scarlet heart | exo

Snow Silver

"She's gone."

Xuefeng didn't know how long she cried.

Despite the best efforts of the Imperial Physicians, the poison had ultimately been too much for Xueyin to handle.

Everything after the news broke had passed Xuefeng in a muted blur, she couldn't register what was going on.

She cried, till she threw up, then cried some more.

She was dehydrated, and Zitao had tried to feed her water, but in her delirious state Xuefeng couldn't swallow any of it.

Xueyin's gone.

Xueyin's gone.

The Emperor eventually found Xuefeng and Zitao. It was late, and he needed to return to the Palace. In her state of vulnerability, it had taken Zhiyu quite some effort to pry Xuefeng away from Zitao's embrace so she could walk. But the Emperor took one sympathetic look at Xuefeng, and instructed his servants to ensure Xuefeng and Zitao shared the same carriage back to the Palace.

Of course, the rest had happened quickly. They were not there to witness it, but the Emperor had raged his wrath on Jongin. A murder in the royal family was no small matter. When Jongin insisted on his innocence, Yifan and Xiumin had come forward on behalf of the grieving Yixing, armed with irrefutable evidence that Jongin had masterminded the poisoning with the aim of killing Yixing, his main rival for the Emperor's favour, but had inadvertently killed Xueyin instead. Yixing's supporters in court also presented long-gathered evidence of Jongin's corruption, proving that he was unfit in many ways to be the Crown Prince.

The Emperor was disappointed and furious. He stripped Jongin of his position as the Crown Prince, banished him to the outskirts, and promptly disowned him as a son.

Meanwhile, Xuefeng sat on her bed, shivering with dry sobs. Zhiyu had not said much, but just kept her in her arms, and they sat there, taking in each other's warmth.

The night was cold, and Zhiyu couldn't stay, so she left to her own bedroom, making sure that Xuefeng was going to be okay on her own.

Xuefeng sat on the bed, shaking, not willing to believe what had just happened. Yet the cold, stinging pain in her eyes reassured her that it had truly happened.

Xueyin's dead.

Maybe it was the haywire emotions that she had kept in her for too long. She allowed herself to sob into her arms, completely soaking the sleeves of her nightdress.

In the 21st century, Onyx doesn't cry. But Xuefeng does. Zhao Xuefeng cries. Too bad Onyx had swallowed the vulnerable parts of Xuefeng and turned herself into a hardcore athlete. Her tears had been washed away be the sweat that ran down her face, and flowed along with every drop of blood she shed during training, during competitions.

Somehow, the Qing dynasty and Xueyin's death brought back the vulnerable Xuefeng.

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Written by FirelightShadow and CrystallineSnow ^^