Candlelight illuminated half of Shen Changyin's body; the other half remained in shadow, making the regent appear unusually thin yet commanding.
The Fifth Princess's neck muscles trembled as she gritted her teeth and lunged forward.
But the next second, her legs gave way, and she collapsed.
She sat dumbfounded, tapping her legs, feeling them soft and weak.
Shen Changyin approached, towering over her. Her shadow, upright and ready to strike like a snake, fell over her prey:
"Fifth Princess, didn't you learn not to drink water from strangers?"
The water had been drugged.
The Fifth Princess turned pale, recalling Xie Yu's visit this afternoon, thinking it might have been her. She sneered:
"Shen Changyin, you are truly skilled. You're not even the empress, yet you forced my Third Sister to turn against her siblings."
"What?" Shen Changyin examined her dagger in the candlelight. "My wife is not involved in this."
"Fifth Princess." She half-squatted, lightly tracing the Fifth Princess's face with the dagger. The blade sent chills: "I could kill you in countless ways without dirtying her hands."
"Like now—I enter openly with a dagger and torture tools. Where are the officials and guards who should be here? Gone."
Shen Changyin smiled. "Power is wonderful, isn't it?"
She dragged a chair to the center of the room.
"Climb up," she ordered.
"Never," the Fifth Princess gritted her teeth.
"Ah, right. You've been drugged; your legs have no strength." Shen Changyin casually approached, decisively drove the dagger deep into her thigh.
Blood gushed, soaking her clothes, leaving a slick layer.
Sweat instantly poured from the Fifth Princess's back. Her face twisted in agony. Delayed by a second, she screamed: "Aaaaahhhh——!"
"Now, climb up."
Shen Changyin said calmly.
Using her hands and supporting herself, the Fifth Princess dragged her injured leg, climbing onto the chair.
"Good, obedient." Shen Changyin took a length of hemp rope: "From now on, remember this attitude."
She tied the Fifth Princess to the chair back, took out a sharp, surgical-like knife from the box.
"It will be difficult. But remember, you are no longer the powerful Fifth Princess."
She lightly pressed the blade to the back of her hand, tilting it like a chef slicing meat.
"You've interrogated others before. Think about how they behaved."
The moon hung sparsely over this mansion filled with rare flora. The air carried the wails of its former master.
Crows cawed twice from the eaves, then flew off.
For Shen Changyin, half an hour had passed.
For the Fifth Princess, it felt endless.
"Ah——!"
Blood pooled around the chair legs. Her screams finally exhausted her strength, and she lowered her head to answer the last question.
"She had no intention of appointing a crown successor. Even though she seemed to favor me, trusted my eldest sister, and joked with my second sister, she never mentioned making us heirs."
Shen Changyin put down the bloodied blade, stepped back, surveying her work.
The Fifth Princess was drenched in blood, sweating from pain, yet still clear-headed enough to speak coherently.
"Good."
She retrieved a few long, sharp needles, their points glinting in candlelight.
The Fifth Princess panicked further, pressing back against the chair.
"I've answered all your questions," she cried.
"I didn't lie. For every question, I told the truth. Why are you doing this to me?"
Shen Changyin continued to step closer, the needles' glint appearing to pierce her eyes.
The Fifth Princess completely broke down: "Aaaaahhh—!"
She screamed, "I've never done anything to you! What right do you have?!"
Shen Changyin stopped in her tracks.
"Why?"
She curved her eyes into a smile, almost delightfully.
She had once loved asking that question herself.
—
Previous Life.
A snowy night, a desolate plain, moonlight illuminating a bare willow tree.
Shen Changyin clutched her abdominal wound with one hand, braced herself against the rough tree trunk with the other, bent over, coughing blood.
She looked at the dried blood under her fingernails, filthy and reeking with the metallic stench of blood.
The sound of hooves clattering frantically across the snow approached.
The former Fifth Princess—now the Fifth Princess, Xie Jia—personally led her proud band of loyal warriors to her, clad in a thick crimson cloak, mounted on a chestnut horse, looking down:
"Shen Changyin, you just endured three severe tortures, including the needle torture I personally administered, and yet you've been running in the snow for three hours. I must admit, you have some backbone."
"But now, you have nowhere to escape."
Her voice was disdainful, as if looking at a mouse daring to overstep its bounds: "You, a lowly tool meant to bring joy, my Third Sister really did leave you so much money that you managed to flee for three years."
"But now it's over. Tell me, where are my Third Sister's remains?"
"Speak, and perhaps I will let the court physician spare your life. Then, you could return to the palace, living in luxury as a medicinal subject."
Coughing blood, Shen Changyin felt her vitality slipping away—she no longer even felt cold. Her lips curved into a smile: "I don't know."
"I was just a tool to bring joy. I never even met her; how would I know where she was buried?"
She gave up struggling, no longer clutching her wound, letting blood gush freely. "She ruined my whole life. If I had known, I would have dug her up long ago and ground her bones to ashes."
Her expression was calm, as if facing death with no regrets.
Xie Jia's gaze darkened. She scanned Shen Changyin's face for thirty heartbeats, finally certain she wasn't lying. Swearing, she drew an arrow from behind her and drove it straight into Shen Changyin's chest.
"Even in death, a Xie Princess cannot tolerate insults from someone like you."
Then she turned to her horse: "Move out!"
The cold was piercing, and no one was around. Shen Changyin was already weak and sickly, having endured days of torture. Now pierced through the chest by an arrow, survival was impossible.
Xie Jia didn't even wait for her to die.
Shen Changyin watched them ride away, finally collapsing against the tree trunk, unable to maintain her composure.
She reached out and touched the willow tree.
Six years earlier, in a spring when the willow sprouted new leaves, she had, following the will, buried someone's ashes under this tree.
It was her so-called destined love, the noble bloodline that had destroyed her life, the wife she never met who had already died.
Who would have thought that the Third Princess, once famed across the world in red robes with a bow, did not care about her noble royal bloodline? After death, she refused a tomb, any grave goods, or a gravestone. She only wished to be cremated and buried under this nameless willow tree.
Perhaps facing death, she had truly cursed without restraint:
"Some people can't even live properly. You could have lived well, yet you died chasing a love that never existed."
She cursed her lowly, her hatred biting.
Then suddenly added: "I shouldn't have taken your money in the first place. Like your ashes, it was a huge trouble."
"Your mother and sisters are all wicked. Too bad I only killed one. If there is a next life, I will make sure your Xie family dies together."
She smiled faintly. "Then you won't escape either. All of your Xie family are bad seeds."
Exhausted, she slowly closed her eyes, pressing her face against the willow tree.
In the thirty-fourth year of Empress Rongchang, the former Third Princess and her wife, never having met in life, died together under the same desolate plain, under the same willow tree.
When she opened her eyes again, it was the twenty-second year of Empress Rongchang, with three years remaining before she would be forced to marry Xie Yu.
—
The last day of her life's winter night wind swept over Shen Changyin for a moment, but she quickly regained focus.
The Fifth Princess still looked at her with a mix of fear and hatred.
"Why?" Shen Changyin repeated the question. "There is no reason."
In this timeline, the Fifth Princess had not harmed her yet. Should she soften her heart because of that?
Shen Changyin said: "Because I can do it. I don't need a reason."
Holding a long, sharp silver needle, she approached the noble princess of her previous life who had 'pitied' her and intended to send her back as a medicinal subject.
Pleading, wailing, and screaming arose in waves, in chronological order, like tides.
Yet Shen Changyin appeared to hear nothing, maintaining absolute silence for the next two hours.
She worked with precise, deliberate movements.
At a moment when the Fifth Princess was at death's door, she awoke from a daze, looked at Shen Changyin, mouth smeared with blood, and smiled venomously:
"You better pray Xie Yu never finds out about this."
"She calls her your wife, but she isn't. She never will be."
This cold, hateful calm lasted only a few seconds before being drowned out by screaming again.
Shen Changyin's hands never wavered.
At midnight, she put away her tools and carefully cleaned every finger and fingertip with a damp, white cloth.
Yet the metallic scent of blood lingered.
No, it wasn't the Fifth Princess's blood.
It was the iron tang of her own blood, never fully washed away, a specter that had haunted her since rebirth.
At least today, this spectre was weaker.
Leaving the lifeless body behind, she walked out of the mansion, climbed into her familiar carriage, and instructed:
"First, go past the tavern Third Sister likes, and buy two servings of small wontons."
"Ah—!" The driver nodded, cracking the reins.
The carriage wheels rumbled into motion.
Fifteen minutes later, she carried two warm bamboo tubes of wontons into the courtyard, the aroma drifting lightly.
The one sleeping in the rocking chair stirred, waking moments later, grumbling upon seeing her: "Why are you just back? Where were you?"
She raised the bamboo tubes, shook them, smiling warmly.
—
The next morning.
After court, Xie Yu and Shen Changyin exchanged nods outside the hall as usual.
Xie Yu was about to leave the palace when a eunuch stopped her.
"Third Princess, Her Majesty requests your presence."
Why would the Empress summon her?
They had no special bond.
After pondering briefly, she nodded.
The eunuch led her to the Empress's study.
Though called a study, it was actually an entire courtyard. Even with rare flowers planted throughout, four massive incense burners were placed inside.
Stepping through, Xie Yu felt none of the natural freshness, only the heavy scent of rare incense, almost suffocating.
She waved her hand.
Continuing forward, she saw several Taoist priests kneeling in the outer room, heads bowed, chanting prayers.
Further inside was the Empress's office.
Heavy curtains blocked most light; a sliver of natural light leaked through.
Inside, the incense scent was lighter, with only one delicate burner on the desk, wafting a faint fragrance almost like ink.
The Empress sat behind the desk, reading a book.
By etiquette, Xie Yu should have paid her respects, but unwillingly, she did so awkwardly.
The Empress seemingly did not notice, eyes fixed on the book.
The study fell silent.
The attending eunuchs dared not breathe.
Xie Yu, annoyed by this middle-aged woman's arrogance, stood straight.
Finally, the Empress set the book down and looked at her.
No matter how many times she saw her, Xie Yu had to admit appearances were deceptive.
Although this Empress practiced dark arts and consulted mystics, her face was always commanding and stern, looking every bit a capable ruler.
"How is your health recently? I hear you were wounded in the abdomen during the assassination."
"Fine, no need for your concern," Xie Yu said calmly.
The Empress reached for a box from a eunuch, opened it, and placed a jade ring on her finger.
Then, she hurled the wooden box at her head—!
Unprepared, Xie Yu was struck on the temple.
A large pinkish mark appeared immediately, swelling into a bump after a few seconds.
"You dare—!"
Swearing at the Empress outright would be too much, so she restrained herself, silently learning from Shen Changyin's way of cursing without vulgarities.
"Your Majesty, suddenly upset? Should I fetch a court physician?"
The Empress sneered: "I just received the detailed report on your attack on the loyalist camp. Why did no one tell me you personally went to the battlefield?"
Xie Yu had indeed fought personally for a while and conducted reconnaissance herself.
But she saw no reason this concerned the Empress.
Yet she pressed with overwhelming authority: "The body and flesh are gifts from your mother, not to be lightly harmed. How could you, wounded, still recklessly go to battle?"
"Remember, your life is never just your own."
Having been an Empress for a long time, her words carried the weight and authority of an imperial edict.
If this were any other princess, she would probably feel the care hidden beneath the scolding, and thereafter obey her mother without question.
But Xie Yu only wanted to roll her eyes.
She endured, again and again, finally refraining from picking up the wooden box to throw it back.
In her mind, Shen Changyin better settle the score with this Empress thoroughly in the future.
She forced a smile: "If your mood is bad, go see the court physician. I'm leaving."
She left the palace still very angry.
A beautiful day ruined by a middle-aged lunatic.
Then she suddenly remembered what the Fifth Princess had said yesterday—beware the Empress, the Second Princess, and Shen Changyin.
The latter two could wait for now.
Could the Empress's behavior today be connected to what the Fifth Princess hinted at?
She planned to ask clearly.
The carriage stopped at the former Fifth Princess's residence, now the ancestral residence of the Xie family.
As soon as she stepped through the gate, something felt off.
The number of guards had been reduced.
Wasn't anyone afraid the Fifth Princess might escape?
She quickened her pace, not noticing the complex expressions on the officials' faces as they opened the doors for her.
She pushed open the Fifth Princess's door.
The stench of blood, which had already been there overnight, was even stronger.
The person was dead.
Xie Yu's expression changed. She immediately pushed the officials back, entered the room, and closed the door behind her.
"To the door—bring me a full set of forensic tools," she said.
The officials outside already knew the person was dead—after all, it had been silent inside for some time, and the smell of blood was unmistakable.
But without Shen Changyin's permission, none dared enter.
Now hearing Xie Yu's command, they hurried to prepare the autopsy tools.
Time was tight. They only managed to gather basic tools and the appropriate attire for an autopsy.
Xie Yu put on the plain white robe, then picked up a pair of tweezers and approached the Fifth Princess.
The body was still bound to the chair, already cold and rigid.
The areas not covered by clothing revealed multiple wounds.
She first examined the visible wounds, then focused on the abdomen, where the bloodstains were darkest and the stench strongest.
She cut open the clothing.
Although she had prepared mentally, her eyelids twitched, and her face instinctively twisted.
She quickly covered it again.
Then she uncovered it, continuing the inspection.
Her expression gradually became indifferent.
By the time the officials were called in, they were first startled at her calm demeanor.
"Get a firebrand and two barrels of diesel," Xie Yu said without another word.
At the same time, Shen Changyin, in her residence, received a message from a eunuch.
"Your Majesty says, the condition you proposed before, she can now consider."
The eunuch bowed deeply, conveying the Empress's words.
Shen Changyin set down her documents.
Her subordinates could not hide their delight, their faces brimming with victorious smiles.
"Then let's go."
Shen Changyin left the residence.
Along the way, she encountered many officials.
Those aligned with her faction saluted early, greeting warmly and attentively.
Neutral officials were polite and meticulous, showing no hint of neglect.
Those opposed to her, especially from the Prime Minister's faction, looked resentful from afar, but when closer, none dared meet her gaze, all lowering their heads nervously to salute.
"Madam Shen."
"Madam Shen."
"Madam Shen."
The greetings came in waves. Shen Changyin simply nodded.
She entered the study and saw the wooden box on the floor, momentarily unsure of its purpose.
The Empress sat behind the desk, face dark and unwilling, but still said seriously: "I agree to the condition you proposed."
Negotiations continued for a long time.
When she left the study, the sun had already passed overhead toward the west.
She handled official matters as usual and returned home a little late.
She found Xie Yu was not home.
This happened often—perhaps the young Third Princess had found something interesting outside and delayed returning.
She waited patiently.
Even as the moon rose high, there was still no sign of Xie Yu, nor any message.
This was unusual.
Usually, if Xie Yu would be late, someone would inform her in advance.
But today, everything was unnaturally silent.
She finally began asking about Xie Yu's whereabouts.
The coachwoman said Xie Yu was still at the Fifth Princess's residence, not yet returned.
Upon hearing this, the slight color on Shen Changyin's face drained immediately.
She paused, then spoke hoarsely: "Prepare the carriage. We're going to the Fifth Princess's residence."
The carriage stopped where Xie Yu's had stopped today.
She followed the path Xie Yu had taken.
Here, not only were there no guards, but the officials had also been sent away by Xie Yu.
The courtyard was eerily quiet.
She gently pushed open the door. The strong stench of blood, mixed with the sharp odor of diesel, hit her.
She whispered: "Little Xie? Time to come back."
In the shadows, having spent the day with the corpse, Xie Yu lifted her head. Half of her face was illuminated by moonlight.
She held a firebrand in her hand.
Shen Changyin couldn't describe Xie Yu's expression now.
She had never seen this on Xie Yu's face before.
Failed escape, exhaustion, even at her angriest and most helpless, Xie Yu's eyes had always been bright.
But now, they reflect weariness. The usually glassy, reflective pupils were dim, like distant stars.
A sudden unease gripped her heart.
"I've examined her wounds," Xie Yu said lightly. "The first set of wounds were for interrogation—selected to inflict intense pain without killing or preventing answers."
"All remaining wounds had only one purpose—to cause maximum suffering before death."
"Honestly, I don't feel her death was a pity. If one of her victims had sneaked in to punish her, I would completely understand."
She seemed immersed in her world, speaking to Shen Changyin without looking at her.
Shen Changyin stepped forward: "Little Xie—"
Xie Yu: "But what I cannot understand is why these wounds came from you."
"Most of the time, I believed that even if you had grievances with the Xie family, they were not personal. Perhaps your hatred stemmed from your mother's demotion and death, or from your hometown suffering under heavy taxation."
"I thought your resentment was essentially toward the Empress and imperial power, and it so happened that the Xie family now held the throne."
"So you could cooperate with them and even agree to marry me."
"Because you bore no personal grudges."
"But today, it seems I was wrong."
"You hate the Xie family. This is a personal hatred, a victim's hatred toward a perpetrator, the same kind that the young women who were drained for blood pills felt—perhaps even stronger."
"If the Fifth Princess was your perpetrator, then am I?"
"I even thought, when you settled scores with the Empress and Second Princess, that you should be ruthless—but I forgot, I might also be among those to be punished."
Xie Yu finally raised her eyes to Shen Changyin.
"Shen Changyin, have I ever drunk your blood?"
Shen Changyin was momentarily speechless. She couldn't answer.
In the previous life, she had indeed been drained for the ritual, and that blood had become Xie Yu's medicinal medium.
But she could not say this aloud.
She had been silent for too long, so Xie Yu spoke again:
"Then I'll ask another question."
Moonlight fell on exhausted eyes, giving a nearly sorrowful illusion.
"Since you killed her," Xie Yu asked, "have you ever thought about killing me?"
—
T/N: Sorry for the late update, for some reason I've been very sleepy this week and I lost track of time.
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