The Cannon Fodder Was Pampered By The Tyrant - Chapter 7

“Is it fun?”

Long after Si Yan had left, Lin Yutian was still standing in the same spot.

She looked at the heavy, cumbersome books beside her, then at the tightly shut doors, and decided she couldn’t stay here any longer.

She had to find a way to run away first.

Si Yan was not someone to be trifled with.

As soon as Lin Yutian opened the main doors, two guards suddenly blocked her path. One of them said in a professional tone, “Miss Lin, please return inside.”

Lin Yutian flashed a smile. “I have some urgent business and need to go out. Could you make an exception?” As she spoke, she looked at the guard with a pitiful, pleading gaze.

The guard remained cold: “Please behave with dignity.”

Lin Yutian’s face immediately fell. “…”

In a small fit of silent rage, she gently closed the door.

She paced back and forth in the room, her eyes scanning the furniture to see if there was any way to escape. Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, she finally found a potential exit, only to open it and find the same expressionless face of a guard.

“…” “You don’t have to say it, I get it.”

Lin Yutian dejectedly closed the window.

She turned and wandered around the room. Copying books was out of the question, she had just finished the Gaokao (college entrance exams) and didn’t want to touch that stuff at all. Besides, why should she do whatever Si Yan told her to do? Her purpose for being here wasn’t just to copy books.

She had to get back quickly.

Lin Yutian didn’t want to stay here for another second. Not only was there no cell phone, but there was also a temperamental Empress/Emperor who might (____) her at any moment. It was terrifying.

But since she couldn’t get out, she decided to return to her “old profession.”

Lin Yutian scavenged all the fabric she could find in the room, tied them together with dead knots, and swung the makeshift rope over the rafters. Once everything was ready, she stepped onto a chair, but then worried she might scare Si Yan too much.

Anyone coming home to find a female corpse would probably be traumatized. And Lin Yutian had indeed caused Si Yan quite a bit of trouble already, it wouldn’t be right to scare her like that.

Thinking this, she slowly climbed down from the stool. She spread a piece of cloth on the table and pretentiously picked up a brush. Just as she picked it up, she realized she didn’t know how to write ancient characters.

After a moment of thought, she decided to use drawings instead.

She first wrote a big ‘X’, then changed her mind. Next to it, she drew a stick figure hanging from a rope.

After finishing, she worried Si Yan might not understand, as it was a bit too abstract. She scratched her head and shifted her gaze to the nearby bookshelf.

“…”

Lin Yutian thought that since she had plenty of time. Si Yan wouldn’t be back until late, she could delay her “death” a little longer. What if she was actually a genius and could figure out their writing system in an instant? Wouldn’t she become a master of classical prose once she got back?

Full of enthusiasm, she opened a book, but her smile froze the next second.

What on earth do these squiggles mean?

She couldn’t recognize a single character. Her eyebrows knitted into a pretty bow.

She suddenly felt that since Si Yan was so exceptionally intelligent, she would definitely understand the drawing. There was probably no need for explanatory notes.

“…”

Lin Yutian sighed helplessly and resigned herself to looking through the books. Might as well try not to scare people if possible.

Perhaps her sincerity moved the heavens, because after flipping through many books, she found several high-frequency words. In a state of half-confusion and half-guessing, she strung those characters together and wrote them on the cloth. For the words she really didn’t know, she used drawings.

She looked at it repeatedly, feeling more and more that she had written it correctly:”There is a dead (stick figure hanging) person, DO NOT ENTER!!!”

Relieved, Lin Yutian moved two of Si Yan’s clothes racks to the door, placing one on each side, and tied the cloth across the entrance so it would be seen the moment the door opened.

With everything finished, Lin Yutian clapped her hands, ready to leave this world. She felt her efficiency was quite high, it had only taken two days in total.

She took off her shoes and socks and slowly stepped onto the stool. She put her neck through the noose, but her feet remained firmly planted on the stool, she lacked the courage to kick it away.

While she was hesitating, footsteps suddenly echoed from outside.

Voices shouted in unison: “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

Oh no! Si Yan was back!

Time was running out for her to die!

In a moment of panic, Lin Yutian’s foot slipped. The chair tumbled to the floor with a loud crash, and she felt her throat tighten instantly, rendering her speechless.

Perhaps driven by survival instinct, Lin Yutian grabbed at the rope with both hands, struggling violently.

Outside, Si Yan, who had been followed by a group of people, narrowed her eyes at the sound and sprinted to the door.

As she pushed the door open, she was met with a white cloth with characters written on it:”There is a bad (an unrecognizable round object, possibly a personified assassin) person, SAVE ME!!!”

Si Yan charged in instantly. She saw Lin Yutian suspended in mid-air, her face flushed red, her feet kicking feebly in struggle.

Si Yan’s pupils contracted sharply.

Lin Yutian felt the blood rushing to her head, her vision was turning black, and the strength was leaving her hands. Strange images flashed through her mind, she seemed to be in the middle of a battlefield, holding someone in her arms whose face was covered in blood and ash. That person slowly opened their eyes, which were dark and bright despite the filth.

…Who is that?

Before she could see clearly, the constriction around her neck loosened, and she fell into a soft embrace smelling of orchids.

Lin Yutian began to cough uncontrollably.

“A-Yu!”

Si Yan held Lin Yutian in her arms, her eyes fixed on the horrific marks on the girl’s neck. Outside, the palace maids were all kneeling, foreheads pressed to the ground.

When Lin Yutian finally caught her breath, she looked up and met Si Yan’s eyes, which were filled with undisguised worry. Her heart skipped a beat, she suddenly felt that Si Yan’s eyes looked just like the ones in her vision.

“Si…”

Lin Yutian tried to speak, but her voice was a raspy croak.

“What happened?” Si Yan asked, her eyes filled with uncontrollable murderous intent. “Where is the intruder?”

Lin Yutian blinked blankly. “…What intruder?”

“…” Si Yan froze.

She immediately looked up at the rope that had been hanging Lin Yutian. The rope was a patchwork of tablecloths, scarves, and rags, crude and clearly handmade. Her gaze then fell on the fallen chair, and she instantly understood what had happened.

Lin Yutian thought she was dreaming. She leaned her head against Si Yan’s chest, her voice sounding ethereal. “Am I not dead? How am I still dreaming of you?”

“Shouldn’t I be home by now?” she mumble-muttered.

Si Yan’s panicked heart gradually settled. She looked at Lin Yutian silently, saying nothing.

At first, Lin Yutian didn’t notice anything wrong, she just thought it was very quiet. Not only was Si Yan quiet, but the surroundings were too.

“…”

Something was wrong!

Lin Yutian immediately tried to scramble out of Si Yan’s arms, only to find she couldn’t move. Si Yan was holding her with a terrifyingly firm grip.

The next second, she saw Si Yan looking at her, asking coldly: “Is it fun?”

Lin Yutian was fully awake now. She tried to hide her embarrassment with a smile. “You… why are you back?”

A lingering shadow hung over Si Yan’s exquisite face. She curled her lips. “What? Did I come at a bad time?”

Lin Yutian felt strangely guilty. Though her life or death shouldn’t matter to Si Yan.

“I was just… bored…”

“So bored you decided to hang yourself?”

Lin Yutian knew she was in the wrong, but being snapped at like that made her rebellious. “If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have succeeded by now.”

Seeing her indifferent attitude, Si Yan laughed coldly and then shouted sharply, “Close the doors!”

The guards outside, keeping their eyes on the floor, shut the heavy doors tight.

Lin Yutian finally sensed danger. She tried to break free from Si Yan’s embrace, but the strength in the other woman’s grip was frightening.

Feeling scared, Lin Yutian tried to stay calm. “What are you trying to do?” She quickly added, “I didn’t mean to scare you on purpose. I left a message at the door.”

Si Yan had a thousand things to say, but upon hearing this, she sneered again. “You still dare to mention that message?”

“I warned you, but you insisted on rushing in,” Lin Yutian said defensively. “What else could I do?”

She wasn’t allowed to leave, this was the only way she could think of.

“Warning?” Si Yan narrowed her eyes. “What did you warn me about?”

“Didn’t you see it?” Lin Yutian frowned, feeling a bit disappointed. She had worked hard all night to learn those characters. Was her handwriting really that ugly?

Lin Yutian was someone who always wanted to prove herself and couldn’t stand her hard work being dismissed. She immediately grabbed the torn cloth, knelt on the floor to piece it together, and showed Si Yan the ‘X’ and the hanging stick figure.

“I may not like you much, but I didn’t want to just scare you out of the blue,” Lin Yutian said, feeling wronged.

Si Yan had been so mean just now. She had done it out of kindness, or so she thought.

She peeked at Si Yan’s expression and saw the Empress staring at the cloth for a long time before letting out a soft laugh.

So, Lin Yutian wasn’t trying to scare her; she really intended to die? And looking at her reaction, she didn’t seem to be literate at least, not in the language of this country.

Si Yan looked at her sideways. “Is spending even one day with me so unbearable?”

Lin Yutian was baffled. Duh?

She wasn’t close to Si Yan, and they had no real relationship other than some personal grudges. Why did Si Yan make it sound like Lin Yutian was some kind of heartbreaker?

“I told you, I came here to assassinate you,” Lin Yutian whispered. “Since the mission failed, I have to leave.”

“Leave?” Si Yan countered. “To where?”

Lin Yutian figured Si Yan wouldn’t know even if she told her. So she said, “To a place where I can have enough food, warm clothes, and money to spend, of course.”

She admitted she was vain and loved money. Once she got back to her world, she’d get a pet, and then she wouldn’t be so lonely.

Looking at Lin Yutian’s expression, Si Yan felt something was very off. A perfectly healthy person suddenly seeking death repeatedly, she must be possessed.

“I can give you all of that,” Si Yan spoke slowly. “You don’t need to go ‘there’ to have those things.”

Lin Yutian became even more suspicious. “You’re not going to frame me for stealing your money and then have me publicly beheaded later, are you?”

Si Yan: “……”