Chapter 1693 – The End of Hua Yuan (Part 2)
Yet no matter how subtly concealed, reality cannot be changed.
The Xichang Princess took a deep breath, attempting to calm her turbulent emotions. “Do Hua Guanshi and the other old ministers have any strategies?”
Two-thirds of Nan Sheng had fallen into enemy hands, leaving her and her unborn child with merely a third of territory plus the barren lands of the Southern Barbarians. Facing the overwhelming forces of the enemy, it remained uncertain if they could even protect this scant land.
The current situation was laid out by that rascal Hua Yuan; surely, he must have kept some backup plans, right?
Anxiety gnawed at the Xichang Princess’s heart.
She had sacrificed everything for just a few months of stability, unwilling to return to a life of disarray and hardship.
As a princess of the realm, she was born into nobility and was of the highest lineage—how could she live a life worse than that of commoners?
With An Huan gone, the only person she could rely on was Hua Yuan.
Little did she know, the outside world was in turmoil, the complexity of the situation beyond her imagination as a woman confined to the inner court.
Recently, in his efforts to eliminate adversaries, Hua Yuan had also forced many to their deaths.
These individuals realized the irregularities in supplies too late but could not identify the culprit, leading to them unwittingly triggering Hua Yuan’s death list. They likely did not know that Hua Yuan had recently undergone a drastic change in temperament—not just irritable and quick to lash out with his whip at errant servants.
On the day the Young Master took his own life, Hua Yuan’s primary persona flickered back to consciousness for a brief moment, only to be quickly suppressed by the fragmented persona of “Liu Xi.”
Since then, the frequency of his original persona waking had increased, but its presence remained fleeting—too brief to avert the self-destructive impulses.
The second persona, recognizing this, could not help but doubt itself, leading to a further deterioration of its condition.
Eventually, hallucinations set in—hearing voices, seeing visions, smelling scents, tasting flavors, even feeling sensations—severe enough that he could not distinguish between reality and illusion. He oscillated between fits of laughter, rage, sorrow, and despondency… even his ambitions had lost their driving force, as if a voice inside him repeated endlessly that this world held no interest, that striving for control was meaningless…
Alone in solitude, he could hear the chaotic sounds all around him.
A woman called out to him, a man laughed and cursed in his ear, the deceased Young Master joyfully called him “teacher” in a childish voice, and at midnight, he could hear An Huan’s authoritative voice calling his name, while familiar and unfamiliar voices chattered endlessly in his ears.
In a moment of daze, he might see familiar figures beckoning from the end of the road, dip his hands in what he thought was cool water only to feel flames burning him…
He firmly believed that the basin of cool water was instead a cauldron of fire, that the room—aside from him and his servant—was filled with other unwelcome guests, and outside the bright sun was actually a torrential downpour…
The servant attending him wore an expression of shock and fear, as if he had uttered something dreadful.
Hua Yuan insisted he was in the right, thus any servant contradicting him must be wrong.
A sudden, inexplicable anger suffused his vision with red, and when he came to his senses once more, the servant lay bloodied and motionless on the ground. In his hand was the whip he had used to strike the servant, deep crimson blood pooling beneath him.
The blood-soaked soles of his shoes left a trail of crimson footprints with every step he took.
Hua Yuan resisted this unfamiliar self; he was “Liu Xi,” Liu Xi of Hejian County, not a madman with unclear thoughts.
The more he denied it, the more frequent the hallucinations became.
Once, while dealing with government affairs, he suddenly smelled something burning and looked up to see red flames completely consuming the building.
He shouted, “The house is on fire!” and hurriedly fled from it, only to be told by the onlookers that there was no fire at all.
It was still broad daylight, with not a single candle lit, and outside, it poured rain—how could there possibly be a fire?
Hua Yuan froze, his face pale, and awkwardly brushed off the incident, claiming he had merely been frightened by a nightmare.
As it happened, he did have nightmares, for that night, he dreamt of someone he hadn’t thought of in ages—Lü Zheng.
In the dream, he and Lü Zheng were engaged in a fierce argument, reliving the confrontations of years past.
Lü Zheng pressed him, every word resonating with clarity.
【Did you truly believe you were Liu Xi? You are merely Hua Yuan, a figment of lost sanity forged in your mind.】
Hua Yuan seethed, wanting nothing more than to draw his sword and sever Lü Zheng’s tongue.
【If you truly are Liu Xi, then recall your life experiences…】
Hua Yuan adamantly denied it; although his past memories had grown fuzzy, he believed it was due to awakening in a stranger’s body.
As long as he reclaimed his own body and identity, everything would return to normal.
【You claim to be Liu Xi, but do you remember when you studied in Langya County, how we toasted each other at Wangshan Pavilion? What did we speak of in that pavilion? You cannot answer, for you are not Liu Xi! You are Hua Yuan, a man from Ningzhou in Nan Sheng!】
No!!!
Hua Yuan clenched his jaw, silently refuting Lü Zheng’s devilish words.
【You had parents and elder brothers, a twin brother… who met an early demise, your parents… succumbing to an epidemic… your property usurped by your uncle and aunt… raised to be useless… and you… cowardly, marrying a wanton woman… this woman… bore you a son and a daughter out of wedlock…】
Yet Lü Zheng persisted, his voice omnipresent like a malicious curse, firmly embedding itself in Hua Yuan’s mind.
【You are not Liu Xi! You are a madman, afflicted with lost sanity, unaware of who you truly are!】
“I am not!”
Hua Yuan shouted, sitting upright, his nightclothes drenched with sweat, his long hair soaked as if pulled from the water.
“I am not! I am not! I am not!”
He seized the sword from its stand, drawing it with a swish, waving and slashing about, appearing utterly deranged.
The watchful servants outside heard the commotion but dared not enter.
As the sun rose the next day, the servants, having heard the racket die down, cautiously pushed open the door.
Hua Yuan’s chamber lay in ruins, not a single object unscathed. The servant’s heart raced as he timidly searched for Hua Yuan, finally discovering him emerging from a corner in white night garb, nearly causing the servant to faint.
“What time is it?”
Hua Yuan appeared haggard, his voice hoarse, much like someone who had indulged excessively after a long night with many women.
The servant, seeing Hua Yuan seemed somewhat coherent, whispered, “Just at dawn.”
Dawn?
That was still very early.
Hua Yuan instructed the servant to prepare hot water for washing and change clothes, and after breakfast, he finally ventured out to attend to business.
Before he could settle onto the mat, he received the news that An Huan had passed away.
An Huan was gone…
Logically, An Huan was Hua Yuan’s imagined adversary; the other was dead, yet he shouldn’t show visible joy, his heart should secretly rejoice.
But the result—
“Is the roof leaking?”
Looking up, the ceiling appeared intact.
He wiped his face with his hand, only to realize he had been shedding tears.
