After Becoming a Concubine, I Took Down the Princess - Chapter 10

“Surely there aren’t really ghosts,” Yan Heng’s heart hammered—but after a moment, she thought again, I’m a demon myself, so why should I be afraid of ghosts? Wouldn’t that be too much of a coward?

So, her heart slowly settled back down. She slowed her steps and walked towards the back of the house.

She was just about to reach it when suddenly a red shadow darted out and collided straight into her. The person used all their might, as if trying to knock Yan Heng flying. Caught off guard, she landed on her rear on the ground.

The red shadow, having bumped into her, ran to a stone stool on the side and squatted on it, peering at her furtively.

When Yan Heng saw the red shadow clearly, she couldn’t help but feel annoyed. This mysterious thing turned out to be a person!

Judging by his appearance, he was an elderly eunuch with quite a bit of white hair at his temples. His robe had been washed until it was faded, presenting as a dark red.

Yan Heng pointed at the man and asked indignantly, “Why did you crash into me?”

The eunuch didn’t answer, only stared at her with somewhat murky eyes, not moving at all. Yan Heng felt a chill under his gaze, and her initial anger dissipated.

She thought, Living in a place like this, he must be simple-minded.

Suddenly, the eunuch seemed to see something unclean. He jumped off the stone stool and hid behind it, quickly muttering something under his breath.

Yan Heng was curious, so she moved closer.

But the eunuch seemed afraid of her. He scrambled backward, but forgot he was squatting, and fell down.

He looked at Yan Heng in terror and said, “Monster… monster…”

“What?” Yan Heng was startled. Can this person see a monster with the naked eye?

She stepped forward again. The eunuch scooted backward on the ground, still repeating, “Consort Lian… Consort Lian is a monster!”

Yan Heng’s heart pounded violently. Just as she was about to grab the eunuch and ask for clarification, someone behind her suddenly shouted, “You madman, you’ve run out again!”

At this remark, the eunuch quickly scrambled to his feet using both hands and feet, flashed behind the house, and disappeared.

Yan Heng felt a little disappointed and turned to look at the person behind her.

The newcomer was a palace maid in a plain blue court dress, quite old. She walked quickly, looked at Yan Heng’s attire, and then bowed, asking, “Has Your Ladyship gotten lost?”

Yan Heng nodded.

The palace maid continued, “My name is Hui Lan. I will escort Your Ladyship back to the palace.”

“Is this Your Ladyship’s first time at the temporary palace? This is where all the eunuchs and palace maids who have gone mad or simple-minded and have no relatives to take them out of the palace live. You should not come here again, lest you be offended again,” Hui Lan said as she led the way.

“Why are they kept here?” Yan Heng asked.

“The temporary palace only gets busy in the summer. If they were kept in the Imperial Palace and ran out to harm the masters, it would be trouble,” Hui Lan replied.

Yan Heng thought that was reasonable. Her rear still hurt a bit from being bumped by that eunuch.

She remembered what the eunuch had said, feeling suspicion in her heart.

“What is the name of the person I just met?” she asked tentatively.

Hui Lan seemed completely unfazed, saying, “They are just mad, simple-minded people; their names might soil Your Ladyship’s ears.”

Yan Heng reluctantly gave up.

But this matter was related to Liang Xiao’s birth mother, and since Liang Xiao had previously helped Yan Heng, she felt it was best to tell her.

So, Yan Heng secretly memorized the route and followed behind Hui Lan without saying anything more.

As night fell, the evening breeze blew gently. Yan Heng sat on the stone stool outside the house, bored and fanning herself.

Liang Xiao pulled up her sleeves and poured a cup of tea to suppress the shock in her heart.

Yan Heng had returned to the palace that afternoon, then sent Hua Zi to invite the Princess, and recounted everything she had seen and heard in detail.

“I never knew my mother was a demon. Are you trying to fool me?” Liang Xiao slowly set down her teacup.

“If I had that much free time, I’d rather sneak out of the palace and never return. Why would I bother making up a story to trick you?” Yan Heng was a little impatient. She slapped her fan onto the table: “If you don’t believe me, come with me again tomorrow and ask yourself.”

Liang Xiao frowned, still showing three parts of doubt on her face.

“If my mother is a demon, then am I too?” Does Father know about this? she wondered.

“Hmm… if Consort Lian is truly a demon, then you are a half-demon. You should definitely have a demon core inside you and be able to use spells. But judging by the current situation, that doesn’t seem to be the case,” Yan Heng said, eating pastries, leaving some white crumbs on her lips.

Liang Xiao was displeased with her somewhat uncouth behavior, but patiently said, “I cannot use spells, nor do I have any such demon core.”

“Then Consort Lian must be a half-demon. By the time it reached you, the demonic traits are almost gone. Even demon-hunters wouldn’t be able to tell,” Yan Heng picked up a handkerchief and wiped her mouth.

“Demon-hunters?”

“People who specialize in catching monsters, naturally. They have a whole bunch of magical artifacts. After they capture a demon, they cut out its demon core for their own use, and then they can become more powerful demon-hunters.” At the thought of this, Yan Heng gnashed her teeth in hatred.

Her clan had always avoided contact with humans, yet demon-hunters still refused to leave them alone. Even hiding deep in the mountains and forests, many foxes had been caught and had their cores dissected by demon-hunters.

Without the demon core, the demon was completely useless.

Liang Xiao knitted her brows and remained silent.

Yan Heng continued, “All demon-hunters believe that monsters are bad guys, who eat human flesh and harm entire families. Actually, everyone keeps to themselves, and we monsters won’t hurt people either.”

Only the two of them were in the courtyard at the moment, so Yan Heng spoke without any inhibitions.

If Mother was a half-demon, it means she could use demon magic. Could this be why she was harmed by a wicked person, and even Father couldn’t find the killer?

Seeing how heartbroken Father was after losing Mother, he likely didn’t know she was a demon, otherwise he wouldn’t have favored her for so many years.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?” Yan Heng waved her hand in front of her.

Liang Xiao recovered and asked, “What is it?”

“Are you going with me to see that eunuch again tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

This matter is suspicious, and they needed to investigate it thoroughly.

The two sat in silence for a while, and soon Liang Xiao got up and left.

Yan Heng stretched and took out her communication stone to chat with her brother.

They talked every few days, partly to keep Yan Heng entertained and partly to relieve her homesickness.

Yan Qiu was in an unknown place; the surrounding area was noisy with people, making it hard for Yan Heng to hear him clearly.

“Old fox, where are you?” she asked, leaning on the table.

“I’m at the Demon Market, taking Little Sister out for a look,” Yan Qiu replied.

The “Little Sister” he referred to was their cousin, who was only seventeen and had not yet learned how to transform into human form when Yan Heng left home.

The Demon Market was a marketplace created by the demons themselves. It was open all day and rarely closed, hence it was bustling with activity, though entry required a “key.”

Inside, there were exotic jewelry, mechanisms, poisons, books, and cloth of all kinds. Yan Heng loved to browse there the most.

Yan Heng felt a bit dejected. If it weren’t for the “Love Knot” (Qing Si Kou), she would be able to visit the Demon Market too.

She responded listlessly, “Okay. Have a good time.”

“I just saw a mechanical box at a street stall, it’s really cleverly made,” Yan Qiu tried to divert his sister’s attention to cheer her up.

Yan Qiu loved fiddling with these sorts of things. He had even sent Yan Heng a mechanical little bird before.

“What kind of box?” Her interest was piqued.

“A killing weapon. As soon as you open it, thousands of poisonous needles shoot out, completely impossible to guard against,” Yan Qiu said.

“These harmful things, it doesn’t even prick their conscience to make money off them,” Yan Heng lamented.

Little Sister on the other end of the communication stone bickered with Yan Heng for a long time. In a blink of an eye, the moon was high in the sky, and the night was deep.

Putting away the communication jade pendant, Yan Heng placed it into the small pouch she always kept close to her body. Then she rummaged around and pulled out an unremarkable black pebble.

This was the key to the Demon Market. Many demons had one, so it wasn’t rare. To prevent it from falling into the hands of demon-hunters, demons would disguise their keys.

Yan Heng looked at the stone with a sense of melancholy.

She really did not want to stay here, but the influence of the Love Knot was too great. Moreover, it was a relic of Liang Xiao’s mother. Having lost her mother at a young age, the emotional toll must be severe. Yan Heng truly could not leave with a clear conscience.

“Click.” The key was tossed into the pouch. Then, accepting her fate, she washed up and went to bed, dreaming of Liang Xiao.

The next day, at Sìshí (9-11 AM), Liang Xiao was already dressed and waiting outside Yan Heng’s palace.

She hadn’t slept well the previous night. The thought that this matter concerned her mother made her anxious, and she had even proactively come here to wait for Yan Heng.

Yan Heng was startled when she stepped out, momentarily thinking she was still dreaming.

Liang Xiao said impatiently, “What are you staring for? Hurry and take this Princess to see the person.”

Yan Heng rubbed her temples, thinking, Liang Xiao in my dreams is much gentler.

Neither of them brought any attendants and walked along the stone path in silence.

Yan Heng had an excellent memory. After following Hui Lan once yesterday, she had completely memorized the route.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to reach the place.

The door was still tightly shut, with no one in sight.

Liang Xiao was clearly disgusted by the place. She looked around and asked, “Where is the person?”

Yan Heng said, “I also only ran into him by chance yesterday. If you are brave enough, you can take a look behind the house.”

Liang Xiao: “…You go.”

Yan Heng spread her hands, and just as she was about to turn, the rustling sound appeared again.

Even though she had experienced it yesterday, she still got goosebumps this time.

Liang Xiao wasn’t much better off. Having been pampered since childhood, she had never seen a scene like this.

The two of them stiffly turned around. A eunuch was squatting behind them, revealing a rather sinister smile: “Are the two noble ladies waiting for me?”

Yan Heng bravely stepped forward and asked, “What is your, your, your name?”

The eunuch didn’t stand up, but squatted as he spoke: “This old servant’s surname is Xia. The two masters can just call me Eunuch Xia.”

Why is his speech logical today? Could his madness be intermittent?

Yan Heng continued, “Yesterday when you ran into me, you said Consort Lian was a demon. What is that all about?”

Eunuch Xia’s voice was sharp, with a husky, aged quality: “The Consort is a demon, a demon!”

The words “a demon” must have triggered him. Eunuch Xia suddenly became manic again. The momentary clarity in his eyes disappeared, replaced by terror.

Liang Xiao was also frightened by his gaze and had to take several deep breaths to calm herself.

Eunuch Xia suddenly rushed forward, grabbing Yan Heng’s sleeve and shouting, “Mechanical box! Poison needles! Killed Consort Lian! Killed the demon!”

Liang Xiao’s face turned pale. Even though she knew the person was mad, hearing those words still brought a pang of pain to her heart.

In her memory, her mother was an extremely gentle person. She never mistreated her servants, only lightly punished them for mistakes, and often gave out rewards.

Her mother was the same towards the other consorts; she wasn’t jealous of those who were favored and even helped those who weren’t. How could she be called a demon in someone else’s mouth, with repeated calls to “kill her”?

Liang Xiao stepped forward and asked, “On what basis do you say Consort Lian is a demon?”

“Is a demon, a demon! Poison needle mechanical box! Someone killed someone!” Eunuch Xia’s words were incoherent; he just kept repeating this one phrase.

As they couldn’t get any more information out of him, the two had no choice but to give up and return the way they came.

Behind them, Eunuch Xia was still maniacally chanting “Demon, poison needles.”

Wait, poison needles! Mechanical box!

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