Chapter 030: My Late Husband Is Gone; I Refuse to Take His Surname

For three years, she had been forced to provide a drop of her heart’s blood every single day and a slice of her own flesh every month to sustain Shen Yuejiao. All of this, everything, was merely to keep Shen Yuejiao alive!

Shen Liuli was consumed by hatred! The resentment within her heart erupted with absolute ferocity. Her eyes bulged until the vessels burst, weeping trails of blood. With her fists clenched tight, she summoned her final ounce of strength, causing all the wounds on her body to tear open. Blood gushed in spurts from the gash on her chest.

"Zhao Zhulian! Shen Yuejiao! Even if I die, I will never let Shen Yuejiao use my heart!"

She could not accept it! She would not be reduced to a vessel used to nourish Shen Yuejiao’s heart!

Seeing this, Zhao Zhulian panicked instantly. "No, the wench is trying to kill herself!"

"Jiaojiao, while she still has a breath left, use the dagger to carve out her heart! If she dies before you take it, the heart will be useless!"

Shen Yuejiao panicked as well. Without a word, she leaped into the water, gripped her dagger, and plunged it into Shen Liuli’s chest, forcibly carving out her heart!

"Ahhh!"

As her chest was laid open, Shen Liuli let out a soul-piercing scream. Staring with blood-red, defiant eyes, she drew her final breath. Even her last curse was choked off in her throat by the thick, metallic taste of blood.

Zhao Zhulian helped Shen Yuejiao up and ordered her servants coldly, "Someone, take this wench’s corpse to the mass grave. I want her to be devoured by wild dogs; she shall have no peace even in death!"

Soon after, Shen Liuli’s body was wrapped in a tattered mat and carried out from the back courtyard of the Shen estate under the cover of night.

Shen Liuli’s translucent soul floated in the air, following the two servants all the way to the mass grave on the outskirts of the city. She watched helplessly as they tossed her corpse onto a mound of bleached bones. Once the servants left, countless wild dogs, drawn by the scent of blood, rushed in to tear at her mangled remains.

Watching this, Shen Liuli’s gaze turned to ash. So, ever since she was schemed against and lost her purity three years ago, she had been destined for this end. It was only hateful that, in the end, Shen Yuejiao had still succeeded in stealing her heart. If only she had died sooner. At least then, the Shen family would not have gotten their wish.

Just as Shen Liuli was drowning in sorrow, a violent and overwhelming force exploded, blasting the wild dogs away. Startled, Shen Liuli looked on intently. She saw a man dressed in black, wearing a mask, standing silently not far from her corpse.

Shen Liuli was bewildered. Who was this man, and why had he appeared here? Under her watchful gaze, the man in black walked over with heavy, deliberate steps. He knelt down and carefully, tenderly gathered her shattered remains into his arms.

Two lines of tears fell silently from his eyes. "I have searched for you for six long years, never imagining that you were right under my nose all this time."

"It is all my fault. If only I had recognized you sooner, how could you have ended up like this?"

The man reached out, caressing the half of Shen Liuli’s face that remained intact, his eyes vacant and heavy with grief.

Shen Liuli was stunned. She floated forward, coming to stand beside the man. Who was he? Why did he weep for her? He had been searching for her for six years—could it be that she had known this man before she lost her memory?

After a moment, the man suddenly raised his hand to his mask. The mask slowly slid downward. Shen Liuli stared intently at the half-mask, desperate to know who this man before her really was!

But at that moment, an invisible force suddenly exploded within Shen Liuli’s body. Before she could see the man’s face clearly, her vision blurred, and he slowly faded into a shadowy silhouette.

No! Let her see, just one glance would be enough. She had to know who this man was, the one who held such deep affection for her! Unable to see his face, Shen Liuli was on the verge of tears. She strained her eyes, trying to force her vision to clear. But no matter how hard she tried, she was plunged into darkness, and her consciousness began to dissipate.

Before she lost all awareness, she heard only the man’s gentle, liquid-soft whisper.

"Ah-Li, you must live on. Wait for me... wait for me to find you..."

***

A sharp pain in her chin pulled Shen Liuli back to consciousness. Before she could process her surroundings, a mocking voice sounded in her ear.

"Heh, awake?"

"So fragile? I hadn't even truly begun, and you suddenly went quiet..."

She struggled to open her eyes, and what met her gaze was an enlarged, handsome face.

"Ah!"

Shen Liuli shrieked, instantly sitting up and scrambling backward to put distance between herself and the man. She felt dazed, scanning her surroundings. She was in a simple, cramped monastic cell, and she and the man were currently tangled in bedsheets, stark naked.

She had died, hadn't she? How could she have woken up here? She had clearly been carved open by Shen Yuejiao, her body tossed to a mass grave and half-eaten by dogs. Finally, a masked man had driven the dogs away and held her tightly. Regrettably, she hadn't managed to see the face behind the mask before losing consciousness and returning to this place.

Shen Liuli instinctively pulled the quilt up to cover her chest, eyeing the man with vigilance. She asked with a trembling voice, "Who... who are you?"

The man chuckled, reaching out to pinch her chin. "You don't know who this Prince is? Then why were you clinging to me so desperately last night? My waist nearly snapped under your grip..."

"I—"

Shen Liuli’s face flushed red. She understood his implication and realized that some indescribable things had occurred the night before. Just as she was about to demand an explanation, a harsh rebuke sounded from outside the door.

"Shen Liuli, you shameless bed-crawling harlot! You didn't even spare the monks of Yunchan Temple! It’s one thing to be dissolute in private, but to commit such filthy acts in the solemn and sacred Yunchan Temple!"

Shen Liuli remained unmoved. Her expression darkened as she walked over and flung open the door to the cell.

She was met with a slap aimed directly at her face by Zhao Zhulian! Even as she struck, Zhao Zhulian cursed, "You wench! The Emperor is at Yunchan Temple, and you’ve done something so base! How is the Shen family supposed to hold its head up!"

Shen Liuli’s eyes turned cold. She suddenly caught Zhao Zhulian’s hand and, with a swift backhand motion, delivered a crisp, clean slap across Zhao Zhulian’s face!

*Slap!*

The force of the blow sent Zhao Zhulian stumbling back two steps, leaving her utterly stunned. Clutching her burning cheek, Zhao Zhulian stared at Shen Liuli in disbelief. She gritted her teeth and snarled, "You wench, you dare strike me? I am your mother!"

"Mother?" Shen Liuli sneered. She retorted, "Does someone who calls her own daughter a 'wench' in every breath deserve the title of mother?"

"No matter what, I am still your mother! Striking me is an act of defiance against heaven!"

Zhao Zhulian, exasperated, raised her hand to strike Shen Liuli again. But this time, Shen Liuli did not give her the chance. As Zhao Zhulian lunged forward, Shen Liuli kicked out mid-air, striking her squarely in the soft abdomen and sending her flying backward!