Quick Transmigration: What to Do When the Male Supporting Character You Saved Becomes Obsessed with

Chapter 178 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (82)

The Empress never imagined that such a young child would be so precocious. She also never thought that saying such hurtful things to Ji Shumin would be remembered for so many years.

“How did she survive? Why couldn’t she die in Qin’er’s place? She was willing to give up this child who shouldn’t have been born to give Qin’er a chance to live…” Ji Shumin repeated the Empress’s words earnestly, one by one.

Every word was heartless, every word pierced the heart.

“Min’er…you…” The Empress was speechless, for there were many things she had long forgotten.

But now, she believes those are the words she would have said, though even she finds them shocking.

Having devoted herself to Buddhism for so many years, she claimed to have long since ceased to create negative karma through speech. However, as Ji Shumin gradually revealed her true colors, she became increasingly speechless.

“Your Highness…you shouldn’t speak to Her Highness like that.” Mama Ma, who had been silent as if she didn’t exist, suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, really?" Ji Shumin said nonchalantly, "So what if I told you? Are you going to conspire with the Empress Dowager to strangle me, just like you did when I was a child?"

When Ji Shumin was a child, Granny Ma was already serving the Empress.

The Empress was tormented beyond recognition by the Crown Prince's increasingly frail health and growing hatred.

She would suddenly push Ji Shumin off the stool, who had done nothing. The little child fell to the ground, neither crying nor making a fuss, but just staring at his mother with his dark eyes.

The empress, seeing him staring at her, showed no remorse whatsoever; instead, her anger flared even more. She grabbed a teapot from the side and smashed it at him.

Although the teapot didn't hit Ji Shumin, the scalding hot tea that splashed out burned the child's delicate skin until it turned bright red.

Once, when Ji Shumin was sent back from the Emperor's place, he was wearing a longevity lock that the Emperor had bestowed upon him. The Empress saw it at a glance and suddenly went mad!

She bent down and touched Ji Shumin's hair. Just as the child gave her a shy smile, she asked softly, "What is this?"

"A longevity lock bestowed upon me by my father."

The child held the longevity lock in his little hand and handed it to his mother.

When the empress's hand touched the golden longevity lock, she suddenly pulled it upwards, causing the child to stumble from the chain around his neck!

He raised his hand in pain to try to stop her, but the empress pulled even tighter, as if she wanted to tear the chain off his neck, or... strangle him with it!

"Mother...Mother Empress!"

The child's eyes were filled with inexplicable fear. He struggled desperately, but the child's strength was no match for the adult's. The longevity lock, which represented auspicious wishes, was about to take his life.

"Why? Why do you get to live so long! What about Qin'er? Isn't Qin'er his child too..." The Empress seemed lost in her own thoughts, her face filled with sorrow and rage, her whole body trembling.

Granny Ma rushed over, hugged the Empress, and pried her hands off the chains. The child's small body then went limp on the ground, crawled to the side, and dared not approach the Empress again.

"Your Majesty! Think of the First Prince! If anything happens to you..." This was a sentence that Ji Shumin often heard Granny Ma say to the Empress when he was a child.

But Ji Shuqin knew nothing of this.

He was bedridden at the time, and it was rare for him to feel a little better and be able to see his younger brother. He thought his brother was so beautiful, like a little jade figure, that he was more beautiful than all his toy dolls!

But his younger brother wasn't close to him.

Ji Shuqin felt a little sad... Was it because of his poor health that his younger brother didn't like him? Or was he afraid of him? Why did his brother always look at him with such a strange expression?

"younger brother……"

Once, when his mother was not around, Ji Shuqin, who had just woken up from a coma, beckoned to Ji Shumin, who was standing in the shadows behind the door, cautiously looking at him.

When he stood silently in front of his bed, Ji Shuqin struggled to turn over, rummaged under his pillow, and pulled out a small, exquisite, and adorable white jade figurine.

He placed it in Ji Shumin's hand: "This is for you. This little guy looks just like you..." Ji Shuqin smiled, trying his best to look like an older brother.

After an unknown period of time, Ji Shuqin, still ill, lost track of time. He gave his toys to Ji Shumin one by one, but still couldn't earn a smile from his younger brother.

Until the very last time, he sighed, his voice so weak it was almost a whisper. He suffered from asthma, and speaking made his chest ache terribly, but he insisted on speaking earnestly to his younger brother:

"Brother may not be able to play with you anymore... I'll give you all the remaining toys... Min'er, don't forget your brother." Although he was a few years older, he was still a child, a child tormented by illness and at a loss for what to do.

He tried his best to hold back, but his voice still carried a faint sob.

He handed the cloth bag containing all the trinkets to Ji Shumin.

His mother cried in his ear, saying that they were finally going to leave with him, but what would happen to his younger brother if they left? Ji Shuqin didn't understand.

He had originally given his toys to Ji Shumin one by one, hoping to gradually win his younger brother's affection, but he couldn't do that anymore...

Before drifting off to sleep, Ji Shuqin had only one thought in his mind: his younger brother still hadn't spoken to him or called him "brother."

When I opened my eyes again, all I could see was black; it was still dark.

Ji Shuqin turned over and suddenly felt something strange about the pillow. He reached out and touched it, his fingertips touching something hard and cool.

After taking it out and squinting at it for a while, Ji Shuqin realized that it was an exquisite longevity lock, belonging to his younger brother, who had given it to him.

Several years after leaving the palace, Ji Shuqin saw Ji Shumin again.

By this time, he could already call him "elder brother," but Ji Shuqin felt that this was not what he wanted.

"Min'er, you know that what I did back then was not because of you," the Empress said softly.

"You can hate me, but don't hate Qin'er. I don't want past grievances to affect you... Therefore, I didn't stop him..."

"laugh--"

Ji Shumin laughed so hard he bent over, his eyes crinkling as he rested his chin on his hand: "So, it seems Mother is truly kind!"

"Why does Mother think that doing this is already a great act of kindness? Aren't my eldest brother and I brothers? Shouldn't we be deeply attached to each other? Mother thinks that by not manipulating us to kill and hate each other, she is the best mother ever?"

The smile in Ji Shumin's voice vanished, leaving only a chilling indifference: "The cause sown that day must bear the fruit. Cause and effect are cyclical, and retribution is inevitable. How could Mother not know this?"

"What do you want? Have you forgotten what you promised me?" The Empress became anxious.

Unconsciously, she had been guided by Ji Shumin, and was now thinking and reacting according to his words, losing all her condescending confidence.

"Has Mother kept her promise to me? Or did Mother never intend to keep her promise at all?"

As Ji Shumin finished speaking, a hint of surprise flashed across the Empress's face.

“I was right.” Ji Shumin showed no surprise.

The only bargaining chip the Empress had to control Ji Shumin was the prescription for his antidote.

Now that her request has not yet been fulfilled, how could she easily give the prescription to Ji Shumin?

Being in the mountain temple, she was far away and unable to keep up with the changes and developments in the palace.

So he made a deal with Ji Shumin and returned to the palace, while Ji Shuqin also gained a foothold in the palace.

Once she returns, it will be even easier for her to manipulate and control Ji Shumin. So what if she doesn't keep her promise?

Ji Shumin was helpless against her. If she didn't give Ji Shumin the medicine to temporarily relieve his symptoms, his condition would worsen. In order to avoid the disease becoming incurable, Ji Shumin finally had no choice but to compromise with himself.

The antidote was like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey pulling a millstone, allowing it to be used more effectively.

The reason why the Empress dared to break ties with Ji Shumin and no longer showed that hypocritical motherly demeanor after returning to the palace was because Ji Shuqin was no longer by her side.

Another reason is that Ji Shumin couldn't do anything to her. In order to survive, his only choice was to not tell Ji Shuqin anything and obediently help him succeed.

"As long as you do what you're supposed to do, I've said I don't want to pass on hatred between you. As long as you let Qin'er sit in that position, he will treat you well... You know his personality." A hint of obsession appeared in the Empress's expression.

"You are my child after all. So many years have passed, and I am no longer as impulsive as I was back then. I will not just watch you die. As long as Qin'er can... I will definitely give you the prescription."

After returning to the palace, the Empress finally revealed her true thoughts and ambitions to Ji Shumin. This was the first time she had spoken so frankly and without restraint about what she wanted.

It was in front of her youngest son, whom she had always hated.

Because Ji Shumin wouldn't tell anyone, and Ji Shumin couldn't betray him.

The Empress felt a sense of relief, as if after so many years of forbearance and torment, finally, a small opening had been lifted, allowing her to breathe freely...

"What if I don't agree?"

"Min'er, you will come to beg me," the Empress said softly.

Ji Shumin remained silent. In the ensuing silent standoff, the Empress closed her eyes and said, "I am tired. You may go back."

A dispute involving countless years of grudges and affections ended quietly.

Granny Ma escorted Ji Shumin back home.

When we reached the last corner, there was a person standing in front of us.

Lu Liruan didn't notice that Ji Shumin had returned. She was standing on tiptoe, looking at the bird's nest piled up on the bare branches of the tree.

When Granny Ma saw the smile on Ji Shumin's face, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Third Prince, this old servant has served Her Majesty for so many years, and I dare to say a few words to you."

"Granny, you tell me. If it weren't for you, I might have died countless times already," Ji Shumin said calmly.

"Her Majesty has suffered a lot. This palace has turned her into this. You...you mustn't blame her." Granny Ma didn't say anything insincere. Her Majesty does care about you; she does care about you...

He only said that one sentence.

“How is that possible?” Ji Shumin raised an eyebrow and said directly.

“In essence, I am similar to the Empress Dowager. I have grievances in my heart and I am not living well, so how can I make others feel comfortable? Don’t you think so, Granny?” Ji Shumin made no attempt to hide her malice and disgust.

Granny Ma didn't say anything more. She silently pushed Ji Shumin forward until the person who had been staring at the birdcage came to his senses, looked over with a smile and bright eyes, and then took Granny Ma's place, pushing Ji Shumin forward.

They walked further and further away, as if they could escape this place.

Lu Liruan appeared relaxed, but in reality, she was not.

Seeing that Ji Shumin had returned unharmed, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but she couldn't show it. She couldn't let the people around the Empress have any ideas, because in other people's eyes, Ji Shumin's visit to the Empress was just a son visiting his mother.

After closing the door, Lu Liruan's expression changed: "How was it? Did the Empress give you any trouble?"

Seeing that Ji Shumin remained silent, Lu Liruan grew anxious: "Didn't you say you were going to give me the antidote formula? Did you get it?"

Lu Liruan frowned: "She didn't give it to you, did she...?"

She hadn't held out much hope to begin with, but Lu Liruan still clung to a last shred of illusion: as a mother, the Empress couldn't be so heartless.

"Don't be sad." Lu Liruan squatted down, placed her hand on his knee, and gently comforted him.

"So clever... and you guessed pretty accurately." Ji Shumin patted Lu Liruan's head half-jokingly.

Lu Liruan's statement, "If she truly cared about your life or death, she wouldn't have chosen to let you take the elixir in the first place. Now, she's suddenly pretending to want to exchange the antidote formula. The most likely reason is that she wants to use you to achieve her goals," is misinterpretation.

A few days ago, Lu Liruan did not tell Ji Shumin because she thought that Ji Shumin still had a glimmer of expectation and hope, which was why he agreed to the Empress's conditions.

But Lu Liruan was constantly worried that Ji Shumin would be hurt again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ji Shumin felt the ice and snow that had accumulated inside him slowly melting as he looked into her wet eyes, which were full of pity and sorrow.

"I feel sorry for you, but I'm also afraid that your hopes will be dashed," Lu Liruan said honestly.

"Really? Am I pitiful?" Ji Shumin cupped her face with his icy fingers.

"Yeah, I'm the most pitiful one... I got scammed again. Li Ruan, you'd better take good care of me." He murmured as he answered his question, but his eyes were full of smiles.

Lu Liruan didn't actually think he would suffer a loss, but the thought of him being tricked by the Empress and possibly having to endure her hatred and ridicule made her feel suffocated.

No matter what the outcome, no matter how smart or patient he is, Lu Liruan only hopes that he will no longer suffer injustice, because she cannot share or stop it, and can only watch again and again.

Just hearing him speak so casually was enough to make one feel sorry for him. Others could be so cruel as to hurt him, but Lu Liruan only thought about how to heal his wounds.

I'll accompany you across mountains and rivers, asking for nothing in return, just for you to tell me time and time again: you are the person I care about most, and we will always be by each other's side.

"What if we don't have medicine? Do we really have to work for the Empress?" Lu Liruan asked with concern.