Consort Chen and the Empress Dowager walked ahead. When Zhuang Yu Shan saw Zhan Yan drenched in sweat, she stepped forward with concern and asked, “Fourth Sister, what’s wrong? You’re covered in sweat.”
Upon hearing this, the Empress turned her head to look at Han Yan, and seeing her strange expression, she asked, “What’s the matter? Should we summon the Imperial Physician?”
“Empress,” the Empress Dowager interjected, “Today is Consort Chen’s birthday. Why mention physicians? It’s such an ill omen!” She cast a displeased glance at the Empress.
The Empress quickly lowered her head. “Mother Empress’s correction is right.” She didn’t inquire about Han Yan further.
Han Yan bit her lip. They had reached the Imperial Garden, where fireworks began to light up the sky. In the pitch-black night, the flowers bloomed one by one in brilliant colors, creating an incomparably beautiful sight. While everyone gazed at the sky, mesmerized by the rare spectacle, Han Yan bit her lip hard to suppress any moans. The turmoil within her body grew increasingly intense. She had never imagined that the Empress Dowager would give her wine laced with aphrodisiac poison. To think that the most noble woman in the world would resort to such a despicable method!
She knew she couldn’t hold on much longer. If she stayed here, she might do something unthinkable once she lost control. Taking advantage of the darkness when no one was watching, she slipped behind a giant banyan tree in the Imperial Garden. Ji Lan and Shu Hong, seeing Han Yan’s condition, hurriedly followed her. Han Yan didn’t hesitate, crouching low to escape from the group’s view until she reached a deserted spot.
Under the lamplight, Ji Lan and Shu Hong were shocked when they saw Han Yan. She was drenched in sweat, her forehead hair soaked, her entire body burning like fire. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were slightly open, appearing very disoriented.
“Young Miss,” Ji Lan cried out, fearing Han Yan had been poisoned, “What’s wrong?”
Han Yan shook her head, feeling increasingly unable to control her body’s sensations. She took a labored breath and said with difficulty, “Find… water. I’ve been poisoned with an aphrodisiac.”
“Aphrodisiac!” Even Shu Hong was shocked. “How did this happen?”
Han Yan waved her hand. “There’s no time.” Shu Hong quickly nodded, “There’s no time to find water now, but this servant remembers seeing a pool in the easternmost part of the Imperial Garden’s depths. Young Miss should go there…”
Han Yan nodded. “Let’s go.”
But after just a few steps, Han Yan felt her entire body go weak. The strange desires within her body couldn’t be stopped, and involuntary gasps escaped her lips. Her mind felt like a tangled mess, both ashamed and helpless. Just then, a cool breeze swept overhead, and two tall men approached her. Han Yan was startled as one of them grabbed her hand roughly as if intending to take her somewhere. Han Yan was greatly alarmed, and at that moment understood their intentions to abduct her. Yet when her skin contacted the man’s, she felt an urge to lean against him, desperately trying to maintain her composure. At that moment, Ji Lan suddenly rushed forward and bit the man’s hand hard, while Shu Hong lunged at the other man. Caught off guard by Ji Lan’s bite, the man loosened his grip in pain, allowing Han Yan to break free.
Ji Lan turned her head, looking at the weakened Han Yan with tears in her eyes. “Young Miss, run quickly!”
Han Yan saw Ji Lan determinedly biting the man without letting go, even as he struck her head with brutal force. Ji Lan’s body shuddered, but she still didn’t release her bite. Shu Hong was doing the same. Han Yan gritted her teeth; she couldn’t abandon Ji Lan and Shu Hong, but if she were taken away now and something happened, Ji Lan and Shu Hong would be implicated as well.
“Young Miss, we are just servants. They won’t do much to us. Young Miss, run quickly!” Shu Hong called out, her hair disheveled from being pulled, yet still maintaining her composure.
These two maids had followed Han Yan from her previous life into this one, always loyal and devoted. Subconsciously, Han Yan never treated them as servants but as people who had given her warmth and deserved to live well in this world. Now, seeing them willing to sacrifice their lives for her, Han Yan’s heart felt like it was being cut by knives. With her body weak and powerless, Han Yan knew Ji Lan and Shu Hong were buying her time. She pulled out the plum blossom needle from her sleeve and stabbed it into her palm. As blood flowed, the bone-chilling pain cleared her foggy mind temporarily. She stood up and took one last look at Ji Lan and Shu Hong struggling with the two men, and said fiercely, “Don’t die!”
Stumbling away, she dared not look back at the brutal scene, though she couldn’t hear their cries, the muffled groans and heavy thuds of bodies being thrown to the ground still struck Han Yan’s heart heavily. In this life, she had never felt so helpless, only because Ji Lan and Shu Hong’s lives hung in the balance while she was being hunted. She knew she absolutely couldn’t fall into those two men’s hands. Now Han Yan understood the Empress Dowager’s intentions. If she were to be disgraced, Fu Yun Xi would also become the laughingstock of the capital. If the Empress Dowager simply didn’t want her to marry Fu Yun Xi, she needn’t use such a mutually destructive method. Could there be some old grudge between the Empress Dowager and Fu Yun Xi?
Han Yan had no time to think further. Perhaps because she had built up some strength training with Chai Jing recently, the aphrodisiac was only now slowly taking effect. Although she maintained consciousness with difficulty, she couldn’t hold out much longer. Not knowing where she had run to, Han Yan was too dizzy to recognize her surroundings, only feeling the moonlight like water, the place becoming increasingly quiet, seemingly without a single person. An indescribable chill came over her; though her body was restless, it brought a cool breeze to her mind, making her bite her tongue again to stay conscious.
Han Yan hadn’t noticed while running, but now that she had stopped, she immediately felt the fire within her body rising rapidly. Her body became soft and weak, her cheeks burning, that strange emptiness quickly returning. Though she had lived two lives and wasn’t entirely ignorant of matters between men and women, she felt helpless against the aphrodisiac in her body. Having never encountered such a situation, even someone usually as composed as she didn’t know what to do.
She only felt an overwhelming desire with no outlet, the drug’s effects seemingly growing stronger. Her entire body felt hot, wanting to shed all her clothes, wanting to cling to someone, embrace them. Han Yan frightened herself – had she become so wanton under the influence of the aphrodisiac?
Losing her chastity and becoming the subject of gossip among the capital’s ladies would be ten thousand times more painful than death. Han Yan ran forward a few more steps, and in the hazy moonlight, she saw what appeared to be rippling water, thinking there must be a pool there. Han Yan knew how to swim, and with her mind focused solely on cooling down the fire within her, she didn’t hesitate and dove in with a “splash.” However, as soon as she entered the water, she realized her grave mistake – the clear spring water was a warm hot spring!
To think there was a hot spring within these forbidden palace grounds!
Han Yan’s mind could no longer think clearly. She only felt that as her body was enveloped by the warm water, every inch of her skin trembled uncontrollably. While this hot spring water would have been wonderful for ordinary people, for Han Yan who was under the influence of an aphrodisiac, it was like pouring oil on fire. Not only did it fail to cool her down, but she felt her body instantly ignite, and she couldn’t help but let out a moan.
Just then, with a “splash,” a tall figure emerged from the water. In the moonlight, Han Yan, with her eyes half-closed in confusion, couldn’t make out the person’s features but felt the figure looked somewhat familiar. Though it was just a silhouette, it carried an overwhelming grace that couldn’t be concealed.
A deep, magnetic voice spoke coldly: “Who’s there?”