"Did you know?"
After everyone around them had left, Zhao Fu walked over to Wu Qingniang, looking at her with pain and guilt. Of all the women, only Wu Qingniang shared the deepest bond with Zhao Fu.
Back when he had been weak, she had protected him regardless of everything. Though she had been overbearing, forcibly declaring him to be hers.
But Zhao Fu truly liked Wu Qingniang and genuinely loved her. Yet now, afflicted by the Imperial Ruin Curse and not knowing when he might die, Zhao Fu was filled with guilt toward her.
At first, he had intended to hide it from her, but now that most people already knew, there was no way to keep it hidden.
Slap!
A crisp slap rang out as Wu Qingniang struck Zhao Fu across the face. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she looked at him.
Zhao Fu fell silent, not knowing how to face her.
"Promise me you won't die." Wu Qingniang stared at Zhao Fu with her beautiful eyes, her voice choked with tears.
"I..."
Zhao Fu did not know what to say. The Imperial Ruin Curse was a curse that even mighty experts had no way to resolve. What could Zhao Fu possibly do? Death was practically certain, so naturally he could not give Wu Qingniang any promise.
"Are you willing to just die like this? Do you want to hand the empire you built with your own hands to someone else? Do you want to see me making love beneath another man's body? Do you want all those women of yours to become other men's women?"
Wu Qingniang shouted angrily at Zhao Fu. Tears streamed from her eyes, gliding softly down her fair cheeks and falling without end. By the end, even her voice had begun to