Chapter 27 Beauty: "Would you be willing to stay by my side for the rest of your life?"...

Su Panyue didn't know how long she had been unconscious. When she woke up, it was already dark.

She didn't know where she was. By the faint moonlight, she could barely make out that it seemed to be a bedroom, complete with a table, chairs, and benches.

With her hands and feet tied to the bedposts, Su Panyue sighed, wondering who she had offended this time.

Lying down to ease her depressed mood, she cleared her throat and then shouted loudly:

"Help! Someone help me!"

"Help! Someone help me!"

He shouted twice, then stopped and waited for a while.

There seemed to be hurried footsteps approaching from outside the door, so Su Panyue stopped talking and leaned against the four-poster bed, waiting quietly.

Soon the door was pushed open, and a young eunuch carrying a lantern came in and lit the candles on the table.

Su Panyue then recognized the somewhat familiar, icy face; it was the imperial guard who had arranged for her to enter the palace.

“Sun Shi? How is it you?” Su Panyue asked in confusion.

After giving her the Gu pill, Sun Shi disappeared without a trace. Unexpectedly, he suddenly reappeared, dressed in a low-ranking eunuch's robe.

Sun Shi didn't answer her question, but instead asked, "The Gu pill I told you to administer, didn't you?!"

Su Panyue quickly shook her head: "I'm innocent! I really did eat it. I even took a bite myself to trick him into eating it!"

Sun Shi asked, "Then why is this tyrant still alive and well?!"

Su Panyue said in a wronged tone, "How would I know? Maybe he's a reincarnation of a dragon, immune to all poisons?"

She was just making a casual remark, but to her surprise, Sun Shi actually frowned and thought about it seriously. After a moment, he nodded and said, "Killing him is indeed not that simple."

Ignoring his peculiar thought process, Su Panyue tentatively asked, "Um, could you untie it for me first? It's hurting me so much."

Unexpectedly, Sun Shi removed the ropes binding her hands and feet without much hesitation upon hearing this.

Su Panyue cracked her knuckles and asked with some dissatisfaction, "We agreed before that if I put the Gu pill in your mouth, you wouldn't ask me to do any more work. Why did you tie me up here again?"

Sun Shi said in a serious tone, "But he didn't die."

Su Panyue rolled her eyes and asked, "Does he have to die for me to consider my mission complete?"

Sun Shi nodded.

Su Panyue plopped down on the table and said irritably, "Then what are you for? Why don't you go kill him?"

Sun Shi truthfully replied, "I can't get close to him."

Su Panyue suddenly became curious: "You had many opportunities when you were a royal bodyguard, why did you suddenly leave?"

Sun Shi didn't hide anything from her, saying, "My lord needed me, so I went back and helped him resolve some troubles."

"Then why are you back again? And what's with this outfit?" Su Panyue picked up a plate of pastries from the table and asked while eating.

Sun Shi: "I created a new identity to enter the palace, but the number of palace guards was limited, so I could only enter the palace as a eunuch first."

Su Panyue nearly choked on her pastry, asking in surprise, "You want to go back to the palace and become a eunuch?"

Sun Shi nodded, seemingly unconcerned, "To accomplish our lord's great cause, I'm even willing to give up my life. What's this compared to that?"

Su Panyue gave him a complicated look, gave him a thumbs up, and finally asked, "By the way, who is our lord?"

"I can't tell you." Sun Shi unusually didn't answer her question.

Su Panyue wanted to get more information out of me: "If you don't tell me who our lord is, I won't even know who I'm working for. How can I do anything for you?"

Sun Shi said firmly, "You have no choice but to do it."

Su Panyue raised an eyebrow: "You can't possibly poison me, can you?"

Sun Shi shook his head. "If you don't do it, I will tell His Majesty about your identity as a spy."

"Then you won't survive either!" Su Panyue said viciously.

“I can choose not to live.” Sun Shi’s tone was as calm as if stating a fact.

Su Panyue sighed deeply, lowered her eyes and rolled them around, then suddenly picked up the hairpin in her hand and stabbed at him, shouting, "Then I might as well kill you now!"

The next instant, the silver hairpin fell to the ground with a clink, and Sun Shi pinned her hands behind her back to the table, rendering her unable to move.

"Let's talk this out, don't resort to violence."

"Hey, be gentle, be gentle. What do you want me to do? I'll do it, okay?" Su Panyue always admitted defeat very quickly.

Sun Shi released her hand as instructed, stating the facts in a calm tone: "You are no match for me."

"Yes, I understand now," Su Panyue said dejectedly.

She now understood why the mysterious lord had sent such a strange person into the palace. His skills were indeed formidable; she hadn't even seen his movements clearly before he had restrained her and rendered her unable to move.

“With your skills, you could just assassinate His Majesty directly. Why go through all this trouble?” Su Panyue asked.

"I can't beat His Majesty." A rare look of frustration appeared on Sun Shi's usually icy face.

Su Panyue raised an eyebrow. Was His Majesty actually a hidden master? Then she dared not make a move even more.

But in order to appease Sun Shi first, she still asked, "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Sun Shi: "The Great Qi is about to go to war with the Yan State. Go and steal the Great Qi's military operation map."

Su Panyue looked confused, pointed to herself with one finger, and asked incredulously, "Me?"

"I'm just a palace maid, aren't you giving me too much credit?"

Sun Shi shook his head: "I saw with my own eyes that when he received the envoy from Yan, he had you sit next to him."

Su Panyue couldn't help but roll her eyes: "That's because my foot is injured! How would I know where a military map is, given how confidential it is?"

Sun Shi ignored him: "You find a way. We must get it before the two countries officially go to war."

Su Panyue still refused: "No, he'll kill me if he finds out!"

Sun Shi left with a message saying "Think it over carefully," and as he listened to the clanging of the door lock, Su Panyue called out one last time, "Remember to bring me food!"

Hearing the footsteps outside the door disappear, Su Panyue peeked out through the crack in the door and found that the courtyard outside was extremely desolate, with no furnishings at all, except for a large locust tree standing in the courtyard, swaying gently in the breeze.

"Help! Is anyone there? Help me!" she called out tentatively twice more, her voice ringing out clearly in the quiet night, but there was no response.

Two days passed like this, and Sun Shi would bring her three meals a day on time. Su Panyue couldn't help but ask, "Where is this? Is there such a desolate place in the palace?"

She would cry for help every day, but after several days, she saw hardly any people, or even birds in the sky.

Sun Shi didn't hide anything from her: "This is the Cold Palace, no one will come."

"If Xie Lanzhou doesn't even have a harem, is anyone living in this cold palace?"

Sun Shi: "No, so don't waste your energy."

Upon hearing this, Su Panyue slumped down and finally gave in: "Fine, I'll do it for you, just let me out!"

Sun Shi nodded and reminded him, "Before the two countries go to war, you must hand over the military map to me, or I will kill you."

"Didn't you say you were going to report my identity to His Majesty? Then if anyone's going to be killed, it should be His Majesty who does it." Su Panyue didn't know why she was bargaining over something like this.

“That’s fine too. Anyway, I have plenty of ways to kill you.” Sun Shi didn’t dwell on it and turned to open the courtyard gate.

"Let's go. Come find me here once you've succeeded."

As Su Panyue stepped out of the Cold Palace, she felt that the sunlight outside seemed even brighter.

She didn't really know the way around, so she wandered around by feeling, only to encounter patrolling guards at a corner.

She moved to the side to avoid it, wondering to herself: Is the palace now so heavily guarded?

Unexpectedly, the head guard's eyes lit up when he saw her, and without saying a word, he took her to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Confused, Su Panyue was forced to kneel outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation by the guards. A pair of long boots appeared before her, followed by a pair of large, well-defined hands that pulled her up.

She looked up and saw the familiar man. Tears instantly filled Su Panyue's eyes. She tilted her head back slightly, pouted, and didn't let the tears fall.

Xie Lanzhou took her hand and glanced at the guard captain who had escorted Su Panyue over. Eunuch Fu understood and led the man away.

Only the two of them remained in the hall. Su Panyue felt inexplicably nervous, waiting for Xie Lanzhou to ask her a question.

But the man pulled her hand and sat her down at the table. He took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured out a dark pill, and handed it to her. "Eat it."

Su Panyue immediately became alert: [No way? Are they going to poison me again?]

Hearing the word "again" in her heart, Xie Lanzhou frowned slightly and said gently, "This is the antidote that the Empress Dowager gave you before. Do you think I would harm you?"

Su Panyue took the pills from his hand and swallowed them with tea, but Xie Lanzhou grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go.

He lowered his eyes and gently stroked the marks on his wrists, which were left from being bound by rope and then twisted behind his back by Sun Shi. His movements were incredibly tender.

"Who is it?" he finally asked, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion.

Su Panyue swallowed nervously: "This servant doesn't know either. He locked me up and made me do things for him."

Xie Lanzhou asked, "You agreed?" His tone was unreadable.

Su Panyue thought helplessly, "I didn't want this either, but I really had no choice."

She denied it verbally: "No, this servant is utterly loyal to Your Majesty."

Xie Lanzhou, hearing her insincerity, closed his eyes, asked no further questions, and turned to get a bottle of wound medicine.

Seeing him lower his eyes and carefully apply medicine to the marks on her wrist that no longer hurt, Su Panyue pursed her lips as a tingling sensation traveled from her wrist to her heart.

I still can't believe it. [Is this all over? He just believed what I said?]

After applying the medicine, Xie Lanzhou looked up at her, his eyes filled with something she couldn't understand, and slowly said, "It's good that you're back safe and sound."

Su Panyue blinked and noticed a red mark between his brows. She asked with concern, "Your Majesty, how is your injury? Has your headache flared up again?"

The concern in her eyes was genuine. Xie Lanzhou smiled almost imperceptibly and replied, "The injury is healed. Please massage my head."

Su Panyue responded, stood up and stood behind him, gently pressing his acupoints while inhaling the faint ambergris scent emanating from him.

A thought crossed my mind: "If only life could be like this forever."

Xie Lanzhou gave a soft "hmm," clearly feeling that the restlessness he had been feeling in recent days was gradually calming down because of Su Panyue's approach, and the headache that had been tormenting him day and night was also significantly relieved.

"Would you be willing to stay by my side for the rest of your life?"

Upon hearing his question, Su Panyue paused for a moment, glanced down at his strikingly handsome face and the broad shoulders and narrow waist that even his loose robes couldn't conceal, and said with a smile, "I am willing, Your Majesty, it is my honor."

I couldn't help but think to myself, "Just looking at it is so pleasing to the eye; it would be even better if I could take a nap in it."

Xie Lanzhou curled his lips and said, "I remember that. I won't let you follow me for nothing."

Su Panyue wondered, "Could it be a reward for me?"

"I have selected two maids who know martial arts for you, so this will never happen again."

Su Panyue was very happy: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After saying that, she hesitated for a moment and said, "But Your Majesty, I am just a lowly palace maid. Isn't it a bit presumptuous of me to be paired with two maids?"

She didn't want to attract attention again. Last time, she was the one who caught Sun Shi's eye when she sat next to Xie Lanzhou at the banquet for the envoys. She really couldn't stand it if it happened again.

Xie Lanzhou seemed to have planned this all along, and said softly, "Then it would not be overstepping my bounds if I were to bestow upon you the title of Beauty."

"I...I've been made a beauty?" Su Panyue's voice trembled with shock.

Xie Lanzhou nodded slightly, raised an eyebrow to look at her, and asked, "You're not willing?" Although he asked in a questioning tone, his eyes were full of threat.

Su Panyue was quite certain that if she dared to say no, she would face the tyrant's wrath the next moment.

So she could only hesitantly find an excuse: "But this servant's status is too low, I'm afraid..."

"It's alright, it's just a minor beauty rank, it won't attract attention." Xie Lanzhou interrupted her directly, looking up at her.

Faced with such all-seeing eyes, Su Panyue couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

She looked away, still muttering in protest, "Isn't that inappropriate, Your Majesty?"

Xie Lanzhou spoke calmly: "Are you dissatisfied with the rank of a Beauty? How about a Noble Consort?"

Su Panyue shook her head vigorously: "No, Your Majesty!"

He thought to himself, "This is so sudden! We only kissed, how come I'm going to be your concubine?"

Xie Lanzhou leaned closer and whispered in her ear like a devil: "Do you think you can refuse me what I want to do?"

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The author's note: Someone who was lost and then found gradually becomes gloomy and yandere.

From now on, I'll be updating daily at 8 PM. If I can't update, I'll ask for leave. [doge emoji with rose in hand][doge emoji with rose in hand]