Chapter 23 | Ink East

Edited by renderedreversed

Chapter 23

My heart felt like it had been torn apart. This was one phenomenon that I hadn’t experienced in my previous reincarnations. Was it that…was it that in this lifetime, I was suffering from a heart disease? A sick lady struggling to catch the young master, finally dying from heart pain. That sort of plot flashed through my mind.

I opened my eyes and saw a beautifully carved rosewood bed. It seemed that I had reincarnated into a rich family. Next, I noticed the bed mantle, where a phoenix embroidered with golden thread was proudly on display. Ah...There was a high possibility that I had been reincarnated into the royal family this time.

The pain in my chest kept getting stronger. Eventually, I couldn’t help myself and touched the spot, hoping to calm the ache. Who could expect what I found? Taken aback, I gasped and looked down.

There was a sharp dagger lodged in my chest! What alarmed me more was the state of my chest. Why was it so flat? Why was this hand so large? It was even covered in calluses. Where did my nice white hand go? Even if it wasn’t a nice white hand, where did the little hand of a child go? This was obviously the hand of a rough man!

I struggled to get up. The sharp pain in my chest made itself known again. I was bleeding heavily; my head felt dizzy. Did I have to die just after being reincarnated?

“...In the next lifetime, you must live in the human world for twenty years. Otherwise, you’ll be handed over to me for punishment when you come back to the Netherworld.”

Yanwang’s words rang in my ears. When I thought about the punishments he had outlined on that piece of paper, it felt like something else had been plunged deeper into my heart than the dagger had. I was trembling in pain.

No...although I wasn’t quite sure what the situation was, I knew I couldn’t die like this! I had only been in this world for a few moments. If I went back to the Netherworld so soon...the rest of my life would be ruined. Definitely ruined!

I took hold of the dagger by its hilt and tried to pull it out, struggling endlessly with it to no avail. Suddenly, I heard another voice. Turning to look, I saw a round-faced woman wearing an elegant set of clothes. Her face was really pale. With a “wa” sound, she spit out a mouthful of black blood. It seemed like she had been poisoned.

This...this, what sort of situation was this now? A rich woman and a rough man lying together. The rough man had a dagger stuck in his chest, the woman was poisoned. Fuck! In what sort of mess had I been caught up in?

“Fuck! What is this situation?!”

The woman in elegant clothes looked at me and I was shocked. When she finished talking, she clutched her chest and vomited.

An ominous feeling crossed my heart again. I asked, breathless: “Chu…Chu Kong?”

When the sound escaped my mouth, I heard a deep voice. I secretly wiped my bitter tears.

When the lady raised her head, she looked at me in horror.

“Xiao Xiang Zi?”

Her lips trembled: “Damn, damn, damn you...always haunting me.”

“Haunt, huhu, the one who is haunting me is you! Hear me clearly, you’re not allowed to get close to me!”

After saying those words, I was out of breath. I swore I saw Yanwang waving at me.

“Who...who still wants to get close to you? Xiaoye, xiaoye will save this life first. Go back to the Netherworld yourself. Go, go and kiss that little round face of Yanwang.”

I shivered. That was a very, very good reason to use all the courage and power I could muster: I had to keep living.

I tightened my hand, gritted my teeth, and pulled with all my strength. One part of the dagger came out, but there was still a part left lodged in my chest. More blood flowed out.

I angrily cursed: “Which bastard stabbed me? Is there gold in my chest, ah?”

Chu Kong’s side of the bed trembled. While spitting blood, he climbed out of the bed and struggled to get to the table. Then he grabbed the teapot that had been placed there and began to drink from it. He didn’t drink for long when the water in the teapot was gone.

Chu Kong also flew into a rage. He raised his hand and knocked all that was on the table to the ground.

“Poor bastard! Your home doesn’t even have water to drink!”

When we were caught in this mess, suddenly someone opened the door of this haunted house.

“General!”

A man wearing a light colored set of clothes walked towards me.

“General! How did this happen?!”

Two maids came running towards Chu Kong’s side.

“Ah! Princess! Princess, are you alright?!”

I didn’t have any more strength to answer and also didn’t have any more energy to think about it. I could only blink, and deep within my heart, I kept cursing at them. Whether I and that princess were alright or not…didn’t they have eyes to check for themselves...

When I woke up again, the dagger had been pulled out of my chest and the wound was bandaged. The man from before was kneeling at my bed. He kept his head down and didn’t say anything.

I coughed twice and wanted to sit up. That man immediately came to help me. After doing so, he went back and knelt down again. I wondered: “What are you doing?”

“This servant didn’t protect you well. General, please punish me.”

I scratched my head. I wanted to say that I still didn’t know what was going on, but seeing a heroic man kneeling in front of me, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his master already died, or that I was just a weak woman who came to inhabit this body. I coughed twice and asked: “That, Chu, well...where is the princess?”

The man kneeling on the floor suddenly rose.

“Why would General still worry about her?! Princess Qingling harmed Lady Xinyun and even tried to murder General. She’s very vicious. General shouldn’t tolerate her behavior anymore! This servant asks General to report this matter to the emperor. Even if the empress dowager is protecting Princess Qingling, she also can’t ignore the crime of committing mariticide!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. In my heart, I thought: so this story was a love triangle. Princess liked General. General married the princess, but liked another woman. In a moment of anger, Princess murdered the woman as well as murdered the general. Hey…wait, that couldn’t be right. How did she get poisoned then? Could it have been that, after murdering her husband, she fell to despair and tried to commit suicide?

I didn’t reply, so the man continued: “General! You shouldn’t tolerate Princess Qingling anymore!”

I pouted. Even if I wanted to listen to your tearful complaints, I thought, I wouldn’t be able to, ah. Because now in that body was Celestial Star Chu Kong, not Princess Qingling. Besides, I didn’t know enough about this situation yet, so I couldn’t foresee the consequences of taking such an action. I also wasn’t familiar with my surroundings and I didn’t know the people. Also, I didn’t have my powers in this life and I needed to live for twenty years. If I went against this Princess Qingling now, it would be fine if Chu Kong died, but if he didn’t die, then who knew how he’d get back at me! This was a risk I couldn’t take. Chu Kong and I could be said to be in the same situation right now. Before we got a clearer vision of this matter, I could not fight with him.

I waved my hand and said, “You can retire. I’ll think more about this matter.”

Although the man had an unwilling expression, he didn’t dare to go against me. He gritted his teeth and respectfully answered: “Yes.”

I felt that ordering people around was actually pretty fun. Suddenly, noise began to erupt outside the door.

“Princess, you can’t, ah! You still can’t get out of bed!”

“Even if Princess wants to see the general, it can wait! Take care of your body!”

“Princess! Princess!”

My servant’s face changed color.

“What, this Princess Qingling is out of line! General, this servant will go drive her away.”

“Wait!”

I quickly yelled after him.

“That, cough, it doesn’t matter. Let her come in.”

“General!”

“Let her come in.”

“Yes...”

Before the servant could let her in, Chu Kong, dressed to the nines in elegant female clothing, kicked the door open. She walked in. Her face was still pale, but it was better than the day she vomited blood.

“General?”

She smiled coldly and motioned to the servants.

“Aside from the one lying in bed, all the other people: get out.”

I saw my servant clench his fists.

“Princess Qingling, you!”

“My head hurts. You all, get out.” After I opened my mouth, that man gritted his teeth and left.

After the door closed, there was only Chu Kong and I left in the room.

“You better have a good explanation for this!” Chu Kong sat on my bed and stared me down with a ferocious expression.

Indignant, I expressed my frustration: “If I actually knew what was going on, sure, that’d be great!”

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