Chapter 6 — Beauty Carries No Guilt

In his past life, he had suffered defeat at the hands of the Prince of Zhao. In this present incarnation, resignation was entirely out of the question. Word had it that he had married the eldest daughter of the Pei clan of Hedong, leveraging his wife's powerful lineage to enlist troops and amass horses while making aggressive, calculated moves across the board. I had no intention of letting the realm fall into his grasp. Meanwhile, the imperial capital was seething with turmoil. Jiang Luo had finally been smuggled into the inner palace. According to intelligence reports smuggled out by the Prince of Zhao’s spies, she had endured harrowing hardships before ultimately triumphing over every obstacle, rising to become the sovereign's most fiercely favored consort. She whispered poison into the monarch's ear, instigating the extravagant construction of sprawling palaces and demanding the tribute of rare, exotic treasures from the common folk. Secretly, step by meticulous step, she unraveled the threads of the imperial court. In short, all three of us were relentlessly forging our own distinct paths through the wreckage.

One year later arrived the grand banquet celebrating the birthday of the Prince of Ning. Among all the imperial princes, he remained the most leisurely and neutral-minded, harboring no ambition for the throne and seeking solace solely in the embrace of mountains and rivers. Yet precisely because of this detachment, he had become the coveted prize over whom rival princes fiercely vied for allegiance. Thus, when his birthday feast commenced, both the Prince of Zhao and the Prince of Wei were in attendance. I accompanied the Prince of Zhao to the banquet in the capacity of his military strategist. Seated quietly at the very end of the long table, I lowered my gaze and sipped my tea. Then, I caught sight of Wei Zhao. He had grown remarkably thin, looking far more haggard than before. The jade-like gentleness that once defined him had completely vanished, replaced by an aura of brooding darkness. After presenting his ceremonial gift to the host, his gaze drifted aimlessly toward the far end of the hall. When his eyes finally landed upon me, he froze entirely. His expression morphed instantly from profound astonishment to a wild, frantic joy. But the moment he noticed the married woman's updo of my hair, the warmth in his eyes shattered, turning instantly glacial. As the banquet drew to a close, I stood up to take my leave. Before I had taken more than a few steps, my wrist was seized in a crushing grip. Lowering his voice to a harsh whisper, Wei Zhao demanded to know where I had spent the past year, whom I had married, and whether I had any idea that he had searched for me relentlessly for three full hundred and sixty-five days. I jerked my arm back violently, but failed to break free.

"Why are you looking for me?" I demanded.

"In our past life, things reached a point of utter, irredeemable ruin. Is there truly any need to cross paths again in this one?"

He stared at me with a hollow, haunted expression, muttering to himself, "So you were reborn as well... no wonder..."

Recovering slightly, he pressed on, "Jiang Luo has already entered the palace, and I am agonizingly laboring to build my own foundation of power. In this lifetime, I am destined to ascend the throne as emperor. I will never allow myself to fall to such a desolate fate again."

Growing thoroughly impatient, I violently shook off his grasp.

"What could that possibly have to do with me? I am living a wonderful life right now."

Wei Zhao locked his piercing gaze upon me, the look in his eyes hardening into something desperately obsessive.

"You still haven't answered me. Whom have you married?"

"Tell me his name, and I will go kill him this very instant, then drag you back to where you belong."

Finding the notion utterly absurd, I let out a sharp, cold laugh.

"Wei Zhao, by what possible right do you utter such words? In our past life, I was married to you, yet you blamed me for costing you the throne. In this life, I have married another—is that not precisely what you wanted? Furthermore, you have already taken a wife."

Gritting his teeth, Wei Zhao offered a righteous justification.

"My original intention was merely to take you as a concubine. That way, I could keep you close by my side without compromising my ability to forge strategic political alliances through marriage. If status truly matters so much to you, once I ascend the dragon throne and claim the empire, I will crown you empress."

He stared at me, his countenance overflowing with a theatrical, suffocating tenderness.

"Chen Yu," he pleaded. "You are the only woman I have ever truly loved from beginning to end. The only wife I hold in my heart is you alone."

I could bear to listen no longer. Conversing with this man was an exercise in absolute futility. I spun around, intent on walking away, but he tightened his grip, yanking me back with frantic desperation, refusing to let go. Suddenly, an arrow tore through the air with a piercing whistle, striking deep into his arm. A cry of agony tore from Wei Zhao's throat as his fingers instantly slackened, blood gushing forth like a spring. Not far away, Su Mingze lowered his composite bow and let out a hearty laugh. He strode forward, stepping directly in front of me to shield my body. Looking at Wei Zhao, his tone dripped with lazy, mocking derision.

"I wondered who was making such a ruckus. So it is His Highness the Prince of Wei. Seeing someone from afar relentlessly harassing my wife, I genuinely mistook you for some wretched rogue who had wandered in off the streets."

Seizing the moment, I naturally looped my arm through his.

"Husband, let us leave."

A pair of burning, despairing eyes remained scorched against my back as I turned away. I did not look back.

Three years elapsed. Jiang Luo, basking in the zenith of imperial favor, manipulated the sovereign into committing countless grotesque atrocities. The monarch ceased all court audiences entirely, leaving memorial documents to pile high across his desks. Loyal ministers of integrity were either demoted, exiled, or brutally executed, plunging the common people into boundless misery and despair. Before long, uprisings erupted in every corner of the land, and the fires of war consumed the realm. Among the various rival princes, the military might of the Prince of Zhao and Wei Zhao proved the most formidable. Another year slipped by. Our victorious armies finally breached the gates of the imperial capital. Within the palace walls, the debauched and foolish ruler was pierced by arrows and died upon the dragon throne while eunuchs and maids fled in absolute panic. As for Consort Jiang, once the most pampered beauty of the inner courts, her whereabouts became a complete mystery. Some whispered she had perished at the hands of vengeful palace servants—after all, in the eyes of the masses, she was a malevolent siren who had ruined the nation, and anyone had the right to strike her down. Others claimed that someone intimately familiar with her hidden origins had quietly released her into the shadows, allowing her to return to the tranquil village by the shores of Lake Tai to reunite with her surviving kin, where she cast aside her past, vanished into obscurity, and lived out her days in peaceful anonymity. This great struggle for the empire ultimately culminated in the Prince of Zhao claiming the mandate of heaven and ascending the throne. Wei Zhao, utterly defeated, found himself imprisoned within his former prince's residence, where he soon wasted away and died of sheer spite and despair. Su Mingze and I, having rendered distinguished service in establishing the new dynasty, were both granted noble titles and showered with boundless imperial rewards. One serene afternoon, we drifted together on a painted boat across the mirror-like waters of the lake. A gentle breeze blew, carrying the warmth of the spring sun. An acquaintance standing onshore pointed toward our boat, eagerly introducing us to a companion nearby.

"Look over there! That is the brilliant and valiant General Su alongside his breathtaking wife."

Hearing the remark, Su Mingze threw his head back and burst into a rich, booming laugh.

"Not quite," he corrected loudly, his eyes crinkling with fondness. "That is the extraordinarily talented, intelligent, and stunning Su Chen Yu, and she is simply out for a leisurely afternoon with the husband she deeply loves."