“Princess, please get up quickly.”
Master Qingchen’s voice was lower than usual.
He then somewhat panicked as he helped Chu Yunge sit up.
The lotus fragrance at the tip of Chu Yunge’s nose grew even stronger.
Chu Yunge looked up at Master Qingchen and suddenly had a bold guess. Master Qingchen’s innate lotus fragrance seemed to change with his body temperature, didn’t it?
That made sense. Lotus fragrance was originally a body scent, so it grew more intense when his body temperature rose. That seemed normal.
So… if Master Qingchen became aroused…
Chu Yunge tsked inwardly.
Master Qingchen was already a bit flustered, and his heartbeat immediately fell out of rhythm.
The previous medicine and the poison in his body must still have affected him.
Their gazes collided, and in that instant, it felt as if they had returned to the night she had just transmigrated.
Master Qingchen was not poisoned at this moment, yet the air still carried a trace of something unusual.
“Prin… Princess…”
Master Qingchen’s tone trembled slightly as he averted his gaze. “Princess, please get up quickly…”
Chu Yunge snapped back to her senses.
“You’re sitting on my skirt. How am I supposed to get up?” Her skirt needed to be freed before she could truly stand.
Master Qingchen glanced down. Not only did his ears turn red, but a thin flush also spread across his face, making him look uncomfortable.
He looked just like someone who had been bullied by her.
Chu Yunge was about to sit on the ground when an angry, trembling voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Let go of Master Qingchen!”
A gust of wind stirred behind her, but it quickly vanished.
Chu Yunge turned back and saw the maid who had served tea earlier kicked flying by Yan Feng. She crashed into a nearby tree, and the tray clattered to the ground.
It seemed the maid thought her old ailment had flared up again, that she was about to assault and force herself on Master Qingchen, so the maid had tried to save him.
What surprised her even more was that the maid’s hairpiece had fallen off, revealing a bald head.
Chu Yunge froze for a moment. Yan Feng had already stepped forward and pressed his blade against the maid’s neck.
“How dare you attack the Princess? Do you know your crime?”
The maid stiffened for an instant, then raised her head to look over. “It was the Princess who made the first move on Master Qingchen.”
Master Qingchen reacted. “You have misunderstood. This was just an accident.”
He explained as he somewhat awkwardly separated from Chu Yunge. At the same time, he said to her, “Princess, please do not blame her. It is all this little monk’s fault. If you must punish someone, punish this little monk.”
This maid had tried to commit suicide earlier. He had noticed something amiss and saved her, leaving her here. He had even made her a wig. Just now, he had sensed something off and told her to leave, but an accident had still occurred.
He only hoped the Princess would spare her.
Chu Yunge looked at the maid and searched her memories before realizing this was one of her servants. Once, while combing her hair, the maid had accidentally tugged it. The Princess, already suffering from a headache, flew into a rage. She did not just slap the maid but also shaved her head and betrothed her to the most lowly and foul-smelling stable slave.
The Princess had not taken the matter to heart, and Chu Yunge had not remembered it until now.
Yan Feng’s gaze fell on the palace maid’s pouch, where he noticed something unusual. He used his blade to pick it open, revealing a smaller poison spider inside.
“Was it you who released the poison spider?”
The maid did not answer. She only stared at Master Qingchen, her face full of pain.
“Master Qingchen, did she threaten you with this servant’s life?”
The maid did not know Chu Yunge had just been helping to detoxify him. She had only seen her approach and immediately pull at his hand, harassing and forcing him again.
Yet Master Qingchen had endured it all.
Master Qingchen reacted. “No, the Princess did not threaten this little monk. She was helping this little monk.”
But the maid did not believe him. “Master, there is no need to cover for her.”
She turned to Chu Yunge and admitted it had been her who released the poison spider.
“It was me. I did it to get revenge for myself!”
Because the Princess had thrashed about, she had tugged her hair, yet she had been humiliated like this. Faced with being forced to marry that stable slave, she hated the Princess to her core.
Later, by a stroke of luck, she obtained the poison spider but still did not dare to act rashly. Not until she saw Chu Yunge making moves on Master Qingchen again.
Master Qingchen had saved her life; he was her salvation. She would not allow her to defile him, so she had released the poison spider directly.
She already hated the Princess anyway. She could use her life to exchange for Master Qingchen’s freedom, but it had failed.
It had failed because of Master Qingchen’s kindness. He still wanted to save the one who had coerced him.
“Master Qingchen, this servant knows you are kind, but she is the most vicious of all. Even in death, she deserves to descend into the eighteenth layer of hell. She deserves to die! She is not worth your saving!”
Intense hatred filled the maid’s eyes. “Chu Yunge, if you dare touch Master Qingchen again, I will not let you go even as a ghost!”
“How bold!” Yan Feng rebuked sharply. Just as he was about to strike, the maid threw herself onto his blade.
She did not want to fall into the Princess’s hands. Her expression showed a willingness to die for Master Qingchen, a resolve to make him see Chu Yunge’s true face.
The maid collapsed to the ground. Blood instantly spread from her throat. She twitched and struggled twice before staring fixedly at Chu Yunge, dying with her eyes wide open.
Chu Yunge stared at the bright red blood, unable to recover her senses for a long time.
It was her first time facing such a death directly. Countless scenes flashed through her mind in an instant—all the moments from the Princess’s childhood to adulthood when she had punished palace maids and servants.
It had been fine in her youth, but as she grew older and was tormented by pain, the Princess’s temperament grew more erratic and cruel. Unable to do anything to the Chu Emperor, she took it out on the palace maids and servants for a wrong word, making them taste her suffering.
The most excessive time, the Princess had a splitting headache and could not sleep. The maid had been slightly late in serving tea, so she had someone nail a spike into the maid’s head, tormenting her to death alive.
The maid’s wide-eyed death stared back at her now. Memories churned in her mind. Chu Yunge’s stomach roiled, and she nearly vomited.
“Princess.”
Someone suddenly blocked her view. It was Master Qingchen.
He had originally blamed himself for failing to save the maid. Turning his head, he saw Chu Yunge’s abnormality. Her lips were deathly pale, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She seemed frightened.
She was frightened, but it was karmic retribution. Still, seeing Chu Yunge like this, he could not help feeling pity and stood in front of her.
With the blood blocked from view, Chu Yunge finally felt she could breathe again. She lowered her head with a bitter smile.
As expected, the persona her predecessor had left her was not just about forcibly taking men. She had done many evils. These serving palace maids were only a part of it. She had offended many others too, leaving her a massive mess.