I Got Together with the Goddess [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 60

“She is the Princess of the State of Zhai! Seize her! Her Majesty will reward you handsomely!”

The crimson light of the setting sun draped over the sky. In the meadow where the grass grew knee-deep, warhorses galloped. Flaming arrows streaked across the sky like falling stars, drawing arcs before plunging to the ground and igniting clusters of fire. The clanging of blades and halberds sounded like a frenzied sonata.

Jiang Yiqing opened her eyes to find herself on a war chariot. The violent horses were neighing, charging forward aimlessly. She gripped the reins with all her might to prevent herself from falling off the chariot.

She didn’t know why she was having such a dream.

From time to time, fresh blood splashed onto her face and body. The fishy stench and the sticky sensation terrified her so much that her whole body trembled.

A large blade hacked toward her from the rear left. As Jiang Yiqing dodged, the reins were severed. She tumbled off the war chariot. A crisp sound accompanied by a pain she had never perceived before struck her; she would have preferred to simply faint.

However, in this situation, she knew that if she closed her eyes, she would truly die. So, she gritted her teeth, almost burying herself in the grass, chanting in her heart: Please, let no one see me…

Through a gap in her vision, she could see a shallow marsh ahead of the meadow. Countless people wielding weapons were hacking at each other there. Many shrieked in agony, and many fell, vanishing into that marsh that was either reflecting the red clouds or dyed crimson with blood.

To Jiang Yiqing, this was nothing short of a scene from hell, but it was far from over.

“She is the Princess of the State of Zhai! Seize her! Her Majesty will reward you handsomely!”

Following that shout, several warhorses galloped toward her.

“I’m not! You have the wrong person!” Jiang Yiqing screamed.

Her legs, which had been weak with fear, suddenly found strength. She scrambled up to run, but her shoes were lost in the flight, and after a few steps, she fell to the ground again.

She watched as a woman wielding a halberd approached her, looking down at her while seemingly frowning. “Are the people of Zhai all this vulnerable? Looking at her, coming to the battlefield is no different from coming to seek death.”

“Please, don’t kill me!” Jiang Yiqing cried out, covering her head.

“A gutless coward.”

A moment later, a cold object lunged toward her. Jiang Yiqing was about to shield her head in terror when a majestic female voice rang out—

“Don’t move. If you move, you really will die.”

“…” Jiang Yiqing indeed dared not move an inch out of fear.

The tip of a sword lifted Jiang Yiqing’s chin.

Jiang Yiqing parted her arms and looked up. She saw a woman atop a silver-saddled precious horse. She wore a crown upon her head, and her face was like that of a goddess, yet her gaze was cold and stern, making one feel as if they were facing a deep abyss.

“She is quite good-looking.”

She heard the woman’s thin lip’s part, speaking those five words almost playfully.

Jiang Yiqing felt she was likely going to die, so her “fangirl” instincts kicked in. She said to the woman, “To be able to die at your hands, I suppose my transmigration wasn’t in vain.”

The woman was peerlessly beautiful, her noble phoenix eyes shimmering with light. She looked down at her and said, “You won’t die so soon. You have been abducted by me.”

Learning she wouldn’t die immediately, Jiang Yiqing felt slightly relieved.

The woman deigned to extend a hand from her horse, and her subordinates dragged Jiang Yiqing up from the ground. The two of them hauled Jiang Yiqing toward the woman’s horse as if they were handling an object.

Jiang Yiqing winced in pain. “I have a fracture, don’t be so rough…”

“Please get things straight; you are now a hostage of our country,” the female subordinate said.

“Hostages have human rights too, okay?”

The woman wearing the crown, upon hearing this, grabbed her by the waist and placed her in front of herself, cradling her like a small kitten.

Jiang Yiqing thought to herself: How did I stumble into a massive cosplay scene? What is with this woman? Why does she look so much like a real female boss?

“Human rights? What is that?” the woman behind her asked.

When she spoke, her breath brushed against Jiang Yiqing’s nape, making her feel a tingling sensation that seemed to have a pain-relieving effect. She felt like her ribs didn’t hurt quite as much.

Jiang Yiqing clutched her ribs and tried to lean back against her, finding a comfortable position. Since she had already ended up in this state, she feared nothing and simply decided to “let it be.” “My right as a human being is called human rights. Even though I’m miserable right now, we are no different. I don’t know who you are, but even if I become your hostage, you have the obligation to treat me. This is called guaranteeing the human rights of a hostage, understand?”

“Bold hostage! How dare you speak to Her Majesty like that?”

“…Majesty?” Jiang Yiqing suspected her ears were failing her, or these people were just too crazy. It’s not good to get this deep into character.

“This is the Empress of our State of Qin. When speaking to Her Majesty, please use ‘this lowly criminal.’ Using ‘you’ this and ‘you’ that—what is the meaning of this?”

“If you’re an Empress, then I’m the Empress of Russia!” Jiang Yiqing said indignantly. “No, I’m Wu Zetian!”

Why? Why would she—a young woman born with a silver spoon who retired the moment she entered society—encounter something so ridiculous? Was it because she was too lazy?!

“Who is Wu Zetian?” the woman asked.

“My idol!” Jiang Yiqing said.

“What is an idol?”

“Language barrier,” Jiang Yiqing muttered softly. “Did I really transmigrate?”

“I thought you were truly seriously injured, yet aren’t you quite capable of talking and making a fuss?” The woman gave a light chuckle and said, “Have you seen real hostages and captives? How about I tie you behind my horse and let you taste what a real captive feels like?”

That cruel, icy smile caused Jiang Yiqing’s expression to freeze on her face. Too much! This woman… I’ll definitely show her! So what if you’re powerful, is being an Empress really that great?

“Let’s not, Your Majesty. Am I not that… Princess? Surely I’m more valuable alive. I have a delicate and precious body; it would be a bit of a pity if you actually killed me, wouldn’t it?” Jiang Yiqing worked hard to advertise her usefulness while alive.

“Though you are a princess, you were abandoned by your country long ago. Otherwise, why do you think you were on the battlefield?” The female subordinate seemed to find it ironic that Jiang Yiqing called herself a “princess.”

“An abandoned princess is still a princess,” Jiang Yiqing said, her small face flushing. “Empress, you are a great person with a large heart. Spare my little life, and I will surely work myself to the bone for you. You are my ‘bread and butter’ parent. Could you please consider it?”

“…” The woman said something to the subordinate nearby. This time Jiang Yiqing didn’t understand, only hearing that they seemed to be taking her somewhere and giving her a title.

When the female subordinate looked at Jiang Yiqing again, she was a bit more respectful than before. She said, “You mean as long as you live, you’ll do anything, right?”

“…?” I didn’t say that! But looking at the woman’s majestic phoenix eyes, Jiang Yiqing still nodded under the pressure of her imposing aura.

“Good.”

The Empress wrapped one arm around Jiang Yiqing’s chest, gazed into the distance, said something to her subordinates, and then suddenly signaled the retreat.

Jiang Yiqing looked around; the battle situation was indeed clear. The State of Qin had achieved a total victory.

Seeing her on the horse of the Empire’s Majesty, a man suddenly widened his eyes and said to her, “Princess Anxu, how can you yield to the enemy?!”

“Do you have no self-respect as a woman?!”

Jiang Yiqing’s lips trembled as she said, “Should I just die then?”

Just as the man finished speaking, his head was hacked off from behind. Jiang Yiqing was startled, but before the gruesome scene could fully unfold before her eyes, her eyelids were covered by a hand.

It was a slender, white hand wearing a noble golden archer’s thumb ring. Like a lost chick, Jiang Yiqing buried her face in that hand, as if it could shield her from the wind and rain.

She thought this must be an illusion. But in that moment, she was truly grateful for the tenderness she bestowed.

After the troops were gathered, the woman began to speak, and then they began to break camp and return. So many things happened on the way that Jiang Yiqing fell asleep halfway from exhaustion.

When she woke up, her body was in excruciating pain and her forehead was covered in cold sweat. She looked around; she was likely in a carriage. She tried to get up, but the injury to her ribs seemed to have spread. With an “Ouch,” she fell back onto the couch.

For a moment, Jiang Yiqing considered escaping, but she felt the probability was infinitely close to zero and the mortality rate infinitely close to one, so she gave up.

At the very least, she should wait until her injuries healed.

She stared at the ceiling and began to mourn her modern “lying flat” lifestyle that was gone forever. The stimulus of death forced her instincts to immediately accept the fact that she was living in ancient times. Jiang Yiqing had to thank her parents for once taking her to a “wilderness survival” experience project, so when entering adversity, she wasn’t like a true fool who had no idea what to do.

While her thoughts were in disarray, the curtain was lifted. The woman walked in with another woman carrying what appeared to be a medicine chest.

The woman opened the window curtains, letting the bright sunlight shine in and hit Jiang Yiqing’s pale face. Jiang Yiqing felt she looked even more like a frail, imprisoned little animal.

“Where is the young lady injured?”

“Ribs,” the woman answered for her.

“Please pull up your clothes and let me see the injury.”

Jiang Yiqing lay there blankly and hadn’t moved yet when the woman reached out to lift her clothes. Her armor had long since been worn down, and the woman easily removed it. With those beautiful yet cold fingers, she peeled Jiang Yiqing like an onion, layer by layer, revealing the flesh underneath.

She saw that on the skin around the slightly sunken ribs, there was a large patch of bruising and purple, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding white skin.

“The injury is very serious,” the female doctor said as she used her hand to measure the fractured part of Jiang Yiqing’s ribs.

“Ah…!” As soon as those cold hands touched her, Jiang Yiqing began to shake from the pain. She wondered if everything related to hospitals was always this cold and rigid.

“Please hold her, Your Majesty. Do not let her move. I will first set the bone for her,” Jiang Yiqing heard the female doctor say.

“Anesthesia… I want anesthesia…” Jiang Yiqing gritted her teeth and cried out.

The woman asked her strangely, “Anesthesia? What is that?”

“We are still out in the wilderness, and I have not prepared any anesthetic. Please endure it for a bit, young lady.”

“…?” Jiang Yiqing had never suffered like this in her life. The woman directly began to touch her broken bone, and the pain immediately made her struggle.

The Empress held her arms down firmly, and when Jiang Yiqing began to kick the female doctor, she used her long legs to pin Jiang Yiqing’s legs deathly still against the couch.

Jiang Yiqing immediately let out a cry of pain. The woman looked down at her from above, her gaze devoid of pity, instead possessing a sort of curiosity one has toward a pet.

Jiang Yiqing was furious. While the woman’s arm was pressing down to restrain her, she turned her head and bit down hard on the woman’s arm.

The smell of blood immediately surged from that jade-colored arm into Jiang Yiqing’s mouth. In a panic, the female doctor was about to let go, but Jiang Yiqing heard the woman’s voice, as calm as still water without a single ripple—

“Continue setting the bone.”

“…”

The female doctor didn’t have a scalpel in her hand, yet it felt like a cold instrument cutting through Jiang Yiqing’s abdominal cavity with intense pain. The more it hurt, the harder she bit the flesh in her mouth, as if she were going to tear it off.

To her surprise, the woman was like a piece of wood without life. Not only did she not cry out in pain like Jiang Yiqing, but not even a hint of emotion surfaced.

Finally, the female doctor stopped. The pain gradually receded, and Jiang Yiqing discovered—her ribs didn’t seem to hurt that much anymore.

She loosened the strength in her mouth. When she let go, she saw a bloody tooth mark left behind, which would probably be hard to erase for the rest of her life.

She lifted her eyes to look at the woman. The Empress looked down at her with a certain deep meaning, but notably lacked the ruthlessness Jiang Yiqing had expected.

“Your Majesty, let me treat your wound first.”