Another swipe.
Golden silk gauze curtains, drunken sleep among mandarin ducks, spring breeze over ten li of sandalwood fragrance.
Behind the poorly concealed misty gauze curtains, vaguely a woman’s curvaceous form without a stitch of clothing, occasionally flashes of snow-white fragrant tender skin.
And a man’s voice, heavy breathing, young bronzed skin lustrous and clean, glowing with the full-bodied color unique to those with long-trained robust physiques.
“Darling… you’re so wonderful…”
The woman’s delicate laughter was like singing orioles, like golden orioles, like jade pearls falling on jade plates, each sound crisp, each sound enchanting.
“Wonderful… how so?”
“Wonderful in every way…” The man seemed to caress her somewhere, causing the woman to giggle, asking coyly: “Better than her?”
A moment of silence. After a long while, the man’s voice was muffled and heavy, as if burying his head in some soft jade warmth, “She… who is she?”
…
Qin Chang Ge glanced at it with disdain.
“This footage has too low resolution.”
The implication being: she couldn’t even see clearly who it was, and he still had the nerve to show it?
The Ghost Emissary stamped his feet and gritted his teeth.
Provocation could be tolerated, but contempt could not!
Another swipe.
Purple palace chambers, jade screens meandering, behind the screen on a couch, two people playing chess.
Crystal chess board, white jade and black agate serving as black and white pieces.
The purple-robed woman on the left moved her slender finger slightly, and with a sharp sound, said hatefully: “Treason.”
The man on the right laughed gently, wearing splendid brocade robes with more charm than any woman could possess. His peach blossom eyes sparkled with captivating light. The black piece gleamed darkly, held between his jade-like fingertips, yet far inferior to the unfathomable depth of his gaze.
“That’s no street performer, that’s the founding Empress of our Xiliang. Would anyone believe that the founder of a nation commits treason?”
“Then what do you say?”
The man flicked his fingertip slightly, and the black piece shot forth with a dark gleam, firmly embedding itself on the chess board.
“Rather than betraying the country, better to betray love.”
…
Qin Chang Ge narrowed her eyes, silently watching the pair of man and woman. After a long while, she smiled.
“That these two would have such secret plotting, truly the world is full of wonders…”
Turning to stare at the Ghost Emissary: “I hear that memories from the underworld won’t be brought into the mortal world. Since I’ll forget even after seeing them, then why show me these things?”
The Ghost Emissary pulled out a handkerchief, trembling as he wiped sweat… This, this, how should I put it? Should I directly tell you that we think you’re too lazy, and having transmigrated once in the modern world, you’ve probably forgotten the grievances from your past life in Xiliang and might not be willing to put effort into revenge? What if you disregard heavenly fate and make things unmanageable?
Seeing these things might stir up this young mistress’s indignation and resentment, carrying that resentful energy into reincarnation to overturn the chess game anew, so things can be concluded early and she can return to the Heavenly Court?
Fortunately, Qin Chang Ge didn’t pursue the matter, only saying lazily: “Don’t waste your mental energy. Though I’m lazy, I also don’t like being bullied. What’s owed to me, I’ll naturally take back.”
She smiled slightly, saying softly: “Live well, all of you, don’t die too early…”
The Ghost Emissary’s ghost claw trembled.
Qin Chang Ge had already strolled forward.
Slowly walking around the palace maids in a circle, her gently smiling face showed no trace of compassion. Naturally, the word compassion didn’t exist in Qin Chang Ge’s dictionary. If someone asked her about it, she would definitely ask very innocently: what is compassion? Can you eat it? Can you use it?
These several decades of tribulation in the mortal realm, with all their ups and downs, treacherous waves and clouds, life-and-death moments, kindness and betrayal, had given her trials and tempering that were countless times more thrilling and cruel than the simple, leisurely thousand-year-a-day life in the immortal realm. Those brocade splendors, poetry and wine gatherings, orchid and musk fragrances, bells and drums reaching the clouds from her past life… those moaning souls, drifting blood, innocent lives, fierce faces… she had already come, passed through, seen, and seen too much.
Even though during tribulation she forgot her immortal identity and was merely a mortal, this ten-zhang world of soft red floating glamour could no longer blind the clear eyes of one reborn.
Still smiling slightly, Qin Chang Ge pointed casually: “Then let it be her.”
The Ghost Emissary leaned over to look and was dumbfounded.
“Shangxian, you, you, you, how did you choose this particular one?”
“Hmm? Is this body not good?” Qin Chang Ge narrowed her eyes, carefully examining the frail woman, only fifteen or sixteen years old, pale and weak, with a slender figure, light eyebrows like smoke and mist, and eyelashes fine and dense as silk. Very good.
Though not comparable to her true form or the peerless beauty of her past life in this imperial dynasty, it was still quite good. At the very least, she found her pleasing to the eye.
“Shangxian… there’s nothing wrong with this palace maid herself, it’s just that her hometown is in Yunzhou. The Shangxian must still remember, the birthplace of your previous incarnation, Empress Ruiyi of the Xiliang Dynasty.”
Qin Chang Ge raised an eyebrow: “Yunzhou.”
“Yes, ever since Empress Ruiyi’s death, the Empress Dowager issued an edict that women from Yunzhou who enter the palace shall be slaves for life and may never be granted the rank of consort.”
“Oh?” Qin Chang Ge sneered: “Is that so?”
“Shangxian,” the Ghost Emissary, thinking Qin Chang Ge was wavering, eagerly recommended: “Choose this one instead. This one has a better background and more beautiful appearance. Shangxian, you’re reincarnating this time to settle old scores. If you cannot become a consort in this palace, how will you have the power for revenge? If you fail in this lifetime, you may not be able to return to the Heavenly Court in time…”
As if remembering something, the Ghost Emissary added: “Shangxian, to ensure you focus wholeheartedly on your tribulation, after reincarnation, the memories you retain will only be from the two lifetimes you experienced in the mortal world. As for your memories from the underworld and your immortal identity, they will all be erased at the moment of reincarnation. Ah, what I just showed you will be arranged for you to know when necessary… so you need to choose a better body… Shangxian, Shangxian?”
Qin Chang Ge withdrew her careful gaze from examining the woman and turned back blankly: “Ah?”
The Ghost Emissary sweated profusely… After saying so much, she wasn’t listening at all… How depressing…
“Shangxian… have you decided which one to switch to?”
“Oh, no need to switch. This Shangxian feels she matches my magnetic field very well.”
Smiling as she turned back, Qin Chang Ge explained: “In my modern lifetime, my teacher told me that magnetic fields are things that can be used to explain many supernatural phenomena that are difficult to clarify scientifically.”
…
Looking up to heaven with a long sigh, the Ghost Emissary wept like rain… The most painful thing since becoming a ghost was encountering Qin Chang Ge after she had transmigrated!