Chapter 72

After a long time, Xiao Changyuan finally released Yun Pianpian’s lips.
He looked down at her, his eyes as turbulent as the sea, swirling with indescribable emotions, shock, hesitation, unease, hope.
“Were the words you just said true?”
The man’s voice was low and gentle, carrying a hint of uncertainty, as elusive as the vast sea of clouds.
Yet, his words sent shivers down Yun Pianpian’s heart.
Yun Pianpian felt a little shy under his intense, burning gaze. She averted her eyes, nodded with a flushed face, and said softly, “They were true.”
Xiao Changyuan noticed the evasion in Yun Pianpian’s eyes.
The hope in his gaze gradually faded.
The emperor’s handsome face gradually frosted over. He pulled her tightly into his embrace and said fiercely, “Are you planning to run away again?”
Yun Pianpian: “?”
Xiao Changyuan’s arms tightened around her, trapping her delicate body firmly against his chest. His cool, jade, like face was covered in a layer of frost, his tone icy.
“My Pianpian is the best at lying and deceiving, full of insincerity.
Yet, I love it when she lies and deceives me.
Because all your insincerity, in my heart, is nothing but sweet words.”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback. She hadn’t expected that her courageous confession would be interpreted as insincerity by Xiao Changyuan. She immediately furrowed her delicate brows and explained, “How could it be insincerity? Every word I said came from the bottom of my heart.”
Xiao Changyuan’s thin lips pressed into a straight line, his eyes filled with frost.
“I don’t believe you, Pianpian.”
Yun Pianpian wanted to lift her head, but Xiao Changyuan held her firmly in his embrace. She could only ask plaintively from within his arms, “Husband, why don’t you believe me?”
Xiao Changyuan's jaw tightened as he frowned and said, “Because you were always like this before, claiming to love me while pushing me away harshly, trying to escape from my side, even wishing to die before my eyes. My Pianpian has no conscience. She’s a liar who deceives without batting an eye, fond of spinning falsehoods. I can no longer tell whether what Pianpian says now is truth or lies.”
Yun Pianpian initially felt a twinge of guilt upon hearing the first half of his words, but as he continued, her heart immediately soured.
She reached out and pushed him away. “You’re the liar who deceives without batting an eye! You’re the one with no conscience!”
The moment she pushed him, Xiao Changyuan seized her waist forcefully, his thin lips clamping down on her soft, fair ear as punishment for her rejection.
Recalling her resistance, a trace of cold ferocity flickered in the emperor’s dark, profound eyes. Biting her ear, he breathed raggedly and said, “Sometimes, I truly wish to chain Pianpian up with iron shackles. That way, she could neither leave me nor seek death.”
Yun Pianpian grew weak all over from his biting, her cheeks flushing pink. Her body softened like spring mud, yet she still managed to ask, “Then why haven’t you chained me yet?”
“Because I can’t bear to.”
Xiao Changyuan bit down twice more on her ear, now red as blood, his voice low and hoarse. “Iron shackles are so hard, what if they hurt Pianpian’s wrists?”
Hearing this, a faint ache pricked Yun Pianpian’s heart, but it was soon enveloped and soothed by the rich sweetness of honey, transforming into a bittersweet preserve.
It seemed she could understand his unease.
After all, she had gone too far in the past.
“Xiao Changyuan.”
Yun Pianpian rarely addressed him by his full name.
The last time she had done so was when Xiao Changyuan struck her head with the Empress Seal. Hearing her call him like this, he instinctively stilled his restless lips.
He lowered his gaze to look at her, his eyes were like silent, frigid abysses, his handsome face remained cold and stern.
“What do you want to say?”
Yun Pianpian stretched out her fair, slender arms and wrapped them around Xiao Changyuan’s waist. “I was wrong before. I was heartless, willful, and despicable. But from now on, I swear every word I speak will be true. I like you. I want to make it up to you. I want to be with you forever. Yun Pianpian loves Xiao Changyuan. Can Xiao Changyuan believe Yun Pianpian just this once?”
Bright, warm sunlight streamed down like silk.
Thread by thread, strand by strand, slowly illuminating the dark, deep abyss.
After a long silence, Yun Pianpian finally heard his icy voice. “Then why did you avoid me earlier?”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback. Her clear, almond, shaped eyes looked up at him. “When did I ever avoid you?”
Xiao Changyuan turned his handsome face away and said displeasedly, “When you said you loved me just now, you didn’t even dare to look into my eyes. You must be lying.”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback for a moment, her small face flushing as she explained, “I was shy. When I’m shy, of course I don’t dare to look into your eyes. Do you dare to look into mine when you’re shy?”
“I do.”
Xiao Changyuan turned back, his dark, profound eyes fixed intently on Yun Pianpian’s.
“At any time, I dare to look at you.”
Yun Pianpian looked at him skeptically.
“At any time?”
“Yes.”
Yun Pianpian stood on her tiptoes, raised her head, and kissed Xiao Changyuan.
His eyes grew slightly dazed, his coldly handsome face gradually flushed with a faint rosy hue, but his eyes never left Yun Pianpian’s face.
Yun Pianpian reached out, cupped Xiao Changyuan’s handsome face, and kissed him once, twice, three times, four times, five times…
Finally unable to bear it any longer, Xiao Changyuan cupped Yun Pianpian’s head and kissed her fiercely and urgently.
After a long while, Yun Pianpian pushed him away, her face flushed, and argued, “See, you’re shy too. When you’re shy, don’t you dare not look at me?”
“I am not.”
Yun Pianpian asked, “Not what? Not shy, or not daring not to look at me?”
Xiao Changyuan pressed his thin lips together and remained silent.
His face was as cold as ice.
Yun Pianpian said, “So it’s both?”
Xiao Changyuan’s face darkened with anger and embarrassment. He scooped Yun Pianpian up by the waist and carried her toward the dragon bed.
In the past, Yun Pianpian might have been afraid when she saw his icy expression, but now, she clearly saw his ears flushed crimson. So, she felt not a trace of fear. Instead, her heart felt as if fireworks were blooming inside, and she couldn’t help but smile.
“Husband, did you not let me kiss you before because you were shy?”
“Be quiet.”
“Husband, are you not letting me speak now because you’re shy?”
“Be quiet.”
“Husband, are you… mmm…”
All the girl’s words were swallowed fiercely by the emperor, drowned in the storm.
When the rain and dew subsided.
Yun Pianpian nestled in Xiao Changyuan’s embrace, her body weak and sore. With flushed cheeks, she asked him, “Does my husband believe me now?”
Xiao Changyuan held her in his arms, his arms tightly wrapped around her waist. He neither said he believed her nor that he didn’t, but the frost on his handsome face quietly melted away.
Yun Pianpian said in a soft, tender voice, “I know, my husband already believes me. He loves me the most.”
Xiao Changyuan remained silent.
Yun Pianpian had many questions in her heart. Before, she only thought of escaping and didn’t dare to ask too much. But now that the two had reconciled, she brought up all the questions that had been weighing on her mind these days.
“Back in Jiangjia Village, after you regained your memory, why didn’t you immediately return to the palace to reclaim the throne that belongs to you? Was it because of me?”
In the original story, Xiao Changyuan immediately returned to the palace after regaining his memory, but the real Xiao Changyuan did not do so.
Xiao Changyuan lowered his eyelashes and said indifferently, “I have no interest in those ants. I don’t want to waste my time on them. Returning to the palace or not was merely a choice for me. Pianpian made the choice for me to return.”
This statement was truly arrogant.
But Xiao Changyuan truly had the right to be arrogant, he was undefeated and invincible.
There was nothing in this world he couldn't accomplish, no one he couldn't defeat. If he wanted something, he could effortlessly obtain everything he desired.
The key was whether he wanted it or not.
Yun Pianpian lifted her head and looked at Xiao Changyuan.
“Husband, do you dislike the throne?”
Xiao Changyuan lowered his gaze to look at her, his dark eyes deep and profound.
“I dislike it. I only like Yun Pianpian.”
Yun Pianpian blushed at his words. Every time, he spoke such sweet words so naturally and calmly, as if they weren't affectionate remarks but undeniable truths.
Yun Pianpian still had many questions. She continued, “Why has my husband never asked me about the future after learning that I come from there? Don't you want to know how the Mo Kingdom develops in the future? Aren't you curious about what happens a thousand years from now?”
Logically, if an ordinary person discovered she was a future soul inhabiting another's body, their first instinct would be to summon a Taoist priest to exorcise the ghost. But Xiao Changyuan was no ordinary person, so it made sense to Yun Pianpian that he didn't choose to exorcise her, after all, he truly didn't seem like a normal man. What she couldn't understand was why he had never once inquired about the future.
Xiao Changyuan's thin lips pressed together slightly as he said, “Because I only care about the outcome, not the past or the future.”
That did sound like something Xiao Changyuan would say.
But Yun Pianpian felt this answer wasn't convincing enough.
“Husband, I want to hear the truth.”
Xiao Changyuan tightened his embrace around Yun Pianpian, as if wanting to imprison her in his arms forever.
After a long pause, he finally spoke in a deep voice, “I don't want you to recall the future. The future's development far surpasses the past. Since you come from there, you would surely look down on this place. I don't want you to leave. I want to trap you forever in this world, so you can never think of the future again.”
Yun Pianpian was stunned. She hadn't expected this answer. Dazedly, she murmured, “I thought you hated me back then, that you wanted to punish me forever.”
Xiao Changyuan held her tighter. “I never hated you, not from the beginning to the end. I only wanted to hold you close, to make sure you could never leave me.”
Yun Pianpian's eyes grew slightly sore.
So, he had felt insecure from that moment on, while she had only been thinking about how to escape.
The more he loved her like this, the more she felt she didn't deserve him.
Yun Pianpian reached out and wrapped her arms around Xiao Changyuan’s waist, burying her rosy cheek against his chest as she whispered softly, “Husband, I’m sorry.”
Xiao Changyuan replied, “It’s alright. No matter what Pianpian does, I will always forgive her.”
He paused, then asked her quietly, “I have also done terrible things to Pianpian. Can Pianpian forgive me?”
Yun Pianpian’s eyes reddened slightly.
“I forgive you.”
It turns out that the gentlest words in this world are not “I love you,” but “I forgive you.”
After the two reconciled, the day of Yun Pianpian’s coronation as empress drew closer. The embroiderer presented the phoenix robe tailored specifically for Yun Pianpian and was about to help her try it on when Xiao Changyuan took the robe from her hands.
“All of you, step back.”
Following his command, everyone withdrew from the bedchamber.
Xiao Changyuan personally helped Yun Pianpian into the phoenix robe. He disliked letting others touch her. When the embroiderer had initially offered to take Yun Pianpian’s measurements for the robe, Xiao Changyuan had refused and taken them himself.
As he dressed her in the crimson, gold, threaded, phoenix, embroidered trailing robe, a flicker of admiration crossed his cold eyes.
“My Pianpian is truly beautiful.”
Yun Pianpian examined herself in the full, length bronze mirror. The robe fit perfectly, and she was very pleased.
She then decided to reward the embroiderer.
Yun Pianpian summoned the palace attendants and asked the embroiderer, “What is your name?”
Upon hearing this, the embroiderer immediately turned pale with fright, trembling like a sieve as she knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!”
The other embroiderers also knelt and begged for mercy.
Yun Pianpian was taken aback. “I didn’t say I wanted your lives…” She turned to look at Xiao Changyuan. “What’s wrong with them?”
Xiao Changyuan frowned at the embroiderer, his voice icy and severe. “The Empress has asked you a question. Have you not heard her?”
The embroiderer, her face as pale as paper, stammered in explanation, “That day, when Your Majesty heard the rebel Chu Yi’s name from Her Majesty’s lips, he had him beaten to death. This humble servant fears meeting the same fate…”
Yun Pianpian was stunned for a moment before saying, “I asked your name not to have you killed, but to reward you.”
Finally, she understood why the palace attendants serving her never dared to look her in the eye.
She had become the judge in their eyes, whoever’s name she spoke would die.
Yun Pianpian ordered Liu Shun to bring a pile of gold and present it to the embroiderer. The embroiderer immediately kowtowed in gratitude.
After the attendants withdrew, Yun Pianpian turned to Xiao Changyuan. “Husband, is Chu Yi really dead?”
Xiao Changyuan’s expression remained cold. “Why does Pianpian care so much about this insignificant ant?”
Yun Pianpian explained, “Because in history, the Mo Kingdom ultimately fell to Chu Yi. I’m worried that if he isn’t dead, he might seek revenge against you.”
Xiao Changyuan’s thin lips tightened slightly. “Pianpian, rest assured. I am certain he has breathed his last.”
But Yun Pianpian couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t so simple, because Chu Yi had the aura of a protagonist.
In the mass graves on the outskirts of the capital.
A delicate, jade, like little girl was directing a white, haired, elderly man to dig up a grave.
The girl appeared to be about six or seven years old, dressed in purple robes, with three silver bells dangling from her forehead that chimed softly with her movements.
The old man, who looked to be in his seventies or eighties, had dull eyes and bluish, purple skin, resembling a puppet.
After the old man finished digging the grave, he stood silently beside the little girl.
The little girl opened the silver box in her hand, which contained a gu insect that was entirely purple. As soon as the gu insect caught the scent of the corpses, it crawled out of the silver box and burrowed into the fresh bodies. The girl shook the bell on her wrist, and after the gu insect had its fill, it returned to the silver box.
The little girl led the old man, skipping and hopping, back to the thatched hut.
Inside the thatched hut.
Chu Yi opened his eyes and realized he hadn't died but was instead placed inside a wooden barrel filled with a dark medicinal brew. He tried to stand up, but his limbs were weak, and he couldn't move. Chu Yi heard the clear, crisp sound of a bell, and a little girl came skipping in. When she saw him, her eyes lit up.
“You're awake.”
Chu Yi looked at the old man behind the little girl.
“Did you save me?”
The little girl smiled innocently. “He's just a puppet. I'm the one who saved you.”
Chu Yi was taken aback, shifting his gaze from the old man to the little girl's face.
Though the little girl was smiling, Chu Yi felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of her grin.
“Who are you?”
The little girl replied with a smile, “My name is Jiang Jiang. I'm the daughter of the Southern Border Gu King.”
Chu Yi froze. “Wasn't the Southern Border Gu Forest wiped out by Xiao Changyuan?”
Jiang Jiang let out a clear, bell, like laugh. “All my senior brothers are dead, and my father is gone too. I'm the only one left. I have no family anymore.”
Chu Yi found her laughter unsettling.
“Why did you save me?”
“Because you're special.”
Jiang Jiang grinned. “You had already stopped breathing, but you didn't die. You're perfect to be made into a puppet, just like Ji Wuliang.”
Chu Yi was stunned. “Who did you say?”
“Ji Wuliang.”
Jiang Jiang pointed to the old man behind her.
“He is Ji Wuliang.”
Although Chu Yi had spent these years in the imperial court, he was well, informed about the affairs of the martial world, especially the legendary Four Great Masters who once shook the realm. He had heard that Ji Wuliang, the leader of the Four Great Masters, disappeared after mistakenly killing his wife and child. He never expected to see him here in this dilapidated thatched hut, turned into a puppet.
Jiang Jiang said cheerfully, “It seems you know him, so I don't need to introduce him. Anyway, you'll soon become my puppet too, so it doesn't matter whether I introduce him or not.”
Chu Yi's mind raced with thoughts as he looked up at the little girl. “Don't you want to take revenge on Xiao Changyuan?”
Jiang Jiang paused, then smiled. “Before my father died, he told me never to seek revenge.”
Chu Yi said, “But I want revenge against Xiao Changyuan. Why not pass on Ji Wuliang's martial arts to me? Then I can take revenge on him myself.”
Jiang Jiang hesitated, “But I cannot go against my father's dying wish.”
Chu Yi slowly curved his lips. “I am merely seeking revenge for myself. This has nothing to do with you, and you are not violating the late Gu King's final instructions.”
Jiang Jiang thought for a moment, her delicate, doll, like face breaking into an innocent, radiant smile. “You're so clever. I like clever puppets.”