Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 120
by Little PandaBestowing Upon You the Realm (2)
“Giving it to you.”
The system in Xu Jiao’s mind became the first to break the silence, although its voice could only be heard by Xu Jiao: “Would you like to receive the relevant memories now?”
Xu Jiao: “…”
She glanced sideways, lowering her gaze to look at the sharp sword that was about to pierce her neck and create a big hole. With a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she replied to the system: “If you think I won’t be dead within two minutes, then go ahead and send the memories.”
At a time like this, when she was about to return to where she came from, did having memories even matter?
Xu Jiao thought, since she couldn’t remember what protagonist or what side story this was anyway, she might as well return to the system space and take the usual route. Why bother transmigrating into some side story when there’s nothing to do?
What if this was a side story of a popular antagonist from some novel… As is well known, side stories are generally not very long. Even if Xu Jiao knew who this was, she wouldn’t be able to know the details of their life and rebirth plot. How could she play this game?
Isn’t it delightful when you know the spoilers?
Why must one insist on challenging themselves with hell-level difficulty?
But while she was ready to abandon all hope, the person holding the sword against her noticed her emotional changes. They observed her expression shift from initial surprise to blankness, and then to calmness. The sword tip moved slightly outward, avoiding the blood seeping from the small cut on her delicate neck—
“You’re… more interesting than your father and brothers.”
“Why aren’t you begging me for mercy?”
Xu Jiao took a brief glance at the room’s layout with her peripheral vision. It was just a spacious hall, but aside from candlesticks and a somewhat dirty bed beneath her, there were no superfluous decorations. Even the roof beams looked old and faded, clearly showing signs of long-term neglect.
The clothes she wore seemed to have decent patterns, but the fabric was quite ordinary. It was far inferior to the luxurious black attire of the sword-wielding person. Even in this dimly lit hall, their black clothing gleamed with a subtle luster. The dark patterns embroidered on it carried an inadvertent, graceful shimmer. If this were a cultivation world, this fabric would surely be some rare essence of mountains and rivers, hard to come by. If it were simply a fictional ancient setting, it would still be something ordinary people couldn’t afford to wear.
The person standing before her was either wealthy or noble.
Outside the hall, people in armor stood guard, and from afar, one could faintly hear sounds of begging, sobbing, and killing.
Xu Jiao gained some understanding of her situation—
This person was either here for revenge or to usurp the throne.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t speak of her so-called father and brothers with such contempt.
The reason they hadn’t rushed to kill her was probably because she appeared to be someone not favored in the family, reduced to being bullied. Moreover, she likely hadn’t directly offended this person. Otherwise, given their methods and current advantage, they would surely make her wish she were dead, or simply end her life with one stroke of the sword. Why would they have time to listen to her quibbles and nonsense?
One should know…
Sometimes, giving a dying person a chance to speak might be offering a glimmer of hope for them to grasp.
As Xu Jiao felt the threat to her life recede by half an inch, she regained her spirits. She looked at the person’s features, and thanks to the foundation laid in the first world and the knowledge reinforced in the previous one, she could discern some stories from their countenance.
It was only then that she realized, these seemingly identical female protagonists…
Actually had differences in their aura and the details of their features.
Sometimes, just a tiny change could lead to vastly different life trajectories.
With this one glance, Xu Jiao slightly raised her eyebrows, searching her mind for descriptions and stories of such a character. However, characters with immense power, tumultuous lives, and the potential to become either a Buddha or a demon with a single thought were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river in her writings. There were simply too many to sift through. Before the system could remind her of the plot, she truly couldn’t recall.
The person in black attire didn’t miss this change in her expression.
Despite being in a lowly position, with a small and unremarkable appearance, just an ordinary little princess in this Xu family’s imperial palace without even her own title or fief, this person… was the only one who dared to face Yu Ye, the god of killing, head-on as she cut her way through.
Xu Jiao.
She remembered this name.
It seemed as if the one who named her had hoped to cradle her in their palm, raising her like those delicate flowers in the imperial garden that needed meticulous care… But because her birth mother had committed a grave error, she was cast off to a low-ranking female official when she was just three months old.
Looking at her current attire, made of fabric no better than that of palace maids, who could tell she was of royal blood?
Yu Ye threw out the question, but after waiting for a while without an answer, she grew impatient. During this palace coup, the troops that had entered with her had already gone berserk with bloodlust, and she too was somewhat affected by that fierce, bloodthirsty atmosphere. Her patience wasn’t as abundant as usual.
She was about to sigh and assume this person was mute, and just as she was about to move the sword in her hand, Xu Jiao finally spoke:
“If you kill me…”
Yu Ye’s right eyebrow raised slightly.
If she killed her, then what?
Was she going to say that Yu Ye would surely regret it? That Yu Ye would meet a bad end? Or was she simply creating suspense to unsettle Yu Ye before dying?
Yu Ye had already imagined a hundred different things this person might say to either save her life or curse her. Thinking that she must be somewhat weary from this endless slaughter, Yu Ye’s mind wandered for a moment, considering that after rewarding the troops, she should spend some time alone in a secluded place.
As for this world under heaven.
Let whoever wants to rule it, rule it.
She only wanted the Xu family to pay blood debts with blood, nothing more.
Just then, the second half of Xu Jiao’s sentence drifted out languidly: “That would be such a pity.”
Yu Ye: “…?”
For a moment, she doubted if there was something wrong with her ears.
What did this person just say?
If she killed her, it would be a pity?
A pity for what?
Unexpectedly, this young girl, who looked like she hadn’t seen many good days, had mastered the royal demeanor perfectly, to the point of such narcissism.
Xu Jiao looked at her with an air of matter-of-factness, as if forgetting the fact that the person in front of her could send her back to her ancestors at any moment. She raised her hand to support herself on the hard bed covered with tattered bedding, her tone surprisingly leisurely:
“Am I not right?”
“Though I’ve never seen you before, after observing you just now, I can tell you have deep-seated obsessions. You must have been lying low for a long time… Now that your dream is fulfilled in one fell swoop, once you kill me too, you’ll be free. But people in this world are meant to meet others, form predestined connections and become entangled with one another. If you have no attachments, won’t your future life be devoid of interest?”
“If I were you, I’d keep an enemy alive, to give myself something to live for. Who knows what good things might await in this world? Of course, one should live as long as possible. I’ve endured so much hardship; now I want to experience all the good days this world has to offer—”
Xu Jiao wasn’t saying this to save her own life.
She was doing it for the sake of that face.
In previous books, except for Zheng Zhiyu, women with this face had suffered too much at her hands. Now, meeting in this side story was also a kind of predestined connection. Xu Jiao wanted to make this person’s life a little happier.
It was a strange kind of compensatory psychology.
Xu Jiao was very clear about her own thoughts.
So she kept even this thin compensation to a minimum: “Of course, if you’re keeping me alive to torture me, to see me wishing I were dead, then forget what I said. Just give me a quick end. After all, if I could choose, I’d definitely pick a comfortable birth for myself, live a life of earthly paradise, without pain or worry for a lifetime, and resolutely avoid making enemies with someone like you.”
Yu Ye saw that despite her young age, there was a unique fire in her eyes. Perhaps it was this spirit that allowed this young girl to grow up quietly in this secluded palace, akin to a cold palace.
Like a wildflower that no one cares about, yet blooming proudly, fragrant in its own right.
In this moment.
She couldn’t help but sigh, thinking that for such a child to be hidden away in the depths of the palace, enduring the humiliation of servants, this Xu family… had truly reached the end of its destined fortunes.
How could anyone who had seen this Xu Jiao forget her eyes?
This was a case of a pearl obscured by dust.
She should have been in the most exquisite palace, receiving the most attentive care from the palace servants. When she came of age, she would surely be a figure renowned throughout the four capitals.
The princes of Qi and Chu should be vying to marry her with the grandest of dowries.
She shouldn’t have been buried away in this palace like this.
Yu Ye didn’t know which of the other’s words had struck a chord with her, but the initial murderous intent was interrupted by that bit of narcissism that made one want to laugh and cry at the same time. Then, rationality and calmness surfaced in her mind.
But she didn’t want to be seen through by this young girl.
She withdrew her long sword, concealing those thoughts and the hint of a smile in her deep, dark eyes. She gave a cool glance at the person before her, turned to leave, and left behind a light remark:
“You have a point.”
“Keeping you alive to torment slowly seems far more interesting than killing you outright.”
“It’s a pity I didn’t find you first in this palace. Otherwise, throwing you into the dungeon along with those good-for-nothing fathers and brothers of yours would have made for quite an entertaining spectacle.”
Xu Jiao: “…”
She watched as the figure gradually disappeared, her eyes widening for a moment. Just as she was about to follow, hoping for a quick death, she was stopped by the guards at the door. At the same time, Yu Ye’s voice could be heard from outside, instructing the palace servants:
“Keep a close eye on this little princess.”
“If anything goes amiss, you’ll answer with your heads.”
The palace servants, along with the guards at the door, all bowed their heads and responded with a single word: “Yes.”
Despite the unexpected turn of events saving her life – a hopeful turn after a seemingly desperate situation – Xu Jiao didn’t appear very happy.
Lacking the courage to end her own life, she could only reluctantly sit down in the hall. Just as she was about to take this opportunity to communicate with the system and receive some excess memories, before she could speak, palace servants had already entered.
As they opened the door, large bathing tubs and various items containing flower petals and fragrances were gradually brought in.
Xu Jiao blinked, instinctively raising her hand to hold her clothes.
She asked, “What are you doing?”
The entering palace servant replied without blinking, “Preparing a bath for Your Highness.”
Xu Jiao: “Why bathe in broad daylight?”
The servants glanced at each other, with some flashing mischievous smiles, as if there was a secret story circulating that she didn’t know about-
Then, Xu Jiao heard one of the older servants, an elderly woman, speak: “This is by order of Lord Yu. We are to bathe Your Highness, change you into new clothes, and send you to the inner chambers. As for the specifics, this humble servant does not know. Please, Your Highness, don’t make things difficult for us.”
Without much thought, Xu Jiao waved her hand and said, “I’m not accustomed to being waited upon. You may all leave.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, no one moved.
They seemed very concerned that she lacked the ability to clean herself properly.
Xu Jiao knew that these servants didn’t think much of her as a royal orphan. She switched to a cold tone and said, “Get out.”
The palace servants glanced at each other, and upon hearing these words, they unexpectedly took a step towards her in unison. Xu Jiao’s gaze turned cold, and she was about to teach them a lesson when they approached. Suddenly, there was a very slight disturbance by the window, which no one seemed to notice.
The next moment.
The older palace servant who had spoken to her with that attitude earlier now had three silver needles lodged in her neck.
Before the blood could flow, the person had already fallen, deathly pale and silent.
Yu Ye’s voice, tinged with amusement, rang out from outside: “It seems the selection process for palace servants has become rather lax these days. They can’t even hear their master’s orders clearly. It’s a waste to bring these deaf and blind fools to offend my eyes.”
“I’ll say it once more: show some respect to Her Highness. If anyone dares to transgress again, I’ll have your skins peeled off and stuffed to hang at the palace gates. How does that sound?”
The room instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter.
A young, timid palace maid, watching someone die before her eyes, felt her knees give way. She fell to the ground, and after a moment, raised her head and cried out, “L-Lord Yu, spare our lives!”
Yu Ye’s silhouette cast on the hall doors was a long, deep black, like a life-taking Asura about to strike.
She said: “Be quiet in Her Highness’s presence.”
With just this light remark, the palace servants seemed to have their throats gripped, trembling uncontrollably, biting their lips to prevent even the slightest sound.
Even the bathwater, as if seized by the aura of this King of Hell, cooled considerably, with less steam rising from it.
Xu Jiao glanced towards the window, pursed her lips, and took the initiative to ask: “Why am I to bathe?”
She didn’t feel particularly dirty.
Except for a bit of blood on her clothes from her neck earlier, everything else seemed fine.
But these words somehow struck the funny bone of the person outside. She heard a light chuckle, followed by the woman who had once pointed a sword at her saying slowly:
“Because you’re to be sent to attend the bedchamber.”
Xu Jiao: “…?”
She was stunned for a second, then actually followed up: “Attend to whom?”
Yu Ye took two steps forward, her shadow on the hall doors moving with her. Soon, her figure reappeared at the doorway, blocking the sunlight streaming into the room. The sword that had been pointing at Xu Jiao earlier was now nowhere to be seen. She was still in her intricate dark-patterned black clothes. She gently curved her lips at Xu Jiao and slowly uttered a single word:
“Me.”
Oop-