Rebirth on the Day She Was Poisoned by an Aphrodisiac - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Eating Bamboo Shoots

Empress Dowager Gu’s given name was Gu Jinse. She was the founder of the Great Zhou’s School for Women.

Years ago, she was established as Empress due to an illness, and despite several attempts by court officials to drive her out of the palace, they never succeeded. After the late Emperor passed, she established her adopted daughter, Mingzhao, as the reigning Empress. She then moved to the Palace of Longevity and Peace (Shou’an Palace), ignoring worldly affairs and living a quiet, secluded life.

Empress Dowager Gu had no children of her own, only a pair of twin nieces: Gu Shangxue and Gu Shanghan. The elder, Gu Shangxue, died of illness at twenty. The younger, Gu Shanghan, married Pei Kai, the adopted son of the Great General Zhaoyao.

After their marriage, Pei Kai went to the border and sacrificed his life for the country. Stricken by the news, Gu Shanghan went into labor early and gave birth to Pei Chen. Because of the mother’s weak state during pregnancy, Pei Chen’s health was fragile. She was raised within the manor, while her mother, Gu Shanghan, devoted herself to Buddhism, remaining aloof from worldy struggles and family management.

Currently, the manager of the Pei household was Pei Kai’s side-consort—Pei Ming’s grandmother. Pei Ming’s father had gone to war with Pei Kai, and both father and son had perished together.

The Pei family had contributed much to the Great Zhou. Pei Ming was now the only direct descendant of his line, which was why the Empress looked after him.

Pei Xi—no, she should be called Pei Chen now—sat before the bronze mirror, brooding over the information she had gathered about the Pei family. Her head was still foggy, and she lacked physical strength. Even sitting for a short while left her breathless.

The sunlight outside was gentle. A few days ago, the original owner of this body had suffered a major illness; that was likely when her soul had attached itself to the body.

Since she had become Pei Chen, she had to live well. She took a deep breath, walked to the window to breathe the fresh air—inhaling slowly, exhaling gently—until the dizziness finally faded.

“Young Master, the Empress Dowager asks if you’ve crawled out of bed yet?”

The palace maid’s voice was timid. Pei Chen turned slowly and gave her a smile: “I’m coming over now.”

The maid turned and ran off. Pei Chen rubbed her cheeks. She had heard that the original Pei Chen was fond of smiling but was timid and suffered from low self-esteem. She could fake the smiles, but acting timid and inferior was something she couldn’t manage.

Pei Chen tidied herself up, adjusted her jade crown, put on her robes, and curled her pale lips. Whether she was Pei Xi or Pei Chen, she would survive here.

Entering the main hall, there was only one person at the dining table. Pei Chen’s footsteps faltered, and she stopped instinctively.

Liyang sensed someone approaching and looked up, her gaze meeting Pei Chen’s surprised eyes. The jade on Liyang’s waist swayed slightly, her hair ruffled by the breeze. Her complexion looked even worse than yesterday—white to the point of being nearly transparent under the sun, devoid of any color.

Liyang stood up slowly and bowed to her, thanking her seriously: “Thank you for saving me yesterday, Young Master.”

The brief eye contact made Pei Chen cherish this gaze even more. As they breathed, an invisible thread seemed to envelop them. Liyang stood in the shadows, radiating a crisp, cool aura; compared to her allure from yesterday, she now looked even more untouchable, like a being who didn’t consume worldly food.

Pei Chen stabilized her emotions and didn’t step closer. She simply nodded and looked around: “Where is the Empress Dowager?”

“The Empress Dowager has gone to see Her Majesty. She instructed the two of you to eat first,” the maid reported.

Liyang sat back down, and Pei Chen felt a bit constrained. The maids withdrew, leaving only the two of them in the hall.

The atmosphere turned inexplicably ambiguous. Looking at the young Princess, Pei Chen couldn’t help but remember her previous life, her emotions fluctuating. If Liyang was the bright moon, Pei Xi was merely a commoner waiting daily for the moon to emerge from the clouds.

The food at Shou’an Palace was the finest, specifically tailored to Pei Chen’s health—light, warm, and with a few sweet dishes. Pei Chen picked up a piece of fish and instinctively reached out to remove the bones with her fingers. Liyang looked at her, suddenly remembering that the other girl also liked to be so direct with her hands.

She watched in silence while Pei Chen meticulously deboned the fish. Satisfied, Pei Chen put it in her mouth. The fish was sweet, and her eyes lit up.

“Your Highness, the fish is sweet.”

The lighthearted voice struck Liyang’s ears like a drum, making her heart skip a beat. She only hummed in response: “The Empress Dowager likes sweets.”

The cold response was like a bucket of cold water over Pei Chen’s head. She froze, then pretended nothing happened and continued eating. After a few bites, she looked up—the tips of the Princess’s ears were red…

She’s shy. It was just one sentence; why was she shy?

She only remembered those ears being red from the poison yesterday, so she hadn’t thought much of it. But looking at her today, the Princess was indeed embarrassed.

She shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice, and thinking of the Love Gu, her heart trembled. Without thinking, she asked: “Has Your Highness had her body checked?”

As soon as she spoke, the sound of chopsticks hitting a bowl rang out. Both of them flinched.

Liyang sat up straight, her tone icy: “That is my business. However, you have slept for over ten hours, Young Master. Have you recovered your strength?”

“I…” Pei Chen didn’t know how to answer. She lowered her head to look at the fish, flustered. “I am fine.”

A sickly person is just sickly; they won’t die, but they won’t live happily either.

Liyang lacked energy. She put down her chopsticks and spoke formally: “First, I do not wish to marry you. Second, I have many things to do and do not discuss feelings. I know the Empress Dowager’s intentions, and I am sorry.”

With that, she stood up and left.

Pei Chen’s heart skipped a beat. She stared at the fish, her mind a muddle: Why is the fish sweet? Did they put in a lot of sugar?

The sweet fish was delicious. She slowly picked up another piece and took a bite. It was very, very sweet.

Suddenly, a metallic taste surged up her throat—the familiar scent of blood.

Pei Chen cursed this body in her heart. It was truly too weak; even a bit of agitation made her cough up blood. She covered her mouth, blood seeping through her fingers.

She tried to speak, but her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.

The Bamboo Shoot Feast

After a rain, the air was exceptionally fresh. In Shou’an Palace, the green bamboo grew rapidly, and shoots were popping up one after another. The Empress Dowager hosted a “Bamboo Shoot Feast,” inviting the Empress and the Princesses.

The Empress had adopted eight daughters. Liyang was the eldest at eighteen, while the youngest, the Eighth Princess, was only eight or nine, currently being held and played with by the Seventh Princess. The other six sat in a row. Inside the inner hall, the Empress was speaking with the Empress Dowager.

“Have you asked Liyang?”

“Liyang said she sprained her ankle that day and happened to run into Pei Chen. Nothing else happened.”

“If nothing happened, then nothing happened. They aren’t children; why do you care so much? Worry about your own affairs.”

“Is Pei Chen sick again?” Empress Mingzhao smiled, appearing exceptionally respectful before the Dowager.

Empress Dowager Gu lay on her rattan rocking chair, her gaze calm. “One provocation from your Liyang and she coughed up blood. I’ll have Liyang come over to take care of her.”

Mingzhao’s mouth twitched, clearly displeased. The Empress Dowager chuckled and gave her a playful glare: “Whoever makes a mistake should be the one to accept the punishment. By the way, how will you handle Pei Ming?”

Mingzhao didn’t answer immediately. The Dowager suddenly said: “Let Pei Chen handle it herself. She is the Head of the Pei family.”

“You are right.” Mingzhao felt relieved. Seeing the Dowager about to stand, she immediately went to support her. The Dowager waved her off and asked: “I heard your second daughter is getting married?”

The Second Princess was only a few months younger than Liyang.

“She says she’s taken a liking to the son of the Marquis of Jinyang,” Mingzhao smiled.

Empress Dowager Gu didn’t respond. The Second Princess was a schemer; the others were just happy-go-lucky fools. Especially Liyang, who had actually been schemed against by a mere boy.

History was repeating itself.

As the luncheon approached, Pei Chen arrived late, wearing a red robe with flowing sleeves. Under the bright sunlight, her face looked like translucent jade. The various Princesses began laughing and teasing.

The Third Princess, Mingyun, asked first: “Pei Chen, I heard you’ve had a stroke of luck with romance?”

The Fourth Princess blinked, circled around Pei Chen, and giggled: “I heard you went back to the Pear Garden with Big Sister and stayed in the room for a long time? Why haven’t you proposed marriage yet?”

Pei Chen was embarrassed. She had been teased by these “aunts” since she was a child. They were shameless at thirty, and even more so at their current teenage age.

Just as she was blushing and about to speak, Liyang suddenly spoke: “The Young Master and I are perfectly clean.”

“Clean? You even asked for water to bathe,” the Second Princess, Minglan, interjected with a malicious smile. “Is it that Big Sister thinks the Pei household is currently in decline, so she doesn’t want to marry her?”

“Asked for water?” Empress Mingzhao’s hand holding her tea trembled. She glanced at the Empress Dowager, who was currently busy eating snacks. “Did you know about this?”

“Walls have ears in the palace. So what if I know?” Empress Dowager Gu picked up a golden pastry, slowly put it in her mouth, and swallowed refinedly.

Actually, the news Minglan received was leaked by the Dowager herself.

Mingzhao rubbed her temples and slammed the table in anger. “Liyang, what exactly happened?”

Pei Chen knelt down to explain, but Mingzhao roared: “Pei Chen, shut up! You pretentious thing!”

Liyang immediately stood from her seat and looked coldly at the Second Princess. “Younger Sister certainly knows a lot.”

Minglan was smug: “Big Sister, all of us sisters know.”

Liyang turned to look at the group of girls watching the show. Several nodded with schadenfreude smiles. If there was to be a political marriage, the Pei family wasn’t the best choice, but the Empress Dowager was clearly intent on picking one of the Princesses.

“Big Sister, if you don’t want her, I like the Young Master,” the Third Princess, Mingyun, said with a smile. She turned to look at Pei Chen kneeling in the hall and winked: “We are the same age, isn’t that a good match?”

Pei Chen didn’t want to be teased by these ancestors and said bluntly: “I don’t like you.”

The Third Princess was stunned, and everyone burst into laughter. At this moment, Liyang changed her tune: “Your Majesty, I am willing to marry Pei Chen.”

Pei Chen looked up abruptly, her face turning bright red. From her angle, she could see the Princess’s jade-like ears were as red as blood. She rejected me yesterday; why did she agree today?

Mingzhao’s anger hadn’t faded, but the Empress Dowager’s eyes shifted slightly. She said calmly: “I hosted a ‘Bamboo Shoot Feast.’ Why are you all making long faces? The marriage will be discussed later. Today, we eat bamboo shoots.”

Pei Chen and Liyang stood up. The Empress had to drop the matter for now. The Third Princess, Mingyun, happily beckoned Pei Chen: “Young Master, sit with me.”

“A-Chen, if you don’t want to cough up blood, sit with Liyang,” Empress Dowager Gu kindly reminded her. Spitting blood alone won’t get the job done.

Liyang hesitated, then looked at the quiet girl. Feeling a sense of pity, she took the initiative: “Young Master.”

Pei Chen was overjoyed and scurried over happily. Mingyun looked on in disappointment—the “Golden Boy” had walked right past her.

Support Rebirth on the Day She Was Poisoned by an Aphrodisiac