Yuehua Palace, as its name suggests, was constructed with extravagant opulence.
Four massive pillars stood outside the entrance, carved with the totem of the Ba Serpent—the guardian beast of South Chu. Their scales, interlocked and lifelike, seemed to ripple. Beneath the lintel hung curtains of beads, each pearl round and lustrous; at a single glance, one could tell they were top-tier treasures shipped from the Great Eastern Sea.
Through the lingering scent of seven-lotus incense that permeated the hall, Pei Hengyu fixed his gaze upon Princess Yuehua—Yuwen Shuangyue—who sat in the seat of honor.
She wore simple robes today. On her pale, unadorned face, her eyes seemed to hold a flicker of elusive, springtime passion, always gleaming with a soul-snaring, ghostly light. Pei Hengyu sighed inwardly; no matter how many times he had seen her, those eyes alone were enough to draw a man in, making it impossible to pull oneself away.
She was truly, breathtakingly beautiful.
Yet, Pei Hengyu scoffed to himself—what a pity she possessed the heart of a scorpion. Even her very marrow was steeped in poison.
Yuwen Shuangyue’s gaze drifted, landing on the Holy Emperor Sword hanging at the visitor's waist—the personal blade of the Dasheng Emperor. She rose, moved gracefully toward Pei Hengyu, and performed a deep, fluid kowtow.
"Your subject, Yuwen Shuangyue, pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long, ten thousand years..."
As Princess Yuehua knelt, the rows of maids and eunuchs behind her followed suit, kowtowing in unison.
Pei Hengyu did not command them to rise. His eyes moved past the top of Yuwen Shuangyue’s head, where a white jade camellia hairpin rested, and settled instead upon the face of a young boy.
The boy was dressed in the blue cloth robes of a eunuch. He was young, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, with fair, delicate skin. He kept his eyes lowered, his thin frame slightly hunched, kneeling unobtrusively among the servants.
*Yuwen Junan, we meet again.*
Pei Hengyu recognized him instantly. This boy disguised as a little eunuch was none other than the only legitimate prince of South Chu—Yuwen Junan.
In his previous life, when Pei Hengyu had returned from rebirth, consumed by hatred, his first act had been to storm into Yuehua Palace and pierce Yuwen Shuangyue through with his sword. Not satisfied even then, he had dragged Yuwen Junan out from among the eunuchs, overturned that priceless peacock screen, and before a room full of maids and eunuchs, stripped the boy of his trousers and pinned him beneath the silk canopy, tormenting him for a full day and night.
That day, Yuwen Junan had not uttered a single sound. In his wide, terrified eyes, tears had streamed down like rain, making it impossible to tell how much was grief for his sister’s brutal death and how much was agony from the abuse. Pei Hengyu remembered that when he regained his senses the following day, he had pried open Yuwen Junan’s tightly clenched teeth, only to find his mouth filled with blood.
*Thank goodness.*
In this life, although he had wiped out South Chu before his rebirth, he had not yet killed Yuwen Shuangyue, nor had he tormented Yuwen Junan. There was still time to set things right. Besides, the fall of South Chu was not entirely his fault.
Pei Hengyu stepped past the kneeling Princess Yuehua and walked toward the group of eunuchs. He leaned down toward the boy in the attendant’s robes and asked, "You are... Yuwen Junan, aren't you?"
Yuwen Junan looked up. In his clear, water-like eyes, there was a flash of three parts innocence and five parts caution.
*He must be terrified,* Pei Hengyu thought. After all, it was his own army that had wiped out the boy's kingdom.
"I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness," Yuwen Shuangyue said softly from where she knelt at the front. "Your subject has a private matter to report."
*What could she possibly want to report? She wouldn't be asking me to marry her, would she?* Pei Hengyu sneered inwardly, yet he kept his eyes on Yuwen Junan and said coldly, "Speak."
Yuwen Shuangyue kowtowed again and said respectfully, "My father, in order to cultivate peace between our two nations, traveled personally to Shangjing to pay his respects to Your Majesty. His sincere intentions are as clear as the sun and moon."
*Oh? What is this venomous scorpion trying to say? Is she defecting?* Pei Hengyu thought, though his expression remained serious as he looked at Yuwen Junan. "I understand your father's intentions!"
Yuwen Junan lowered his eyes, wondering privately why this Dasheng Emperor was so strange—why, while speaking to his sister, did he keep staring at him?
Yuwen Shuangyue continued, "After my father departed, Yuwen Su took advantage of our nation’s vulnerability to slaughter the bloodline of the Wen Clan. I only disguised my younger brother as an attendant to protect him from Yuwen Su’s purge. It was never my intention to deceive Your Majesty!"
*What a woman!* She had actually managed to frame the theft of the legitimate prince of South Chu as Yuwen Su’s fault. If that were the case, then perhaps the fall of South Chu should also be blamed on Yuwen Su!
Pei Hengyu’s mind shifted. He tugged at the corner of his lips, forcing a distant smile. "I know you did not mean to hide him. It was the usurper Yuwen Su who drove you to this state. It has been difficult for you."
Yuwen Shuangyue looked up, intending to gaze at Pei Hengyu with eyes brimming with gratitude and admiration, but she realized that the person standing before her was not the Dasheng Emperor at all, but a tall, imposing imperial guard.
Then, she heard Pei Hengyu’s voice coming from behind her.
"When all is said and done, this is South Chu’s internal affair. I have no wish to intervene. However, your father, hearing of the civil war, was overcome with rage and grief, vomiting blood before the imperial throne..."
"What?" Yuwen Shuangyue cried out softly. "Father, my father..."
"Rest assured," Pei Hengyu said, not looking at her, but still addressing Yuwen Junan. "Your father is blessed with deep fortune. He is simply no longer able to command troops. Ailing as he is, he pleaded with me for help..."
Yuwen Junan kept his head bowed, nervously clutching his hem, leaving wrinkles in the blue cloth of his attendant’s robes. He did not understand why this Dasheng Emperor kept staring at him while talking to his sister.
"Your Majesty rescued South Chu from the fires of war; it is South Chu’s fortune!" Yuwen Shuangyue added. "Your subject humbly requests that Your Majesty take control of Kunluo. I am willing to lead the people of South Chu to submit to Your Majesty for generations to come!"
The smile at the corner of Pei Hengyu’s lips turned colder. He walked past them and sat on the throne.
*Too clever.* Even after being betrayed by her in his past life, Pei Hengyu couldn't help but admire her! If only he could kill someone so intelligent and ambitious, how wonderful that would be! But thinking of his failure to ever best Yuwen Junan in his previous lives, and the memory of the shackles in the Hehuan Palace, Pei Hengyu buried the murderous intent in his eyes and said calmly,
"All of you, rise. The Prince and Princess must be tired. An Ming, take them to the palace annex to rest. Also, the young Prince should not be wearing these attendant's clothes; it is against protocol. Take him to go get changed."
Seeing that the Dasheng Emperor had no intention of continuing the conversation, Yuwen Shuangyue did not press the matter. She adopted a submissive demeanor, led Yuwen Junan away, expressed her gratitude, and followed the tall guard out of Yuehua Palace.
Just then, a hearty voice rang out from outside the hall. "Your Majesty, I heard you came to Yuehua Palace. Are you inside?"
Pei Hengyu knew this voice all too well! It was Linghu Xinglang, the Commander of the Imperial Guard, returning from settling the captives. In his previous life, after Pei Hengyu had been poisoned at the official banquet, Linghu Xinglang had led the Imperial Guard and Yuwen Junan to ambush the Ji clan forces, fighting for three days and nights until he died of exhaustion.
When Pei Hengyu had seen his bloodied, mangled corpse back then, he had never been able to find peace. Seeing him today felt like a lifetime ago.
Pei Hengyu suppressed his surging emotions and said casually, "I am here. Come in!"
As he spoke, he watched the tall, broad-shouldered Linghu Xinglang brush past Yuwen Shuangyue’s party, cross the threshold, and enter.
The summer in South Chu was sweltering. Coming in from outside, Linghu Xinglang still had sweat on his dark, ink-like brows. The moment he entered, he saw Pei Hengyu’s shock of white hair.
"Your Majesty," Linghu Xinglang hurried forward. "Your hair?"
"My hair?" Pei Hengyu glanced to the side and realized that his dark hair had indeed turned entirely white!
In his previous life, his hair had turned white overnight after he was poisoned at the banquet. In this life, returning from his rebirth, it had turned white instantly! It seemed that rebirth came with a price. Pei Hengyu sighed inwardly, though he remained indifferent on the surface. "Oh, I ate something that didn't agree with me. It is nothing! Have the hundred thousand captives been settled?"
At the mention of the prisoners, Linghu Xinglang grew angry. He grumbled, "The captives have been settled in the West City. But that old dog Yuwen Su actually abandoned his soldiers and fled with his personal guard!"