Quick Transmigration: The Villain Is Too Pampered and Alluring - Chapter 77

When Sheng Nuan saw the state of Princess Lin’an, she froze. In the end, she couldn’t ignore it. She entered the hot spring pool and helped him up. “Xiaoyu…”

Princess Lin’an seemed somewhat disoriented and suddenly struck out. Sheng Nuan raised her hand to block the attack, then immediately noticed the chaotic flow of qi¹ surging wildly within his body…

The chaotic qi surged wildly within his body, as if countless knives were tearing him apart from the inside. Princess Lin’an’s whole body trembled in pain, yet he didn’t utter a single sound.

In that moment, Sheng Nuan suddenly recalled the cold and stubborn little girl she had once met in the Cold Palace.

With a soft sigh, she gently comforted, “Xiaoyu, don’t be afraid, it’s me…”

While restraining him, Sheng Nuan placed her palm on the other person’s chest, channeling her own internal energy to suppress the chaotic qi running rampant within Princess Lin’an’s body.

The qi was chaotic yet dense, so much so that even Sheng Nuan’s face paled. Yet she gritted her teeth and endured. After a long while, the turbulent qi within Princess Lin’an finally calmed down.

Sheng Nuan, who was exhausted, leaned against the edge of the hot spring pool, gasping for breath.

A moment later, Princess Lin’an slowly opened his eyes…

“I thought Sister would never come to see me again,” Princess Lin’an said, his gaze dim.

Sheng Nuan awkwardly replied, “Well, it’s just that I was a bit… confused that day…”

“It was me.”

Princess Lin’an suddenly spoke.

Sheng Nuan was startled and instinctively looked up. Across from her, Princess Lin’an was trembling as he leaned against the edge of the hot spring pool. Then, with the sound of bones cracking, right before Sheng Nuan’s eyes… the stunningly beautiful woman transformed into the purple-robed man she had seen at the inn that day.

Sheng Nuan instinctively stepped back, and saw a flicker of sadness cross the other person’s face.

He adjusted his robe, which had changed from loose-fitting to perfectly tailored, revealing his broad shoulders and narrow waist beneath the wet fabric, clearly visible to the naked eye…

In a low voice, he asked, “Are you afraid of me, Sister?”

A trace of self-mockery flashed in his eyes. “In Sister’s eye, am I someone who would hurt you?”

Sheng Nuan was still stunned, unable to fully process what had just happened. Instinctively, she stammered, “That day, you…”

“I only wanted to save Sister.”

He gazed at Sheng Nuan quietly, his voice low. “If I hadn’t acted that way, they wouldn’t have let me take Sister away… Does Sister think you could have escaped from those people on your own?”

Sheng Nuan paused, then asked, “Weren’t those people yours?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw a look of self-mockery appear on the man’s face across from her…

He said, “Sister, you saw the situation I was in that day. Do you really think I have the ability to command so many people to do my bidding?”

Sheng Nuan was stunned…

She was only a bit clever in domestic fighting but didn’t know much about schemes or power struggles. But thinking back to Xiaoyu’s situation in the Cold Palace, it seemed… it seemed that was indeed the case.

Sheng Nuan felt conflicted and remained silent. Across from her, the man slowly began to speak, telling her about his past…

It turned out that Princess Lin’an was not a princess at all. He was supposed to be the Ninth Prince, Bai Chengze.

Bai Chengze’s mother was Worthy Consort² Qin. She came from the prestigious Qin family, which descended from founding elders of the empire and held the title of Protectors of the Nation. After entering the palace as a consort, she quickly gained the emperor’s favor.

But on the very day she gave birth to the Ninth Prince, Bai Chengze, the Tang Emperor accused the Qin family of treason and ordered their entire clan to be executed… A death soldier³ risked his life to deliver the news to the palace, and the Worthy Consort, who had just given birth, was so devastated that she coughed up blood in grief.

But after that, she quickly calmed down and made meticulous arrangements: first, she swapped her newborn son with the stillborn child of an abandoned concubine in the cold palace. Then, she had a trusted palace maid sent to the Cold Palace under the guise of demotion to care for her real son.

In the Worthy Consort’s secret chamber, there was also a pregnant woman… She had once been a maidservant by the Worthy Consort’s side but had secretly seduced the Tang Emperor and became pregnant.

The maidservant’s unborn child had not yet reached full term when Worthy Consort ordered it to be forcibly cut from her womb, passing the infant off as her own and presenting him as the Ninth Prince.

After the Qin family was exterminated, the emperor and Worthy Consort grew estranged…

But it seemed that the Tang Emperor did have genuine feelings for the Worthy Consort. Even though he wiped out the Qin family, he did not implicate the Worthy Consort or her son… However, the Worthy Consort had already come to understand the ruthless and cold nature of this man.

Sure enough, when the Ninth Prince, Bai Chengze, reached the age of four in good health, he suddenly fell gravely ill, almost losing his life.

Worthy Consort tended to him day and night for an entire month, pulling the Ninth Prince back from the brink of death. However, from that point on, the Ninth Prince became frail and frequently ill, with the imperial physician predicting that he would not live past the age of thirty.

Yet the Tang Emperor became even more doting and indulgent toward this son, treating him as if he were a precious treasure to be held in the palm of his hand…

This affection reached its peak after Worthy Consort’s death: throughout the Tang Empire, it was well known that the Ninth Prince, Bai Chengze, was the most favored. Even the Crown Prince couldn’t compare.

But the Crown Prince didn’t mind at all. In fact, he was very protective of his younger brother, since… everyone knew that the Ninth Prince would be short-lived.

Meanwhile, in the Cold Palace, the real Ninth Prince, Bai Chengze, was forced to disguise himself as the princess born to the deceased concubine.

The concubine passed away before her confinement period even ended, leaving Bai Chengze to rely on the palace maid sent by Worthy Consort for survival.

Up until the age of seven, Bai Chengze’s life was relatively peaceful. But when he turned seven, the palace maid who had cared for him passed away. From that point on, the young boy had to naively protect his secret while enduring malice from all sides.

At that time, he didn’t even understand why he had to pretend to be a girl. The palace maid had told him before her death: if anyone found out he was a boy, he would die…

In the palace, the greatest malice often came from those at the very bottom. And their cruelty was not limited to mere beatings and kicks. The young child, in his struggle to protect himself, endured countless nights of fear.

Sometimes, in order to avoid those people, he wouldn’t dare sleep in his room at night, and would only huddle up in deserted corners like a stray dog or cat… until he met a fairy when he was eleven years old.

But even fairies have to leave…

At twelve, they found him.

The group included former retainers of the Qin family and their allies within the court… They had discovered the real Ninth Prince, Bai Chengze, and began plotting a grand scheme…

Princess Lin’an—or rather, Bai Chengze—looked at Sheng Nuan quietly, a hint of helplessness in his expression. “Sister, they aren’t my people… I’m their puppet.”

Bai Chengze spoke in a low voice: “Before my mother passed away, she told them about my existence, but they didn’t come for me until I was twelve. Sister, do you know why?”

Sheng Nuan pursed her lips. “Why…?”

Bai Chengze gave a bitter smile. “Because they wanted me to remember the days in the Cold Palace, where I lived worse than pigs and dogs, so that I would see them as my saviors who rescued me from unbearable suffering, and obediently become their puppet…”

“Later, it was also they who provided the medicine that allowed me to continue disguising myself as a woman.”

Bai Chengze forced a smile. “At the beginning and middle of every month, if I don’t take the medicine they give me to ease the pain, I’ll experience an agony worse than death. You just saw it, Sister… They have me firmly in their grasp. That day, I had to deceive them in order to save you… Otherwise, they would have killed you without hesitation.”

After listening to Bai Chengze’s words, Sheng Nuan felt a mix of emotions stirring in her heart.

She asked, “If there’s medicine to relieve the pain, then why…”

Why would it be so painful?

Bai Chengze pressed his lips together. “After Sister escaped that day, they became suspicious of me, so they didn’t give me the medicine this month…”

Sheng Nuan was shocked. Was it because of her?

At that moment, Bai Chengze spoke again. “Actually, it’s better that Sister keeps your distance from me…”

Seeing the dazed expression on Sheng Nuan’s face, Bai Chengze gave a bitter smile and said, “This medicine that alters one’s appearance is forbidden. The fact that it causes agony worse than death every month isn’t the worst part. The worst part is that it affects a person’s mind…”

“Maybe it won’t be long before I’ll become a complete madman. By then, I won’t be able to protect Sister even if I want to.”

Lowering his eyes, Bai Chengze whispered, “Sister, it’s better for you to stay far away from me…”

1. qi (vital energy or life force) –  In martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine contexts, zhenqi refers specifically to the internal energy circulating within the body. So, zhenqi is a type of qi, typically used in a more specific sense related to internal power and energy flow. ↵
2. Worthy Consort – Time for a bit of Tang dynasty harem review. The highest-ranking woman in the imperial harem is, of course, the Empress Huanghou (皇后). Below the empress are the 4 recognized Imperial Consorts ranked from the highest to lowest:
   1. Guifei (贵妃) – Noble Consort
   2. Shufei (淑妃) – Pure Consort
   3. Defei (德妃) – Virtuous Consort
   4. Xianfei (贤妃) – Worthy Consort
   These titles were considered extremely prestigious, only belonging to the most powerful four women in the harem excluding the empress, and often came with substantial political influence. Bai Chengze’s mother is a Xianfei.
   Below the 4 Imperial Consorts are other lower-ranked consorts and concubines. ↵
3. death soldier – a warrior or assassin, who is willing to sacrifice their life to accomplish a mission. ↵

T/N: His lips may shamelessly spout “Sister, Sister…” but his heart is saying something else…
This strategy of exaggerating sickness to fish a wife seems very familiar🤔 Did Bai Chengze and Ye Nanxun go to the same online course?