Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 119

Extra

This is the Original Story’s Plot

A month after Su Tianci was dragged out, Su Yi heard that the Marquis Pingyang’s Manor was being investigated.

Ji Qingchi’s methods were very clever. Using Su Tianci’s stabbing of the emperor as a pretext, she slapped the Marquis Pingyang’s Manor with the charge of treason. Now, even if the Marquis’s Manor wanted to argue, they would have to endure a round of interrogations. Even if it didn’t injure their muscles and break their bones, they would still have a layer of skin flayed off¹.

After several days of investigation, there were of course no results. But as long as the emperor wanted to bring someone to justice, there would always be subordinates who would find a way to achieve her goal.

The criminal officials of the Dali Temple² casually found some pretext to pin on the Marquis of Pingyang, and so everyone in the Marquis Pingyang’s Manor, from top to bottom, was convicted and thrown into the great prison.

When the City Guard went to arrest them, that little girl Gancao also squeezed into the crowd to watch the excitement. She returned and gave Su Yi a grand recounting of the scene, with a special focus on how heartbreakingly Su Tianci had cried and how pathetic he looked.

Su Yi didn’t care about Su Tianci’s fate; his death would not be enough to atone for his crimes. But in all fairness, her Great-grandmother was innocent. She was a very good person, but she was old and no longer had the ability to see through people’s hearts. She had failed to imagine that Su Tianci could be so malicious as to make a move against her while she was away in Linchuan.

To be implicated by a worthless descendant and thrown in jail at an age when she should have been enjoying her later years in peace—no matter how she thought about it, it seemed rather tragic.

The tail end of spring slowly slipped away, and the weather was noticeably heating up. Su Yi sat at the desk before the window. While reading a book, her fingers tapped lightly on the sandalwood table, her gaze lost in the scenery outside the crimson gauze window.

“What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?”

In her daze, she felt a powerful force clasp around her waist, and then her entire body was pulled into a passionate embrace.

Su Yi didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. She flipped open the book in her hand and pointed lightly. “I was reading a story.”

“Mhm,” Ji Qingchi hummed with a laugh, hugging her slender waist tightly from behind and burying her face in the crook of Su Yi’s shoulder. Her voice was a little muffled. “What kind of story? Zhen wants to hear it, too.”

Su Yi muddled together the stories of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl³ and Meng Jiangnu Crying Down the Great Wall⁴ to fob her off. Ji Qingchi, a person of deep schemes, actually listened earnestly to the end and even commented that it wasn’t bad, asking her to tell another.

Su Yi thought for a moment and then spun another nonsensical tale. She told it so incoherently that the more Ji Qingchi listened, the more confused she became, frowning as she asked, “What on earth is this one about?”

Su Yi paused for a moment before saying, “It’s about a certain someone who was extremely unfilial, causing their elderly grandmother to be implicated and imprisoned because of them.”

Ji Qingchi laughed upon hearing this. “Oh? Then let Zhen take a guess. Is that ‘certain someone’ surnamed Su?”

Su Yi said nothing, which was a tacit admission. Ji Qingchi had guessed from the very beginning that Su Yi would plead on behalf of the Marquis of Pingyang.

“You want Zhen to release the Marquis Pingyang’s Manor?”

Su Yi nodded. “Great-grandmother is already old, and besides, she has no ambition…”

Before she could finish, Ji Qingchi swept her up by the waist, placed her on the desk, and brushed away the superfluous items. Bracing her hands on either side of Su Yi’s neck, she said with a light laugh, “Today, someone even submitted a memorial asking Zhen to thoroughly investigate the other descendants of the Marquis of Pingyang. Zhen thought for a good while before remembering that you are also surnamed Su.”

Su Yi tactfully closed her mouth. She had forgotten that if the Marquis of Pingyang’s line was guilty, then wasn’t she also a guilty party? A clay bodhisattva crossing a river cannot even save itself⁵. And here she was, thinking of pleading for someone else.

Ji Qingchi watched as the expression on the person beneath her shifted from wanting to speak but holding back to lowering her gaze submissively. She slowly lowered her head and gave the tip of Su Yi’s nose a gentle bite. “Not going to defend yourself?”

“Your Majesty’s words are golden, your speech is jade⁶. If you say this servant is a criminal, then this servant is a criminal. How could I possibly rebut?”

“Hmph, you are sensible. Zhen is not someone who is unable to distinguish right from wrong. As long as you rebut, Zhen will believe you.”

Su Yi didn’t believe she would become so easy to talk to. She looked at her with suspicious eyes. “Is Your Majesty being serious?”

After all this time, Su Yi was still half-believing and half-doubting her words.

Perhaps she hasn’t taken a single word of my love for her to heart.

Ji Qingchi’s eyes darkened slightly, but she quickly reined in her emotions before Su Yi could see. She nodded slowly, her expression solemn. “Zhen’s word is my bond.”

Seeing her so certain, Su Yi believed her somewhat. She cleared her throat and was just about to speak when her clothes began to fall to the floor one by one. Su Yi immediately wrapped her arms around herself, stopping her from getting any closer. “Didn’t Your Majesty say to let this servant absolve herself? Like this… this servant cannot speak.”

“Mmm…” Ji Qingchi suppressed her with one hand, drawling lazily, “Zhen did say that. However, how you rebut is for Zhen to decide.”

One hand slowly roved downwards. “As long as you make a sound later, and cry out a few more times, Zhen will count it as your rebuttal.”

Su Yi belatedly realized that she was just being teased and that Ji Qingchi had no real intention of questioning her. In order to please her, she nodded in agreement.

Just before she felt like her throat was about to start smoking, Ji Qingchi let her go. Lying on top of her, she laughed and said, “The granddaughter of the Marquis of Pingyang spoke very well. The defense was sharp, the words sincere. Zhen was moved. The Marquis’s death sentence is spared, but the rest of the direct line cannot be let off lightly.”

Hearing the result she wanted, Su Yi’s heart was put at ease, and she peacefully fainted away.

Her fingers tracing Su Yi’s face inch by inch, Ji Qingchi added with a faint smile, “Effective immediately, the Marquis of Pingyang is ordered to reshape the direct bloodline. Establish Su Yi, daughter of Su Ming of Fengcheng, as the Heir-Daughter⁷.”

Su Yi had fainted, so of course she did not hear this sentence.

Ji Qingchi had someone bring in water. Waving away the palace maid who was about to clean up Su Yi, she took a cloth, dipped it in water, and cleaned Su Yi herself bit by bit. Then she took her into her arms, placing a hand over her heart and sighing softly.

When the shepherd tells too many lies, it becomes very difficult for people to believe her truths.

She had spoken too many truths and falsehoods. To ask for another’s true heart was now as difficult as ascending to heaven.

When Su Yi awoke, Ji Qingchi was already gone. A few days later, she heard the news of her Great-grandmother’s release, followed by the news of her own establishment as the Heir-Daughter.

Whether others were resentful or scornful, Su Yi didn’t care. Ji Qingchi came to find her every day after court and never again asked her to say things like “I love you.” However, she was more demanding than before. If Feng Ruoqing hadn’t intervened, saying her body was in poor health, she probably would have become the first woman in the Yanxue Kingdom to die in bed.

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Another night of passion.

“Ah…”

“Shh, be quieter, the Young Miss is still sleeping.”

Su Yi awoke in a daze to see Gancao with a beet-red face and her head lowered, while Yan Shen was scolding her.

The two of them were standing by the desk near the window. Su Yi glanced at the water stains on the desk and understood the reason for their fuss.

“Cough cough… Tea…”

“Young Miss, you’re awake,” the two of them said, quickly stopping their conversation upon hearing her voice and pouring her a cup of tea.

After taking a sip of water, Su Yi stroked the empty teacup and looked out the window. “How long has Her Majesty been gone?”

“Almost an hour⁸,” Gancao answered honestly. “Before she left, she instructed us to watch over the Young Miss.”

Su Yi nodded. Recently, Ji Qingchi had been coming to see her far less often. Rumors in the rear palace about the Chancellor’s son’s “unhusbandly conduct” were spreading wider and wider. She guessed that Ji Qingchi had already firmly grasped power in her hands and was preparing to make her move against the Chancellor ahead of schedule.

Finishing the tea in her hand, she cocked an ear and heard a commotion outside. She asked, puzzled, “What’s going on outside?”

Yan Shen said with some difficulty, “It’s Her Majesty’s several Lords…”

Before she could finish, several people burst through the palace gate. The guards Ji Qingchi had left to protect her tried to block them, saying, “My Lords, please do not make things difficult for your subordinates…”

Su Yi saw the handsome, beautiful men and raised a hand to stop the guards. “Let them in.”

The guards hesitantly let the men in. Su Yi sized them up: the refined-looking one was probably the Chancellor’s son, the wild one was the Young Master of Xuanji Tower, and there was another, ethereally beautiful and looking deeply scheming, who was said to have come from Changsheng Valley after saving Ji Qingchi in the wilderness and being brought back to the palace.

Su Yi was clearer on the situation with Ji Qingchi’s rear palace than Ji Qingchi herself was.

Because she knew that she had transmigrated into a book.

She had transmigrated at the age of twelve. Although her original body was quite poor, it had slowly recovered with care. When she went out for idle strolls, everything she saw and heard was identical to a book she had read during her chuunibyou phase⁹, and only then did she realize she had transmigrated into a book.

The plot of the book was more or less the same, but perhaps due to her influence as a transmigrator, she, who was originally supposed to be a cannon fodder who died an early and fragrant death¹⁰, had instead ended up in a brothel in the Huachen Kingdom.

But thinking about it, the timeline actually matched up. The point at which she ended up in the brothel was in fact when the book had written of her “fragrance disappearing and jade perishing.”

In ancient times, where the concept of chastity was paramount, being relegated to a place like a brothel was tantamount to being “dead.”

After all, she was just a minor cannon fodder. Whether she became a courtesan or died and turned to ash had no impact on the main storyline.

The female lead still built her harem as she was meant to and became emperor as she was meant to.

It was just that for some unknown reason, the female lead, after establishing her harem, never patronized the men in it, but instead always came to find her. She wondered if this could also be considered a bug brought about by her transmigration.

“I thought the person Her Majesty fancied would be someone exceptional, but it turns out to be a delicate flower who can’t even lift a thing, and a woman at that.”

While she was lost in these wild thoughts, the men before her had already sized her up and down several times. After confirming that she was fragile and couldn’t stand up to a gust of wind and was no “opponent” of theirs, they suddenly relaxed and switched on their mockery mode toward her.

Su Yi sat quietly in her chair, letting them be passive-aggressive, until they had finished a round. Seeing that she had no reaction made them even more uncomfortable. However, speaking to her was like punching a fist into cotton; she wouldn’t even talk back. It was utterly boring. And if they wanted to get physical, the guards Ji Qingchi had left to protect her were no pushovers. Thus, after a few rounds of talking, the men left, their interest having waned.

Only that man who looked ethereal and scheming gave her one last look before leaving.

Not long after they left, she received another uninvited guest: the much-revered High Priest of Huachen Kingdom.

According to the original book’s setting, he would also become a member of Ji Qingchi’s harem in the future, and what’s more, he would be her Emperor Consort.

But as of now, he was still an unwelcome person in the imperial palace of Yanxue.

According to Ji Qingchi, he was exceptionally strange and knew some kind of sorcery. On the battlefield, he was impossible to guard against. He had once ambushed their rear supply lines by appearing out of thin air right next to the provisions. Before their men could react, he had set fire to the grain and fodder. If Ji Qingchi hadn’t arrived in time, the entire granary would have likely been finished.

The moment she saw him, Su Yi subconsciously glanced at the guards beside the palace hall. Logically, upon seeing such a dangerous figure, the guards should have sprung into action long ago, but the guards at the entrance were still standing ramrod straight, their eyes fixed forward.

“Don’t waste your energy. They can’t see me.” Sensing her small movement, the dangerous man smiled faintly. “The only one who can see me is you.”

Su Yi tilted her head. “Are you sure you have the right person? Her Majesty isn’t here.”

The palace was abuzz with rumors that this High Priest of Huachen was crazy with his desire to become the Emperor Consort, pestering Her Majesty time and again, shamelessly pushing himself on her and saying he could help her, on the condition that he be made Emperor Consort.

“The one I’m looking for is you.” The man looked down on her with a superior tone. “Do you know that you are a person who brings calamity to the world? It is because of your obstruction, with Her Majesty’s heart set only on love and passion, that she has yet to unify the world.”

“Is that so? I really didn’t have a clue.”

This High Priest of Huachen is truly a psychopath. He was the High Priest of Huachen Kingdom. If Ji Qingchi unified the world, wouldn’t she have to destroy Huachen? For him to help someone else destroy his own country was truly the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog.

Her indifferent attitude seemed to infuriate him. “You are a sinner, and a sinner deserves to be punished.”

After saying this, he raised his hand. A streak of light shot from his fingertip—something like a phoenix tree seed—and struck her body. Upon touching her skin, it disappeared.

He moved too quickly for Su Yi to dodge. She was secretly alarmed, but her face remained calm. “What did you do?”

“Merely returning fate to its proper track,” the man said with a profound smile, and then vanished.

Su Yi wasn’t sure what trick he had played, but since no one around knew about it, telling them would likely be met with disbelief, so she buried the matter in her heart.

A few days later, Su Yi suddenly developed a fever. It was high and wouldn’t subside. After searching for famous doctors to no avail, Ji Qingchi stood guard over her, transferring true qi to her bit by bit, and only then did her high fever finally break.

Feng Ruoqing, together with Xue Zhining, a refugee who had fled from Huachen, studied her for several days before they figured out that Su Yi had been poisoned.

After several sleepless days, Ji Qingchi’s eyes were bloodshot, half from anger and half from fear. She ordered a thorough investigation into who had done it. The Shadow Guards arrested many people, and for a time, a sense of panic pervaded the palace.

As Su Yi’s condition improved, she sat by the window, silently watching the guards and palace maids hurry past outside.

Gancao came over with a cloak and advised her, “Young Miss, it’s windy here. Her Majesty said you’d best not sit here.”

Yan Shen placed a bowl of snow pear and bird’s nest porridge in front of her. “Young Miss, are you still thinking about who administered the poison?”

Before Su Yi could reply, Gancao said indignantly, “Who else could it be? Everyone in the palace says it was the fine work of those Lords.”

Yan Shen patted her and chided, “It seems the hardships you suffered outside weren’t enough. You’re still running your mouth. What will you do if you offend someone?”

Su Yi’s hand, holding the porridge bowl, paused. “What hardships did you suffer?”

Yan Shen said, “After we were separated from you, Young Miss, we didn’t have the silver to return to Fengcheng, so we stayed in the capital doing odd jobs for people. This girl here got beaten and scolded by her employers several times because she couldn’t hold her tongue.”

After speaking, she asked Su Yi somewhat cautiously, “Young Miss… the hardships you suffered, were they even greater?”

Su Yi had never told them about what she had encountered after ending up in Huachen, but one could imagine it couldn’t have been good. After all, they had vaguely heard that Her Majesty had brought the Young Miss back from a brothel.

Su Yi shook her head. “What I went through was nothing.”

She was smart enough to know how to protect herself. The women she had met at Fanhua Tower were the truly pitiful ones.

Yan Shen knew she didn’t want to talk about it, so she didn’t ask further. Gancao was simple-minded and never overthought things. Seeing that the Young Miss wasn’t angry with her, she continued to ask, “Young Miss, why don’t you tell Her Majesty about the day those Lords came to provoke you?”

Su Yi shook her head. “Do you all think Her Majesty doesn’t know who administered the poison?”

She probably knew in her heart who did it the very moment she learned I was poisoned.

But her several Lords were not to be trifled with. The forces behind them were immense. To move against them easily was as difficult as ascending to heaven. She could only remove their power bit by bit, like scraping away rotten flesh—if you use too much force, you’ll hit the bone and injure the sinews.

“Her Majesty has her own difficulties. We just need to be well-behaved.”

Half a month later, Su Yi had mostly recovered. Ji Qingchi came to see her. In a moment of intense passion, she couldn’t resist pressing her down on the chaise again.

Her long hair cascaded across the pillow like satin, making Ji Qingchi unable to put it down.

Hooking a lock of hair around her finger, she stared at the person beneath her with a burning gaze. “Zhen has had someone collect all the evidence of the Chancellor’s crimes. Tomorrow, Xiao Zhengyun will be escorted to the great prison with his mother. That demonic brat from Changsheng Valley had his acupoints sealed by Xue Zhining and was bitten to death by his own gu insects. Hua Wuying has taken control of Xuanji Tower. Hua Wushang had his martial arts and meridians crippled by her and was thrown into the mass graves.”

“Why is Your Majesty telling this servant all this?”

Ji Qingchi slowly lowered her head, her forehead touching Su Yi’s. “My rear palace… only has you left.”

“If Your Majesty feels it’s not enough, you can always expand it again.”

Ji Qingchi was choked by her words. She felt that it wasn’t that Su Yi didn’t understand. She had already been this explicit; what more did Su Yi want from her?

Su Yi doesn’t trust me, just as I didn’t trust her in the beginning.

A pang struck Ji Qingchi’s heart. She said no more, untying her sash and using her actions to express her grievance and anger.

When Yan Shen and Gancao were called to help Su Yi bathe, they were startled by the marks on her body. Gancao’s tears streamed down her face. “Young Miss, does it hurt?”

Su Yi shook her head. Her skin was just delicate; even the slightest bit of force would leave a bruise.

Yan Shen’s eyes were also moist. “Young Miss, Her Majesty treats you so well, you should stop being angry with her.”

“You don’t understand.” Su Yi shook her head. Love comes quickly, and it goes quickly too. Who could guarantee that after Ji Qingchi obtained her heart, she wouldn’t discard her like a worn-out shoe?

Only what is unattainable can hook the young emperor’s heart, can make her heart scratch and her lungs claw¹¹, make her pursue it, make her yearn for it. Only then will she cherish it, treat it like a precious treasure.

The human heart is the most complex thing.

She had seen too many tragic examples in Fanhua Tower, including abandonment between women. She didn’t trust Ji Qingchi because of how Ji Qingchi had treated her at the very beginning. She couldn’t bring herself to trust her.

And… she had a faint feeling that the High Priest had definitely done something to her. Ever since that incident, she had been feeling increasingly weary these days, with no strength and no appetite.

She hadn’t told Ji Qingchi about her symptoms, because now was not the time. She couldn’t make a move against that High Priest yet.

Huachen Kingdom was strong and prosperous. At present, the Yanxue Kingdom could not support a war against them.

Looking at her two still-dazed maids, Su Yi sighed. “Cough cough… Yan Shen, Gancao, come here. I have something to tell you.”

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