She smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "Many thanks, Your Highness, for granting this!" Thinking of something else, she added with faint dimples appearing on her cheeks, "Your Highness, Side Consort Qing, I wish you both a harmonious marriage and a lifetime together. From here on out, we shall walk different paths, never to meet again. Farewell!"
With that, she grabbed Lian'er's hand and fled the Prince Qin's Estate as if her life depended on it, leaving behind several people who were so stunned and bewildered that they stood frozen, unable to react for quite some time.
They had seen it correctly: she had left with the speed of someone running for their life, without a shred of reluctance. It was as if she had finally been granted her freedom.
Side Consort Qing watched Shen Qingyan’s retreating figure and then looked at the man beside her. She knew she had won.
Xuanyuan Ming stood rooted to the spot, feeling as though he were in a dream. Shen Qingyan had just left. She was gone—shouldn’t he be setting off fireworks to celebrate? Yet, for some reason, he felt a strange sense of loss in his heart... What was going on?
***
Cangwu Inn.
After leaving the Prince Qin's Estate, Shen Qingyan did not return to the Grand Tutor's Mansion. Instead, she took Lian'er to a hotel in the city to rent a suite for a temporary stay. Because she did not yet know how to face this unfamiliar father and home, she had no plans to return for the time being.
She sent Lian'er out to find a reasonably priced villa with a lake view, while she herself sprawled out in the hotel, trying to figure out her next move.
She was just about to go downstairs to ask the waiter to bring up hot water for a bath when an ethereal woman's voice echoed in the air. It was a sorrowful, wailing sound. Shen Qingyan thought she had misheard and pricked up her ears, but the crying seemed to have vanished. Was the soundproofing in this hotel suite really that poor?
Having been an assassin, she grew instantly alert as soon as the sound emerged.
"Who’s playing these ghost games? Get out here!" She knew of a martial art called 'Voice Projection over Great Distances'—could it be an expert?
She cautiously opened the window. Outside was a winding main road, crowded with people, but no one suspicious.
"Miss Qingyan, it is I!"
The ethereal voice resonated right beside her ear, as if following her every movement. It seemed to come from the very depths of her soul.
"Stop with the ghost tricks! Come out!"
She had never believed in ghosts, but ever since arriving in this strange world and inhabiting a dead body, she really had no choice but to believe now.
The voice explained gently, "I am you."
"You are me?" Shen Qingyan felt as if she were hearing a joke. "How could you possibly be me..."
"...To be precise, your body is mine!"
She was now certain that there was something she couldn't see in the room, but what the woman said next made her doubt her entire existence. She was incredulous, yet she tried hard to convince herself to accept it.
...
"So you mean that I have occupied your body, and you are currently unable to return to your original vessel, is that it?"
"It is only that my fate is thin; it has nothing to do with you, Miss. It is just..." The voice trailed off. Once Shen Qingyan realized the origin of the spirit, her guard dropped, replaced by a surge of curiosity about the original owner of the body.
"Since you know you cannot return to the living, why haven't you gone where you belong? Do you have some unfulfilled wish?"
"I will not lie to you, Miss. I am filled with resentment. I did nothing wrong, yet I met such an end. Miss... I must swallow my pride and beg you to help me!" The once-arrogant and headstrong third daughter of the Shen family had shed her former self; now, there was only humility left. She was truly changing.
"Help you?" She frowned, hesitating.
"Yes. Help me ensure the wicked get the punishment they deserve. Side Consort Qing is not as kind as she appears. It was she who schemed against me, leading to all this tragedy. I want her to pay the price!"
"What price do you want her to pay?"
"I want her to lose everything she holds dear!"
What she cared about most was Xuanyuan Ming and her status as the Prince Qin's Consort. Therefore...
"Fine. I agree!"
...
Shen Qingyan sold her dowry and hired people to track Xuanyuan Ming's movements over the past few days.
At the Yichun Pavilion, on the second floor in a private booth, several young men of high status were drinking and exchanging toasts. The Prime Minister took a light sip from his cup, lowered his head slightly, and spoke with a thick air of gossip.
"You have been married to Shen Qingyan for less than half a month. She was so infatuated with you before, and had even gone to such lengths to have her father beg the Emperor for this marriage. I truly cannot understand how she could so readily agree to a divorce, and then move out of the Prince Qin's Estate without saying another word!"
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it, but the moment he did, Xuanyuan Ming felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.
"It seems the Prime Minister has been quite idle lately, showing such great interest in the affairs of this prince’s estate. Would you like me to personally recount the details of the divorce for you? Hmm?"
He hadn't yet figured out how to petition the Emperor regarding his divorce from Shen Qingyan, let alone announce it to the public. Which gossip-loving servant had been spreading this everywhere? A flash of icy malice crossed the man's eyes, though his expression remained unmoved.
"If you wish to recount it, I certainly wouldn't refuse..." Ye Qingyu looked ready to play the part of a spectator.
Just as he was about to say more, a melodious sound of a zither drifted into the room from outside.
Shen Qingyan had finished her performance, leaving the entire room intoxicated, seemingly lost for a long time in the beauty and profound emotion of the lyrics and melody. She had bribed the madam of Yichun Pavilion, disguised herself, and slipped inside. After much effort, she had descended upon the stage as a mysterious courtesan. Her goal was to get close to Mo Lincheng, the Young Manor Master of Dragon Sword Manor.
Sure enough, she was invited to their private room as she had hoped. The moment she entered, her eyes locked onto Mo Lincheng.
The man was dressed in snow-white robes, his hair bound by a jade circlet, with two long strands framing his face, accentuating his refined, dashing features. Yet, he possessed the free-spirited aura of a man of the pugilistic world.
Her past life's training meant she was at ease in any setting, yet for some reason, Mo Lincheng gave her an unsettling feeling. She also saw Xuanyuan Ming, who had been staring at her since the moment she entered. Shen Qingyan’s eyes curved, and her lips curled upward.
The madam was worried that Shen Qingyan might offend these powerful figures and kept whispering reminders in her ear, looking quite regretful that she had taken her money to let her in.
After a few instructions, the madam closed the door. Shen Qingyan bowed slightly and walked slowly to the zither to take her seat.
"Why does the young lady not show her true face?"
Shen Qingyan fluttered her phoenix eyes, then smiled, her tone apologetic. "I am new to the Capital and have not yet acclimated to the local environment. It is not that I am unwilling to show my true face to such noble guests, but rather that I fear offending your eyes! If my presence were to ruin your mood, would that not be my fault?"
Mo Lincheng, sitting opposite her, seemed to see through her ruse. He lowered his head, fingers toying with the wine in his cup.
*Peach Blossom Drunk, intoxicating the immortals; at the height of spring, peach blossoms blush everywhere like a maiden.*
Beside him, Xuanyuan Ming stared at the figure in front of him with suspicion, feeling that she was both familiar and yet a stranger. His eyes flickered, and to confirm his suspicions, he slowly stood up. "I have some knowledge of medicine. A woman dresses for those who appreciate her; one must know the cause of an ailment to treat it correctly. I wonder, Miss, if I might take a look."
Shen Qingyan’s gaze was clear, carrying a hint of expectation and a touch of gratitude. "Then I shall trouble you, sir."
*Oh, he recognized me! How truly exciting!*
"Shen Qingyan, it really is you."
As the veil was lifted, Xuanyuan Ming’s voice was as disdainful as it had always been.