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The Empress Finally Finds Freedom
墨書 Inktalez
Introduction
On the day the new emperor ascended to the throne, my mission was also successfully completed.
As a system, I was supposed to leave as soon as possible, but the new emperor used every means to keep me here.
In the following years, he created a false harem for me.
Everyone said this was an unprecedented favor.
But just then, his long-lost white moonlight returned.
The unattainable object of youth ended up haunting him for life.
The new emperor's obsession with her was even stronger than before.
Even when she accused me of having an affair with the National Master, the new emperor believed her immediately.
He killed the National Master and sent me to the Cold Palace for reflection.
He even threw in my face the embroidered garment with my name that he found under the National Master's pillow.
"Isn't it love for embroidery? I'll let you embroider to your heart's content! When you finally create a phoenix robe that A-Ying is satisfied with, only then will I let you out!"
I smiled bitterly; I no longer needed him to let me out.
He might have forgotten that it was the National Master who had been locking my soul away.
Now that the National Master was dead, no one could stop me from leaving this world.
After Fu Huaixu vented his anger at me, he left the Cold Palace without looking back.
In the dead silence, I lowered my gaze to the red silk on the table, which shimmered with golden patterns, feeling an indescribable sense of bitterness and swelling in my heart.
When Fu Huaixu insisted on keeping me here, he had promised me—
If one day the situation stabilized, he would immediately make me empress.
How certain he had sounded back then; now it seemed so laughable.
As I pondered silently, there was another commotion at the door.
The locked wooden door was opened again.
Xue Hanying walked in while covering her nose.
She stopped in front of me with a half-smile, casually fiddling with the items in the sewing basket.
"To be honest with you, I will never be satisfied, and you should never think of leaving here."
After saying this, she looked up at me, her eyes filled with mockery. Frosty couldn't hold back and defended me:
"The Consort has only entered the Cold Palace; her status hasn't been stripped away."
"And you, without even a title, living in the palace ambiguously, how dare you speak to the Consort like that? Do you think you can show yourself to the Emperor in such an aggressive manner?"
Before Frosty could finish her sentence, Xue Hanying slapped her.
"What are you to teach me a lesson?"
She sneered twice.
"Do you think the Emperor doesn't know my temperament?"
"I have always been like this. Don't say I slapped you; even when I used to slap him, he would just take it with his head held high."
Frosty was intimidated and covered her face, not daring to speak. I pulled her behind me for protection and stared directly into Xue Hanying's eyes.
"If that's really the case, why wait until he leaves to assert your authority?"
"Because deep down, you know your status is no longer what it used to be. You are no longer the Former Emperor's favored concubine, and he is no longer the neglected prince."
"Now he is the Emperor; of course, he can indulge your temper a bit, but if you still want to ride on his head like before, that might not work anymore."
Xue Hanying glared at me.
Seeing that she couldn't gain the upper hand in conversation with me, she angrily shook her sleeves and stormed out.
Once the room fell silent again, Frosty immediately expressed her indignation:
"Consort, she has gone too far! We must think of a way to expose her true colors to the Emperor!"
"It's not that simple..."
I rubbed my temples and sat back down in my chair.
Frosty is loyal to me; I couldn't just watch others bully her, which is why I intentionally said those words earlier. But I knew in my heart that Xue Hanying was right; Fu Huaixu knows better than anyone what kind of person she is. Yet he is willing to show favoritism.
Everyone only knows that there is now a highly favored woman in the palace.
Few people know that this person was Consort Li, who drowned in a well. Consort Li was stunningly beautiful and favored by the Former Emperor. Before his death, the Former Emperor specifically instructed that Consort Li should be buried with him. However, on the eve of their journey to the royal tomb, Consort Li accidentally fell into a well and drowned.
This incident was not a secret in the palace; what truly remained hidden was Consort Li's past with the Seventh Prince, Fu Huaixu. Unfortunately... I learned about it too late. By the time I arrived in this world, the Crown Prince had already ascended to the throne. Fu Huaixu, being the least favored prince, had been sent away to his fief early on.
I chose him as my host, only caring whether he had the ability to complete the tasks assigned to him. As for other matters, I was never curious and never inquired. Fortunately, Fu Huaixu proved himself capable. With my help, he returned to the capital from his fief in just two years.
As I prepared to conclude my task, I began to say goodbye to him. To my surprise, Fu Huaixu seemed to go mad. He summoned various experts and ordered them to do whatever it took to keep me with him. Ultimately, it was the National Master who found a solution. He brought in a recently deceased female corpse whose fate aligned closely with mine and forcibly transferred my soul into her body.
Since my death in a car accident and becoming part of this system, I had never lived outside of a host's life. That day, looking at the face in the bronze mirror that resembled my original appearance by eight or nine parts, I was lost in thought for a long time. Fu Huaixu was equally stunned. He stared at me for a long time before hoarsely saying, "A Ling, I told you before that I have plenty of ways to grow old with you; you can never think of leaving me..."
To be honest, before that moment, my attitude toward Fu Huaixu was no different from how I treated every previous host. But after that, I realized that something had inevitably changed... In the following years, Fu Huaixu and I grew increasingly close.
I once thought life would continue like this forever, but then—
Xue Hanying suddenly "came back to life."
The moment I saw her, I was reminded of the faceless women portraits hanging in the study.
Over the years, Fu Huaixu had been annoyed by the paintings, angry at them, happy with them, and even once while being intimate with me, he was still focused on the artwork.
When I asked him about it, he said everyone has their own specialty in painting, and his best skill was painting beautiful women; it had become his way of relieving emotions.
I thought of Qi Baishi painting shrimp, Xu Beihong painting horses... and it suddenly seemed reasonable.
But upon seeing Xue Hanying, I knew I was wrong; everything was wrong.
Recalling the past consumed too much of my energy.
The next day, I woke up feeling feverish and dazed.
It had already been six days since I arrived at the Cold Palace, yet there were still no signs of leaving.
I tried to remember what National Master had said...
He seemed to have mentioned that bringing a soul into this body couldn't be a one-time solution.
He needed to regularly maintain the formation to keep me here.
But when I pressed him before, he was reluctant to elaborate; now that he was dead, I had no way of knowing more.
A few days ago, I might have been able to convince myself that since National Master was gone, leaving was just a matter of time.
But now, my whole body ached as if ground by a stone mill; I truly didn't want to wait another second.
As I racked my brain for a solution, I suddenly heard Frosty mumble beside me:
"Time flies; it's already the fifteenth..."
A thought struck me; I suddenly remembered that National Master had a very favored disciple named Tan Chen.
When Fu Huaixu ascended the throne, he had blood on his hands and was often plagued by anxiety; thus, National Master suggested having someone chant scriptures for him.
So every fifteenth day of the month, Tan Chen would bring a group of young monks to the palace.
Now that Fu Huaixu had killed National Master, he might not necessarily vent his anger on his disciple.
There was an eighty percent chance that Tan Chen would still come.
Perhaps he knows something?
With this thought in mind, I almost immediately rolled out of bed.
It is impossible to go out.
But three meals a day are delivered through the door.
I just stayed by the doorway.
I don't know how long it has been when a hand holding a tray reached in from outside.
I immediately grabbed her wrist and stuffed some silver into her palm.
"Please, go find Tan Chen."
The palace maid was so startled that she fell to the ground, unable to regain her senses for a while.
I then slipped a gold hairpin into her hand and promised,
"I will only ask him one question, I won't say anything more."
Only then did she blink and run off without looking back.
There was nothing more I could do.
After the door closed, I quietly sat in the courtyard waiting.
I don't know how long it has been when footsteps finally approached again from outside.
I almost couldn't wait to rush to the door.
However, I quickly realized something was wrong.
The footsteps were chaotic and definitely belonged to more than one person.
I instinctively took a step back, but the door lock was already opened from the outside.
Fu Huaixu kicked the door open, and before I could react, he grabbed my neck and pushed me against the tree trunk.
"Wen Ling! Are you really going to degrade yourself like this?"
I was being choked and could barely breathe.
"What do you mean..."
"Tan Chen!"
Fu Huaixu shouted back.
A handsome monk in a blue robe immediately lowered his gaze and walked up to me.
"Amitabha, Your Highness sent someone to convey a message to me, saying she longs for the National Master and asked me to ensure that the National Master is properly guided."
I stared in disbelief, my eyes wide open.
"Are you crazy? The National Master is your master! How can you slander me and him like this..."
"Loyalty and Filial Piety, loyalty comes first, filial piety second. The National Master and I are first subjects of the Emperor, only then are we master and disciple," Tan Chen said as he closed his hands.
"A subject is guilty and deserves punishment."
Upon hearing this, Fu Huaixu's subordinates became even more forceful.
From their expressions, they looked like they wanted to swallow me alive.
I gradually began to realize... Tan Chen must have been bribed by Xue Hanying.
A sharp pain shot through my heart, and I tasted blood in my throat.
Frosty hurriedly knelt down, pleading with Fu Huaixu to spare me.
"The Empress can't hold on much longer!"
Fu Huaixu glanced at me with disdain and tossed me aside.
"Wen Ling, I am so disappointed in you. You know better than anyone that I despise betrayal the most. Have you forgotten that you promised never to deceive or betray me?"
I covered my neck, my voice hoarse.
"Have you forgotten that I have been kind to you? You promised never to doubt or harm me?"
Fu Huaixu was taken aback for a moment, then angrily flicked his long sleeves.
"You shameless woman, how dare you bring this up with me!"
After Fu Huaixu left, the marks on my neck lingered painfully.
It felt as if thousands of silver needles were piercing through my neck; the pain rendered me speechless and unable to eat.
As time passed, this pain became increasingly unbearable.
Frosty noticed my suffering and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
But there were no medicines in the Cold Palace; she could only desperately grab a serving maid who was delivering food.
"Please go tell the Emperor that the Empress is in great pain, I beg you..."
She said this while kneeling on the ground, bowing her head repeatedly.
The old maid simply pointed at her ears in a daze, then opened her mouth, revealing an empty void inside. Frosty was so frightened that she fell to the ground. I wanted to force a bitter smile, but even the corners of my mouth couldn't lift.
Fu Huaixu was truly ruthless; to prevent me from passing messages to anyone, he actually sent a deaf and mute old maid. With no way out and feeling sorry for my suffering, Frosty could only crouch by the door, wiping her tears and quietly crying. I didn't want her to be too sad, so I deliberately threw something on the ground.
The sound startled her, and she quickly wiped her tears and hurried inside. But as soon as our eyes met, a wave of panic exploded in her gaze. "Your Highness, you, you..." Following her line of sight, I raised my hand to touch my neck, only to find it covered in blood.
"Bring me the bronze mirror." Frosty trembled as she complied. It was then that I saw in the mirror that the places where Fu Huaixu had choked me were all rotten. Frosty cried even louder; in her understanding, bruises couldn't possibly rot like this—there must be something else seriously wrong with me.
So she cried while rushing towards the door, almost using all her strength to bang on it. "Someone! Quickly, someone!" But all that responded to her was the howling wind.
I pondered for an entire night before gradually forming a hypothesis. A simple bruise could never cause such damage. Moreover, the rotting areas looked increasingly strange. To put it more accurately... it looked less like decay and more like corruption. The moment I thought of these two words, I suddenly realized something.
So much had happened recently that I nearly forgot this body wasn't mine at all. The original owner of this body had long since died; it was only my soul that had been active within it, allowing her to show signs of life.
But now that the National Master is dead, no one can maintain the formation, and the power that confines my soul is growing weaker. If I’m not mistaken… by the time I leave this place, this body will surely turn into a completely decayed corpse.
Although my neck still hurts, thinking this through has lightened my mood a bit. At least it proves that I will be able to leave soon.
Frosty is still beside me, wiping her tears. I gently comfort her, "Don't worry, I will be free soon." But she cries even harder, "Please don’t give up, Your Highness. Once the Emperor remembers you, he will definitely come to take you away."
I chuckle softly, wanting to tell her that the greatest taboo in life is to place expectations on men. But as soon as I open my mouth, blood begins to flow from the corner of my lips.
Frosty is frightened and at a loss. After a long while, she seems to suddenly remember something and disregards the danger of being shot for climbing over the palace walls, scrambling up the branches with all her might.
I want to call out to her, but I spit out another mouthful of blood. Fortunately, the patrolling guard outside recognizes her. As he draws his arrow, he sees her face clearly.
"What happened?" the guard asks.
Frosty sobs uncontrollably, "Please help me! The princess is about to die! Please go tell the Emperor and ask him to send a physician to check on her. I'm begging you..."
I lean against the edge of the bed, feeling a wave of sadness wash over me. Why is there someone in this world who cares so much about me, making it hard for me to leave? No, I shake my head. Before I disappear, I must ensure that Frosty is taken care of first.
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