"Cough, cough, cough!"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
"Cough, cough, cough!"
...
Once the coughing started, it seemed impossible to stop.
More and more blood coughed out by Liang Rujing!
Eventually, she no longer had the strength to cough and her body could only twitch!
"Quick, go call the imperial physicians!" Liang Dekuai roared at the little palace maids outside as if he had gone mad.
After coughing for a full quarter of an hour, Liang Rujing finally stopped.
At this moment, her body was visibly thinner by several pounds, almost skin and bones!
The bed was covered in bloodstains, large and small, some even mixed with fragments of internal organs...
Liang Dekuai and the Empress were utterly stunned.
The way Liang Rujing appeared now was supposed to be what happened a month later!
Why had the curse erupted earlier?!
"I think... I'm going to... die, aren't I..." Liang Rujing said weakly, her dry hand weakly gripping Ye Fan's: "I don't want to die... I really want to... live a little... longer..."
Her weak, feeble words expressed her desperate desire to live.
Before she could finish, Liang Rujing's hand fell limply to her side...
Snapping back to reality, Liang Dekuai and his wife quickly checked.
No breathing and no heartbeat...
The Empress's eyes rolled back, and she fainted to the ground.
Liang Dekuai seemed to have all his strength drained away, and he sat on the ground in a daze...
"Why is it like this..."
"Why..."
...
Ye Fan gently held Liang Rujing's hand.
His vision began to blur, and his thoughts flew back hundreds of thousands of years ago...
In that life, his three granddaughters contracted a strange illness never seen before.
The system in that life told him that he could obtain medicinal pills to cure them if he completed a mission.
The mission that time was particularly difficult, and Ye Fan almost died on the way to completing it.
When he excitedly completed the mission, he was informed by the system that it was overdue...
At that time, Ye Fan desperately pleaded with the system for another chance, but the system remained unmoved.
Not long after, his three granddaughters passed away like this.
Ye Fan clearly remembered the helpless and desperate look in their eyes as they lay in bed.
At that time, they were like Liang Rujing, weakly uttering that same phrase.
"Grandpa... I don't want to die..."
Every word and every sentence was like a steel knife, piercing Ye Fan's heart fiercely...
But at that time, he could do nothing, only watch their young lives slip away...
Gradually, the figures of the three granddaughters merged with Liang Rujing on the bed...
A tear fell silently onto Liang Rujing's face.
After a deep look at Liang Rujing, Ye Fan got up and helped the dazed Liang Dekuai and his wife to their feet.
After a simple farewell, he left.
The family would surely be busy with funeral arrangements now, and as an outsider, it would be inappropriate for him to stay.
Ye Fan had barely left when the imperial physicians arrived.
But now that the person was dead, their arrival was useless...
Around ten o'clock in the evening.
Liang Rujing lay quietly in a brand-new coffin, dressed in a princess's burial gown.
After Liang Dekuai arranged for the unconscious Empress to be taken away, he sat there in a daze.
The death of his beloved daughter had dealt him a heavy blow.
At the latest, by tomorrow, the buried curse on all members of the Liang family would erupt completely with Liang Rujing's passing...
The Liang family would cease to exist...
All of this had completely crushed him as an emperor...
The little palace maids, while sobbing softly, were setting up the mourning hall.
Liang Rujing had always treated them well.
Not only did she not scold or beat them, but she would also occasionally reward them with delicious food and useful items.
Now that Liang Rujing was gone, they were genuinely sad and mournful...
They couldn't understand why heaven was so unfair, to take away such a good person as the princess.
Remembering the kindness Liang Rujing had shown them during her life, they couldn't help but glance towards the coffin.
They wished with all their hearts that all of this was false, just a dream...
Then.
All the little palace maids froze...
"Mmm..." a faint murmur came from the coffin.
The little palace maids shook their heads violently, suspecting they had misheard.
But the reality before their eyes told them they had not misheard.
"Thump."
Another sound came from inside the coffin.
It sounded like something hitting the coffin.
The little palace maids stood still as if they were rooted to the spot.
Liang Dekuai, realizing that the surroundings had become quiet, looked over with confusion.
He then saw all the little palace maids standing motionless, their eyes fixed in the direction of the coffin.
Liang Dekuai looked over curiously...
"Thump."
Another sound of collision came from the coffin, sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet environment.
"Huh? Where is this?" accompanied by a questioning sound, a hand reached out and grabbed the edge of the coffin.
And so.
Before Liang Dekuai and the little palace maids, who were staring with wide eyes...
Liang Rujing sat up from the coffin.
Her complexion looked incredibly full and rosy, nowhere near the terrifying, skeletal appearance she had before!
Even more miraculously, a faint golden light enveloped her.
"Father Emperor?" Liang Rujing blinked in confusion: "And why are you...?"
Clearly, she hadn't grasped her situation yet.
"Little Ninth...?" Liang Dekuai stood up in disbelief, walking tremblingly towards the coffin.
"Father Emperor, it's me?" Liang Rujing touched the coffin beneath her: "Why did you put me in a coffin? I remember before..."
"Am I... dreaming..." Liang Dekuai reached her and embraced Liang Rujing tightly: "That's great! That's great..."
Liang Dekuai's tears fell like a broken string of pearls, splashing onto Liang Rujing's back.
At this moment, Liang Rujing finally recalled what had happened.
Right.
She had been on the verge of death before, hadn't she?
Oh, no.
She remembered that she had indeed died at that time.
Why was she suddenly...
It was only when she discovered the faint golden light on her body that Liang Rujing finally understood completely!
The golden light!
Wasn't that Ye Fan's signature?
So that's how it was!
The reason she could be resurrected now must be Ye Fan's doing!
"Father Emperor, I'm alright!" Liang Rujing exclaimed excitedly, hugging Liang Dekuai: "I'm alive again!"
Being alive was naturally a good thing, and Liang Rujing burst into tears of joy.
"Little Ninth," Liang Dekuai said after crying for a while, wiping his tears, "how... how did you come back to life?"
"The golden light, the golden light!" Liang Rujing pointed at the golden light on her body and replied excitedly, "It must be that Ye Fan did something to me before, so I'm alive again!"
Reminded by Liang Rujing, Liang Dekuai finally noticed the faint golden light on her.
Liang Dekuai suddenly remembered that when Ye Fan made a move in the secret realm, there was a similar golden light.
It was indeed Ye Fan who had intervened!
He figured only Ye Fan, or the powerful being behind Ye Fan, would have such an ability!
"Little Ninth, hurry back to your room," Liang Dekuai said, thinking of this, and quickly reminded her: "See if the ghostly face on your body has disappeared!"
"Okay!" Liang Rujing nodded heavily and ran back to her room.
Taking off her clothes, Liang Rujing stood before the mirror.
The mirror showed the maiden's flawless body.
Her chest and abdomen were clean, and there was nothing there!
Liang Rujing's tears fell again.
After all, she was a child not yet sixteen. Her usual cheerfulness was merely a facade.
Her heart was constantly counting down her life, and the taste of waiting for death was too heavy for her.
Now, it was finally over.
The nightmare that had plagued her for so long had finally vanished completely!
She could truly live happily and joyfully!