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墨書 Inktalez
As I watched Luo Ruyan collapse in pain, memories flooded back to me. I recalled the first time I met Xiao Yuchen, when he handed me the silk pouch embroidered with a Blood-Red Peony. At that moment, he said, "This Official likes Blood-Red Peony." It was his way of reminding me of the vibrant crimson blooms that flourished in the backyard years ago.
He had also given me a Red Pill, saying, "It can help you live for another six months." But he never mentioned that within that pill, alongside the life-extending medicine, was a drop of his own blood. That was why my body accepted it when he asked me to drink his blood. It was all for today.
"A Rou..." He struggled to crawl beside me. I lay in his arms, black blood trickling from the corner of my mouth. "I'm sorry... I let your expectations down..."
"Fool," he said, wiping the blood from my lips. "I knew it would end this way long ago."
"Then why did you...?"
"Because I owe your mother a life." He forced a bitter smile. "But in the end, I still couldn't protect you."
"No," I shook my head. "You gave me the power for revenge; that's enough."
Prince Pingyang approached, wanting to say something. I weakly raised my hand to stop him. The poison had taken hold of my heart, making it difficult to even speak.
"Brother... don't say anything..."
"Let me lie here quietly for a while..."
It was like when I was a child, lying in my mother's embrace in the backyard, gazing at the blooming peonies all around. The flowers were so beautiful then, not blood-red, but a gentle pink.
When Luo Ruyan fell, I heard her say her last words: "In the next life... let us not meet again..." But I knew we were destined to meet again, just as Xiao Yuchen and I were fated to reunite. Some things cannot be resolved in just one lifetime.
"Hamu..." I leaned against his chest, listening to his faint heartbeat.
"Do you think... in the next life we will remember each other?"
"We will." He kissed my forehead gently. "I will be the first to find you."
"Then..." I felt my consciousness fading. "Will you still embroider a Blood-Red Peony for me?"
"I won't anymore."
His voice trembled with a hint of tears.
"I want to embroider a garden full of pink peonies for you, to accompany you through the changing seasons."
"Alright..."
I smiled as tears streamed down my face.
"But in this life... let me first repay this blood debt for you..."
He held me tighter.
"A Rou..."
I could no longer speak.
I just gazed at him,
at his snow-white hair,
his pale face.
In this life,
we have both borne too many debts.
In the next life,
may we owe each other nothing.
In the final moment,
I seemed to see the peonies in the backyard,
blooming fiercely.
Mother stood beneath the flowers, smiling at me:
"A Rou, it's time to go home."
"Mm." I nodded.
Leaning in his embrace,
I slowly closed my eyes.
Later on,
the Ninth Prince ascended the throne and settled the blood feud with the Su Family.
Prince Pingyang found a piece of auspicious land in the backyard,
to bury a pair of nameless souls.
That year, the peonies bloomed exceptionally well.
The old matron in the palace said that such a bloom was nurtured by blood.
There were also young maidens who said it was because a sorrowful love lay buried beneath the ground.
Flowers bloom and wither, year after year.
Yet, every time the wind rose, there would always be white-haired elders coming to admire the flowers.
In their hands, they held jade flutes,
The sound of the flute weeping, as if lamenting and telling tales.
People said that was Prince Pingyang.
Others claimed he was merely an old gardener.
Gradually, even those speculations faded with the wind.
Just like that year's Blood-Red Peony,
It was nothing but a grand dream.
In the end, only one phrase remained in the imperial city:
"Flowers bloom without regret; people depart with lingering resentment."
**Male Lead's Side Story:**
The Poison Master from the southern border said I was destined to be an ill-fated person.
At sixteen, I penned that Poison Formula.
Before the ink had dried, blood-red seeped through the paper.
At that time, I thought it was merely an amusing trick.
I wrote of death on paper as thin as a cicada's wing, unaware that I had already tainted myself with calamity.
Then came that rainy night.
Amidst the curtain of rain, a woman stumbled towards me, cradling her child in her arms.
In the moonlight, the black blood oozing from her lips was particularly striking.
That was my poison, penetrating deep into her bones, with no antidote in sight.
"Save my A Rou."
She pressed a pearly Soul-Stabilizing Pill into my palm, her warmth still lingering.
For the first time, I tasted the bitterness of heartache.
It turned out that poison could also backfire on the one who administered it.
Five years later, she stood in the Embroidered Room.
The flickering candlelight cast shadows on her lowered brows and eyes.
As the needle fell, a Blood-Red Peony bloomed beneath her fingers.
I saw the hatred suppressed in her gaze, yet all I wanted was to pull her into my embrace.
I poisoned her, then gave her the Antidote.
I wanted her to live, yet I also wanted her to die.
I fed her my blood, gave her my life, offered her everything I had.
But she didn’t know that each drop of blood I gave was soaked in my infatuation.
She said I was repaying a debt of gratitude.
What a wonderful excuse that allowed me to approach her time and again.
Now I lie here in this Peony Garden, resting against her cool hand.
The moonlight is chilling, and the shadows of flowers dance softly.
I can no longer tell whether it was the poison that first corroded my heart or if my heart was stained with poison by her touch.
In the next life, I must find her first.
When that time comes, I will personally embroider a garden of pink peonies for her.
No bloodshed, no hatred—
I only wish for her peace year after year, joy at every moment.
Next time, it will be my turn to guard her life.
[The End]
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