Chapter 330: Cousin

In the dim and gloomy Imperial Prison, it was cold and damp, the corridors lit with flickering candlelight.

Su Wan walked through a narrow passageway, following behind the jailer, until they reached the innermost cell.

This cell had a small window high on the wall, through which a single beam of light shone.

Ji Wufeng sat within that shaft of light, his face pale and shadowed.

He wore a prisoner’s garb, his hair disheveled, his appearance wretched.

Su Wan stood before the barred door. At the sound of movement, he looked up. In his deep, dark eyes was a kind of desolation—he seemed to have already accepted his fate, utterly abandoning any struggle.

“You’ve come?” Ji Wufeng shifted slightly, the chains on his wrists clinking with a metallic rattle. The corners of his lips curled into a mocking sneer. “I didn’t expect to appear before you in such a state.”

Su Wan let out a cold laugh. “Shouldn’t this have been expected?”

Ji Wufeng’s face stiffened. After a moment, he slowly nodded. “Yes… I overestimated myself, misjudged the situation, and still wanted to make a desperate bid for power—to stage a counterattack from the edge of defeat. Little did I realize… in your eyes, I was nothing but a clown putting on a show. You cast a wide net, waiting to see how I would walk straight into the trap.”

In this prison cell, Ji Wufeng had thought about many, many things. Most of all, his memories returned to that time before he married Su Mixue.

Everything had gone smoothly back then. As long as he followed the Empress’s arrangements, he wouldn’t have needed to align himself with the Regent or bargain with the Empress Dowager to eventually ascend the throne.

Yesterday, the new emperor was officially enthroned and granted a general amnesty across the realm—yet that pardon did not extend to him.

They called it exile, but no one knew better than he did—he would die along the road to banishment.

Without dignity. Without a name.

The more one stood at the edge of ruin, the more one yearned for the sweetness of the past.

His pupils darkened, locking firmly onto Su Wan. In her eyes, there was only unfamiliarity—she was no longer the young girl whose heart and gaze had been filled with him.

Ji Wufeng’s throat felt parched. He gripped the bars of the cell door, suppressing the impulse to reach out and touch the features of her face. “Wanwan… if I had refused to yield, if I’d rather given up the position of crown prince just to marry you… would things have been different?”

“If you had placed a little more trust in Her Majesty the Empress,” Su Wan said coldly, “if you hadn’t secretly tried to cozy up to the Regent, you wouldn’t have been forced into a corner by him. And there would never have been a need for you to choose between the throne and ‘Su Wan.’ Even if that moment had come, the Empress would have shielded you from it.”

Su Wan slowly crouched down, and when she saw the fleeting embarrassment flash through his eyes, her voice turned cold. “Between you and ‘Su Wan,’ there was never a bond meant for husband and wife.”

Ji Wufeng was stunned. Then he heard her softly call out: “Cousin.”

His expression changed instantly.

She continued, her voice calm and deliberate. “My biological father is the Regent.”

Qi Min, in order to protect her—and to dispel the Regent’s suspicions—had arranged an engagement between her and Ji Wufeng.

The original plan had been to break off the engagement once her health recovered, and take her back to Xiliang. But fate had other plans. The Empress Dowager of Xiliang had captured Qi Min and wiped her memories, forcing her to live in Great Zhou for fifteen years.

Fortunately, Ji Wufeng’s boundless ambition left no one able to stop him from chasing power. In giving up on “Su Wan,” he had—albeit unintentionally—prevented the tragedy of a marriage between close blood relatives.

Yet precisely because of that, “Su Wan” was married off to Gu Huaizhi instead. Unable to bear the humiliation and disparity, she committed one mistake after another, ultimately leading to the tragic ending written in the book.

None of them met a good end.

Qi Min’s intentions had been good, but due to the Empress Dowager of Xiliang’s interference, this hidden danger had been planted.

The Regent’s intentions, too, had been well-meaning, but in the end, “Su Wan” had been kept in the dark, never told the truth of her origins.

Given the original Su Wan’s personality, if she had been told the truth back then, who knew what kind of chaos might have followed.

Now that everyone had found a better ending, the most pitiful of all was the original Su Wan.

“Our engagement was nothing but a smokescreen. If my mother hadn’t had that accident, we would’ve broken it off long ago. What you did only happened to align with her original intention.”

Su Wan looked at the absurd expression on his face and said coldly, “You were defeated by your own ambition. You had many chances, but you were the one who gave them up.”

Ji Wufeng was deeply shaken. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Su Wan. “If I had walked out of the Imperial Clan Court and given up the struggle for the throne—would you have spared me?”

“There is no if.” Su Wan met the ferocity in his gaze—like that of a beast about to devour someone—and rose to her feet. “I came today to end the past.”

“Su Wan! Su Wan!” Ji Wufeng slammed the iron chains against the bars with a loud clatter. The heavy rattling echoed through the prison as he stared, eyes nearly bursting with rage, at her retreating figure. His hoarse voice roared after her, “How can you so easily cast aside all that we once had?”

Even though he had chosen Su Mixue, deep down he had never truly given up on Su Wan. He had always planned that once he ascended the throne, he would bring her back from Xinghua Village and shower her with endless affection.

But everything had changed. When he saw Su Wan again, she no longer looked at him warmly—her gaze was cold, her attitude indifferent to the extreme. She had struck without hesitation, opposing him at every turn.

The love he once held for her had turned into hate.

Forced into a corner, he had no choice but to raise his hand against her.

She had narrowly escaped with her life.

In the more than half a year locked away in the Imperial Clan Court, his heart had been in torment. If she hadn’t turned against him, hadn’t pushed him to the opposing side—if she had stood before him as she once had, steadfast and unwavering—how could he have possibly treated her like that?

Thud. A heavy sound echoed.

Ji Wufeng knelt on the ground, staring down the dim, endless corridor of the prison, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.

The world had moved on, and he alone remained trapped in the memories of the past. It was that longing, that regret, that made him wish to see Su Wan one last time—to confess, to apologize, to promise her the next life. That in the next life, he would find her again and never fail her.

But Su Wan had made it clear—even if you had chosen me, there was never a chance between us.

That engagement… had only ever been a cover to protect her.

He had been used.

How utterly laughable.

Ji Wufeng buried his face in his hands and began to laugh softly. The laughter grew louder and louder, until tears seeped through his fingers.

His life had been a complete failure. There had never been anyone who stood by his side purely for him—not for power, not for status—just unwavering loyalty.

Su Wan had once done so.

But she had never truly belonged to him from the start.

That cherished memory in his heart had been ripped away by an invisible hand, and the pain surged through every inch of his body.

“It’s gone… everything is gone…”

Ha… ha… ha…

Ji Wufeng laughed like a madman, hysterical and broken. The only thing he had left… was his pride.

He was of royal blood—even in failure, he would not allow himself to die without dignity.

Crack! A sharp shatter echoed in the cell as a porcelain bowl broke.

He picked up a shard and drove it deep into his throat.

Ji Wufeng collapsed onto the ground, eyes wide open, staring at the small window high on the wall. In a daze, he seemed to see the Empress’s gentle features. She softly took his hand, her smile tender as she said, “Feng’er, from now on, I am your mother.”

He blinked slowly. The image shifted slightly—he saw the Empress place a chubby little hand into his palm, her eyes curved with affection. “Feng’er, this is your little sister, Wanwan. You must protect her well.”

The infant, still wrapped in swaddling clothes, blew bubbles and gave him a gummy smile.

“Mother…” A clear teardrop slid from the corner of Ji Wufeng’s eye. He opened his mouth slightly and murmured, “Sister…”