Chapter 4 – Still Help?

He was truly scared. In this cold palace, everyone wanted to kill him and rise to the top to seek rewards. Nobody dared to blatantly murder him, yet during his youth his closest people were slowly wiped out by betrayal. Since then he was afraid of getting close to anyone.

Gong Jue felt like his body was tearing apart, and his throat burned like a fire! He doesn’t want to become dumb!

“Come on, get up!” a young girl’s voice said impolitely. Little Jue turned to see an impatient little girl, and he loosened his guard.

She must be the girl who was rumored to be gravely ill, and whose life and death was unknown, the infamous “Princess Gong.” She is also a target for persecution. Because she has no value, she doesn’t belong to any faction. She won’t harm to me.

In the past two years after he entered the Cold Palace, he never met this sister. This girl was rumored to be bedridden all year round. He thought that the girl had died while he was still alive.

Gong Yi Mo saw him loosen his fist and struggle to get on his knees. She approached him without greeting, forcefully opened his mouth by hand and then induced his throat to vomit!

Gong Jue vomited the medicine quickly, but it was not finished yet. Gong Yi took the water she previously stole and handed it to him to drink, and then continued to induce vomiting after drinking. After a couple of rounds, the boy’s face was pale and his lips had no blood.

When she saw him being so miserable, Gong Yi Mo felt very happy. However when Gong Jue opened a pair of watery eyes and looked at her, there was a trace of gratitude, as if a helpless deer was looking straight at her while shivering. At that point Yi Mo lost her pleasure.

After vomiting profusely, Gong Jue was exhausted and in pain. He was obviously more miserable than she was yet he still tried to stay clean and tidy. Although his clothes don’t quite match his size, they were still washed clean and white. A child like this is really hard to hate.

Her sympathy lasted only for a moment, then she brought herself to reality. Regardless of what she does, anyways, he’ll have to suffer being dumb.

But when she thinks of Su Miaolan giving him stew everyday, Gong Yi wrinkles her brows. She hesitates, then finally takes out the disinfecting tablets and throat syrup from her space. After pondering, she looks into her space*. She pulls out some water and food.

(*translator’s note: in Chinese fantasy, cultivators would have bags that contain a “space” or “separate dimension” where they could store a lot of items. The size of the space is often very large, some even infinite, and some novels specify the size of the area. Sometimes the space is not within a bag, but in the cultivator’s body. In Gong Yi’s case, it’s in her lotus mark….but to hide her ability, she hides her mark under her sleeve and pulls it out)

Putting items in her space prevents the effects of time. She also has things she collected in her previous life. It’s really convenient!

After Gong Jue vomited, took medicine, and ate a good meal, his throat was sore and he was unable to speak. He sat on the ground, watching the skinny Gong Yi Mo pull a number of items from her sleeve and placing them in front of him. She also ordered him eat strange white pills and black syrup.

He couldn’t understand, obviously he hated others approaching him and he absolutely would not eat anything of unknown origin. But when she ungraciously handed him the medicine and food, her impatient expression made him feel strange. He felt a trace of pleasure, and he took the items without hesitation.

What surprised him was that when the sweet syrup trickled down his throat, the burning sensation instantly faded. He attempted to speak and managed to give a few broken words.

“You shouldn’t talk!”

The little girl’s look was very tangled. She turned away and refused to look at him. She saw the whole bottle of syrup and stuffed it into the boy’s hands.

“Use this whenever your throat feels painful. And don’t you tell anyone about me! You can have this food, but don’t look for me after this!” Her last few words were especially angry!

“Yes!” Gong Jue responded eagerly, while Gong Yi looked at him with an extremely impatient frown.

“What’s the matter?” she said.

Gong Jue stared at her with a pair of ink-like eyes, and his pale face was sweating. He pointed to Gong Yi and then pointed to himself. “Na..” your name.

Back then Gong Jue first entered the Cold Palace when he was only two years. At that time he never found out…..What is Gong sister’s name?** Now he eagerly wants to know the name of the person who saved him!

(translator’s note: Princess Gong is merely a title. Gong Yi Mo is the lead girl’s full name)

“Come?”

The young girl wrinkled her brow and pursed her lips. This kid was asking if she could come tomorrow.

She frowned at once and tried to scorn him for his intimacy. She pulled her sleeves away from him, leaving him on the ground and while looking at her with a wounded expression. He stared pleadingly at her with big eyes, and shyly tried to get close. His pathetic appearance….was heartbreaking.

Gong Yi was about to reach out to him, but then she quickly puts her hand down. Finally, she couldn’t help but exclaim,

“I’ll come back tomorrow!”

Then she quickly ran away. Little Jue felt pain throughout his body and he couldn’t call after her. He helplessly watched the emaciated sister Gong dash away. She ran as if she was being chased by ghosts!

I can’t believe I just helped him! Gong Yi had just been reincarnated to this world, and the first thing she does is save the devil who once murdered her. Now she’s trembling with anger and she can’t wait to kill herself!

It took a long time for her to get home, and she threw herself into bed in anger. Forget the problem.

In the middle of the night, she was awakened by a thunderous sound of lightning.

Gong Yi Mo hugged her frozen shoulders, and her consciousness gradually sobered. This quilt is too thin and old, and there is no warmth whatsoever. Why is it that she has so many things stored in her space except for a quilt?

Under the early spring rain, the whole palace became unbearably cold and chilly.

She couldn’t help but sympathize with her own body. She was thrown here when she was merely three years old. The emperor refused to give her attention and no one in the palace cared. If a child was left here to fend for herself, how could she possibly get better? It’s no wonder the original host had been sick for four years.

But she is also considered lucky. A princess who resides in a cold palace with no outsiders will not risk being betrayed, nor will she get in the way of anyone’s interests. If it was a prince in a cold palace though, the situation turns bleak.

Gong Jue’s family on his mother’s side are affluent and had governed a town northwest. They almost had no contact with the capital. Li Ching-hwa, the daughter of the governor of that town, is the mother of Gong Jue. She was beautiful, gentle and virtuous. Although her reputation was far beneath Xue Rong’s, she was still quite favored. Yi Mo once heard that Li Ching had a good relationship with Xue Rong, but she never expected that Li Ching would also have a short-lived life. Upon her death she left behind a frail boy who had yet to mature. His extended family meanwhile lived far away to the northwest. By then even if the emperor visits, he won’t be able to find the murderer.

When it comes to plotting the downfall of a prince, it is not enough to banish him to a cold palace, nor is it sufficient to dispose of the imperial concubine. The best way….is to have him unknowingly die of a cold during the winter. By then, even if the emperor returns, he won’t be able to accuse anyone of murder.

Thinking back to her previous life, for Gong Jue to be able to survive the cold palace until leaving at thirteen years old, his mental strength must really be terrible. It’s no wonder that he became so twisted.