Chapter 12: The Empress Dowager and Her Body-Double Lover 12

Wei Yan flashed a row of bright white teeth, raised a hand to touch the corner of his mouth, and, not seeming to feel any pain, briefly explained what had happened.

A quarter of an hour later.

Qin Ziyan’s scream resounded through the heavens.

“Lover?!”

“You’re not going back to the palace, are you?” Qin Ziyan asked in disbelief.

Wei Yan shrugged. “Who knows?”

Turning the key to the Elegant Garden over and over in his hand, Wei Yan thought for a moment before walking away.

“Hey, where are you going?” Qin Ziyan called after him.

“Home to recuperate.”

“You’re completely insane.” Qin Ziyan was utterly speechless.

Then, remembering something, he shouted, “Home? Which home are you going to?”

“Look it up yourself.”

Wei Yan’s voice scattered into the wind.

Qin Ziyan was left speechless.

Look up my foot.

…

…

“Your Highness, these are the flower seeds you requested. They have all been planted.”

Qingli held a flowerpot in her arms as palace maids filed in behind her, each carrying a flowerpot filled with blossoms of different colors.

“Put them down and leave.”

Qingli asked curiously, “Your Highness, what are you planning to do?”

Hua Yue crouched down and, without raising her head, ordered, “You leave as well. No one is to come in today.”

“Yes.”

Lowering her eyes, Hua Yue toyed with the soil with her slender, fair fingers, poking at it repeatedly.

There was no reaction whatsoever.

Hua Yue blinked, then unceremoniously dropped herself onto the floor. Gazing at the flowerpots arranged before her, she raised a fingertip.

The next instant, a hint of green slowly emerged from the black soil. Hua Yue’s eyes lit up at once.

It worked?

But in the very next second, the green stem stopped growing.

“Hey? Grow, grow!”

Hua Yue bit her lip. After struggling with herself for a moment, she picked up the scissors beside her and cut her fingertip.

Blood dripped into the soil.

Hua Yue held the flowerpot in both hands, her eyes shining as she stared at it.

The stem began to grow again, even sprouting several leaves.

“It really works?” Hua Yue muttered. Then she frowned. “So who exactly is he?”

Hua Yue was not actually human.

She was a mutated plant from the apocalypse—a rose, and the thorny kind at that.

By some twist of fate, she had transformed into a human being, and not just any human, but a baby. A human couple had found her and brought her home.

The spirit stone within her mind had also returned to the size it had been when she first mutated.

Her adoptive parents merely thought she had awakened a wood-type ability and never discovered the truth.

…

There were times when Hua Yue even wondered whether she had already been reincarnated.

As for why she had mutated…

Hua Yue blinked and shook her head, feeling terribly dizzy.

The flower before her gradually grew larger, while her vision grew increasingly blurred. Just before her consciousness faded, the scent of roses drifted toward her.

[Yueyue!]

An urgent yet feeble voice rang out in Hua Yue’s mind.

“You little bastard…”

Hua Yue murmured the words before finally collapsing unconscious onto the floor, her awareness hazy.

When Qingli entered, she saw Hua Yue lying on the ground. In the flowerpot before her, a rose bloomed with breathtaking, almost bewitching beauty.

How strange. She distinctly remembered that there had been no flowers in the palace just moments ago.

With no time to think about it, Qingli hurried over to Hua Yue.

“Your Highness!”

“Your Highness!”

The shaking brought Hua Yue partly back to her senses, though her consciousness remained clouded. With astonishing perseverance, she pointed at the flower with one finger.

“Fl…”

Flower!

Her flower!

“What?” Qingli could not make out what she was saying and was so anxious that she nearly burst into tears. She leaned closer to listen.

“Flower… little bastard…”

“Bastard?” Qingli finally heard her clearly, but was left utterly bewildered.

What bastard?

The next moment, Hua Yue passed out completely.

“Your Highness!”

…

…

When Hua Yue woke again, three days had passed.

Her face was deathly pale, and she sat weakly before the mirror while Qingli gently arranged her hair behind her.

“Your Highness, do you feel all right? Perhaps we should have the imperial physician examine you.”

“No need.” Hua Yue shook her head.

The rose whose growth she had successfully urged that day sat before her. Its leaves and petals were fresh and vivid, and it had grown beautifully.

Hua Yue reached out and touched the rose’s branches, tugging at them from one side and then the other.

There was no reaction whatsoever.

She closed her eyes wearily. “What happened these past few days?”

“Consort Lu came to pay a visit, but I sent her back. His Highness the Ninth Prince has not attended court these past few days either. The Grand Councillors have spent long stretches of time in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Rumor has it that His Majesty may not last another five days,” Qingli replied cautiously.

“What about the others?”

Qingli blinked, then suddenly realized what she meant. “Oh, that’s right. The General sent a letter. I have kept it safe all this time.”

“Mm.”

Qingli brought it over. Hua Yue opened the letter and skimmed it briefly before handing it back to Qingli to dispose of.

“Make the preparations. I’m leaving the palace.”

“But—”

Qingli looked worried.

Hua Yue cast her a single glance.

Qingli immediately lowered her head. “Yes.”

In recent days, Her Highness’s temper had improved considerably. Qingli had clearly let her guard down.

…

…

It was already the end of February, yet snow had begun to fall again. The flakes drifted down in lingering, melancholy swirls, only to vanish soon after touching the ground.

Qingli prepared a red cloak and draped it over Hua Yue’s shoulders. “Your Highness, be careful not to catch cold.”

“Mm. Let’s go.”

The palace had been under strict lockdown for the past few days. Even Hua Yue was thoroughly searched before being allowed to leave.

“Whoa—”

The coachman halted the carriage halfway there. The next moment, a tall man dressed in black climbed inside.

Hua Yue had been drinking tea. At the sound, she raised her eyes and glanced at him.

Then she frowned. “Why are you here?”

The newcomer was wrapped tightly in a black cloak. It was Wei He, who should have been far away in Qingzhou.

He sat down naturally.

“What? Am I getting in the way of Consort Hua going to meet someone?”

“You know?”

Wei He naturally knew.

At such a crucial juncture, he would tolerate no mistakes.

“Does he know your identity? Be careful when approaching him so recklessly.”

Hua Yue suddenly lost all interest in her tea. She set down the cup and looked up at him. “Are you finished? If you are, leave.”

Wei He’s expression tightened. “You—”

He frowned, then remembered why he had come and softened his tone slightly. “About your father…”

Before he could finish, Hua Yue cut him off calmly. “Don’t worry. You and I are in the same boat now. Even if you were the first to break your promise, I’m not a fool, am I?”

Before meeting Wei He, the original Hua Yue had always been arrogant and overbearing, softening only in his presence.

Now that she treated him no differently from anyone else, Wei He felt a subtle unease. Then he remembered the people she had been in contact with.

Wen Lezhan.

A merchant from the south.

His appearance bore some resemblance to Wei He’s own.

Wei He was suspicious by nature. At this critical time, he had naturally investigated the matter even more thoroughly.

Yet all the favored sons of his imperial father were currently in the capital.

The only one whose age matched was the son of the former Crown Prince.

Wei Yan.

But that Wei Yan was a renowned fool.

At the age of four, his face had been burned beyond recognition in the fire that accompanied his family’s confiscation, and the trauma had left him mentally impaired.

He was now far away on the northern frontier, and Wei He’s people had already confirmed it.

Wei He could not help saying, “Xiao Su, don’t debase yourself. That man is merely a merchant, lowborn and insignificant. He has nothing but a somewhat handsome face. If he discovers your identity, it will inevitably…”

“Lowborn?” Hua Yue sneered. “I’m afraid Your Highness has been pampered for so long that you’ve forgotten what you and I looked like when we first met.”