This week, she absolutely could not meet Prince Zhou. Was she tired of living? She was only twenty-two… no, wait. A voice in her mind reminded her that the original owner of this body had just turned nineteen this year.
Jing Xin did not understand. “My lady, why not go? Is it because the rouge isn’t red enough?”
Jing Xin suddenly stood up and faced the mirror, carelessly wiping her face with a cloth to remove her makeup.
Chang Huan asked several times from the side, but Jing Xin did not respond.
There was nothing she could even say.
Tell them she had already read the script, that tomorrow would be the day her death was announced, and that everyone in Tangcui Palace would be buried with her? Oh right, and the child in her belly too?
Jing Xin unconsciously placed a hand on her lower abdomen.
Her emotions… were complicated.
When did this “dragon cub” even get conceived? How many months along was she? Or was it possible the original owner was never pregnant at all, and it had all been a misunderstanding?
Yes, the novel never mentioned the original owner actually seeing a physician. It was only guessed from nausea and a delayed period. Maybe she wasn’t pregnant at all.
Thinking of this, Jing Xin finally relaxed a little. She really did not want to endure childbirth at this age QAQ.
Seeing her silent and dazed, Chang Huan did not dare to disturb her further and quietly led the maids out of the palace.
Cold. Just thinking that she had only just arrived in this world and might immediately be heading toward her end made Jing Xin feel ice-cold all over.
Her mind was in chaos as she tried to figure out how to explain everything to Qi Shen. Having read the script, she knew every movement in this royal residence was already under Qi Shen’s surveillance. Whatever they did, he would know.
Jing Xin… Jing Xin, how could you be so foolish? How was she supposed to save this short-lived life?
Wait, now she is Jing Xin.
The original owner did not have many scenes in the novel and held no real secrets.
After reviewing the plot again, Jing Xin finally remembered something usable. Prince Zhou had a son.
Before the feudal lord Zhou Pu rebelled against Biandu, he had already prepared for the worst. He hid his only son in a remote mountain stronghold. If anything happened to him, that hidden force would protect the young heir until adulthood so he could seek revenge later.
After Qi Shen eliminated Zhou Pu, he never found this heir. However, the secret had already fallen into Qin Wuheng’s control. After Shen Qingyue entered the palace, she told Qi Shen about it, and he even praised her as a woman of both beauty and intelligence.
But at this point in time, Zhou Pu’s son had already died of illness. His trusted subordinates, fearing it would distract Zhou Pu from his plans, never informed him. Later, when Qi Shen learned of it and rushed over, he only found the hidden troops, but this did not affect her plan.
“Someone, I want to enter the palace—”
…
Under the night sky, Biandu was still filled with grandeur, but due to the war, the once bustling, sleepless capital had fallen into silence. The only movement was Jing Xin’s speeding carriage down the long street.
Chang Huan still could not understand why Jing Xin had returned to the palace.
“My lady, are you going back to share life and death with His Majesty?”
“Yes.”
Chang Huan stared at her in disbelief, as though she had seen a ghost.
Jing Xin did not need to guess what she was thinking.
The original owner had been spoiled, irritable, unable to endure hardship, vain, and terrified of death.
When the carriage stopped steadily at the North Gate, Jing Xin said seriously to Chang Huan, “The King already knows everything. I am going to meet him. Whether you and Shou Quan can live depends on whether your mouths are tight enough. Remember, I did everything for His Majesty. We know nothing else.”
Chang Huan’s face turned ashen with shock and she forgot to lift the curtain. Outside, the thin Shou Quan raised his hand to do so, but froze in terror, forgetting to lower himself as a step stool.
Jing Xin had already jumped down herself.
From the white jade steps to the hall entrance, rows of armored imperial guards stood in absolute silence.
Her long skirt was inconvenient, so she lifted it and ran all the way.
Inside the main hall, lights were blazing. Palace attendants bowed when they saw her, but the man seated at the imperial desk remained focused on arranging wooden figurines in a formation, completely ignoring her arrival.
Jing Xin stopped to catch her breath. The memories of the original owner made this place feel familiar, yet Qi Shen himself felt strangely unfamiliar, as if she could not quite recall his face.
Finally, Qi Shen finished placing the figurines and looked up.
Jing Xin froze slightly.
The man had a noble brow, a straight nose, and thin lips that gave him an almost dangerously attractive appearance at first glance. But his aura was too cold. As he descended the steps slowly, Jing Xin felt an invisible pressure pressing down on her.
Still, she already knew how this man would end.
With an “all-knowing reader” perspective, she no longer feared him.
Strangely, her heart began to race. In her mind, fragmented scenes suddenly surfaced.
On the dragon bed in Ziyan Palace, dark red curtains swayed violently from the man’s strong movements, brushing against her bare feet.
In the bath chamber of Tangcui Palace, water splashed everywhere, soaking the ground…
Too intense, these were the original owner’s memories.
Her heartbeat quickened, and what filled her mind was a strange sense of pleasure. Jing Xin clearly realized this surge of dopamine and adrenaline belonged to the original owner’s feelings.
The original owner… was in love with Qi Shen.
Fine then. If she loved him so much, why did she betray him?
Right, compared to life, what did a man matter?
Lifting her skirt, Jing Xin rushed forward and threw herself into Qi Shen’s arms.
“Your Majesty, this consort arrived late!”
Silence! Dead silence.
Jing Xin clung tightly to his waist, her cheek pressed against his chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart.
Qi Shen did not move. After a long moment, he finally spoke. “Late?”
A faint chuckle escaped him, cold and almost seductive.
“During the chaos in the palace, I arranged for you to take refuge in the villa. Why did you return?”
“This consort missed you.”
“This consort was worried about Your Majesty’s safety, so I had to come back.”
Qi Shen remained still. The smile at his lips deepened slightly, laced with disdain, a trace of cruelty flashing through his eyes.
He lowered his head and sniffed her hair. “Agarwood from soil, or from water?”
What did that mean?
After a pause, Jing Xin suddenly recalled what had happened the night before. The original owner had spent an hour in Prince Zhou’s camp, and Zhou Pu had been using this type of incense.
“You can tell? As expected, nothing escapes Your Majesty’s eyes. I did all this willingly.”
She stood on tiptoe and hooked her arms around his neck. The original owner’s face was already dangerously alluring, and she met Qi Shen’s gaze with misty, seductive eyes.
“I did something I should not have done. I was originally sent to Your Majesty by that traitor, and you showed mercy by sending me to the villa, but I could not enjoy such grace alone.”
“Using my past connection with that traitor, I went to his camp yesterday and uncovered his scheme.”
She then revealed everything about Zhou Pu’s hidden army and its location. Of course, she did not forget to cry as she added, “That vile traitor… he went too far!”
“What did he do?”
“He… he tried to force himself on me…”
She fell into his arms, sobbing.
The surrounding killing intent seemed to ease slightly. Qi Shen’s body relaxed a little, though he did not embrace or comfort her. Instead, his long fingers played idly with an ornament at his waist.
Jing Xin lowered her gaze. It looked soft, round, and fabric-covered, almost like a modern keychain toy rather than a royal accessory.
He smelled very good. This must be the legendary dragon incense emperors were said to wear. Jing Xin had to admit Qi Shen looked far more striking in person than in the novel description. If he were not a tyrant, she might have been willing to stay in the palace and coast through life.
But right now, her only goal was to survive this crisis and find a way out of the palace.
Let Qi Shen love Shen Qingyue all he wanted. She did not want to become some “tool of harmony” for a tyrant.
The blue robes of his imperial attire rose and fell with his breathing. In the Liang Dynasty, blue symbolized nobility, and deep shades of blue and purple formed the emperor’s dragon robe. On Qi Shen, it looked both profound and dangerously alluring.
After a long silence, Jing Xin knew he was still doubting her.
She let go and walked directly to the imperial desk, picking up a plate of pastries and eating a few bites before stopping with tearful eyes.
“Your Majesty… did I eat your favorite pastries? I am terrified. I deserve punishment, but I was so hungry after running here.”
In the original story, Qi Shen had grown up without parental affection and was often violent and moody. Only his maternal aunt had ever cared for him, and her son Qin Wuheng often accompanied him, bringing him pastries to calm him when he was upset. Because of this, Qi Shen liked sweets.
As expected, the coldness in his eyes faded.
He narrowed them slightly. “What did Zhou Pu do to you?”
Jing Xin glanced around. This kind of thing should normally be discussed privately, but Qi Shen did not seem to care.
She could only continue, tearfully describing how Zhou Pu tried to detain her overnight, and how she resisted with a hairpin and escaped. She added viciously, “Your Majesty must tear that traitor apart.”
“Oh?” Qi Shen’s gaze sharpened. “Yet I see no wound on your neck.”
Her lashes trembled. She had completely forgotten that detail.
“If the hairpin did not cut me, and Your Majesty needs proof of innocence… should I make a wound for you?”
Qi Shen said nothing.
Jing Xin clenched her teeth and raised the hairpin to her neck. But before it could touch her skin, it was knocked away with a sharp sound, and she stumbled backward, only to be steadied by a hidden force.
She did not see who moved, only a shadow retreating in the corner.
Right, Qi Shen’s hidden guard.
So this was real martial arts.
Qi Shen glanced at her. “Leave, I am resting.”
Was she safe now?
At least for now, she had escaped death.
As she left the hall, a cold voice came from behind her.
“Kill them all.”
Immediately, screams of mercy erupted throughout the palace.
Jing Xin: “…”
Qi Shen really had killed everyone in the hall, just because they overheard Zhou Pu’s secret and her near loss of innocence?
What a terrifying man.