After Rebirth, I Married my Archenemy - Chapter 80

Li Pan had faced assassins before, but he never imagined he’d be caught off guard in his own palace, on familiar ground. His eyes widened in disbelief, and with a sharp snap, he broke the horsetail whisk.

In the cover of night, Qun Qing’s face stayed eerily calm. One hand gripped his throat, her palm trembling slightly, while the other pulled out a needle. She drove it into Li Pan’s temple. As his terrified eyes flicked toward the spot, she delivered a quick, sharp blow to the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

Qun Qing hadn’t held back. Li Pan’s body slumped and toppled out of the pavilion, rolling down the small hill. Ruo Chan gasped, barely stopping herself from crying out. 

“That’s Prince Zhao! What do we do now?”

Qun Qing’s fingers quivered slightly beneath her sleeve. 

“He’ll be fine. I hit an acupoint. When he wakes up, he won’t remember anything before he passed out. We need to go—now.”

The thought of her grandfather dying at this man’s hands made her stomach churn with disgust. It took everything she had to keep her emotions in check.

Ruo Chan stared at Qun Qing’s unnervingly calm face, her eyes wide with shock. Then, in a hurried whisper, she said, “Sister, someone down there saw us. What do we do?”

Qun Qing’s gaze shifted to the figure on the official road below—a woman dressed in a Taoist robe, just like them. Without hesitation, she grabbed Ruo Chan’s arm and pulled her down from the pavilion. 

“It’s fine. We have more important things to deal with. Let’s go.”

Ruo Chan glanced over her shoulder as they left. The woman hadn’t moved; she just stood there, watching. It was Wen Su. She looked uneasy and muttered under her breath, 

“Advisor, looks like Lady Qing doesn’t need our help. She handled it on her own.”

A moment later, Lu Huating pushed through the trees, brushing branches aside as he walked. Without saying a word, he crouched down beside Li Pan’s unconscious body, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him out of the bushes. Then he gave him a sharp slap across the face. 

“Your Highness, what just happened? Do you remember anything?”

Li Pan’s eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was Lu Huating’s face—pale under the moonlight, lips slightly curled with a mocking smile. The pain in his body came rushing back, and fury boiled inside him. He shot up, grabbing Lu Huating by the collar, his glare burning with rage.

Wen Su quickly stepped forward to intervene. But the moment Li Pan saw the Taoist woman, his face twisted with even more anger.

Just then, a shadow fell over him. Zheng Fu, the chief eunuch, stood there, letting out a pointed cough. Li Pan’s expression changed in an instant.

Zheng Fu served directly by the Emperor’s side, and sure enough, moments later, Emperor Chenming himself appeared. His eyes narrowed when he saw Li Pan sprawled on the ground. His voice thundered, 

“A few days ago, you claimed you were sick to avoid the palace banquet, and now look at you! I don’t think you’re sick—I think you need to be taught a lesson!”

Li Pan clenched his fists but didn’t dare talk back. Even though anger bubbled inside him, he kept his head down, his face wearing an obedient, pitiful expression. The resemblance to the late Empress Yuan was striking.

Emperor Chenming’s fury eased slightly, and his eyes shifted to Wen Su, who stood quietly with her head bowed. Before the Emperor could speak, Lu Huating stepped forward. 

“She’s a Taoist from Consort Chen De’s residence. His Second Highness stopped her on the road before she could report for duty.”

Li Pan shot Lu Huating a sharp, warning glare. “Advisor Lu, don’t you dare slander me.”

Emperor Chenming had more or less figured out what had happened, but he only shot Li Pan a cold, dismissive glance. The fact that Consort Chen De had been overlooked during the investiture ceremony was already a sore point, and now this incident made things worse. Without another word, he turned to Zheng Fu and said, 

“It’s been a while since I visited Consort Chen De. Let’s go see her.”

With that, he strode off toward Consort Chen De’s palace.

Li Pan’s face tightened, his expression hardening. Meanwhile, Lu Huating cast a subtle glance toward the trees. Catching the unspoken signal, Wen Su quietly slipped away to follow the Emperor.

Consort Chen De’s palace was modest in size. At the center of the hall stood a statue of Lord Taiyi, the deity of salvation, radiating both kindness and authority. Below the statue, Taoist women knelt in rows, chanting prayers in unison. The rhythmic clack of wooden fish percussion echoed softly through the room.

Qun Qing lifted her eyes to observe Consort Chen De, who was kneeling on a prayer mat at the front. She appeared to be in her forties, her face thin, with her hair pulled back into a simple bun. Even with her eyes closed, there were traces of her youthful beauty still visible. She sat quietly, her calm demeanor nothing like the rumors of madness that surrounded her.

As Qun Qing tapped the wooden fish in rhythm with the others, she leaned slightly toward Ruo Chan and whispered, 

“What’s this ritual for?”

Her older brother, Shi Yuming, had once worked as a guard at Qingjing Temple, and during her visits, she had picked up on the meanings behind various prayers and rituals.

Ruo Chan whispered back, “Sister, just keep the rhythm steady and follow along. Whatever you do, don’t mess up the sequence.”

A nearby Taoist nun overheard their whispering and cut in, her tone low but firm. 

“Lady, please focus. This is a blessing ceremony for the Fourth Prince. Consort Chen De is very particular about it. If she catches you talking, she’ll scold you.”

Qun Qing blinked in surprise. “Consort Chen De is that strict about prayers?”

The nun sighed softly. “She doesn’t really understand Taoist practices, but when it comes to the Fourth Prince, she’s meticulous. A mother’s heart, I suppose.”

Qun Qing fell silent, slightly surprised. So this ritual wasn’t for Consort Chen De—it was for her son, the Fourth Prince.

A moment later, a sharp series of wooden fish strikes suddenly broke the steady rhythm, creating a jarring sound.

The nuns, startled, momentarily faltered and looked around in shock—only to see Qun Qing’s hand moving rapidly, her strikes relentless. The sound of the wooden fish, sharp and urgent, resonated like a mournful, weeping rain.

Gasps filled the room, and some nuns turned pale. In the Dachen Empire, prayer rituals were meant for the living. Striking the wooden fish in such a manner symbolized a mourning ritual, a prayer for the dead.

Many eyes turned toward Qun Qing, yet she seemed oblivious, her gaze fixed firmly on Consort Chen De.

Consort Chen De’s eyes snapped open. Amidst the frightened cries of the nuns, she suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Qun Qing’s wrist to stop her from striking any further.

Qun Qing saw Consort Chen De’s furious and hateful expression, her eyes filled with red veins.

“You dare to continue striking after making a mistake?!”

The other Taoist women turned pale, but Qun Qing remained calm and fearless. She looked at Consort Chen De and said, 

“I don’t think I’m wrong. The Fourth Prince has been missing for so long. His Highness must be gone. If you keep acting like this, you’ll only block his spirit and stop him from reincarnating.”

Ruo Chan nervously tugged at Qun Qing’s clothes. “Sister…”

Qun Qing held her breath, her eyes narrowing slightly. In Consort Chen De’s gaze, she saw her own reflection. Consort Chen De’s pupils contracted, her breath trembling with rage, her hatred so intense it seemed she might grind her teeth to dust.

At that moment, a sleeve brushed against a bamboo curtain with a sharp rustle. A hidden weapon, buzzing through the air, nailed itself into a pillar.

The wind picked up. Instinctively, Qun Qing shielded Consort Chen De, pulling the frail woman into her arms to protect her. A second hidden weapon shot in, its blade gleaming like scattered petals from the heavens, but Qun Qing blocked it with the wooden fish mallet.

The nuns, startled by the sudden attack, screamed in terror. Consort Chen De’s head rested against Qun Qing’s soft abdomen, her eyes drooping slightly, her face showing a flicker of confusion.

Moments later, Zheng Fu’s voice echoed, announcing the emperor’s arrival. Consort Chen De felt herself hastily released from Qun Qing’s hold. Emperor Chen Ming entered swiftly, followed by Li Pan. His gaze flicked to the hidden weapons embedded in the walls, then to the pale, trembling Consort Chen De.

A strange discomfort crossed his face. 

“Have the Southern Chu assassins not been captured yet?” he asked coldly.

Zheng Fu responded, “Advisor Lu reported that his men are still pursuing them. However, there were no guards stationed outside Consort Chen De’s residence…”

“It’s simple. What if something happens again?” Emperor Chen Ming’s expression darkened. “I’ll decide today. Consort Chen De will move back to Changqing Palace tomorrow under strict protection.”

Consort Chen De quietly leaned toward the empty seat beside her. While the other women bowed in unison, Qun Qing leapt out of the window and disappeared without a sound.

Li Pan’s eyes were cold as he bowed to Consort Chen De.

She shrank back, trembling. When Emperor Chen Ming pulled her into his arms, silent tears streamed down her face.

—

Qun Qing landed gracefully outside the window, brushing the dust off her clothes. As she turned her head, she found Lu Huating standing right beside her.

“You follow quite closely, Advisor Lu,” she remarked. Thinking back to the hidden weapon from earlier, which seemed to have no intent to harm, she guessed it was a warning shot from Zhusu and the others. Her tone softened slightly. “Where did that Southern Chu weapon come from?”

Lu Huating replied, “It was confiscated from your former fiancé.”

Qun Qing fell silent.

Lu Huating then asked, “Why did you provoke Consort Chen De just now? Do you think she holds the key?”

Qun Qing said, “I tested her using the Fourth Prince. Her reaction was too intense. Only the living need blessings. If he were truly dead, she wouldn’t be so terrified to find out his fate—whether he’s alive or not wouldn’t matter to her.”

Lu Huating replied, “Do you really think Meng Guangshen and Li Pan haven’t already looked into this? They’ve searched every corner of the palace and still couldn’t find Li Miao.”

“Even if the Fourth Prince is dead, if Consort Chen De regains her sanity, she might reveal the injustices she faced back then—and why Prince Zhao and the Meng family wanted to get rid of her completely.” Qun Qing paused, listening to the silence inside. “She didn’t dare to speak before, probably because she was too weak. But since I work in the palace, I need to make His Majesty think of her, think of the past. Only then can we force the guilty to reveal themselves.”

“If you think Consort Chen  De is useless, why did you bring His Majesty to her today?”

Lu Huating shrugged. “I see you’re too eager for revenge to cooperate properly. I just gave you a little push.”

Suddenly, Qun Qing stretched both hands toward him.

Lu Huating raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“I disguised myself as a Taoist woman today, so I wiped off my scars from the torture.” Qun Qing’s upturned eyes were cold and sharp. “I’ll have to trouble you, Advisor, to draw them back on.”

T/L notes:

Dear readers! I hope you’re all enjoying the novel translations. I really wanted to stick to the usual update schedule, but unfortunately, I couldn’t keep up this month. For now, both advance and free chapters will be updated/unlock once a week—every Saturday—just for this month.

I’m really sorry about this! School has been super hectic, and I’m drowning in assignments and oral reports (which I honestly don’t enjoy… huhu 😭).

Despite everything, I hope you’ll continue to support my translations. Thank you for understanding!