jade hairpin, an inexplicable surge of anger rising in his chest.

Si Lu didn't speak, only gave Wu Tuyin a deep look. In the young man's eyes, there was love, hatred, sorrow, and reluctance.

Wu Tuyin looked into Si Lu's eyes and was about to say something when Si Lu deliberately averted his gaze, then turned back to glance at Xie Nai.

Now everyone was even more puzzled.

Why was he suddenly looking at the Prince of Lingnan?

And in the next second, everyone knew why he had looked at Xie Nai!

"Wu Tuyin, stop now!"

The wind carried Si Lu's voice to its fullest volume. After shouting with all his might, Si Lu suddenly pulled a curved blade from his sleeve and drove it straight into his own chest!

"Thud—!"

Si Lu's movement was too fast—he had been determined to die from the start. He gave no one any chance to react or save him!

Blood splattered, and searing pain shot through him. Wu Tuyin's roar echoed in Si Lu's ears: "No! Don't!"

To be fair, Wu Tuyin had indeed let his guard down around Si Lu, so Si Lu had known from the beginning that Wu Tuyin's old ailment hadn't healed and that the medicine Wu Fei was giving him was growing stronger.

Earlier, both Wu Fei and Wuna had repeatedly mentioned that Wu Tuyin's injury required him to avoid anger, worry, and excessive emotional agitation, or else it would damage his heart meridians.

And this time, Si Lu had exploited exactly that. He couldn't bring himself to poison Wu Tuyin, so he chose to sacrifice himself instead. He believed he held some weight in Wu Tuyin's heart—if he committed suicide, Wu Tuyin would surely be consumed by rage, and that would be the perfect moment for Xie Nai to strike again!

"Si Lu!"

Wu Tuyin stumbled forward, while Wu Fei beside him was frantic, his eyes wide with panic, "Chieftain! You must not let your emotions run wild! Love ensnares people, please don't get agitated!"

But at this moment, Wu Tuyin paid it no mind. He watched as his Little Egret, bathed in moonlight, finally fell to the ground like a shattered flower. Just one step short of reaching Si Lu, a Crimson Feather Arrow suddenly pierced through the air and struck him dead center in the chest!

"Pfft—!"

Wu Tuyin coughed up a mouthful of blood and sank to his knees beside Si Lu. With the arrow still lodged in his chest, he struggled to grasp Si Lu's hand, "Why, why would you do this?"

Despair filled Wu Tuyin's green eyes, "Do you hate me that much?"

The bridge was silent, the fierce wind unrelenting, and the grassland's alpha wolf mourned bitterly over his beloved, who was on the verge of death.

"Wu Tuyin..." Si Lu struggled to raise his hand, wanting to touch Wu Tuyin's eyes. He had thought, from the very first time he saw Wu Tuyin, that his eyes were beautiful—like green gems, noble and radiant.

But even using every ounce of his strength, he still couldn't touch Wu Tuyin's brow.

Such a pity, Wu Tuyin.

In the end, he never got to tell him aloud: "I don't hate you."

As he lost consciousness, that was Si Lu's final thought.

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