"I will give you the antidote. All you need to do is pour your Jing in me. I want to bear your baby and become your wife, Huang Shu."

Huang Shu gritted his teeth. True, the pain in his heart finally disappeared, and he had recovered at least 80% of his strength, as if Xi Yue intentionally did that, so Huang Shu still had some strength to fuck her. 

"Why are you doing this? Don't you see what you're doing right now?! You're naked in front of a man other than your husband! Don't you have shame?!" Huang Shu yelled, but Xi Yue didn't seem to care. 

"Well, you're not my husband… yet. But we will be husband and wife soon. In fact, we will be Emperor and Empress after I gave birth to your child," Xi Yue said. 

"Don't try to play dumb, Huang Shu. I know what you did to me by bestowing marriage to Fu Shipeng and me. I asked some informants in the city and found that Fu Shipeng is actually a promiscuous man who had sex with many prostitutes. You want me to catch some of his sexual diseases, right?"

Huang Shu was silent, but he still glared at Xi Yue, neither denying nor confirming the accusation.

Xi Yue chuckled and then spread her legs wider until Huang Shu could see the pinkish flower between Xi Yue's thigh. But he didn't even budge after looking at it, let alone got aroused.

He was disgusted instead.

"So, Your Majesty, Emperor Xianliang, you only have one hour before your second heart attack. Don't you want to survive? You still have a nation to rule, you know," Xi Yue smiled seductively, hoping that Huang Shu would jump at her. 

"I have no interest with you, Xi Yue. Stop doing this and give me the antidote!" 

Xi Yue shrugged it off and repeated her answer, "Just like I told you before, I will not give it to you unless you give me your Jing, your essence."

"You—!" Huang Shu had lost his patience. He didn't want to sleep with Xi Yue. The more he saw her like this, the more disgusted he got. He grabbed Xi Yue by her arm and clutched her arm until it was bruised. 

"WHERE IS THE ANTIDOTE!"

"AH—I will not tell! If you keep doing this, I will yell as hard as I could! I will tell people that you are forcing me, raping me because you're desperate to have a child!" Xi Yue said. 

"In the end, you will be forced to marry me! Which one do you think is better? To have sex with me, right here, right now. Or to make the whole Palace know that you're forcing a beautiful young lady!"

"YOU BITCH!"

"You called me a bitch? Don't you understand that you're the one who got bewitched by that deformed bitch Yunyu?! Obviously, he has been putting a spell on you! How could you keep loving that deformed bitch? He is now infertile after a high dose of Buyun leaves!" 

…

Huang Shu was dazed for a moment, and Xi Yue zipped her mouth instantly. 

She looked nervous when Huang Shu's peering gaze darted at her, full of suspicion and suppressed anger. 

"Xi Yue, did you collude with my mother, Empress Dowager Aixi, to poison my wife?" Huang Shu asked. His expression was grim.

"W—What makes you think like that?" Xi Yue tried to dodge the peering gaze out of nervousness. 

"I never specify to anyone outside about how Yunyu got poisoned and the type of poison. But you seem to know it well."

"I've been thinking about it. I keep on pondering how my Mother Empress could obtain something so difficult to find and expensive, like Buyun leaves. Especially since I've been restricting any of her outside activity and trade. So, she has no access to goods from outside."

"I thought she might've used a eunuch or guard to obtain it from outside, although still quite difficult."

"Turns out, she has an accomplice, since you're the only one who has ever visited her for a while…" Huang Shu said.

"H—Huang Shu, you're just assuming things. Of course, it's not me. How could I have access to Buyun leaves…" Xi Yue tried to backpedal once she got caught red-handed. 

But Huang Shu just silently stared at Xi Yue coldly. 

Thinking that Huang Shu's silence means that he wanted to listen, Xi Yue took a deep breath and continued, "Huang Shu, I'm not that vile. Maybe she got it from other people. M--Maybe it's someone in the Palace of Serene Harmony itself!"

…

Huang Shu scoffed mirthlessly, with the last thread of reason in Huang Shu's brain, he finally lashed out. 

"Do you think I will believe your crap? If you have access to poison me, then you also have access to poison my wife. You vile bitch!"

Huang Shu moved his clutch from Xi Yue's arm to her neck, strangling her instead. 

"Urk!" Xi Yue struggled as hard as she could because Huang Shu didn't spare her pity at all. She thrashed, kicking Huang Shu's chest and clawing his face. But Huang Shu didn't budge.

Xi Yue coughed few times, and her struggle became weaker and weaker. Huang Shu was blinded by rage that he didn't even want to hear Xi Yue's voice. He was disgusted by this woman. So he pressed even harder until nothing but a choking sound was heard from Xi Yue.

Xi Yue's eyes widened in horror after she realized there was no way out for her. Huang Shu didn't even want her antidote anymore. At her last breath, she tried to reason once more.

"D—Don't… you… want… the antidote?" 

"I would rather die than taking anything that you give me," Huang Shu said coldly.

There was a tear dropping at the edge of Xi Yue's red eyes and pale skin. She finally drew her last breath and died a horrific death. Huang Shu continued strangling Xi Yue until he made sure the witch was dead. 

Huang Shu sat on his chair, taking a deep breath as he just killed someone. But, he had no guilt in his heart, knowing such a vile woman like Xi Yue was finally dead. 

'Eye for an eye… she killed my unborn baby and ruin my wife's life,' Huang Shu thought. 

Huang Shu didn't even care about the antidote anymore. He refused to take an antidote given by this woman. It was a humiliation for him. Let alone sleeping with her just to save his life.

…

Huang Shu calculated that he only had thirty minutes left before the second heart attack came. He didn't know what kind of poison that Xi Yue gave him, but one thing for sure, there was no way out for him.

He was destined to die again in thirty minutes. 

Huang Shu took a deep breath and then walked to the corner of this room. There was a small box hidden behind a stack of books. He pushed the books and took out the small box.

He opened it and took out the egg-shaped jade stone, the Rewind Stone.

He stored it here because Yunyu rarely came to this Palace. This was the safest place to hide this thing from Yunyu. 

"In the end, I will have to use this again…"

Huang Shu took the key inside Xi Yue's robe and then left his room. He walked to the Palace where his wife resided currently.

Palace of Serene Harmony.

"Yunyu…"