Chapter 7: Mistakes of a Past Life

When the servant arrived carrying a freshly brewed bowl of medicine, Qi Yunchu glanced at it, a faint furrow forming between her brows.

“Shall I feed you?” Qin Youning was the first to break the silence, her voice soft and coaxing, gentle to the point of carefulness.

“There’s no need.” Qi Yunchu replied flatly, lifting the bowl and draining it in one go.

Seeing that she was willing to take the medicine, the knot between Qin Youning’s brows eased slightly, only to be pierced anew by that cold indifference.

She knew perfectly well that this woman hated her to the bone, despised her to the mire…

She could only console herself: they would be together from now on. She had the rest of her life to make amends. Perhaps, someday, A-Yun might forgive her?

With that thought, she swallowed down the sting in her eyes.

Qi Yunchu naturally saw the bitterness she was suppressing, yet felt nothing at all.

Tilting her head, she sat at the edge of the bed, raised her eyes to the woman before her, and asked with a crooked smile, “Does the Female Lord wish to leave, or would she like to share a bed with me?”

Qin Youning understood exactly what she meant. Lowering her gaze, she picked up the bowl and murmured, “I’ll go out, then. Rest well, A-Yun.”

Qi Yunchu did not answer her again. She lay down, turned onto her side, and closed her eyes.

Behind her came the soft sound of the door closing.

Once silence returned to the room, Qi Yunchu opened her eyes and narrowed them slightly, plotting her next move.

Honestly, now that the mission was complete, she had no interest in entangling herself any further with her mission target.

So, the next step was figuring out how to get out of here.

If she wasn’t mistaken, Qi Qingyun was not in Qin Youning’s hands at the moment.

She thought it through carefully and decided that her little brother should be capable of rescuing his boss, especially since he might still be carrying some kind of cheat, like that System of his.

[Can I forcibly leave this world?]

Qi Yunchu asked, unwilling to give up.

The System’s voice echoed in her mind at once, dripping with smug schadenfreude.

[Nooope~~~~]

Noope my foot.

A dark glint flashed through her eyes. Qi Yunchu was beginning to form a vague guess about this System the mission had granted her.

Was it helping her complete her task?

Or helping whoever stood behind it achieve their goal?

Qi Yunchu rolled over and pressed a hand over one eye, her pupil shrinking bit by bit into something eerie and unsettling. She stared at the green gauze canopy draping down over the edge of the bed, embroidered with delicate patterns.

Before her, faint and hazy, the image surfaced again: that cool, moon-bright woman, eyes lowered in hidden sorrow.

It was… tsk, a little enticing.

A vivid red tongue slid across the corner of her mouth. She licked her dry lips, smacked them, and decided she had suddenly developed a craving.

She hastily dropped her hand, laid both palms obediently over her stomach in a textbook sleeping posture, and tried to calm her suddenly restless heart.

Lady Qin did, after all, ruin more than a decade of her plans!

Look at her, covered in wounds!

It hurts!

She reasoned, entirely self-righteously.

An apology alone was hardly enough, was it?

She ought to offer something substantial as compensation!

For instance…

Her body?

Qi Yunchu’s lips curled and she laughed softly.

Fine. She admitted it. She was craving the girl’s body.

How shameless of her.

Her thoughts drifted gradually. The medicine had been laced with something to calm the mind, and it was beginning to take effect. Drowsiness washed over her in waves. She closed her eyes and let her consciousness blur, and in that last moment she thought she heard someone slipping quietly into the room?

Who else could it be?

Qin Youning had waited outside for a while, only daring to come in and check once the medicine had taken hold. Hearing the light, steady rhythm of her breathing, she knew the woman was asleep.

That icy face slowly began to melt. She turned to shut the door, then walked softly to the bedside, studying the sleeping face before her.

The fingertips she had kept curled in restraint finally could not help themselves, reaching out carefully to touch her cheek.

This person looked remarkably docile in her sleep.

Her brow was smooth and untroubled, her expression peaceful and at ease, showing an almost childlike carefree innocence.

One look was enough to turn the heart to water.

She watched her for a while, brushed the stray strands of hair from her forehead and tucked them behind her ear, then drew the blanket up over her. Half-kneeling by the bed, she pressed her lips together and placed a soft, tender kiss upon her brow.

Then she rose and slipped out quietly.

She knew that if Qi Yunchu woke, the last thing she would want was to see her.

The door turned with a faint creak, and before long the room fell silent again.

Qin Youning had barely stepped outside when someone came to report the arrival of the Eldest Young Master.

Her brow creased slightly. She gave a flat word of acknowledgment and headed toward the front hall.

Sure enough, someone was already waiting there: Qin Youyuan.

The man, clad in a dark green brocade robe, sat frowning in the hall. The moment he heard footsteps, he looked up.

Qin Youning’s gaze softened somewhat, but before she could speak, a single sentence from Qin Youyuan turned her face completely cold.

“Where is General Qi?” Qin Youyuan asked urgently.

He looked at the younger sister before him and sighed inwardly without end.

“Father has sent word. He wants you to come home, and to release General Qi…” he urged.

“Your… your marriage to General Qi should end here.”

Slam!

Qin Youyuan froze. He looked up in disbelief, only to see his sister, always so dignified and cool, now wearing a face dark as a storm.

“She is mine!” Qin Youning cut him off. With a sweep of her hand, she sent a celadon cup on the side table crashing to the floor, a flicker of savagery flashing in her eyes.

She looked at the brother before her, every trace of her usual gentleness gone, leaving only a monstrous coldness and fury.

“Qi Yunchu is gravely wounded, her martial arts completely crippled. The moment she leaves me, there are a hundred people out there who want her dead!”

“Right now, apart from me, there is nowhere she can go. She has no choice but to stay with me.”

Those clear, elegant eyes were filled with nothing but madness and obsession. Even Qin Youyuan couldn’t help taking a step back.

“Are you mad?” he hissed, clutching his fan.

“For… for this? You leaked Qi Yunchu’s whereabouts to Jiang Lihan? You destroyed years upon years of her achievements… all just to chain her to your side?”

He stared hard at this woman who suddenly seemed a stranger, and received a silent confirmation in return.

Qin Youyuan rubbed the space between his brows, forcing down his anger.

Rarely ever raising his voice to his one and only sister, he said firmly, “Out of the question. The Qin Family will protect General Qi from now on. The Qin Family owes her that much! As for your marriage…”

“If General Qi is unwilling, you will not force her.” His tone brooked no argument.

Qin Youning listened in silence, then suddenly gave a light laugh, carrying an endless chill: “Qi Yunchu will be my one and only wife. Even if Grandfather came in person, that would never change.”

A shadow lay heavy between the woman’s brows as she said flatly, “You must be tired after rushing here, Brother. Go rest in the guest quarters.”

“In half a month, A-Yun and I will hold our Grand Wedding. Do remember to attend.” With that, she swept out, sleeves flaring.

This was, in effect, house arrest. Qin Youyuan could only watch helplessly as attendants stepped forward, respectfully inviting him to the guest quarters. Furious, he smashed a cup, then regretted not having brought more of his personal guard along.

Everyone believed Qin Youning had gone mad. What they saw was a woman beyond reason, one who had ruined a promising young general for the sake of her own love, and who now meant to force and humiliate her.

But they had never seen Qin Youning’s dim memories.

They had never seen the noble clan daughter of a previous life, alone in her bridal chamber, clinging to the last shred of her pride while the one she loved never came.

They had never seen the cold-palace Empress discarded like a worn-out shoe, her years left barren, weeds running wild.

She kept watch over that magnificent, empty palace, day after day, passing her time amid the cold sneers and mockery of others.

She kept watch over the dashing Young General who owned her heart, over the hollow promises she had left behind, only to be repaid in the end with one heartless sword thrust.

Sincerity trampled into the mud, her proud bones ground beneath careless heels. Even as moss slowly crept over the palace walls, no one cared.

She watched the sun rise and fall, her longing, at first restrained and full of hope, curdling over time into despair that spread and thrashed in the darkness.

A full twelve years, from the day she was crowned with the title of Empress and shut within the palace, she saw that person only once.

And it was in her final moment, when that person drove the blade into her heart, inch by inch.

Inch by inch…

A pain that tore her apart.

Because she had occupied that position too long, and the seat at that person’s side needed to be handed, properly and rightfully, to her beloved Xin Ruocai.

Even in the last instant before her consciousness faded, she could still feel the pain in her chest, feel something shattering piece by piece, revealing a hideous, monstrous face beneath.

As much as Qin Youning had once loved Qi Yunchu, that was how deeply she hated her at the moment of her death.

And yet, from beginning to end, she had never once wished for that person to die.

She had only wanted to strip away every feather, every wing, and lock the proud phoenix of the heavens inside her own cage.

No matter how convincing and fervent Qi Yunchu’s affections seemed in this life, no matter how sweet and moving her words.

Qin Youning did not believe her promises.

The wealth and glory Qi Yunchu desired, Qin Youning could certainly seize and lay at her feet.

The only condition was that she could never, ever leave her side.

But the one flaw in all of it was her own heart.

Watching the phoenix she loved suffer torment upon torment because of her, watching pain twist that beautiful face.

Watching the phoenix that had once spread its wings for her, drawn close and sheltered her, withdraw every last trace of warmth, leaving behind only cold hostility and loathing.

It was her heart that ached.

Even the blade that had once pierced it through could hardly compare.

In the end, she had only herself to blame.

Qin Youning returned to her study. Looking at the letters laid out on the desk, she gave a faint, cold smile.

Jiang Lihan’s suspicion of her was, in truth, a wise move. Unfortunately, the man was good at scheming but poor at deciding, and let his doubts rule him.

By dragging Qi Yunchu out of the prison by force, she had no doubt already infuriated this suspicious sovereign.

But so what?

Her web was already woven throughout Qingzhou City. She had only to wait for the right moment, and the heavens above would change hands.

The Qin Family’s direct line held only her and Qin Youyuan, each commanding their own contingent of the family’s personal guard. Once Qingzhou fell, she would begin from there, and with Jiang Lihan in her grasp, the South would be hers for the taking.

Qin Youning sat down, dipped her brush in ink, steadied her mind, and began working through the documents at hand.

When Qi Yunchu woke once more, the room had grown dark. Someone had lit the candles while she slept, and now the flames swayed, their amber glow lending the room a touch of warmth.

The medicine Qin Youning had given her was naturally of the finest quality, and her body itself recovered quickly. The wounds on her person were slowly subsiding and knitting closed.

Some lingering ache remained, but to her, it was next to nothing.

She rose, draped the crimson robe hanging by the bed over her shoulders, and walked to the window to look out.

Qi Yunchu still had no idea what sort of place she was in. Looking outward now, the grounds beyond seemed quiet and secluded, a standalone courtyard where not even a servant could be seen.

She tugged at the robe around her, shivering as the wind bit through it, and was frowning at how utterly wretched this body had become, just about to close the window, when her eyes met those of the woman walking toward the room from outside.

The girl, radiant as fair wind and clear moonlight, had ripples of smiling delight surging into her eyes in an instant. A food box dangled from her hand, her dark hair gathered up with a single jade hairpin, elegant and lovely at a glance.

Qi Yunchu narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and stood at the window, watching her come in.

Qin Youning bent down to set out the bowls and chopsticks. Turning her head to call her to the meal, she had barely lifted her gaze when fingers gripped her chin and pressed her back against the chair.

She froze, staring up into eyes deep and dark, as a hand brushed slowly across the corner of her lips. The touch against her skin made her shiver.

“A… A-Yun?”

“Shh.” Qi Yunchu lowered her gaze, looking down at that face made all the more alluring by candlelight, a thin layer of tenderness, half feigned, half real, drifting across her cold eyes.

“Can the Female Lord give me what I want?” she asked with a soft laugh, one hand pulling open Qin Youning’s collar bit by bit, caressing the delicate line of her collarbone before sliding slowly lower.

“…I can.” Qin Youning studied her eyes carefully, seeing with perfect clarity the amusement and the coldness lurking within. A bitter taste spread through her mouth, but she still answered in a low voice.

A fire was running wild across her body, stoking her desire, while her reason dropped her into an icy abyss.

Teeth sank hard into the side of her neck, followed by a low breath of laughter: “Very good, then. The Female Lord may undress herself.”