Facing the blockade by Ji Ya, Cai Lian, and Yi Xian’er, Yun Xiu and Huangfu Wenqing both came to an involuntary halt.
Under the three women’s piercing stares, Huangfu Wenqing shriveled up like a deflated ball and quietly ducked behind her master.
She could probably guess that all three women were reincarnators. Otherwise, they would never act this way.
After reincarnating, Huangfu Wenqing’s sole goal had been to cut ties with her previous life’s messes, start fresh, and seize true happiness this time around.
But she never imagined there would be others—the women orbiting Yan Zhen were reincarnators too.
Naturally, fellow reincarnators knew all about her tangled history with Yan Zhen from their past lives. They knew how she had humiliated him by breaking off their engagement. They knew how he had turned the tables, crushing her beneath his heel. And they knew how, even after learning of the messy affair between her master and Yan Zhen, she had still shamelessly fallen for him…
Confronted by other reincarnators, Huangfu Wenqing felt as if her past misdeeds had been dragged into the light of day. Shame burned through her.
Before, there had only been Zi Xunyi—and Zi Ji’s aura was mild enough that Huangfu Wenqing could hold her ground.
But now? Three at once: a domineering female monarch, a cold and ruthless queen, and a seductive vixen. There was no way she could stand firm.
Huangfu Wenqing had lost every scrap of the confidence that came with being a reincarnator. Her fiancée status offered no shield either. All she had left was her master as a bulwark.
If these women were reincarnators, then surely her master was one too.
And her master clearly wanted to play matchmaker between her and Yan Zhen. That explained the chain of actions: rewriting the marriage contract so Yan Zhen would join Cloud Heaven Palace, sending her off to Holy Land Academy to nurture feelings with him…
All the same, her master was still hesitating. She couldn’t fully sever her own lingering affection for Yan Zhen.
Huangfu Wenqing needed a catalyst to force her master to confront those emotions head-on.
Something like this moment.
…
Seeing the united front the three women had formed, Yun Xiu swiftly shielded her disciple. She furrowed her delicate brows and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”
Ji Ya smiled faintly. “I’d like to ask Palace Lord Yun—in what capacity exactly have you come?”
Yun Xiu’s momentum faltered for an instant. Speaking with false bravado, she replied, “Naturally, to visit my future disciple son-in-law.”
Cai Lian let out a cold laugh. “Or perhaps as his old flame?”
Yun Xiu’s guilt deepened. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No outsiders here, Yun Xiu, so drop the act.” Cai Lian wasted no sympathy on her—the other women merely wanted to climb the ladder, but Yun Xiu aimed to steal her husband outright. “Or are you afraid your disciple knows about the… ambiguity between you and her fiancé?”
Yun Xiu panicked. “She Ji, you—”
“Foolish woman, still haven’t figured it out?” Cai Lian cut her off bluntly before dropping a bombshell. “Your disciple is a reincarnator too. She already knows everything about you and Yan Zhen.”
“Eh?”
The words struck Yun Xiu like a bolt of lightning. Her beautiful eyes flew wide as she slowly turned to Huangfu Wenqing behind her.
Huangfu Wenqing hadn’t expected the Myriad Snake Queen to see right through her. She froze, her mind a whirlwind of question marks.
How had she known?
Meeting her master’s shocked gaze jolted Huangfu Wenqing back to her senses. She admitted it outright. “I’m sorry, Master. I didn’t tell you.”
“Wenqing…”
Yun Xiu was at a loss for words. On reflection, her disciple’s behavior had indeed strayed far from her previous life’s patterns.
For starters, she had raised zero objections to the marriage contract.
In their past life, Huangfu Wenqing had despised arranged marriages that ignored her wishes, which drove her to that drastic breakup.
This time, Yun Xiu had simply tweaked it into an arrangement where Yan Zhen joined the family—and her disciple hadn’t batted an eye. Utterly unnatural.
She had assumed she was the only one who had reincarnated, so she hadn’t dwelled on it.
This dead lass—had she been secretly laughing at her all along?!
“I’ll deal with you later.”
Yun Xiu bit her lip and faced the trio blocking their path again, her tone laced with displeasure. “What do you want, exactly? Can’t I even visit him?”
Cai Lian snorted coldly. “No.”
Yi Xian’er spoke in a hollow, expressionless tone. “Yun Xiu, since you’ve chosen to shove Yan Zhen aside, stop tangling with him. No matter what, he won’t be marrying into Cloud Heaven Palace.”
“That’s an oath between Yan Zhen and our master-disciple pair,” Yun Xiu shot back. “You have no right to alter it on a whim.”
“Makes no difference.” Ji Ya smiled faintly. “Even if Miss Huangfu is a reincarnator, she won’t stand a chance against Little Brother Yan Zhen. You all know full well just how formidable he is… Are you planning to play the sentiment card anyway?”
Huangfu Wenqing wanted to insist she still had a shot, but the words caught in her throat when she met the Myriad Snake Queen’s blood-red slit pupils. The woman’s predatory glare silenced her completely.
Yun Xiu shook her head stubbornly. “No matter the outcome, a promise is a promise. Yan Zhen isn’t the type to break his word.”
This woman was just as rigidly principled as in her past life.
Cai Lian’s expression twisted in disdain.
“Enough talk. This monarch is giving you one last chance, Yun Xiu. Choose wisely. Don’t think his soft spot for you lets you act without fear.”
“I-I don’t!” Yun Xiu snapped back, her own anger flaring. “All I want is to watch over him, whatever that takes. I can’t throw everything away like you lot.”
She bowed her head.
“Yan Zhen will only get stronger. Even if he joins Cloud Heaven Palace, they won’t be able to keep him forever. It’s just temporary. When the time comes, you can all be with him too, can’t you?”
“In your dreams.” A hint of exasperation flickered in Yi Xian’er’s serene eyes. “Why on earth should we step aside for you and your disciple?”
Ji Ya covered her mouth with a smile that held no warmth. “Hehe, that’s downright shameless, Palace Lord Yun~”
“You’re delusional.” Cai Lian wore the look of someone pitying a fool. “Even if this monarch agreed, Yan’er and Ling’er never would!”
Their stares and words left Yun Xiu burning with embarrassment. Her fair cheeks flushed crimson, waves of heat washing over her. Throwing caution to the wind, she declared, “That’s my plan, like it or not! I’ve never aimed to hog him all to myself. You’re the ones scheming and squabbling—it’s pathetic, and Yan Zhen must hate it.”
Cai Lian crossed her arms, lifting her chin with haughty pride. “Whether he likes it or not isn’t your call. At least this monarch carries his child. What do you have?”
Yun Xiu bristled indignantly. “That’s pure sophistry!”
“Facts speak louder than arguments.” Cai Lian caressed her pregnant belly, shooting her a sidelong glance. “If your own womb won’t cooperate, whose fault is that?”
“You—I—hmph!”
Yun Xiu had no comeback. True, she had her own moments of “forgetting” to refine it away, but nothing had come of them.
Just superior Pregnancy Qi—what was there to gloat about? Yan Zhen had always preferred her most, hmph~
Huangfu Wenqing’s eyes widened in shock, her mind reeling with a buzz.
What did the Myriad Snake Queen mean by that? Had her master already been intimate with Yan Zhen? No… it couldn’t be, right?
