【Extra Story: Xiao Lin and Ye Xiwu】
"Your Highness, the Third Miss Ye is waiting for you outside again," the shadow guard whispered in his ear.
Xiao Lin looked up. Outside the window, a summer rain had arrived swiftly and fiercely. Under the eaves stood a girl in red, scolding her maid.
The maid looked aggrieved as she knelt to adjust the hem of the young lady's dress.
The girl's features were bright and striking, carrying an air of unbridled arrogance.
Xiao Lin watched for a moment before calmly saying, "Let's go."
He led his subordinates on a detour, avoiding the main gate of the Judicial Bureau. A guard held an umbrella as the tall, elegant Sixth Prince boarded his carriage.
No one paid any mind to the girl still waiting for him at the Judicial Bureau's entrance.
Xiao Lin closed his eyes to rest, his expression serene.
He held no particular fondness for any woman in the world, nor any prejudice.
He simply disliked Ye Xiwu.
This third daughter of General Ye was willful, domineering, and malicious. He had once witnessed Ye Xiwu spitefully cutting up her own elder sister's clothing.
The delicate older sister had looked heartbroken but dared not stop her.
While other young ladies valued their reputation above all else, she cared not at all, boldly declaring, "Your Highness is so handsome," "Your Highness is the best in the world," and "I only want to marry you."
"You are a young lady. You shouldn't speak like that."
She laughed, revealing a row of small white teeth, and shook her head. "Why shouldn't I? Like is like, dislike is dislike. Why should men have the right to express themselves while women cannot?"
"Speaking so recklessly will bring you regret someday."
She retorted confidently, "I would regret not saying it more."
When Xiao Lin was investigating the military provisions case outside the palace, he would often turn to find her there. Yet her temperament was so irritable—either finding fault or berating servants.
Over time, his dislike for her only grew.
The carriage wheels rolled through the streets and into the palace gates. The Empress and the Ninth Princess were having tea. Seeing him, they beckoned affectionately, "Lin'er, come here."
The Ninth Princess giggled, her eyes twinkling. "Now that Brother is back in the palace, someone will probably be waiting in vain at the Judicial Bureau."
Xiao Lin glanced at her and frowned. "Did you tell her I was at the Judicial Bureau?"
The Ninth Princess made a face. "I made a bet with them. Ye Xiwu has no sense of shame anyway. I just leaked the information, and she rushed right over."
The Empress sighed and said to Xiao Lin, "The Third Miss Ye has favored you for a long time, Lin'er. You know well that General Ye holds military power. Marrying Miss Ye would be your best choice."
Xiao Lin said coldly, "Impossible."
"Does Lin'er have someone in his heart?"
"No." Xiao Lin fiddled with the incense burner, lowering his gaze. "But it will never be the Third Miss Ye."
Xiao Lin did not value the throne. Born into privilege, his likes and dislikes were pure and absolute. To him, it didn't matter who became emperor, as long as the Xia Kingdom prospered and the people lived in peace.
The mere benefits that Ye Xiwu could bring were not enough to sway him.
The next day, Ye Xiwu fell ill. She had waited for Xiao Lin at the Judicial Bureau, where the Ninth Princess's attendant, disguised as Xiao Lin's retainer, deceived her into thinking the Sixth Prince was still inside handling official business. Ye Xiwu waited until nightfall but never saw Xiao Lin.
When Xiao Lin found out, he scolded the Ninth Princess for her mischief.
The Ninth Princess curled her lip disdainfully.
Since Ye Xiwu came of age, her deep infatuation with Xiao Lin had caused many scandals. The Ninth Princess detested Ye Xiwu—a mere minister's daughter, yetHer status was far too noble, yet even as the most favored princess, she had to yield to Ye Xiwu on account of her father’s military power.
The Ninth Princess often used Xiao Lin’s name to torment Ye Xiwu, and that reckless, venomous girl always fell for it.
Xiao Lin felt guilty and went to the general’s residence to apologize on behalf of the Ninth Princess.
Upon hearing of his arrival, the sickly girl’s face lit up with joy. She immediately asked her maids to help her dress up. But when she learned that Xiao Lin had come only to apologize from behind the screen and was about to leave, Ye Xiwu grew frantic. Without finishing her makeup, she rushed out and stopped him: "Xiao Lin, wait!"
She was still unwell, with no makeup on, and Xiao Lin saw a clean, youthful face.
Only she, bold and unruly, would address him so informally in private.
Ye Xiwu’s face was thin, her eyes round, glistening with a kitten-like wetness as she stared intently at him.
"Wait a moment, I have something for you," she said, raising her hand with an expectant smile. "Here."
Xiao Lin lowered his gaze. It was a navy-blue sachet embroidered with several upright green bamboo stalks, the leaves so lifelike they seemed real.
"A few days ago, it was Your Highness’s birthday. My father said you didn’t celebrate it, so I prepared a gift for you but never had the chance to give it to you."
Xiao Lin fell silent. His birthday... had not gone uncelebrated; he simply hadn’t invited the Third Miss of the Ye family. General Ye and his wife had told a white lie to comfort their daughter.
Looking into the girl’s eyes, Xiao Lin said, "A sachet is a personal item. Third Miss, you should save it for your future husband."
"Won’t you marry me?" he heard the girl exclaim. "Why won’t you marry me? You know perfectly well that marrying me would mean gaining military power! Even so, is it still not enough?"
Xiao Lin’s expression turned cold. "No."
She stepped in front of him, gritting her teeth stubbornly. "You can’t just say no. Just wait, Xiao Lin. Tomorrow, I’ll go ask the Emperor to arrange our marriage."
Xiao Lin grew angry. "How dare you!"
"Just see if I dare or not!"
The girl bared her teeth, like a sickly little lioness struggling to raise her claws.
Xiao Lin raised his hand and, with a burst of energy, shattered a vase in the room from a distance. "If you don’t mind ending up like that vase after the wedding, go ahead."
The maids screamed in terror.
Ye Xiwu stared blankly at the shards of porcelain on the floor. "Do you... hate me that much?"
"Absolutely despise you, Third Miss Ye. A person’s worth lies in knowing their place."
As he walked out, Ye Xiwu threw the sachet to the ground and stomped on it fiercely. "Hate me then! Who cares? Who would even want you to care!"
None of the maids dared to stop her, and naturally, no one dared to comment on her reddened eyes.
Xiao Lin did not look back.
That year, even he himself believed he would hate this person for a lifetime.
During a winter campaign to suppress bandits, Xiao Lin met with misfortune. He ventured deep into the bandits’ lair, only to discover the deployment of troops from a neighboring kingdom. Betrayed by those around him, it was all a conspiracy orchestrated by the Second Prince.
To escape his pursuers, Xiao Lin fell off a cliff, his fate uncertain.
Beneath the cliff, the wind howled. Behind a nearby rock, three women shivered in the cold.
The leading girl rushed anxiously to the edge of the cliff, kneeling to peer down.
"Your Highness, Xiao Lin..."
"Third Miss!" Xixi and Chuntao were frantic, trying to pull her back. "Third Miss, it’s dangerous there!"Their family's third young miss claimed she no longer pined for the Sixth Prince, yet couldn't resist secretly seeking out Xiao Ling during a temple visit with her grandmother. Little did she expect to witness such a scene.
Ye Xiwu's eyes reddened as she glanced at the dangling vines nearby and suddenly declared, "I'm going down to find him!"
"Third Young Lady, you mustn't! This servant and Xixi will return to the imperial city to fetch help immediately."
"By the time you make the round trip, three days will have passed!"
If Xiao Ling were injured, lying helpless at the bottom of the cliff with no food, he wouldn't survive three days.
"There are many trees here, and he still has his inner strength. He must have a chance to survive."
Ye Xiwu tied the vines around her waist and began descending the cliff without hesitation.
"Third Young Lady..."
Ye Xiwu paid no heed. Her embroidered shoes slipped on the rocky surface as she fought back tears, suppressing her fear while carefully making her way downward.
She couldn't understand where her determination came from—she, who was so afraid of death—to search for someone who didn't care for her at all.
It was bad enough that he didn't like her, but he didn't even value her father's military authority either.
That blind fool Xiao Ling deserved this!
Though she cursed him in her heart, she continued her determined search down the cliff.
Gradually, the voices of her two maids faded away. Her delicate fingers grew raw and torn, and Ye Xiwu lost track of how far she had descended.
Following the trail of broken branches to locate where he might have fallen, she eventually ran out of vine length.
She shivered uncontrollably from the cold.
"Xiao Ling, Xiao Ling..."
Then her foot slipped. With a sharp cry, Ye Xiwu lost consciousness.
Mid-air, a dense flock of blood crows swooped in, catching her falling body and carrying her down into the abyss.
Someone seemed to whisper softly, "You cannot die. If you die, how shall I escape the Summer Palace?"
Ye Xiwu didn't perish, but she suffered greatly at the bottom of the cliff.
When she awoke, snow was falling from the sky. Huddled in a mountain cave, she found a torn piece of clothing Xiao Ling had used for bandaging.
A slow-spreading joy warmed her heart: "Thank goodness, I knew it, I knew you would be alright."
But at that time, she didn't realize what formidable enemies she was up against.
To them, a mere mortal like her was nothing but a clown.
Her missed connection with Xiao Ling was inevitable—a predestined retaliation from another.
Long after recovering from her injuries, Ye Xiwu saw the beautiful woman nestled beside Xiao Ling.
Xiao Ling fastened the woman's cloak, whispering instructions while she lowered her gaze with gentle deference, her eyes filled with deep affection.
Watching him with Ye Bingchang, Ye Xiwu found herself unable to take another step forward.
Xiao Ling had never looked at her that way. In that moment, she knew she had lost.
Completely and utterly.
In this lifetime, she would never obtain Xiao Ling's love.
"But you can." Li Susu, I want you to win his love. If he loves you, he loves me.
Rarely does life offer such opportunities. As she prepared to relinquish her body, the Nine Heaven Hook Jade patted her: "Thank you, malevolent soul."
Ye Xiwu only smiled.
How could such a good thing exist in this world—to obtain another's body? The Hook Jade had once made a divine vow to its former master Chu Huang, forbidding it from revealing Susu's true identity while protecting her upbringing.
The goddess Chu Huang had spent ten thousand years gathering scattered soul fragments for her daughter who died at birth, yet always lacked one malevolent soul.
This malevolent soul, having missed its chance in the human world five hundred years earlier, reincarnated as Ye Xiwu, daughter of a general's family.
She was unruly, cruel, and obsessive.The Magatama carried Susu through time and space, harboring many unspeakable secrets within.
Such as helping Susu’s soul become whole and her divine body to be reborn.
Ye Xiwu, transformed into a malevolent soul, completed Susu’s seven emotions and six desires, returning to Susu’s body. Yet Susu believed, from beginning to end, it was merely an exchange orchestrated by the Magatama.
She helped Xiwu protect her father and grandmother, while Xiwu lent her body in return.
Susu did not know that this body was, in fact, formed from the very fragment of her own soul she had lost.
That was why she felt affection for her grandmother, feared the profound darkness, wished to save the Xiwu of the past, and clung stubbornly to the hope of witnessing the eternal flower bloom.
Because Ye Xiwu was, all along, a part of her.
How wonderful.
Ye Xiwu had never made this request. With a wicked and mischievous thought, she mused, Xiao Lin, you probably don’t yet realize just how extraordinary the complete divine maiden is.
So extraordinary that even if you are swayed by Ye Bingchang now and despise me to the core, one day, you will be unable to resist falling for the divine maiden Li Susu—and by extension, this malevolent soul of mine.
Yet Li Susu does not care for you, while this dissipated malevolent soul clings stubbornly to you.
Tell me, isn’t it ironic?
@Infinite Good Literature, all in Jinjiang Literature City.
But it’s just as well. You should be grateful—in this lifetime, Ye the Third will never pester you again.
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