Chapter 80 Rewind and Start Over: Both the lady and Prince Qin seemed a little shy...
Summer rain always falls unexpectedly. Gathering dark clouds spread and surge in the night, forcing the stars and moon to temporarily retreat from their brilliance, the cicadas fall silent, and the two old trees planted in the courtyard remain still and motionless.
After a while, the tranquility was finally broken by the rolling rumble of thunder. Immediately afterwards, the east wind howled, and raindrops fell like broken pearls, hitting pavilions, flowers, trees and plants. Water splashed everywhere, and soon, the neighboring county was shrouded in a magnificent rainstorm.
Xue Rongyue did not sleep well that night.
Her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes were tightly closed, and her breathing was slightly disordered. She tossed and turned on the bed, as if she were trapped in a nightmare from which she could not wake up.
A fierce, howling wind forced its way in through the cracks in the window. With a "whoosh," a booklet, faintly glowing, was flipped open on the table by the window, and ink began to flow forth—
【Change】
As night fell, the cramped cell was dark and gloomy, with only a firelight at the end of the corridor. The only sounds in the cell were the stench of blood mixed with screams. Xue Rongyue sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, her expression indifferent, her thin and bony figure motionless, quietly gazing at the bright moon through the small window.
Jiang Shiyan stood behind her, his sinister gaze fixed on her back. After a long while, he stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "Do you regret it?"
No one answered him.
He took another step closer, looking down at Xue Rongyue: "Do you regret it? This is the consequence of betraying me. I was devoted to you wholeheartedly, yet you are so ungrateful! Don't you understand? Even if you are a great general who commands respect throughout the world, Qin Jin cannot protect you at all!"
He was always met with silence.
Jiang Shiyan's gloomy face was filled with anger. He squatted down and used his knuckles to firmly grip Xue Rongyue's chin, forcing her to turn her head to look at him: "Do you hate me that much that you won't even say a word to me?! What's so good about Qin Jin that you would betray me without looking back!"
Xue Rongyue's lifeless black eyes stared fixedly at him, the desolation in them startling Jiang Shiyan. His heart skipped a beat, and he loosened his grip on her slightly: "You... you only lost a maid..."
Xue Rongyue suddenly smiled.
Her lips were pale, and she slowly curled them up, revealing an undisguised sneer on her face, as if she were scrutinizing the pretentious expression on Jiang Shiyan's face.
At that moment, Jiang Shiyan keenly sensed something was wrong, and his eyelids twitched violently.
However, before he could get up and create distance, the wooden hairpin that Xue Rongyue had hidden in her sleeve had already slipped into her hand, and the sharpened end stabbed fiercely towards Jiang Shiyan's neck!
Jiang Shiyan couldn't dodge in time, and a sharp, unbearable pain shot through his neck. Warm blood dripped down the wooden hairpin and into Jiang Shiyan's hand.
The wooden hairpin pierced his neck quickly and deeply, inch by inch!
Jiang Shiyan's expression changed drastically, and his vision went black. Even though he was panting heavily, he still felt painfully suffocated. He wanted to push away Xue Rongyue, who was pressing down on him with a fierce expression, but he could no longer muster any strength.
—Am I really going to die like this?
Jiang Shiyan thought in despair.
Suddenly, a faint cracking sound was heard, and then, belatedly, Jiang Shiyan realized that the suffocation caused by the wooden hairpin sinking into his neck had stopped.
Outside the cell, the jailer, who had heard the commotion and sensed something was wrong, finally ran over and, with a shout, pinned Xue Rongyue to the ground.
Xue Rongyue did not struggle, her expression was indifferent, and she let the jailer's whip lash her back hard.
Blood continued to flow from between the fingers pressed against his neck. Jiang Shiyan, who had survived the ordeal, was panting heavily with lingering fear as he looked at the broken wooden hairpin.
At that moment, he clearly realized that Xue Rongyue really wanted to kill him.
If it hadn't been a damp wooden hairpin, but a gold or silver hairpin, he would have been dead by now.
"stop!"
With the careful help of the jailer, he stood up, stopped the jailer from lashing Xue Rongyue with the second whip, and said angrily in a deep voice, "Who told you to hit her? Let go!"
The jailer was startled and quickly put away his whip. Under Jiang Shiyan's reprimand, he turned and left.
Jiang Shiyan squatted down again, stroking Xue Rongyue's bloodied back. His expression was complicated and hard to describe. After a moment, he said, "...Does it hurt? Jingnu's death was not my intention, but an accident. I know you are angry. This hairpin should calm you down, right?"
Xue Rongyue returned to her previous silence. It seemed that the hairpin had exhausted all her energy. Her eyes were empty, and she seemed not to even feel the torn and bleeding wounds on her back.
"I'll have someone bring over some ointment to remove scars and stop bleeding later. Remember to apply it." Jiang Shiyan sighed, brushing a stray hair from Xue Rongyue's forehead behind her ear, and said gently, "When will you finally understand that you and Qin Jin are not a good match at all, and that you and I are the ones who are meant to be together."
Xue Rongyue finally reacted, forcefully brushing his hand away, her gaze icy with disgust: "What exactly do you want now?"
Jiang Shiyan withdrew his hand without caring and laughed, "You don't want to stay with Qin Jin? Fine, I'll release you from prison, as long as you're willing to do me a favor."
Xue Rongyue said coldly, "I refuse!"
"I haven't said what kind of help it is, so I won't make things difficult for you."
Xue Rongyue looked at him sarcastically and said, word by word, "No matter what the favor is, I'm not willing to help you."
Jiang Shiyan's expression changed several times before he abruptly stood up: "Xue Rongyue, do you think you can get out of this prison without me? You expect Qin Jin to come and save you? Dream on! It was His Majesty's order to throw you into prison. Does Qin Jin dare to disobey the imperial decree?!"
After Jiang Shiyan left in anger, Xue Rongyue initially did not notice anything unusual until she discovered that the bird outside the small window had been standing motionless on the branch for quite some time.
The prison was quiet. The wind had stopped, and the two rats in the corner were as stiff as stone sculptures. The firelight in the corridor no longer flickered. Xue Rongyue finally sensed something was wrong from this silence that seemed to devour everything.
She stood up and walked slowly forward, as if sensing something, looking through the cell door towards the end of the corridor—
Two jailers wielding long whips were interrogating a prisoner in a stern voice, but the whips they were about to strike froze in mid-air, and the prisoner's ferocious expression was clearly visible, though it was unclear how long it lasted.
Everything before her eyes seemed to have been suddenly paused, except for her, who could still walk freely.
At that moment, Xue Rongyue's heart pounded.
The system then gave a hesitant explanation:
[Perhaps your appearance disrupted the original setting, pulling many plot points and characters down paths completely different from the original work, thus creating more and more loopholes in the original world and leading to the current situation.]
The system's voice became noticeably tense: [If this continues, the original world may collapse or be rewound, leading to irreversible consequences. Host, you must act with caution and carefully avoid interfering with the main storyline of the original work, otherwise you may be forcibly erased.]
After a brief, chilling silence, Xue Rongyue clenched her teeth, her face turned pale, her knuckles tightened, and her sharp nails dug into her palms, causing beads of blood to spurt out, but she was oblivious to it.
Finally, she couldn't hold back her laughter any longer, the sound bursting from between her teeth, going from unrestrained to manic.
Tears streamed down her face as Xue Rongyue laughed until she was breathless, her laughter echoing through the empty cell.
She was like a prisoner, dying and alone, walking along a cliff in the wilderness. After overcoming many hardships, she finally found a vine to climb up in her despair.
After an unknown amount of time, the laughter finally stopped. Xue Rongyue bent down to pick up the broken wooden hairpin, her eyes like eerie flames burning in the dark night.
She thought that when Jiang Shiyan came next time, she could agree to his request.
Humming a tuneless melody, Xue Rongyue took the wooden hairpin and forcefully wrote two large characters on the stone wall of the prison cell—
Let's try again.
A thunderclap boomed again from the dark clouds. Xue Rongyue sat up abruptly in bed, her face pale and her breathing rapid. Her fingertips touched her forehead, which was covered in a fine layer of sweat.
***
"Has my wife not gotten up yet?"
Seeing Jingnu standing listlessly outside the door, Luo Zhen approached. His eyes were dark, his face haggard and slightly swollen, clearly showing that he hadn't slept well the night before due to a hangover.
Jingnu nodded, somewhat absentmindedly. Although Madam had spoken harshly to Prince Qin last night, the imperial decree had already been issued and there was no turning back. She didn't know what Madam should do next.
With a slow sigh, Jingnu was preoccupied. She turned around and found that Luo Zhen had not left yet, standing to the side watching her, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Jingnu rarely saw Luo Zhen with this expression, so she immediately asked, "What's wrong? Speak your mind."
Luo Zhen hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said to Jingnu in a low voice, "After I finish speaking, don't be afraid, and don't tell my wife, so as not to make her uneasy."
He swallowed hard, lowered his voice even further, and said in a trembling voice, "Let me tell you, this courtyard we're renting isn't clean. I was woken up in the middle of the night by the screams of a female ghost, like she was cursing someone for being shameless, her voice was filled with blood!"
Luo Zhen emphasized the last four words, then glanced furtively around, clearly still shaken from the terror of the previous night.
Jingnu: "..."
"It's true, may I be struck by lightning if I'm lying!" Seeing Jingnu's strange expression, Luo Zhen thought she didn't believe him, and immediately became anxious: "I was drunk at the time, but for my wife's safety, I still mustered up the courage to come out and take a look—that female ghost had a hideous and twisted expression, I didn't even dare to look closely at her face, she was laughing so hard, you have no idea how scary it was, if I hadn't run fast, what you would see now is my corpse with my internal organs ripped out!"
To save face, Luo Zhen omitted the part about how he almost wet himself in fear.
Jingnu: ""
Out of consideration for their shared service to the mistress, Jingnu sincerely advised, "It's fine to say these things to me, but please don't say them to the mistress, otherwise..."
Jingnu patted Luo Zhen on the shoulder: "You're unlikely to survive."
“Right,” Luo Zhenxin said with a sigh, “I also think I shouldn’t go out and talk about it. What if a female ghost stands at my bedside in the middle of the night and demands my life?”
He discussed with Jingnu, "Let's find an excuse to move out as soon as possible without disturbing the lady."
Jingnu, exasperated, said, "Why don't you understand what I mean...?"
Before she could explain further, there was a sudden knock on the courtyard gate. Jingnu stopped speaking, looked up, and saw the guards open the gate. Qin Jin walked in calmly and said indifferently, "Where is your wife?"
Jingnu hesitated, unsure whether to answer, and remained silent for a long time. Seeing this, Luo Zhen was puzzled and replied, "My lady has not yet gotten up."
As soon as she finished speaking, the door suddenly opened, and Xue Rongyue was already dressed and ready.
Her face betrayed no emotion, only the tips of her fingers gripping the door frame were turning slightly white. Her gaze seemed to casually avoid Qin Jin. She raised her chin, her voice neither cold nor tense: "Come with me."
After saying that, she went straight to the study on one side.
Qin Jin did not hesitate or waver at all, and his face showed no unusual emotion. He calmly responded and followed behind. The two of them entered the study one after the other, and then they heard Xue Rongyue impatiently order from inside the study: "Close the door."
Jingnu hurried forward, but before she could take a step, Qin Jin had already turned back to the study door and obediently closed it.
"Why does it feel like there's something strange between my wife and Prince Qin?" Luo Zhen pondered, stroking his chin. "...They both seem a little shy."
"..." Jingnu looked at him with pity, "You're really running headlong down the road to death today. You're beyond saving. Just take you out and bury you."
As they were talking, Ji Dian also entered the courtyard. Compared to Qin Jin's composure and calmness, Ji Dian's complexion was obviously not good, his steps were somewhat unsteady, and he looked very weak.
Confused, Luo Zhen stepped forward and asked with concern, "Young Master Ji, what's wrong? Did you not get enough rest last night?"
Ji Dian plopped down on the stone steps, waved his hand weakly, and said, "...It's more than that, you have no idea how terrifying last night was..."
The weather suddenly changed in the middle of the night. Ji Dian, who was not sleeping soundly, was suddenly awakened by the thunder and lightning. He tossed and turned and could not fall back asleep. Just as he opened the window to get some fresh air, his body suddenly froze—a black ghostly figure silently appeared in front of him right under the window.
Having experienced many unpleasant things, Ji Dian already suspected that demons and monsters truly existed in this world. Upon seeing this scene, her heart stopped beating and her lips trembled. To make matters worse, the ghostly figure then let out a deafening laugh. In the swaying wind and rain, a strange voice could be heard: "Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe—"
Cold sweat broke out instantly. Ji Dian's face turned deathly pale, his eyes wide with terror. He almost fainted before he could catch his breath.
At that moment, he even felt a warm current rushing down to his lower body.
Just as he mustered his courage and tremblingly reached for the talisman in his robes, a silver snake suddenly slashed down from the sky, illuminating the dark night, and he finally saw the ghostly figure clearly—
It was Qin Jin, that bastard, who sat under the eaves drinking in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, and even chuckled like an idiot!
Thinking of this, Ji Dian clenched his fists tightly.
If he weren't outmatched, he would have fought Qin Jin to the death!
Upon hearing this, Luo Zhen was taken aback at first, then excitedly stepped forward, looking as if he had found a kindred spirit: "Did you also encounter it last night, Master Ji? I knew I couldn't be mistaken! And you know what, that ghost really went quite far; it's so fickle, how can it wander around scaring people like that..."
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Author's Note: You can think of the original world as a game in progress. During the game's operation, a bug appears (Xiaoyue travels through time), and as the bug expands (Xiaoyue affects many people and changes parts of the plot), the game may become unplayable. The programmer (the god of the original world) then has to come out to fix it (forcefully eliminate the bug).
The remaining details won't be explained yet since the settings haven't been released.
The initial outline suggested a time-travel story within a game, but it was later changed to a time-travel story within a book, and now I somewhat regret it. [Made]
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