Chapter 100 IF Route Side Story 1: Seeking Shelter
Inside the elaborately carved and painted sleeping chambers,
The gilded crane-shaped incense burner emitted wisps of fragrance, but could not mask the bitter smell of medicine permeating the air.
On the large, ornate rosewood canopy bed with dragon carvings, lay a man with a sallow complexion. His cheeks were sunken, his eye sockets were like two black holes, and something seemed to be stuck in his throat, as he made intermittent, broken breaths. He didn't look like a living person, but more like a decaying shell.
Chu Yueyuan sat by the bed, holding a medicine cup in her hands, her gaze quietly fixed on the man who was barely clinging to life, her expression neither sad nor happy.
She was the Empress of the Great Qi Dynasty, and the man lying half-dead on her bed was her husband—the Emperor Shang of the Great Qi Dynasty.
The Emperor was nearly fifty years old, while Chu Yueyuan had just celebrated her eighteenth birthday not long ago.
On their wedding night, the Emperor saw the young, beautiful, and charming Empress and felt his heart return to its youthful days. Unfortunately, his aged body was ultimately unable to keep up.
So, before the wedding night, the Emperor took three Ecstasy Pills at once. As a result, before he could even drink the wedding wine with the Empress, he almost ascended to the Land of Bliss.
Right now, they're only hanging on by the wings of the thousand-year-old ginseng.
Upon hearing the news, several regional princes, under the pretext of attending to the ailing Emperor, rushed to the capital.
The king is in a coma, the country is in turmoil, and even the beautiful women who accompany him have become tempting prey in the pot, waiting for the right moment to be eagerly snatched away with chopsticks.
Last night, after Chu Yueyuan finished attending to the sick, she was stopped by the ill-intentioned Prince of Shu on the way back to Fengqi Palace.
The King of Shu stared at the stunningly beautiful young empress, a lewd smile playing on his lips. His flirtatious gaze roamed freely over her body before he suddenly grabbed her wrist, his voice slick and disgusting:
"If you find the night too long and lonely, sister-in-law, I am willing to keep you company..."
Chu Yueyuan was both shocked and frightened. Just as she was about to pull out the phoenix hairpin from her hair to protect herself, a tall figure walked out from under the palace corridor. The man was dressed in black, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He had deep features, especially his phoenix eyes that reflected the coolness of the moonlight. He only cast a faint glance at the King of Shu, which extinguished the evil thoughts in the other's mind.
The King of Shu reluctantly released his grip, and left in a huff, muttering a curse as he went: "Bastard."
Chu Yueyuan snapped out of her daze and quickly bowed to thank Prince Yi, but the man's indifferent gaze did not linger on her for even a moment before he strode past her, his dark robes fluttering slightly, leaving behind a faint scent of sandalwood.
Glug glug, glug glug...
The broken sound from the Emperor's throat brought Chu Yueyuan back to her senses. She lowered her eyes to the cold medicine cup in her hand, scooped up a spoonful of medicine, and perfunctorily brought it to the Emperor's lips.
From the expressions of the imperial physicians, she knew that the Emperor was nearing the end and the dynasty was about to collapse. She, a phoenix whose wings had not yet fully spread, needed to find a new place to land.
With a slight lift of her watery eyes, Chu Yueyuan's gaze passed through the curtain of gold beads from the South Seas and fell upon the several vassal kings sitting in the warm pavilion.
The crown prince is still young. If the emperor were to pass away, according to the ancestral system of the Great Qi, one of the five vassal kings would need to be selected to enter the central government and exercise the power of regent.
Chu Yueyuan first looked at the eldest, King Liang.
The Prince of Liang has a hideous scar on his face, said to be from when he rescued the Emperor from the bandits' blades, a testament to his unwavering loyalty and making him the best candidate to entrust the young emperor to. The only drawback is that the Prince of Liang's eldest son is only just coming of age, and even if the Prince of Liang has no ulterior motives, his son may well have other ambitions.
She then turned her gaze to Prince Chen. Although Prince Chen had a kind and approachable appearance and always had a smiling face like Maitreya Buddha, Chu Yueyuan always felt that his smile was full of hypocrisy.
Next was the Prince of Runan. The Prince of Runan had long resided in the southern border region. Chu Yueyuan did not know much about this person, but the southern border region was the farthest from the capital. The Prince of Runan was the first vassal king to arrive in the capital, which showed his hidden ambition.
Chu Yueyuan completely ignored the next King of Shu, and her gaze finally settled on the man sitting at the very end.
This person was none other than Prince Yi, who had helped her escape from the clutches of the King of Shu last night.
Although the man was sitting in the last row, his tall and handsome figure made him hard to ignore. His expression was cold, without sadness or calculation, and his dark eyes revealed an utter indifference, as if he were an outsider.
Chu Yueyuan's understanding of Prince Yi came entirely from rumors circulating in the capital, which can be summarized as follows:
Born with a bloodline of doubt, he excelled in both literary and martial arts. In his youth, he was exiled to the Northern Court, where he endured nine years of trials and tribulations before finally achieving fame in a single battle and joining the ranks of heroes.
Cold-blooded, ruthless, and heartless, he's a formidable character you shouldn't mess with.
However, Chu Yueyuan saw his strengths: he was abstinent, unmarried, and childless, making him an excellent business partner.
It's him! Who needs the Wind and Fire Wheels anymore!
Setting down the medicine cup, Chu Yueyuan lifted the curtain and stepped out.
The Nanyang gold pearls made a crisp, tinkling sound, and everyone in the warm pavilion looked up at the sound, their eyes lighting up.
The candlelight illuminated the woman's charming face. She wore a phoenix-patterned tiered skirt made of frost-colored brocade. The wide skirt could not conceal her graceful figure, but instead revealed a delicate charm like a willow swaying in the breeze. Her face was unadorned, and her skin was so white that it was almost transparent. In particular, her slightly swollen peach blossom eyes, with tears welling up, conveyed a natural blend of sorrow and charm.
Chu Yueyuan walked straight to the imperial physicians under the protective canopy and asked with concern when the Emperor Shang would wake up.
The imperial physicians gave the same old explanation: the Emperor had suffered brain damage and might wake up in the next few days, or he might remain unconscious for a long time. As for when he would wake up, it all depended on fate.
Disappointment crept onto the woman's face, her beautiful eyes filled with sorrow. She nodded and thanked the imperial physicians. As she turned away, she seemed to feel her strength failing, her body swaying slightly. She tried to take a few more steps forward, but finally lost control and fell to one side.
As she fell, her hair fell askew, and a white jade hairpin slipped out of her hair, its arc flashing gently before landing on the man's robe.
"Your Majesty the Empress!"
Everyone was shocked to see the young empress suddenly fall, and the chief eunuch Wang quickly stepped forward to help her up.
Chu Yueyuan slowly opened her eyes and saw that everyone in the warm pavilion was staring at her. She quickly showed a guilty expression and said softly, "I just felt a dizzy spell and accidentally fell. I have lost my composure in front of everyone."
Prince Liang spoke first: "The Empress has been attending to the sick for several days, and it is inevitable that she is physically exhausted. Your Majesty's health is of utmost importance. Your Majesty should move to the side hall to rest for a while, and allow the imperial physician to take a look at you."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Chu Yueyuan did not refuse. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a man's cold voice from the side: "Your Highness, your hairpin has fallen."
She turned her head and met Prince Yi's deep, dark eyes. For a moment, she felt as if he could see right through her.
Her long eyelashes drooped, she nodded slightly, and said in a calm tone, "Thank you, Prince Yi."
Chu Yueyuan reached out and took the white jade hairpin from the man's slender palm.
The woman's skin was snow-white, and her slender fingers were even more exquisite and translucent than a jade hairpin. Her cool and soft fingertips brushed across his palm, like a snowflake quickly melting in his palm, leaving a faint but undeniable touch.
Pei Muwei's gaze darkened slightly, and as that tenderness faded, he quickly curled his fingers.
As the young empress's graceful figure disappeared into the night, everyone's expressions varied. The King of Shu couldn't help but mutter a teasing remark: "No wonder Second Brother swallowed three 'Imperial Maiden Pills' in a row. Such a beauty, even dying under a peony flower would be a romantic death!"
Although the King of Shu spoke bluntly, the men present secretly agreed with him.
If one cannot appreciate the most beautiful women in the world, what joy is there in being an emperor!
Pei Muwei's face was expressionless, his thick eyelashes casting a small shadow in the candlelight. His gaze fell on his palm, where the woman had quietly slipped a note into it.
———
Inside the side hall,
Chu Yueyuan looked up at the water clock and saw that the time was almost up. She dismissed the palace servants, put on her dark purple brocade cloak, told Jin Tong not to let the news leak out, and then walked towards the Imperial Garden.
The night was clear and dust-free, and the moonlight was as silvery as silver.
Upon reaching a rockery, Chu Yueyuan bent down and crawled into the cave.
She discovered this secluded artificial hill by chance a few days ago when she accompanied Xiao Yun to fly a kite. The kite with a broken string happened to fall into the hole. She bravely walked in and found that there was a hidden world inside, with enough space for two people to fit in. There were several puddles of water on the ground.
It's a wonderful place for a secret rendezvous.
As night deepened, the palace lanterns under the eaves cast a faint candlelight, and the incessant chirping of cicadas in the trees accentuated the surrounding silence.
Chu Yueyuan leaned against the cool stone wall, her dark eyes staring quietly at the moonlight flowing into the cave entrance. As time passed, she felt increasingly uncertain.
The man had many choices, but she only had him as her choice.
She gave a self-deprecating twitch, as if her beauty was utterly useless in the face of power.
Chu Yueyuan's legs were aching from standing, and she was about to leave when she suddenly heard a very faint sound of footsteps approaching. Her eyes lit up, and she saw that the sliver of light shining down from the cave entrance was completely blocked by a tall figure that suddenly appeared.
His tall, slender figure was cast against the stone wall, bringing an invisible sense of oppression. Then, his handsome face slowly emerged from the darkness, with thick eyebrows, a straight nose, and deep phoenix eyes.
Pei Muwei stepped into the artificial hill and saw the young empress dowager leaning against the stone wall.
The artificial hill had been abandoned for a long time, and the stone walls were covered with trumpet creeper flowers. These flowers only bloom wildly at night. Large patches of blue-purple flowers bloomed behind the woman, and a few rays of moonlight shone through the cracks in the stone, just outlining her delicate face. When her watery eyes looked over, they seemed like the enchanting spirits formed from trumpet creeper flowers, born to bewitch people.
He stopped half an arm's length away, his gaze sweeping over the woman, his voice as cold as ever: "What brings the Empress to meet me so late at night?"
The man was tall, and his presence made the cave seem much smaller. As he lowered his head to speak to her, the refreshing scent of sandalwood wafted over her.
Chu Yueyuan suppressed her fear, raised her face to meet those cold, deep eyes, and parted her lips slightly, her voice soft: "This princess wishes to ask for the prince's protection."
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Author's Note: Extra chapters will be updated irregularly, and I estimate they will be finished within two weeks. My darlings, you can save up enough to read later! [heart emoji]
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