Special Agent’s Rebirth: The Almighty Goddess of Quick Transmigration - Chapter 204

“Your Highness, your wound has indeed improved a great deal!”

The medicine was prepared by Ye Shaohua herself. Shuangyue had initially been skeptical, but upon seeing the wound already beginning to scar, she couldn’t hide her surprise.

Then, she gazed at Ye Shaohua with admiration.

But as she remembered something, she quietly finished bandaging the wound. “The Emperor is truly heartless. How many times have you shielded him from assassins and schemes? Yet for the sake of Miss Qu, he would treat you like this. And Sun Ping—back then, you saved him from those bandits, and now he repays your kindness with betrayal…”

“What am I now, in the grand scheme of things?” Ye Shaohua held a book in her hand, her tone indifferent. “If they’ve chosen to pledge their loyalty elsewhere, it’s merely a matter of recognizing where the wind blows.”

She didn’t even lift her head.

Hearing her detached tone, Shuangyue thought of how deeply her mistress had once loved the Emperor. Outwardly, she acts unbothered, but who knows how much pain she’s hiding inside? Resolving not to bring up those people again and upset her further, Shuangyue bit her lip.

Meanwhile, the “heartbroken” Ye Shaohua was slowly flipping through the pages of her book. Those who knew her well would recognize that she usually read much faster—clearly, she wasn’t truly reading, but rather plotting something.

Emperor Yuwen Jing has always feared the unwavering loyalty of the Ye family. That’s why he orchestrated this scheme, pushing my father and brother onto the path of rebellion. I wonder… how would he react if the Qu family were the ones accused of treason?

Just as she was lost in thought, a shrill, unpleasant voice echoed from outside.

The visitor was none other than Qu Huashang, who had recently been crowned Empress.

Dressed in the regal crimson phoenix robes reserved only for the Empress, her hair adorned with a “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” headpiece, her very presence made the shabby, decaying Cold Palace seem to glow in her reflected splendor.

Shuangyue clenched her fists, suppressing the urge to lunge at her, and knelt. She shot Ye Shaohua a warning glance—the situation leaves us no choice. Please, for once, don’t defy her openly.

In all her life, Ye Shaohua had only knelt twice: once when her mother in a mission world ordered her to, and another time—

Even in the second mission world, when facing the Emperor, I never knelt. Did she really think I would kneel to Qu Huashang now?

“How dare you! Bow before Her Majesty the Empress!” A sharp-voiced eunuch glared coldly at Ye Shaohua.

This eunuch, Laifu, had once been the Chief Eunuch—Emperor Yuwen Jing’s most trusted aide. But fearing Qu Huashang wouldn’t be able to handle Ye Shaohua, the Emperor had assigned him to her side.

Such was Yuwen Jing’s devotion to Qu Huashang.

“Laifu, don’t trouble Consort Ye.” Qu Huashang wore a mask of concern, ever the picture of benevolence. “My sister is still unwell—there’s no need for formalities. Sister, how are you feeling? I truly don’t understand why His Majesty has been so harsh. I’ve pleaded with him for days, yet he refuses to visit you. My heart aches with guilt…”

Laifu, though relenting, shot Ye Shaohua a warning look—don’t you dare make a move.

As the Emperor’s confidant, he knew exactly how important Qu Huashang was.

Ye Shaohua might be one of only two women in the palace, but the difference between her and Qu Huashang was like mud and clouds.

If Ye Shaohua was the sword in Yuwen Jing’s hand, Qu Huashang was the peony he nurtured with care—one a tool to eliminate enemies, the other a cherished treasure. How could they ever compare?

“I’ve had the imperial physicians prepare medicine for you,” Qu Huashang said, gesturing for a servant to bring it forward. “This will help with the pain and inflammation.”

Ye Shaohua raised her hand—and knocked the bowl straight onto Qu Huashang.

Thick, pungent medicine splashed onto her robes, leaving behind a sticky, revolting mess.

Qu Huashang barely restrained herself from slapping that arrogant face. Even in this state, she dares to act so high and mighty!

But bound by her facade of kindness, she couldn’t retaliate openly.

She had arrived in triumph—only to flee in humiliation.

After she left, Shuangyue wavered between satisfaction and dread. “Your Highness, if the Emperor finds out you disrespected the Empress, wouldn’t he—?”

Ye Shaohua closed her book with a snap. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she gazed out the window at an unknown bird and chuckled. “You wouldn’t understand.”

…

That night, after finishing state affairs, the Emperor happened upon palace maids scrubbing the Empress’s ruined phoenix robes. Under his interrogation, they stammered out the truth.

Without even stopping by the Empress’s chambers, he stormed straight to the Cold Palace.

He had always known Qu Huashang was no match for Ye Shaohua’s ruthlessness. That was why, for two years, he had never revealed his true feelings in front of Ye Shaohua.

He had even allowed Qu Huashang to endure ridicule from the nobility for remaining unmarried.

Now that he could finally dote on her openly, how could he let Ye Shaohua bully her?

Ye Shaohua sat at a table in the Cold Palace, a single candle flickering beside her, as if waiting for someone.

A porcelain bowl rested in her hand as she revisited the original plot.

Before her death, the original host had asked Yuwen Jing one question: “Why?”

His response had been icy. “I married you neither out of affection nor pity—only for the sake of your family’s military power. In two years, you’ve personally killed no fewer than ten people, and those who died by your schemes number in the hundreds. Ye Shaohua, did you truly think I could love a woman drenched in blood? The title of Empress was always meant for Huashang. From the day I married you, everything was for her sake!”

For the original host, this had been a devastating blow. The husband she had devoted herself to had loathed her from the very beginning—so much so that even touching her repulsed him.

His so-called “eighteen-year-old rule” had merely been an excuse for Qu Huashang.

Qu Huashang—a woman whose hands had never been stained with blood, who couldn’t even hold a sword, whose beauty was otherworldly, whose grandfather was a Grand Tutor renowned for his scholarship, making her a woman of unparalleled elegance and talent.

Was it any wonder Yuwen Jing loved her?

When the original host died, bloody tears streamed down her face—her resentment so strong that it summoned the system’s mission.

Ye Shaohua sighed softly for her.

Just then—

BANG!

The Cold Palace doors were kicked open.

Ye Shaohua turned to see Yuwen Jing, his face twisted with fury, his voice dripping with disgust:

“Ye Shaohua. For a general’s daughter, you’ve stooped rather low—resorting to such petty tricks to win my attention?”