Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Song Zhiwei and Pei Yan arrived together.
The moment she stepped through the door, she rushed inside with red-rimmed eyes.
“My poor dear sister, you must have suffered so much!”
But when she entered the inner room and saw me standing there perfectly unharmed, she froze.
Pei Yan followed her in. He froze as well when he saw me.
“Husband, you were right. That little bit of pain truly is nothing to my sister.”
Song Zhiwei turned back and slipped coyly into Pei Yan’s arms.
I tilted my head slightly.
Strange.
My reaction seemed… wrong.
When Song Zhiwei called Pei Yan “husband,” I should have felt hurt.
Yet now, my heart was calm, without the slightest ripple.
“But sister, why did you smash your room into such a state?
“That piece of jade was His Majesty’s personal jade pendant from when he was still the Crown Prince, wasn’t it?”
I looked around.
Fragments of memory flooded into my mind.
I had been in pain.
Pain day and night.
In the end, when I could no longer bear it, I had smashed everything within sight.
That jade pendant was indeed Pei Yan’s.
It was the token of love between us, and I had always treasured it.
Now it lay shattered on the floor.
Pei Yan frowned, clearly displeased.
“If you’re unharmed, then what madness are you throwing now?!”
His gaze swept down to my feet, and his frown deepened.
“You aren’t even wearing shoes. Are you trying to injure yourself?!”
He lifted his foot to come over.
“Ah…”
Song Zhiwei cried out in alarm, her eyes misting with tears. “Your Majesty…”
On purpose, she had stepped onto a shard of broken porcelain.
“Zhiwei!” Pei Yan turned and swept Song Zhiwei into his arms.
“Yuanyuan, you really are impossible!”
He shot me a fierce glare.
“Summon the imperial physician!”
I silently watched him hurry away.
Silently watched as Song Zhiwei flashed me a provocative smile.
I touched my chest.
Strange.
I felt nothing at all.
It was as if the world had changed.
More precisely, it was I who had changed.
In the past, I hated leaving Chenlu Palace.
Every blade of grass and every tree in the imperial palace reminded me that I had been demoted from wife to concubine.
Reminded me that Pei Yan might once have strolled through these places hand in hand with Song Zhiwei.
But now…
The flowers in the Imperial Garden were so vivid, and the water of Bibo Lake was so green.
With spring at its finest, why shouldn’t I go enjoy the scenery?
In the past, the moment I heard news from Fengyi Palace, my chest would ache.
His Majesty had bestowed more rewards upon the Empress.
His Majesty had spent the entire night listening to music with the Empress and had not slept till dawn.
His Majesty had missed morning court again because of the Empress.
But now…
What did anything happening in Fengyi Palace have to do with me?
Even when I thought back on everything between Pei Yan and me, my heart remained utterly calm.
All those flutters of affection, all those pangs of heartbreak…
They had all vanished without a trace.
I discovered that this world had never been so clear, so bright.
And my own mind had never been so lucid, so transparent.
So much so that when the palace attendant from Pei Yan’s side came to tell me to prepare myself, because the shaman would be coming shortly to take my blood, my first reaction was: why?
Why should my blood be used to cure someone else’s poison?
Having blood drawn hurt.
I was unwilling.
I ordered Linlang to lead the others in shutting the gates of Chenlu Palace.
The shaman and the whole group of people with him were locked outside.
Though I had fallen out of favor, I was still one of only two women in the imperial harem.
If the palace gates did not open, no one dared to force their way in.
Before long, Pei Yan’s furious voice rang out from outside Chenlu Palace.
“Song Yuan! What the hell are you causing trouble for now?!”