Chapter 36: Enemies and Rivals are the Same

return, "Ah Xue, you're too kind. I've only been here for a month. Our family is poor, so my father sold me here to pay off our debts. This way, at least I have some peace. Otherwise, the creditor wo...Chapter 36: Rivals and Enemies Are the Same

"Hmph I didn't expect you to have time for tea" Although she had tried her best to suppress her anger, Bu Yao couldn't help but grip one corner of the table until her nails left several scratches. She gritted her teeth and said spitefully, "You little villain! You actually planned this early on, wanting to kill two birds with one stone Too bad your plan was disrupted; you didn’t expect Long Ye to suddenly show up or that Ziyin Prince would be nearby, nor did you anticipate the emperor letting me off. Right"

Hearing Bu Yao’s accusations, Qi Lin guessed most of what had happened: it should have been when peony was about to assault Bu Yao, and Long Ye burst in just as she was trying to stop her, injuring Peony in a fit of rage while rescuing Bu Yao. This also alerted Ziyin Prince who came upon the sound; he punished Peony and alarmed Feng Changqing.

But then, starting from when she lost consciousness, what exactly had happened Why was she in Feng Changqing's arms at the time She was so smart, Bu Yao, and must have been with Long Ye, yet how did this happen

Even though there were many thoughts swirling inside her head, Qi Lin still maintained her composure as she looked at Bu Yao. They must be mistaken about her, but would explaining help

"I am already a frightened bird; why would I scheme against someone like you" Fixing her gaze on Bu Yao, Qi Lin continued, "How could Xiao Lang Long Ye let you fall into Peony’s hands"

Peony was startled. It had been clear she was the one being questioned but now it felt as if she were the one under interrogation. Thinking back, when she had just planned to take Long Ye away for a look at something, he had been led away by a servant in between; she had intended to go see what was happening first but then her nose picked up an overwhelming fragrance and the next thing she knew, she was on Peony’s bed.

Bu Yao stood up and walked over to Qi Lin's side, getting very close and sniffing hard. Startled by this, Qi Lin moved away awkwardly.

She had wanted to ask Bu Yao what she was doing when all of a sudden, Bu Yao grabbed her collar with both hands, eyes blazing red and lips trembling slightly.

"What are you up to" Never having experienced such anger before, Qi Lin felt herself being shaken. She wanted to run away from Bu Yao but found that she had been restrained tightly.

"It was indeed you! The scent on your body is just like it used to be!" Seizing Qi Lin angrily, the candlelight reflected in her eyes exposed her rage; her grip almost tore Qi Lin's clothes. Qi Lin said coldly, "You say you're innocent Even if others accuse you of scheming against me, I still might believe you, for Bu Yao isn’t that stupid. But how can I trust someone who smells all of medicine"

Medicine Frowning in confusion and sniffing hard, Qi Lin realized there was indeed a faint scent like tea on her body; however, it wasn’t exactly the smell of tea. She suddenly remembered when the man came earlier, he had sprinkled something; could this be what caused it But that was just some ordinary stuff—wait.

If that were true… thinking about this possibility made Qi Lin clench her lips in anger. Seizing Bu Yao’s wrist back with both hands, she glared fiercely back at the other woman.

Clearly not expecting Qi Lin to fight back like this, staring into those eyes filled with rage, Bu Yao felt a twinge of guilt; forcing herself composed, she shook off Qi Lin's hand and stumbled backwards. The chill seeping through her thin clothes made her frown slightly.

"Don't think that you can intimidate me with such empty threats Qi Lin, I want to tell you something"

"Slap"

Qi Lin suddenly slapped the table hard, causing the tea cups on it to tremble and spill some tea. This also startled Bu Yao into silence, her eyes wide in confusion as she looked at Qi Lin.

"Bu Yao, whether you believe me or not doesn’t matter to me—I won't explain." Lifting her gaze haughtily towards Bu Yao, Qi Lin slightly curved the corner of her mouth, unlike before when she lacked confidence. She continued, "Thank you for choosing to trust me a little more. As for that other person you mentioned, why don’t you question her instead"

When questioned by Qi Lin, although she understood the reasoning behind it, Bu Yao laughed when she thought of the 'other person' Qi Lin spoke of.

"Qi Lin, do you know who that other person is" Seeing hesitation in Qi Lin’s eyes, Bu Yao stood up and looked down at her from a higher position. "It's your former sister, Qiao'er. She told me she saw you having someone take me inside to seduce the Emperor."

Even though she was prepared for the worst, Qi Lin still felt a sharp pain in her heart and her eyes teared up. She fiercely held back the tears, taking deep breaths, hoping to swallow them down.

"So what" Qi Lin nonchalantly brushed off some dust from her clothes as she said indifferently, "If she can tell you all this, it seems like they've joined forces. But Bu Yao, whether what she says is true or not doesn’t matter; what’s important is how much you trust. Today she can say these things about me, who knows how she'll treat you tomorrow"

"This is just an excuse to dodge the issue," Bu Yao understood Qi Lin's words. She had been in the workplace for many years and wouldn't be ignorant of such reasoning. But she couldn't stand Qi Lin’s self-righteous attitude—why should she listen to her

With a flick of her hand, her long sleeves brushed past Qi Lin’s face. Bu Yao turned around decisively and said, "In the past, we were rivals, uniting because of peonies. But from now on, Qi Lin, you are my rival—no, an enemy. With you, I will show no mercy; if one day you fall into my hands, I will personally torment you."

"Then I will be wary every step of the way. This kind of life, I don't reject," she was always an opponent, and even though their common rival disappeared, they were still rivals—before and after it’s all the same.

Thinking about Qiao'er made Qi Lin feel a pang of sorrow. The girl whom she had vowed to protect had now become her opponent or even enemy—what was the point

But if she had received such treatment, wouldn't she also choose to hate

Until Bu Yao left and Lüzhu came in to tidy up. Although her face was full of worry, she didn’t say a word. After finishing everything, she bowed down beside Qi Lin and said softly, "Miss, it's time for bed."

"Green Bamboo, what do you think If someone tries to push you into the tiger's mouth but doesn't let the tiger eat you and occasionally offers a rope for survival but keeps it out of your reach—why is this" Qilin spoke calmly. Looking back over the long time that had passed, she felt like a leaf on the vast sea, drifting aimlessly, with only her heart being something she could control.

Perhaps one day even her heart would be lost.

"Miss," Green Bamboo squatted down to hold Qilin's slightly cool hand, wiping away the fine sweat with a handkerchief and gently said, "Since Miss cannot control herself, then let nature take its course. If you can't do what you like, then do what you excel at."

Qilin was quite surprised that Green Bamboo would say this. Although she rarely spoke, when she did, it was always in line with Qilin's thoughts and careful to a hair.

She smiled faintly at Green Bamboo and said, "You're right. If I can't do what I want, then I should do what I'm good at—aren't these exactly the things I excel at"

With a silly smile, she felt somewhat tired; Qilin raised her hand and said, "Help me to rest."

After lying down, though she was wide awake, she still asked Green Bamboo to extinguish the candle and sent her out, closing her eyes in feigned sleep.

At the third watch of the night, a gentle breeze suddenly swept over the bed, followed by the faint scent of tea. Qilin slowly opened her eyes; he had come as expected.

"You haven't gone to sleep" Even in darkness, he could tell that Qilin was awake—half due to his martial arts training and half from familiarity. Today Bu Yao came, so he knew Qilin must have figured something out.

So he had come.

Qilin slowly got up, then stretched out three parts of her senses to find the man's sleeve; the icy sensation transmitted through her fingertips was hard to let go. She gently placed it at her nose and said, "You said that if I didn't agree, you wouldn’t touch me—is this true"

Not expecting Qilin to say this, he was momentarily stunned in darkness but nodded; then he realized she might not see him and softly hummed.

To his surprise, her waist tightened as she pulled on his belt and climbed onto him. The unique fragrance that belonged to Qilin immediately spread out—this time it carried a hint of tea scent.

"What are you doing" He pushed away Qilin; however, he found her body icy cold, her slender arm in his palm making him frown slightly: How had she become so thin

Qi Lin raised her hands slowly to hook around the man's neck, murmuring softly, "What Didn't I promise you already Come then. Perhaps we won't see each other after today. Although I have hated and resented you before, this time you took me away and avoided an awkward situation while also catching the Emperor’s attention—this is a win-win scenario. I reckon it's your perceptive heart that Zi Yin values about you, along with your outstanding martial arts skills."

Hearing Qi Lin's tone gradually turn cold, the man felt a chill in his chest as if March stream water had poured over him from head to toe, an unprecedented feeling.

"In my world, there was a dynasty where there was a chancellor named Bi Gan. He was wise and clever beyond compare. Legend has it that he possessed a seven-holed heart of wisdom." At this point, Qi Lin's slender cold fingers arrived at the man’s chest and began gesturing repeatedly as she continued saying, "But in the end, his heart was dug out by the king whom he faithfully served for the sake of his beloved concubine. Who knows Maybe I’ll become that concubine and dig out your seven-holed heart of wisdom. At that time, would you not suffer from the pain of losing your heart like Bi Gan"

Lost Heart The man smiled faintly, holding Qi Lin's restless hand gently and whispering, "I don’t have a heart."

"Is that so" Qi Lin reached out with her other hand to press against the steady rise and fall of the man’s chest, saying calmly, "Actually, you didn't promise not to touch me—you only promised not to do it yourself."

She then raised her clear black eyes, searching for his equally deep gaze in the darkness.

"Didn’t I say so After consuming Beauty Red, even if one bleeds internally, they can still only have it once. Today, after knocking me out and moving Bu Yao to Peony’s room without a sound, you made it simple by leaving your scent on my body. This time, you changed slightly by adding something, which is why she found us when looking for me, making us enemies—this was indeed your intention, right"

Qi Lin's voice sounded somewhat ethereal, as if drifting down from the heavens, sounding rather indistinct.

"But you forgot that Bu Yao and I were originally rivals," Qi Lin lifted her lips in a mocking manner, continuing to say, "You probably didn't expect me to meet Feng Changqing."

The man was lost in thought when suddenly confronted with the question, finding it hard to answer.

"Indeed you're very smart." He gently raised his hand and caressed Qi Lin's icy face accurately, saying, "But you only got half right. I did put medicine in your water to get Bu Yao into Peony’s room, but the person who took you away wasn’t me. I knew you were rivals anyway; this was simply helping you return to your original positions."

"Not you" After hearing so much, although she was surprised, Qi Lin paid more attention to that phrase: "Not you Could it be Zi Yin then"

Upon careful consideration, it didn't seem right, and as she waited for him to speak.

"You don’t need to know about this. I’ll handle it myself." He gently pressed Qi Lin's head down, holding her in his arms and whispering softly, "Just listen obediently, and I'll help you get back the injustices others have inflicted upon you." this announcement, everyone inside froze. Xiu Ran, who had just picked up a glass flower vase, awkwardly held it mid-air; but thinking of Feng Changqing's actions made her anger spike instantly. She...