Transmigrated into the Scum Female Consort - Chapter 110

“You are a woman?”

The youth did not answer the question, instead shouting selfishly, “You are Princess He’an’s Consort! Where is the Princess? I must see the Princess.”

Seeing her lack of cooperation, Yun Chi didn’t want to waste time and motioned for Shisong to gag her again.

The “youth” seemed to have found the answer she was looking for; she stopped struggling and remained quiet, though her eyes frequently drifted toward Yun Chi with a look of confusion and faint terror.

Back at the Inspector-General’s estate, Yun Chi took her directly to the study.

“It’s me.”

Yun Chi’s voice coincided with a knock on the door. Following Ye Xuejin’s “Enter,” the door opened. Qi Mingyan opened it, and after assessing the situation with a look of surprise, she stepped aside to let them in.

Yun Chi looked solemn. Behind her, Shisong pushed the white-clad youth, whose hands were bound and mouth gagged. Qi Mingyan and Ye Xuejin instinctively turned their gaze toward the captive. With a single glance, they noticed something was off.

They exchanged a look of mutual understanding: this “youth” was a woman in disguise.

Yun Chi spoke up. “Shisong discovered this person following us in the shadows. Furthermore, she knows my identity.”

Ye Xuejin gave a slight nod, signaling Shisong to remove the gag. The youth stared blankly at Ye Xuejin, stunned, then glanced at Yun Chi. For a long time, she remained silent.

“Who are you?” Ye Xuejin asked calmly. “Why were you following us in secret, and how do you recognize the Consort?”

“This humble girl’s name is Wu Hu—” Wu Hu began, then stopped abruptly. She looked nervously at the three people besides Ye Xuejin. When her eyes fell on Qi Mingyan and Yun Chi, a flash of dread crossed her gaze.

It was faint, but not difficult to catch. That half-sentence plunged Ye Xuejin and Qi Mingyan into thought. Surname Wu, referring to herself as ‘this humble girl’ (chen-nv), and a southern border accent.

The two shared a glance; the person’s identity was now clear. Ye Xuejin’s tone softened. “What is your relationship to the Governor of Mozhou?”

“He is my father,” Wu Hu murmured.

The territory of Dashao was not vast, and the southern border took up nearly half of it. Because the south was mountainous with poor transportation and low grain yields, the population was sparse. Thus, only three provinces had been established in the region.

The largest was Caozhou in the southwest, now controlled by the King of the Southwest. The smallest was Yangzhou in the southeast—where they were now. Sandwiched between them was Mozhou. The exile convoy had passed through its capital, Moyang City. The Governor of Mozhou was indeed surnamed Wu.

In other words, the girl before them was the eldest daughter of the Governor of Mozhou. For the young lady of a Governor’s estate to appear alone in Yangzhou, following Yun Chi in secret, was highly irregular.

Ye Xuejin studied her. “Answer my question. Why follow us? How do you know the Consort?”

Wu Hu stared at Ye Xuejin as if confirming something. Suddenly, she dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. “This humble girl pays respects to Her Highness, Princess He’an. May you live for a thousand years.”

Ye Xuejin frowned slightly, unable to make sense of the situation. Before she could ask again, Wu Hu added, “I have a vital matter to report. I beg Your Highness to dismiss your attendants.” Her eyes were fervent and agitated.

Ye Xuejin watched her for a moment before signaling Qi Mingyan and Shisong to step outside. To her surprise, Wu Hu was not satisfied. “The Consort cannot stay either,” she cried urgently.

Yun Chi’s brow furrowed. “Do not push your luck.” Even with her hands bound, this girl could be dangerous. Leaving Ye Xuejin alone was unwise.

Wu Hu bit her lip and looked at Ye Xuejin. “What I have to say is a matter of life and death. I beg Your Highness to hear me alone.”

After a moment of reflection, Ye Xuejin squeezed Yun Chi’s hand. “Consort, please wait outside. I will be careful.” She was wearing her bulletproof vest and had a sleeve-crossbow on her arm. Furthermore, she and Qi Mingyan had been deliberating over how to deal with the Governor of Mozhou. Wu Hu’s appearance was an undeniable breakthrough.

Yun Chi hesitated, but eventually complied.

Once the door was closed, Ye Xuejin looked at Wu Hu. “You may speak.”

Wu Hu took several deep breaths to gather her thoughts. Her story began haltingly but soon gained momentum. “During the autumn… I had a dream… I saw…”

It had been during the Mid-Autumn Festival. She had just set her wedding date and, having had a few too many drinks, fell into a strange and vivid dream. She dreamed her father said Princess He’an had been demoted, and that her own fiancé had kidnapped a common woman. At first, she dismissed it as a drunken hallucination.

Then, her father truly spoke of the Princess’s demotion. Shocked, she investigated in secret and discovered her fiancé had indeed kidnapped a girl. At that moment, terror struck. She realized everything in the dream was coming true. She was like an outsider watching the future unfold.

Later, she dreamed of the exile convoy arriving in Moyang City. she saw the Imperial Consort arriving with a decree and personally torturing the Prince Consort to death—because Princess He’an had died on the road, supposedly murdered by the Consort.

Terrified, she sought help from her parents. But her father told her the Princess was alive and had gone southwest; he insisted it was just a dream. And as he said, when the convoy reached Moyang, the Princess was indeed alive.

Wu Hu became confused. Was the dream only partially accurate? But after the convoy left, the dreams returned. She spent her nights in agony, watching the same scenes repeat. She saw the Consort die a horrific death. She saw her father say the Consort had been coerced and was a pitiable person, even secretly ordering a proper burial for the body.

Later, Caozhou in the southwest fell into chaos, followed by Yangzhou. Both sides wanted to swallow Mozhou. A woman surnamed Qi arrived from Caozhou and persuaded her father to form an alliance against Yangzhou.

But Yangzhou had black gunpowder—an inexhaustible supply. They were unstoppable. Moyang City and Caozhou both fell. The land was ravaged, and the world was plunged into darkness.

As Wu Hu recalled the scenes, tears fell unconsciously. “Father and Mother died. I died. Everyone died… everyone…”

She feared the dream would become reality. Her parents thought she was ill; the physicians called it madness. But the events kept coming true—all except for the Princess. The Princess had not died, and the Imperial Consort had not come to kill the Consort.

“Your Highness, I shouldn’t believe in mere dreams, but I am so afraid.” Realizing the Princess was the only variable, Wu Hu didn’t hesitate. She had a powerful intuition that Ye Xuejin was the key to breaking the cycle. She had arrived in the city today and saw Yun Chi—whose face she remembered clearly from her nightmare.

Ye Xuejin looked at her, her voice flat. “The woman surnamed Qi who came from Caozhou to persuade your father—was it the Military Counselor who was just standing beside me, Qi Mingyan?”

Wu Hu snapped her eyes open. “Yes! It was her!”

Ye Xuejin’s fingers tightened. “You dreamed the Consort died. Did the Counselor die as well?”

Perhaps she died horribly too, Ye Xuejin thought, which is why she looked at Yun Chi and Qi Mingyan with such fear.

“Yes,” Wu Hu answered quickly. “She was killed by the ‘King of Yangzhou,’ Zhu Yan, to consecrate his war flag. Her body was hung from the city gates.”

Ye Xuejin let out a heavy breath and leaned over to untie her. “Sit and speak. I will call the Consort and the Counselor back in, shall I?”

Wu Hu hesitated. “In the dream, the Imperial Consort said the Consort murdered Your Highness.”

Ye Xuejin smiled faintly. “I am alive. And I am alive precisely because of the Consort’s unwavering help.”

Ye Xuejin called the others back in and recounted everything Wu Hu had said.

Qi Mingyan was stunned. “Is this true? Everything else came to pass, except for the Princess and the Consort surviving? And Zhu Yan became the ‘King of Yangzhou’?”

Wu Hu nodded fervently. “It is absolutely true. In the dream, Caozhou and Yangzhou both rebelled in the twelfth lunar month.” It was now the eleventh month; the time was drawing near.

Qi Mingyan turned to Ye Xuejin. “What does Your Highness think?”

Ye Xuejin was hesitant. She didn’t think Wu Hu was lying, but she couldn’t fully trust a dream. She turned to Yun Chi. “What do you think, Consort?”

Yun Chi seemed lost in thought, offering no reaction.

“Consort?”

“Hmm? Keep talking,” Yun Chi replied absently. Then, she suddenly grabbed Ye Xuejin’s hand, her fingers tightening with unconscious force. “You… I have something to say to you. Privately.”

Sensing the mood, Qi Mingyan and Wu Hu excused themselves.

Once alone, Yun Chi lowered her voice. “The things Wu Hu dreamed… they are likely true. The priority is the black gunpowder. That stuff is too dangerous; it must be a trump card Zhu Yan has kept hidden. We must solve this immediately.”

Ye Xuejin gripped her hand back, her fingertips digging in slightly. “How can the Consort be so certain that Wu Hu’s dreams are real?”

Her tone was soft and slow, but her gaze was pinned firmly on Yun Chi’s face. Yun Chi’s expression stiffened, and she awkwardly looked away. “Just… trust me. Don’t you trust me?”

Those weren’t dreams, Yun Chi thought. That was the original plot. Although she only knew the general outline from her cousin, it meant Zhu Yan definitely had a massive stockpile of gunpowder.

Ye Xuejin stared at her, then suddenly smiled. “Of course I trust the Consort.”

She never doubted Yun Chi’s heart. She was only unsettled by one thing: her Consort had too many secrets, and even now, refused to be honest with her.