Killer Queen: Tyrant, prepare to die!

Chapter 184 The True Seal is Delivered! Shen Qingci Gently Smears the Emperor's Tears: You have personally killed tyrants many times.

The night breeze rushed in through the open window, rustling the unread memorials on the desk.

The candle flame flickered violently.

The reflections made the still-wet tear tracks on Nangong Ye's face appear and disappear.

He stood by the window, his back to Shen Qingci, his shoulders trembling slightly, yet his posture was ramrod straight.

The words "Let him die" still lingered in the air of the bedchamber.

As light as a sigh.

Heavy as the changing of the course of mountains and rivers.

Shen Qingci quietly watched his straight back.

Looking at that wrinkled, bright yellow casual clothes, I saw a gaunt but no longer hunched back.

The breakdown of staying indoors for three days, followed by a night of kneeling and weeping in catharsis.

All the poison, hatred, doubt, and fear that had been building up for twenty years seemed to have vanished with that tearful, blood-soaked interrogation.

It was brutally ripped out of this body.

The rest.

It was a soul covered in blood, yet finally—cleaned up.

She lowered her eyes.

Look at what's in your hand.

The genuine Imperial Seal of the State, which had been taken from behind the plaque in the Fengxian Hall, was now placed on the table beside her.

The jade was pure white, with a warm, lustrous sheen. The bloodstains on the dragon-shaped knob flowed quietly under the candlelight, as if they were alive.

She reached out and picked up the jade seal.

It feels slightly cool to the touch.

Yet it weighed heavily, carrying the weight of three hundred years of imperial destiny.

She walked behind Nangong Ye.

"His Majesty."

She called softly.

Nangong Ye did not turn around.

There was only a slight pause in his shoulder.

"You just said that from today onwards, you are simply Nangong Ye."

Shen Qingci watched his retreating figure, each word spoken clearly and calmly.

"He is my husband, Bao'er's father, and the guardian of this land."

"So——"

She slowly handed the jade seal in her hand to him.

"This jade seal should be returned to its rightful owner."

Nangong Ye slowly turned around.

He looked at the jade seal handed to him, at its bright, warm white light.

Looking at the jade seal—Shen Qingci's eyes were as calm as a deep pool.

He didn't answer immediately.

"Qingci," he said, his voice still hoarse, but no longer broken.

"Is this imperial seal... truly 'returned to its rightful owner'?"

He looked up at her, his eyes filled with a self-reflection that was almost cruel, born of complete clarity:

"Am I, the 'master,' worthy of this title?"

"A son who only managed to retain his position as crown prince by having his mother fight to the death?"

"A fool who was poisoned for twenty years without even realizing it?"

"A ruler who left the country riddled with problems, drove loyal ministers and generals to disloyalty, and abandoned his wife in a cold palace to die—"

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"tyrant?"

He spoke the last two words very softly.

Light as a feather.

But the weight was so great that it made him stagger.

Shen Qingci did not answer.

She simply watched him quietly, watching this man who finally dared to face all his unbearable shortcomings, all his failures, and all his sins.

Then she smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it melted away the last layer of icy aloofness in her eyes like a spring breeze melting snow.

"His Majesty."

She gently placed the jade seal into his hand.

Hold his cold, trembling fingers and let him steadily hold that national instrument that represents supreme power.

"You just asked if you, this 'tyrant,' should have died long ago."

She looked up and met his gaze.

The candlelight danced in her eyes, reflecting a clear and gentle light:

"Your Majesty, I will now answer you—"

"Damn it, it was never Nangong Ye."

Nangong Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Damn it, it's that crown prince who was poisoned at the age of twelve, yet has no one to turn to for help."

Shen Qingci spoke each word with a soft voice, yet each word carried immense weight:

"He was the emperor who sat on the dragon throne, yet lived day and night in the shadow of usurpation, and could only use violence to disguise his fear."

"It's that person who was schemed against and plotted against for half their life, and in the end, even they themselves believed they were born a monster—"

She paused, then softly uttered the last three words:

"Poor thing."

Nangong Ye trembled violently!

He could barely hold the jade seal in his hand.

"But that 'poor man'..." he hissed, "is me..."

"No." Shen Qingci shook her head, grasped his hand, and steadied the jade seal that was about to slip away. "That's a shell that someone else imposed on you."

"It was your uncle, Nangong Huan, who put the poison shell on you."

"It's the power struggles in the imperial court that have given you that shell of authority."

"It's this cannibalistic palace that has given you the shell of a lonely widow."

She looked at him, a deep, almost compassionate understanding appearing in her eyes:

"You've always lived in that shell."

"They thought the shell was themselves."

"They thought violence was their nature."

"To think that being suspicious is wisdom."

"Think--"

She gently stroked his pale face, her fingertips warm:

"You'll be safe as long as you kill everyone who might threaten you."

Nangong Ye's tears rolled down his cheeks again.

This time, there was no breakdown, no screaming.

It just flows quietly.

Because every word she uttered represented his truest, most unbearable, and most unacknowledged innermost feelings over the years.

"But Your Majesty."

Shen Qingci withdrew her hand, took a step back, and looked at the jade seal in his hand, which shimmered in her tearful gaze:

Did you know?

"You've broken that shell yourself many times already."

Nangong Ye was stunned.

"When you rushed in to save me and Bao'er from the fire, it broke once."

"During the war in the North, when you handed me the tiger tally and said 'I trust you,' it was broken once."

"In front of the Fengxian Hall, when you were holding the imperial seal and saying, 'This empress was chosen for me by my mother,' you broke it again."

She paused, her smile deepening.

"And just now—"

"When you knelt before me, weeping, and asked, 'Shouldn't I have died long ago?'"

"That shell was completely shattered."

"Splash—"

The wind outside the window suddenly picked up.

The chill of early spring lingered, yet it couldn't dispel the increasingly warm, almost revitalized atmosphere within the bedchamber.

Nangong Ye lowered his head and looked at the jade seal in his hand.

Looking at his blurry reflection on the jade seal.

In that reflection, there was no violence, no suspicion, no fear.

There was only a clear, blank emptiness after it had been washed away.

And in the depths of confusion—a faint, yet unwavering light quietly ignites.

"so……"

He looked up at Shen Qingci, his voice as soft as a dream:

"The one I killed... wasn't myself?"

"Is it that shell?"

Shen Qingci nodded.

smile.

"Your Majesty, you have been fighting a war against yourself all these years."

"Fight the poisoned crown prince, fight the emperor driven mad, fight the pitiful man living in a conspiracy."

"You've won, and you've lost."

But ultimately—

She reached out and gently pressed her hand against his chest.

Through the fabric, I could feel that heart beating strongly and steadily.

"You win."

Nangong Ye closed his eyes.

Tears slid down from the corners of her tightly closed eyes.

It landed on the jade seal.

The lustrous white jade, with its warm glow, quietly absorbed that tear, as if—an ancient baptism.

for a long time.

He opened his eyes.

There was no more confusion, no more brokenness, no more madness in his eyes.

There was only a deep, still, and profound tranquility.

He carried the imperial seal and walked to the table.

Gently place the jade seal down.

Then, he turned around.

He looked at Shen Qingci.

"Qingci."

He spoke, his voice still hoarse, yet as steady as a mountain:

"That shell is dead."

"From today onwards—"

He held her hand, tightly, but no longer trembling:

"I am merely Nangong Ye."

"Your husband."

"Bao'er's father."

"and--"

He looked at the jade seal on the table, his eyes no longer filled with fear, but only with responsibility:

"A gatekeeper who should atone for the sins of this land."

Shen Qingci looked at him.

Looking at this man who finally struggled to stand up from the ruins of blood and tears.

The last piece of ice in my heart melted in the spring breeze—

Completely dissolved.

She grasped his hand in return.

Nod slightly.

"it is good."