After Rebirth, I Married my Archenemy - Chapter 4

When Qun Qing saw the layered rooftops and the lush green trees below, feeling no pain, only a lightness, she understood that she had likely died and become one of the wandering spirits from the old legends.

The talk of the love curse and mutual destruction had only been a ploy to deceive Lu Huating. Fortunately, she had left her final instructions for Yang Fu hidden in the jade pillow. As long as the princess remembered them, she could at least live as long as Prince Yan.

Qun Qing had done everything she could to protect Yang Fu, but in the end, she had no way of confirming the princess’s safety. Perhaps it was this unresolved worry that led her spirit to drift swiftly over the palace walls, arriving at Liangyi Hall, where Yang Fu was imprisoned.

On the windowsill sat an iron mask with a fearsome, demonic expression glaring upward. Qun Qing paused, instinctively avoiding it in fear.

Inside the hall, there were no guards in sight. Yang Fu leaned weakly against the wall, yet despite her disheveled hair and swollen eyes, her beauty was undeniable, like a lotus in spring.

“What have you done to her?” she demanded.

Li Huan’s face remained stern and cold. His voice cut through the air as he answered harshly,

“She’s a spy from Southern Chu, responsible for more than five assassinations. Leaving her with an intact body is the only mercy I’m willing to give.”

As he stepped closer, Princess Bao’an, distressed, yanked the golden hairpin from her hair. But Li Huan seized her wrist, forcing the hairpin into his own side, and taunted,

“So, will you kill me to avenge her?”

There was a rumor that when Prince Yan was born, his appearance was so hideous that it made his own mother cry, forcing him to wear an iron mask to cover his face. But now, standing before her, it was clear—beneath the mask, his features were not ugly at all. In fact, he was strikingly handsome.

When Li Huan cornered her, the ruthless aura he had honed on the battlefield surged forth. With one swift movement, he restrained Princess Bao’an’s arms, leaving her powerless to resist. The sharp tip of the hairpin was still buried deep in his flesh, yet he didn’t even flinch.

Yang Fu screamed and yanked her hand back, the golden hairpin clattering to the ground.

Li Huan, trapping her in the corner, gently held her arm. But when he felt her trembling, he hesitated and withdrew his hand.

“Do you really feel nothing for me? You won’t even look me in the eye?”

His voice softened, but there was still a trace of frustration as he continued,

“I didn’t kill your maid to hurt you. I did it to free you from Southern Chu’s grasp. As long as she lived, you’d remain trapped between your loyalty to your country and your heart.”

Tears spilled down Yang Fu’s face.

“You don’t understand…”

Li Huan’s gaze sharpened.

“No, it’s you who doesn’t understand! The outcome has already been decided. The Crown Prince of Zhao is nothing more than a fool, and Southern Chu will soon be under my control. Throughout history, new dynasties replace the old. It’s fate, not something a few women can change!”

Qun Qing, watching silently, felt her heart ease when she saw Yang Fu unharmed. Yet the way the two interacted unsettled her.

Yang Fu had always told her that when Prince Yan summoned her to Liangyi Hall to copy scriptures, he would humiliate her in every way. She would return with swollen, tear-streaked eyes, filling Qun Qing with hatred for him.

But now… their relationship didn’t seem as bitter as she had believed.

The candlelight flickered uncertainly, mirroring Qun Qing’s growing confusion. Yang Fu’s sobs became softer, filled with despair.

Li Huan spoke again, his tone measured.

“From today, if you trust me and marry me, you’ll be my wife, and I will protect you for the rest of your life. But if you insist on being Crown Prince Li Xuan’s consort…” He sighed, turning his head slightly, a cold cruelty glinting in his eyes.

“Then, as Lu Huating said, you’ll follow him to the imperial prison.”

Yang Fu’s body swayed, on the verge of collapse. Unwilling to let her fall, Li Huan quickly caught her in his arms.

Perhaps it was the dim candlelight, or the cold, emotionless gaze of the Ksitigarbha Buddha statue looming above them, or perhaps Yang Fu, weary and frightened after such a long ordeal, felt like a bird with nowhere to land. Slowly, she lifted her sleeve and allowed herself to lean into his warm, strong embrace, crying out, Slowly, she raised her sleeve and threw herself into that warm, strong embrace, crying,

“Qing Qing is dead. What can I do? What can I do… I beg Your Majesty, don’t forsake me…”

Li Huan froze for a moment, his expression overcome with joy, before tightening his arms around her waist and lifting her onto the table.

Watching the two figures entwined together, Qun Qing felt as if she were trapped in a surreal nightmare, unable to escape, unable to cry out.

She couldn’t even recall when the lies had begun.

Hadn’t Princess Bao’an always despised Li Huan?

When they were children, every time the Li family traveled from the north to pay tribute at the palace, Yang Fu would cower behind her, gripping her tightly with clammy hands as if in unbearable distress, hurriedly trying to pass by.

“Look at his mask! It’s terrifying! He keeps staring at me, how rude.”

Every time, it was Qun Qing who would stand tall, shielding her from the bold gaze of the young Prince Yan.

On the night when Prince Yan stormed Chang’an, he publicly humiliated Princess Bao’an at the Pure Tranquility Temple, instilling both hatred and fear within her. No matter how much Li Huan tried to win her favor afterward, the princess would tremble at the mere sight of him, as if she were staring at a demon.

The day she decided to poison Li Huan, Princess Bao’an had whispered painfully,

“I am a princess of this kingdom. How could I bear such humiliation and face my father, my elder sister, or the entire court?”

Up until that day, Qun Qing was certain the princess loathed Prince Yan and that they shared a common enemy in him.

When had the princess’s heart begun to change, when had Prince Yan become less despicable to her? Was it when he showed her warmth, or sent her gifts, or persistently pursued her?

Why had Princess Bao’an never told her about this betrayal, not even a single word?

Qun Qing suddenly stared at Yang Fu’s hand.

The princess was gently holding Li Huan’s neck, and at the tip of her long, delicate fingernail, there was a faint glimmer of gold leaf. Beneath it hung the poison bead that Qun Qing had personally fastened there. It was still intact, its rubber coating unbroken.

A deafening roar filled Qun Qing’s ears.

–

No wonder Lu Huating had looked at her like that. No wonder the imperial physician had said Prince Yan was “in no serious condition.”

How could he be ill if he hadn’t been poisoned? In Liangyi Hall, the princess hadn’t gone through with it. She had only touched him briefly before pulling her hand away.

She couldn’t bring herself to poison Li Huan!

What kind of tangled feelings did Yang Fu hold for Prince Yan, that she hesitated at the final moment, knowing that Qun Qing was risking her life behind the scenes?

There was no need for further explanation—Yang Fu’s heart had already revealed who held more weight, and who held less.

It turned out that today, it wasn’t the princess who had fallen into a trap, but Qun Qing herself who had walked right into it.

Gradually, she began to hear the sound of sutras being chanted, rising up to the heavens. The sharp clang of brass instruments punctuated the air, the sound compassionate and otherworldly, like a warm hand smoothing her hair, trying to soothe her anger, urging her to rest in peace.

But it was useless.

Her heart ached deeply.

Faces flashed through Qun Qing’s mind—the people she had met since that chaotic night in Chang’an. Her family, now lost or dead. Her mother, vanished without a trace. The physician Li, who had saved her life, and his apprentice Fang Xie. So many had shown her kindness, and she had let them all down. She had left it all behind to enter the palace, driven by a singular purpose.

She always knew that, for the sake of restoring her kingdom, she was bound to die eventually. After the assassination attempt, the agony of her wounds had made her wish for death. She had imagined many ways to meet her end, but she never expected it to be in such a meaningless way.

A person could die, but not like this—not in such a pitiful, pathetic way!

Qun Qing forced her eyes open, and her vision slowly cleared. She saw the source of the chanting: a funeral procession winding its way along the palace path. Seven or eight Taoist priests carried white flags, chanting as they walked. Two eunuchs in mourning clothes bore a coffin, its black wood adorned with delicate lotus flowers.

“Prime Minister Lu’s funeral procession, make way! Make way!” the eunuchs called out.

Hearing their words, Qun Qing felt a wave of confusion.

The current prime minister was Meng Guangshen—who was this prime minister Lu?

She overheard one of the eunuchs muttering,

“Godfather, why is this coffin so heavy? Feels like there’s more than one person inside. My arms are killing me…” only to be scolded by the older eunuch.

The funeral procession passed by her ghostly form, the solemn chants echoing in the sky. Paper banners drifted and spun through the air, passing right through her body as if she weren’t there.

Convinced now that she was truly a ghost, Qun Qing felt her form dissolving into the vastness of the world, only to be pulled back together by an unseen force and dragged far, far away…

–

When she opened her eyes again, it felt as if she’d been shaken around in a box, spun dozens of times, then dumped out. The world tilted around her, making her dizzy.

Struggling to regain her bearings, she suddenly felt a cold splash of water poured mercilessly over her head. In the background, eerie wails echoed, like the cries of the ‘ghosts,’ sending shivers down her spine.

Very slowly, she turned her head to glance at these ‘ghosts,’ only to see a few maidservants sobbing, their teeth clenched. They looked like ordinary maids from the palace, with their single hairpins and familiar faces.

“It’s hot, and people are fainting. We’re cooling you down. Don’t think you can fake fainting to get away!”

Another splash of water was thrown, and droplets hit Qun Qing’s face.

Water dripped from her hair and eyebrows, seeping into her collar, cool against her skin.

Water…

Her fingers tightened, grasping the hem of her skirt and crumpling it into a mess. The pressure in her palms brought a sharp, stinging pain.

She felt the burning heat beneath her hands on the ground, the stabbing ache in her knees, the relentless drone of cicadas in the distance, and the sun blazing above.

This was the human world!

Holding a water ladle stood an inner palace eunuch dressed in a maroon robe, his head wrapped in a simple headscarf. Next to him was a plump maid in her forties. When Qun Qing’s gaze met hers, the maid quickly signaled her not to look around.

Qun Qing stared at her for a while, and in the midst of the confusion, a memory slowly surfaced. This maid was Lady Zhang, the very woman who had been her master when she first entered the palace as ‘Qun Qing.’ But wasn’t that during the first year of the Shenglin era?

Slowly, she reached toward her abdomen, searching for the dagger wound that had been there. To her surprise, she found no injury.

Nearby, Eunuch Pei was ordering the palace maids to kneel under the blistering sun as punishment. Lady Zhang spoke up,

“Eunuch, if there are disobedient maids, we can discipline them later. But today, we must follow His Highness the Crown Prince’s orders and take them to serve the two noble masters. It wouldn’t be proper to keep them waiting.”

Choosing for the two noble masters… Qun Qing’s memory flickered. Years ago, when she had returned to the palace under the guise of a maid and lived in the Yeting Court¹ for over a month, this was the day she had used the selection of palace maids to approach Princess Bao’an. It had been her first step toward infiltrating the six department of palace services, becoming a spy for Southern Chu in the heart of the palace.

It seemed today was indeed that day. But why were they being punished by kneeling?

Eunuch Pei sneered,

“Precisely because we’re choosing maids for the noble masters that we must be vigilant. We can’t let anyone with poor character sneak in.”

Lady Zhang’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean by ‘poor character’? These maids were all handpicked by me!”

Eunuch Pei replied,

“It’s been reported to me that one of you was caught passing messages to a man outside the palace last night. According to the laws of Great Chen, palace maids are strictly forbidden from communicating with outsiders. Violators are beaten with thirty strokes, and if you’re discovered to be a spy, you won’t even have a grave to be buried in! You may expose the culprit, but if we don’t find her within a cup of tea’s time, all of you will be beaten!”

The young maids, many barely in their teens, suddenly looked pale and frightened.

The rods used for punishment were thorny, covered in barbs. With every strike, they would pierce through fabric and flesh, leaving bl00died wounds. Just ten strokes could silence someone, and thirty would leave them crippled for life.

Qun Qing stared at the hem of her skirt, her mind swirling. She had never believed in rebirth. Was she truly back in the first year of Shenglin, or was this just a fading dream, the “revolving lanterns” the elders often spoke of before death?

As she pondered, Eunuch Pei struck her sharply on the head with his dust whisk.

“Why are you just sitting there? No tears? Speak up!”

Qun Qing’s heart skipped a beat. She had no memory of this!

Before she could react, a voice beside her shouted,

“Eunuch, I report that Qun Qing was the one passing messages! I overheard her speaking with a man when I woke up last night!”

Qun Qing quickly turned to see the maid to her right, trembling and refusing to meet her eyes.

In that instant, a familiar sense of dread filled her. The threat of death loomed over her once more, just like it had in her past life.