1
“Your Majesty, when will you come visit me in the mourning hall?”
“Your Majesty, I’m so tired of plum-blossom cakes.”
“Your Majesty, I want that beautiful agate.”
Three months after I died, my soul was bound to Lục Yến’s side, where I spent all day chattering at him out of boredom.
Unfortunately, a soul was invisible, and Lục Yến couldn’t see or hear me.
He still handled the affairs of state each day in an orderly fashion, his brows and eyes cool and refined.
But just as before, he still had people bring precious delicacies to my palace.
Just as he had when I was alive.
Everyone in the palace was frightened and confused, saying His Majesty had gone mad.
But I knew it was all right, because the heroine who would save Lục Yến was about to appear.
2
“White Moonlight Ngu Hà has logged off. The script ‘The Aloof King of Hell: Substitute Beloved Consort, Don’t Run Away’ is beginning. Mission: win over Lục Yến.”
The day Tô Chi arrived with her transmigration system, my soul was involuntarily drawn toward the plum grove in the imperial harem.
I loved plum blossoms most, but I couldn’t stand the early-spring cold on the mountaintop.
The year I entered the palace, Lục Yến had planted this plum grove himself for me.
But for some reason, a large section had withered and died in the past few months.
When I arrived, I saw a petite young physician in the grove, holding a mortar and gathering plum blossoms.
The girl was beautiful and gentle, with delicate features… and looked eight-tenths like me.
Nearby, Lục Yến approached with a frown.
When he got a clear look at the girl in the plum grove, his body stilled for a moment.
“Empress, have you returned?”
Suddenly, someone seized Tô Chi by the wrist, and the mortar fell to the ground.
She frowned, lifting her fair face as she struggled indignantly:
“You’ve got the wrong person… Let go of me.”
In the blink of an eye, Lục Yến came to his senses and let go as if he’d touched something filthy.
His gaze rested calmly on her face for a few seconds.
Then he turned and walked away.
“Hey! You ruined my medicine. Apologize!”
Seeing the male lead about to leave, Tô Chi immediately planted her hands on her hips and shouted angrily after him.
I sat on a plum tree branch, watching with interest. I even felt like cracking some melon seeds.
She’d clearly been waiting here for Lục Yến for a long time, yet she pretended not to know he was coming.
This heroine was quite the actress. What a waste of talent that she wasn’t performing onstage!
Still, in this dreary, lifeless imperial palace, her clawing, snarling manner brought a different kind of vitality.
Perhaps Lục Yến would like it.
3
Sure enough, Lục Yến stopped and raised an eyebrow.
He bent down to pick a few plum blossoms out of the broken mortar, eyeing her with interest.
“What are you looking at? Don’t think you can deny it!”
Tô Chi’s eyes widened, making her face look even more charmingly beautiful—and even more like mine.
So arrogant, so unusual.
Hardly anyone in the realm dared speak to Lục Yến that way.
If she wanted to attract his attention, she’d certainly chosen the right approach.
But she’d gotten one thing wrong.
Lục Yến was a cruel, heartless tyrant.
“Which hand?”
“What?”
“Which hand did you use to pick the Empress’s plum blossoms?”
Confusion showed in Tô Chi’s eyes.
Clearly, Lục Yến’s reaction was beyond anything she’d expected.
I remembered then that after I died, this grove had indeed been sealed off as forbidden ground, and no one in the palace was allowed near it.
“Guards, cut off both her hands.”
Lục Yến held the plucked plum blossoms tenderly in his palm and spoke coldly, watching Tô Chi stammer.
The hidden guards appeared behind them and dragged her away at once.
Tô Chi bit her lip, then looked up at him with stubborn, daring eyes, her expression defiant:
“I didn’t know, so I’m not guilty! The Imperial Medical Institute has found a new remedy for Your Majesty’s heart ailment. I only picked the plum blossoms as a medicinal ingredient out of kindness. Your Majesty surely isn’t like the rumors say, killing innocent people unjustly!”
At these treasonous words, the guards nearby dropped to their knees in fright.
Only Tô Chi stood straight, cold and proud as a white willow.
A heart ailment?
Since when had Lục Yến suffered from a heart ailment?
I floated down from the plum tree, frowning as I reached out to feel his chest, a little worried.
He’d always been healthy. He should have been a long-lived emperor.
Lục Yến calmly walked up beside her and looked down at her with a smile.
“Execute her on the spot.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Tô Chi’s expression changed, and the system’s panicked shriek rang out all around them.
4
[Plot deviation warning]
It frantically analyzed the plot’s inconsistencies:
“That’s not right. The book says the male lead hates that you look like his white moonlight, but he’s unconsciously drawn to your pride!”
All around them, swords were drawn, their blades flashing coldly.
At the critical moment, the heroine’s halo activated.
“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager’s birthday is approaching. You should not kill.”
Just as the sword touched Tô Chi’s neck, the elderly eunuch behind them tremblingly knelt and pleaded.
Tô Chi’s face went pale. She clenched her teeth and did not beg for mercy.
“Fine. Lock her up in the Imperial Medical Institute.”
After saying that, he looked at Tô Chi a few times, expressionless, then swept away.
I stood there in a daze, watching Lục Yến’s retreating figure, and felt a little annoyed.
The look that had just passed through me and landed on Tô Chi had clearly held a trace of alarm.
I didn’t like him losing himself over someone else.
After Lục Yến left, the scene remained silent for a long time.
When the palace attendants raised their heads and got a clear look at Tô Chi’s face, they were all stunned.
They said upheaval was about to come to the imperial harem…
Tô Chi sank to the ground, heard the system congratulating her, and smiled triumphantly.
5
The day Tô Chi ran into trouble, it rained heavily.
The system said it rained even harder than the day Trúc Cảnh left Đạo Minh Temple.
Though under house arrest, Tô Chi still slipped past her guards and made her way to the imperial garden.
She and the system planned to pick peonies and make a beauty cream to present to the Empress Dowager.
They said this novel product would surely win women’s favor, and in turn earn them the Empress Dowager’s support.
But after picking only a few flowers, she was punished by the Empress Dowager and made to kneel in the heavy rain.
“His Majesty’s tastes are getting worse and worse. Even some ugly thing of unknown origin can catch his eye.”
The current Empress Dowager was Lục Yến’s birth mother. She was only forty, with a dignified and resplendent beauty.
She sat beneath the pavilion, sipping tea as she read a storybook, occasionally glancing at Tô Chi.
Yesterday’s disturbance had clearly spread throughout the palace.
There wasn’t a trace of embarrassment on Tô Chi’s face. She spoke each word firmly, immediately firing back:
“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, His Majesty and I are innocent. It isn’t what you think…”
“Slap her.”
The matron behind her took the order, held up her umbrella, and came over to slap Tô Chi twice.
I paid no attention to any of this, merely gazing curiously at the peonies in the rain.
Lục Yến had searched far and wide to bring back this variety, Jade Tower Spring.
I’d heard it only bloomed in the rain. I’d been frail and often ill, unable to bear the wind and frost, so I’d never seen it bloom.
It was just a shame that Tô Chi had picked all the loveliest blossoms.
“Hang in there a little longer, host. The male lead has received word and is on his way.”
The system’s voice was faint in the rain, but it made Tô Chi’s eyes light up.
The apology had been on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back.
“I cannot abide those with impure hearts. Serve her poisoned wine.”
The Empress Dowager suddenly grew angry. She closed her storybook and gestured to the matron.
A cup of wine was promptly brought forward.
Before Tô Chi could resist, Lục Yến arrived.
6
“May Your Majesty enjoy ten thousand blessings.”
He had hurried over, yet didn’t so much as glance at the person standing in the rain.
“What is it, Your Majesty? Have you come to save her?”
Tô Chi grew stubborn and haughty again, her voice ringing out:
“I don’t need you to pretend to come save me…”
“Kill her. Not being able to witness the Empress’s death with my own eyes has always been one of my regrets. Now, at least, that wish can be fulfilled.”
Lục Yến stood with his arms folded by the pavilion steps, silently watching her face turn pale from the rain.
How twisted.
I clicked my tongue twice, floated out from the flower bushes to his side, and pretended to give him two light punches.
He was carrying a pearwood food box in one hand, and the faint fragrance of plum blossom pastries drifted from it.
Perhaps he’d brought them to offer at my mourning hall.
I loved them.
Meanwhile, the scene in the rain continued.
Even as the cup of poisoned wine touched Tô Chi’s lips, Lục Yến’s expression did not change.
But I could tell that he was angry as he looked at Tô Chi.
What was he angry about?
In truth, he knew perfectly well that if the Empress Dowager had really meant to act, she wouldn’t have waited until he arrived.
All of this was merely a test of his attitude.
The Empress Dowager was quite satisfied. She ordered the attendants to stop.
“My birthday is coming soon. I worship the Buddha, so it’s best to avoid taking a life.”
She rose with a smile, her face kind and gentle, and left with Lục Yến supporting her.
The wide hem of her skirt brushed lightly past me.
The Empress Dowager paused, then cast a meaningful glance toward the rain.
“I still prefer that girl, Ngu Hà.”
Before their figures vanished, I waved after them reluctantly, saying goodbye in solitude.
In an instant, all that remained in the vast garden were Tô Chi and me.