Drunken Flower Room - Chapter 14

Lin Qingchi opened her eyes. What greeted her was a scene of swirling sand, mountains of corpses, rivers of blood, and arrows glinting with cold light shooting through the air. 

“Your Highness!” 

“Move, quickly!” 

The furious shouts of soldiers rang in her ears. 

Lin Qingchi blinked. In the final moment, she raised her hand and caught the arrow. 

The soldiers battling fiercely against the Xiongnu enemies froze in shock, their eyes wide at this sudden development. 

Lin Qingchi exerted a bit of force, and the arrowhead crumbled into dust. She casually picked up a longsword from the ground, raised it to the sky, and shouted. 

“Soldiers, heed my command” 

“Follow me and annihilate the Xiongnu” 

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” 

The bloodied soldiers of the Great Zhou roared passionately. In an instant, the tide of battle turned. Under Lin Qingchi’s leadership, their courage and strength surged. 

By sunset, the last enemy attempting to flee was cut down by Lin Qingchi. 

“We… we’ve won” 

“I… I survived 

” 

Amid the mountains of corpses, the surviving soldiers gasped in disbelief. They erupted into cheers and embraced each other, crying uncontrollably. 

Lin Qingchi’s eyes stung as well. She tossed aside the blood-soaked sword and lifted her head into the wind. 

“005, let’s begin.” 

Beep. Transmitting memories. 

This world was set within a novel titled The Shadow Guard’s Marriage. As the name suggested, the male lead was undoubtedly a shadow guard. 

The female lead was Lin Yijin. 

She was the fourth imperial daughter of the Great Zhou dynasty. 

Lin Yijin’s birth mother was a palace servant, and she passed away early. Lin Yijin grew up unloved and pitiful. However, this pitiable girl encountered a kind-hearted deity during a harsh winter. 

With the deity’s help, Lin Yijin gained her own power, eventually earning the Empress’s favor and gathering a loyal group of followers willing to die for her. 

Over time, Lin Yijin fell in love with the kind deity. Just as she was about to confess her feelings, the Xiongnu launched an attack on the northwest, and the heir of the Yong’an Prince perished on the battlefield. 

Seeing an opportunity, Lin Yijin volunteered to go to the northwest. The Empress agreed, and Lin Yijin took the kind deity along with her. But then, the deity died. 

Yes, that’s right. He died. 

After that, Lin Yijin seemed to awaken her latent potential. She achieved a decisive victory and became known as the War God of Great Zhou. Upon her return to the capital, she was named Crown Princess. 

Subsequently, the Eastern Palace needed a master. Although Lin Yijin didn’t want to marry, she had no choice. She ended up marrying the kind deity’s so-called adopted younger brother. 

And this younger brother was, in fact, the kind deity’s shadow guard, the inspiration for the book’s title. 

After their marriage, Lin Yijin and the male lead engaged in a few years of romantic push-and-pull, “You don’t love me, I love you,” “I love you but won’t say it, guess my feelings,” and “If you don’t love me, let me go”, all the classic tropes. 

Eventually, they had a happy ending. 

Lin Yijin ascended the throne as Empress and made the male lead her consort, disbanding the harem for him. Such a touching love story would undoubtedly be adapted into countless films and dramas for future generations. 

Beep. Qingchi, your current identity is that of the deceased heir to the Yong’an Prince. 

Lin Qingchi let out a soft hum of acknowledgment. 

In The Shadow Guard’s Marriage, the female lead Lin Yijin was an ungrateful wolf, and the male lead was a treacherous servant who abandoned his master. 

The kind deity, Su Nianchen, was the last surviving member of an aristocratic family with a storied legacy. 

Su Nianchen’s mother and three elder sisters all perished in battle for the Great Zhou, and his father, devastated by grief, followed them in death. 

A family of four heroic martyrs, with the three sisters never even getting the chance to marry. Su Nianchen was the last surviving branch of the Su family. 

However, this last remaining branch was frail and sickly, needing to rest after taking just three steps. 

Lin Yijin sought military power, so she volunteered to go to the northwest. That was fine. But she insisted on dragging the feeble Su Nianchen along, causing his health to deteriorate and leading to his eventual death. 

Was she not an ungrateful wolf? 

As for the male lead of The Shadow Guard’s Marriage, he was Su Nianchen’s shadow guard, a person Su Nianchen had always treated as a younger brother. 

Yet, in the northwest, when Su Nianchen was bedridden with illness and the Xiongnu launched a surprise attack, this so-called shadow guard abandoned Su Nianchen to seek help from Lin Yijin. 

Lin Qingchi was so angry, she laughed. 

“Nowadays, anyone can be a shadow guard?” 

In the original novel, the female lead Lin Yijin married the male lead initially to gain the remaining influence left by the foreign prince. 

Those people all ended up dead anyway. 

At the novel’s grand finale, Lin Yijin brought the male lead to Su Nianchen’s grave to express her gratitude, thanking him for saving her, for helping her, and for giving the male lead to her. 

Thanking… 

Thanking ***my foot! 

Beep beep! Excessive vulgarity detected. System has censored the remark. 

Lin Qingchi: “…” 

April 

News of victory arrived in the capital from the northwest. 

The Yong’an Prince’s heir had defeated the Xiongnu in a decisive battle. 

The Empress was overjoyed and issued an imperial decree, summoning the Yong’an Prince’s heir back to the capital and rewarding her with ten thousand taels of gold. 

June 

The Yong’an Prince’s heir returned to the capital. The Empress was so pleased that she held a grand banquet in her honor. The event was attended by all the imperial daughters and sons, palace consorts, civil and military officials, and their families. 

The banquet hall was filled with the clinking of cups, the exchange of toasts, and the lingering melodies of silk strings and flutes. 

“Cousin, I toast to you.” 

Seated to Lin Qingchi’s left and across from her were several imperial daughters. As the Yong’an Prince was the Empress’s full-blooded sister, these imperial daughters addressed Lin Qingchi with familiarity, calling her “cousin” at every turn. 

“To Your Highness. Your Highness, please.” Lin Qingchi wasn’t interested in forming close ties. No matter who toasted her, she responded with the same line. 

As the banquet wore on, Lin Yijin, seated directly across from Lin Qingchi, also raised her glass and approached. 

“Cousin, for the people of Great Zhou, you’ve fought on the battlefield for nearly eight years. I toast to you.” 

“And you are…?” Lin Qingchi looked her up and down and asked, “Which imperial daughter are you?” 

Lin Yijin’s eyes widened slightly. 

Lin Qingchi chuckled, “I left the capital at the age of six. I only remember the older imperial daughters and don’t recognize you.” 

Lin Yijin’s heart relaxed, and she replied, “We are the same age. I rarely frequented the palace as a child, so it’s no surprise you don’t recognize me.” 

From referring to herself as 孤 (“I,” a formal pronoun for royalty) to 我 (a less formal pronoun), the subtle change in address was not lost on the observant guests. Everyone’s thoughts turned swiftly. 

Lin Qingchi’s smile didn’t waver as she raised her glass to return the toast. “I see. To Your Highness.” 

After drinking, Lin Yijin turned to leave, but Lin Qingchi suddenly called out to her. 

“By the way, when is Your Highness’s birthday?” 

“November,” Lin Yijin answered. 

“Haha…” Lin Qingchi immediately laughed. “Then it seems Your Highness has made a mistake. I was born in October, so I’m older.” 

Lin Yijin appeared momentarily surprised, then quickly corrected herself. “Elder Cousin.” 

Lin Qingchi nodded in acknowledgment. 

At that moment, the Empress, seated with her consort, said something and called for Lin Qingchi. 

“Qingchi,” the consort said with a smile, “your aunt is fretting over what reward to bestow upon you. Someone in the palace suggested granting you a marriage.” 

“A marriage?” 

The eyes of everyone in the banquet hall instantly turned toward her. 

Lin Qingchi, the Yong’an Prince’s heir, had joined the battlefield at thirteen and fought for seven years. Not only was she a decorated war hero, but she was also the Yong’an Prince’s only legitimate daughter and the Empress’s niece by blood. 

“Qingchi,” the Empress said, “what do you think? Should I grant you a great beauty?” 

The Empress even made a gesture to emphasize her words. 

“Pfft.” Lin Qingchi couldn’t help but laugh. After some thought, she set down her wine cup, walked to the center of the hall, cupped her hands, and bowed deeply. “Your Majesty, Qingchi already has someone in her heart and will have no one else.” 

“And who might that be?” the Empress asked. “Tell your aunt, and I will grant you the marriage.” 

Lin Qingchi straightened up and shook her head. 

“That won’t do. I have yet to confess my feelings to him. Until he accepts, I dare not say his name. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”