When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 153

Volume Seven: The Years I Was a General

Killing Sin¹

These past few days, Xiao Chuyu had been avoiding Wen Nuan, not even returning to Zhongming Hall to sleep, instead sleeping directly in the Imperial Study. This made Wen Nuan feel rather dull and disinterested these past few days, finding it difficult to sleep on a lonely pillow.

【Why don’t you take the initiative to strike?】 the System gave Wen Nuan a suggestion, 【As the saying goes, “if the mountain will not come to me, I will go to the mountain”². Since the female lead has been sleeping in the Imperial Study, you should just go to the Imperial Study to find her.】

“I’d like to, but the key is that I can’t get out,” Wen Nuan lifted her chin toward the doorway, “You also know that as long as I take one step out that door, the long sabers of the Imperial Guard will be placed against my neck.”

【Your Qinggong is excellent, fly out.】

“Forget it. I don’t want Xiao Chuyu to think I’m trying to escape again, and then I’ll be locked back in the Zhaoyu for severe punishment and torture. If that happens, you can forget about eliminating the Blackening Value.”

Since it concerned the Blackening Value, the System no longer dared to give suggestions casually. The female lead of this mission world was too extreme. In Xiao Chuyu’s perception, Wen Nuan would definitely hate her and would definitely try to find a way to escape. It was like an obsession carved deep into her soul; no matter what Wen Nuan did, it was impossible to make the female lead trust or feel at ease with her.

The weather today was not very good, gloomy and overcast. The Imperial Bureau of Astronomy said there would be rain in the afternoon, and after this rain passed, the weather would finally become completely warm.

Wen Nuan sat on the stone steps, staring blankly at the dim sky, when she suddenly heard someone call her name.

She looked toward the sound and saw Fengyan standing at the entrance, waving at her, “Wen Nuan-gege——”

“Fengyan?” Wen Nuan beckoned for her to come in.

Seeing this, the Imperial Guard originally did not want to let Fengyan enter Zhongming Hall, but when they saw Fengyan take out the imperially bestowed gold plaque³ the Emperor had given her, they could only let Fengyan and her maidservant enter together.

“Why have you come?” Wen Nuan looked at the ever-thickening dark clouds, “It’s going to rain today. Why not stay at home properly, what are you doing out?”

Fengyan smiled charmingly: “Fengyan promised Wen Nuan-gege. Today, Fengyan finally managed to find the time to see Wen Nuan-gege. I don’t care if it rains or if the wind blows, nothing can stop Fengyan’s heart that wants to see you.”

It just so happened that Wen Nuan was bored, so it was good to have someone come over to chat with her.

“Then let’s go inside. Looking at the sky, it’s about to rain.”

“Alright.” Fengyan glanced around Zhongming Hall and gave the pink-clothed maidservant to her right a look.

Wen Nuan led Fengyan to sit in the outer hall. A few days ago, Xiao Chuyu had placed a table and chairs in Zhongming Hall, but it was only a table and chairs, causing the outer hall to look empty and desolate.

Fengyan said: “Is this….” Robbed by a thief?

Why is the Emperor’s sleeping hall so empty?!

Wen Nuan explained: “Her Majesty has taken a liking to simplicity recently and doesn’t like too many ornaments placed in the sleeping hall. It looks disorderly and vexes the heart.”

“Is that so,” Fengyan smiled, “When Fengyan returns, I will also learn from Her Majesty and keep everything simple.”

“Mm, mm.” Wen Nuan agreed perfunctorily.

She couldn’t very well tell Fengyan that Xiao Chuyu was afraid she would escape and had taken away everything that could be used as a weapon, leaving only a bed and a table for her to sleep and eat at.

“That’s right, Wen Nuan-gege,” Fengyan beckoned her maidservant over, “Fengyan personally cooked and made a few dishes for Wen Nuan-gege, and also brought a pot of Qingmei wine⁴, intending to drink and chat freely with Wen Nuan-gege.”

“Fengyan also knows how to cook?”

A prince’s daughter should be one whose ten fingers do not touch the water of spring⁵. How could King Pingli⁶ bear to let Fengyan touch firewood, rice, oil, and salt⁷?

Fengyan smiled shyly: “Back then, I thought that after marrying Wen Nuan-gege, I would cook for Wen Nuan-gege every day.”

“…” Wen Nuan awkwardly rubbed her nose and changed the subject, “What did you make?”

The maidservant took the dishes out of the food box: five dishes and one soup, as well as two plates of pastries. The pastries were very familiar to Wen Nuan, Lotus Flower Crisp and Osmanthus Cake.

Fengyan picked up a piece of fish for Wen Nuan, “Try it. This is carp that was just caught today, the meat is fresh and tender.”

Wen Nuan took a bite. It was indeed delicious, but she felt like something was missing, though she couldn’t say what.

“Not bad, it’s quite tasty.”

“And this,” Fengyan pushed the Osmanthus Cake over, “Isn’t this the pastry that Wen Nuan-gege loves to eat most? Fengyan specially made it for you, have a taste.”

Wen Nuan obliged and took a bite. It was tasty, just not very sweet.

“Also not bad.” A professional fake smile.

“There’s also this Qingmei wine,” Fengyan poured a cup for Wen Nuan, “The wine is clear and cold at first taste, hot and spicy as it enters the throat, and the aftertaste has the fresh fragrance of plums.”

Wen Nuan took a sip, and her eyes lit up: “This wine is good.”

“Of course it’s good,” Fengyan lifted her chin proudly, “This is what Fengyan stole from daddy’s wine cellar.”

“…..”

Wen Nuan sighed for King Pingli: A grown daughter cannot be kept at home⁸.

Fengyan poured another cup of Qingmei wine for Wen Nuan, “If you like it, drink some more.”

“Alright.”

It had been a long time since Wen Nuan had drunk alcohol. Ever since returning to the capital city, she was first locked up by Xiao Chuyu and suffered a round of severe punishment and torture. Later, her internal injuries relapsed, and she was forbidden from all sorts of things by Xiao Chuyu. It was rare to even see meat or fish every day, let alone alcohol.

Fengyan watched Wen Nuan drink cup after cup, seeing her originally clear eyes become increasingly hazy.

She bit her lip, “Wen Nuan-gege, are you still alright?”

Wen Nuan felt a little dizzy. She figured it was because she hadn’t drunk in a long time, and suddenly drinking a lot, her body hadn’t quite adapted. But it was fine, she would just sleep it off in a bit.

“I’m fine, I am a thousand cups and not drunk⁹.” She let out a wine-hiccup, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.

Fengyan was mesmerized by the drunken Wen Nuan. She couldn’t help but reach out and stroke Wen Nuan’s cheek, “Wen Nuan-gege, do you want to leave, to escape from here?”

Wen Nuan’s mind was a bit muddled, and she didn’t quite hear what Fengyan said, only seeing her mouth move.

“What did you say?”

Fengyan moved closer to her, “Fengyan will take Wen Nuan-gege to leave the imperial palace, how about it? From now on, we will roam to the ends of the earth and be a free and happy couple, how about it?”

“….” Wen Nuan’s eyes widened in disbelief. She wanted to refuse Fengyan, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the words that came out were indistinct.

She felt that her tongue was numb, and her mind was growing more and more muddled, her whole person dizzy.

Wen Nuan looked at the Qingmei wine, her trembling finger pointing at the wine pot, “This wine….?”

Something’s not right.

Logically speaking, her alcohol tolerance couldn’t possibly be so poor that just one pot of Qingmei wine could make her drunk to the point of unconsciousness and unable to speak?

Fengyan looked at Wen Nuan with infatuation, holding her swaying and collapsing body, “Wen Nuan-gege, have a good sleep. When you wake up, we will have left the imperial palace.”

Wen Nuan: “….”

What a sin!

In the second before losing consciousness, Wen Nuan frantically called for the System.

Seeing the already unconscious Wen Nuan, Fengyan immediately took off her own clothes and changed them onto Wen Nuan. She then changed into the maidservant’s clothes and had the maidservant stay in Zhongming Hall wearing Wen Nuan’s clothes.

Fengyan looked at the maidservant gratefully. They both knew clearly in their hearts that this parting was a separation by life and death.

The maidservant pretended to be drunk and collapsed on the table to sleep, while Fengyan supported the unconscious Wen Nuan and walked out of Zhongming Hall.

The Imperial Guard guards blocked the three of them. He looked at the person collapsed on Fengyan’s shoulder and said suspiciously: “What’s wrong with the Commandery Princess?”

The maidservant at the side said: “The Commandery Princess and Little General Gu had a few too many cups, and both drank too much. Little General Gu fell asleep inside the hall, and the Commandery Princess has also fallen asleep. We need to take the Commandery Princess back to her residence to rest now.”

The guard looked inside and saw “Wen Nuan” slumped over the table, still holding a wine pot in her hand, looking like she had drunk too much.

Seeing that the guard had become suspicious, the maidservant immediately took out the imperially bestowed gold plaque and scolded: “Hurry up and move aside. If anything happens to the Commandery Princess, can you bear the responsibility?”

The guard glanced at the gold plaque and immediately let them leave.

Fengyan took Wen Nuan out of Zhongming Hall. The group walked quickly to the entrance of Jingfu Palace and hurriedly boarded a horse carriage.

She immediately shouted: “Go, quickly!”

The driver cracked the whip, and the spirited horses galloped on the palace road.

They had to get out of Donghua Gate before the fake identity of the “Wen Nuan” in Zhongming Hall was discovered.

The guard still felt it was strange. Why did Commandery Princess Fengyan seem a bit taller than before?

And the maidservant supporting Commandery Princess Fengyan had a slender figure, as if she couldn’t support the Commandery Princess at all. When the two of them left, they were swaying, and several times that maidservant almost dropped the Commandery Princess.

Thinking of this, a sudden alarm went off in the guard’s head. They immediately rushed into Zhongming Hall and saw that the drunken person at the table was not Gu Wen Nuan at all.

“Quickly go report to Her Majesty, Little General Gu has run away!”

Just as the Imperial Guard was about to go to the Imperial Study, they saw Xiao Chuyu walk in from outside the hall with a gloomy expression. The members of the Imperial Guard knelt on the ground, “This subordinate was ineffective in handling matters, I beg the Emperor to punish me.”

That maidservant knew her identity had been exposed. Kneeling on the ground, her face showed no fear or panic. She had long been prepared to go to her death. The Commandery Princess had promised to take good care of her family; she had no regrets.

Xiao Chuyu looked at the empty Zhongming Hall, no longer having the sight of Gu Wen Nuan smilingly rushing up to ask about this and that whenever she returned.

It was clearly already early summer, so why did Xiao Chuyu feel a coldness spreading through her body, as if all the blood in her body had been frozen solid, and a wave of pain seized her heart.

“Gu Wen Nuan,” Xiao Chuyu smiled, her voice low and hoarse, filled with irony, “I didn’t expect you to still lie to me. To escape from me, you have truly been wronged during this time.”

Yuan Qi looked at the Emperor. He could feel that the lonely figure before him was exuding a thick sense of sorrow and despair.

Xiao Chuyu lowered her eyes, looking at the maidservant: “What benefit did Fengyan give you, to make you willing to go to your death?”

The maidservant kept her mouth shut and did not answer.

“Very good, very loyal.” Xiao Chuyu stepped on her fingers, grinding down hard.

“Ah——” the maidservant cried out in pain.

Xiao Chuyu sneered coldly: “Does it hurt?”

Is it as painful as what she is feeling right now?

The maidservant did not dare to touch Xiao Chuyu; she was already streaming with tears from the pain.

Xiao Chuyu gave the maidservant, whose face was covered in snot and tears, a disgusted look, then turned to leave, her voice faint, “Have her relatives seized and flayed alive in front of her.”

Since Fengyan gave you hope, then she will personally let you see how hope is shattered.

How about you all experience this kind of heart-tearing, lung-splitting pain?

The maidservant looked at Xiao Chuyu in disbelief, crying and shouting: “Your Majesty… Your Majesty… it is this slave-servant’s fault alone, this slave-servant is willing to bear it all alone…..”

Yuan Qi’s heart trembled, “Yes.”

He looked at the Imperial Guard, “Take her away.”

“No… Your Majesty…. I beg you to spare this slave-servant’s family… Your Majesty….” The maidservant was dragged away by the Imperial Guard, her shrill pleas for mercy echoing throughout the imperial palace, causing the faces of all who heard to change color.

Yuan Qi immediately followed Xiao Chuyu, “Your Majesty, this old slave has already sent people to pursue them. Your Majesty, do not worry, we will definitely be able to bring Little General Gu back.”

“And what if she is brought back?” Xiao Chuyu’s expression was momentarily at a loss, “Her heart, in the end, is not with Zhen.”

No matter what she did, Gu Wen Nuan wanted to escape from her, wanted to betray her.

“…Then how does Your Majesty wish to deal with Little General Gu and… Commandery Princess Fengyan?”

Xiao Chuyu closed her eyes and tilted her head up, feeling the fine, dense drizzle fall on her face. The ice-cold rainwater seemed to penetrate her skin, smashing her heart into smithereens.

A cruel arc hooked the corner of her mouth, yet her tone was as gentle as water, “Since she cannot be kept, then kill her.”

Yuan Qi was stunned.

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