Pei Yu was acting a bit strange today.
Normally they would share their meals together, but today, after she had waited by the table for a long time without any food arriving, Chunba handed her a lunch box instead.
She said the empress wanted her to eat outside.
Sometimes Pei Yu could be quite finicky about cleanliness. For instance, if she fell into the mud and got covered in dust, she wasn’t allowed at the dining table until she was thoroughly washed up.
Yet she had just woken up and was completely clean right now.
Holding the lunch box with a hint of confusion, she reached the doorway just as the scent of iris drifted up from behind. Turning around, she met those light amber peach-blossom eyes.
The woman watched her quietly for a moment before lowering her eyelashes, seating herself with serene grace and ordering the servants to serve the meal.
Like a haughty, aristocratic cat.
Well, Jiang Wu sighed.
If she had to eat outside, she would eat outside. She was merely a concubine, and being chased out by Pei Yu was entirely normal.
She actually felt a bit guilty for freeloading meals here every day. Once she got her ten taels of gold, she would buy her breakfast outside on her own.
In her peripheral vision, that dark-black figure disappeared around the corner, and the fluttering palpitations around Pei Yu’s heart slowly began to settle.
Lowering her gaze, she tightened her grip on the silver spoon.
When she woke up this morning, the fact that the other had bitten her for half the night was completely forgotten.
Little rascal.
Aside from the exquisite buns in today’s lunch box, everything else was slightly hard, seemingly meant for her to grind her teeth on.
Jiang Wu licked her canine teeth. For some reason, ever since waking up this morning, her mouth had retained a lingering sweet taste. Had she bitten something else to pieces last night again?
Most likely. But since she was penniless and couldn’t afford to compensate for a single item in the bedchamber, she decided that as long as Pei Yu didn’t bring it up, she would play dumb.
Nibbling on a piece of thoroughly toasted, hard steamed bread, Jiang Wu headed to the stables and led out her purebred horse.
Lacking the funds to properly stable a horse, she had quietly kept it boarded at Pei Yu’s place.
Breaking off a small piece of the remaining hard bread, she fed it directly into the horse’s mouth, smiling warmly as she patted its head.
“Let’s go.”
Jiang Wu had never ridden a horse before, but she loved riding motorcycles, especially during the eight minutes of sunset when empty lanes were filled with nothing but wind and freedom.
The original owner seemed quite proficient in horseback riding and archery, mounting the horse with crisp, clean motions coming from pure muscle memory. After tumbling off a few times, she had grown exceptionally skilled.
When she reached the outer perimeter of the hunting grounds, Pei Yu was already seated on the elevated pavilion.
The woman rested on a cushioned daybed flanked by two large tubs of ice, shaded beneath a canopy. A dark red sheer robe hung loosely by her side, exposing a stretch of pale arm.
Leading her horse, Jiang Wu watched the various concubines who, despite the scorching sun, scrambled to stand in spots where the empress could directly see them. She then turned away and joined Zhang Lingzhou in a shaded spot.
“Zhang Lingzhou, we simply must take first place, okay?”
“I have observed them. They all want Pei Yu’s attention, and only the two of us are genuinely broke.”
Leading a white horse, Zhang Lingzhou lowered her eyelashes.
Did that even require observation?
Those people looked as though their eyes were glued to Pei Yu.
A young female ruler in her early twenties was an unattainable existence in any dynasty. Only a pretty little dog like Jiang Wu could remain truly oblivious.
Catching the empress’s casual, lingering glance toward their direction, Zhang Lingzhou quietly peeled Jiang Wu off her arm and stepped back a few paces.
Jiang Wu?
Zhang Lingzhou: “Unbecoming of propriety.”
Concubines were permitted to form private unions in the palace, but displaying it openly was strictly forbidden.
Nodding solemnly, Jiang Wu switched to leaning against a pillar instead.
She had specifically chosen a dark black sheer robe today, with cloud-patterned gold thread embedded along her waistline and cuffs, outlining her sleek lines. For convenience, she had tied her hair into a low ponytail, leaving a few strands drifting behind her ears that fluttered in the breeze.
Her cool-toned skin appeared translucent and white in the sunlight, with pale green veins faintly showing beneath delicate flesh, making her look exceptionally frail. When she stayed quiet, she exuded a cold, distant air.
Up on the daybed, Pei Yu’s gaze drifted past the front row of concubines for the umpteenth time, finally landing in the shadows next to that lazy, lounging figure.
Someone like that was simply too full of high-spirited vitality.
It seemed as though nothing mattered to her, and no one had ever truly possessed her.
She cared nothing for the concubines vying for favor, nor did she care for Pei Yu watching her from the three-tiered terrace.
Lowering her gaze in a sudden loss of interest, Pei Yu waved her hand to signal the start of the competition.
When she lifted her eyes again, all she saw was a flash of fluttering dark-black robe. The young woman curled her lips, sinking deep into the saddle while gripping the reins with one hand. Turning her head, she locked her gaze directly onto the peach-blossom eyes fixed upon her from the terrace.
Those pretty, upturned phoenix eyes curved slightly before she quickly turned back, gently nudging the horse’s flanks. The purebred horse galloped down the trail, disappearing from view in an instant.
Pei Yu gently pressed her hand against her chest, which felt as though it had just been struck, the corners of her eyes flushing pink with an inexplicable flutter.
She felt as though she had fallen ill.
How could she yearn to see someone so desperately, and how could she feel such overwhelming desolation the moment someone slipped out of her sight?
Could the aftermath of mutual marking truly be this profound?
Half an incense stick later, rounding the trail at the far end of the enclosure, a pale golden horse burst out from the foliage. Its flying tail kicked up dust from the ground. In the saddle, the alpha held the reins with one hand, her slightly lowered posture straightening up the moment she crossed the finish line.
Pulling back hard on the reins, the horse reared its front hooves before settling back down. Jiang Wu curved her lips, digging her knees into the horse’s flanks to steady herself as she landed firmly on the ground, lifting her head to look up at the pavilion.
Five taels of gold were in the bag.
Alright, she acknowledged this body’s physical prowess. Compared to those spineless Alphas, this was nothing short of a dimensional reduction strike.
Yet why wasn’t Pei Yu looking at her?
Tilting her head, Jiang Wu stared at Pei Yu for a few seconds. Seeing that the woman still refused to look over, she vaulted straight onto the platform.
The surrounding guards tried to block her, but Chunba waved them away, and they wisely retreated.
The peppermint pheromones, mixed with the heat of physical exertion and thin sweat, enveloped Pei Yu. She retreated slightly, her waist and abdomen bumping against the cushion behind her.
She could still vividly feel the warmth of the hand that had pressed into her lower abdomen during the nightmare last night, pushing down so heavily, completely disregarding their child, as if truly intending to replace her.
“Stay away from me.” Pei Yu lightly bit her lower lip, leaving a very faint tooth indentation.
Why couldn’t Jiang Wu remember last night?
She looked so timid, yet her skin was impossibly thick. Desiring to become her child’s parent, she still managed to approach her while calling her Your Majesty in every breath.
So unreasonable.
“Did Your Majesty see who won first place?” Jiang Wu obediently took a few steps back, looking at her with shining eyes.
Like a little dog seeking merit, eager for praise from its master.
So, did Jiang Wu want praise?
Pei Yu curled her fingertips, unable to force any words of commendation past her lips, and could only manage a soft mhm.
As the sound fell, the young woman’s eyes instantly curved, sparkling as she looked at her. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
With that, the dark-black robe fluttered away once more, pulling that faint trace of peppermint out of the air around Pei Yu, leaving behind only an elusive, persistent itch at the bottom of her heart.
Stunned for a moment, Pei Yu found her gaze instinctively tracking the high-spirited little dog down below.
Suddenly, she regretted not praising her properly.
Clearly, a single word from her was enough to make that person beam with joy.
Chewing on a blade of grass she had plucked along the way, Jiang Wu watched leisurely as the remaining few Alphas emerged one by one from the end of the trail.
Fortunately, she had been smart enough to run up and tell Pei Yu she was first. Given that the empress likely cared nothing for such trivial matters, if she had gotten distracted and let another Alpha snatch the win, those five taels of gold would have slipped right through her fingers.
Not long after she finished chewing her grass, the empress’s personal maid walked down and handed her a piece of jade.
“Her Majesty commands you to bite this.”
Jiang Wu raised her eyes, locking gazes with the pair looking down from afar. She spat out the grass, bit down on the jade pendant, and hung it around her neck.
Considering it unclean for her to bite grass and look all messy just now, the empress must have tossed her a piece of jade due to mysophobia. Completely understandable.
With this, both of the only two jade pendants Pei Yu wore on her person had now been given away.
Chunba glanced at the harmlessly handsome alpha. So Her Majesty preferred this type. No wonder she hadn’t bothered glancing at the ones sent from neighboring countries.
The second piece of jade was a childhood gift from Pei Yu’s mother, which had broken once upon growing older and had its cracks repaired with gold.
It wasn’t precious, but it was deeply important.
Countless people had trampled over the grass on the ground, yet Jiang Wu had dared to pluck a random blade and stick it straight into her mouth without a single thought about getting sick.
Stupid dog.
Pei Yu pulled her gaze back from the jade pendant resting against Jiang Wu’s chest and curved the corners of her lips.
The Cuju match was played in pairs, with the remaining concubine standing in the middle to intercept the ball.
It was just shooting goals; Jiang Wu figured it couldn’t be that difficult, especially since she possessed immense strength.
Ten minutes later, she stared upward, watching the ball sail in a high parabola over her head, bouncing along the net for five full seconds before finally coming to a stop.
She looked solemnly and seriously at Zhang Lingzhou. “Let us surrender.”
Zhang Lingzhou twisted her waist to dodge an incoming ball, biting her lip as she looked over with a flicker of hard-to-detect anger in her light-colored eyes.
Those people were deliberately shooting wide; every single ball was aimed straight at them.
Because she lacked favor and Jiang Wu was soft-spoken and agreeable, failing to secure a higher rank even after conceiving the empress’s child, those people assumed they were free to bully them at will.
Noticing Zhang Lingzhou’s grim expression, Jiang Wu tilted her head to comfort her. “Oh, it does not matter. It is just five taels of gold. We can scrimp and save, and after five years of starving and abstaining, we will have enough.”
Before she could finish, a ball slammed squarely into Jiang Wu’s lower abdomen, flipping her over onto the ground. Her internal organs were compressed together in a twisting wave of agony. Curling into a ball, Jiang Wu began to retch uncontrollably, spitting up what she had eaten that morning, stained with faint streaks of blood.
Struggling to regulate her breathing amidst the near-fatal pain, she rolled over, lifting her upturned phoenix eyes, which were faintly flushed with red. The mole beneath her eyelid trembled with every breath.
What the actual hell.
Those bastards cheated.
The jade pendant that had just been hung around her neck landed hard on the ground, shattering into two pieces. Gritting her teeth, Jiang Wu reached out to grab the pieces, trembling as she clutched them tightly in her palm with all her might.
The shards pierced into her palm, blood dripping downward drop by drop.
A shattered jade was an ominous sign.
Ancient people always placed great emphasis on such things. Would Pei Yu kill her because of this?
The scent of iris completely engulfed her. Raising her head, she caught sight of the woman’s dark, gloomy eyes.
It is over.
While struggling to catch her breath, Jiang Wu wiped her hand clean on her robes and gently grasped the hem of Pei Yu’s skirt.
“Your Majesty. I did not mean to.”
The light amber eyes lowered, resting softly upon her without revealing much emotion.
Through her blurred consciousness, she felt herself being scooped up into someone’s arms. As they moved to take the shattered jade from her hand, she instinctively tightened her grip.
The person holding her seemed to shudder. Following that, the hand enfolding hers grew exceptionally gentle.
Jiang Wu remembered a period during her childhood when she was obsessed with playing soccer.
Back then, she was small, shabby, and impeccably clean, running to the field every day with a small ball her elder sister had bought her.
Hardly anyone was willing to play with her.
Because she lacked professional cleats, and her ball wasn’t a branded one, costing only a few dozen yuan, chosen by her sister while holding her hand in the supermarket.
Therefore, when a team finally let her tag along, she was overjoyed even if she was only allowed to chase after stray balls.
Later on, while she was fetching a stray ball, a boy on the team kicked it directly at her body. The momentum of the soccer ball knocked her backward, sending her crashing down as a sharp pain wrenched through her internal organs as if they had shifted places.
She hadn’t dared to tell her sister.
Her sister would have taken her to the doctor, which cost a lot of money.
That very night, she ran a high fever, curling into a ball as she murmured in pain. The young woman sat by the bedside, pulled back her clothes, and discovered a massive bruise.
When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on a hospital bed, the air filled with the scent of disinfectant. Beside her, her sister slumped against the edge of the mattress, holding her hand with dark, bruised circles under her eyes.
Her sleep was light. Sensing movement, she fluttered her eyes open; her eyelids were red and swollen, as if she had been crying quietly for a long time.
Her sister watched her in silence, dense eyelashes drooping low before a teardrop slipped down, bending the curve of her lashes as it fell.
Yet her voice was exceptionally light and gentle.
“I am sorry. It is sister’s fault for being useless.”
It was her fault for failing to notice sooner that the child had been enduring pain in silence, for letting her get bullied without daring to speak up.
That day, Jiang Wu curled up in her sister’s embrace. Whenever the pain flared, she lightly bit down on the side of her sister’s neck before letting go, whispering that she would never play soccer again.
She said she didn’t like it anymore, but her sister’s tears only fell faster, holding her tighter and tighter as if trying to melt her into her own flesh and blood.
So, had she been completely unhappy? Did their time together hold nothing but memories steeped in tears, which was why, when her sister left, she didn’t look back or show a single trace of reluctance?
When she thought of her, would she feel pain, guilt, or simply the crushing weight of a burdensome existence, longing only to escape those years of poverty where even frayed clothes required patching?
Sometimes she wondered, if her sister’s family had come to take her away, and she insisted that her sister was her mother when asked to bring another younger sister home, would she have been taken with them?
Jiang Wu had very few material desires; she didn’t want wealth or glory, she only wanted her sister.
Ever since returning from the hunting grounds, Jiang Wu had been running a low fever. Pei Yu spent the entire night by her side, using a damp cloth to constantly wipe her down for physical cooling.
Unconscious, the alpha kept murmuring mother in her feverish delirium, begging her mother not to leave her.
Terrified of abandonment, utterly devoid of a sense of security.
Lowering her gaze, Pei Yu continued wiping away the cold sweat on the child’s forehead and the tears at the corners of her eyes. Bending down close, she whispered a low response directly to her.
“I am not leaving.” Every single word crushed against the boundaries of her pride and anxiety. Letting out a soft breath, she continued, “Mother is here.” As the final word fell, her ears burned a bright, fiery crimson.
She should have summoned the prime minister into the palace long ago.
How dare that concubine pull such stunts right under her nose? It had simply been too long since she last managed the inner court, allowing just about anyone to forget the rules.
She had no intentions of bestowing imperial favor upon anyone else anyway; dismissing the inner court was only a matter of time. She would issue a decree soon to cast them all out to fend for themselves.
When Jiang Wu woke up, she found herself curled inside Pei Yu’s embrace, the woman’s slender, fair neck marked with a few light red bite marks.
As she shifted her waist and abdomen slightly, a tearing wave of pain shot through her. She drew in a soft breath, her voice seeming to startle the sleeping woman.
The woman wrapped her arms around her head, pressing her face against her own neck.
A drowsy, half-asleep tone drifted down. “Baby, be good. Bite a little softer.”
Forced to hold that soft flesh between her lips, Jiang Wu blinked, momentarily dazed.
What was happening?
During the time she lost consciousness, had the original owner returned and said something to make the empress spare her life?
Come to think of it, she had never really checked on the original owner. When she transmigrated over, it had been long before the original owner’s scheduled time of death, meaning she should technically still be alive.
She poked the floating light cluster.
“Where is the original owner?”
The light cluster slumped into a blob. “The system has not detected the original owner’s consciousness. According to data, only one counterpart can exist per world.”
“What does that mean?” Jiang Wu frowned. “Are you saying this idiot is my ancient counterpart?”
Her counterpart was so hopelessly brainless that she marched straight into the palace for a woman she’d only met once, turning into a bitter fool who spent her days sticking pins into dolls and digging up wild vegetables.
This piece of work was the original soul?
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“You never asked.”
Jiang Wu’s head throbbed, a vague sense telling her something was deeply wrong, yet she couldn’t quite pinpoint it.
In her memories, there seemed to be an open suitcase, but upon closer recollection, nothing remained except overwhelming panic and unease.
“If I have a counterpart, what about my sister?” Jiang Wu stared at the glowing orb, narrowing her eyes. “I am asking you now.”
“Who is she?”
“Can the host really not tell?”
Jiang Wu bit her lower lip, speaking with a hesitant tightness in her voice. “Cheng Jin?”
Light cluster: ..
Well, she certainly seemed eager to be birthed by her sister.
“She is the mission target.”
It is Pei Yu? Her sister was an ancient female ruler in this life? Huh? Thinking about it that way, those concubines suddenly looked rather hateful.
Every single item of them looked fierce and hideous, how could any of them possibly be worthy of her sister?
Jiang Wu couldn’t accept that her ancient counterpart was a total failure, but if her sister was here too, she could talk herself into a good mood in zero seconds flat.
Moreover, she and her sister shared a child.
Carefully shifting her hand upward, she gently pressed it against her sister’s lower abdomen.
It felt slightly rounded. In the past, she hadn’t dared to look at Pei Yu closely and thus noticed very little.
Pressing lightly against Pei Yu’s lower abdomen, it felt remarkably soft due to pregnancy, yet just a bit firmer deeper inward.
Could a woman really conceive another woman’s child?
Curious, she reached upward to explore further, until her trespassing fingertips were suddenly pinned down by another hand.
Raising her eyes, she collided with those light amber pupils.
“Mother.”
She parted her lips and softly uttered the word.