kvmb Chapter 516 As long as you're alive, that's enough
Chapter 516 As long as you're alive, that's enough
Princess Guangning's voice was filled with fear, helplessness, and despair, clearly indicating that she had encountered danger.
Prince Yu's consciousness was telling him to go in and save people as soon as possible, but his body seemed to be frozen, standing there stiffly, his brain buzzing.
His experience at the age of ten instilled in him a fear of mountains and forests, a fear of caves, and an even greater fear of the dark.
In addition, he was afraid of contact with people and feared sunlight.
Therefore, the windows of his palace were covered with thick curtains, and the palace was never exposed to sunlight. Only an oil lamp was lit by his bedside.
This situation lasted for two whole years.
Finally, one day, his mother could no longer contain herself and stormed into his bedchamber. Completely disregarding her usual composure, she frantically tore down all the curtains covering the windows and threw them violently on the ground.
The sunlight enveloped him, and he was startled, pulling the blanket over his head.
The usually gentle mother was surprisingly strong at that moment. She grabbed the blanket covering his head, pulled him off the bed, and threw him to the ground.
He screamed and crawled around on the ground, trying to find a place to hide.
But his mother wouldn't let him dodge; she grabbed his shoulders tightly, her long fingernails digging into his flesh.
Tears streaming down her face, she spoke harshly: "He was just a lowly commoner. You've already killed him. You protected yourself, you saved yourself. You won this fight, you avenged yourself, what is there to be afraid of?"
"You live in this ruthless palace, what do these experiences matter? As long as you are alive, nothing you encounter is a big deal."
“If you spend your days confined in this bedchamber, like a walking corpse, living your whole life in a daze, you might as well be dead.”
"Choose one: live or die."
His mother took a dagger from her sleeve and threw it at his feet.
"If you're going to live, you'd better live like a human being."
"If you want to die, I'll go with you."
Under such intense stimulation, his body was numb, and even his mind went blank.
He just stared blankly at his mother, unable to react in any way.
Suddenly, his mother knelt down in front of him and gently wiped away the tears on his face: "You are the child I carried for ten months and gave birth to. You grew from the size of a kitten to almost as tall as me now. Your master said you are very smart. You can learn everything he teaches very quickly and even apply what you've learned to other situations."
"You have no idea how proud I am. Seeing you so radiant and full of energy makes me feel that life in the deep palace has become interesting and full of hope."
“But now, you lock yourself in the house, unwilling to go out, even less willing to see anyone, and you've worn yourself down to the point of being lifeless. With just a turn of my head, my son has become a completely different person.”
"How I wish it were all a dream, that when I open my eyes, my carefree son will be back, still calling me 'Mother' with the same innocent smile as before."
"How I wish that everything you have suffered could have fallen on me, that I could have taken it all for you."
"But time can't be turned back, and I have no way to save you before it happened."
"It's your mother's fault for bringing you into this world, but failing to protect you properly, causing you to suffer so much..."
Before the mother could finish speaking, she fainted on the ground.
He frantically reached for his mother's hand, only to discover that she was shockingly thin, reduced to skin and bones.
Immediately afterward, a palace maid heard the commotion and rushed in, taking the mother away.
He remembers nothing after that.
All he remembered was that when he woke up, the windows of his bedchamber were covered with thick curtains again, and an oil lamp was lit by the bedside.
Everything that had happened before seemed like a dream he had.
But he knew clearly that it wasn't a dream.
He wanted to find a palace servant to ask about his mother's condition.
However, he usually did not want to see people, and the eunuchs would stay outside the main hall except to bring him meals.
He broke a cup, which attracted the attention of palace maids who inquired about his mother's condition.
The palace maid said, "Your Highness, Her Majesty has not yet awakened. She has been unable to eat or sleep well for the past few years, and her body is already exhausted. You are suffering and tormenting yourself, but how can Her Majesty not be tormented as well?"
In the end, his longing for his mother overcame his fear, forcing him to leave his palace and visit her.
His mother lay on the bed, her heavy makeup washed away, revealing a pale and haggard face. As if sensing his presence, she awoke.
The moment she saw him, her mother was so moved that she burst into tears.
"Jing'er, your mother was wrong, and I apologize to you." His mother, her face streaked with tears, clutched a piece of his sleeve and said weakly, "As a Noble Consort, I have countless people eyeing this position. Even if my son and I don't compete for it, we are still the target of everyone's ire."
"Besides, I've made countless enemies along the way through open and covert struggles. If you're not successful, my son and I will have no way to survive."
“But you spent almost a year recovering from your injuries, staying in your palace and refusing to see anyone, and then another two years, almost three years. I was truly desperate, feeling that there was no hope left. I thought to myself, since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well push you a little harder.”
“But I forgot that you are still a child. You have suffered a great calamity, and the person who is closest to you and trusts you the most is forcing you, which is basically driving you to your death.”
"After this illness, I've come to terms with things. Having you by my side is already a blessing from God, better than losing you. I don't want to think about the long term. As long as you're alive, you can live however you want. I won't pressure you anymore."
He stared blankly at his mother, tears streaming down his face.
From then on, he forced himself to confront his inner fears.
Because he was afraid of people, he went to see them.
Until you are no longer afraid of people.
Afraid of the mountains and forests, afraid of caves, afraid of the dark, he went into the woods and found a cave.
The dark cave was exactly the same as the place where his accident happened.
The moment he stepped into the cave, the unbearable experience kept replaying in his mind.
Those feelings of humiliation, sadness, anger, and extreme disgust strongly impacted and tore at him.
For three whole months, he shattered himself from the inside out, reforged himself, and became a normal person again.
He thought he was no longer afraid and had no weaknesses.
Even now, when Prince Yu hears Princess Guangning's cries for help from the cave, the same situation and experience instantly pulls him back to the scene of the humiliation he suffered, leaving him unable to move.
Princess Guangning, who had been resisting and pleading for help, also lost her will to resist at this moment, and no more voices came out.
A surge of violent energy rose within Prince Yu, overcoming his physical fear of the psychological shadow, and he strode nimbly into the cave.
Princess Guangning was lying on the ground, unresponsive.
Meanwhile, another man in a short brown robe was preparing to untie the belt around his waist.
Nothing has happened yet.
Prince Yu slammed the object in his hand onto the man's head. As the man struggled, Prince Yu threw him to the ground, swiftly pulled out the dagger strapped to his leg, and plunged it into the man's chest.
Extreme anger caused him to lose his mind. Instead of stopping, he continued to stab the man's chest repeatedly, creating one bloody hole after another.
Until the man was covered in blood and gore.
Prince Yu threw away the dagger in his hand and gasped for breath.
After an unknown amount of time, his emotions calmed down and his reason gradually returned. He turned to look at Princess Guangning beside him.
At that moment, she lay motionless, staring straight into his eyes. When their eyes met, tears streamed down her cheeks without warning.
Princess Guangning's lips parted and closed, silently uttering a few words.