When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 154

Volume Seven: The Years I Was a General

Destroy

Donghua Gate is the palace gate closest to Zhongming Hall; it only takes half a shichen to exit the imperial palace.

Fengyan hugged Wen Nuan tightly, her trembling hand gripping the imperially bestowed gold medallion. She continuously comforted herself and Wen Nuan.

“We are about to escape the imperial palace, Wen Nuan-gege, we are about to leave. Just endure a little longer, we are about to….”

The horse carriage suddenly stopped sharply. The horse seemed to have been startled by something and was neighing and jumping continuously. The carriage could not withstand the horse’s sudden agitation and crashed directly into the palace wall.

Fengyan hugged Wen Nuan, and the two of them crashed against the carriage wall. She paid no mind to the pain in her arm and shouted, “What’s going on?”

Outside the carriage, no one answered her. It was quiet, as if everyone had died. A surge of oppressive and terrifying feeling instantly froze Fengyan.

She settled Wen Nuan down, got up cautiously, and pulled open the cloth curtain. When she saw the sharp arrow on the carriage, her face instantly turned white. She was immediately so frightened that her legs went soft, and she almost fell out of the carriage.

Fengyan’s eyes widened as she looked around. She saw that the palace road, both in front and behind, as well as the city walls above it, were filled with Imperial Guards. They held bows and arrows, the sharp arrows already nocked. With a single command, these thousands of sharp arrows would shoot her and Wen Nuan into a bloody pulp.

Fengyan thought her carriage had startled the imperial city’s Imperial Guards. She immediately took out the imperially bestowed gold medallion and shouted, “I am Commandery Princess Fengyan, and I have the Emperor’s imperially bestowed gold medallion in hand, which is as if Her Majesty herself has arrived.”

“This Commandery Princess wishes to leave the palace and return to my residence, with no intention of disturbing the imperial city’s Imperial Guards. Quickly withdraw your weapons and do not intercept this Commandery Princess’s carriage. Violators will be regarded as defying an imperial edict and showing disrespect, scorning imperial might!”

Fengyan thought that with the imperially bestowed gold medallion to awe the crowd, the Imperial Guards would let them leave. However, these Imperial Guards were struck by lightning and not moving¹, still maintaining their archery posture. The sharp arrow tips reflected a cold light, causing Fengyan to tremble uncontrollably, with cold sweat dripping.

She raised the imperially bestowed gold medallion high and berated them, “Look clearly! This is the gold medallion the Emperor personally bestowed upon this Commandery Princess. It is supreme and paramount. Whoever dares to disobey this Commandery Princess’s decree is openly defying the Emperor’s decree! Quickly let this Commandery Princess leave the imperial palace, otherwise this Commandery Princess will immediately report to the Emperor and have all of you lawless² and rebellious officials and traitors beheaded.”

The Imperial Guards still did not move. Their gazes were fixed tightly on Fengyan. They were waiting for a command, a command to shoot them to death immediately.

Fengyan’s expression instantly became extremely unsightly. The hand holding the gold medallion trembled nonstop. She swallowed hard. “This Commandery Princess commands you to get lost! Do not block this Commandery Princess’s path, otherwise this Commandery Princess will kill you on the spot with no questions asked!”

The Imperial Guards moved. Fengyan watched as the guards at the rear parted to the sides.

She looked in terror at the person walking forward, her face like a sheet of white paper, scared completely pale.

“Fengyan, you have greatly disappointed Zhen.” Xiao Chuyu said in a faint voice, looking at the terrified Fengyan.

Fengyan’s body suddenly tensed, and her legs gave way as she knelt on the ground. In a trembling voice, she said, “Emperor…”

“Emperor?” Xiao Chuyu smiled mockingly. “In the eyes of you, Commandery Princess Fengyan, is there still Zhen, this Emperor?”

“Fengyan… it’s not like that…” She held her breath, her hands twisting nervously. “Fengyan did not disrespect Your Majesty. Fengyan only… only wanted to leave the palace and return to my residence, and unintentionally disturbed the Imperial Guards. It is Fengyan’s fault. I ask Your Majesty to please forgive Fengyan’s rashness.”

“Rashness?” Xiao Chuyu let out a short laugh, as if she had heard a joke.

She looked towards the carriage. “Are you returning to your residence alone? How does Zhen remember it, you came to the palace with three servant girls.”

With Xiao Chuyu’s reminder, Fengyan suddenly wondered where the servant girl who was driving the carriage had gone.

“Are you looking for her?”

Fengyan looked over and saw a woman with an arrow in her chest fall in front of her. Fresh blood splattered on her face. She looked at the woman who died with her eyes open³ and screamed, “Ah——”

Xiao Chuyu looked with surprise at Fengyan’s terrified, shrinking figure. “Isn’t this the servant girl who drove the carriage for you? Why is Fengyan so scared?”

“Or perhaps this isn’t the servant girl Fengyan was looking for?” Xiao Chuyu moved her fingers, and another woman’s corpse was thrown in front of Fengyan.

This person’s state of death was even more tragic. There wasn’t a single piece of intact skin or flesh on her entire body, as if she had been subjected to a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices. Only her face could be clearly recognized as the servant girl who had just pretended to be Gu Wen Nuan in Zhongming Hall.

“And the servant girl you were actually looking for is this one?”

Fengyan was so frightened by the bloody pulp of a corpse that she screamed shrilly. She grabbed her head with both hands and retreated continuously until her back was against a wheel. Her pair of almond eyes were so wide with fear they looked as if they would fall out of their sockets.

She trembled nonstop, shaking her head, as if she were trying her utmost to deny something.

Xiao Chuyu looked at the stunned Fengyan and rubbed the archer’s ring⁴ on her thumb. She slowly walked towards Fengyan. When she reached the bloody corpse, fresh blood stained her white boots.

She walked in front of Fengyan and looked down at her. “Zhen will ask you one more time, is there anyone else in the carriage?”

Fengyan shook her head violently, murmuring nonstop, “No one left, no one left…”

Xiao Chuyu’s smile vanished, and the gloom in her eyes deepened by several degrees. “Fengyan, look at that bloody pulp of a corpse. Do you want to become like her?”

Fengyan didn’t dare to look, she didn’t dare to look.

But even when she squeezed her eyes shut, that blood-drenched corpse still flashed unceasingly before her eyes.

“It seems you really like her, huh?” Xiao Chuyu clapped her hands a few times, looked at the carriage, and laughed loudly. “I didn’t expect you two to truly be depending on each other in life and death, unchanging until death, never abandoning each other even in the face of death, never betraying each other, hahaha…”

Her fingers brushed past her eyes, as if she had laughed until tears came out. “This is truly great. Zhen is truly very happy that Fengyan could find such a good person⁵. Zhen is extremely gratified, hahaha….”

Fengyan’s gaze flickered. She curled into herself, watching Xiao Chuyu laugh nonstop. That laughter was bone-chillingly cold, filled with endless despair and sorrow.

“Since you two are so deeply in love, so unafraid of life and death, how about this,” Xiao Chuyu’s expression was sinister, her smile twisted, “Zhen will give you a great gift, how about it?”

Fengyan did not dare to agree.

Xiao Chuyu did not look at Fengyan. Her expression was icy and bloodthirsty as she stared at the motionless carriage and said gently, “Zhen will give you…”

She raised her hand, and all the Imperial Guards stood ready. “Ten thousand arrows piercing the heart.”

Fengyan was terrified. She scrambled to get up, wanting to climb onto the carriage, but was yanked back down by Xiao Chuyu.

Xiao Chuyu grabbed Fengyan’s hair, forcing her to raise her head and look at herself. “What? You want to die in the same place as Gu Wen Nuan?”

Tears streamed down Fengyan’s face, her chin trembling.

“Zhen will specifically not let you die in the same place. After you are dead, Zhen will grind Gu Wen Nuan’s bones to dust and scatter the ashes⁶, so that you cannot be together in life, and cannot be together in death.”

Fengyan looked at the carriage in despair and helplessness. She gasped for breath, so choked with sobs that she could no longer speak a single word.

“Fengyan, among all of Zhen’s sisters, Zhen doted on you the most,” Xiao Chuyu’s fingers stroked her brow bone, her gentle gaze instantly turning cruel, “but you are the one who has chilled Zhen’s heart and disappointed Zhen the most. You have provoked and defied Zhen time and time again without knowing your place.”

“Now, you even dare to touch Zhen’s person. How can you expect Zhen to spare you?” Xiao Chuyu’s tone carried a hint of pity. “But you don’t need to be too sad. Zhen still dotes on you. Zhen will send your relatives over to accompany you, so you won’t be lonely.”

Fengyan looked at Xiao Chuyu in disbelief, shaking her head frantically and pleading through her tears, “Your Majesty, Fengyan was wrong… Fengyan was wrong…”

She had never thought that Xiao Chuyu would implicate her relatives. It didn’t matter if she died, but she could not bring harm to her family.

Xiao Chuyu released her and lowered her eyes. “It’s too late. As soon as you die, Zhen will let your family be reunited.”

“Don’t… Your Majesty, Fengyan begs you…” Fengyan grabbed the corner of Xiao Chuyu’s robes, begging for mercy. “Fengyan alone will take responsibility for my actions. It was Fengyan who didn’t know her place, who didn’t know life from death. I beg Your Majesty to just kill me alone….”

Xiao Chuyu looked coldly at the carriage and raised her hand.

Seeing this, Yuan Qi shouted loudly, “Archers, prepare——”

The Imperial Guards all drew their bows.

Fengyan was terrified. She hurriedly hugged Xiao Chuyu’s leg, crying and shouting herself hoarse, “Emperor, Fengyan truly… knows my mistake. Fengyan begs you, even if the Emperor… puts Fengyan through a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices, Fengyan is willing. Emperor….”

Xiao Chuyu looked at the still-motionless carriage, her brow furrowed tightly, and she sneered, “Gu Wen Nuan, can you only hide behind Fengyan and drag out a meager existence?”

“With just one command from Zhen, this carriage cannot protect you at all. You will be pierced by ten thousand arrows and die without a complete corpse.”

“Gu Wen Nuan, this is the consequence of betraying Zhen!”

“I did not betray you.”

The system had a hard time electrocuting Wen Nuan awake. Seeing that as soon as Wen Nuan woke up, she was roaring at it as her blackening value increased and was about to break the maximum value, it told Wen Nuan to quickly think of a solution.

Xiao Chuyu’s brow twitched. She looked at Gu Wen Nuan who walked out. She was wearing Fengyan’s yellow clothes, dressed as a woman, a dazzling sight.

Wen Nuan jumped down from the carriage, walked before Xiao Chuyu, and looked at Fengyan, who was about to cry herself into unconsciousness. Unable to bear it, she said, “I did not betray you. Fengyan was afraid I would be killed by Your Majesty, so she drugged me to take me out of the imperial palace.”

Xiao Chuyu let out a cold laugh. “You think Zhen will believe this false rhetoric of yours?”

She pointed at Fengyan. “In order to take you out of the palace, she didn’t even want her life, even casting the future of the Prince Pingli’s Manor to the back of her mind. You think Zhen would actually believe that Fengyan had to drug you to take you away?”

Xiao Chuyu grabbed Wen Nuan’s collar and said mockingly, “Zhen thinks you couldn’t wait to leave the imperial palace with Fengyan, am I right?”

“She was just anxious to save me and did something foolish,” Wen Nuan knelt on the ground and pleaded, “I am willing to stay and be dealt with by Your Majesty. I request that Your Majesty let Fengyan and the Prince Pingli’s Manor go.”

Fengyan did it to save her; she appreciated this sentiment. Thinking of their old friendship from growing up together, she also had no need to implicate the lives of innocent people.

“Don’t, don’t,” Fengyan crawled to Wen Nuan’s side, begging Xiao Chuyu for mercy, “Fengyan is willing to die together with Wen Nuan-gege. I request that Your Majesty not implicate Fengyan’s family…”

Xiao Chuyu looked at the two of them, appearing so deeply in love, and rage and venom surged from the bottom of her heart. She looked at Fengyan and smiled maliciously, “Fengyan, you like Gu Wen Nuan that much?”

Fengyan nodded and said, “In this one life, Fengyan will only love Wen Nuan alone.”

Wen Nuan: “….”

She wanted to make it clear to Fengyan that she really didn’t have those kinds of feelings for her. Why was this child so stubborn?

“Hehe,” Xiao Chuyu laughed, asking with ill intent, “Then why don’t you guess, why did Zhen imprison Gu Wen Nuan, who was clearly being punished in the Zhaoyu, in Zhongming Hall instead?”

Fengyan hurriedly said, “It’s because Wen Nuan-gege’s old injuries relapsed, and Your Majesty was considerate of Wen Nuan-gege, so that’s why you imprisoned Wen Nuan-gege in Zhongming Hall.”

“So that’s what you told Fengyan, huh?” Xiao Chuyu looked at Wen Nuan, her gaze cold.

Wen Nuan couldn’t very well tell Fengyan that she was rolling in the sheets with Xiao Chuyu every day in Zhongming Hall, could she?!

Hearing these words, Fengyan paused, looking at Wen Nuan and Xiao Chuyu in a daze.

Xiao Chuyu raised a hand to touch Wen Nuan’s brow bone, her fingertip tracing down the bridge of her nose and landing on her lips.

Fengyan’s heart panicked at Xiao Chuyu’s ambiguous action. She trembled, calling out to them helplessly, “Your Majesty… Wen Nuan-gege…”

“Your Wen Nuan-gege was only partially right. As for the other part, do you want to know it?”

A sense of unease surged in Fengyan’s heart. She didn’t want to hear it, but the question slipped out of her mouth, “…What is it?”

Xiao Chuyu’s smile was wicked, her expression both smug and mocking. “Your Wen Nuan-gege served a person with her looks. The reason she went from the Zhaoyu to Zhongming Hall is because every night, she had to please Zhen, to serve Zhen.”

Fengyan was as if struck by lightning, muttering in disbelief, “Impossible… impossible….”

“How is it impossible?” Xiao Chuyu’s palm slid down, touching Wen Nuan’s neck, collarbone, and chest. “Zhen knows Gu Wen Nuan’s sensitive spots, Zhen knows the pattern on Gu Wen Nuan’s chest, Zhen knows where to touch Gu Wen Nuan to make her feel very comfortable, Zhen knows her little quirks when she’s aroused…”

“It’s not, it’s not..” Fengyan abruptly cut her off. She looked at Wen Nuan with a helpless expression. “Wen Nuan-gege, what Her Majesty is saying is false, right? Is Her Majesty lying to Fengyan?”

Just as Wen Nuan was about to open her mouth to admit it, she was pulled over by Xiao Chuyu, and a patch of warmth covered her lips. She met a pair of eyes that were full of ill intent and icy despair.

Wen Nuan was slightly stunned, which gave Xiao Chuyu an opportunity. A nimble tongue invaded and conquered, completely defeating Fengyan.

Fengyan watched the two people kissing in front of her. Gu Wen Nuan did not resist Xiao Chuyu’s kiss. The two were so harmonious and intimate, while she, from beginning to end, was just an outsider.

She could no longer shed tears. She stared blankly at the two of them, infinite sorrow in her heart.

Xiao Chuyu bit Wen Nuan fiercely, drawing blood from her lip, then extended the tip of her tongue to lick it away. “Does it hurt?”

Wen Nuan gave a faint smile. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Xiao Chuyu also smiled, stroking Wen Nuan’s cheek. “It’s fine. In a moment, when the ten thousand arrows pierce your heart, I’ll let you have your fill of pain.”

“Let Fengyan go, let Ji Bei go, and I will be at your disposal.”

A cold sneer hooked Xiao Chuyu’s crimson lips. “How can you make Zhen believe you, Gu Wen Nuan? Zhen will not fall in the same pit twice.”

Since I cannot keep you, then I will destroy you.

“Xiao Chuyu, have you ever truly believed me?”

Xiao Chuyu looked into Wen Nuan’s eyes. A trace of disappointment and sorrow surfaced in those eyes, like a basin of cold water splashed in her face, drenching her through.

“How could Zhen believe you?” Xiao Chuyu said through gritted teeth. “Now… how can you make Zhen believe you?”

Wen Nuan grabbed her icy hand. “I did not betray you, did not plan to roam to the ends of the earth with Fengyan to live a carefree and happy life, did not serve a person with my looks in order to live, and never showed you love against my heart.”

“Xiao Chuyu, I’ve said all this, do you believe me or not?”

Her fingertips paused slightly. Xiao Chuyu’s brow was tightly furrowed, her expression savage as she growled, “Gu Wen Nuan, I.. I….”

If what Wen Nuan said was all true, then she didn’t dare to believe it. She was not worthy of believing it.

Wen Nuan was filled with a sense of loss. She looked at the dazed Fengyan. “Fengyan, from beginning to end, I have always seen you as a younger sister. The marriage agreement between us was set when we were children; neither of us could change it. When I returned three years ago, I originally wanted to cancel the engagement with you, to set you free, to let you find a better person. Unfortunately, some things happened, and it was delayed.”

Fengyan’s long lashes trembled as she looked at Wen Nuan with disappointment.

“Now that the marriage agreement between us has been dissolved, I am very happy, and happy for you, because I know I am not your good person. I am a woman. I know you have long been aware of this. I imagine it was that time you accidentally barged into my room and saw. At that time, I thought you would take the initiative to dissolve the engagement, but I never expected you to hide it.”

A slight look of astonishment flashed in Xiao Chuyu’s eyes.

“You said you wanted to marry the most handsome, most courageous, and most knowledgeable man in this world. Unfortunately, I am not a man. Now I am heavily injured, and I’m afraid I don’t have many days left to live, so courage is probably out of the question. As for being knowledgeable, I naturally cannot rival Chancellor Ye’s intelligence. That only leaves this handsome appearance, which was given by my parents and cannot be changed.”

“Now, I’m afraid this one point no longer meets your requirements either.”

Fengyan looked at Wen Nuan in confusion, not understanding the meaning of her words.

Xiao Chuyu’s eyes showed bewilderment. The next second, her eyes flew open as she watched Wen Nuan remove the hairpin from her hair and slash it viciously at her own cheek.

“Don’t——”

The sharp hairpin easily cut through the delicate skin of her cheek. The spurting blood dyed Fengyan’s eyes red.

She began to wail, her heart and lungs splitting, “Ahhhh…..”

Xiao Chuyu stared blankly at Wen Nuan. On that originally handsome face, a bloody wound had appeared, running across the entire visage, savage and cruel.

Her eye sockets ached terribly, and tears instantly blurred her vision.

“Gu Wen Nuan…” she called out, trembling.

Wen Nuan pulled the trembling Xiao Chuyu into her arms, shielding her from the growing rain, and coaxed softly, “Chuchu, don’t cry. It doesn’t hurt.”

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