Rebirth on the Day She Was Poisoned by an Aphrodisiac - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Token

Pei Chen selected several items to include in the betrothal gifts. As she looked through them, she asked the Empress Dowager: “When you and the late Emperor married, did he provide betrothal gifts?”

The rocking chair swayed gently. Empress Dowager Gu looked supremely comfortable. “The empire was my betrothal gift,” she said plainly.

“The empire as a gift…” Pei Chen was stunned, whispering the words. How domineering. The late Emperor had built the empire, and it had ultimately landed in the Dowager’s hands; it was truly a legendary tale.

“The world is full of lovers, but to be with the same person from dawn to dusk is an arduous task. Pei Chen, marriage is not the finish line; it is merely another starting point. I was married to the late Emperor for fifty years through many ups and downs. I accompanied her to the Shu lands, and she gave me the Phoenix throne. Love is a wonderful thing, but it should not be the power you use to imprison her.”

Pei Chen pondered this, not quite understanding. She saw the Dowager open her eyes. Looking at Pei Chen’s fair, delicate face—much more spirited than before—the Dowager felt that if this girl truly wanted to live a good life, she would surely find harmony and happiness.

The Dowager closed her eyes again and waved her hand. “Go back and prepare for the wedding. I’ve set the date for two months from now. Remember, what maintains a bond between women is affection—not family duty, and certainly not children.”

Pei Chen bowed her head in assent. In her mind, she saw the radiant, ice-pure beauty of the Princess. She loved her to the point of obsession; how could she ever fail her?

The Night of the 8th

After leaving the palace, Pei Chen went directly to the Princess’s Manor. It was the 8th. Liyang had returned early from her duties to wait for her.

The two shared a look, and the maids immediately withdrew. Liyang’s features were like a painting, her voice as clear as a mountain stream. “You’ve come.”

Pei Chen’s heart raced. She looked down at her feet, while Liyang turned and walked inward. “The Young Master seems to know a great deal about the Love Gu,” Liyang remarked.

“It came from the Southern Border. Legend says it was a token of love between an Emperor and his Empress,” Pei Chen explained. She had researched it thoroughly, even considering traveling to the Southern Border herself. But she was Liyang’s “blood bank”—if she left, the Princess would suffer.

Love Gu was like a fire consuming the body; blood was the only sweet spring to quench it. When it flared, desire destroyed all reason; even an immortal would find it hard to resist.

Pei Chen sighed softly. “Your Highness, how can ‘loving’ someone mean making them suffer such great pain?”

She loved Liyang enough to give her life. She would rather suffer a thousand wounds than let Liyang feel a spark of pain. The Emperor of the Southern Border had acted in the name of love to satisfy a desire for control; to be loved by such a person was like falling into hell.

Liyang was struck by the girl’s clear, resonant voice. She looked at the resilient youth before her and frowned. “That is not love.”

“Then what is it?”

“It is a delusion—the obsession to destroy what one cannot possess.”

To destroy what one cannot possess… Pei Chen chewed on the phrase. She remembered her younger self; she had once thought that if the Princess ever loved someone else, she would kill that person and keep the Princess for herself.

Suddenly, meeting Liyang’s deep black eyes, she understood the Dowager’s meaning: If you do not love, let go. If Liyang didn’t love her, she should let go, for Liyang’s sake and her own.

Liyang turned away. “You stay tonight.”

The Blood and the Flute

The manor was silent. Pei Chen felt as if a stone were pressing on her chest. She finally understood the history between Lady Gu and the Empress. It wasn’t a lack of love, but a love that had become a prison.

As twilight faded, the “poison” in Liyang’s blood began to stir. Pei Chen’s memories of the Princess’s past suffering—the low moans, the look of agony—made her want to strangle Pei Ming. But she couldn’t; Pei Xi had not yet been born in this timeline. To kill Pei Ming now would be to erase her own future self.

At dinner, the scholar Huangfu Yi was present. She noticed the flush on Liyang’s face and the tell-tale signs of the Gu flaring up. Huangfu Yi’s smile faded, and she grabbed Liyang’s wrist to check her pulse. She turned to Pei Chen with a frown: “Did you poison Her Highness?”

“Mr. Huangfu, you’ve drunk your brains away,” Pei Chen snapped. “If it were me, would I still be sitting here?”

Liyang withdrew her hand, her ears turning crimson. “Teacher, you may go. We will discuss the rest tomorrow.”

Huangfu Yi left with a meaningful glance at Pei Chen. Pei Chen simply smiled—she had been an Emperor herself; she knew exactly what the advisor was thinking.

Once they were alone, Pei Chen rolled up her sleeve. Her skin was startlingly white, her blue veins clear. She drew a sharp dagger. With a swift stroke, a vivid red stream of blood poured into a bowl.

“You’ll die!” Liyang gasped, gripping the table.

“I won’t.” Pei Chen watched the blood fill the bowl. “Even if Your Highness doesn’t love me, I won’t use this pain to bind you.”

Liyang was dizzied by the heat rising within her, a familiar torment that made her wish for death. But the sight of that fresh blood filled her with a crushing sense of guilt. Pei Chen mixed a medicinal powder into the bowl. “On the 8th of next month, have your people brew the medicine. I won’t bring the powder next time.”

Pei Chen’s voice was soft, her small dimples showing as she smiled.

As the fire in Liyang’s blood reached its peak, Pei Chen stepped closer with the bowl. In the dim light, Liyang felt she was seeing a familiar figure. Pei Xi… it’s Pei Xi. Pei Xi has grown up…

The “sweet spring” of the blood-medicine slid down her throat, quenching the flames of desire.

Liyang drifted into a deep sleep. In her dreams, she heard the sound of a flute outside her door—stubborn and clear. It was the sound of Pei Xi, the girl who had refused every marriage proposal Liyang had arranged for her, simply out of a stubborn devotion.

The flute melody was soothing this time. Liyang slept more soundly than she had in years.

The Betrothal Gift

The next morning, Liyang went to court while Pei Chen returned to the Pei Manor.

Pei Ming and Lady Chen were plotting. Since Pei Chen had returned from the palace, she had become incredibly vigilant. She had replaced all her servants and only took medicine sent directly from the palace. They had no way to poison her further.

Pei Ming was worried. “Once Princess Liyang enters this house and takes control, she won’t spare you, Grandmother.”

Meanwhile, Pei Chen was relaxing on a newly built swing in her courtyard. Her maids, Bailu and Baishuang, were brewing medicine nearby.

A visitor arrived from the Princess’s Manor—Jueyi, the twin sister of Duanqing. She brought a box of tonics. Pei Chen, squinting in the sun, gave a lazy yawn. “You’ve come.”

Jueyi was confused by the Young Master’s friendliness. She refused to give the box to the maid, wanting to hand it to Pei Chen personally. As Pei Chen reached out, her sleeve slipped, revealing the white bandages on her arm. Jueyi stared in shock.

“What are you looking at? Never seen a sickly person with an injury?” Pei Chen grumbled.

Jueyi handed over the box and spoke tentatively: “My Mistress says… you haven’t given her a ‘token’ yet.”

A token? Pei Chen hadn’t thought about the formal exchange of engagement tokens. She thought her managers had handled it. She suddenly remembered the massive gift from the Empress Dowager.

“Is your Mistress short on money?” Pei Chen asked.

Jueyi nodded slowly.

“Then carry the ‘token’ back.”

Back at the Princess’s Manor, Huangfu Yi stared at the “token” in silence. She looked at the cold, aloof Liyang and her lip twitched. “This token is… certainly valuable.”

It was the Massive Golden Pig. In all of the capital, no other nobleman had ever used a giant gold pig as an engagement token.

Liyang looked at the shining pig, her brow furrowed in genuine distress. “What on earth am I supposed to send back as a return gift?”

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