Chapter 46 Li Qian's Dream Leads to His Past Life
Chapter Forty-Six: Li Qian's Dream Revisits His Past Life
The night was deep, and most of the candles in Yongshou Palace had already been extinguished, leaving only a palace lantern used for night watch in the corner, emitting a dim, hazy glow.
Li Qianche's arms were tightly wrapped around Su Su's slender waist, holding her close in his embrace. Her breathing was even and shallow, her warm breath brushing against his chest, bringing a reassuring tranquility. Enveloped in this real warmth, Li Qianche also fell into a deep sleep.
However, this peace did not last long.
In his dream, he found himself standing before an extremely desolate and dilapidated palace. The vermilion palace gates were peeling, revealing rotten wood underneath, and withered yellow weeds grew in the cracks of the stone steps in front of the gates.
Looking up, the plaque is crooked and covered with a thick layer of dust, but the three characters "Jingsi Garden" can still be vaguely discerned—this is a long-abandoned, desolate palace.
Leaden clouds hung low in the sky, and goose-feather-like snowflakes fell silently, accumulating a thick layer on the ground, temporarily covering the original dirt and desolation, leaving only a blinding, deathly white expanse.
Li Qianche felt a sudden tightness in his chest and subconsciously walked forward. Passing through the gaping palace gate, which resembled the gaping maw of a monster, the scene in the courtyard made him stop abruptly, his blood almost freezing instantly.
Beneath a withered old locust tree, a figure huddled in the snow, frantically digging at the frozen, hard earth with fingers that were red and purple from the cold. The person was disheveled, extremely thin, and wrapped in a tattered and extremely thin old coat whose original color was no longer discernible, shivering in the biting wind.
Finally, she seemed to have dug something up. She paused, then let out a hoarse, joyful whimper. She carefully picked up a thick, dark brown tree root, covered in mud, as if it were a priceless treasure. She hastily wiped the mud off the root with her sleeve and opened her mouth to take a bite.
The moment she looked up, Li Qianche saw her face clearly—although her face was dirty, pale and thin, and her lips were dry and white, he recognized her at a glance!
It's Su Su!
It's his flaky pastry!
"Su Su! Don't eat it! That's filthy! You can't eat it!" Li Qianche was terrified and rushed over, reaching out to knock the filthy tree root out of her hand.
But his hand passed straight through her arm and the tree roots as if it were air! He couldn't touch her!
Su Su seemed completely unaware of his presence and unable to hear his voice. She simply gnawed greedily and forcefully at the hard, bitter tree root, chewing and swallowing with difficulty, a hint of satisfaction even appearing on her face, as if she were eating the most delicious food.
Li Qianche stood frozen in place, staring in disbelief at the scene before him. His Susu, the one he had pampered in Yongshou Palace, was now gnawing on filthy tree roots!
How could she be here? He had never seen her like this before—emaciated, her face covered in dust, her once radiant eyes staring blankly into the void, like a soulless shell. A tremendous pang of heartache and terror pierced his heart like an ice pick.
The scene suddenly changed.
It was no longer a snowy field in the daytime, but a dark and cold night. He stood in a dilapidated house that let in drafts from all sides. There were no candles, no charcoal braziers, only the cold moonlight shining through the torn window paper, casting mottled and eerie shadows on the ground.
Su Su huddled in the corner on a pile of hay that could barely be called a "bed," covered with a stiff, tattered burlap sack that offered no protection against the cold. The biting wind, like the howling of a vengeful ghost, seeped in through cracks in the walls and gaps in the doors and windows, scraping against her skin like knives.
"Ah—! Let me out! I am the Empress! I am the Empress—!" In the distance, from the mad concubines in the next palace, another woman's frantic and shrill screams echoed, particularly eerie in the dead of night.
Su Su trembled with fright, clutching her ears tightly with her thin, bony hands, curling her body even tighter, almost embedding herself into the wall. Her frail body trembled like a withered leaf in the wind beneath the tattered burlap.
Li Qianche felt as if his heart was being torn apart. He rushed over, wanting to embrace her, to warm her with his own body heat, and to tell her not to be afraid, that he was there for her.
But he missed his target again.
He opened his arms, but could only pass through her cold body in vain. He was like a transparent ghost, a powerless bystander, only able to watch her shiver in the cold and fear, watch her cry in terror because of the mad shouts next door, but unable to offer even a word of comfort or a bit of warmth.
"Susu...Susu..." He called her name again and again, his voice choked with emotion, his eyes uncontrollably reddening. An unprecedented and profound sense of powerlessness almost consumed him. He was the emperor, ruling over the world, yet at this moment he couldn't even give the woman he loved a hug!
Day after day, in this desperate dream, he watched her struggle to survive. He watched her, when she was so cold she could hardly bear it, could only hug herself tightly to draw out that meager warmth; he watched her finally fall ill from prolonged hunger and cold, developing a high fever, her cheeks flushed an abnormal red, curled up in a pile of straw coughing violently as if she were coughing up her lungs, yet no one even offered her a sip of hot water.
He saw her delirious with fever, her chapped lips moving as if she were saying "water..." She struggled, using all her strength to try to sit up and reach a broken earthenware pot with ice crystals inside not far away.
However, her weak body wouldn't obey her commands. She had just propped herself up when she felt dizzy and fell heavily off the low "bed," her forehead hitting the cold ground with a dull thud before she fell silent.
"Su Su—!"
Li Qianche let out a heart-wrenching scream in his dream, suddenly waking up and opening his eyes!
Cold sweat soaked through his nightgown, and his forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, pounding against his ribs and bringing waves of dull pain. He gasped for breath, his eyes still filled with the extreme terror and heartache brought on by the dream.
He instinctively tightened his arms, but the warm, real touch in his arms instantly pulled him back to reality.
He looked down and, in the dim light of dawn, saw the person nestled in his arms—Su Su was still sleeping peacefully, her breathing steady, her cheeks rosy, her skin smooth and delicate, with a healthy glow. She wore a soft, comfortable brocade nightgown, covered with a warm silk quilt, and her body was surrounded by a familiar, faint fragrance.
His SuSu wasn't gnawing on tree roots in the cold, filthy palace, shivering in the cold wind, sick and uncared for, or falling on the cold ground... She was here, peacefully and quietly sleeping in his arms.
A wave of immense relief washed over him, instantly dispelling the lingering fear from the nightmare. Li Qianche let out a long, deep sigh, a precious feeling of having regained what he had lost filling his chest. He tightened his arms around her, holding her even closer and more tightly in his embrace, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones, never to be separated again.
He lowered his head, with an almost reverent fear and boundless pity, and placed a gentle and tender kiss on her smooth forehead.
Thankfully, it was just a dream.
His sweet treat is still within his reach, in a place where he can find shelter.
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