She raised an eyebrow and looked up to see the young master holding a small lamp in his hand, standing in front of the medicine cabinet identifying medicinal herbs. His long, dark eyebrows were handsome and flowed into his temples. Suddenly, a thought struck her.

She asked the shopkeeper, "Do you know us?"

"My lady, you are joking. Just a few days ago you bought a ginseng from me, which your husband paid for with a dappled horse."

Oh, so he used magic to alter the shopkeeper's memories, but he accidentally left behind the fragment that said "that was my husband."

Rouge shrank her head further into the fox fur coat and secretly smiled.

【Seven】

After drinking the medicinal soup he prepared, her health improved considerably. Of course, this was also because he had added a lot of magical energy to the medicine.

The first light of dawn broke. Rouge glanced at the pale white window paper and said meaningfully to Gongzi Bai, "I don't want to go back."

He asked calmly, "Then shall I send the real Consort Shu back to the palace?"

She was speechless for a long time, still unwilling to give up: "Why didn't you ask where I went?"

"Ask you?"

"If you're not going back to the palace, where are you going?"

"Fine, if you're not going back to the palace, where do you want to go?"

She blurted out, "To be by your side, to grow old with you."

Young Master Bai was taken aback, yet the warmth in his eyes gradually rose. Rouge, delighted, stepped forward: "Young Master Bai..."

He seemed to wake from a dream, quickly took a step back, and said coldly, "Do you remember that you still want to cultivate immortality, while I am the Heavenly Lord of Love?"

"So what?" She was stunned.

“Those who cultivate immortality must not easily be moved by mortal desires,” he said. “I am the Heavenly Lord of Emotions, who only governs emotions, but does not use them.”

Rouge hadn't expected that his rejection would leave her heart so cold, a chill that seeped into her entire body. She staggered a few steps, then suddenly burst into laughter: "What a fine example of someone who only cares about feelings, but doesn't reciprocate them! No wonder I'm so shallow!"

She chanted a wind-riding incantation, and the wind carried her out of the pharmacy, taking with her a top-grade old ginseng from the medicine cabinet. After all, he still had a fox fur coat to pay off his debt!

But why do I feel so sad?

Rouge wiped her wet eyes and stood on the cloud, crying.

Upon returning to the palace, she disguised herself as Linlang and lay on the bed feigning illness for three days. During this time, the Emperor came to visit, and she lazily got up, only to be helped up by him: "My beloved concubine is unwell, please do not stand on ceremony."

The Emperor even brought the imperial physician to examine her, and Rouge quickly recited an illusionary incantation. Demons, after all, have neither heart nor pulse.

After examining the patient's pulse, the imperial physician respectfully described some symptoms and then wrote down a prescription. Needless to say, it must contain the rarest and most precious medicinal herbs in the world.

But for some reason, Rouge always remembered that night when Gongzi Bai held a single lamp and personally prepared medicine for her.

It turns out that mental illness cannot be cured even with the rarest medicine.

After enduring several days and nights of this, she finally couldn't bear it any longer and had a sedan chair prepared for her journey to the Cold Palace. Standing once more under the mimosa tree, her state of mind was different.

"The mimosa flowers should be in bloom in a little over a month," she murmured.

As soon as he finished speaking, another voice rang out from above: "So what if the flowers bloom?"

She suddenly looked up and saw Prince Bai standing on the branch of the mimosa tree, his demeanor extraordinary, while the palace maids beside her were frozen like wooden statues.

What an amazing soul-fixing technique! If only time could freeze right now.

"When the mimosa flower blooms, the immortal root will be generated, and I can then stand on equal footing with you." She could never forget the frustration of being rejected by him.

A surge of anger suddenly rose within him. He knew perfectly well what she had been doing these past few days. The current emperor was obsessed with concocting elixirs, and she had been offering him guidance, which had greatly pleased him.

And so a sarcastic remark slipped out: "You still dream of becoming an immortal? I thought you couldn't bear to part with this imperial favor."

Rouge smiled sadly: "Do you think I care about the Emperor?"

"Don't you care?"

She didn't answer. What was there to love about the man who drove Hehuan to her death?

He remained silent, the pain in his eyes growing stronger.

"Just because we look alike, you couldn't bring yourself to kill me back then?" She chuckled, tears welling in her eyes. "I guess this pain wasn't for me, but for Hehuan?"

Gongzi Bai nodded slowly: "Hehuan is my childhood sweetheart, and you... have the exact same face as her when she was alive."

He had known Hehuan before he attained enlightenment. However, he was a Taoist priest from Mount Shu, and she was a noblewoman; they could not be together. In the end, Hehuan was chosen as a concubine. Before entering the palace, Hehuan told him that she had always wanted to be a palace concubine and enjoy all the riches and honors.

So, he was heartbroken and completely severed all ties with her.

Although she had already guessed the answer, Rouge's heart still felt like it had fallen into an ice cave. It really was Hehuan, it really was unrequited love, it really was a drama of using her as a shadow of her lover.

It turns out that he wasn't indifferent; rather, he had exhausted his feelings.

【eight】

Upon returning to the palace, a young palace maid presented her with medicine, kneeling and saying, "Your Majesty, His Majesty specifically instructed that Your Majesty should drink the medicine."

Rouge took it and, without saying a word, poured the medicine into the carved flowerpot, then poked at it a few times with a small spatula before she felt better.

She's taking medicine, but can't you tell she's perfectly fine?

The palace maids knelt in fear, but she didn't tell them to get up. She just lay on the chaise longue, painting her nails. When it was time to light the lamps, the emperor's chief eunuch came in with a fawning smile and said, "Your Majesty, the emperor is holding a banquet in Chonghua Palace tonight and wants you to attend."

Rouge lazily rose and had the palace maids help her with her toilette before arriving at Chonghua Palace. The Emperor was already seated in the highest position. Upon seeing her, he said affectionately, "My beloved consort, sit beside me."

"Your Majesty, this is against etiquette, I am terrified." Rouge declined, though she couldn't help feeling disgusted.

"It's alright." The Emperor reached out and took her hand, not allowing her to object.

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