WBSGVS Chapter 185 V1

NEW STORY

Qingli rarely arrived as a child. Most of the time, she showed up after the story had already begun.

But this time was different—shockingly so. The situation left her mind blank, mostly because her brain was too undernourished to work properly.

Maybe this time, there wasn’t a predetermined plot. Maybe it was just a helpless child in the Cold Palace trying to save herself?

Qingli wondered as the wave of dizziness passed and the darkness at the edges of her vision faded. She slowly stood up again—this time with a bit more success, though her legs still felt weak and shaky.

She looked around the entire place but found nothing edible.

Back when the original host’s mother was still alive, they could at least barely keep their stomachs full. No matter how unlucky they were, she had been a consort, and her children were the emperor’s. As long as he didn’t order their deaths, the palace servants didn’t dare go too far.

But after her mother died, the two young children left behind were easy targets.

According to what little the original host’s mother had confided over the years, she’d been framed for practicing witchcraft. But the emperor hadn’t believed her, and she had no way to explain herself. She’d once been a Daoist priestess, which made her an easy target for that kind of accusation, especially since she had no powerful backers.

At the time, the favored Consort Shu was pregnant and plagued with nightmares. The original host’s mother had been brought in specifically to recite scriptures for her.

Consort Shu couldn’t physically serve the emperor while pregnant, so he kept visiting anyway. The original host’s mother was beautiful, and despite being a priestess, he was overcome with desire one night and forced himself on her. That’s how the original host came to be.

Suddenly, the priestess had become a consort. Her ethereal demeanor made her quite popular with the emperor, to the point that she overshadowed Consort Shu and the others, drawing envy and resentment.

She didn’t understand court politics. Even after being framed, she never knew who was behind it. Once she was banished to the Cold Palace, she gave birth under harsh conditions, her health ruined. With no hope of clearing her name, she slowly sank into despair and passed away.

After she died, the two senior palace maids who had stayed loyal to her quickly found other paths and left. That’s when Xi Ling and a nanny, who had conveniently called in sick just the day before, were assigned to look after the children.

Qingli figured that whoever was now watching over them had to be one of Consort Shu’s people.

She was the one who hated the original host’s mother most.

After these two women arrived, the food that the original host and her brother received became strange—either watery and bland or outright spoiled. The original host’s body became weak after repeated bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Eventually, she just stopped eating altogether.

They were probably hoping the two kids would just die of illness.

Qingli sighed. If the original host had been in better health, she would’ve had more options—maybe even caused a big scene. Even though she didn’t know what the world outside was like right now, she knew this: a daughter of the emperor, no matter how low her status, shouldn’t be suffering at the hands of palace maids and nannies in a feudal society like this.

But for now, she couldn’t act.

She was afraid that if she stirred up trouble too soon, she’d be dragged back and killed before she could even reach someone important.

As for everyone else—aside from her and her younger brother, there were only three others in the Cold Palace. The nanny was on sick leave, and ordinary cleaning maids weren’t allowed to roam the palace without explicit orders.

The original host didn’t know the layout of the palace, and her body was too frail. If she wanted to get a doctor for the child, she’d have to rely on Xi Ling.

But Xi Ling’s attitude earlier had made it clear that wasn’t going to happen.

She had to come up with another plan.

Qingli shuffled outside in small steps. The sun was shining brightly.

It had rained the night before, so the ground was still a bit damp. But the rushes growing in the corners of the yard had perked up, their blades stretching outward, looking even more vibrant. These particular grasses gave off a faint glow at night—beautiful.

But Qingli had no time to admire them. She was looking for something—anything—useful. That’s when she suddenly heard a faint hisssssss near her ear.

A snake!

Not unusual in a place like the Cold Palace. Snakes usually avoided people, but with the rain having washed away human scents, they may have wandered too close.

Qingli was about to back away when inspiration struck. Her eyes fell on the glowing grass, and her gaze lit up.

She began actively searching for the snake.

Snakes that appear in inhabited areas are usually non-venomous. Following the sound, she finally found one curled at the base of a crumbling wall behind the palace. Its coloring matched the dirt but was a shade darker. It looked young, barely half a meter long, flicking its tongue as it wriggled in confusion, trying to find its way out.

It was likely non-venomous based on its appearance.

Qingli whispered a quick apology in her heart and silently crept closer, moving fast and sure as she reached out—

She grabbed it right at the neck, the “seven-inch” spot.

The snake froze, then thrashed, trying hard to escape. But Qingli used all her strength to hold it tightly, making it impossible to move.

Then she gathered some of the glowing grass and went back inside, locking the door behind her. Using the last of her strength, she wrapped the snake in a piece of clothing.

By then, sweat was pouring down her forehead.

And she wasn’t done yet.

After resting a bit, Qingli found a hairpin her mother had hidden away. She used it to cut into the snake, letting the blood soak into the glowing grass.

Once she was done, she hid the snake and left the blood-stained grass in a secret spot to dry in the shade.

Now, all that was left was to wait.

But while she waited, she didn’t stay idle. She went over to Sima Yan and began massaging certain pressure points to help ease his discomfort and bring down his fever—anything to help him hold out for another night.

7:45 p.m.

Xi Ling walked out of the imperial kitchen, scowling, with a food box in her hand.