Spring should be the time when all things come back to life and everything is full of vitality.
Except for a charming figure sitting in the pavilion, drinking herself into a stupor.
As if thinking of something, another sigh echoed.
What a sin! What a sin!
She, Shangguan Wanyu, the most noble grand empress dowager of the Yan Kingdom, couldn't even find peace after death. She had been reborn three times! She almost thought she must have done some heinous things in her past life to end up like this.
She accepted the absurdity of the first two rebirths!
But this third time, she was reborn as Chu Qing, the legitimate wife of the Prince of Ning, the Princess of Ning!
Becoming her nominal niece - in - law, wasn't it a bit against the moral code...
Speaking of the Princess of Ning, she was also a poor soul.
Although her family background wasn't from a noble clan, she was the only daughter of the Chu family, the wealthiest family in the Yan Kingdom. Since childhood, she had been the apple of her family's eye, being cherished to the utmost. After she came of age, she was married to the Prince of Ning as his wife. In the Yan Kingdom, although both agriculture and commerce were valued, as the Chu family wasn't a noble clan, the Prince of Ning's proposal and their marriage had shocked the court at that time.
However, the grand empress dowager, no, the one who had taken over Chu Qing's body now, knew what kind of person the Prince of Ning was.
The Prince of Ning was completely heartless.
He had married Chu Qing just to facilitate his own path.
A year later, he married the eldest daughter of the Minister's Mansion as his concubine, claiming it was to find a companion for Chu Qing.
Chu Qing was so naive. She treated the concubine whole - heartedly, but in the end, she was killed by her.
This was what led to the grand empress dowager's last rebirth.
She was like a phoenix occupying a sparrow's nest.
The grand empress dowager, now in Chu Qing's body, sighed about the tragic fate of the original owner while still reminding herself of her true identity.
Tsk, she still had high ambitions.
Alas, Chu Qing sighed again.
She remembered when she woke up, the meatball had seriously told her that she was burdened with a great responsibility and task.
That was to make the Prince of Ning fall in love with her and then find out the real cause of her death.
She had never thought she didn't die a natural death! She had even thought she had lived out her full life, but unexpectedly, she had been poisoned by someone secretly replacing the tranquility incense!
Thinking of this, a coldness filled Chu Qing's eyes.
If it was the will of heaven that she should die, she would accept it. After all, she had tasted all the joys and sorrows, the ups and downs of life. There was nothing left in this world for her to miss. Her children and grandchildren would have their own paths to take, and she had no concerns about them.
But if someone dared to harm her, that person was simply courting death! She had survived the storms of her youth, but to be killed when she should have been enjoying her twilight years, she felt extremely aggrieved!
As for the main task of making the Prince of Ning fall in love with her, Chu Qing naturally ignored it.
Not wanting to think about why someone would harm the current grand empress dowager anymore, Chu Qing raised her hand and emptied her wine cup.
Then, with a thud, she collapsed.
This was only her second cup.
The little maid Lvluo beside her was already used to this. Since her mistress had woken up from a serious illness, her behavior had been strange. Not only did she drink every day, but her alcohol tolerance was also extremely poor.
It had been more than three months since she woke up. During this period, the princess had never once gone to see the Prince of Ning, and the prince had never come to visit the princess either. In the past, the prince would at least pretend to care about the princess, but now, was he even too lazy to put on a show?
Loyal Lvluo couldn't help but worry about her mistress's status. She quickly called a few rough - maid servants to carry the princess to the bed in the inner room.
The early spring was still quite cold. They couldn't let the princess ruin her health anymore.
After all, that concubine was now so bold that she could even enter the study to grind ink for the prince!
Completely unaware of the worried little maid beside her, Chu Qing was now in a dream.
In the dream, she was still the grand empress dowager. Her son and grandson were kneeling beside her, accusing each other. Then, they were crying and begging her not to pay attention to the Prince of Ning. They said that the prince was too scheming and had coveted their throne for a long time.
"I have done enough for you. Whether you can defend this kingdom and what the future holds depends on your own fortune. But this young man, the Prince of Ning, seems quite good to me. I'm just about to get to know him better. You don't need to worry about it."
Chu Qing didn't realize that she had actually spoken the second half of what she said in the dream out loud.
The Prince of Ning was standing beside the bed at this moment, looking expressionlessly at Chu Qing's haughty face.
The maids were kneeling on the ground, not daring to make a sound.
"Chu Qing, I never thought you would have such audacity?" The Prince of Ning's tone was indescribably calm.
But his voice was loud enough to wake up the sleeping Chu Qing.
Chu Qing suddenly opened her eyes and sat up abruptly.
Then she was stunned for a moment looking at the situation around her.
Had she talked in her sleep?
"Your audacity is quite something. But you don't know that although the grand empress dowager has passed away, the empress dowager is still alive. How dare you call yourself 'I, the mourning one'?" There was still no emotion in the Prince of Ning's words.
"Your Highness may have misheard. Ai... no, my humble name is Aijia. As for the second half, it was a dream when I hadn't married yet. Coincidentally, I'm a few years older than Your Highness. I was just showing off to my close female friends. I offended Your Highness with my nonsense in the dream. Please punish me." Chu Qing quietly retreated a bit and then lowered her head, telling a shallow lie without batting an eyelid.
"I didn't know when the princess became so glib - tongued?" The Prince of Ning twitched the corner of his mouth, folded his arms across his chest, and leaned against the bed, looking down at Chu Qing.
Chu Qing looked up at the Prince of Ning and inexplicably thought of a saying.
The gentleman on the road is as gentle as jade, and the young master is peerless in the world.
This young man was extremely handsome. But on the blood - thirsty battlefield, could such a gentle young master be intimidating enough to the enemy?
But it was also good. It could make the enemy relax their vigilance and be caught off - guard...
Tsk, she had let her mind wander. The young people's minds were really sharp.
Chu Qing thought for a while and decided not to say anything more. After all, the more one said, the more mistakes one might make.
Although she had already said quite a lot.
Seeing that Chu Qing stopped talking, the Prince of Ning raised the corner of his mouth, left a "Rest well" and then left.
Only Chu Qing and a few little maids were left looking at each other.
"Ai... what did I say?" Chu Qing finally couldn't hold back and asked.
Lvluo took a deep breath and timidly replied, "You said... the Prince of Ning seems quite good to you, and you're going to get close to him..." Her voice got lower and lower.
"Before that? Did I say anything I shouldn't have?"
"… The princess only said what I just told you." Lvluo was a bit confused. Had her mistress said something else before?
After hearing this, Chu Qing slowly let out a sigh of relief.
What she said in the dream, the second half was just a bit arrogant, but the first half could cost her current life.
Before finding out the truth about her death, she was very afraid of death.
As for the task, it was just a side matter.
Maybe hearing her thoughts, the meatball that hadn't appeared for a long time showed up again. Of course, only Chu Qing could hear it.
"Hey, you can't think like that. Considering that I accidentally made a mistake in your rebirth before, I'll give you a hint. Only by getting the full favor of the Prince of Ning can you get the direct reason for your death!"
Just as Chu Qing was about to reply, she caught a glimpse of the little maids still waiting for orders beside her. So she lazily said, "You can all go down first. I need to rest for a while."
Watching the maids leave one by one, Chu Qing sat up straight and stared intently at a certain place:
"Little Meatball, what do you mean?"
"Don't call me like I'm a eunuch!"
"Stop talking nonsense. You just said that only by getting the favor of the Prince of Ning can I get the direct reason for my death?" At this moment, Chu Qing seemed a bit different from before.
Like a wild beast crouching in the dark, ready to attack its prey at any moment...
The meatball naturally felt it too. It controlled itself not to tremble and replied, "It means..."
"Princess ~ The concubine is here to visit you!" Lvluo's voice sounded from outside the door at this moment.
Oh? That little vixen who had killed the real Chu Qing?
Chu Qing smiled. She was going to see what kind of monster this concubine was!