chapter 3
chapter 3
Peach’s soft voice came from outside.
“My lady, Cherry has recovered from her cold and wishes to pay her respects.”
The bedchamber doors opened. Xu Zhaohe walked in with light, buoyant steps.
She wore a servant’s clothes, yet every movement carried the assurance of someone who had been pampered all her life.
I knew she was waiting for me to speak.
I raised my eyes timidly and let just enough panic and bewilderment show.
“Your Highness?”
“Dear Cherry, come here. That common sleeping room is freezing, and the beds are hard as boards. Put me somewhere better tonight. I could even share your bed.”
She walked straight to my dressing table and opened a jar of jade face cream as if no one else were present.
“What happened to your knees? They are swollen and hard, and they ache whenever the weather turns damp.”
You offended Consort De when you first entered the palace. I knelt in your place for an entire day, and the injury never healed.
“Good heavens. And your hands are frightening. They even itch at night.”
Only after talking for a long while did she notice that I had not answered. She turned.
I was kneeling on the floor, my face wet with tears.
“Your Highness, how can you truly live as a maid? Ask the immortal to change us back.”
I needed to learn what kind of unholy creature this “System” of hers was.
Xu Zhaohe waved a careless hand.
“It does not matter. Other people crave rank and wealth, but I do not. I value freedom.”
“I have given you unimaginable riches and honor. Surely you are willing to do a few things for me in return?”
I looked up as if I did not understand.
“This servant is lowborn. What could I possibly do for Your Highness? Can the immortal not help you? Please, let us change back.”
Impatience flashed in Xu Zhaohe’s eyes.
“Lowborn? When you were Cherry, I never treated you like a servant. Besides, you are Xu Zhaohe now, daughter of the First-Rank General of Pacification and the future noble consort who will command the emperor’s heart. Who would dare call you lowborn?”
“If I had not failed my conquest and lost all my points, why would I have been forced to choose you? Why would I need to rely on you?”
Her fingers dug into my shoulders.
“From now on, you will do exactly what I tell you. Rise to the rank of noble consort and get me out of the palace. If you do not, I will have the immortal strike you with lightning.”
I bobbed my head and agreed to everything. Satisfied, she lifted her chin.
“Do not be afraid. Obey me, and you will live a life you never dared dream of. Cherry, you must never tell anyone we exchanged bodies. You would not want them to burn you as a monster, would you? I have an immortal’s protection, so naturally I would be safe. I am only worried about a silly girl like you.”
“Later, have the emperor make me a commandery princess and grant me gold, silver, and jewels. I will leave the palace, and you will remain the one and only Noble Consort Yuan of Yunfu Palace.”
I had followed Xu Zhaohe for a lifetime. I knew her too well.
Those few sentences told me that something had gone wrong with her magic.
If she wanted anything else, she could obtain it only through me.
She had been able to exchange bodies only with me.
And she could not change us back.
After she left, I gave a cold laugh. I placed Xu Zhaohe in a side room, then sought out Rong Wei, a mute eunuch in the Cold Palace.
I asked only one thing of him.
Every night, when the palace lay silent, he was to hide in the small chamber beside Xu Zhaohe’s room and write down every word she spoke to herself.