Broken Linglong (27)
Gu Wusi told Chi He that the skin of the Linglong Pheasant and the oil on its body could be used to make a mask, and the face of the person wearing the mask could be shaped into any form.
"Do you know what's so wonderful about this exquisite mask?" Gu Wusi unfolded the soft leather mask and then pressed it entirely onto Chi He's face. "Once it takes shape, it will blend into your skin and become a part of your body."
As she spoke, she pressed the mask tighter: "There is no way to take it off unless you die."
In other words, once you put on the mask, there's no turning back.
Chi He stared ahead, her expression gloomy. She opened her mouth numbly: "Do it."
Gu Wusi smiled and then began sculpting Chi He's face. The process was short; Gu Wusi was skillful and quickly finished. She asked Chi He to open her eyes and see if she was satisfied. Chi He carefully examined herself in the mirror, then suddenly said seriously, "No, Miss's face doesn't look like this."
"What's wrong?" Gu Wusi raised an eyebrow. She knew Qin Zhiqing's face like the back of her hand. How could she be wrong?
Chi He pointed to the mole at the corner of her right eye and said, "It's too low here; it should be a little higher."
She then pointed to her jawline and said, "The angles here are too straight; they should be more curved."
Chi He pointed out more than a dozen problems, each one incredibly detailed, which surprised Gu Wusi. But since she had said so, Gu Wusi had no reason not to revise it. The two of them worked on it for three or four rounds before finally creating a face that Chi He approved.
Chi He looked at her final appearance in the mirror, feeling somewhat dazed. She knew that once she was immersed in the pool prepared by Gu Wusi to complete the shaping process, she could never go back.
Even so, she would live on for her mistress's sake—
Chi He returned to Youcheng with this face. She already resembled Qin Zhiqing in build, and although her voice was slightly different, after a year, no one really remembered what Qin Zhiqing's original voice sounded like. Most importantly, she had an incredibly realistic face—Qin Zhiqing's.
In the Qin family mansion, everyone addressed her as "Young Miss," and out of politeness, no one dared to look at her too closely. Only Qin's parents would give her a proper look, but neither of them suspected anything. As for the missing "Chi He," she only said that she died in Lizhou while protecting herself.
The death of a maid was nothing in the Qin household, and "Qin Zhiqing" soon had a new maid, Zhique.
Zhi Que was a maidservant who had been transferred from another noble family. She was quite efficient and knew how to read people, but compared to the Qin family's ruthless methods, Zhi Que's skills were still lacking. When she first arrived, she often made mistakes in front of Chi He because she was unfamiliar with the rules of the mansion, and Chi He would always scold her for it. Chi He thought to herself that if she were serving the young lady, she would never make such mistakes.
Chi He believed she had successfully deceived everyone, and her next step was to win first place at the gathering of heroes and fulfill her mistress's wish.
One day, Qin's mother called her to go for a walk in the garden. As they strolled along the lake, the lady scattered some fish bait and casually asked, "Do you still remember the promise you made before you left?"
What agreement? Chi He broke out in a cold sweat and dared not answer. She could only bend her upper body even lower to express her apology.
"Looks like you forgot, you heartless little thing." Qin's mother pretended to be angry and said with a reproachful expression, "You clearly promised to bring me back a hairpin made of rotten wood flowers."
The Rotten Wood Flower is a flower unique to Lizhou. Chi He had no idea that Qin Zhiqing had made such a private agreement with the Madam, and for a moment she was trembling with fear. She carefully chose her words, "Of course I remember. It's just that the Rotten Wood Flower is too delicate. It withers and dies if it is separated from a rooted tree. Mother, you have always loved the beauty of flowers. I can't possibly give you a withered flower..."
The lady stared at the carp swimming in the pond, paused in her act of casting the bait, and remained silent.
Chi He couldn't figure out what she was thinking, so she could only bend over, her heart pounding.
After a while, a voice rang out above Chi He's head again: "So be it. No matter how beautiful a flower is, once it withers, it can only become nourishment for others."
The lady continued to bait the waters: "You've suffered outside, tell me what happened."
Chi He was taken aback, then realized that the lady was as clear-headed as a mirror, and that the rotten wood flower was merely a test. Qin Zhiqing had never made any promise with her about the hairpin; her question just now was simply bait to lure her in.
Chi He thought she was doomed; how could the Madam allow a servant to usurp her place? But to her surprise, the Madam remained unmoved after hearing her story, allowing her to continue the charade. The Madam said that a noble family cannot be without an heir; rather than letting the news of her only son's death spread, it was better to let the identity of the Qin family's eldest daughter continue.
Looking at the lady's face, Chi He felt not only no relief, but even more bewildered.
Her disguise was not flawless. Madam Qin loved her daughter the most in the Qin family. How could she, as a mother, not see the difference between Chi He and Qin Zhiqing?
Fortunately, only Qin's mother recognized her. But Chi He couldn't understand how Qi Shuojun knew she wasn't Qin Zhiqing.
Chi He stared blankly at Qi Shuojun, her wrist tightly gripped by him. Qi Shuojun's gaze was firm, without the slightest hesitation: "I was right, you are Chi He."
“You…” Chi He was stunned. She wanted to ask Qi Shuojun how she knew, but everything was too sudden, and she was still in shock.
Fortunately, Qi Shuojun noticed her confusion and explained directly, "It was at the gathering of heroes. I asked you where that little maid was, and you said she was dead. She was just a maid; it's not a big deal."
Chi He thought for a moment. At that time, she was still immersed in the confusion of losing Qin Zhiqing, and her feelings towards Qi Shuojun, her nominal future husband, were complicated. She still remembered the angry look on her young mistress's face when Qin Zhiqing saw Qi Shuojun coming to their courtyard to talk to her.
Miss rarely got angry with her, but that time was the most unusual. Afterwards, Chi He often thought that Miss must really like Qi Shuojun, even more than she liked herself, to be so angry with her. Therefore, when she saw Qi Shuojun again at the Gathering of Heroes, she only wanted to run away and was very cold towards him.
“At the time, I felt that given how much Qin Zhiqing valued you, her little maid, her reaction shouldn’t have been so cold,” Qi Shuojun continued. “After all, when I was little, all I did was greet you, and Qin Zhiqing would send you away and warn me not to get close to you.”
Chi He's eyes widened suddenly, and she asked incredulously, "What did you say?"
Qi Shuojun thought she hadn't understood, so she emphasized again, word by word: "I said, she threatened me to stay away from you, and said she would beat me into a pig's head if I didn't listen."
Chi He stood there, stunned, even forgetting to pull away from Qi Shuojun's hand. The Qin Zhiqing described by Qi Shuojun was different from the Qin Zhiqing she had imagined in this situation. So Qin Zhiqing wasn't angry that she was close to Qi Shuojun, but rather that Qi Shuojun had taken the initiative to approach her?
“Well, I only felt something was off during the Gathering of Heroes, but I couldn’t come up with any evidence. After that, you were always staying at home, and I didn’t have a chance to see you. It was only when we were about to get married that I had another chance to verify my suspicions.” Qi Shuojun continued, “I actually didn’t expect you to agree to marry me. Plus, I received news that after you came to Yuancheng, you liked to run to my family’s ancestral land in the middle of the night, which was really suspicious.”
"So I asked Miss Ye and the others to find out what you're up to. But Miss Ye is very cunning and always only tells half of what she means, so I still only have a vague understanding of what she's doing."
Qi Shuojun looked at Chi He with a deep gaze: "So Chi He, I just want to know, what exactly are you planning to do?"
What did she want to do? Chi He was stumped. At first, she only wanted to fulfill her mistress's last wish and live on for her. She followed Gu Wusi's advice and became Qin Zhiqing, attempting to prolong her mistress's life in this way. During this process, she endured countless internal torments, but she always persevered, supported by the thought of living on for her mistress.
She felt she could never become Miss Qin, even though she had gotten used to being called Miss Qin, even though she had made a name for herself at the gathering of heroes, and even though her every word and action was regarded as a model and admired by everyone. Yet, there was still a voice in her mind clamoring that she could never become Qin Zhiqing.
But if she doesn't become Qin Zhiqing, who else can she become? She chose this path, and there's no turning back...
Why couldn't she make up her mind to abandon herself? Why was she always hesitant and indecisive? Chi He couldn't understand. Suddenly, she met Qi Shuojun's eyes. Those eyes were clear and bright, and Chi He saw her own reflection in them.
Suddenly, she understood, and tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She could no longer support herself and squatted down, burying her face in her hands and sobbing.
Qi Shuojun was startled and quickly asked what was wrong.
Chi He kept crying, and the more she cried, the more upset she became. The suppressed pain in her heart burst forth like a flood.
She actually understood, just like when her father died. She only realized this after she had embarked on a path of no return—Qin Zhiqing never meant for her to live in her place, but rather for her to live for herself.
But by the time she found out, it was too late, far too late... She won first place in place of Qin Zhiqing, married Qi Shuojun in place of Qin Zhiqing, and even agreed to Gu Wusi's absurd request in order to avoid revealing her identity.
Chi He recalled the day she had a high fever. She had stubbornly come to the ancestral land alone, and collapsed while escaping the pursuit of the Azure Golden Hou. When she woke up, she saw Gu Wusi with a cunning look on his face.
Gu Wusi told her that if the mission failed, she would only have two choices: either go back and accept the fact that her identity had been exposed and she would be hunted down by the Qi and Qin families, or leave with her and become a shadow who could not see the light of day.
Chi He remained hesitant, knowing that either choice would only lead her to fall deeper.
Gu Wusi noticed her hesitation and then coaxed, "Anyway, you've already fallen into the abyss, so what difference does it make whether you fall fast or slow?"
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