Saving the Obsessive Villain Boss [Quick Transmigration] (GL) - Chapter 23
The object itself is not guilty; the guilt lies in the human heart.
The young monarch remained silent for a long time. The candlelight flickered with the wind, casting large shadows on the empty white marble tiles. The time seemed endlessly long, its end invisible. After a long while, the physician from Miaojiang finally heard a cool, decisive judgment from above.
“Take it out—”
She was indeed plagued by worry, suspicion, and insecurity, but leaving the mother gu was a constant hidden danger. If the mother gu were to fall into someone else’s hands one day, it would be equivalent to controlling Shi Qingyi’s life.
What’s more—
She looked at the girl behind the gauze curtain. Her first half of life had already been so difficult. She should be free, unburdened and uncontrolled by anyone or anything, even by herself.
She had missed too much in the first half of her life, and she shouldn’t continue to make mistakes.
The Miao doctor raised his head in astonishment. The wind blew through the hall, and the female monarch’s voice was like a sigh.
“The one who is meant to leave cannot be held back, and the one who is meant to stay will not leave.”
After a long pause, a hand quietly reached out from behind the gauze curtain and hooked her palm.
The person had awakened quietly from her deep sleep at some unknown time, or perhaps had not slept at all. Lying amidst the layers of fine brocade, she slowly opened her eyes and reached out a hand to rub the sore small of the female monarch’s back.
The female monarch’s eyes dimmed slightly. Unwilling to let the person, who was now dishevelled and looked lazy, be seen by others, she leaned down to kiss her and pulled over the gauze curtain. The Miao doctor’s face blushed slightly, and he tactfully and quietly retreated.
In the heat of passion, Shi Qingyi kissed the wound on her heart where an arrow had pierced her lung, and softly said: “If Your Majesty is willing to let me go, it is not impossible for me to stay…”
Xu Zhaosu closed her eyes and held her tightly: “But I am unwilling.”
She did not want to see her held hostage again, unable to live as she pleased.
She could not tolerate anyone harming her in the slightest, even herself.
Various Little Extras
- Writing
After Shi Qingyi recovered, Xu Zhaosu still did not dare to let her go out, insisting on taking meticulous care of her. When bored, Shi Qingyi would practice calligraphy and read. Xu Zhaosu had virtually moved all the rare books from the national treasury to Mingze Palace overnight, so she would not be bored.
One day, as Shi Qingyi was practicing calligraphy, Xu Zhaosu hugged her waist from behind and whispered in her ear.
She asked her what she had intended to write on her palm in the final stages of her illness. She had written the character for “never” (cóng wèi), but when she tried to write the rest, Xu Zhaosu wouldn’t let her, insisting she wait until she was better, afraid that once she said all she wanted to say, she would lose the one breath that was sustaining her.
So Shi Qingyi picked up the brush, but before it could touch the paper, the female monarch snatched the Xuan paper away, and stood alone by her desk, her eyes bright and smiling.
Shi Qingyi: “…”
Later, Shi Qingyi finally relented only after writing the remaining characters, stroke by stroke, on her heart.
It was nothing much, just eight characters.
—Meeting Your Majesty, this life has been fortunate.
- Hiding a Beauty in a Golden House
Xu Zhaosu had a very strong obsession with the Yumíng Palace, and was determined to fully realize the concept of “hiding a beauty in a golden house.” She hired the best craftsmen from Líyuè to design the blueprints. When the blueprints came out, she was not satisfied and looked over them with Shi Qingyi to see what needed to be added.
It was indeed worthy of the phrase “magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful.”
However, for some unknown reason, the blueprints were leaked. The court officials cried and howled, saying that Shi Qingyi was a succubus who brought disaster to the nation and should be executed by slow slicing, causing a huge fuss. Two elderly court veterans threatened to smash their heads against a pillar to prove their integrity.
Calling her a succubus was bad enough, but they also implicitly called her ugly, saying she was without beauty. The female emperor’s face instantly darkened when the words came out. A group of ignorant people went to pull the Eldest Princess to their side to jointly advise His Majesty.
The Eldest Princess’s mouth twitched. That very night, she requested leave, citing poor health, and did not attend court.
The female sovereign was no longer the ruler who once treated scholars with courtesy. She couldn’t be bothered with their formalities and old rules. No matter how much they protested, she showed no fear or compromise, and instead earned a reputation for being self-willed and stubborn.
When the matter became unmanageable, the Eldest Princess had to intervene, but instead of advising His Majesty, she entered the palace to see Shi Qingyi, who was now the apple of the Emperor’s eye.
Xu Zhaosu had been terrified ever since the time the Eldest Princess forced Shi Qingyi to kneel in the heavy snow for three hours. Hearing that the Eldest Princess had entered the palace, she abandoned everyone and rushed back, only to find the usually stern Eldest Princess sitting across from Shi Qingyi, drinking tea, and not saying much.
Xu Zhaosu, filled with lingering fear, hugged Shi Qingyi. Shi Qingyi merely patted her hand, immediately calming her down.
No one’s persuasion worked on Xu Zhaosu. She was determined to follow her own wishes. Then, one day, it rained. Shi Qingyi held an umbrella and went to meet her. The two nestled under the same umbrella. The rain pattered outside the umbrella. When they returned from the Xuandé Hall, where she handled political affairs, their clothes were already soaked.
After washing, Xu Zhaosu personally combed the wet long hair, refusing to let anyone else help. Shi Qingyi hugged her waist and softly said: “Your Majesty, it’s so far…”
The Xuandé Hall and the Mingze Palace were far apart. Even the Yùmíng Palace, which was only separated from the Mingze Palace by a wall, felt far. In short, any place not beside you was “so far.”
Xu Zhaosu’s heart instantly melted into a puddle, her mind almost filled to bursting with saturated sweetness. Unable to vent it, she could only frantically kiss her. Shi Qingyi hugged her, raised her neck, and allowed her to bite her haphazardly.
The matter concluded there, the only reason being Shi Qingyi’s single sentence. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The golden house was not built, and what was hidden was not a beautiful concubine, but the person she loved.
Only the System was slightly hesitant: “Host, are you going soft?”
Shi Qingyi was drinking tea. Hearing this, she said “Oh” without changing her expression: “Why do you say that?”
The System started counting on its fingers: “Xu Zhaosu’s character setting is a paranoid villain, tyrannical and arbitrary, destined to be replaced by the male and female leads. If you protect her like this, how will she lose public support and be attacked by the masses?”
“Do you think the male and female leads can beat her?” Shi Qingyi lifted her eyes and blew on her tea.
The System choked, remembering the male and female leads who had barely escaped not long ago, now barely surviving somewhere in the world.
Although it was reluctant to admit it, it was unlikely.
“If the male and female leads could beat her, the Main God wouldn’t have thrown me back. Since the male and female leads can’t beat her, for the sake of the people in this world, shouldn’t I advise her to be benevolent?” Shi Qingyi guided it patiently.
System: “…The logic seems sound?”
But why did it feel like something wasn’t quite right?
- I Am Jealous of Myself
Shi Qingyi still habitually wore a mask. Xu Zhaosu, not wanting to upset her, never asked her about it. It was a long time later that she finally dared to ask why she wore a mask and why she didn’t take it off even during intimate moments.
Shi Qingyi turned her face away and said she was afraid of scaring her if she woke up in the middle of the night. Xu Zhaosu immediately straightened up and said, “I’m not afraid,” then cautiously lifted the mask and delicately kissed the scars on her face.
“Appearance is secondary, it’s not important. I only want you,” the female monarch said affectionately, holding her face, earning a cool glare from the National Preceptor.
“Oh? Then when I wasn’t around, why did Your Majesty keep so many beauties in the imperial harem?”
Xu Zhaosu: “…”
She felt heart-stuck, she remained silent.
Only after being teased did she gently lean in: “I missed you too much back then…”
She missed her so much that she was going crazy, but you never came to see me. I thought you would never appear in this world again, so I collected everyone who looked like you. I never touched them, just looked from afar.
—The heart’s craving is hard to quell.
Shi Qingyi sighed quietly: “I know.”
That’s why it hurt even more.
During the period when Shi Qingyi first returned to the imperial palace as a medical woman, she once took Xu Zhaosu’s pulse. The girl, who was ill, gloomy, and frail, said she felt terrible. Shi Qingyi couldn’t diagnose it and anxiously asked where His Majesty was feeling unwell.
The female monarch on the couch held her hand and placed it on her heart, closed her eyes, and said hoarsely that it hurt here.
Although she knew it might be true heart pain—she had an emotional knot and old injuries—placing it there still inevitably made one think otherwise!
Shi Qingyi’s face was burning like fire, and she quickly tried to pull her hand back.
The person seemed about to cry, the corners of her eyes were red, but she wouldn’t let go. Her eyes, however, held a layer of cold light: “It hurts…”
The easily embarrassed person finally couldn’t bear it anymore: “How can Your Majesty be like this? Didn’t you say, didn’t you say there was… the National Preceptor? She died, and you were heartbroken, yet you move on so quickly?”
She seemed angry, her tone was slightly indignant, and her face was flushed. She clearly intended to mock her, but ultimately failed.
The female monarch looked at her with deep affection: “She would hope that I live happily.”
What kind of bereaved spouse literature is this…
Is it really okay for me to be jealous of myself? Why am I suddenly a little angry? Why am I suddenly so angry?!
The System quietly typed: “Host, we’re detecting a relatively large emotional fluctuation. Do you want to take a temporary break?”
Shi Qingyi: “…”
—Garbage system, always interrupting when you shouldn’t.
Shi Qingyi had always been very curious why Xu Zhaosu could always recognize her accurately, even when she couldn’t see and even with a change of name.
Xu Zhaosu leaned her head on her shoulder. The character Yi (in A’Yī) sounded like the character Yì (in Qīngyì), and the common name for the job’s tears plant (cǎo zhū) was a common name for yì mǐ (Job’s tears). This was not difficult.
“But I didn’t recognize you from your name. I knew it was you from the very first moment you appeared.”
Without any reason, absolutely impossible to mistake. That was you, the person she had remembered her whole life and carved into her heart. How could she possibly be wrong?
- Imperial Heirs
Xu Zhaosu only had Shi Qingyi in her harem. It was well-known throughout the world that she was the only one favored and doted upon, and she never took another person. Seeing that they couldn’t rely on others to overthrow the female monarch’s tyranny, the court officials became extremely concerned about the issue of succession.
They thought that after the female monarch passed away, they needed to properly cultivate the next monarch, but His Majesty simply would not take an imperial husband or have children. This greatly worried the court officials.
Every now and then, they would make a scene, begging His Majesty to open up the harem, making it a bigger commotion than promoting freedom of speech, though the female monarch completely ignored them.
Even so, they did not stop their mischief, sending handsome men to the palace every so often. This led to Xu Zhaosu returning one afternoon after court to find Shi Qingyi admiring the group of handsome men in the imperial garden with great interest.
Shi Qingyi just smiled, saying nothing. Xu Zhaosu’s face instantly darkened, and she immediately had murderous intent. She was afraid that Shi Qingyi was unhappy, and even more afraid that she was genuinely interested in one of the men.
They were jealous of each other.
The next day, Xu Zhaosu punished all the court officials who had advised her to take an imperial husband. After scolding them, the group of officials saw that force wouldn’t work, so they tried a gentler approach, weeping and pleading with His Majesty to have a child and leave a bloodline.
The curtain was suddenly lifted. A coldly detached woman ignored everyone’s astonishment and said indifferently: “Your Majesty’s health is poor, and she is not suitable for bearing children.”
The officials were dumbfounded. How dare a favored consort come to the court and participate in political discussions? They immediately pointed their fingers at her, calling her a witch who spread rumors and bewitched the monarch.
Shi Qingyi merely glanced at them coldly. Her voice was pure and noble, like the pristine white snow on a mountain: “Since I am a healer and also His Majesty’s intimate companion, I naturally know more than you.”
The phrase “intimate companion” made Xu Zhaosu’s heart suddenly stir, and she unconsciously pursed her lips.
There was no more room for discussion on this matter. After this incident, the female monarch favored that person even more, almost to the point of being completely deaf to advice.
Xu Zhaosu suddenly told Shi Qingyi one afternoon that she felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, wondering if she was pregnant with her imperial child. She secretly observed her expression, testing Shi Qingyi’s desire for a child.
Accompanying her in the loneliness of the deep palace, she naturally wouldn’t have any desire for an heir.
Shi Qingyi, being a doctor herself, knew her body well, but she played along without changing her expression. She touched her stomach and said, “Eat more. My imperial child is hungry,” and then fed a cloud-flake cake into her mouth.
Xu Zhaosu knew that she didn’t care about this. Later, she adopted a little girl from the imperial clan, cultivating her as the heir apparent, but only entrusted her to the Eldest Princess. Neither Xu Zhaosu nor Shi Qingyi were in particularly good health. They wouldn’t live for too long. A long life was impossible, and she didn’t expect to live for a very long time, only hoping that they could spend more time together while they were alive.
Xu Zhaosu was occasionally still consumed by worry, often suffering from insomnia at night. When she woke up, she would check if Shi Qingyi was by her side.
Even though Shi Qingyi slept with her every night, this habit was not cured. Xu Zhaosu was very afraid that everything was just a dream.
Shi Qingyi often kissed her eyebrows and eyes when she woke up in fright: “Even the longest dream will come to an end. Your Majesty, look to the future.”
Time always proves many things.
Shi Qingyi had an inexplicable filter for Xu Zhaosu. The filter was: she is clearly very easy to talk to, so why do you all say her temperament is violent?
Everyone: Because she is only easy to talk to for you.
After going back and forth between life and death, Xu Zhaosu’s hatred value had been mostly reduced. The System calculated that only five percent remained.
“The remaining amount shouldn’t be enough for her to destroy the world. The mission is complete. In fact, we can leave now.”
Shi Qingyi was about to agree to leave when Xu Zhaosu suddenly appeared from behind and said, “Where do you want to go?”
“You can’t go anywhere. I know I was wrong. Don’t leave. If you leave, I will kill everyone. You know I can do it!”
She could indeed do it; after all, that’s what she did last time.
That was the second year after the incident. Xu Zhaosu had been trying to pretend to be a normal person, but when she somehow sensed that Shi Qingyi was leaving, she completely collapsed, like a trapped beast at the end of its rope.
She then imprisoned Shi Qingyi in one small area, with iron chains binding her hands and feet, heavily guarded, not allowed to move even an inch.
She, herself, went to the mountain to perform three bows and nine prostrations, praying to the gods not to take her away.
She had always had a premonition that Shi Qingyi would leave. She might not belong to this world, but when the premonition actually came true, she realized that letting go was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
She climbed ninety-nine steps. Her knees were bloody and raw as she knelt before the divine statue. Just as she was about to collapse, Shi Qingyi appeared and took the stumbling person into her arms.
Her eyes were cold with anger, and her voice was chilly: “Instead of begging him, you should treat me better. At least don’t lock me up in the palace.”
Even with heavy guards and black iron chains, what could not be locked remained unlocked. Just like the human heart. It was only then that Xu Zhaosu understood that she hadn’t truly locked Shi Qingyi up; Shi Qingyi had only stayed by her side voluntarily.
Xu Zhaosu trembled and hugged her tightly, asking cautiously and incoherently: “If I treat you a little better, will you not leave?”
The one who is meant to leave cannot be held back. She finally understood this at that moment.
She couldn’t hold onto Shi Qingyi. No matter how ruthless, how hateful, how unwilling she was, if Shi Qingyi wanted to leave, she couldn’t keep her.
The benevolent yet indifferent statues of the Three Pure Ones watched the world, discerning the human heart.
Shi Qingyi’s hand trembled slightly as she held her in her arms. Xu Zhaosu’s knees were weak and covered in bl00d, unable to support her. There were tears in her eyes, and she looked up quietly, staring at her, almost masochistically, as if afraid that if she closed her eyes, she would never see her again.
The monarch who commanded the world was only this humble when she was around her.
Shi Qingyi remained silent for a long time. Her heart ached in her chest, a surge of emotion accompanied by an unspoken sourness. After a long while, she patted her slender back, and a kiss quietly landed on her temple, saying: “I will stay by your side.”
She made a vow to the gods and Buddhas across the sky.
Finally receiving the desired promise, Xu Zhaosu slumped into her arms as if exhausted. Her arms had been pinched with bright red marks. After a long time, warm tears soaked her collar. She slowly tightened her arms, hugging her waist tightly.
System: “Host, you seem a little off.”
“There is still five percent of the blackening value. I am merely pursuing perfection.”
The System wanted to say more, but Shi Qingyi had already answered: “I won’t be able to stay with her for too long.”
Her body was too frail. She didn’t have many years left to live. Staying with her was only a matter of a few years of lifespan. Her life was long, and these worlds were just places she had briefly visited. They would never be places for a long stay.
But the Xu Zhaosu in this world made her heart ache.
That was the reason she couldn’t let go.
That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. She carried Xu Zhaosu down the mountain. The girl’s arms were tightly wrapped around her neck. And thus, her whole life seemed to reach its end. Xu Zhaosu, half-asleep and half-awake, was still murmuring her name: “A’Qing, don’t leave, don’t leave…”
“Don’t abandon me…”
That was the first time Shi Qingyi, having been a ruthless task tool for so long, felt a dull ache in her heart.
Later, Xu Zhaosu indeed did not live for too long. After three years of companionship, her health deteriorated further. Before she passed away, she still held Shi Qingyi’s hand and refused to let go. Shi Qingyi understood her meaning and willingly committed suicide by taking poison to be buried beside her.
The monarch finally agreed to close her eyes.
Living together in one quilt, dying together in one grave, as she wished.
The System chimed: “Blackening value cleared. Transferring to the next world.”