Sang Yan's heart was resistant.
She stood erect, not going over.
He Ying saw this but wasn't annoyed, pinching his chin with a raised eyebrow and a smile, "What's the matter? You don't admit it? Lan personally said so. She claimed it was after hearing the arrangement between you sisters that she momentarily lost her senses and chose the wrong path. Her palace attendants can testify, and I believe those from Yuesang Palace will testify as well."
Indeed.
Lan's fate was partially her own doing.
If she herself hadn't entered the palace, if she hadn't helped Sang Ruoshui compete for favor, what would everything be like?
Sang Yan knew she shouldn't think this way, feeling a bit of a 'Madonna complex' flaring up, but she still felt somewhat influenced.
"Emperor, forgive me."
She knelt to admit her fault, earnestly explaining, "I hold no ill intent toward the Emperor, I am only concerned for the heir. The Emperor has sought female companionship and felt unwell; I wondered if it might be psychological, and thought perhaps under the influence of alcohol, there might be a miracle."
"I'm also curious if there might be a miracle."
He Ying bid her to rise and continue pouring his wine, "Come on. Get me drunk. Let me indulge in lust after drinking."
Sang Yan: "..."
It was too shameful.
She did not rise, nor did she speak.
He Ying chuckled lightly, "What's the matter? Now you don't have the courage to experiment with me? I absolve you of any wrongdoing."
Sang Yan felt the Emperor was just picking a fight, yet she could only kowtow and beg for mercy, "I acknowledge my guilt. Emperor, your magnanimity knows no bounds; I beseech you to spare me this time."
The Emperor was too wicked.
And very petty.
Lan's matter had passed, he hadn't cared about it before, but now he was using it to intimidate her!
"Are you sure you just want me to spare you this time?"
The Emperor's words had a hidden meaning.
Sang Yan immediately thought of her visit to the Empress Dowager at Yongshou Palace—bad news! Did he know she had offered strategies to the Empress Dowager? My God! Are there no secrets in the Imperial Palace! No, it should be said that everything in the Imperial Palace is under his control!
"I heard from Princess Consort Sang that you wish to leave the palace, is this considered fleeing due to fear of punishment? Hm? Sang Yan, since you have strategies, why not present them directly to me? What, are you afraid I'll implement them on you?"
When He Ying said this, he was both angry and embarrassed, and his volume rose, "Indeed, a woman who's been married before, more experienced than even me!"
"I... acknowledge my guilt."
Sang Yan lowered her head, her pretty face instantly blushing.
Red as a rose.
Red as if bleeding.
He Ying saw this, and a strange fire ignited in his heart: Who taught her all those things? Her deceased husband? I heard her deceased husband died before their wedding night? So before the wedding night, they already...
"Detestable!"
He slammed the table, clearing his mind of the messy thoughts.
Sang Yan, unaware of his internal turmoil, shuddered with fright.
He Ying stared at her fiercely, his gaze hotter than he realized, as if it were aflame, wanting to burn off her clothes layer by layer.
Sang Yan felt extremely tense under his gaze.
Her stomach inappropriately growled twice.
She was terribly embarrassed, her head bowing even lower, wishing she could crawl into a hole.
He Ying heard the noise from her stomach, slightly furrowing his brows, but said nothing.
This foolish woman, didn't she think to eat something before she came?
He suppressed the urge to invite her to share a meal with him and huffed, "Why aren't you speaking? Weren't you quite eloquent?"
Sang Yan knew she couldn't outtalk the Emperor and that the more she said, the more errors she'd make, so she said, "I acknowledge my guilt."
In fact, He Ying disliked hearing her say that.
Every time she said it, it seemed like a capitulation, but in truth, it was a carte blanche for her.
He couldn't charge her with a crime, and so she grew repeatedly arrogant with favor!
"Very well, since you acknowledge your guilt, then redeem yourself through service."
He Ying narrowed his dangerous eyes, a cruel smile curling on his lips, "Not everyone in the Imperial Palace is as worried about the heir as you are. Since you're so concerned, then I shall grant you a heir as you suggest!"
"Impossible!"
Sang Yan was startled, raising her head, her eyes wide, rejecting him again, "Emperor! You must not!"
He Ying knew Sang Yan wouldn't agree, but hearing her refusal still displeased him greatly.
This displeasure contained the anger of the Emperor's authority being offended, the embarrassment of a man's dignity being wounded, and the pain of a sincere offer being rejected.
He was the Emperor, and all the women of the world competed for the chance to bear his children, but she was unwilling.
The reason, it seems, is that she's still clinging to the memory of her deceased husband!
Who knows what kind of love potion that dead man gave her!
It infuriated him to no end!
"Why not?"
He knew full well yet still aimed to bewitch her. "My first heir, if it is a Prince, would be Da He's future Crown Prince. Isn't this why your family sent you to the palace?"
"But I am not here for this."
Sang Yan lifted her head to meet his gaze, firmly stating, "I have no intention of remarrying; I only wish to honor my late husband."
"Shut up! Don't mention your dead husband!"
He Ying's tolerance for Sang Yan's late husband was getting lower and lower.
He exploded upon hearing it: "You are foolish beyond measure! You do not know what you're missing! And you dare to refuse me!"
He was so angry he wanted to murder someone: "From now on, if you dare say 'no' again, I will kill your entire family! Don't believe me? Just try me!"
Sang Yan: "..."
This dog of an Emperor is resorting to tyranny!
She was very scared and very angry: "Your Majesty, please reconsider! The entire palace is full of women competing to bear children for the Emperor. Why must you insist on me?"
"Insist?"
He Ying laughed with rage: "You say I insist? Ha, very well then, I shall insist! Come—"
Pei Muyang, who had been eavesdropping by the door, thought upon hearing the Emperor reward Sang Yan with the first heir: The Sang Family is going to prosper! What an unparalleled honor!
He never imagined that Sang Yan would refuse!
Was this woman maddened by her widowhood?
That's the heir to the throne!
"I am here."
He rushed in, thinking: Faced with the Emperor's wrath, he didn't plan on killing someone, did he? Should he advise against it or not? If the killing happened and the Emperor regretted it later, he'd definitely be the first to suffer!
"Your Majesty, please think twice. Miss Sang cannot be killed—"
"Who is going to kill her?"
He Ying, annoyed by the dim-witted Pei Muyang, kicked him: "Draft the decree! Do it now! Mrs. Sang's eldest daughter, Sang Yan, is virtuous and talented, deeply beloved by me; thus, she is to be conferred the title of Imperial Concubine Jiayi! Tonight, she shall receive the honor—"
"No! Don't!"
Sang Yan was truly frightened this time.
She stood up quickly, intending to stop Pei Muyang, but perhaps because she had been kneeling too long and stood up too quickly, she blacked out and fainted.
"Sang Yan!"
He Ying cried out in shock and instinctively reached out to help her.
"My Lady—"
Pei Muyang saw the Emperor move to help and hurriedly stopped him: "Your Majesty, you mustn't touch her! Be careful of the illness flaring up!"
He Ying, reminded of the pain of the illness, paused mid-reach and slowly withdrew his hand: "Summon the Imperial Physician immediately!"
Pei Muyang responded with an affirmation, arranged for the eunuch to fetch the Imperial Physician, and had another eunuch carry Sang Yan to the Dragon Bed.
The eunuch was very careful; when placing her on the Dragon Bed, he supported the back of her head and gently laid it on the pillow.
Then, he pulled up the blanket to cover her.
She lay there, wearing a thin summer garment; the faint outline of her softly white skin was visible, rising and falling with her breathing.
A vivid and enticing beauty.
He knew the eunuch hadn't dared to look, but he was still overwhelmingly jealous.
Jealous that the eunuch was so close to her.
Jealous that the eunuch had held her.
When that right should have been his alone.
It was all because of that strange disease!
For the first time, He Ying felt hatred for the strange disease... and an urgent, burning desire to cure it.