An Unwarranted Affliction

※ This novel will switch to a paid back-catalog on Wednesday, August 19. The paid chapters start with Chapter 25, so please don’t buy them again if you’ve already read them. Previews of other books in the same series, The Gift of Tuition and A Moment of Pleasure, are also available. Feel free to add them to your lists if you’re interested~

Autumn of Yongning Year Seven. As the relentless rain fell, I knelt in muddy ground amid blood and tears, pointing my knife at Shen Wei’s heart.

But I couldn’t kill him.

That night, I reached out my hand to someone else, then vanished without a trace.

Over the next three years, sunflowers were planted throughout the Dàshèng Palace, inside and out.

No one knew who they’d been planted for. All anyone said was that the monarch drank with the flowers every night, smiling as tears streamed down his face.

I was stunned for a long time when I heard the news. Because I suddenly remembered that my old name had been Kui.

Qi Yin, ruler of the Great Yue, was a good man. He taught me how to forge my heart into the sharpest blade.

I lived in his palace, had all the food and clothes I needed, and even found time to study medicinal herbs.

He never interfered with any of that. He only reminded me from time to time how to be a good Great Yue spy.

From that day on, my life no longer belonged to me.

I took my studies seriously and soon graduated.

On the day I left for Dàshèng, he saw me off beneath the city gate tower, his shadow stretching long in the dusk.

I said, “I’m leaving.”

Qi Yin was usually a man of few words, and I never expected him to respond. But that day, he said something that seemed quite unnecessary to me:

“I’ll wait for you here.”

I looked at him and suddenly found it amusing.

If my assassination succeeded, how could I possibly come back alive?

Later, I finally saw that sea of sunflowers.

That night, the Milky Way blazed, and moonlight stretched for a thousand miles. Shen Wei sat beside me, poured me a cup of wine, and asked:

“Have you ever loved anyone?”

I paused for a moment, then a cold glint flashed from my sleeve. Smiling at him, I replied:

“I have. What about you?”

As if looking at an ending he’d already seen, he said nothing for a long time, so long that I was about to miss my chance.

I had waited for months for an opportunity this perfect.

As I drew my knife, he suddenly smiled, tipped back his cup, and calmly said:

“Never.”

[Bonus Scene]

That day, Ji Kuining gave free medical consultations from morning until night.

As the street lamps came on, she stretched and happened to catch sight of Shen Wei in the doorway. She asked:

“When did you get here?”

Shen Wei didn’t answer. His expression was so cold, you’d think someone owed him a fortune:

“Are your patients really that good-looking?”

“Mm, they are.”

“? Better-looking than me?”

Ji Kuining smiled. “You’re sick.”

#You are the incurable illness of my life, and without any medicine, I’m already blessed beyond measure.

#The main story is written in third person ￣ω￣=

Theme: A fated reunion