The medicinal decoction contained a sleep-inducing ingredient. The night was already very deep, and the youth had curled up on the bed and fallen asleep.
Su Zhenzhen brought over mosquito repellent sachets from her own room, hanging them one by one on the bed canopy.
Then, she fetched a porcelain bowl, added a little dirt into it, stuck a mosquito-repellent incense stick in, and placed it by the window.
After finishing the setup, Su Zhenzhen placed Mu Dan's glazed lamp at the head of the bed, right within his reach, and pushed the door open to leave.
She returned to her own room and, by the dim light of an oil lamp, took off her clothes to look at her back.
The original owner's skin was fair and delicate, a soft color like warm jade, but right now, the spot on her back where she had been hit was covered in a large purplish-blue bruise.
It actually didn't hurt that much; it was probably just that this body bruised easily.
Su Zhenzhen took a bottle of medicinal oil for bruises and sprains from the medicine cabinet, rubbed it in her palms to warm it up, and struggled to reach behind her back to apply it to the bruise.
So tiring.
In her past life, when she practiced yoga, she was as stiff as a salted fish that had been dried for a year. The teacher had to single her out for individual practice, ensuring her yoga fees weren't wasted at all. In this life, she had changed bodies, but she was still as stiff as ever.
Compared to the mark on her back and shoulder, her lips actually hurt more.
Su Zhenzhen touched her lips in front of the mirror; there was a slight bite mark, and in just a short while, it had already scabbed over slightly.
Lu Hexu woke up with a start. He was awakened by the heat. The window in the room wasn't closed, and a gentle breeze blew in from outside, but it was completely hot.
Hot sweat beaded on his forehead, and his body felt sticky and hot. This kind of heat was different from before; it felt more like a heat seeping out from inside his body.
Having sweated, the top-heavy, dizzy feeling had improved a lot.
What met his eyes was not his familiar Cool Palace. Lu Hexu subconsciously raised his hand to grasp the glazed lamp beside him. After lifting it, the first thing he saw were colorful mosquito repellent sachets hung in a circle along the bed canopy. There were about a dozen of them. The fabric didn't look new; they were probably made from old, disassembled clothes.
As he sat up, his weight made the bed sway gently, and the dozen or so sachets swayed slightly along with it.
Lu Hexu's gaze followed the movement of these sachets.
The room was filled with the scent of mosquito-repellent incense.
A small section of the incense in the porcelain bowl by the window had burned down, leaving fine ashes scattered on the windowsill. Outside the window, banana leaves swayed gently. The night was deep, with the occasional chirp of cicadas.
So quiet.
This was the first time Lu Hexu had ever felt what could be called a peaceful emotion.
He felt as if he were floating on the surface of water, surrounded by soft water holding him up, soothing him, comforting him, whispering to him.
So calm.
This bizarre yet addictive atmosphere seemed to isolate the scorching heat of summer on the outside.
The woman was slumped over the edge of the bed, already fast asleep, carrying a strange smell.
Lu Hexu bent over slightly and reached out to pull back the back collar of her clothes, revealing a patch of purplish-blue bruising on her back near her shoulder. Medicinal oil had been rubbed over it, and that strange smell was emanating from there.
The woman's back was very white, making the bruise stand out conspicuously.
Su Zhenzhen groggily felt as if something was touching her.
The fingertips were burning hot, carrying a bit of damp moisture.
Was it her cat?
Did it go play with her water cup again?
Su Zhenzhen reached out and fumbled around blindly.
She touched a small cat's head and gently rubbed it.
"Good kitty, go to sleep."
A soft hand landed on top of Lu Hexu's head, rubbing vigorously along his hair before sliding down from the top of his head to his cheek, nuzzling against his chin, and then continuing all the way down.
Su Zhenzhen felt that her cat had gotten so big today; no matter how much she pet it, she couldn't reach the end, and its soft belly had become rock hard.
Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed.
Su Zhenzhen groggily opened her eyes and saw the youth sitting on the bed in bright red wedding clothes. His eyes were flushed red from his fever. The wedding clothes were slightly messy; he had sweated, and his wet black hair stuck to his face. His pale, slender fingers were gripping her wrist, stopping her predatory actions.
He looked like someone who, despite being sick, was being ravaged.
Su Zhenzhen... she was wide awake now.
"If I said I didn't mean it like that, would you believe me?"
The youth lowered his eyes to look at her.
Su Zhenzhen felt even more awkward. "You don't look like you believe me."
Actually, I wouldn't believe it either.
He really looked so good to touch.
She really wasn't human.
Wei Heng pushed open the door to the Cool Palace. The ice blocks inside had been prepared long ago.
The youth lay among the ice blocks as usual, wearing an odd red wedding outfit, as if he had just come back from getting married.
Wei Heng paused in his steps, still holding a bowl of fever-reducing decoction in his hands.
Where on earth did this ancestor get this outfit? Could he really have gone and married someone? Who would dare to marry this ancestor? Did they have a death wish?
As Wei Heng shook his head, the image of an incredibly pure and beautiful face flashed in his mind. Even in the gloomy imperial prison, she was as beautiful as moonlight, looking even more pitiful and delicate when she cried.
No way.
Wei Heng continued to shake his head, trying to shake this strange thought out of his mind.
The lighting in the hall was dim.
Over the past two days, the youth seemed to have lost weight again.
Although this ancestor had a bit of madness in him and usually killed people without batting an eye, his health was actually quite poor. He was only ever full of energy when he was killing someone.
The bitter summer made people lose weight, especially someone like Lu Hexu who hated the summer.
Wei Heng was often terrified looking at the youth's frail body, thinking that perhaps one day when he pushed open the door to this bedchamber, he would turn into a corpse.
Lu Hexu disliked sunlight. Even in winter, he refused to bask in the sun for a while to drive away the cold. Therefore, his skin was a sickly pale color that never saw the light of day.
That unhealthy paleness, illuminated by the light of the glazed lamp, always gave Wei Heng an illusion.
When he pushed open the palace doors and entered, what he saw was a corpse, not a living person.
"Your Majesty, this servant has brought you a fever-reducing decoction."
After being drenched in the rain for two days, even someone with the best of health wouldn't be able to withstand it, let alone this person who looked like he wouldn't live past next year.
Wei Heng had known this ancestor for over a decade and knew very well that he would definitely fall ill for a few days after being caught in the rain. He also disliked taking medicine, leaving every illness untreated, which resulted in many chronic ailments.
The youth lay there, completely motionless.
Wei Heng's expression changed drastically. Worried that an accident had happened, he hurried forward.
The youth lay there with a normal complexion; the wedding clothes on his body actually made his face look much better.
He didn't seem to have a fever.
He was also sleeping unusually deeply.
Just as Wei Heng was thinking this, the youth before him opened one eye. A pitch-black pupil was revealed beneath his lifted eyelid, staring right at him.
The young emperor was clearly displeased by his interruption.
Wei Heng lowered his head and stood there quietly, subconsciously freezing. That hair-raising feeling of being glared at appeared once again.
"This servant will take his leave."
Holding the medicine bowl, Wei Heng quietly backed out.
Entering the sweltering heat, the hottest time of summer, a scorching wave of hot air surged in the atmosphere. Even when breathing, one could feel that fiery suffocation, as if it wanted to squeeze dry the last drop of moisture in the body.
Su Zhenzhen hadn't seen Mu Dan for two days.
He seemed to be extremely afraid of the heat.
However, under this scorching sun, even someone like her who wasn't particularly afraid of the heat didn't dare to go out casually. It wasn't until the sun had set that she left the small courtyard and went to the nearby pond to pick lotus flowers.
The pale pink lotus flowers were in full bloom, and the lotus seeds inside looked exceptionally plump. Su Zhenzhen picked five of them in one breath and carried them back to the courtyard.
On the way, she noticed that there were some people in the Qingliang Palace whose attire was completely out of place in Great Zhou.
The first thing she heard was the sound of bells.
At the very front was a eunuch leading the way, followed by a troupe of dancing girls.
The beauties covered their faces with veils adorned with bells. They wore light-colored silk robes embroidered with birds, beasts, and flowers along the lapels. Although their faces were hidden, their figures were incredibly graceful.
Behind them were musicians carrying instruments, then a young man sitting in a wheelchair in the middle, and finally, tall and sturdy Mongolian guards.
These people spoke a language Su Zhenzhen couldn't understand as they carried many items into the courtyard ahead.
Among them, Su Zhenzhen could only recognize Xie Linzhou, the third-place scholar who had stunned Jinling three years ago. He was accompanying the man in the wheelchair, conversing with him in Mongolian.
From this, it was clear that the person in charge here was this young man in the wheelchair.
He had sharp eyebrows and piercing eyes, a small braid at the back of his head, and an emerald earring on his ear. He wore a narrow-sleeved silk robe, and a thin blanket fringed with tiger and leopard fur was draped over his legs. With one hand resting on the armrest of the wheelchair, he conversed with Xie Linzhou in Mongolian while his gaze swept past Su Zhenzhen, who was holding the lotus flowers.
Su Zhenzhen quickly retreated to the side with her lotus flowers, backing up until she hit the rockery wall, wishing she could press herself against it and slink away like a gecko.
She remembered now. In the original novel, there was a Mongolian Crown Prince who, because Mongolia had lost the war, came to Great Zhou in person to sign a peace treaty with the young tyrant emperor.
Of course, that was just on the surface.
This Mongolian Crown Prince had another purpose for coming this time.
The large procession passed by, and Su Zhenzhen kept her eyes downcast, focusing inward and continuing to act like a gecko.
This Mongolian Crown Prince was extremely petty and had a terrible temper. It was said that his reputation was also very bad. The only thing going for him might be his relatively handsome face, which was the result of good genetics. She heard that his mother was a beauty from Great Zhou who had been forcibly abducted; she passed away shortly after giving birth to him.
Perhaps because he lacked love from a young age, this Mongolian Crown Prince was very fond of beauties from Great Zhou—fond of them to the point of tormenting them to death.
Su Zhenzhen didn't know if this was love or hate.
Because of his mother's identity as a person of Great Zhou, this Mongolian Crown Prince had suffered discrimination since childhood. He had finally managed to fight his way out from a bunch of so-called legitimate heirs, only to be heavily battered by Great Zhou's army, resulting in his broken legs.
When a physician treated him for a month with no results, he killed the physician.
Unexpectedly, after killing him, he found that the treatment had actually been effective, and then he hated the physician for the medicine taking too long to work.
He was essentially the type of person who never internalized his problems but specialized in bringing disaster to others.
The group arrived at the courtyard. After settling the guests, Xie Linzhou cupped his hands in a polite farewell and left.
The Mongolian Crown Prince, Altan, put away his hypocritical smile. Sitting in his wheelchair, his gaze fell on the slightly protruding rockery not far away.
"Go find out where that Great Zhou woman from just now lives."
The guard standing behind Altan, Batu Möngke, showed hesitation. "Your Highness, we are not in Mongolia."
"What can I even do right now?" Altan's expression instantly turned ferocious. He pointed at his legs, his face dark and sinister. "Useless trash, you can't even heal my legs!"
Batu Möngke lowered his head and did not speak further.
Altan calmed his anger a little. "Once you find her, go deliver a gift to her for me. Just give her a Beauty Lantern."
As soon as Su Zhenzhen returned to her courtyard, it started to rain.
What a coincidence.
She hadn't brought an umbrella; if she had still been on the road, she would have been drenched.
She hurriedly moved the herbs in the courtyard back inside. Only after finishing that did she go to deal with the lotus flowers she had just picked.
She kept them in an earthen jar and added some fresh rainwater. Although the vase was a bit rustic, it possessed a rare, wild charm.
Su Zhenzhen squatted beside it and admired them for a while, then thought about how, in a few days when the lotus flowers withered, she would be able to eat the lotus seeds inside.
The rain came quickly and left just as fast. The horizon cleared up in an instant, and the whole world suddenly became much brighter.
Not long after the rain stopped, someone knocked on her courtyard door.
Su Zhenzhen glanced at the sky. The sun hadn't set yet; Mudan shouldn't be coming over at this hour.
Could it be the eunuch delivering food?
Stepping through the wet puddles, Su Zhenzhen went to open the door, only to see a Mongolian man standing there, holding a beautiful lantern in his hand.
"This is a gift from my Highness to the beauty." The man was tall, probably over two meters. Standing in front of the door, he was like a solid wall, completely blocking Su Zhenzhen's line of sight.
Su Zhenzhen remembered him; just earlier, he had been standing behind that Mongolian Crown Prince, pushing his wheelchair.
It was easy to guess exactly who the Highness he spoke of was.
Batu Möngke held a gauze lantern in his hand and presented it to her.
Batu Möngke had seen many beauties from Great Zhou, and the one before him could be considered top-tier. However, she was too frightened, which somewhat diminished her beauty.
Su Zhenzhen's lips trembled, her eyes filled with terror.
She opened her mouth, instinctively wanting to refuse, but then she remembered her lowly status as a palace maid. Even if the other party was a down-and-out Mongolian Crown Prince, the Great Zhou court would never ruin the signing of this peace treaty just for a mere maid like her.
With trembling fingertips, Su Zhenzhen reached out and grasped the handle of the gauze lantern.
Batu Möngke glanced at the woman's pale face, a hint of pity in his eyes, before turning and leaving.
As soon as he left, Su Zhenzhen subconsciously let go, and the gauze lantern fell to the ground.
She raised her foot and kicked it lightly, but fearing that the petty Mongolian Crown Prince might find out, she picked it up and brought it into the courtyard.
The original novel mentioned that if this Mongolian Crown Prince took a fancy to a beauty, he would send her a Beauty Lantern.
If the beauty refused it, the Beauty Lantern would be lit that very night and appear at her doorstep. The next day, the beauty would vanish into thin air, in reality, she would be abducted, leaving only the Beauty Lantern hanging at the door, like a beacon of the Grim Reaper.
If the beauty accepted it, then this Mongolian Crown Prince would have the leisurely mood to play some back-and-forth romantic little games, until he grew tired of her and had her killed.
Su Zhenzhen sat in the room, staring blankly at the Beauty Lantern.
She didn't know how this Mongolian Crown Prince had set his sights on her; she only knew that she was probably going to die again.
The weather had been too hot recently, so Lu Hexu had slept in the Qingliang Palace for two whole days. Today, a rain shower outside finally washed away some of the stifling heat that had been suffocating his chest, and only then did he step out carrying a glazed lantern.
"Your Highness, the Mongolian Crown Prince has come bearing gifts to negotiate peace."
Wei Heng had been standing guard at the door. Seeing Lu Hexu come out, he hurried over to report.
"Handle it yourself."
Lu Hexu changed back into the clothes of a little eunuch and walked outside carrying the glazed lantern.
The moonlight was faint tonight. He passed through a deserted path and made his way all the way to that small courtyard.
This small courtyard was actually very close to the Qingliang Palace; one simply needed to walk through a hidden small door.
The courtyard was very quiet. Lu Hexu walked over and saw the woman sitting on the steps, hugging her knees with her face buried in them.
Hearing the noise, Su Zhenzhen looked up, then drooped back down listlessly, her neck limp like a crooked-necked goose.
Lu Hexu's gaze fell upon the gauze lantern resting quietly on the ground beside her.
He walked over carrying a glazed lantern. As its hazy light fell upon the gauze lantern, faint red threads resembling blood vessels could be vaguely seen through the paper-thin gauze.
Showing a hint of interest, Lu Hexu reached out a finger to touch it. "This is a human skin lantern."
Su Zhenzhen: ???
Su Zhenzhen: !!!
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Su Zhenzhen felt her entire body go numb, her scalp tingling in sheer terror.
She leaped up abruptly, crashing right into the young man's arms, her arms and legs wrapping around him like an octopus.
Knocked back several steps, Lu Hexu caught her waist with one hand while holding the glazed lantern with the other. The light swayed until he steadied himself.
"Get down."
"I won't."
Su Zhenzhen's voice trembled with a crying tone. "Take... take that thing away. Help me throw it out... bury, bury it."
She buried her face in the crook of the young man's neck, her hot breath brushing against his skin as she spoke.
It was hot.
Lu Hexu turned his head slightly to look at the woman in his arms, only to find her body trembling like a leaf.
[So scary, so scary, so scary...]
He hated being clung to like this.
Lu Hexu raised his hand and pressed it against the back of the woman's neck.
The young man's fingers carried an icy chill. They touched her neck and then slowly stroked downward, as if soothing a frightened, stressed puppy. He rubbed the back of her neck bit by bit, tracing all the way down along her frail shoulder blades.
Miraculously, Su Zhenzhen was calmed down. She lifted her head, her wet eyes falling on the young man's face.
She looked even more like a pitiful puppy now.
The young man looked at her with an indifferent expression, yet he did not force her off him.
Su Zhenzhen finally calmed down, realizing her reaction had been a bit too exaggerated.
She slowly slipped down to the ground, her legs still shaking. Looking back at the gauze lantern, she couldn't help but squeeze her eyes shut.
"How did you know?"
"I've been to the Imperial Prison. One of the punishments there is flaying. It's very difficult to peel human skin off perfectly intact. The person has to be fixed to a frame first, then a small slit is cut at the top of their head, and mercury is poured in along the scalp..."
"Alright, stop talking."
Su Zhenzhen clutched her head, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
Why did it feel like there was a draft blowing right through the top of her head?
So scary, so scary, so scary...
Su Zhenzhen curled her fingers inward, her face deathly pale.
"It's very beautiful," came the young man's faint voice from beside her.
Su Zhenzhen subconsciously opened her eyes and saw that the admiration on the young man's face as he looked at the lantern did not seem faked.
With red eyes and a pouting mouth, she said resentfully, "I'm going to be this beautiful very soon, too."
Lu Hexu's gaze shifted from the gauze lantern to Su Zhenzhen's face.
He reached out, pinched her chin, inspected her from side to side, and then uttered a questioning word, "Beautiful?"
Su Zhenzhen: ...
[Doesn't she look graceful and charming?]
Su Zhenzhen angrily swatted the young man's hand away. Turning her head, she saw the beauty lantern and silently tugged at his sleeve. "Help me bury it, will you?"
The little eunuch walked in front, carrying a glazed lantern and the beauty lantern.
Su Zhenzhen followed closely behind, holding onto his sleeve.
The lantern looked no different from an ordinary gauze lantern, but ever since she learned it was made of human skin, Su Zhenzhen felt a chill running down her spine.
Under the night sky, the light from the glazed lantern shone on the beauty lantern. The translucent, paper-thin human skin emanated a sickly, jade-like beauty.
Although the beauty lantern wasn't lit, the vascular tissue structures of the human skin were clearly visible. As the light flickered, the bloody hues seemed to float up and down, making the lantern look like a fresh, beating heart.
It was eerie yet beautiful.
"R-right here is fine."
Su Zhenzhen had no idea where they were, but it looked peaceful and serene, filled with the scent of flowers and the chirping of birds.
Because of the sudden turn of events, she didn't have time to find a fortune teller to pick out a proper feng shui burial spot for this "beauty." With mountains, water, flowers, and grass, this place could be considered a blessed land. Who knows, maybe in a few days she would be abandoned and buried here too.
She hadn't even spent all her savings yet, even though it wasn't much.
Su Zhenzhen squatted on the ground and dug a hole. Once she had dug it about the depth of the beauty lantern, she asked Mudan to bring the lantern over and put it down.
"Be careful."
Lu Hexu raised his hand and tossed the lantern in.
Su Zhenzhen used a branch to cover it with the dirt she had just dug out, forming a tiny mound.
"Every wrong has its cause, and every debt has its debtor. Please don't come looking for me," Su Zhenzhen said, clasping her hands and bowing in front of the little mound.
The end of medicine is theology.
Su Zhenzhen actually believed this; otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up here.
After saying this, Su Zhenzhen looked around, picked some wild fruits from a nearby tree, and plucked some wild flowers from the ground. She placed them all in front of the little mound as a modest offering.
A summer breeze picked up, gently rustling the petals of the summer flowers.
Su Zhenzhen squatted in front of the little mound, her expression gradually wilting again.
Lu Hexu walked over, stared at the wild fruits in front of the mound for a moment, and reached out to pick up a cluster.
The crimson wild fruits looked like miniature strawberries.
Lu Hexu plucked one and popped it into his mouth.
It tasted like nothing.
"Those are snake berries. They probably don't taste like much to you. I'll give you some lotus seeds when we get back." Pausing for a moment, Su Zhenzhen began to give her final instructions. "My money is hidden in the medicine cabinet. There really isn't much silver; it's mostly two gold leaves. Remember to take them."
"And the medicines I made, I've labeled them all. Remember to read them when you use them... You shouldn't come looking for me these next few days either..." At this point, Su Zhenzhen lowered her head and touched the fresh flower petals in front of her. "Remember to take the medicine I gave you."
"Where are you going?"
The road to the underworld.
"Off to live a good life," Su Zhenzhen said, pointing at the little mound. "You know about the Mongolian Prince coming to negotiate peace recently, right? This lantern was sent by the people of that Mongolian Prince."
Lu Hexu's gaze fell on the little mound. "Do you like this human skin lantern?"
"...No."
Who would like something like this! It scared her to death!
"Then do you like that Mongolian Prince?"
Su Zhenzhen let out a faint sigh. "No."
"Then you..." Lu Hexu squatted down. "...like being a human skin lantern."
Su Zhenzhen: ...
"I'd like to make that Mongolian Prince into a human skin lantern!"
Lu Hexu tilted his head to look at her, seemingly finding her wish a bit difficult to fulfill. "Troublesome."
Wei Heng had already finished inventorying the list of peace-offering gifts sent by the Mongolian Prince in the storehouse. Aside from the fine horses and livestock specialties, the fur tributes, gold and silver vessels, jewelry and jade, woven brocades, and exotic treasures placed in the storehouse were all accounted for without a single item missing.
The ice blocks in the Hall of Coolness had already been swapped out for a fresh batch. The reed blinds that shielded the doors and windows during the day were now rolled up, allowing wisps of chilled air to spill out.
Holding a ledger of gifts, Wei Heng stepped into the hall. Lu Hexu was seated behind the study desk.
The young man had changed into his casual robes. His raven hair hung loose, clinging damply to his skin, suggesting he had just finished bathing.
He possessed fair skin and vividly red lips, his features so exquisitely sculpted that they blurred the line between masculine and feminine. Yet, the cold, brooding shadow in his eyes completely overpowered this striking beauty.
Wei Heng wore an expression of deep reverence as he made his way inside.
Before Lu Hexu sat the day's stack of imperial memorials, which he had already finished reading. He lifted his gaze to look at Wei Heng.
"Your Majesty, this is the ledger of gifts presented by the Crown Prince of Mongolia. Your servant has completed the inventory; nothing is missing."
"Mhm." Lu Hexu curled his fingers and tapped his knuckles against the desk.
"There are also ten singing girls, ten musicians, one hundred fine steeds, three hundred heads of cattle and horses..."
"Wei Heng."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Find me the skeletal frame of a lantern. Make sure it is a beautiful one."
