Song Ying’s heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that Li Jingrong was about to assassinate Emperor Yongzhao? Was she remembering the Song family’s kindness in saving her life and planning to give Song Ying a chance to leave behind her final words?
Pretending to be surprised, she asked, “You… what did you say?”
The night was dark, but by the moonlight, Li Jingrong could clearly see the bewilderment on Song Ying’s face.
They had only met once, and Song Ying didn’t even know her name. It was only natural that she wouldn’t believe her.
But—
Recalling how Song Ying had voluntarily entered the palace, Li Jingrong couldn’t help feeling curious.
“You really are a strange one. You had a golden opportunity handed to you, yet you refused it and insisted on entering this dangerous place instead?”
Song Ying was already irritated at being woken up. Seeing Li Jingrong deliberately skirt around the question, she couldn’t care less whether the woman was the heroine or not. She immediately snapped back.
“By golden opportunity, do you mean… the chance for my entire family to be executed once your scheme is exposed?”
Li Jingrong’s expression instantly darkened, and a sharp, intimidating aura erupted from her.
She had originally thought that finding an unwilling selected maiden whose identity she could assume would be a perfect arrangement that benefited both sides…
It was only after Song Ying pointed it out that she remembered what she was actually planning to accomplish on this trip.
Once her scheme was exposed and the authorities investigated, the family of the maiden whose identity she had stolen would inevitably be implicated.
A trace of pity stirred in Li Jingrong’s heart.
But an opportunity to enter the palace was exceedingly rare…
In the blink of an eye, that fleeting compassion was suppressed by her desire for revenge.
Unable to dispel the frustration building in her chest, Li Jingrong flicked her wrist.
A gleaming blade flashed from its sheath and pressed against Song Ying’s neck.
Its cold glint cut through the moonlight, reflecting the anger between Li Jingrong’s brows.
Feeling the chill against her neck, Song Ying frantically waved her hands.
“I-I didn’t mean it like that…”
Li Jingrong said nothing more. Her slender wrist lowered slightly, bringing the blade even closer.
“Ah!”
Song Ying cried out, hurriedly covering her head with both arms as she trembled and shrank toward the corner.
She squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to say another word.
Only after a long while passed without any movement did Song Ying dare to cautiously open her eyes a crack and peek outside.
Li Jingrong… had left?
Had she said something wrong just now?
Song Ying instinctively clapped a hand over her mouth.
Oh no! Surely Li Jingrong wouldn’t abandon her assassination plan just because of a few things she’d said?
That was the plot development that led to her meeting the male lead!
After the heroine’s attempt to assassinate the main villain failed, she would suffer severe injuries. During her escape, the male lead would rescue her.
The two would then have to bare their upper bodies to treat her injuries, exchange breath to heal, merge their internal energies, and pass on cultivation techniques…
Song Ying’s face flushed bright red.
She quickly pulled the quilt over herself, wrapping her body tightly from head to toe.
Suddenly, she remembered a plot point directly related to her own fate.
—Once Li Jingrong’s assassination attempt failed, Emperor Yongzhao would undoubtedly order the execution of all the selected maidens!
She was going to die.
She was going to die because of the main plot again!
No, she couldn’t die. She had promised her sister-in-law that she would return home.
And there was her elder brother, too. He had gone away to take the imperial examinations, and she hadn’t seen him for more than half a year!
If she died here, she would probably be thrown into a mass grave that very day, without even anyone to collect her body!
That’s right. She couldn’t die…
All sorts of thoughts battled endlessly beneath the quilt.
It wasn’t until dawn that Song Ying finally drifted into a fitful sleep.
The following morning.
After finishing her bath, Song Ying decided to seek out Li Jingrong and try to find out more.
Was she really going to make her move soon?
But just as Song Ying reached Li Jingrong’s door, before she could even knock, it was pulled open from the inside.
Li Jingrong had casually pinned up her hair and was dressed in simple, plain clothing.
She merely said, “Miss Song, you have dark circles under your eyes. Tonight… you’d better get some rest early.”
Before Song Ying could open her mouth, the door closed in her face once again.
Having been given such a cold reception, Song Ying couldn’t help feeling that Li Jingrong’s words about “getting some rest early tonight” carried a hidden meaning, no matter how she thought about them.
Her mind was filled with suspicion.
When several selected maidens approached to invite her for a little chat, Song Ying waved them away and declined.
Lost in thought, she lowered her head and returned to her room.
—Could Li Jingrong really be planning to strike tonight?!
The thought startled Song Ying, and she instinctively wanted to go persuade Li Jingrong against it.
No. That was a crucial part of the original plot.
If she interfered, disrupting the main storyline would be the least of her worries. In the worst-case scenario… she might be completely erased, just like in her previous world.
After much deliberation, she decided that the safest approach for now was to remain still and do nothing.
Before long, noon arrived.
It was time for lunch.
There was one thing Song Ying genuinely admired about herself: she was practical.
—No matter how serious the situation, she had to fill her stomach first.
After all, only when she was well-fed would she have the strength to think of a solution, and only when she had slept enough could she stay alert enough to survive.
To her, nothing was more important than these two things.
Even so, Song Ying still refused to give up. She wanted to try approaching Li Jingrong again.
But Li Jingrong seemed to be deliberately avoiding her.
The moment Song Ying caught a glimpse of her blurry profile, she disappeared in the next instant.
Song Ying: …Well, so much for that.
Nightfall descended, and even the heavens seemed to be lending a hand tonight.
The bright moon was concealed behind layers of dark clouds. No candles or lamps had been lit inside the room, leaving it so dark that one couldn’t see a hand held before one’s face.
The silence was so complete that Song Ying could hear nothing but her own breathing.
She had wrapped herself tightly in her quilt long before bedtime.
Sure enough, before the third watch of the night, the sound of clashing swords suddenly rang out outside!
Had Li Jingrong brought the fight all the way to Chuxiu Pavilion???
In an instant, Song Ying was so frightened that she didn’t dare breathe.
Every pore on her body seemed to open, and all her senses focused entirely on her ears.
The sounds of fighting seemed distant yet close, close yet distant.
What on earth had gotten into Li Jingrong?
Was she planning to tear the entire Chuxiu Pavilion apart?!
Song Ying’s blood seemed to freeze in an instant, only to surge wildly back toward her heart the next moment.
Her heart pounded so violently that it felt as though it might burst straight out of her throat.
Crack—
A tremendous noise rang out, as though something had been forcibly snapped in two.
Immediately afterward came an endless series of splintering sounds!
The entire row of intricately carved wooden windows along the courtyard wall was suddenly shattered by an immense force!
Bang, bang, bang—crash!
Countless fragments of broken wood came flying into the room.
Song Ying instinctively curled herself into an even tighter ball.
Being cannon fodder really was a miserable business.
She grumbled inwardly.
And amid the sound of shattering wood, the ominous clash of swords suddenly became terrifyingly clear!
No, it wasn’t that the fighting had gotten closer…
—They… they were fighting right inside her room!!!
Song Ying clamped her hands tightly over her mouth and nose, trying her best to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
Suddenly, a sharp, crisp sound pierced the night.
It was the sound of a blade snapping!
What followed was Li Jingrong’s furious, unwilling roar.
“You damned emperor—!”
That was it!
That was Li Jingrong’s iconic line after her failed assassination attempt in the original novel!
Song Ying’s mind exploded.
Those words from the novel were now being spoken right beside her.
She wasn’t reading a story.
She was actually… inside the story!
The impact of experiencing everything firsthand was far more direct than the earth-shattering realization she had undergone when she first became aware of the truth—
She could perceive the entire plot through all five of her senses.
The words had come to life, and they could crush her at any moment.
“Not bad. Your internal energy is quite impressive, considering you can still speak.”
It was Emperor Yongzhao.
His tone was steady, and he sounded completely unharmed.
Hearing the familiar dialogue, Song Ying breathed a slight sigh of relief.
She remembered this part of the plot perfectly.
Next, Emperor Yongzhao would be struck by Li Jingrong’s fierce determination and develop a faint sense of admiration for her…
Then he would spare her life, laying the groundwork for subsequent plot developments…
“It’s just that your blood… truly disgusts me.”
Song Ying: ?????!
Wait!
That wasn’t the right line!
That wasn’t how the script was supposed to go!
Despite being scared half to death, Song Ying somehow found herself lifting a corner of the quilt to peek outside.
There stood Emperor Yongzhao, gripping Li Jingrong’s neck with one hand and lifting her entire body off the ground!
Li Jingrong’s face was as pale as paper, and blood continued to bubble from the corners of her mouth.
Fresh blood trickled down her chin, dripping between the man’s fingers before winding its way downward, staining the dragon patterns embroidered on his bright yellow imperial robe.
Her eyes were wide open.
She looked as though she was on the verge of death!
And Emperor Yongzhao’s other hand was actually pressing directly into Li Jingrong’s injured right arm!
Both his hands were completely soaked in blood.
“Haha… Hahahahahahaha!”
Emperor Yongzhao threw back his head and laughed maniacally.
He was enjoying himself.
This was completely different from the original plot!!
Song Ying screamed frantically inside her head.
In the original novel, Emperor Yongzhao and Li Jingrong were supposed to be two highly skilled martial artists exchanging blows!
Even if Li Jingrong was at a disadvantage, she should still have been able to put up a decent fight, with the odds roughly sixty-forty!
So how had it turned into Emperor Yongzhao completely overpowering Li Jingrong?!
The overwhelming stench of blood rushed into Song Ying’s nostrils, making her stomach churn with nausea.
She desperately pressed her lips together, but a muffled retching sound still escaped her throat.
And that was enough to give her away.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Emperor Yongzhao tilted his head slightly.
His grip loosened, and Li Jingrong fell heavily to the ground.
She didn’t even bother retrieving her sword. Driven purely by her instinct to survive, she scrambled and crawled toward the window on the other side of the room before clumsily tumbling out.
Emperor Yongzhao couldn’t be bothered to pursue her.
His dark, gleaming eyes were like those of a hawk or leopard hunting prey in the night, firmly locking onto the trembling bundle of quilt on the bed.
Then, step by step, he approached her.
Song Ying had never felt killing intent so directly before.
She should immediately roll off the bed, kneel, and kowtow desperately, begging him to spare her life.
But she… couldn’t.
It suddenly felt as though all the blood in her body was being drained from her heart.
Every last drop was being drawn away!
Even her heartbeat had become faint and labored.
She couldn’t move.
Was she… going to die?
She was going to die.
Emperor Yongzhao’s tall figure slowly loomed over her, completely engulfing her in his shadow.
Suddenly, a burst of hot, heavy breathing washed over her face!
Song Ying stiffened and immediately held her breath.
The moon, which had previously been concealed by dark clouds, finally peeked out from behind them, spilling a sliver of silvery light.
Song Ying’s pupils contracted sharply!
Emperor Yongzhao’s entire face was pressed close to hers, like a ravenous beast.
Even more terrifying was the sight of his eyes—
Within those dark eyes were two cold, golden slit pupils!
His nostrils flared slightly as he made low, audible sniffing sounds.
As though sensing that Song Ying was holding her breath, a flash of displeasure flickered through those slit pupils.
His large hand, still covered in thick, sticky blood, suddenly clamped around her chin!
Li Jingrong’s blood was immediately smeared across Song Ying’s face, leaving a sticky mess.
With her chin firmly restrained, she could no longer hold her breath.
She was forced to part her lips, managing only faint, shallow gasps.
He seemed very satisfied.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing a strange, unsettling smile.
His nose slowly brushed across Song Ying’s face before finally coming to rest against her slightly trembling lips.
Emperor Yongzhao sniffed heavily at her lips, again and again.
At such close range, Song Ying noticed that the muscles in his cheeks, as well as the section of forearm exposed beneath his sleeve, were faintly twitching beyond his control.
Those spasms didn’t seem to come from overwhelming rage.
Instead, they looked more like the result of intensely suppressed… pain.
Gradually, as he continued sniffing at her lips, his breathing began to change.
What had initially been rapid and urgent slowly became steady and even.
The fine muscle spasms throughout his body also gradually subsided.
Yet Song Ying found this transformation strangely familiar—
That uncontrollable urge to kill was far too similar to what happened when a Sentinel experienced sensory overload.
In an instant, everything that had puzzled her before suddenly made sense!
Bathing three times a day wasn’t because of an obsession with cleanliness. It was to wash away the overwhelming mixture of scents.
The palace servants remained silent not because they were mute, but to minimize the stimulation caused by sound.
…Could the so-called curse afflicting Emperor Yongzhao actually be the result of him being a Sentinel who suffered from sensory overload without receiving mental guidance?
But she had transmigrated into this world as a baby!
Apart from retaining her knowledge of the original novel, she hadn’t brought any of her Guide abilities with her!
While Song Ying’s mind was racing, Emperor Yongzhao, who had been burying his face close to hers and sniffing intently, suddenly froze.
He bared his eerily white teeth.
“The scent of ink?”
Before the words had even left his mouth, the hand clamped around her chin suddenly tightened!
The excruciating pain made Song Ying’s vision go black.
What the hell was this bastard mumbling about?!
He was practically crushing her jawbone!