Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 561 - 540 Second Update

Chapter 561: Chapter 540 Second Update

The youth’s voice was cold. Was Zheng Congyuan’s fate not tragic enough? Without even turning back, Yin He immediately stepped forward again. Suddenly, Zheng Nianru moved, turning to look at Zheng Congyuan who had spoken.

Or perhaps it was Zheng Congyuan’s voice that awoke her. Zheng Nianru opened her mouth, looking at Zheng Congyuan, wanting to say something.

But what could she say?

Nothing would help. At this moment, Zheng Nianru realized the problem—perhaps this was all her doing. If she hadn’t stubbornly tried to change the course of destiny, if she hadn’t deliberately disturbed the course, hadn’t saved Zheng Haoyuan, then Zheng Haoyuan would have long been dead. The living Zheng Muyuan would have always kept Yin He by his side, and she would never have met Yin He.

So, all of this was her own doing.

Zheng Nianru felt that thinking about these things now was perhaps already too late.

Zheng Congyuan sensed Zheng Nianru’s gaze, looked back at her, struggled to his feet in an embarrassing state, yet his expression remained calm. The next moment, a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out from his mouth.

This striking red made Zheng Nianru realize for the first time that the outcome of this life was just like her last; no matter how hard she tried, she could not escape the fate of her previous life.

Zheng Nianru’s heart gradually sank, and her gaze began to blur. Scenes from the present and the past overlapped. In this life, Zheng Congyuan was not going to end his life by himself but would die at the hands of Yin He. Perhaps that would be a bit easier to bear.

But in this life, Zheng Nianru had no hesitations; she could at least whimsically follow him to the end.

The youth’s face grew colder and colder. With everything that had happened, were they still passing affectionate glances? Didn’t she want him to live?

"As long as you kill her, I will spare your life—" The youth suddenly smirked evilly, seizing Zheng Congyuan. He would not let them succeed.

Everyone was stunned.

Elder Can and Elder Su were taken aback. Their Young Master’s thought process...

Sigh...

However, Yin He was looking at Zheng Congyuan, speaking again.

"As long as you kill her, as long as you kill her, I will make you the emperor of Nanzheng State, and ensure the peace and safety of its people," Yin He rushed his words, but he dared not look at Zheng Nianru, not too far away.

He wanted to let Zheng Nianru know that these people were not sincere. For the throne, for their goals, they could kill you, they could abandon you.

Zheng Congyuan understood the words of the youth before him, struggled to open his heavy eyelids, and for a moment seemed to sense the youth’s fear, which made him smile.

Zheng Congyuan couldn’t help thinking: Even if he lived, it seemed there was no possibility for him and Nian Ru to be together in this life, for the youth before him was too powerful—a power akin to the feeling he had when he first encountered Qiandao Temple.

"Do it—" Zheng Congyuan slowly closed his eyes. Since it had come to this, he had done everything he could, and the result was left to fate. The youth immediately looked at Zheng Congyuan with unwillingness and anger, in a flash wishing he could strangle Zheng Congyuan to death. No, how could he let him die so easily? Even in death, he wanted him to lose all face and dignity.

The youth was suddenly excited by the method he had thought of. With a stretch of his hand, the ghost shadow rapidly wound its way towards his arm. And while everyone watched in stunned silence, the youth didn’t let anyone see what he was really planning to do. The next moment, the ghost shadow directly burrowed into Zheng Congyuan’s mouth.

Elder Can and Elder Su immediately stood frozen in place, as if time itself had halted for everyone. The next moment, with a thump, Zheng Congyuan’s body sprang up from the ground and slammed violently against the palace wall before rolling to the floor.

"Fu Xun... Fu Xun," cries of hysteria echoed from inside Chenyuan Hall, but the trapped individuals could not escape, while Ghost Shadows circled in the air, having already devoured several more souls.

And among those present, the only one who dared to move was Zheng Nianru.

There, lying motionless on the ground as if dead, was Zheng Congyuan. This thought finally stirred Zheng Nianru; the young girl took step by step toward Zheng Congyuan’s fallen body, her feet soaked in blood. Without even looking, she trod over the scattered remains, completely unaware.

"Commandery Princess—" Nanny Yun took a trembling step forward, but Xing Yu was faster, quickly catching up to Zheng Nianru and firmly supporting her.

Zheng Nianru didn’t turn her head, as if she couldn’t feel the presence of Xing Yu beside her; her gaze was fixed solely on Zheng Congyuan on the ground.

So, in the end, it was she who had harmed him? Ultimately, she made everything worse. In her previous life, Zheng Congyuan at least managed to live for over thirty years, and although their relationship grew tense afterward, as long as he was alive, Zheng Nianru could breathe, could be angry, could think.

But now, Zheng Nianru once again felt the despair and helplessness of her previous life, as if someone had sucked all the air away, leaving her unable to breathe. But she couldn’t care about that; if she didn’t even want to live, why would she care about anything else?

The surroundings were deathly silent; those who could have rushed to Zheng Congyuan had already been torn to pieces, leaving the rest—whether out of fear, concern, cowardice, or fear of death—with their own reasons for not acting.

Master Yin He’s icy gaze never left Zheng Nianru; he waited, waiting for her to realize that it was he, standing there now, who was the most powerful, the one she should be looking at.

"Commandery Princess—" Xing Yu looked worriedly at Zheng Congyuan lying on the ground, with black smoke slowly gathering around the man’s body. But the man remained still; if the Crown Prince were killed by these things, then the Commandery Princess would be killed too.

As if seeing nothing, Zheng Nianru recklessly picked up Zheng Congyuan. The boy’s hand trembled, clenched into a fist, not allowing the black smoke to make the slightest movement.

He would give her a bit more time, letting her clearly understand that Zheng Congyuan was already dead, and so was Zheng Haoyuan. Now, all she had left was him.

Regret filled Zheng Nianru as she held Zheng Congyuan. If this life could follow the same path as the last, could Zheng Congyuan have avoided death, at least not died so soon?

But then again, what did it matter? It was all a sort of release.

"Brother Crown Prince, Brother Crown Prince," Zheng Nianru softly spoke, trying to awaken Zheng Congyuan, yet knowing it was futile. She just needed to confirm that Zheng Congyuan really was dead, not just an illusion.

"He’s dead— Zheng Congyuan is already dead," Master Yin He shouted loudly, coldly stating the fact.

Marquis of Zhenbei suddenly fell to his knees, followed by Old Master Wen Kang, Wen Sheng, and soon after, the trusted aides and soldiers from the Wen Family Army knelt en masse, a sea of people.

"The Wen Family is willing to pledge allegiance to Master Yin He as the Emperor of Nanzheng State," Marquis of Zhenbei shouted, kneeling on the blood-red ground tinted by their own men, his expression stern and resolute.

Upon hearing this, Elder Can and Elder Su looked over in surprise. Nanzheng State? What did their Young Master want with Nanzheng State?

Master Yin He, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard and only watched Zheng Nianru, eager to see what she would do next.