“I really deserved to die.”
…
After Li Shutiao finished speaking, without waiting for Wuya Shi’s reaction, she turned and bolted. Halfway out, she remembered she hadn’t done her hair yet, so she scurried back in a flurry, bypassed Wuya Shi, and ran to the dressing table. Following the original owner’s memories, she quickly tamed her messy black hair, styling it into a Xiao Liangbatou hairstyle.
Then, very calculatingly, she inserted the hairpin Guo Luoluo Shi had previously given her, put on the bracelet Guo Luoluo Shi had given her, took out the rouge and powder Guo Luoluo Shi had given her, changed into a light green Gongzhuang made from a pattern drawn by Guo Luoluo Shi, and finally slipped on the soft cloth shoes Guo Luoluo Shi had given her.
She skipped over to the still-seated Wuya Shi, spread her hands, and twirled. “Elder Sister, Elder Sister, look at me! Am I pretty?”
Wuya Shi’s expression was still somewhat wooden. Her dark, lacquer-like eyes shifted, and it took a long moment before they landed on her, only to constrict sharply.
The few of them had been “as close as sisters” for three months, after all. It was impossible not to recognize where every item on Li Shutiao’s person had come from.
Wuya Shi silently clenched her fists, unable to believe that Li Shutiao had actually listened to her instigating words.
…Was she a fool? Or had she been punished by Jiya Momo and gotten scared?
This was the first time Wuya Shi had tasted the bitterness of a setback. She sat where she was, speechless for a long time.
Li Shutiao waited for a moment. When no answer came from Wuya Shi, she simply walked over, took hold of her sleeve, and swayed it back and forth, asking in a wheedling tone, “Elder Sister, you still haven’t answered me.”
Wuya Shi remained silent.
After a long while, her voice seemed to be squeezed from her throat, tinged with a certain difficulty. “…You’re pretty.”
“That’s good!” Li Shutiao smiled in satisfaction. Like a fluttering butterfly, she ran to the mirror, twirled a couple more times, then pushed open the door and happily ran out.
She had more or less figured it out. Although the early-stage Wuya Shi wasn’t as ruthless as her later self, she was still a deep thinker with methods, strategies, and exceptionally high execution ability.
It was normal that the original owner was no match for her.
…Never mind the original owner; even Li Shutiao, who had read the original novel, often felt timid and fearful in her presence, unable to remain completely calm and composed.
So, she was destined not to be able to cling to the protagonist’s thigh.
Ahem, to correct that, whether she clung to the protagonist’s thigh or not, the outcome was death. If she clung on, she would be used and mercilessly discarded. If she didn’t, she would be insidiously and viciously targeted. No matter how she struggled, it would still end in death.
So it was better to… go and try the villain’s thigh.
After leaving the palace maids’ quarters, Li Shutiao rummaged through the original owner’s memories and quickly found her way to the Qianqing Palace Houweifang.
She briefly explained her purpose to the momo guarding the entrance and was let in in the blink of an eye. “Guo Luoluo Guannuzi is currently attending to the Emperor. She should be back in about two quarters of an hour. You can wait in the courtyard for now.” It was so smooth that Li Shutiao found it a little hard to believe.
Still, she curtsied to the momo and replied in a docile and graceful manner, “Then I’ll wait here.”
With that, she walked into the courtyard, turned right, and stopped at the base of the red wall not far away. She lowered her head and her hands, looking exceptionally well-behaved and sensible.
The old momo paid her no more mind. Fanning herself with one hand and placing the other on her hip, she stared intently at the palace maids sweeping the courtyard, offering a few words of guidance from time to time.
A gentle breeze swept by, carrying the chill of early spring.
The palace maids in the courtyard were all busy with their heads down, and no one looked in Li Shutiao’s direction. Yet, Li Shutiao keenly felt a sense of unease, as if… she was being secretly watched by someone.
Seeing the momo walk away slightly, Li Shutiao quickly raised her head and looked toward the several rooms of the Houweifang.
Almost at the exact moment she looked up, the sound of a window being gently closed came from the second room from the west, ruthlessly cutting off her prying gaze.
Li Shutiao: “…”
She hadn’t seen anything, so she subconsciously recalled the original novel, discovering that there were very few descriptions of the Qianqing Palace Houweifang. After all, the perspective mostly followed the protagonist, Wuya Shi. Since Wuya Shi had never lived in the Houweifang, the book naturally didn’t provide any extra details.
On the contrary, there were a few descriptive flashbacks from the villain, Guo Luoluo Shi’s, side.
Li Shutiao took a moment to dig one up. It was about a conversation Guo Luoluo Shi had with her personal palace maid after her first pregnancy:
“…Lingluo, I’ve been so frightened these past few days. Do you think I should find another imperial physician to take a look?”
The palace maid Lingluo replied with a hint of helplessness, “My lady, there is no one in the Taiyiyuan with better medical skills than Yuanzheng Daren.” After a pause, she continued, “Yuanzheng Daren has already said that the toxins in your body have been completely cleansed, with absolutely no residue left.”
“Please rest assured, this child will definitely be a healthy and lively little prince!”
But Guo Luoluo Shi’s brow remained furrowed. “But I’ve been dreaming of her again these past few days…”
Lingluo’s brows immediately knitted in slight surprise. “Are you talking about that Zhu Shi from the Houweifang?”
Guo Luoluo Shi nodded.
Lingluo sounded a little exasperated. “My lady, didn’t you personally watch as the Emperor granted her the Bailing? She is most definitely dead. Please put your mind at ease. If you keep brooding and remain unhappy, it will be extremely detrimental to the imperial heir in your womb…”
…
The memory ended.
Li Shutiao pinched her fingertips, her heart troubled and worried. She was wondering if, when Guo Luoluo Shi returned, she should use this information as a pledge of allegiance if her apology wasn’t accepted.
But… how would she explain her ability to foretell the future?
Li Shutiao fell into troubled thought, even forgetting to investigate the source of that peeping gaze from before.
An unknown amount of time passed before the sounds of several palace servants greeting someone came from the main gate. “…Greetings, Guo Luoluo Guannuzi.”
“You may rise.” The responding female voice was sweet and gentle, the kind of girlish tone that Li Shutiao liked best.
It was the villain… oh no, Guo Luoluo Qingyao was back!
Li Shutiao’s eyes lit up instantly. She poked her head out to look toward the entrance and saw a woman in a light pink Gongzhuang being supported as she slowly walked into the courtyard.
She didn’t look very old, was about 1.7 meters tall, and didn’t have the frail, willow-like appearance Li Shutiao had imagined. On the contrary, her skin was as white as snow, her hair as black as ink, and her features were both gorgeous and exquisitely refined. Her eyes were delicate and full of life, as if she were a peerless beauty who had stepped out of a richly colored oil painting.
Li Shutiao was immediately dumbstruck.
Two lines of poetry flashed repeatedly in her mind: Her fragrance drifts without a sway, her petals fly without a breeze. [1]
Some people, just by standing in a courtyard, could make one forget whether the trees were blooming with pear, peach, or apricot blossoms.
This must be what it truly meant for a person to be more delicate than a flower.
Not only was Li Shutiao completely engrossed, but on the other side, Guo Luoluo Shi, who was being stared at so blankly, also seemed to have noticed something. After telling the momo to rise, she tilted her head with a puzzled expression and searched around.
A moment later, her gaze fell upon Li Shutiao. Upon seeing Li Shutiao’s face clearly, her watery, shimmering eyes suddenly shone with brilliant light, filled with obvious joy.
“Did Elder Sister Shutiao come to find me?” She quickly shook off the palace maid’s supporting hand and trotted happily toward Li Shutiao. Then, as if remembering something, her expression became restrained and she stopped two steps away. Her watery eyes blinked twice, and a mixture of confusion and guilt slowly welled up, appearing exceptionally complex.
Li Shutiao was jolted back to her senses. Remembering the argument between them yesterday, her expression couldn’t help but take on a hint of awkwardness. After a long moment, she said, “Yes, yes, I came specifically to apologize to you.”
“Apologize?” Guo Luoluo Qingyao’s eyes darted around, and she quickly figured out what was going on. The faint smile on her face instantly blossomed into a radiant one.
“Between you and me, what’s there to apologize for!” Her voice was crisp and melodious, and the somber air around her vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving her as bright and dazzling as the morning sun.
Guo Luoluo Qingyao took Li Shutiao’s hand and led her toward her own room.
After a few steps, she suddenly stopped and turned to give some instructions to the palace maid Lingluo, who was following closely behind her.
Without raising her head, Lingluo curtsied to Guo Luoluo Qingyao, turned, and walked away.
Only then did Guo Luoluo Qingyao turn her head back. Meeting Li Shutiao’s questioning gaze, she quickly explained, “I asked her to prepare the tea you like to drink, Elder Sister.”
“And…” She paused midway, winking playfully at Li Shutiao. “There are also a few pastries. you’ll find out in a bit.”
Li Shutiao nodded without saying much, docilely allowing the person beside her to pull her into a lavishly decorated room.
The two of them sat down one after another on the couch in the side room.
Li Shutiao first glanced around at the room’s furnishings. Before she could ask anything, Guo Luoluo Qingyao beside her pursed her lips and pushed the small table between them inward. The table immediately fit seamlessly into a small cabinet by the window.
Li Shutiao’s eyes lit up instantly. It was actually a foldable, retractable design!
How clever.
After pushing away the table on the couch, Guo Luoluo Qingyao shifted over and sat right next to Li Shutiao.
Seeing Li Shutiao’s gaze lingering on the small cabinet behind them, she was a little surprised. “Has Elder Sister never seen a small cabinet like this before?”
Li Shutiao nodded, then quickly shook her head.
She wanted to say she had seen them before her transmigration, but she hadn’t expected to find one in the novel.
As she hesitated over what to say, Guo Luoluo Qingyao had already waved her hand. “Then I’ll have someone send one to your room tomorrow.”
Hearing this, Li Shutiao shook her head so hard it was like a rattle drum. “No, no, the items used by palace maids must follow the regulations… uh, follow palace rules. One cannot use things above one’s station, so let’s just forget it.”
She had almost forgotten this was the Qing Dynasty; the term “rules and regulations” wasn’t quite appropriate.
Guo Luoluo Qingyao looked at the small cabinet, then at her, and tilted her head in thought for a moment. “Then tomorrow I’ll go ask the Internal Affairs Office to have them build you a cabinet that meets the specifications for a palace maid and send it to you.”
“It’s better not to. I have duties to attend to on weekdays, where would I find the leisure time to stay in my room and play with a cabinet? It’s best not to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble at all. It’s not like I’m the one making it; it’s the craftsmen from the Internal Affairs Office.”
“But, it costs silver, doesn’t it…”
“I have it!” Guo Luoluo Qingyao’s eyes were sparkling. “I have lots and lots of silver now, all rewarded by the Emperor. I was even thinking of giving you half, as thanks for your care for me these past few months.”
“Besides silver, I also received many beautiful fabrics and hairpins and jewelry. Oh right, didn’t you say last time that you liked tassel earrings? I happen to have a pair of Du Yin Dian Cui tassel earrings. I’ll have Lingluo find them for you later, and you can take them all back with you…”
Perhaps because an interesting topic had been brought up, the smile on Guo Luoluo Qingyao’s face gradually became more open and bright, which only served to highlight how dark and unspeakable the original owner’s thoughts had been.
For some reason, an incredibly intense feeling of guilt suddenly rose in Li Shutiao’s heart, and heat rushed to her eyes.
“Sob, I, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have cursed you for being morally corrupt yesterday, nor should I have said you had inferior character.”
“Younger Sister Qingyao, you are such a good person. No wonder the Emperor likes you so much…”
How was this a great villain? She was clearly a pure and kind little angel!
I… sob, the original owner really deserved to die.
[1] A quote from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Luo Binwang, describing a cicada. It’s used here to praise her natural beauty.