The princess’s feelings struck a chord with Chu Yunge.
Because she was the second child her parents had borne solely to save her older brother.
Her brother suffered from a rare blood disease with symptoms similar to the emperor’s—they both could not see the sun—and the only method was to use umbilical cord blood from a relative to rebuild the blood.
But the umbilical cord blood could not be used; their whole family had panda blood, so she became her brother’s blood bank.
Her mother was a doctor who constantly drew her blood, waiting for a medical breakthrough. If there was no breakthrough, she might have to be his blood bank for life, with a hopeless existence, forever stuck on a blood-replenishing diet, and no one caring about her.
Her parents never tried to bond with her emotionally; from the start, they had positioned her as a blood bank and ignored her. Later, she finally donated bone marrow for her brother’s surgery, his body improved at last, and she was freed, so she chose to leave.
But unexpectedly, a few years later, her brother’s illness relapsed, and her mother wanted her to return. She did not want to go back and refused.
In the end, she still fell victim. The mineral water she bought had been injected with drugs beforehand. When she woke up, she had already been locked away.
When she transmigrated over, she had already been locked up for a month and had her blood drawn for a month.
Both were blood banks with biased mothers, but the princess had it worse—no tools for drawing blood; they simply sliced open her wrists raw.
The scars on the princess’s wrists ran one after another, never truly healing.
Originally born with a robust body, the princess had now become a sickly beauty.
The court officials and common folk only knew the princess as debauched, absurd, cruel, and vicious, indulged by the empress dowager and the emperor, yet they did not know the princess was also a pitiable person. Those exquisite bracelets that made countless women gasp in admiration and envy—like the Gold Filigree Floral Dragon-pattern Bracelet, the Gold Filigree Aquatic Clan Bracelet, and others—were merely tools to cover her wounds.
Her arrogance and willfulness had all been forced by the emperor and the empress dowager, and even deliberately orchestrated by the emperor.
Clearly, the emperor only needed to drink one bowl to maintain normal life, yet because he did not want to endure headaches and weakness, he insisted on two bowls. In the end, the one suffering from headaches, anemia, and pain became the princess.
The princess endured endless torment, her temper grew explosive, and thus the emperor, whenever he took a dislike to someone or wanted to achieve some goal, could casually use a little scheme to make the princess take the brunt and play the villain.
For example, with Xie Wangze: the emperor did not want to let the tiger return to the mountain, yet also wanted to keep Chen State in check, so he made the princess forcibly marry him as prince consort. Xie Wangze put on a reluctant face but went along with it smoothly, achieving his goal while gaining a good reputation.
Chu Yunge shook her head. “What a massive pure, kind, unaffected white lotus flower.”
Every time, through her affairs, the emperor earned a reputation for wisdom. The worse her reputation became, the better his grew. Everyone loved the emperor, praised the emperor, and upon mentioning the princess, their faces filled with disgust.
Even the palace maids by her side were like this, adoring the emperor and racking their brains to get to his side.
Even her prince consort, the face consort she had snatched, would in the end fall in love with the emperor.
Chu Yunge covered her mouth. “Isn’t this the perfect control group?”
No wonder the princess hated and loathed the emperor so much.
“Sucking my blood, making me suffer so much, and making me take the blame to ruin my reputation—what brother? He’s nothing but a venomous snake.”
In the future, she had to guard against the emperor, and keep her distance from Xie Wangze and the others.
As she thought this, Du Ruo’s announcing voice came from outside.
“Your Highness, Young Master Li requests an audience.” Du Ruo noticed Chu Yunge seething with anger and decided to first find someone for the princess to vent on.
“Young Master Li?” Chu Yunge pondered. Among the emperor’s CP partners, there did not seem to be anyone surnamed Li.
Moments later, a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth in red clothes walked in.
The youth had a slender, lithe figure, a palm-sized face, big eyes with double eyelids. One glance made him seem refreshingly pure.
Chu Yunge raised a brow. Little milk dog.
He came at just the right time; her wounded heart needed comfort.
She knew that in such a massive fictional world, it could not all be pure love; there were still normal men.
Seeing the youth, three words automatically flashed in Chu Yunge’s mind—little mute.
No wonder his name was Guangi; a true gentleman observes chess without speaking.
It was just that his clothes were too red. Chu Yunge frowned slightly.
Li Guangi was the pitiable little one whose father, after his mother’s death upon his entry as a son-in-law, immediately seized the family assets and took a stepmother. Because he refused to change his surname, his ruthless father despised him.
Because of Chu Yunge’s frown, the little pitiable one grew even more nervous. After bowing, he mustered his courage, took out a handmade little notebook from his sleeve, and held it up for Chu Yunge to see, his hand trembling slightly.
Just two days ago, he had come to beg the princess. She had only understood he was a mute after he gestured around wildly and had furiously driven him away.
Li Guangi probably knew the reason he was disliked, so this time he had written on the little notebook.
But it was too far away, and so red. “Can’t see clearly.”
Li Guangi hurriedly stepped forward, his face full of pleading.
Up close, Chu Yunge saw what he had written: “Your Highness, please save this commoner’s little sister. This commoner is good at accounting and will surely repay you well.”
Chu Yunge looked at Li Guangi. Up close, she discovered his skin was smooth and delicate, cold-toned white, with exquisite features and lips naturally red. He looked even prettier than a girl.
“Good.” Chu Yunge agreed directly.
Li Guangi’s face lit up with surprise. Du Ruo could not believe it. “Your Highness, really?”
“Of course it’s real.” Chu Yunge looked at Li Guangi. “Once I save your little sister, you will be This Princess’s person.”
Li Guangi stared at her in a daze, not moving.
“You can’t hear?” Chu Yunge asked suspiciously.
Li Guangi shook his head vigorously. He could hear.
“Then why aren’t you going? Or… are you unwilling?” Chu Yunge tilted her head.
Li Guangi shook his head vigorously again, his face flushing red with gratitude as he kowtowed. In an instant, he banged his head several times, loudly, instantly reddening his forehead.
If not for Chu Yunge’s habit of walking barefoot and the bedroom being carpeted, he might have knocked it bloody.
Chu Yunge tsked. “Enough. If you kowtow again, This Princess won’t save her.”
The little milk dog was quite heartbreaking.
Li Guangi stiffened for a moment before straightening up and carefully glanced at Chu Yunge.
He knew the princess was extremely beautiful, but he had never dared look much before. Today, up close, he realized her skin glowed pearly-white, moist, and translucent, her slender brows and vermilion lips clear and cold, carrying a natural arrogance. The upturned corners of her eyes naturally exuded the noble bearing of one in high position.
But her clothes were really… He had accidentally glimpsed the mandarin ducks on her undergarments.
With just one glance, Li Guangi hurriedly averted his gaze and lowered his head, not daring to look more.
Li Guangi’s face was full of joy, while Du Ruo’s was stiff. “Your Highness, he’s just a mute. If you take him in, people will laugh at you. Why not just use his life to threaten Master Qingchen instead?”
Fear flashed across Li Guangi’s face. Chu Yunge chuckled lightly. “This Princess thinks using your life as a threat is better.”
The princess’s reputation for viciousness had built up bit by bit like this.
Chu Yunge’s face darkened. “Du Ruo, if you suggest these crooked ideas again, This Princess will cut out your tongue.”
She did not need this fake plastic friendship.
Du Ruo’s face paled in terror. Li Guangi’s expression also changed, and when he left with the guards, he did not dare lift his head.
His looks passed muster; it was just that “his courage was quite small.”
After Li Guangi left, Du Ruo tremblingly served a bowl of red date blood-replenishing soup.
Chu Yunge looked at the soup, disgust and resistance flashing in her eyes, but she still picked up the bowl and drank it down without hesitation.
She could not not drink it; without it, she would die even faster. But it was only treating the symptoms, not the root. She still had to find a way to make the emperor drink one less bowl. Otherwise, with bloodletting like this nonstop, who knew when she might die.
After finishing the drink, she suddenly felt a flash of red in the corner of the copper mirror.
“Who?” Chu Yunge hurled the bowl in her hand swiftly toward that flash of red.
The bowl fell to the ground without hitting anyone, but a red-clothed youth dropped from the roof. He did not enter the room but stood outside the hall, glaring at Chu Yunge.
“How did you discover me?” His voice was clear and bright, full of youthful vigor.
Seeing him, his name naturally flashed in Chu Yunge’s mind—Pei Ji.