Saving the Obsessive Villain Boss [Quick Transmigration] (GL) - Chapter 11

The spring day was beautiful. After the heavy rain beat down the pear blossoms, the sky cleared, vast and cloudless. In the backyard of Yuming Hall, a woman in white robes was laboriously assisting a frail young woman to walk.

She walked very slowly, pausing with every step, with almost half of her body leaning on the person beside her. Her legs below the knee trembled with every step.

“Your Majesty, it has been half an hour. Let’s rest a while.” Shi Qingyi’s hands were properly placed behind her waist, not overstepping the boundary in the slightest, the most appropriate distance, yet from a distance, it still looked excessively intimate.

After kneeling and crawling for a year in the unbearable cage, Xu Zhaosu’s body had forgotten the instinct to walk. Now, it was as difficult as an infant learning to walk. Her face was pale, and her teeth were tightly biting her lip. Only fine beads of sweat dampened her temples.

Knowing her fiercely competitive nature and her inability to accept the fact that she couldn’t walk, Shi Qingyi finished speaking and helped her to the pavilion nearby. They would rest for the time it took for one incense stick to burn, every half hour, as prescribed by the Imperial Physician.

Inside the pavilion were several small plates of pastries and a pot of freshly brewed tea. Shi Qingyi dipped a cloth in warm water to wipe the sweat from the Empress’s temples and forehead. Afterward, she crouched down to massage the Empress’s almost stiff leg bones.

Xu Zhaosu’s legs had been eroded by cold for a year and had been damaged to the very bone from too much kneeling and crawling. Even with the best doctors in the world, she couldn’t stand up completely. It could only be said that for the rest of her life, she would be half-crippled, unable to walk for very long.

No, that’s not right. As a perverted and insane villainous boss, where did Xu Zhaosu have a “rest of her life?”

After she was reinstated and massacred the city, she only stayed on the throne for less than three years. Because of her cruelty, tyranny, and unpredictable moods, public resentment swelled. The heroine, as the former princess, possessed compassion and benevolence, and the hero possessed unparalleled bravery. They led an army to attack the Imperial City, and Xu Zhaosu ultimately chose to commit suicide in Mingze Hall.

However, after the plot went awry, Xu Zhaosu directly killed the heroine, and the subsequent events ceased to exist.

As she was thinking, a cool, chilly question suddenly came from above: “Do you know what tea I like to drink?”

Instinctively, Shi Qingyi sensed danger. She looked up. The sunlight above was bright. The Empress slightly raised her head. Her skin was so pale it was almost transparent, her jawline sharp to the point of harshness. She held a scalding tea cup in her hand, her expression one of indiscernible emotion.

She thought seriously for a moment before answering: “Your Majesty fears bitterness and dislikes drinking tea. You like to drink—honey water.”

This incident was discovered during a spring hunt. A few reckless young noblemen, hoping to gain the Empress’s favor and rise quickly, had used a tree branch to poke a wasp’s nest deep in the mountains and brought the honey back. They failed to curry the Empress’s favor, but the sight of their heads swollen like pigs from stings became a laughingstock in the capital.

The Empress had chastised those young men for their lack of learning, but she did drink a few more sips of the honey water.

After saying this, she waited a moment, and only then was the teacup heavily set down on the stone table. The heart Shi Qingyi had held suspended finally returned to its place.

The System gloated in her mind: “If you had answered incorrectly just now, that cup of tea wouldn’t have been set on the table but smashed into your face.”

Shi Qingyi: “…”

She glanced again at the swirling heat rising from the teacup.

I’ve been playing the role of a humble palace maid lately; I don’t seem to have done anything outrageous.

She couldn’t help but look up at the Empress’s expression. Xu Zhaosu’s gloomy face slightly softened. Seeming to sense a gaze upon her, her tone became cool and chilly: “I thought you knew nothing about my preferences.”

It was a bit passive-aggressive. Listening closely, it seemed to carry a hint of bitterness and mockery.

Shi Qingyi lowered her eyes: “I will change it tomorrow.” She paused, then added: “Your Majesty’s preferences are naturally etched in my mind.”

The person above sneered, unsure if she believed it, but did not continue to press her.

Xu Zhaosu’s legs were long and well-proportioned. In the early spring, her skirt was not too heavy, revealing an ankle covered in terrifying blue-purple frostbite. Even after applying medicine for more than half a month, it had only slightly eased.

Shi Qingyi, who considered herself iron-hearted, felt a dull ache in her own heart at the sight. How much pain and despair must she have endured?

After kneading for a long time, the taut lines of the leg slowly relaxed, no longer trembling subtly in her palm. The sky was darkening, and an orange sunset was falling on the horizon. Shi Qingyi, covering the slightly feverish leg bone, said softly: “It’s getting dark. The night air is cold. Your Majesty should go back. You haven’t had your medicine yet today.”

Xu Zhaosu did not say a word. She couldn’t tolerate her own uselessness, often insisting on practicing until her legs were stiff and unable to move as darkness fell.

“I’ll make honey water for you when we get back.” The person kneeling stood up, her voice carrying a hint of inexplicable coaxing.

Is she really treating me like a child? Xu Zhaosu scoffed. Just as she was about to say something, the person had already squatted down in front of her.

“Let me carry Your Majesty back today.”

In the past, the medicine boy would clean his hands and carry the Empress back, or the Empress would force herself to walk back. In any case, she was still wary of her and wouldn’t easily let her get close. Today, they were leaving earlier.

Before Xu Zhaosu could speak, Shi Qingyi spoke first: “I don’t want anyone else to carry you. Let me carry you just once today.”

Xu Zhaosu’s hand hidden beneath her sleeve trembled slightly. After a long time, just when Shi Qingyi thought she would refuse, she stretched out her hand and rested it on that slender shoulder.

Indeed, there wasn’t much time left. Her aunt (the head of the forces) would arrive at the Imperial City soon, the army at the gates. At most, there were three more days. On Shi Qingyi’s birthday, three days later, she would be able to escape.

And then, they would be fighting each other.

The cold, subtle fragrance of plum blossoms wafted from the woman’s hair. She reached out to loop her arms around the woman’s slender neck, resting her chin on her shoulder, and quietly inhaled.

There was no scent of Yangyan Gouqing.

The setting sun cast a gentle, soft glow over the glazed tiles of the Imperial City. Scattered on the bluestone slab were the pear blossoms beaten down by the morning rain, still unswept. Shi Qingyi walked very slowly, as if she wished to keep walking on and on like this.

In a corner Shi Qingyi did not see, Xu Zhaosu quietly opened her eyes, silently observing the person in front of her. She could only see a blurred outline. The side profile was also clear and beautiful, like a person who had truly walked out of an illusion, every part exquisite and peerless, yet cold and stunningly beautiful.

This period was perhaps the first time the two of them had been this close.

When she was the Empress of Liyue, wielding absolute power, even when she used force to suppress others, she had never been in such close proximity. Shi Qingyi would feed her medicine, hug her during her nightmares, remember her preferences, and even get jealous when others carried her…

Her arm unconsciously tightened, pressing closely against Shi Qingyi’s long, pale neck, covering the overlapping blue and purple fingerprints on her neck.

The army coming to restore the rightful ruler was advancing rapidly. It was impossible for Shi Qingyi, with her current influence, not to know.

If her prediction was correct, Shi Qingyi wanted to survive. She knew she couldn’t bring herself to kill her.

Sometimes, she felt ridiculous herself. It was truly lamentable. This person had crippled her, made her suffer all the hardships in the world. Even with overwhelming hatred, wanting to cut her into a thousand pieces and tear her apart with five horses, when the genuine opportunity arose to choke her, she was still, soft-hearted.

Xu Zhaosu felt difficulty breathing. This girl was indeed skilled at opportunism. Yes, she really wouldn’t kill her. Dying and ending it all was too simple. How could that compare to the inhuman torment she had endured?

The Empress let out a cold laugh, closed her eyes, and ground her teeth against the woman’s thin collarbone.

The sun gradually set, and moonlight filled the world. The main hall of Yuming Hall was not close to the backyard. This walk lasted for a long time. Shi Qingyi didn’t feel tired; Xu Zhaosu was too thin, so thin that she barely felt any weight, like a withered branch that had been snapped.

But even the longest road eventually ends.

The medicine boy had already brewed the medicine and was anxiously waiting. Finally, the two “esteemed ancestors” returned. He quickly went up, intending to help, but was subtly blocked by the Guoshi.

“I’ll take care of it.” The voice was cold and clear, and the position where her arm blocked was airtight.

The medicine boy was speechless. He silently watched the Guoshi help the Empress back into the hall, change her clothes, add warmth to the stove, and feed her the medicine. He couldn’t help but rub his nose, wondering why he felt so superfluous standing there.

Xu Zhaosu slept poorly at night. Since emerging from the dark dungeon, she often had nightmares, occasionally suffering sleepless nights. Ghosts seeking vengeance, betrayal by her beloved, forced her eyes to stay open.

“No—no—get away…”

The Empress suddenly opened her eyes from the nightmare. Before her was a blurred halo of light. Someone held her hand, which she fiercely gripped back.

“Your Majesty, wake up, wake up…” The voice near her ear was light and shallow, carrying a hint of comfort.

Her knuckles were white with tension. Her neatly trimmed nails dug deeply into the other person’s arm. That person never uttered a sound from start to finish, just letting her hold on.

“Your Majesty, it’s all over. It’s just a nightmare, not real…” The free hand gently patted her thin back, trying to bring the frightened, trembling person out of the nightmare.

After a long time, the Empress finally calmed down, and her voice was hoarse as she asked: “What time is it?”

Shi Qingyi glanced outside. The sky was pitch black, with only the sound of the wind whistling past: “It’s still early. Your Majesty should sleep a little longer. I’ll stay by your side.”

Xu Zhaosu closed her eyes, unwilling to speak. She couldn’t sleep. She even felt that the magnificent palace was a cell less than three feet square. At night, rats squeaked as they passed by, fighting her for food. A chilling coldness assaulted her from below the knees.

Day after day, year after year, with no end in sight, and the hatred and malice of betrayal growing wildly in the darkness.

“If Your Majesty truly cannot sleep, I will read to you.”

The Empress froze. Her hand quietly released, and her voice was hoarse: “Granted.”

So Shi Qingyi put on her coat and sat up, leaning against the couch side to read to the Empress. A long time ago, the only time Xu Zhaosu came to Mingze Hall to recover from illness, she quickly fell asleep listening to Shi Qingyi read late at night.

She actually still remembered.

But only a few years later, things had changed. This time, the Empress couldn’t sleep.

She chose a collection of poems this time. Shi Qingyi’s voice was cold and clean, like a slowly flowing clear spring when she read. The Empress closed her eyes to rest. Suddenly, she asked a completely unrelated question: “In your heart, what kind of person do you think I am?”

Perhaps it was the sadness of the late night. She suddenly wanted to ask. After all these years of resentment and entanglement, what exactly did Shi Qingyi think—even though Shi Qingyi didn’t even dare to face her with her real name now.

Shi Qingyi was stunned. The book in her hand fell onto her lap. She thought for a moment before slowly speaking while the Empress’s eyes were closed: “Upon first hearing that Your Majesty ascended to the throne at the age of sixteen, I naturally assumed you were a decisive, strict, and deeply formidable sovereign.”

She paused, then looked up: “Later, when I saw Your Majesty with my own eyes, I realized Your Majesty is a beauty capable of overthrowing kingdoms and cities, magnificent and enchanting, unparalleled in the world.”

“A sight that, upon seeing, captures one’s heart.”