The Heart Given to Brighten the Moon - Chapter 4

Shen Danxin stood like a wooden pillar, rooted to the spot. Fortunately, Song Mingyue was quick-witted; with a flick of her wrist, the sharp, cold glint of metal grazed the tender skin of Shen Danxin’s neck and sliced past.

A long moment passed before the delayed reaction hit. Shen Danxin let out a blood-curdling scream. The shriek was so piercing it sent a series of fine ripples across the surface of the rice gruel in her bowl.

Shen Danxin clutched her neck and recoiled, her eyes wide with terror. She finally got a clear look at the object in Song Mingyue’s hand. Of all things, it was that rusted pair of scissors from last night, and the tips now bore a faint, fresh smear of blood.

Shen Danxin’s first thought was: Those scissors are covered in rust. Do I need a tetanus shot? If I can’t get one, will I die? She stared at the scissors for a long while without blinking, looking like a frozen snowman in a bitter wind.

The moment she struck, Song Mingyue realized the truth: this stunned, seemingly simple-minded woman truly was no assassin. What agile assassin would remain paralyzed in the face of danger? Unless they had a death wish, or their internal cultivation was so high they dared to act with such “courageous indifference.”

But Song Mingyue had been observant last night. She had carefully inspected Shen Danxin’s hands; aside from calluses on the middle finger, her palms were white and smooth thousands of times more delicate than her own “millet-like” hands.

The dim-witted Shen Danxin was no assassin.

Song Mingyue suddenly felt her heart turn to ash.

A sudden, wolf-like howl startled the drifting Song Mingyue. Shen Danxin had burst into tears without warning. Her fresh tears carried a hint of warmth in the bone-chilling cold, like translucent dew on flower petals at dawn.

“What are you howling for!?” The “young beauty” acted fierce again, attempting to scare the pitiable tears back into their ducts.

Instead, Shen Danxin ignored her completely, focusing all her energy on crying. In over twenty years of life, this was her most ferocious weeping. One could hardly blame her; at the threshold of life and death, humans always reveal their most primal nature. Fearing the “ghost-howling” would attract unwanted attention, Song Mingyue slammed the scissors onto the table in desperation. The force was so great it splashed half the bowl of rice gruel.

“Fine! If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you stab me once in return!”

That did the trick. Shen Danxin stopped crying instantly. She looked at Song Mingyue like a pear blossom bathed in rain, sobbing, “I’m going to die anyway. If I stab you, you’ll just be buried with me. I’ll arrive at the King of Hell’s gates with a murder charge on my soul and be thrown into the Eighteenth Level of Hell. It’s not worth the trade if I have to be reincarnated as a beast in my next life.”

Song Mingyue nearly choked on her own breath. She was so angry she clawed at her hair, muttering, “Song Mingjue, Song Mingjue, what kind of disaster did you pick up? We should have just left her to drown in the lake!”

Shen Danxin’s lip curled, and she looked ready to start sobbing again.

Song Mingyue lunged forward like a pouncing tigress and snatched Shen Danxin’s hand away from her neck. The wound was barely the size of a fingernail, and the blood had already scabbed over. Song Mingyue took a deep breath and said with a dark expression, “If you let out one more peep, I will stab you here again. I’ll take the sin of murder and the trip to hell myself.”

Shen Danxin shut her mouth immediately. She didn’t even dare to sob loudly, holding it in until she started to hiccup.

Only then did Song Mingyue’s face soften. She straightened her back and said calmly, “With a wound this small, forget dying it’s far safer than falling into a lake in the middle of the night.”

She turned and rummaged through the woven bamboo basket on her bedside cabinet. When she returned, she held a small celadon bottle. “Apply this. In a few days, even the scar will be gone.”

Shen Danxin stole a glance at her and cautiously took the bottle. Upon opening it, a refreshing, soul-cleansing fragrance wafted out. As she applied the transparent ointment to the wound, an immediate cooling comfort set in. This is much more effective than Mercurochrome or Gentian Violet, she thought.

Shen Danxin carefully sealed the bottle. She was about to offer some praise when she saw a look of deep sorrow and desolation on Song Mingyue’s face. She set the bottle down gently and asked softly, “What is the matter?”

Shen Danxin realized that after the chaos of the night and morning, this was the first time they were sitting across from each other in peace. Song Mingyue was born with a face that naturally drew pity; with her brows slightly furrowed and her clear eyes sunken with grief, she was profoundly moving. She’s actually more likable when she’s being arrogant and overbearing, Shen Danxin thought, feeling unsettled by this display of vulnerability.

Song Mingyue sighed softly and gave a bitter smile. “I truly owe you an apology. First, I mistook you for an assassin, then I risked your life to test you and even wounded you. Miss Shen, if you wish to leave the palace, I will do everything in my power to assist you.”

Shen Danxin’s shrewd little brain immediately caught the key point. “If you are able to leave the palace, why do you not go yourself?” Even in their short time together, Shen Danxin could see this girl was living a miserable life.

Song Mingyue’s smile turned even more bitter as she shook her head. “It is useless. The furthest I have ever walked was to the Changyang Palace path, barely a hundred paces from here. Most recently, I was caught before I’d even walked twenty paces out of the servants’ quarters.” She let out a long sigh, looking like someone who had seen through the vanities of the world. “I suppose I shall never leave in this lifetime.”

Shen Danxin suddenly felt a surge of indignation. “Why do they treat you this way?”

Song Mingyue looked at her and laughed tragically a look even more soul-stirring than the night before. “Because I am the orphan of the previous dynasty. Once a golden phoenix, now a slave of a fallen nation. If you stay with me, you will come to no good end. We can hide the truth for a moment, but not forever. When that time comes, you won’t ‘slip’ into a lake; they will tie you up and claim you ‘committed suicide by drowning.’ It wouldn’t be much better than being an assassin beheaded at the Meridian Gate.”

When Shen Danxin fell into deep thought, she looked exceptionally serious. Song Mingyue couldn’t help but let out a small laugh and added, “You’re frightened by just a few words. You should leave the palace as soon as possible.”

Shen Danxin turned Song Mingyue’s words over in her mind. Once she had untangled the relationships, she asked in a heavy tone, “Then why does Zhao Zongqian spare the lives of only you and your brother?”

A cold sneer curled the corner of Song Mingyue’s mouth. “For their entertainment.”

“Whose?”

Song Mingyue fell silent. In these eleven years, at first only the Imperial Family dared to mock and jeer at her. Gradually, after the Luanqi Palace gained favor, even the lowliest servants dared to say cruel, heart-piercing things to her face. In recent years, they had become even more unbridled. Groping her in the shadows was a minor matter; once, several eunuchs who had been scolded by their masters even threw a hemp sack over her and dragged her into a deserted corner for a brutal beating. Though palace guards on patrol passed by, they acted as if they saw nothing. That time, she lay half-dead on her bed for over a month. Song Mingjue’s eyes had turned red with rage as he prepared to go and fight Zhao Zongqian to the death, but Lvling managed to stop him. If she hadn’t, Shen Danxin would have truly been left alone at the bottom of the lake.

But were these things one could say to an outsider?

Song Mingyue forced a small smile. “Do not ask so much. While no one has yet noticed you, hurry and leave the palace.”

Shen Danxin didn’t have the slightest desire to mind her own business, yet she pressed on: “So, you want to kill the Emperor, Zhao Zongqian?”

Song Mingyue lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Shen Danxin sighed. Books said the commoners each had their own miseries, but the suffering of the Imperial Family was always tied to being unable to follow one’s own heart. The ancients truly did not lie to me. Shen Danxin had read plenty of Chinese history; there were thousands of women like Song Mingyue. In the end, it was always a tragic tale of a “faded beauty,” a mere sigh from posterity before the page was turned.

It was true she was pitiable, but who had the heart to get involved in such a hopeless, self-immolating mess?

Yet, such a vibrant, living person was standing right before her not a paper character in a book. Besides, Song Mingjue was her lifesaver; her conscience simply wouldn’t let her walk away.

Shen Danxin dragged her stool closer to Song Mingyue and patted her thin shoulder. She said warmly, “It’s alright. Everyone has a ‘brain-dead’ moment now and then. Don’t look at me like that; I’m only telling you the truth because of the debt of my life. Look at those stubborn assassins, how many have died? Yet they keep lining up to throw their lives away. I’m not just guessing; if one or two fail, and ten or eight fail, then no matter how many lives are lost, that Zhao Zongqian will go on living his merry life.”

Song Mingyue narrowed her eyes slightly. “Are you saying I shall never have a chance to turn my fortunes around in this lifetime?”

“Exactly!” Shen Danxin nodded vigorously. Seeing Song Mingyue’s eyes narrow into slits and her breathing grow heavy, she quickly shook her head. “No! My point is, if you’re like those stubborn assassins who won’t learn until they see their own coffins, you definitely won’t turn things around. But if you change your method, there is still hope.”

Song Mingyue’s eyes opened a sliver. “What method?” She wanted to hear what “brilliant words” this nonsensical lecher could produce.

Unaware of the danger, Shen Danxin leaned in with a mysterious smile. “Did he not cause the fall of your nation and the death of your family? Then you should give him an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Stir up chaos in his harem, make his children turn against each other, and throw the court into turmoil. Before he even knows what’s happening, he will be the one facing national ruin!”

A slight curve appeared on Song Mingyue’s lips. “And what power do I have to achieve such a thing?”

“You have me!” Shen Danxin patted her modest chest. “You lead the charge at the front, I’ll provide the strategies from the back, and Song Mingjue will provide us with cover. Why should we fear his nation not falling?”

The words had barely left her mouth when the stool beneath her vanished. Shen Danxin fell flat on her backside, letting out a sharp cry of pain. Song Mingyue, having reached the end of her patience, had kicked the stool away.

Song Mingyue roared with humiliated rage, “I must have been kicked in the head by Zhao Hui to believe your nonsense!”

Shen Danxin felt wronged and innocent, but the Three-Point Covenant was clear: she was not allowed to talk back. So, she could only blink her eyes and stare at Song Mingyue.

But Song Mingyue was not intimidated. She stood up and pointed a finger at the tip of Shen Danxin’s nose. “You had best get the hell out of the palace before I change my mind!”

“Kindness is treated like dirt…” Shen Danxin muttered under her breath, rubbing her bottom as she slowly climbed up.

“What did you say!?”

“I said your heart is narrow and you don’t know a good thing when you see it! So, what if my kindness is treated like dirt!?” Shen Danxin suddenly felt a surge of unprovoked anger. She wanted to slap herself again this mouth of hers was just like her inconsistent heart: a magnet for trouble!

But since the trouble had already been spoken and the person provoked, she might as well speak her mind.

Shen Danxin put her hands on her hips, looking full of spirit. “You saved my life, so it’s only right that I risk my life to repay you. But you can’t just treat me like a servant! You said yourself that staying here would bring me a bad end, yet I am still willing to stay and lend you a hand. And you? Aside from calling me ‘nonsensical’ and ‘full of lies,’ what else have you done? If you distrust me so much, you should have just locked me out last night and let me die!”