Chapter 2: She Was the One Who Gave Him a Concussion!

Qin Wan glanced at the tightly shut palace doors.

Based on her years of experience watching idol dramas, she knew that at this moment, there must be a highly skilled eunuch guarding the door, with countless imperial guards, both overt and covert, stationed outside.

Although she knew some martial arts, unless she was Invincible East, there was almost zero chance of her escaping unscathed through the main entrance.

What to do?!

Her beautiful, cunning eyes darted around. In an instant, she decided to play along and collapsed to the ground, pretending to faint. While crawling towards the door, she shouted,

“Someone come quickly! There’s an assassin! The Emperor is injured!”

“Bang!” As expected, several imperial guards immediately rushed in from outside. On the dragon bed, the man who had been knocked unconscious was now fully awake.

“Your Majesty!” The guard captain, Han Biao, immediately stepped forward to check on the Emperor. “Quickly! Summon the imperial physician!” he shouted in alarm.

Jiang Beiyue frowned and opened his eyes. He felt a sharp pain in his head and reached up to touch it, his fingers coming away stained with blood. His face contorted in disbelief, and he glared furiously at Qin Wan.

“Leng Qingqing, how dare you?!”

To save her own life, Qin Wan swiftly got into character. She feigned shock, then burst into tears, shaking her head as she cried, “Your Majesty, it wasn’t me! Just now, this concubine saw an assassin behind Your Majesty, attacking you! This concubine used the porcelain pillow to hit the assassin, but… but the assassin still managed to injure you and… and knocked this concubine unconscious…” Her voice trembled with feigned distress. “Your Majesty, you are this concubine’s heart, this concubine’s everything! How could this concubine bear to hurt you?”

… Everyone: …

Even Jiang Beiyue found it hard to believe.

He knew how she felt about him. He had always been so cold to her, yet she yearned to spend the night with him, even dreaming about it. Now that he had finally summoned her, why would she possibly pass up this opportunity?

His gaze, as sharp and cold as a pair of unsheathed swords, locked onto her. “Then where is the assassin you speak of?”

“… ” Assassin?

“–” Leng Qingqing shook her head. “This concubine was also knocked unconscious by the assassin. I… I don’t know where he fled to.”

“What are you standing around for? Search everywhere!” Han Biao immediately barked out orders to the guards who had followed him in.

The imperial guards searched high and low and actually managed to … find an assassin!?

With the two nations at war, it was not unusual for the enemy to send assassins. There actually happened to be one lurking outside of Jiang Beiyue’s bedchamber. Who would have known that, hiding perfectly, he would be caught before he even got the chance to strike. The assassin could only stare blankly, utterly bewildered.

With that, the incident was muddled through. After a chaotic night, Qin Wan was sent back to the Cold Palace.

When they arrived, she was shocked. It was the first time she had lived in such a dilapidated place. Cobwebs filled every corner, the ground was uneven, and it felt like there wasn’t even a decent place to stand.

As soon as she stepped inside, a palace maid rushed out anxiously. Looking her up and down, her eyes welled up with tears as she asked, “My Lady, I heard that His Majesty was attacked by an assassin during your time together. Are you alright?”

Qin Wan laughed inwardly. She was the assassin, so what could possibly be wrong with her?

“I’m fine. I just need some rest,” she reassured the maid. “You should go to sleep.”

The palace maid was Xiao Zhima, the original owner’s personal maid and the only servant left to attend to her. She had accompanied and served the original owner in the Cold Palace and was the only one who treated her well.

Hearing Qin Wan’s words, Xiao Zhima threw her arms around her and cried, “My Lady, I was so worried! If something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t want to live anymore!”

Qin Wan smiled and patted her head. “Silly girl, I’m really alright. Go to sleep.”

She was exhausted too. No matter what, she would sleep first, then recharge and see if there was any way to go back.

Qin Wan went to her bedchamber and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Fortunately, with Xiao Zhima taking care of things, although the Cold Palace was dilapidated, the bedding was still washed and clean. However, in the early hours of the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, she was awakened by the crowing of a rooster in the courtyard.

I forgot this is ancient times. Everything is organic and free-range here.

 But she wasn’t going to get up that early. She found a rope, tied the rooster’s beak shut, and went back to sleep.

She didn’t wake up until the sun was high in the sky.

After waking up, she was stunned when she looked in the bronze mirror while washing up.

She hadn’t really looked yesterday, but when she finally did look in the mirror today, she was horrified by the makeup.

Two circles of rouge on her cheeks made her look like she had altitude sickness. Her eyebrows were drawn thick and heavy, resembling two caterpillars. And then there was the bright red lipstick…

Appalled, she quickly washed everything off.

Her bare face was much more pleasing to the eye. Leng Qingqing’s features actually resembled her own by eighty to ninety percent!

She had a good foundation. Unlike the modern practice where a fortune is spent monthly on meticulous skincare, with even a single facial mask costing hundreds or thousands of yuan, the advantage of being young was that her skin was still fair and clear at eighteen. It was just that her cheeks were a little too thin, perhaps due to long-term malnutrition.

Even with her natural beauty, the backward makeup techniques of this era coupled with the original owner’s lack of interest in self-adornment had completely wasted this face that could have caused the downfall of nations!

As she tidied up a little, Xiao Zhima, who was standing by her side, looked at her with surprise.

“My Lady, why aren’t you wearing rouge today?”

“We’re already stuck in the Cold Palace, just the two of us. Why bother with all that?”

Xiao Zhima bit her lip, wanting to say that perhaps the Emperor would come again but ultimately decided against it.

Her Lady had finally been summoned, but then the Emperor was attacked by an assassin. Perhaps this meant that she would never have another chance to leave the Cold Palace.

Unaware of the sorrowful gaze behind her, Qin Wan strolled around the courtyard.

She figured that the entry point she had used to arrive here should be somewhere in the palace she had been taken to yesterday. Just as she was about to go back and take a look, she was stopped by the guards at the entrance of the Cold Palace.

Oh, right. Concubines confined to the Cold Palace weren’t allowed to leave.

So, unless that dog emperor summoned her, she couldn’t get out of here at all?

… No problem.

She quickly calmed down, a subtle glint flashing across her beautiful, cunning eyes.

If the mountain does not move, the water will just have to turn.

She had only managed to fool him temporarily yesterday. The emperor wasn’t an idiot. Once he thought about it, he would definitely realize that something was off. He would never let this slight go unpunished.

Even if he did somehow let it go… hehe, she still had a thousand and one ways to sneak out of here.

Thinking of this, she happily lay down on the broken bamboo lounge chair in the courtyard.

Meanwhile, in his chambers, Jiang Beiyue was having his wounds treated by the imperial physician.

His forehead was wrapped in layers of white bandages. The medicine stung, making him grit his teeth in pain, but he endured it without making a sound. His face was so dark that it could rival the bottom of an inkwell.

The more he thought about what had happened last night, the more his face darkened.

That damned woman was lying to him!

She was beneath him, and she had used the porcelain pillow to hit him in the front. If it had really been an assassin, the wound would have been on the back of his head!

“–” At this thought, his face turned frosty. He abruptly stood up.

“Prepare the palanquin. We are going to Zhao Tai Palace!”