“Your Highness, have you truly made up your mind? Once the Gu poison is transferred into your body, you will…”
Hot.
Su Shu felt as though she were surrounded by a furnace. The furnace seemed to have grown arms and legs, holding her firmly captive. The blazing heat scorched her until her mouth was dry and her throat parched.
She instinctively tried to turn over, but a dull ache shot through her waist, as though someone had broken it. The flesh between her thighs burned with an even more intense pain.
This kind of pain…
Su Shu suddenly opened her eyes.
The dim cave had a ceiling of grayish black rock, its surface uneven and jagged. The air was damp, carrying the earthy smell of soil mixed with decaying leaves.
This cave.
It had appeared only once in her life.
That had been many years ago, when Ren Yan was afflicted with a strange Gu and stood on the brink of death, with no one by his side. To save his life, she had transferred the Gu poison from his body into her own.
The transfer required the two of them to consummate their union.
But hadn’t she already died?
“Your Highness, are you finished?” Ning Zi’s deliberately lowered voice came from outside the cave.
Su Shu came back to her senses and realized that someone was holding her tightly in his arms, her back pressed against his chest.
A pair of strong arms encircled her.
In the faint light filtering through the cave entrance, she could see the well defined muscles beneath his skin and the slightly raised veins along his forearms.
The crisp, cool fragrance of pine and cypress lingered around her nose.
Familiar, yet strange.
It was familiar because she had loved him for so many years. She hardly needed to see him. One whiff of that scent was enough for her to recognize him.
It was strange because, ever since she had been confined to the Cold Palace, she had never seen him again.
Su Shu turned her head.
In the dim light, the man was fast asleep.
A narrow shaft of gray daylight streamed through the cave entrance, falling precisely across the bridge of his straight nose and outlining his striking, well defined features. He was so handsome that he looked as though he had stepped straight out of a painting.
It was Ren Yan in his younger days.
She lowered her head and examined her own hands. They were slender and fair, without the rough skin and frostbite scars left by the years she had spent in the Cold Palace.
Has she been reborn?
Su Shu tried to free herself from his embrace, only to discover that he was holding her so tightly that it felt as though he intended to merge her into his very flesh and blood.
After struggling for a while without success, Su Shu lowered her head and bit down on his forearm. She used all her strength, wishing she could tear a piece of flesh right out of him.
His skin was hard as an iron plate, making her teeth ache, but she refused to let go until the taste of blood filled her mouth.
He remained completely motionless. Even his muscles did not twitch.
Su Shu released his arm and stared at the bloody bite mark she had left behind.
She was exhausted.
She called softly, “Ning Zi.”
Ning Zi entered almost immediately. Upon seeing the two of them embracing on the stone bed, she blushed and quickly turned her gaze away.
“Ning Zi, hurry and help me.”
“Your Highness, the Gu transfer isn’t complete yet. There’s still one final step. Until it’s finished, he won’t release you.”
“What?!”
Ning Zi patiently explained, “Once the transfer begins, the Gu host will hold the new host tightly in his grasp until all the Gu poison has been transferred.”
Only then did Su Shu remember that in her previous life, she had gritted her teeth and endured that final step, suffering so much pain that she had passed out.
When she awoke, three days had already passed.
Everyone she encountered told her the same thing: Ren Yan loved her half sister, Su Wan.
She refused to believe it.
Despite her weakened body, she had forced herself to go find him, only to see him holding her half sister’s hand. With a cold expression, he had warned Su Shu never to show the slightest disrespect toward her again.
“Your Highness, dawn is approaching. Please hurry and complete the final step.”
“Let it end here.”
In this life, she would never again endure such pain for him until she passed out.
After suffering through it once in her previous life, her body had remained weak for years. Every winter, she would be plagued by an unbearable chill that seeped into her very bones.
This time, she no longer wanted to be such a foolish woman.
Unfortunately, she had been reborn a little too late. If only she had returned one day earlier, she would never have transferred the Gu poison into her own body.
Even if Ren Yan, as the Crown Prince, could not afford to die, wasn’t her dear half sister Su Wan still around?
If she remembered correctly, Su Wan had also come to this cave in her previous life. She simply did not know exactly when.
By the time Su Shu had awakened back then, every trace of what had happened in the cave had been erased.
“But, Your Highness, if the Gu poison isn’t fully transferred, no one knows what might happen in the end.”
“My mind is made up. Ning Zi, help me pull him away.”
“…All right.”
Ning Zi took out a silver needle and pricked Ren Yan’s arm. The strength of his embrace immediately slackened.
Su Shu hurriedly removed his arm from around her body.
Suddenly, her ear stung, as though something had been torn away from it.
Without looking back, Su Shu rose from the stone bed, took the clothes Ning Zi handed her, and quickly put them on. Suppressing the soreness throughout her body, she allowed Ning Zi to support her as they walked toward the cave entrance.
“Your Highness, if we leave just like this, could something happen to His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Don’t worry. He won’t die.”
Su Shu took two steps before stopping again.
She was not certain whether Su Wan’s becoming Empress in her previous life had anything to do with this trip to the cave. But it did not matter. She simply did not want Su Wan to get what she wanted.
She instructed Ning Zi to gather some pine branches and leaves. They lit them not far from the cave entrance, allowing thin wisps of greenish smoke to rise into the air.
Su Shu believed that with the abilities of the Eastern Palace’s hidden guards, they would find him soon enough.
However, if the people who had poisoned him with the Gu found him first, then that would simply be his own misfortune. If he had bad luck and an ill fate, he could hardly blame her.
Su Shu was helped into the carriage by Ning Zi.
As they entered the city, her heart suddenly clenched as though it had been struck hard by a massive hammer. The pain erupted from deep within her heart, instantly draining every ounce of strength from her body.
The next moment, darkness swallowed her vision, and she lost consciousness.
When Su Shu awoke again, a dense, lingering ache remained in her chest.
The pain was somewhat different from the agony caused by the Gu poison in her previous life. It felt as though something were pulling at her heart.
The farther she moved away, the tighter that invisible thread became, tugging painfully at her heart.
Su Shu raised a hand to her chest.
Could this be a side effect of the incomplete Gu transfer?
She stared blankly at the ceiling of the lotus pink silk canopy above her bed.
This was the very canopy in her bedchamber at the Duke of Zhenguo’s residence. The year she came of age, her mother had personally selected the fabric, saying that the lotus pink shade suited her complexion best.
She had specifically chosen the delicate silk because it was light and breathable, ensuring that Su Shu would not feel stifled even in summer.
Later, when she was confined to the Cold Palace, all she had to look at were dull gray beams and cobwebs. There had not even been a decent canopy over her bed.
“Shu’er, you’re finally awake.”
Su Shu turned her head.
Her mother, Madam Cui, was sitting on the edge of the bed, still holding her hand.
She must have kept watch over Su Shu for a long time. Her elaborate hairstyle had loosened slightly, and a few stray strands had fallen beside her temples.
Yet the begonia red brocade jacket she wore remained perfectly immaculate, and her entire bearing was as dignified and elegant as ever.
She was still the noble Madam of the Duke of Zhenguo’s household.
Looking at her mother’s face, whose eyes had not yet been etched with deep lines of sorrow, Su Shu suddenly felt her throat tighten.
The last time she had seen her mother in her previous life, Madam Cui had been kneeling outside the Cold Palace, weeping as she begged Ren Yan, who had by then become Emperor, to allow her to enter and see her daughter just once.
Ren Yan had never appeared.
Instead, he had sent a eunuch to drive her mother away.
Su Shu had crouched by the window, watching her mother, whose hair had turned white, walk away step by step with her back bent. Eventually, she disappeared from sight.
Not long afterward, news arrived that her mother had passed away.
“Just look at you! You’re a noble young lady, yet you run around outside every day. What sort of behavior is that?”
Su Shu owned an estate in the countryside outside the city and often stayed there for several days at a time. Madam Cui therefore assumed that her daughter had simply spent the previous night at the estate.
Su Shu’s nose tingled, and she threw herself into her mother’s arms.
Madam Cui was startled by the sudden embrace, but she soon smiled and gently patted her daughter’s back.
“Don’t think you can escape a scolding just by acting spoiled.”
“Do you know how frightened I was when you were carried back unconscious? I nearly died of fright! Fortunately, the physician said you had merely caught a chill.”
Listening to her mother’s endless chatter, Su Shu had never before felt that such ordinary, trivial nagging could bring her more comfort than any melody in the world.
“Get some proper rest today and recover your strength. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the palace.”
Su Shu instinctively resisted the idea.
“I’m not going.”
“Weren’t you always eager to visit the palace? You used to chase after the Crown Prince every single day. What happened today? Has the sun risen in the west, or have you had a falling out with the Crown Prince?”
“I…”
Before Su Shu could finish, Madam Cui continued, “Although, the Crown Prince probably isn’t in the palace. I’ve heard that he’s been staying at Shanglin garden these past few days.”
“You needn’t think about refusing, either. The Empress and I arranged this visit long ago.”
Su Shu knew there was no getting out of it, so she could only nod.
Her engagement to Ren Yan had been arranged by the Empress Dowager, who had passed away two years earlier. Su Shu knew that the Empress was not particularly pleased with her. Perhaps she could use this opportunity to sound the Empress out about the matter.
Maybe she could find a way to dissolve her engagement to the Crown Prince.
The following day, the sky had only just begun to lighten, and the sun had yet to rise.
Madam Cui woke Su Shu early. After washing up, Su Shu dressed neatly and was then made to sit before the dressing table, where her mother applied a little rouge and powder to conceal the pallor of her face.
The two of them entered the palace. However, just as they reached the entrance to Jiaofang Hall, they encountered Ren Yan coming out.
His face was somewhat pale, and his lips had little color. There was a trace of illness between his brows, yet his back remained straight and his steps were steady and unhurried.
Su Shu’s entire body stiffened.
Why was he in the palace? Hadn’t her mother said he was at Shanglin苑?
Ren Yan wore the black dragon robe distinctive to the Crown Prince. His features were stern and cold, and the autumn morning sunlight fell across his face, accentuating his striking, sharply defined features.
Yet his eyes were so cold and distant that they contained not the slightest warmth.
Anyone meeting his gaze could not help feeling a chill run down their spine.
“This subject’s wife pays her respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Madam Cui bowed in greeting, visibly delighted to see him. When she noticed that Su Shu was still standing there in a daze, she tugged at her sleeve.
Su Shu had no choice but to follow her mother’s lead and curtsey.
“Madam Cui, there is no need for such formalities,” Ren Yan replied indifferently.
“Your Highness, you don’t look well. Are you feeling unwell?”
Ren Yan pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Madam Cui continued with a smile, “Have you just finished paying your respects to Her Majesty the Empress? May I ask how she is feeling today?
When I visited the palace a few days ago, she seemed somewhat unwell.”
“She is fine.”
After answering, Ren Yan pressed his lips together again and did not utter another word.
Su Shu’s fingers, folded in front of her, tightened slightly.
In the past, she had assumed he was simply cold by nature. It was only later, when she saw him holding Su Wan’s hand and lowering his head to listen to her speak, that she realized he was only different depending on whom he was facing.
Seeing that Su Shu had not approached Ren Yan with the usual bright smile and sweet greeting of “Brother Crown Prince,” Madam Cui shot her several meaningful glances.
Su Shu kept her head lowered and remained motionless, pretending not to notice.
Ren Yan naturally observed the little exchange between mother and daughter. His distant gaze lingered for a brief moment on the small whorl of hair at Su Shu’s forehead.
Then he looked away.
“I have other matters to attend to. I shall take my leave.”
“We respectfully see Your Highness off.”
After he left, Madam Cui pinched Su Shu’s sleeve in exasperation and lowered her voice.
“What on earth is wrong with you today?”
“Mother, I want to…”
Before she could utter the words “break off the engagement,” a matron dressed in an official female attendant’s uniform emerged from inside the hall with a beaming smile.
“Madam of the Duke of Zhenguo, you’ve arrived! Her Majesty has been asking about you. Please, come inside.”
Then she turned toward Su Shu, her smile deepening.
“Her Majesty said that young people naturally prefer not to be confined to the company of their elders, so the young lady need not come inside. His Highness has also just returned to the palace.”
Before Su Shu could respond, Madam Cui had already answered with a smile.
“Her Majesty is absolutely right. Shu’er, off you go.”
As she spoke, she gently pushed Su Shu forward.
Her meaning could not have been clearer. Her mother wanted her to seek out Ren Yan.
Naturally, Su Shu had no intention of looking for him. Instead, she wandered aimlessly through the gardens near Jiaofang Hall, waiting for Madam Cui.
The autumn garden had already lost most of its flowers, with only a few clusters of hardy golden chrysanthemums still in bloom. The breeze carried a chill mingled with the dry scent of fallen leaves.
Su Shu strolled slowly along the stone path, the leaves beneath her feet crackling softly with each step.
She paid little attention to where she was going. As long as she did not head toward the Eastern Palace, it made no difference.
As she walked, she spotted Ren Yan standing in a pavilion around the next corner, apparently giving instructions to someone.
Su Shu’s gaze suddenly froze.
The lotus pink earring in his hand was unmistakable.
It was hers.
Su Shu instinctively touched her earlobe. Today, she was wearing a pair of dangling pearl earrings. Yet she clearly remembered that in her previous life, this earring had never gone missing.
She recalled the sharp pain in her ear that day.
Could it have happened then?
Su Shu’s face turned deathly pale.
Just then, Ren Yan’s sharp gaze shot straight toward her.