After Rebirth, I Married my Archenemy - Chapter 28

Li Xuan’s body had already collapsed to the ground. In her sight, the bed curtains and screen swayed briefly, revealing the dark beams overhead.

Shifting her gaze slightly, the first thing Qun Qing did wasn’t to help him, but to grab the wine cup, nervously sniffing the remaining liquid.

Li Xuan was enraged, his fingers twitching.

The reason was simple: the Crown Prince drank the wine brought by a palace maid and then fell to the ground. If the wine had been poisoned, not only would she never leave the palace, but Qun Qing would be buried with the Crown Prince.

Finding nothing wrong with the wine, Qun Qing set the cup down with trembling hands. She looked down and saw the Crown Prince lying on the carpet, his eyes open, face as pale as gold, convulsing uncontrollably.

Qun Qing knew that if the convulsions continued, he might bite his tongue, leading to instant death. She tried to pry open Li Xuan’s jaw, but he mustered unexpected strength and pushed her away.

Losing her balance, Qun Qing fell onto the carpet. She attempted to check his pulse, only to feel a sudden, sharp pain as Li Xuan grabbed her wrist tightly.
“Sleeve… sleeve…” he gasped.

In his sleeve, she felt something hard. The shape… it was a concealed sleeve arrow. Chilled to the bone, she froze instantly.

Li Xuan stared at her coldly, his pale face showing no panic, but a distorted mix of fear and rage. “If you dare… to speak of this… kill… kill without mercy.”

From his words, Qun Qing deduced that this wasn’t poison but a recurring illness he was well aware of.

As the Crown Prince, having such an illness was a secret that could not be known by outsiders. It would not only jeopardize his position as heir but also expose him to potential assassinations.

Li Xuan gripped Qun Qing’s sleeve, using her strength to sit up. His dark hair fell over her neck, chilling her to the bone. She heard him suppress a desperate demand in her ear,
“Give me the sachet you’re wearing.”

Sachet?

Qun Qing’s mind buzzed.

The sachet she carried was an embroidered ram’s head sachet from her mother, containing keepsakes from her father and brother. She hesitated, unwilling to give it away. Seeing his worsening condition, she quickly handed him another sachet she had on her, then scrambled back.

The scent of citrus filled the air around Qun Qing’s nose.

She watched as Li Xuan held the sachet given to him by Lu Huating to his nose, his complexion gradually easing—a scene both eerie and strange.

As his convulsions subsided, Li Xuan flicked his sleeve, and the sound of a sharp “ding” echoed as the sleeve arrow struck the desk.

Several small eunuchs rushed in, bowing as they saw the scene. Two of them lifted Li Xuan, while another twisted Qun Qing’s arms behind her and dragged her to the outer hall.

Li Xuan’s head lolled to the side, but his eyes remained fixed on Qun Qing. He pointed at her and rasped,
“Execute… execute.”
After his words, his eyes rolled back, and another violent spasm began. The dark-blue double-fish sachet slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor. Two eunuchs tried to feed him a bowl of medicine, but it spilled down his cheek, soaking his white undergarments.

Outside, the night was as dark as ink, and everything before her seemed surreal, like a bizarre dream. Qun Qing knelt on the carpet, feeling her blood rush to her head.

Was she really about to be executed just because she had witnessed Li Xuan’s illness? Had she survived countless dangers only to meet her end on this fateful night?

“Don’t touch me!” The two eunuchs moved to drag her away, but Qun Qing struggled to her feet. “Wait! I have a way to save him.”

The Crown Prince was unconscious; the medicine wouldn’t go down, and the situation was dire. The eunuchs, seeing this, didn’t stop her.

Qun Qing rushed to a cabinet, pulling open a compartment filled with various spices. After sifting through them for a moment, she scooped a portion and poured it into the large purple-gold incense burner in the main hall.

Soon, a faint herbal aroma spread, filling the hall.

The eunuchs anxiously watched the Crown Prince’s condition. Li Xuan, half-leaning in someone’s arms, was breathing heavily. Slowly, his convulsions began to ease.

“Your Highness, Your Highness…” A eunuch softly called out as he regained consciousness, “Earlier, Your Highness ordered the execution of Lady Qing…”

“Wait,” Li Xuan’s weak voice interrupted, though his gaze remained stern and frightening.
“Ask her what kind of incense it is and why she knew…”

Qun Qing bowed deeply and replied, “This servant did not know of Your Highness’s symptoms. It was only by chance that I heard someone mention that rosemary from the Western Regions could help alleviate headaches…”
Cold sweat continuously dripped from her temples, sliding down her cheeks. Seeing Li Xuan’s condition improving, her heart sank to the depths.

Though Qun Qing had accompanied Doctor Li and Fang Xie on medical visits, it was a brief time, and her medical skills were shallow. Faced with these convulsions, she could only think of two possibilities.

One was the so-called “epilepsy” from common folklore, where people would foam at the mouth during a seizure. But the Crown Prince clearly didn’t exhibit such symptoms.

His backward-flowing saliva seemed more like the second possibility.

“Weakness and persistent headaches, when agitated by sudden anger, would lead to convulsions and a risk of death…”

This was what her mother had written on a note—symptoms of “Xiangsi Yin.”

Her mother mentioned that agarwood pills could suppress it, and that rosemary and yellow vanilla could alleviate the symptoms.

Earlier, Qun Qing had used rosemary as a desperate measure to buy some time, not expecting it to actually calm the Crown Prince’s symptoms. She recalled the moment when the Crown Prince had asked for the sachet.

The sachet Lu Huating carried didn’t actually contain citrus-scented beads… The intense aroma with a hint of sweetness was, in fact, yellow vanilla, similar to citrus!

Everything lined up, and Qun Qing broke out in a cold sweat.

Li Xuan’s condition was indeed due to “Xiangsi Yin.”

She was the only person who should have this poison; for a moment, she even suspected she had unintentionally harmed the Crown Prince.

But in this lifetime, her Xiangsi Yin pills were sealed and tucked away in her bundle.

“Lady Qing, please rise first,” a young eunuch spoke near her ear, interrupting her thoughts.

Qun Qing saw that Li Xuan could now drink the medicinal soup himself. Whatever medicine they had prepared for him had nearly restored him, though his face remained ghastly pale, like a ghost in the night.

“Today’s matter must not be disclosed,” Li Xuan said, wiping his mouth.

“I understand the gravity of the situation,” Qun Qing replied, her eyes pleading for her life.

Li Xuan’s gaze remained scrutinizing. After a while, he asked, “Are you a healer?”

Fearing he might demand her to detoxify him, Qun Qing quickly said,
“I have no medical knowledge.”

“No knowledge?” Li Xuan asked. “Then how did you light the incense earlier? How did you assist Han Wanyi with her pregnancy preservation? I spared your life earlier; you should understand the weight of this, and you have no room for secrecy.”

“I truly don’t know,” Qun Qing said firmly. “I wouldn’t dare hide anything in your presence. As for Han Wanyi’s matter, that’s because I knew she was never truly pregnant.”

The words struck Li Xuan like a thunderbolt between his brows. He waved the eunuchs to retreat before asking,
“What do you mean by false pregnancy? What kind of nonsense is this?”

“It was Han Wanyi who began the deception,” Qun Qing said, staring at him intensely. The candlelight illuminated her eyes in the dark, giving them a blade-like sharpness that made Li Xuan feel a little dizzy.

He demanded, “Why would Han Wanyi lie about something like this?”

Qun Qing had anticipated this question and replied,
“If you want to know the answer, think back to when she was first diagnosed with a pregnancy..”

“Three months ago, the Emperor purged the old officials of Chu State, including the Han family. Han Wanyi urgently needed a child to protect her maternal family. She likely used a folk remedy to fake a pregnancy, allowing her to claim she was expecting. But there was no way to sustain the lie long-term.”

“This was the first prince born after the Emperor’s ascension, drawing much attention. Now that her family is safe, and with time passing, she couldn’t produce the child she claimed to carry. That’s why she staged this farce, probably with a medical officer in on it. The blood on her skirt was unusually thick and didn’t clot—enough to raise suspicion. When I entered the room, the smell confirmed it wasn’t human blood.”

“So you used acupuncture as an excuse to threaten Han Wanyi?” Li Xuan asked.

“She pretended to faint, so I pinched her awake and wrote the word ‘fake’ in her palm,” Qun Qing explained.
“Terrified of being exposed, Han Wanyi, driven by fear, somehow managed to delay the miscarriage.”
Li Xuan held his forehead, unable to find words for a while, finally asking, “If, as you say, Han Wanyi values the Han family’s interests so highly, then why didn’t she support Princess Bao’an as Crown Princess? Why would she frame her instead?”

“Your Highness, it’s true that the Han family wanted Princess Bao’an as Crown Princess, but Han Wanyi is not a mindless pawn,” Qun Qing replied.

“Though she bears the Han name, she is a descendant of a minor branch, often looked down upon by the prominent family members. When the Emperor stormed into Chang’an, the Han family, out of fear, offered Han Wanyi—already promised to another—as a concubine to the Emperor, sparing their noble daughters. Now, with the dynasty stable, they expect her to maintain favor with the Emperor to secure her family’s safety. Han Wanyi’s true goal was to protect her parents, not serve as a puppet for the powerful. She would be the last person to want Princess Bao’an as Crown Princess or to see the Han family gaining influence.”
Li Xuan’s expression changed after hearing her explanation. The complexities of noble families and their tangled web of information were vast, making it rare for someone to organize everything so clearly.

In truth, this clarity didn’t come to Qun Qing in an instant; it was the conclusion she reached in her past life after being betrayed by Han Wanyi, leading to her cat’s death. She had spent a year investigating before she pieced everything together, and now, after being reborn, she had a chance to use that knowledge.

“Your Highness, although I was born in the inner palace, I’ve lived in this place for over a decade. I know much about the secrets and rumors here, including the Han family’s connections and the use of rosemary,” Qun Qing said. “If Your Highness wishes, I can be of service in the future…”

Her eyes practically spelled out, “Please don’t kill me.”

Li Xuan remained indifferent. “Han Wanyi is cunning and favored by my father. Aren’t you afraid she’ll seek revenge after you’ve exposed her secret and threatened her like this?”

“Revenge?” Qun Qing’s long, dark lashes were thick and curled, but her gaze was indifferent. “Of course I fear her revenge. But if I stand behind the Eastern Palace, I’ll have nothing to fear.”

“What do you mean by that?” Li Xuan’s tone turned harsh; she dared to suggest using him as a shield. “Since when have I instructed you to do anything?”

“Your Highness, having leverage over Han Wanyi is useless in my hands, but in yours, it’s invaluable,” Qun Qing said. “If Your Highness wishes to establish connections with the imperial consorts, someone like Han Wanyi—who dislikes being manipulated by powerful families—would make an excellent ally. And if she refuses, you could use this secret to threaten her.”

“Do you not realize that colluding with consorts is a grave crime for a prince?” Li Xuan was startled that a mere palace maid would dare speak so audaciously.

Qun Qing knew that all too well.

In her past life, Han Wanyi had been close to Li Xuan, frequently whispering suggestions to the Emperor that had made life difficult for Prince Yan. She was simply voicing what Li Xuan had wanted to do himself.

“Isn’t this exactly what Your Highness wants to hear?” she said calmly, her palms clammy with sweat as she tried to ignore his apparent anger.

Feigning seriousness while harboring ambitions—both the Emperor and the Crown Prince were truly father and son, sharing the same traits.

Suddenly, it felt as if thunder struck from all directions, shaking the gauze curtains.

The anger on Li Xuan’s face gradually faded, leaving his expression blank.

With the conversation reaching this point, there was no need for pretense. He looked deeply at Qun Qing and said,
“Go to the inner hall and bring out my official seal.”

Qun Qing picked up the white jade seal, placing it on the desk. Suddenly, two eunuchs seized her, pulling her in front of Li Xuan.

He leaned against his seat, staring at her with cold eyes.
“The first time a maid handles an official seal, she usually holds the jade dragon loop on top with one hand and grips the side with the other, since holding it by the bottom would stain her hands with seal ink and risk soiling the master’s clothes. What they don’t know is that the white jade carving is fragile. Only a female official who regularly handles the seal would be accustomed to holding it from the bottom. Have you frequently sealed documents before, or have you assisted someone with the imperial seal?”

Qun Qing glanced at the scarlet seal ink staining her palm, like a bloodstain—haunting and unnerving.

“Qun Qing, I have one final question,” Li Xuan said, staring at her intently.
“Who exactly are you? Who ordered you to infiltrate my side? Why did you act foolish before, and what is your true purpose?”

Qun Qing had already lowered her head. After a moment of hesitation, her voice choked with emotion, “I… I dare not deceive Your Highness. I am the daughter of Qun Cang, a fifth-rank official of the former dynasty. As a child, I frequently assisted my father with official matters. When the previous dynasty fell, my father was wrongfully imprisoned, and I was reduced from an official’s daughter to the lowest slave. From that moment, I swore that if given a chance, I would escape the inner palace and rise to power, even if it meant enduring humiliation and attaching myself to power.”

“I hold a deep-seated hatred for the Emperor of Chu, which is why I refused to serve Princess Bao’an. Liangdi has treated me kindly, and I am grateful for her goodwill. But when I had the chance to be near Your Highness, I couldn’t resist seeking your attention. I hoped to follow in the path of Xu Zhaoyi from the former dynasty. If I could earn Your Highness’s favor, the opportunity for my revenge would come.”

Through tear-filled eyes, Qun Qing glanced at Li Xuan on the dais.

His expression remained stern, but there was a hint of relaxation in his eyes. Her breakdown seemed to have finally convinced him that he had uncovered the truth.

As the heir to the throne, he was naturally cautious. Earning his trust, especially for someone as suspicious as she was, was a daunting task.

By revealing part of the truth, he would lower his guard and not suspect that there were deeper secrets hidden beneath.

After a moment, Li Xuan gave a signal, and one eunuch draped a cloak over him while another brought out the documents from the inner hall.

He attempted to flex his right hand, but his fingers remained stiff. In a low voice, he said to Qun Qing:

“The matter of the illness must remain confidential. These memorials need to be reviewed and approved before dawn. I’ve already organized them. They’ll hold the lamps while you handle the sealing. The rest can be sent back.”

Then, Qun Qing saw the memorials, which she had only ever seen from a distance before, all pushed in front of her.

She couldn’t help but look at Li Xuan.

She never expected that Li Xuan would allow her to handle the most central state matters of the Great Chen. This was something she had strived for years to achieve in her previous life as an official in the Imperial Archive, but had never come close.

“Lady Qing, please.” The young eunuch respectfully gestured.

In the inner hall, Li Xuan finally lay down slightly on the soft couch. Shou Xi, his attendant, helped cover him with an outer robe, saying,
“Your Highness, testing others shouldn’t come at the expense of your own health,”

“Recently, my headaches have worsened. I knew I couldn’t escape a flare-up today. Lan Yue is a maidservant of the Zheng family; I didn’t want to kill her,” Li Xuan said, looking out the window.

“But you didn’t have to use a rod to frighten Lady Qing,” Shou Xi said. “Any less courageous lady would have fainted long ago.”

Li Xuan sneered coldly, “In moments of life and death, one’s true nature is revealed. If I doubt someone, I won’t use them. If she had no ability, she would have died long ago. But I didn’t expect that she harbors no ill intentions toward me.”

His expression softened as he picked up a memorial from Shou Xi, verifying the details Qun Qing had mentioned about her background, which turned out to be precisely as she had stated.

“This Qun Cang was imprisoned for his straightforward criticism during the twenty-fifth year of the Desolate Emperor’s reign. He’s still alive after all these years in prison. He’s a former jinshi graduate and even topped the imperial exams. They say a dragon gives birth to a dragon, and a phoenix to a phoenix. Such a father would hardly produce someone stupid,” Shou Xi said.

Qun Qing’s exceptional intelligence finally had a reasonable explanation.

“Have the jailer take special care of Qun Cang,” Li Xuan closed the memorial. “He may still be of use in the future.”

Shou Xi added, “There is currently a need for a female aide to handle matters for Your Highness within the inner palace. Lady Qing has no family background or factions. Her father was punished for opposing the noble families, so it’s likely she despises the aristocracy. She’d be perfect for counterbalancing Minister Meng. If you no longer find her useful someday, you can easily get rid of her.”

Li Xuan’s hand trembled slightly.

Whether it was due to Shou Xi’s words or because Qun Qing had already entered the inner hall, holding the sealed memorials.

Seeing her pale complexion, Li Xuan laughed softly, “Worried that after you finish sealing, I’ll order your execution?”

“I’m not someone who abandons a helper after crossing the river, especially since you’ve saved my life today,” Li Xuan said slowly. “From now on, your monthly stipend will match that of a sixth-rank female official, and it can increase. If you face difficulties, go to Shou Xi.”

“If you seek a benefactor’s promotion, I’ll promote you,” he continued, turning his gaze to Qun Qing. “Isn’t that what you desire?”

At this point, Qun Qing could only comply. “Thank you, Your Highness, for your favor. Your Highness, rest early to restore your health.”

The good news was that it would be much easier to gather information in the coming days.

“Prince Yan is unharmed, and Advisor Lu nearly implicated Liangdi. How can I rest peacefully?” Li Xuan was still troubled by her familiarity with Lu Huating. “Tell me, how should we retaliate?”

So, the Crown Prince spoke so bluntly to his own people.

Qun Qing understood that he wanted to test her, to have her offer a strategy. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Your Highness, Prince Yan’s residence is responsible for managing the ceremony to welcome the Buddha’s relics. The ceremony is complex, and every step is prone to error.”

“The Buddha’s relic ceremony is a state affair. It must be flawless,” Li Xuan said.

Clearly, this religious rite had a significant impact on foreign relations and the Empire’s appeal to the people, so Li Xuan did not want to risk any missteps.

“What I mean, Your Highness, is that because it’s so challenging, each part requires Advisor Lu’s oversight, which will surely keep him busy,” Qun Qing, exhausted, barely held on. “I heard that Advisor Lu wakes after noon and only works half the day. If you make him represent the Prince Yan at morning court, it’ll take up half of his day. Let’s see if he can handle it long term.”

Li Xuan fell silent. He glanced at Shou Xi, not expecting Qun Qing to come up with such a devious suggestion.

“It’s late. Go and rest,” Li Xuan finally realized it was the middle of the night and spoke gently.

Yet Qun Qing did not leave. She stood there, dark circles forming under her eyes, staring at the indigo double-fish sachet hanging from his waist. “Your Highness, may I have that sachet back? To be honest… it’s an item from the deceased. It’s inauspicious, an ill omen.”

Li Xuan’s smile faded, and he looked at the sachet. For a moment, he appeared embarrassed. “If it’s considered inauspicious, why would a young lady like you carry it around? I’m not afraid. A gift, once given, can’t be taken back. Now, off you go.”

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