The 99th Transmigrator - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Yu Xuerong was dragged away by Miss Cheng.

When my maid Yunshang saw signs that I was about to lose my temper, she suggested we take a walk by the lake to clear my head.

She said that since the princess preferred peace and quiet, her company alone would suffice. Then she pushed me into a secluded grove.

The closer we got to the lake, the tighter Yunshang’s grip on the wheelchair handles became.

I said mildly, “Yunshang, you’re breathing awfully hard.”

Yunshang replied, “Your Highness’s wheelchair is a little heavy. This servant lacks strength.”

“Not because you’re in a hurry to harm me and far too excited?”

The wheelchair came to an abrupt halt.

Yunshang was trembling. “What does Your Highness mean? This servant is terrified.”

In ninety-nine lifetimes, this was the first time I exposed it halfway through.

I looked at her with fresh interest.

“You’re taking me to meet Imperial Consort Gui’s chief palace maid, Qingyu. She gave you a hundred taels of silver, promised to let you leave the palace and marry into a decent family, and even said she’d secure an official post for your drunkard brother.

“All you have to do is avoid prying eyes and take me to the abandoned pavilion farthest away, while secretly damaging my wheelchair along the way.”

Yunshang’s face went deathly pale, and she dropped to her knees in panic.

She sobbed out her misery and hardships until she could barely speak.

I couldn’t make out the words, but I knew everything anyway.

Her fallen family. The beatings and scoldings from her parents and brother. Qingyu’s threats and temptations.

And something even more wretched that she never dared say aloud: that she had been assigned to serve at my side.

I said slowly, “Stop crying. The sound is giving me a headache.”

Yunshang clutched the hem of my skirt and pleaded, “Please have pity on this servant, Your Highness. This servant will never dare again!”

At times like this, the benefits of my longstanding reputation for being vicious and cruel became apparent.

Even a cripple could frighten an able-bodied person this much.

I reached out and lifted Yunshang’s chin, revealing a beautiful face streaked with tears.

“You want me to spare you?”

Yunshang nodded frantically, rubbing her cheek against my hand like the little dog I had once kept.

She was too panicked. She only remembered that I had loved that little dog, but forgot that the little dog had died by my hand.

I turned my palm and clamped the web of my hand tightly around her throat. The sharp sliver hidden between my fingers pressed against her warm skin; the more she struggled, the deeper it pierced.

“If I spare you, who will spare me?”

The palace was full of spies. On any given night, someone might try to take my life.

Yunshang had accompanied me to the lakeside alone, and the other maids had stayed behind with profuse gratitude.

They were all pitiful, forced by others to face me, to scheme against me.

But if she wanted me to pity her, then who would pity me?

I was surrounded by wolves on every side. Every step I took was like treading on thin ice.

If I did not kill, others would kill me.

Yunshang’s breathing grew weaker and weaker.

I sneered. “After you’ve been dead for eight or ten years, the next time I remember you, perhaps I’ll sympathize with how you had no choice today.”

Just as after Imperial Consort Gui forced my mother to her death, she would instead mention my mother from time to time, calling her a dear sister with every breath. She even brought her son, the male lead, the Second Prince, along to reminisce about old stories.

The victor held absolute power, so naturally she did not mind bestowing false affection like charity.

Just before Yunshang died, she suddenly found a burst of strength. She slammed her head into me, knocking both me and the wheelchair over. After twitching twice, she stopped moving completely.

She was dead, leaving chaos scattered all over the ground.

Yunshang had tampered with the wheelchair, and with that collision, it fell apart entirely.

I could only crawl away on my own.

It wasn’t as if I had never crawled before.

But before I had even made it out of the grove, I heard Qingyu’s voice.

“Where did Yunshang take that cripple? Search carefully. Don’t let anything go wrong.”

Qingyu had come looking.

I could not avoid this disaster after all.