Outside the Emperor’s sleeping quarters, guards with unsheathed sabers stood watch.
The night was deep, and snow was falling.
Shen Si, dressed in thin, plain clothes with her hair disheveled, rushed forward, nearly getting herself decapitated on the spot by the guards.
“Who goes there!”
Thinking of how similar this scene was to that night three years ago, Shen Si wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and shouted hoarsely, “Your Majesty, it’s Shen Si! Your Majesty, I wish to see you!”
Just moments ago, she had jolted awake from a nightmare to find she had been reborn, returning to the third year of her marriage to Xie Queshan. She was the wife of a close official, yet she had the audacity to trespass into the Emperor’s bedchamber at night.
Zhishu, who had chased after her, turned pale with fright. Did her young miss think it was still three years ago? Ignoring etiquette like this was a capital offense!
She hurried to kneel beside her. “Miss, what’s come over you? His Majesty has already retired. If you provoke the Dragon’s wrath, what will become of you under the heavy punishment of palace rules?”
Shen Si cried out for a long time until her voice grew hoarse.
The guards watched coldly; let alone her, even the Grand Emperor wouldn’t be able to enter.
Shen Si glanced back at her Dowry Maid, and in a daze, tears fell like rain. It was good that she was still alive.
Thinking of that horrific ending, she knew she had to see the Emperor tonight. “Your Majesty, it’s me! Shen Si begs for an audience!”
Liu Cha’en hurried out. Seeing the disheveled and frantic wife of Xie Xiaohouye, his expression turned complex. “Wife of Xie, Shen-shi, be quiet! Do you not know where this is? How can you be allowed to behave so recklessly!”
“Disturbing His Majesty is a capital crime!”
“Chief Steward Liu, please let me in! Let me see His Majesty!” Shen Si knew he was the head eunuch at the Emperor’s side and the Chief Steward of the Imperial City Department; her voice became increasingly urgent and panicked.
Liu Cha’en was in a difficult position. Normally, such a person should be dragged out and beaten to death, but this one… their Emperor’s heart was unpredictable.
After all, in a similar situation three years ago, His Majesty had dealt with her lightly. Not to mention, back when His Majesty was the Crown Prince, he had doted on this second miss of the Shen family, cherishing her in the palm of his hand.
While he was hesitating, another young eunuch approached and whispered a few words.
Liu Cha’en quickly said, “Wife of Xie, Shen-shi, His Majesty has summoned you.”
“You blind servant, you didn’t even think to drape a cloak over your mistress…”
While he was still speaking, Shen Si rushed inside impatiently, not caring to put on a cloak. “Your Majesty… Your Majesty!”
Inside the bedchamber.
Separated only by a door.
“Kneel.” In the inner room, a man dressed in bright yellow night garments glanced sideways. He possessed a natural majesty that commanded respect without anger, his tall and upright figure exuding an imperial aura that made one dare not lift their head.
Her behavior was completely improper.
Shen Si instantly burst into tears, staring at him blankly with red eyes. How could Xie Queshan ever compare to even a fraction of His Majesty? The kindness the Emperor had shown her was beyond count.
She froze for a moment before kneeling. Her charming and beautiful face had turned pale from the piercing cold wind. With her black hair cascading down, she looked weak and pitiful, kneeling there as her tears fell uncontrollably.
Three years ago, she was supposed to have followed the imperial decree to be promoted from the Crown Prince’s Side Consort to Consort Shen. Because His Highness pitied her youth, she was allowed to remain at home until he ascended the throne to enter the palace. But she had fallen in love with Xie Queshan, the Heir of the Yong’an Marquis Estate whose name was famous throughout the capital.
The man countless noble young ladies dreamed of marrying.
In her ignorance of the world, she had knelt outside the palace gates all night, begging the newly ascended Emperor, who had always doted on her, to grant the marriage. She knelt until dawn and finally got her wish.
With every cry of “Your Majesty’s Great Favor,” she had completely severed her ties with the New Emperor.
The world said Xie Queshan was a Gentleman as Pure as Jade, a divine being descended to earth. While other men had Three Wives and Four Concubines, he only wanted “one pair for a lifetime.” Shen Si had never seen such a man and fell hopelessly in love.
But this forced marriage was destined to be bleak. Even though she was the only one in the rear court, Xie Queshan was cold and heartless. He never entered the back courtyard, let alone spared her a second glance.
In the third year of their marriage, Xie Queshan brought home a child for her to raise. Thinking he wanted to reconcile with her, she treated the child as her own. Even when the doctors said the child wouldn’t live, she personally cared for him, forgetting to eat or sleep.
She even went as far as using her own blood as a medicinal primer, severely damaging her vitality just to save the child’s life. However, once the child grew up, he personally fed her poison and told her to die quickly.
As the poison burned through her, she didn’t die immediately. Instead, she was tortured night after night. She wailed in pain, confined by Xie Queshan in a secluded villa where she could see no one. His cold-bloodedness was more heart-piercing than the poison itself.
Only then did she learn that Xie Queshan’s heart belonged to the moon in the palace. He loved Noble Consort Ning, so he would never be moved by anyone else. That was why he was so ruthless toward her.
She thought she would be locked away in that villa until the end of time, until one day, the most noble person in the imperial palace rescued her from that hell.
At the brink of death, she was suddenly held tightly. It was His Majesty. She warned herself then: in the next life, do not choose wrongly. Do not fall in love with that treacherous and hypocritical man again!
Only His Majesty is the one who is truly good to you. Only His Majesty is your path to survival.
…
She simply cried out of a sense of profound grievance.
The current Emperor, The August One, Gu Lingyun sat on the couch, his sharp and indifferent gaze slowly falling upon her.
To dare trespass into Ningde Hall twice at night—she was truly reckless.
“Haven’t you cried enough?”
Shen Si couldn’t cry enough; she felt too wronged. Yet, it was all her own doing. It was only after seeing His Majesty that she finally regained some calm.
How could she explain her rebirth? Would His Majesty think she was speaking nonsense? Moreover… the adultery between Xie Queshan and the Noble Consort was hidden too well. Thinking back carefully, she had no evidence.
Xie Queshan played his part flawlessly. No one would believe he would harm his legal wife; everyone only knew of his unwavering devotion, having only one wife and vowing never to take concubines, only to be loyal to the sovereign and stay with her.
Anything she said would be seen as her being ungrateful for her blessings.
She choked on her words, speaking with immense grievance, “Your Majesty, I hate Xie Queshan. I don’t want to go back.”
Three years ago, kneeling before him, she had also said:
“Your Majesty, I like Xie Queshan. I don’t want to enter the palace.”
Gu Lingyun stared intently at her willful and reckless manner. She had loved him to death then, preferring to die than to enter the palace.
What kind of scene was she making now?
“The matters between you and Xie Queshan are family affairs. To cause a scene before Us is simply preposterous.”
The man’s voice was low and displeased, as if saying she had been married for three years yet remained so willful, truly thinking he would always favor her.
Emperors were always cold and fickle. She truly wasn’t afraid of death.
Shen Si’s heart tightened. Clearly, when she was dying in her past life, His Majesty had been so good to her. Why now… but then she remembered how she had treated His Majesty three years ago. It was only natural for him to be angry.
“I’m not making a scene. Will Your Majesty no longer look after me?”
Her beautiful eyes brimmed with tears, reflecting a hint of sorrow. A deep sense of longing and dependence clung to her gaze, as if she were pleading.
Back when she was at the Crown Prince’s side, he had restricted her in every way, but everyone had called her “Little Crown Princess,” putting her on a pedestal. Clearly, someone had once cherished her like a precious treasure.
And yet, she had been single-mindedly intent on escaping.