Saving the Obsessive Villain Boss [Quick Transmigration] (GL) - Chapter 6

Shi Qingyi did not sleep peacefully that night either. The wind and snow rattled the windows in the middle of the night. Startled from her sleep, she couldn’t close her eyes again. She casually picked up a few memorials and began to review them by the lamplight. Halfway through, she suddenly tossed the documents aside, threw on an outer robe, and rushed out the door.

Passing through a corridor, she reached the main hall. The little palace maid on night duty was sleeping soundly, her head cocked. As Shi Qingyi hurried to push open the inner hall door, she heard a heart-wrenching fit of coughing.

The slender girl in white was leaning sideways over the edge of the couch, half her body hanging over the side. Her thin back trembled incessantly. She was clearly coughing very badly, but due to her physical weakness, her voice was faint, so much so that it didn’t even wake the palace servant on duty.

Xu Zhaosu’s arm, propped on the couch, was growing increasingly weak, and she was about to fall to the floor when she suddenly fell into a soft embrace.

The cool plum fragrance, carrying the perpetual, chilling scent of the Zhongnan mountain peaks, enveloped her after a long time. Xu Zhaosu subconsciously clenched her fingers tightly, her knuckles turning blue as she instantly froze, yet she couldn’t help but continue coughing in a low voice.

A soft hand gently stroked her thin spine, moving awkwardly, with a sense of helplessness and distress. The voice was close, with a slight tremor: “Imperial Physician? Where is the Imperial Physician! Summon the Imperial Physician!”

Xu Zhaosu suspected she had misheard. How could this person, who never changed expression even when Mount Tai collapsed before her, be so out of control?

Xu Zhaosu was drenched in cold sweat. She had just had a nightmare. In the dream, she was still in the lightless dungeon. The lamp was dim, and a secret guard came back from the border with bl00d-stained clothes, begging her to leave the palace immediately.

A thousand miles away, in the bitter cold of the frontier, her only bl00d relative in the world had been shot dead by arrows, sleeping eternally beneath the ice and snow.

In an instant, sorrow and fear overwhelmed her heart. Her throat was metallic-sweet with bl00d, and just as she was about to collapse, someone embraced her.

This person, who was once familiar and whom she had longed for and held dear, was also the person who had tormented and imprisoned her for a year, nearly causing her death.

She plunged into a boundless nightmare again, beginning to tremble subtly. Unable to distinguish between dream and reality, she desperately clenched her fingers and raised her head in a panic, trying to confirm something, but all she saw was a patch of blinding emptiness, seeing nothing at all.

After a long while, a warm palm gently covered her eyelids.

The voice was slightly hoarse: “Don’t look…”

Xu Zhaosu’s suspended heart suddenly sank, plummeting as if into an ice cellar, crashing down from a height. Yes, this is reality. Her legs would be permanently crippled, and her eyes might never see clearly again.

Perhaps, she would never be able to see anything in this life.

Just then, a palace maid, trembling with a bowl of medicinal soup, spoke softly by the couch: “Your Majesty, the medicine is ready…”

A surge of hatred instantly overwhelmed her sanity. Relying on the vague sound, Xu Zhaosu located the medicinal soup. Her trembling hand swept it across, and the porcelain bowl hit the ground with a sharp, grating sound.

Amidst the palace servants’ startled cries, the entire bowl was spilled onto the person beside her.

The boiling hot medicinal soup, just taken off the stove, was usually set aside to cool for a while. Now, it was entirely spilled onto the person, and the pain was imaginable.

The moment the soup splashed, she felt a tightening around her waist. Someone had pulled her closer, shielding her exposed arm, followed by a suppressed groan.

The entire Yuming Hall fell silent. Everyone simultaneously knelt down, completely quiet. Only the bitter medicinal liquid dripped onto the stone floor, like a sword hanging over everyone’s hearts.

The State Preceptor now held great power and was known for her obsession with cleanliness. No one knew how this situation would end this time.

Xu Zhaosu retracted her hand, closed her eyes, and a mocking coldness curled up the corner of her mouth. What else can happen? At most, she’ll throw me back into the dark dungeon. Could it be any more desperate than that?

Just when everyone thought the State Preceptor would fly into a rage, the person slowly stood up, enduring the severe pain, and said hoarsely: “Brew another dose of medicine for His Majesty.”

No one dared to look up, only responding softly. The medicinal apprentice, who had just returned from outside, braved the wind and snow to furtively glance at the State Preceptor’s hand hidden under her sleeve.

The slender fingers were scalded bright red, with the skin even peeling off in severe areas, subtly trembling in a hidden corner beneath the sleeve where no one could see. He was greatly alarmed. Just as he was about to look up again, the inner hall woman’s hoarse voice, accompanied by the sharp sound of something breaking, rang out: “Get out—”

The white-robed State Preceptor’s footsteps slightly paused. Her eyes lowered, showing no emotion: “Go in later and clean it up. Don’t let her injure herself.”

The apprentice was stunned for a good while before realizing the words were directed at him. He immediately bowed and replied softly.

When he looked up again, the flash of white clothing had already plunged into the continuous wind and snow, vanishing deep within the palace walls. For some reason, he suddenly recalled the news he had just gathered.

The whereabouts of the Eldest Princess (Xu Zhaosu’s aunt/sister) had indeed been exposed, but this person (Shi Qingyi) had simply put it aside and had not ordered her execution.

— I wonder what trick this treacherous official is up to now.

The apprentice scratched his head, unable to understand. He just hurried into the inner hall. The Empress was propped up on the edge of the couch. Her beautiful features wore an expression of extreme coldness. Broken porcelain dishes were scattered on the floor, and a few preserved plums rolled around.

He didn’t know if it was his misconception, but he felt that in His Majesty’s closed eyes, there was a hidden trace of mockery and ruthless desolation.

— She actually left!

—

Shi Qingyi rushed back to Mingze Hall overnight and summoned the Imperial Physician to treat her scalds, which were hastily bandaged.

It was truly scalded and truly painful. From the back of her hand to her elbow, not an inch was spared. The severe areas were even peeling, and the less severe ones were swollen and red, causing the physician who was bandaging her to break out in a cold sweat.

After finishing the examination and putting away his medicine box, he pondered for a moment before speaking: “You must abstain from certain foods recently, and you should try your best to avoid touching water. It would be very bad if the condition worsened.”

His voice was soft. If this wasn’t handled properly, wouldn’t his head be at risk too?

Shi Qingyi slightly nodded. After the Imperial Physician and the maidservants had left, the System’s voice appeared out of nowhere: “Why didn’t you dodge?”

Xu Zhaosu was blind, that strike was completely off target, and she was too physically weak to have any strength. It would have been easy for Shi Qingyi to dodge.

Shi Qingyi grimaced with pain, though she didn’t show it outwardly. She said calmly: “I abused her for nearly a year. Her splashing a bowl of medicine on me is no big deal.”

The System expressed strong suspicion, simulating the scene again in the System Space, and suddenly had an epiphany: “Her aim was completely off. If you had reached out to block it, wouldn’t all of it have splashed on her instead?”

Shi Qingyi: “…”

No one would think you were mute if you didn’t speak, so you really don’t need to expose me.

Her only good hand quickly shot out. In a flash of lightning, she hit the close button. The System only had time to display the last sentence on the screen.

— Shi Qingyi, you’re just mad with embarrassment!

—

Ten days passed in a blink of an eye. The early spring weather changed rapidly. It was snowing heavily a couple of days ago, but now the ice and snow had melted, and it looked like spring had arrived with blossoming flowers.

Since its last struggle to crawl out of the space, the System had learned with tears what it meant to speak and act cautiously. After waiting ten days without seeing the lazy woman take any action, it finally couldn’t help but ask: “How much longer are you going to wait?”

Shi Qingyi reviewed a memorial with one hand and raised her tightly bandaged left hand with the other, not even lifting an eyelid: “Work injury.”

The System fell into an awkward silence for a moment, and its tone gradually became gentle: “Does the burn hurt?”

“Duh.”

It hurt enough to make her wear a mask of agony right then and there, okay?

“Being burned to death alive hurts much more than a scald.”

Shi Qingyi: “…”

The System’s tone became even more gentle and approachable: “Do you need me to re-educate you on what Xu Zhaosu did after she became corrupted?”

Shi Qingyi: “…”

Actually, it wasn’t much, just the necessary path for a corrupted villain boss, such as burning alive the scumbag who had deceived her love and stolen her kingdom, burying the scumbag’s ashes under her palace walls, and subjecting all those who had betrayed her in the past to brutal executions, including but not limited to sandalwood lingchi (death by a thousand cuts) and dismemberment by five horses—

Because of her tyrannical cruelty, she was eventually targeted by the exiled princess (the female protagonist). The original plot was for her to die by the protagonist’s sword, and for the protagonist to successfully restore her kingdom. Unfortunately, Xu Zhaosu was corrupted too completely, and the protagonist was instantly killed when she raised her army, for the reason that she had a face that resembled the scumbag’s.

Shi Qingyi: “…”

I think I can still be saved!

Shi Qingyi rubbed her aching forehead, resolutely stood up, sighed, tossed the memorial aside, and headed straight for Yuming Hall.

The System reminded her in her mind: “Her corruption value is currently 95. She still retains a trace of kindness because her aunt/sister didn’t die, but it’s still high. She has continuously driven away dozens of palace servants over these ten days, and her temper is becoming more violent and eccentric. If you delay any longer, you really won’t have time.”

Shi Qingyi covered her face. She didn’t want to delay either, but Xu Zhaosu’s reaction that day was indeed too intense. It even made her feel that Xu Zhaosu hated her so deeply that her mere presence would cause her distress.

Mingze Hall was separated from Yuming Hall by just a wall. Passing through a covered corridor led to Yuming Hall.

The spring breeze had instantaneously opened the pear blossoms. The snow-white flower trees were blooming over the yet-to-melt fine snow. The vegetation in Yuming Hall had not been trimmed for a year, and in early spring, as all things revived, lush new shoots were emerging.

On a weathered stone table in the distance, a thin, plain-dressed girl was gritting her teeth, trying to forcefully stand up using the strength of her arms. Her legs trembled severely, looking as if she would fall to the ground any moment.

She finally managed to stand up with great difficulty, bracing herself against the stone table, but because she was blind, she couldn’t see the uneven puddle beside her. Just as she was about to tumble off the stone table, a hand abruptly supported her taut arm, allowing her to lean against the person.

The faint and cold, ethereal fragrance seemed both distant and close. Her thin fingers anxiously and tightly grasped the supporting hand. She slightly tilted her head, her gaze dim and dull, inexplicably difficult to discern.

Only the sunlight shone into her eyes, which were as deep as a cold pool, but it couldn’t illuminate the slightest bit of light inside.

She couldn’t see.

In a flash, the white-robed State Preceptor deliberately lowered her voice, gently held her cold hand back, and spoke softly.

“I am the palace maid recently sent by Granny Shen to look after Your Majesty. My name is—A-yi.”