Chapter 8: Double Rebirth (8)

When Lu Zheng learned of Lu Mingxuan’s plot, he wanted nothing more than to kill him on the spot.

If Lu Mingxuan had come at him head-on, he might have respected his courage.
But scheming from the shadows—using women, using the back courtyard to try to win—what skill was there in that?

“Father-in-law, rest assured. I will protect Jiang Jiang,” Lu Zheng said.

Jiang Su nodded. “I believe with Your Highness’s ability, you can protect her—but we must act quickly. Prince An is a growing threat.”

Lu Zheng nodded, already formulating a plan.

“There’s no need to rush things. Where’s the advisor I planted beside my Sixth Brother?” He sneered. “It’s time he earned his keep.”

---

Lu Zheng walked into the rear courtyard.

Spring sunlight filtered through carved window panels, casting golden patterns onto the soft couch. Jiang Jiang was curled up beneath an apricot-colored quilt, a strand of black hair resting on her cheek, quivering slightly with each breath.

He quieted his steps until there was barely a sound. Standing by her side, he gazed at her faintly furrowed brow and gently pulled the slipped blanket up to cover her.

Maybe it was spring fatigue, but she had been sleeping more and more lately. It filled Lu Zheng with the haunting illusion that she might never wake again—that she would leave him.

He reached out to feel the warmth of her breath. Only then did his heart settle.

In her sleep, Jiang Jiang murmured softly and unconsciously nuzzled toward the warmth—her forehead pressing right against his chest.

“Mm… Your Highness?” she murmured groggily, eyes fluttering open, catching his soft gaze before he could hide it.

“Did I wake you?”

Jiang Jiang shook her head. “I’ve slept enough—it’s time to get up.”

“What did my father want with you?” she asked.

Lu Zheng wrapped his arms around her and told her everything, his expression growing darker. “He already has so much. Why does he always want to take what’s mine?”

Jiang Jiang squeezed his hand. Ever since the Empress Dowager’s death last month, Lu Zheng had lost the only elder who ever truly cared for him. He now floated like a rootless duckweed, and it pained her to see him like this.

“I only love Your Highness. Don’t worry—no one can come between us.”

No one… except death.

Lu Zheng gently helped comb her hair, though his heart was barren and desolate like a wasteland.

Death would tear them apart forever.

He thought of what the imperial physician had told him a few days ago—her pulse was abnormal, and they were advised to avoid intimacy for the time being.

It had felt like the world collapsed. The physician’s words were like a dull blade slicing his heart bit by bit. He didn’t even dare ask for more details.

Had this recent happiness been stolen from the heavens? Was he destined to live a lonely life?

Lu Zheng had thought he was finally beginning to feel what it meant to truly live. The Empress Dowager’s kindness had been for all the grandchildren—but only Jiang Jiang’s love belonged to him alone.

But perhaps it was just another cruel joke from fate—letting him meet Jiang Jiang in this second life, only to snatch her away from him too soon.

He kissed the crown of her head and held her tightly.

Jiang Jiang assumed he was just feeling insecure. She patted his hand. “If you’re planning to move against the Sixth Prince, should I go somewhere safe and lie low?”

“No!”

His tone was too sharp and urgent. Jiang Jiang blinked, confused, and looked up—only to see that madness had crept into his gaze, emotions too complicated to decipher.

He looked terrible.

Worse than terrible—anguish and confusion twisted within him, distorting his expression.

Lu Zheng saw the warped reflection of himself in her eyes. He reached out to cover her eyes and murmured pleadingly, “Don’t leave me, Jiang Jiang. Stay with me. I’ll protect you.”

“…Don’t look at me. I look disgusting.”

Jiang Jiang gently cupped his face, giving his cheek a light pinch. “What’s going on? Tell me.”

Lu Zheng wanted to smile, but he couldn’t.

He had never hidden anything from her. Even his health, which he’d once kept secret, he had confessed after they grew close. He wanted no secrets between them.

But… how could he tell her she might not have much time left?

Every time the thought crossed his mind, he felt like he was reliving his previous life—and nothing in that life had hurt him more than this.

Seeing his state, Jiang Jiang became serious. She grabbed his hand. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll go ask Ji Jin and anyone you’ve met recently.”

“No. Please don’t.”

His hands trembled as he held her. Though his emotions were extreme, his eyes remained tender.

Then he told her everything—and waited for judgment.

Instead, he heard a laugh.

Jiang Jiang hugged him, patting his back as if he’d just told the most ridiculous joke.

Lu Zheng was stunned.

She took his hand and placed it on her lower abdomen, smiling: “What nonsense have you been imagining? The physician said I might be pregnant. But since it’s still early and hard to tell, he was cautious in how he phrased it.”

He’d come up with a whole tragic fantasy on his own.

Jiang Jiang’s heart twisted. She hadn’t realized he’d been suffering alone just because she’d been sleeping a little more than usual.

She softened her voice and kissed the corner of his lips. “Don’t worry. I was frail when I was younger, but now my health has improved a lot.”

“The baby and I will stay by your side. Your Highness—husband—you’re going to be a father.”

Lu Zheng looked down at her still-flat stomach, then up into her shy, nervous eyes. It felt like he’d been saved from drowning.

His eyes turned red. He gently kissed her belly. “I love you, Jiang Jiang.”

You may never know—

What I thought about when I believed I’d lose you.

He clung to her warmth, and she let him hold her for as long as he needed.

After a while, he looked up. “I’ll send you somewhere safe. I’m afraid Prince An might target you.”

Jiang Jiang: “…”

Jiang Jiang: “…Didn’t you just say I couldn’t go?”

Lu Zheng chuckled. Earlier, he thought she might die young. If he failed, he would die with her.

But now, things were different.

She was healthy—she could live a long life. No matter what happened, he had to plan ahead for her sake.

Ironically, now Jiang Jiang was the one unwilling.

“I have to stay here,” she said sternly. “Just these past few days without me being fully awake, look at the state you got into. If we were apart for months, I’d be the one worrying about you.”

“…Alright.”

She said she cared for him.

Lu Zheng showed a rare, peaceful smile.

He would protect her with his life.

---

Sometimes aging strikes in an instant.

The once-strong emperor had suddenly fallen ill.

The Sixth Prince entered the palace under the guise of caring for him but brought imperial guards—suspected of treason.

Lu Zheng, in the name of “cleansing the court,” mobilized the imperial army to have him detained.

But remnants of the Sixth Prince’s faction pleaded his innocence, and the court descended into chaos.

At the fifth drumbeat before dawn, silence shattered. The crimson palace gates creaked open one by one.

The gilded nails glimmered coldly in the early sun, like divine eyes watching the mortal realm. Pale mist hovered over the white jade steps, frost clinging to the armor of the imperial guards.

Lu Zheng held Jiang Jiang’s hand as they walked into the main hall.

The Grand Chamberlain saw them and sighed inwardly, but did not stop them.

Seated on the throne was the current Emperor.

He looked like a faded statue—his bright yellow dragon robe hung loosely over a hunched, withered body. Once tall and dignified, his spine now buckled under invisible weight.

Jiang Jiang was startled. It had only been three months since she last saw him, yet he had aged drastically.

At the sight of Lu Zheng, the emperor’s eyes lit up briefly.

“Ninth… Ninth Son?” he rasped, lips cracked. “Good… as expected of my son.”

Lu Zheng didn’t want to waste words. He bowed. “On behalf of the court, your son comes to request that Your Majesty name the Crown Prince.”

Looking at the emperor now, naming a crown prince was almost the same as abdication.

She thought he would be angry, but he only chuckled. “Lu Zheng, I can name you Crown Prince… if you agree to one condition.”

Lu Zheng looked up.

“Bury your mother beside me. When you ascend the throne, posthumously name her Empress and entomb us together.”

Lu Zheng sneered. “She’s been resting peacefully for years. If Father truly remembers her, you should leave her in peace.”

The emperor said calmly, “She’d want to be with me.”

He gazed at Lu Zheng. “You look just like her.”

Lu Zheng’s disgust was visible. The emperor laughed.

“There’s another way,” he said. “Kill me. If you have the guts to bear the sin of patricide, the throne is yours.”

To kill one’s own father—such a crime is condemned in any era.

Watching Lu Zheng raise his sword, the emperor smiled meaningfully. “I’m your last living relative. Do you really want to be alone forever?”

“If you agree to bury her with me, the throne is yours. Did she ever even show you a shred of motherly love—and you still defend her?”

Every word struck Lu Zheng’s wounds.

Jiang Jiang couldn’t bear it. She clutched Lu Zheng’s hand tightly.

He mustn’t become a patricide.

She looked down—there was a sword on the ground, likely dropped by a fleeing guard.

Clang—

A flash of silver. Jiang Jiang had picked up the sword and stabbed the emperor in the chest. Blood spilled down the golden robe.

“The Emperor has died,” she said calmly, withdrawing the blade. She turned and smiled at the stunned Lu Zheng. “I did it.”

The emperor looked at them—at her slightly rounded belly—and something flickered in his eyes.

Then he burst into laughter and shoved the sword deeper into his chest.

“To all present… I take my own life. I pass the throne to the Ninth Prince…”

Jiang Jiang froze in place. Lu Zheng pulled her tightly into his arms.

She heard the sound of imperial guards rushing in, the mix of screams, cries, chaos… and the shocked voice of the Sixth Prince.

Yet amid the noise, she clearly heard the man behind her sob.

He called her name: “Jiang Jiang.”

A single tear fell. “You’re all I have left.”

Jiang Jiang didn’t understand why the emperor had helped them in the end—but she tightened her grip on Lu Zheng’s hand and said, “We’ll make a new home together. You’ll never be alone again.”

Lu Zheng lowered his gaze and wiped the blood from her face. “I’m sorry, Jiang Jiang.”

He had hesitated at the crucial moment—and made her hands bloodstained.

…It shouldn’t have been like this.

His trembling fingers brushed the red on her sleeve. The sight stung his eyes.

He suddenly recalled the day they were married—she stood beneath the crabapple tree in the prince’s manor, her white dress pristine, her fingertips like warm jade.

Once the chaos had settled, Lu Zheng ignored the Sixth Prince being dragged away.

He picked Jiang Jiang up in his arms and said gently: “Let’s go home.”

---

“Does it hurt?” he knelt by the bed, gently washing her hands. His voice hoarse. “These hands… were always so clean…”

As the water rippled, she saw droplets on his lashes—she didn’t know if it was steam or tears.

He really minded that she killed for him.

But there was no need.

Jiang Jiang stopped him. “I don’t mind at all. Being able to protect you with my own hands makes me happy.”

Lu Zheng froze. Her heartbeat warmed his palm, making his whole body tremble.

He buried his face in her damp hair and sobbed like a lost child. “Jiang Jiang… I’m scared…”

Scared of bloodstains on your hands.
Scared you’ll regret it one day.
Scared…

“Idiot,” she tugged his ear. “I’m not that fragile.”

“I’ll stay by your side forever,” she soothed.

Lu Zheng pressed her hand to his chest.

“Here—this scar is from a hunting accident when I was twelve.”

“This one—from a flogging when I was fifteen.”

His body bore countless wounds. Some he’d nearly forgotten, even as he looked at them.

Had he suffered so much?

These scars only felt real when Jiang Jiang saw them.

If they could win him a bit more affection…

Then even if it happened again, it’d be worth it.

Love me, Jiang Jiang.

Her fingers traced his scars—each one a mark of palace strife. She suddenly bent down and kissed the most gruesome one.

“They’re mine now.”

Lu Zheng shuddered.

She looked up, eyes sparkling. “You always say I’m the bright moon. But even the moon needs the night sky to shine.”

Her small hands cupped his pale face.

“And you’re my night sky.”

He gently wrung out her hair. Everything about her, he wanted to handle himself—never once feeling impatient.

He had his own selfish little wish—

That she’d rely on him a little more, need only him.

Jiang Jiang… Jiang Jiang…

Do you hear it?

My heart never stops calling your name.

It beats for you alone.

That night, perhaps because vengeance had finally been fulfilled, Lu Zheng spoke to her about his mother—

How she was once beautiful, fell in love with the emperor at first sight.
How she was adored and bore a prince.
And how, after being framed and losing favor, she chose death with dignity over disgrace.