She Was Written to Die, So She Seized the Throne Instead

"It hurts so much... sob... it hurts..."

"Where’s the Imperial Physician? It hurts so much..."

The arrow had been removed from Jia Ruo’s thigh, and the Imperial Physician had already applied medicine. But after the effects of the anesthetic wore off, the pain spread, and Jia Ruo wailed in agony on her bed.

To make matters worse, both of her legs were injured, leaving her unable to even turn over.

A Maid wiped the sweat from her brow while comforting her, "Princess, the medicine will be ready soon. It won’t hurt so much after you drink it."

Sweat beaded on Jia Ruo’s face from the pain. The thought that Xiao Li had inflicted this wound on her made it utterly unbearable.

"Someone, go find my brother."

The Maid replied, "The Prince has gone to the palace."

Jia Ruo snapped, "You idiot, can’t you go see if he’s back yet?"

One Maid accepted the order and left, while another wrung out a towel to wipe Jia Ruo’s face.

A short while later, the Maid ran back. "Princess, the Prince has returned, but he went to Luoxue Pavilion."

Luoxue Pavilion, as the name implied, was where Xue Zhi lived.

"Didn’t you tell him I was looking for him?"

The Maid lowered her head. "I did, but Miss Xue Zhi had an episode. When the Prince heard, he rushed over."

Jia Ruo’s expression twisted for a moment.

’Xue Zhi, Xue Zhi...’

Her brother had found this Xue Zhi over two months ago. She was frail and sickly, on the verge of death. The scars on her face were said to be the result of being poisoned by her tormentors.

She was so ugly, yet her brother seemed possessed, treating her with incredible kindness, doting on her and caring for her as if she were the apple of his eye.

Jia Ruo didn’t get along with the Princess Consort Yanping. Seeing her brother neglect his own princess consort to dote on an ugly woman felt like a vicious slap to her sister-in-law’s face, and Jia Ruo delighted in watching the woman suffer her misfortune.

Xue Zhi was timid and kind, and very tolerant of her. She would even help defend Jia Ruo in front of her brother. Aside from being a bit ugly, she was almost flawless.

Besides, her story was simply too pitiful—amnesia, disfigurement from poison, and being abandoned in the wilderness. Even Jia Ruo couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity for her.

Over time, she and Xue Zhi had become as close as biological sisters.

But no matter how good their relationship was, she couldn’t accept that she had gotten her legs injured because of Xue Zhi. Experiencing such agony was bad enough, but now Xue Zhi was stealing her brother’s attention too!

In Luoxue Pavilion, Xiao Jingzhao held Xue Zhi tightly. After losing her memories, she had become exceptionally fragile and couldn’t withstand the slightest agitation.

Sensing her go limp in his arms, Xiao Jingzhao knew she had fallen asleep.

He gently laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket.

His fingertips brushed away the tears from the corners of her eyes. Seeing her brows furrowed even in sleep, his heart ached for her.

’The girl I’ve always held dearest to my heart has been tormented to this extent.’

Xue Zhi’s sleep was restless. Sensing someone’s touch, she unconsciously drew closer, murmuring uneasily, "Brother Yan Zhi... Brother Yan Zhi..."

Xiao Jingzhao’s expression instantly darkened. His eyes, cold as a viper’s, stared fixedly at Xue Zhi’s face, filled with savagery.

"That good-for-nothing Lu Yanzhi couldn’t protect you at all. He even got himself killed by a woman. Why are you still thinking about him?"

"He should be glad he’s already dead. Otherwise, I would never have spared him."

Recalling that Lu Yanzhi had also died at Xuanyang’s hands, and thinking of the imposing Xiao Xuanyang from today, Xiao Jingzhao couldn’t help but wonder aloud, "Could it be that she’s the one who harmed you, too?"

The Emperor’s various questions echoed in his mind. It was no wonder the Emperor couldn’t figure it out; he couldn’t either.

’Xuanyang has always been hiding, unwilling to see them. Why did she choose today of all days to go out?’

’And she only had someone pull off Xue Zhi’s veil, as if just to confirm her identity.’

Combining this with the various rumors he had heard over the past two days—about Princess Xuanyang chasing the Princess Consort with a knife out of jealousy and so on—Xiao Jingzhao was certain. She had come for Xue Zhi. Therefore, Xue Zhi’s ordeal and the poison in her system must be connected to her.

’To think she’s become so vicious after all these years.’

A storm brewed in his eyes, but the moment he looked down at Xue Zhi, his expression softened into one of heartache and determination.

"Rest assured, I will definitely get revenge for you."

Jia Ruo was about to pass out from the pain when Xiao Jingzhao finally arrived. The first thing he saw was Jia Ruo’s hair, which had been hacked off and now looked like a chicken’s nest. Since her scalp hadn’t been cut, Jia Ruo had overlooked it due to the pain in her legs, and he certainly wasn’t going to bring it up at a time like this.

"Jia Ruo, I went to see the Emperor. He favors Xuanyang and won’t help you get justice."

Seeing Jia Ruo’s foul expression, he said, "Xiao Jingyun is not our father. He won’t favor us anymore."

’Thinking about how he was made a prince only to be banished to the border, it seemed their father had never favored them either.’

"We can only get our revenge ourselves. The Xuanyang of today is no longer the idiot you could bully as you pleased. This requires careful planning. For now, just focus on recovering. Wait for my arrangements."

Jia Ruo snorted, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Oh, so you do remember you have a sister?"

Xiao Jingzhao knew at once that she was angry because of Xue Zhi. "You’re my only sister. No one is more important than you. You know about her illness. Be sensible and don’t make things difficult for me."

He deliberately avoided mentioning Xue Zhi’s true identity or his suspicions. Prince Chen was now a rebel, but he wasn’t dead yet, and the Princess Chen was still his wife. Therefore, the fewer people who knew Xue Zhi’s identity, the better. He couldn’t even trust his own sister.

Jia Ruo huffed a couple more times but didn’t press the issue. "Then what about Xuanyang? I’m in so much pain right now, I wish I could just chop her to pieces immediately!"

"She used to be so meek and subservient in front of me, kneeling and begging for mercy. Now she’s learned how to bite back. I have to teach her a harsh lesson!"

Jia Ruo was very reliant on Xiao Jingzhao. Her brother had always been resourceful and cunning, with an endless supply of methods for torturing people. She disliked thinking for herself and always carried out her brother’s plans, which naturally yielded perfect results.

Xiao Jingzhao wanted to deal with Xiao Li even more than she did, but today’s encounter had ended in a major loss for him. He was forced to re-evaluate his opponent’s strength.

’That guard with the large saber has high-level martial arts, and the other guards aren’t weak either. More importantly, both the Emperor and Prince Wei are on her side.’

’In the current situation, Xiao Li is like a local tyrant. It won’t be easy for outsiders like us to deal with her.’

"This matter requires careful planning. Let me think it over."

After Xiao Jingzhao left, Jia Ruo lay in bed, growing angrier the more she thought about it. Strands of loose hair fell across her face, annoying her. She irritably brushed them away, and then froze.

Why was her hair so short?

She suddenly remembered Xiao Li hacking off her hair... "My hair!!!"

-----

Having suddenly made two new enemies, did Xiao Li have any regrets?

’Regrets? Like hell. They were the ones who came looking for trouble. Besides, I was just starting to worry I didn’t have any opponents.’

’Speaking of which, is this Prince Yanping also a supporting male character? Male Lead Number Four? He doesn’t seem to have appeared in the plot.’

’But setting him aside for now...’ Xiao Li thought about the marks on Liu Xueyin’s face. ’Could they be the aftereffects of the crane’s beak red?’

’Although I complained that the crane’s beak red was fake and couldn’t kill anyone, I know I used a real poison. The only reason Liu Xueyin didn’t die was because of that... what was it... the invading world consciousness.’

’This intruder seems a bit weak, though. It saved Liu Xueyin, but it still left marks on her face.’

Suddenly, Xiao Li recalled that in the plot, there was indeed a part where Liu Xueyin disappeared and was disfigured. So what came next was...

’The Divine Doctor!’

"ACHOO!"

In Princess Xuanyang’s villa, the heavily guarded Cen An listlessly ground some medicinal powders.

’Why does this Princess Xuanyang always keep me, a mere doctor, imprisoned?’

’To come all the way to the Capital City and be imprisoned twice by the same person, without even knowing why... My luck is just the worst.’

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