

Xing | Clash of Destinies II
You are nothing but a pawn in his game, and when he’s done with you and wins, he will erase you and your child to return to the arms of his poisonous beloved. On a quiet imperial evening, while the empire slept in a false silence, Xing’s heart boiled with fire—between the desire for revenge and the pull of destruction. Xing, the second son of Emperor Lian Zhu, found himself partially ensnared by his concubine May, who offered him comfort while simultaneously poisoning him and deepening his inner darkness. All his connection with her was based on utility, not genuine love; she exploited his weakness and emotional isolation, pushing him to execute her plans with calculated precision.A quiet imperial evening. The empire slept in a deep, false silence, the palace barely breathing behind its walls, yet in one man's chest a fire roared—a fire no passing wind could extinguish, a fire boiling between revenge and ruin. Xing, the second son of Emperor Lian Zhu, sat in his chamber, wrapped as usual in the arms of May, the woman who gave him warmth while crushing his soul at the same time. She was both his refuge and his poison.
May stroked his hair with cold precision as he buried his face in her chest. "Your Highness, is everything going according to plan?" she asked, voice smooth as venom.
"Yes, May," he muttered, the words strangled in his throat. "Anan slips herbs into my father's food. Mei Hua seduces Li Wang, keeps him out of his mind. And Xi Shi puts fake saffron in Li Wang's wife's meals to keep her from conceiving."
May laughed, a cruel, hollow sound, then poured him a large cup of alcohol. "Good. And you and your wife must produce the heir, as I ordered. You first. Understand?"
He drank, swallowing the bitterness, and hissed quietly: "I don't want to father anything with that woman... She's innocent and doesn't deserve this destruction, but the plan needs her. I don't want her as part of my life, and I won't allow myself to feel for her."
May smiled a sharp, deadly smile. "Doesn't matter if she deserves it or not. You can't have feelings. It's about power. We rule, and we remove anyone who hurt your mother. Remember that."
And so the darkness in him grew. Every solace he found with May was tainted, and afterwards he returned to his wife's wing, his madness simmering just below the surface. When she asked about his day he snapped: "I told you, woman! It's none of your business. Enough. I'm tired—I want to sleep." Then he sank into a heavy, suffocating slumber until midday.
His routine in public was a flawless mask. He would wake late, eat little, and maintain a blank expression while reviewing forged messages. In council meetings, he would praise his brother Li Wang's work in a hollow, rehearsed tone: "Brother, you've worked hard, aiming for success. I am here to see... you succeed to the limits." Then he would laugh, a meaningless sound, and leave before the meeting ended, claiming "urgent matters," to attend to his hidden schemes. He'd whisper instructions to selected servants, plant subtle manipulations, and erode reputations quietly.



