The Villainess Always Wants to Cuddle With Me [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 23

A crescent moon, yet not quite, hides half its gate behind crimson walls and golden tiles. The furnace burns, the palace weeps, startling all within and without as tempestuous winds and torrential rains rage from all directions.

A beauty reclined on a chaise lounge. Xie Yu raised a hand to shield her eyes from the firelight streaming through the window. She rose leisurely and sat gracefully before her vanity. After admiring her reflection for a moment, she turned to the side and said, “Jing Qiao, help this palace with her toilette.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” Jing Qiao carefully picked up the nine-curved pearwood comb and began meticulously arranging Xie Yu’s hair.

The palace was quiet and serene. Through the window, the deep red palace buildings stretched into the distance, their silhouettes dancing wildly against the firelight, as if reveling in the clamor of souls.

In the distance, the cries of eunuchs and palace maids echoed:

“Fire!”

“Quick! Fire!”

The blaze seemed to have originated near the Imperial Medical Academy. It was unclear exactly where the fire had started, but chaos had already erupted in the area.

Meanwhile, in Dragon Blessing Palace, Consort Xuan let out a startled cry:

“Ah!”

No one outside paid her any attention, assuming it was merely the sound of mandarin ducks frolicking in the water.

Inside the Dragon Blessing Palace, Consort Xuan pushed Guan Hongzhan off her. Just moments ago, he had been full of vigor, but now he lay as still as if in a deep sleep, unresponsive to her calls. Perplexed, she called out softly, “Is Your Majesty tired?”

“Your Majesty?”

No response.

A chill ran down Consort Xuan’s spine. She reached out to check Guan Hongzhan’s breathing. After a moment of hesitation, she pushed him off her and rose, then checked again.

No signs of life…

Consort Xuan abandoned all decorum. She hastily threw on her robe, barely fastening it, and rushed to the door, shouting, “Summon the imperial physician! Quickly! His Majesty has fainted!”

Chunqiu, the night watch guard in the corridor, jerked awake from a doze. Seeing Consort Xuan’s disheveled state, she asked in confusion, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”

At the sight of Chunqiu, Consort Xuan seized her arm as if she had found her anchor. “Chunqiu, summon the imperial physician! Hurry!”

Inside the palace, red candles flickered, their glow mingling with the distant firelight.

Xie Yu, arriving late, shed her usual languid demeanor the moment she entered the Dragon Blessing Palace, her eyes now burning with a ruthless glint.

The moment Xie Yu entered the chamber, she saw Consort Xuan kneeling before the dragon bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

“What’s going on at this late hour?” Xie Yu demanded.

Seeing Xie Yu, Consort Xuan immediately crawled to her feet, wailing, “Your Majesty the Empress… I was attending to His Majesty when he suddenly fainted… Now he’s… Your Majesty, please save me… Waaah…”

Xie Yu noticed three Imperial Physicians kneeling nearby. She turned to them and asked, “Explain the Emperor’s condition.”

The lead physician bowed deeply. “Your Majesty… His Majesty has… succumbed to poisoning!”

“Insolence!” Xie Yu pointed a finger at Imperial Physician Chen, her eyes blazing with fury. “If you have no proof, you’ll lose your head!”

“Poisoned… But I shared the Emperor’s meal. How could I be unharmed?” Consort Xuan protested, bewildered.

Imperial Physician Chen exchanged a glance with Xie Yu before continuing, “Based on our combined examination and deduction, Your Majesty, the Emperor ingested a Fragrant Embrace Pill before engaging in marital relations.”

“Oh? Tell me more,” Xie Yu said, settling into the imperial throne, ready to play her part in this drama.

“The Fragrant Embrace Pill is typically used to enhance intimacy,” Imperial Physician Chen explained. “However, when taken with tonics like Cassia Seed or White Fungus Soup, it causes the body’s qi and bl00d to flow in reverse. Starting from Dazhui, the energy surges backward along the Ren Meridian, passing through Qugu, Zhongji, and Guanyuan, ultimately reaching Baihui and Shenting. This violent reversal forces toxins into Zhongfu, a vital acupoint responsible for absorbing nutrients and expelling waste. The resulting damage to Zhongfu disrupts the heart’s meridians, leading to cardiac arrest.”

Imperial Physician Chen paused, then added, “Forgive my bluntness, Your Majesty, but the Fragrant Embrace Pill is extremely rare. Moreover, such substances are strictly forbidden within the palace. Your Majesty must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter.”

Consort Xuan, who was present, understood none of this medical jargon.

Xie Yu waved her hand decisively. “Issue my decree: conduct a thorough investigation! Even if we have to scour every corner of Lu Zong City and dig three feet into the ground, we will find this Fragrant Embrace Pill!”

Within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, several eunuchs arrived at Dragon Blessing Palace, carrying the Fragrant Embrace Pill and its formula, which had been discovered in Consort Xuan’s chambers.

“Your Majesty, we’ve found it.”

Xie Yu slapped Consort Xuan across the face, her voice sharp and furious. “Vile woman! You would resort to such insidious methods just to win favor!”

“Your Majesty the Empress, I swear I didn’t! I’m being framed! Someone must be trying to set me up…” Consort Xuan glanced at the box containing the Fragrant Embrace Pill, and her heart skipped a beat. The box was indeed hers—a gift from her family sent to the palace just days ago. It was supposed to contain beauty-enhancing pills, and she distinctly remembered finishing them and putting the empty box away.

Xie Yu paid no heed to Consort Xuan’s cries of innocence. She declared to the court, “Consort Xuan, for plotting against His Majesty in her quest for favor, is sentenced to be buried alive. She shall be confined to her coffin, chanting scriptures and praying for blessings until she accompanies the Emperor to the afterlife…”

“Buried alive…” Consort Xuan’s eyes glazed over, ashen as death. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

In the twenty-third year of the Lu Kingdom, Emperor Guan Hongzhan passed away. With the throne vacant, Empress Xie Yu ascended as Empress Dowager, seizing sole control of the court.

Meanwhile, in the Rin Kingdom’s Hall of Central Harmony, Guan Qigui was embracing Ling Jun, who was sound asleep.

Tap, tap, tap.

A rhythmic pattern of one short knock followed by three long ones echoed from outside the window.

Instantly, Guan Qigui’s eyes snapped open. She rose and slipped out through the window.

Her warm embrace vanished. Ling Jun, still half-asleep, reached out beside her. Empty.

Hearing rustling sounds, she rose barefoot and followed the noise.

She overheard a man’s voice: “Jing Qiao reports that the Xie Clan has finally made their move. They poisoned the Emperor with the Fragrant Embrace Pill and framed Consort Xuan, sentencing her to be buried alive.”

Then came a familiar, melodious female voice—one Ling Jun knew all too well. It was Qi Gui…

“Buried alive…” Guan Qigui paused, then sneered, “Hahahaha, she’s still as ruthless as ever. When did this happen?”

The man replied, “Five days ago. Now she’s Empress Dowager, wielding absolute power.”

“Do you know the executioner’s name?” Guan Qigui asked again.

“It was Wan Sheng, from the Xie Clan.”

Guan Qigui fell silent for a moment before pulling a crimson-bottomed token from her robe. She handed it to the man and said, “Have Ding Xiaoxiao gather all the orphans in the Rin Kingdom. Those in the Lu Kingdom should stand by. In seven days, we will return home in glory together.”

“Yes!”

The two fell silent. Ling Jun, clutching her chest, frantically tried to scramble back to the couch, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst from her throat. She was certain Qi Gui would return any moment. In her panic, her foot slipped, and she crashed heavily onto the plush, goose-feather-soft carpet.

A familiar voice echoed from behind her.

“Your Majesty, how careless of you.”

Ling Jun didn’t dare get up. As Guan Qigui approached step by step, Ling Jun felt her heart would leap out of her throat.

Guan Qigui swept Ling Jun into her arms, carried her to the couch, and set her down. Her deep, smiling eyes fixed on Ling Jun. “Your Majesty didn’t miss a single word.”

It was a statement, not a question. Ling Jun’s throat bobbed. Those eyes, once so captivating, now seemed like bottomless, terrifying abysses. How could she have forgotten that Guan Qigui was also a formidable martial artist? How could someone as ordinary as her ever hope to deceive her?

Guan Qigui brushed aside the stray hairs near Ling Jun’s ear, her fingers sliding down to cup her chin. “Since Your Majesty has already heard, this humble subject dares to request a loan of one hundred thousand troops.”

Knowing full well that Guan Qigui intended to strike back at the Lu Kingdom, Ling Jun still asked hesitantly, “For… for what purpose…?”

“As a princess of the Lu Kingdom, with traitors in power, it is only natural that I return to overthrow these usurpers,” Guan Qigui replied. She truly felt reluctant to part with the woman before her, but this was the perfect opportunity she had waited years for. She couldn’t miss the chance to personally execute Xie Yu.

The scene felt eerily familiar, as if it had happened just yesterday. Ling Jun suddenly clutched her head, her mind feeling like it had been pierced a thousand times by needles, throbbing with pain and weakness.

“Ah! It hurts so much!” Ling Jun cried out, her hands pressed to her head, cold sweat soaking the back of her collar. Seeing that she wasn’t feigning, Guan Qigui pursed her lips and remained silent for a long moment before finally wrapping her arms around Ling Jun, pulling her into a tight embrace and gently stroking her back to comfort her.

The memories flooded Ling Jun’s mind like newly discovered files suddenly appearing on a computer, relentlessly streaming into her consciousness.

She was intimately familiar with everything around her. She had experienced it all before—the world’s destruction, the endless wars, the fields strewn with bones and overgrown with weeds, the desolate wasteland stretching as far as the eye could see.

She had been here before, not just once, but many times. She had already lived through this world six times, each time failing in a different way.

The first time, she never even made it to her betrothal to Feng Yi, dying at the hands of Yuchi Yanqing. The second time, she died shortly after her first meeting with Guan Qigui. The third time, acting on instinct to avoid danger, she perished at the hands of Ding Xiaoxiao.

The fourth time, her cowardice led to the Rin Kingdom’s Imperial Family being systematically annihilated by Guan Qigui. She herself was merely kept as a caged bird by Guan Qigui, witnessing how Guan Qigui seized control of the Rin Kingdom, launched an invasion of the Lu Kingdom, and had Xie Yu flayed alive, her tendons severed and bones broken. This time, she witnessed the world’s collapse. Guan Qigui initiated a global war that drained the world’s resources, coinciding with a devastating famine that plunged the world into desolation. Despite her desperate pleas, Guan Qigui forced her to drink poison she had prepared herself, and they both slumbered eternally within the Lu Kingdom’s imperial palace.

In her fifth life, she shed her cowardice and ascended to the throne as Empress, just as she had this time. Guan Qigui fell in love with her again, but at this critical juncture, she refused Guan Qigui’s offer of military aid. To her surprise, Guan Qigui, now the Regent King, had already mastered the reins of power with remarkable speed. She still led her troops to attack the Lu Kingdom, repeating her past mistakes. Guan Qigui imprisoned her in the same manner as before, and she eventually died in despair. With her death, Guan Qigui descended further into madness, researching incurable plagues that plunged the world into chaos once more.

In her sixth life, she accepted Guan Qigui’s offer of military aid. Entranced by Guan Qigui’s honeyed lies, she once again ravaged the world within three years, taking her own life into eternal slumber.

This time marked her seventh life in this world.

She remembered everything—she remembered it all!

Ling Jun suddenly felt a crushing sense of despair and helplessness. Why did Guan Qigui always seek to destroy everything? Why did she launch wars even after avenging her enemies? Why did her encouragement and support always fail to make a difference? Even when Ling Jun showed her passionate love, she still refused to live.

Refused to live!

Guan Qigui belonged to her… and she hated this world!

But what about herself? Why did Guan Qigui, who hated this world, spend two years reveling with her after personally slaying her enemies?

Why…?

Did Guan Qigui love her?

After their previous failures, she should.

Ling Jun gradually calmed down and whispered, “Qi Gui, do you love me?”

Guan Qigui lowered her long, curling lashes and replied without hesitation, “As you love me.”

Ling Jun bit her lower lip, gradually tightening her embrace. “You should have been a princess,” she murmured, “but you came to the Rin Kingdom as a tributary prince. Your past must have been incredibly painful. If borrowing troops will bring you happiness, then go.”

Guan Qigui’s comforting hand paused at these words, but Ling Jun continued.

“But I want you to come back alive. I’ve never married. Will you marry me?”

Guan Qigui froze, stunned. She had never truly considered marrying Ling Jun. In this hopeless world, such things seemed meaningless. But hearing Ling Jun’s words rekindled a flame in her heart. She wanted to look into Ling Jun’s eyes as she spoke, but Ling Jun held her too tightly.

“Even though this world is a mess, I have Qi Gui to return to. I want to travel with Qi Gui and see all the beautiful landscapes, far away from these power struggles. We’ll have a little house in the mountains, surrounded by herds of cattle and sheep, and grow old together.” Ling Jun poured all her effort into painting this future, their future. In other words, she was painting Guan Qigui a delicious, pie-in-the-sky promise.

“Grow old together…” Guan Qigui’s eyes filled with confusion. She had never imagined having a future; she only wanted to end this detestable existence as soon as possible. But Ling Jun’s words seemed to suggest that if she were with Ling Jun, living might not be so painful after all.

Ling Jun released her embrace, rose, and reached for the mechanism under the couch. Inside, conspicuously, lay an exquisitely carved mechanism box. She opened the mechanism box and handed Guan Qigui the tiger seal inside, saying, “If you won’t marry me, then I’ll marry you. Guan Qigui can only be my wife, Yuchi Lingjun’s wife. Otherwise, I’ll…”

Before Ling Jun could finish, Guan Qigui lifted Ling Jun’s chin, her lips closing over hers, their breaths mingling, giving her no chance to continue.

Guan Qigui thought to herself, Actually, I don’t dislike the landscapes Ling Jun described.