Chapter 1: Blood Pill? Why Me?
"Cough, cough, cough—"
Qi Xin coughed violently, vomiting a pool of black blood. She leaned against the wall, panting, her surroundings dim and dark. Her internal organs burned, as if she were swallowing pepper fire. A damp, foul smell filled her nostrils.
She was covered in wounds and her mind was in a daze, but she relied on her willpower to maintain the last bit of clarity.
She was originally the Princess Jialing of the Great Sheng Kingdom. Due to the secret report from the Ningbei frontline that Duke Jingguo Shen Yu had rebelled and surrendered, she had to go to the Yue Kingdom in person to marry the Crown Prince He Lianzhu in order to quell the chaos.
It was a very cold day, with drifting snow like catkins soaked in frost, covering the city walls. He Lianzhu sent an envoy to the capital with a marriage certificate, along with a silk painting that depicted her in her youth.
However, the emperor did not hesitate and approved the marriage certificate with his own handwriting, which was full of the meaning of ending the war.
Qi Xin sneered in self-deprecation, wiped the blood from his chin stiffly, and his eyes were as cold as ice.
Since entering the Moon Kingdom, she had been forced to drink medicine day and night, and even had to fight with countless wild wolves. If she had not been bullied in the cold palace since childhood and learned some martial arts to protect herself, she would have died in the underworld.
She was dreaming and waking, her consciousness was confused, she was lying quietly in one place, covered in blood, barely breathing.
“No…no, ahhhh!”
The desperate cries from the neighboring cells came into his ears one after another. Qi Xin raised his eyelids with difficulty and saw the women locked in the adjacent cells being torn apart by hungry wolves that had entered at some point in time. Their beauty had been lost and their faces were pale.
After being tormented for several days, Qi Xin was almost exhausted and unable to move. He could only watch the women fall one after another until the dark green animal eyes approached.
At this moment, the blood in her body began to boil, and the burning pain penetrated deep into her limbs.
Suddenly, her eyes turned red, and she unexpectedly felt a destructive force like a volcanic eruption. She spun around, grabbed the short blade beside her, turned it into a streak of light, and stabbed it into the hungry wolf's gleaming eyes with her backhand.
She felt dizzy and before she could catch her breath, the hungry wolf dragged her calf and slammed it against the wall of the black iron cage, making it crackle.
Qi Xin struggled to get up and ran forward. Suddenly, he stomped his left foot hard and climbed up the cage wall in a few steps. Using the force, he jumped back and sat astride the wolf's back. He pulled out the short blade from its eyes and stabbed it into its head again and again with great ferocity until it fell in a pool of blood and finally died.
She looked at herself lying in a pool of blood. The gorgeous clothes on her body had already blended with the blood color. The elegant golden crown with nine phoenixes made her look as white as snow. The nine phoenix-tail hairpins on the crown were dangling precariously, and in the faint light that leaked in, they glowed with a dying bright color.
Qi Xin then realized that she was still wearing her wedding dress, which was really ironic.
Her body teetered, and she slumped to the ground, a sense of utter despair surging through her mind. She felt a surge of inexplicable force, a desire to rip bones and rip bones from someone's body apart. She slammed her head against the iron frame, the blood pouring from her forehead blurring her eyelashes, yet she couldn't suppress her horrifying desire.
Finally, to satisfy her bloodthirsty impulse, she suddenly grabbed the short blade beside her and stabbed it into her chest.
Tearing pain exploded throughout her body, and her wrist shook.
She drew out the short blade sluggishly, and the tip of the blade fell straight down just an inch away from her heart, making a crackling sound.
The blood warmed his entire chest, then quickly cooled. The fishy smell instantly hit Qi Xin's face, slowly waking him up. His bloodthirsty thoughts also disappeared.
Then, she suddenly fell to the ground, and then seemed to be in nothingness.
I don’t know how long it took, but the familiar burning sensation came to my heart again, and Qi Xin suddenly opened his eyes.
She was in unbearable pain and wanted to move her limbs to stretch her muscles, but she didn't know what was restraining her.
She lowered her head slightly and looked over her right shoulder to her right hand, only then did she realize that she was currently tied to an iron rack.
The chains that bound her were thick and tight.
Qi Xin tried to break free from the heavy restraints, but a pair of boots with a dragon pattern came into view, and a Taowu embroidered with gold thread on the hem of his black robe with wide sleeves was baring its fangs.
She suddenly recognized the person:
It was him, He Lianzhu, the one who personally added her name to the marriage certificate. I'm afraid my current situation is also related to him!
He Lianzhu's hot breath sprayed on her neck, and the coral beads on her crown hung like a snake's tongue.
He stroked her bloody cheek and sneered, "Hiss, Ah Xin is indeed worthy of being the Crown Princess chosen by God. It's been half a month, and she's still able to hold on."
The next moment, he brought over a pair of giant black iron ice hooks, put one hand on her shoulder, and without hesitation, inserted the hooks into her butterfly bone with the other hand.
Qi Xin sneered slightly and curled the corners of his lips coldly.
He Lianzhu looked at the fresh blood oozing from her butterfly bone and said with feigned pity, "Come here, help me check if my beloved concubine is okay?"
The man was wearing the traditional crescent-shaped dark blue robe worn by Moon Nation physicians, with several ferocious Nine Infants totems crawling all over it. He looked at the color of the blood at Qi Xin's butterfly bone, frowned, and sniffed it, then bowed respectfully:
"Reporting to Your Highness, Princess Jialing is currently healthy and has no abnormalities. The blood pill fusion has reached 90%, and she is classified as a superior zero blood."
"Reward!" He Lianzhu was overjoyed. "What's the point of calling her Princess? When we come to Yue Country, there's no Princess Jialing anymore. There's only my Crown Princess."
Qi Xin's doubts grew, and he secretly pondered He Lianzhu's intentions.
Why did he insist on having her come to marry?
But now, why do you treat her like this?
At the same time, she realized that someone was holding her cheeks tightly and was about to kiss her, and there was even some inexplicable affection in his eyes.
Qi Xin struggled against the grip in disgust and bit his jaw.
He Lianzhu touched the bite mark on her jaw that was almost exposed to the bone, untied the chains on her body, and put his arm around her waist with a wild laugh: "Why, my beloved, do you dislike the gift I prepared for you?"
"Oh? Then I have to thank Your Highness for turning me into a blood pill medicine man?" Qi Xin wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and glanced at him with a wry smile.
"My beloved concubine, you are mistaken. You are my only Crown Princess, so I will naturally treat you with all my heart."
After saying that, He Lianzhu suddenly pulled off the belt around her waist, opened the inner collar of her wedding dress, and bit her collarbone hard, leaving a clearly visible red mark.
“Bang!”
Qi Xin slapped him in the face without hesitation.
During the struggle, the green jade wine cup fell on the Nine Infants pattern on the ground and shattered into powder.
He Lianzhu stared at her in disbelief.
She took advantage of this opportunity to pull out the Jiuluan Pearl Hairpin and pressed it against He Lianzhu's neck artery.
The glass beads on Qi Xin's wrist flickered crimson in the candlelight. She smiled coldly, pretending to be puzzled at the end of her voice: "Oh? So, I am still of some value to Your Highness?"
He Lianzhu's pupils suddenly constricted when he heard that. He suddenly clapped his hands and laughed, then covered the back of her hand: "Be good, don't hesitate, just go right here!"
Qi Xin nearly vomited, but she still kept the hairpin pressed against his neck and pressed him, "Don't want to tell me? Then let me ask you another question - in the battle of Ningbei, did Shen Yu really surrender to Your Highness?"
Duke Jingguo Chen Yu, courtesy name Qi Ze, was the only talent in Dasheng capable of rivaling the Moon Kingdom's cavalry. At fifteen, he was appointed general, and at seventeen, he commanded the Northern Ning region and pacified the Nanling Mountains, commanding the land and conquering the land. He was a force to be reckoned with, bravely facing danger and danger.
However, it was rumored that it was he who was responsible for the defeat of Sheng State.
Marshal Shen's defection caused an uproar across the country.
The glorious military achievements of the past vanished into thin air overnight, and all that remained was the anger of the royal family and the curses of the people.
Qi Xin always felt that this matter was too logical, and it seemed more like a story written by someone behind the scenes. With so many doubts, he must not make a hasty decision.
Of course, everything would be settled once she found Shen Yu. He Lianzhu twitched his knuckles beneath his dark crescent robe, signaling the guards on the top of the cell to take action. "Wow, Ah Xin is still my favorite look!"
"Bang--"
Qi Xin felt a sudden shock on her wrist, and she lost her strength and dropped her hairpin. The pressure on her shoulders forced her to kneel down, unable to break free at all.
He Lianzhu leaned down, gently stroked her wrist, and with a smile, he used a bone needle to pierce her wrist veins. Then he pierced several of her acupuncture points, crippling her martial arts skills. He smiled contentedly and said:
"Tsk tsk, my beloved concubine's questioning has really reminded me. You are very similar to Chen Yu in one respect, that is, your pure and innocent demeanor. This makes me even more excited to see you get tainted by the mud and unable to defend yourself!"
Then, he stood up and ordered, "Come here, invite my beloved concubine to the Hehuan Palace and keep watch over me day and night."
Qi Xin was forced into the Hehuan Palace by several attendants and chained to a hard couch with cold iron chains.
After the servants left, she curled up in a dark corner, counting the scars on her body, thinking to herself:
"As expected, the matter of Shen Yu needs to be investigated in detail."
As night falls, the evening breeze blows gently, and the quiet Hehuan Hall is dotted with starlight.
The guards outside the house were somewhat bored. Three or two of them gathered together and started to whisper:
"Hey, you know, Princess Jialing is the only one with zero blood, but the Crown Prince can't control her."
"Does the king know this?"
"I don't know. No wonder we have to keep an eye on her. If she falls into the hands of the Sixth Prince, all the Crown Prince's efforts will be wasted, hahahaha."
"Your Majesty, you just want to see them fight each other, just like you did with that man named Shen from Sheng State."
Qi Xin held his breath and listened attentively, secretly calculating in his heart.
At the same time, a burning smell wafted in from outside the window. A gleam of light flashed in her eyes. She suppressed the feeling of weakness caused by excessive blood loss and used the tip of her hairpin to pry open the iron lock mechanism.
Three quarters of an hour in the morning.
She took advantage of the moment when the guards were changing shifts and threw a candlestick to ignite the gauze curtain. The flames spread quickly. Shouts rose one after another, and in an instant, the palace fell into chaos.
The moment the guards rushed in following the sound, Qi Xin forcibly broke the chain.
The remaining force of the chain cut her collarbone, causing blood to splatter everywhere.
But the torches in the guards' hands made the smile on her lips even more radiant.
Seeing this, the guards outside the hall swarmed in. She pulled out all the remaining gold hairpins from her hair, spun around, and attacked fiercely.
Anyone who gets close to her will be killed by the hairpin.
Until, when she inserted the golden hairpin into the throat of the last guard guarding the palace, He Lianzhu came with a sword in his hand, his body in disgrace.
He pointed his sword at her and shouted:
"Qi Xin!"
She ignored the sword and approached through the blood.
However, as she approached, He Lianzhu lowered his sword, and the fierce murderous intent in his heart suddenly disappeared.
Qi Xin understood:
He Lianzhu really loved her because of the power of the blood pill and began to cherish her life.
In this case, she has plenty of ways to escape.
Qi Xin ignored the blood gushing from his wrist due to a severed wrist vein and said coldly, "Your Highness is truly tolerant. Why don't you take action?"
He Lianzhu was speechless and moved his Adam's apple slightly.
The fact that a canary raised in the palace actually had some martial arts skills was enough to surprise him, but he did not expect that even after her martial arts skills were abolished, she still had such abilities.
He thought viciously that he should have crippled her legs at the beginning.
"My beloved concubine, if you don't like the Moon Palace, I can find a new place for you to live." He Lianzhu replied in a deep voice: "But my beloved concubine has injured so many of my men. What should I do with you?"
Qi Xin was speechless, and then reacted instantly:
He's waiting for backup.
But I no longer have the time to deal with him again.
The previous battle between Yue Kingdom and Shen Yu probably severely damaged Yue Kingdom's vitality, which led to the idea of blood pills.
If this is the case, as long as I return to Sheng alive, Yue Kingdom may be too busy to send troops to Sheng Kingdom again.
Thinking of this, Qi Xin took two steps back, and when He Lianzhu was not prepared, she put the hairpin to his neck, stabbing him with blood. Then her poppy-like, captivating voice rang out:
"Your Highness loves me so much now, I am truly flattered! But I don't want to embarrass Your Highness, so I will pay for your loss with my life!"
Before she could finish her words, she suddenly broke through the window and escaped.
He Lianzhu was caught off guard and quickly gave a clear order: "Stand by all the troops at the city gates. The rest of you follow me to chase her. Don't let her take even a single step out of Yuedu."
Then, he quickly chased after him, vowing to capture Qi Xin alive.
The east was already bright and the palace gate was in sight. Qi Xin thought he could escape from Yuedu.
At this moment, the prince's guards who had been waiting outside the palace for a long time surrounded her without saying a word. She wanted to run away, but one of the guards had already put his sword at the side of her neck.
A creepy evil laugh came from behind him. He Lianzhu looked at her back leisurely and said:
"Oh? My beloved concubine just escaped, why—isn't she running away anymore?"
The author has something to say:
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1. Pronunciation problem:
Qi (qí) Xin – I have a special fondness for the character “Qi”. Why is it that? Feel free to comment and see what you can come up with.
Chen Yu (yú) - the protagonist's name can be considered a foreshadowing, it has a special meaning, which will be discussed later.
2. Regarding the Blood Pill setting, it is not as simple as it seems! Waiting for everyone to discover.
3. The people of the Moon Kingdom originally prefer crescent patterns. As for the Nine Infants Totem, everyone should pay attention to the timing of its appearance!
Jiuying - (note, not Xiangliu) It is one of the ancient evil beasts in ancient Chinese mythology. Gao You's commentary in "Huainanzi Benjingxun" says: "Jiuying is a monster of water and fire. It harms people and there is evil water in the land."
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