The scent of ink? Where would she have gotten the scent of ink?
Ever since entering the palace, Song Ying hadn’t touched a brush or a drop of ink.
…Well, before entering the palace, she had been bored and spent some time painting with a brush. But she bathed three times every day! How could there still be any trace of ink on her?
Emperor Yongzhao’s nostrils flared more noticeably.
His brows were tightly furrowed, and the impatience in his eyes was so overwhelming that Song Ying could barely breathe.
The muscles along his cheeks twitched almost imperceptibly.
Finally, the hand gripping her chin slowly withdrew.
The moment that crushing pressure disappeared, Song Ying went limp and collapsed back onto the bed.
Her jaw burned with pain. She gasped desperately, greedily drawing in one breath after another.
Emperor Yongzhao paid no attention to her miserable state.
Those eyes looked down at her from above, scrutinizing and examining her.
After a long while, his thin lips parted.
“Undress.”
The night was silent.
Song Ying heard him perfectly clearly.
Her mind went completely blank.
Undress? Undress what? Her clothes?
Her body had been frozen in place for so long that even moving a fingertip was extremely difficult.
But—
If she didn’t move, she would be defying an imperial command!
Her fingertips trembled.
Suppressing the fear in her heart, Song Ying summoned every ounce of strength she had just to lift her chin slightly.
She quickly glanced upward before immediately lowering her gaze again.
In that fleeting instant, she saw—
Those golden slit pupils were glimmering with an eerie light, like the eyes of a ferocious beast.
He was staring at her.
Song Ying understood immediately.
If she refused to obey, the owner of those terrifying eyes would probably tear her to pieces on the spot!
But she had lived for nearly two lifetimes, and this was the first time she had ever undressed in front of a strange man—
Especially a man who clearly had something wrong with his mental state.
The plot of this restricted historical romance really was crude and straightforward…
It wasn’t like those Sentinel-and-Guide novels, which at least wrapped their steamy scenes in the exciting concept of spirit forms.
Song Ying rambled aimlessly inside her head, desperately trying to numb the shame and terror tangled together in her heart.
She curled up on the bed, the quilt barely covering her waist.
While loosening her inner shirt and trousers, she could still distract herself a little with her wandering thoughts.
However, when her fingertips reached her underpants, her hands began trembling uncontrollably.
She quickly slipped them out from beneath the quilt and tossed them aside with the rest of her clothes.
O-only her dudou remained…
Song Ying desperately wanted to detach herself from the situation and convince herself that she was nothing more than a cannon-fodder character in a book.
If she could just abandon those so-called notions of propriety, morality, integrity, and shame, she could mechanically follow the plot to its conclusion.
She only needed to imagine herself as an NPC completing a mission.
But as a living, breathing human being, how could she simply switch off her feelings whenever she wanted?
The more she tried to hypnotize herself with such thoughts, the more her trampled dignity stung her nerves.
The humiliation and embarrassment she was experiencing became all the more unbearable!
Yet Emperor Yongzhao remained silent.
He showed no indication of telling her to stop.
Her slender, pale fingers gently touched the ties behind her neck.
Her breathing gradually grew heavier, each breath burning so fiercely that it almost seemed capable of setting her entire body aflame.
Finally, Song Ying couldn’t help herself.
She glanced upward once more—
Only to discover that Emperor Yongzhao’s gaze was fixed directly on the pile of discarded clothes beside her!
That look in his eyes…
There was none of the lewdness or predatory desire she had imagined.
Instead, it was an almost obsessive concentration.
Open, direct, and utterly devoid of any improper thoughts.
It was as though the nakedness that Song Ying found so unbearably humiliating held less appeal to him than a pile of clothes.
He only wanted her… clothes?
Song Ying drew a deep breath.
She slowly raised her knees beneath the quilt, using them to lift the covers and conceal her body.
Then, with lightning speed, she untied the strings behind her neck.
Without another thought, she threw the final garment aside.
Emperor Yongzhao’s pupils shifted slightly.
His gaze lingered on her for an instant before immediately returning to the pile of clothes.
After doing all this, Song Ying couldn’t stop trembling beneath the quilt.
Her heart continued pounding wildly.
She had no idea what other… strange demands might be awaiting her.
Fortunately, Emperor Yongzhao truly had no interest in her body.
He stretched out his long arm, scooped up the entire pile of clothing, and then—
Buried his face deep inside it!
His shoulders rose and fell violently as muffled breaths escaped him.
He was sniffing at something again.
Under Song Ying’s astonished gaze, Emperor Yongzhao leaped away with her clothes in his arms.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the darkness of the night.
Song Ying remained curled up inside her quilt, too frightened to move for a long time.
She had no idea how much time passed before the icy fear gradually gave way to her body’s natural reactions.
Only then did she belatedly realize that her entire back was drenched in sweat.
Why… why had he been so interested in her clothes?
What exactly was going on?
Was there something unusual about her scent?
Song Ying couldn’t figure it out.
But then another thought occurred to her.
She had survived an encounter with Emperor Yongzhao!
Didn’t that mean the execution of the selected maidens might no longer involve her?
She was still useful to Emperor Yongzhao.
At the very least, for now, her life was safe!
At that thought, her heart began pounding again, this time with a sudden surge of hope.
She let out a long breath and forced her exhausted body to move, slowly climbing off the bed.
Still wrapped in her quilt, Song Ying rummaged through the wardrobe for a clean set of nightclothes.
Fortunately, the fighting hadn’t reached this part of the room.
After changing into fresh clothes, she finally felt alive again.
Although there was blood on the bed, the stains had already dried and turned dark brown.
Song Ying couldn’t afford to worry about that now.
She hadn’t slept properly for two nights in a row, and after the intense mental strain she had just endured, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over her.
The night seemed endless.
By the time Song Ying’s soft snores began to rise, the sky was already turning a deep bluish-black.
“All selected maidens are to assemble immediately in the front courtyard of Chuxiu Pavilion and await their punishment!”
The eunuch’s voice was drawn out and unhurried, neither shrill nor particularly loud.
Anyone who was asleep certainly wouldn’t have heard it.
Song Ying was sleeping deeply, her mind still completely muddled.
The next moment, she was startled awake, only to discover that two guards had seized her from either side and were dragging her toward the courtyard.
The guards showed her no courtesy whatsoever.
They simply tossed her into the courtyard before clasping their hands in salute and reporting to the eunuch.
“Reporting to Eunuch Runde! Of the twelve selected maidens, excluding the one from last night, the remaining eleven are all present!”
Song Ying knelt on the ground alongside the other selected maidens.
Beside her, one of the maidens secretly tugged at the corner of her sleeve.
“Last night… did you hear it? There was such a terrible commotion. It was so frightening… Do you think we might… might get implicated because of that woman, and then…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence.
All Song Ying could hear were her faint sobs.
Could this be another plot development branching off from the main storyline?
—After the heroine’s assassination attempt failed, Emperor Yongzhao implicated everyone in Chuxiu Pavilion and ordered their collective execution!
They were going to be killed?!
Song Ying didn’t know what to say.
She could only lower her head, not daring to look at the terrified expression on the maiden beside her.
But… something wasn’t right.
She had clearly survived Emperor Yongzhao’s hands last night!
He had even taken her clothes away with him!
Could it be that she hadn’t been allowed to die during last night’s plot development?
She couldn’t remember every tiny detail of the original novel.
And the book certainly hadn’t mentioned any innocent bystanders getting caught up in the fight between the heroine and the villain.
So… so had her survival last night merely been a temporary exemption from the plot because the author hadn’t written about those events at all?
And her actual death had been scheduled for today, alongside all the other cannon-fodder maidens?
Song Ying’s heart sank.
Before she could think any further, a blinding flash of cold steel swept across the corner of her vision!
The maiden who had been quietly sobbing beside her just moments ago collapsed stiffly to the ground without even managing a cry of alarm!
Bright red blood immediately spurted from her neck, flowing toward Song Ying.
Song Ying frantically scrambled to the other side.
But the moment her hand touched the ground, she felt something wet, slippery, and sticky.
More blood!
Flash after flash of steel streaked across her vision, moving so quickly that only blurred afterimages remained.
Every one of those selected maidens met the same fate.
There were no startled cries.
No screams.
Even their deaths were utterly silent.
At that moment, of all the selected maidens in the courtyard, Song Ying was the only one still alive.
She was completely stunned.
Kneeling helplessly in a pool of blood, she allowed the warm liquid to soak into the hem of her skirt.
She stared blankly at the guards.
And the guards were staring at her, too.
Every single pair of eyes had turned toward Song Ying.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Instinctively, she shuffled backward.
…Had the scent of ink on her body angered Emperor Yongzhao?
Or was it something else?
Why weren’t they making their move?
Were they planning to cut her to pieces with a thousand blades?
Just as the tension reached its peak—
Eunuch Runde, who had been standing concealed behind the guards, suddenly stepped forward and spoke.
“Miss Song, step forward and receive the imperial command.”
An imperial command?
What command?
Weren’t they just going to finish her off with a single strike?
“By His Majesty’s verbal decree: Song Ying, a selected maiden of the Song family, is hereby appointed to the position of Palace Medicine Attendant, effective immediately.”
Palace Medicine Attendant?
She… wasn’t going to die?
The enormous contrast between what she had expected and what had actually happened left Song Ying somewhat dazed.
Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Then, Eunuch… why didn’t you announce the decree earlier?”
She had thought she was going to die!
What was the point of playing such a cruel trick on her?!
Eunuch Runde slowly walked over to Song Ying.
He extended a hand and helped her to her feet.
“His Majesty has instructed that you… should go to see him with a little blood on you.”
Song Ying was startled.
She couldn’t understand what Eunuch Runde meant.
“Come along. We mustn’t keep His Majesty waiting.”