Lowering the carriage curtain, Green Butterfly patted Chu Xiyin's shoulder and asked, "Hey! Are you alright?"
Chu Xiyin shook her head, paused, and then asked, "Green Butterfly, where are we going?"
Green Butterfly, from "Twilight Kingdom," leaned against the car window, gently closing her eyes.
"You said you were going to take me to the Twilight Kingdom?" Chu Xiyin sat up straight and asked.
"Actually, I originally wanted to use you to threaten the Fourth Prince, but now you are no longer of any use to me," Green Butterfly said calmly, her eyes still closed.
"Then why did you take me to the Twilight Kingdom?" Chu Xiyin stared at her face and asked cautiously.
"If you don't want to go, you can get off now." As she said this, the two crescent moons above Green Butterfly's eyes twitched casually.
Get off the bus? It's pitch black now, what if she runs into bad guys? Besides, she's penniless and doesn't know anyone here. She'll probably starve to death on the streets in a few days.
"So you mean you never intended to kill me from the beginning?" Chu Xiyin's eyes suddenly lit up.
Green Butterfly didn't answer, but a slight smile played on her lips.
Chu Xiyin was also a little sleepy. She hadn't slept a wink last night due to excessive tension. Today, she had been up all day again. Suddenly relaxing made her feel very tired.
In fact, some things, when you truly lose them, you become more at peace with them.
The carriage bumped along the way, and when Chu Xiyin woke up, she found that Green Butterfly was gone, and the coachman was gone too! There were also bloodstains on the outside of the carriage.
Chu Xiyin rubbed her eyes. Where was she?
A huge sun hangs on the horizon.
Here, there is no vegetation, no water source, and no human habitation...
All that could be seen were strangely shaped boulders and endless yellow sand.
Where did Green Butterfly and the coachman go? Why is there blood outside the carriage? Did something happen to them? Why is she the only one unharmed?
Chu Xiyin squatted on the ground in despair, staring blankly at the few drops of blood. This godforsaken place—not even a bird would fly through it. Who would come to save her?
At this moment, she suddenly missed Chunhua, Motong, Qiyu, Huashao, and the Fourth Prince…
Will she never see them again?
"Why are you crying?!" It was Green Butterfly's voice!
Chu Xiyin looked up with delight. She saw that her clothes were torn and disheveled, and bright red blood had stained a large area of her clothes on her left breast.
"You...you...what's wrong?" Chu Xiyin asked in a panic as she helped Green Butterfly up.
It turned out that last night, the coachman had fallen asleep outside the carriage due to exhaustion. Unexpectedly, the horses, while running, accidentally wandered into the border of the Peony Kingdom—which is now the desert where they were.
Looking at the vast desert before him, the coachman was dumbfounded. He lifted the curtain and asked, "Young master, which way should we go?"
Just as Green Butterfly was about to answer, suddenly, five cold lights flashed across the coachman's neck, wrist, and ankle. Immediately afterward, the coachman seemed to be pulled by the five cold lights and was thrown heavily off the carriage.
Outside the carriage, five women on white horses, dressed in bright colors, stared intently at the man on the ground—their prey.
One of the women laughed. "Take him back, and the Empress will surely reward us handsomely!"
The other four women burst into laughter upon hearing this.
The coachman struggled painfully on the ground, the pure white metal constricting his limbs until they bled.
These five women were from the Kingdom of Peony. In Peony, only the Empress was allowed to have men by her side. These men were specially chosen male favorites to ensure the continuation of the Empress's lineage. If the Empress's first child with a male favorite was a daughter, she would directly inherit the throne. If the child was a son, he would only become the next male favorite.
The Kingdom of Peony has always maintained characteristics of a matriarchal clan society. Initially, not only did the empress have men, but commoner women also had men. However, these men held extremely low status. They were forced to perform various forms of arduous physical labor and unconditionally obey their wives' commands; those who disobeyed were subjected to torture. Although their sense of male pride made them deeply resentful of the empress's rule, they were submissive and at most dared to complain secretly behind her back.
Until twenty years ago, a male concubine named Xinghui—the most favored concubine of the previous empress—secretly rallied the male concubines, male lovers, and male slaves of the Peony Kingdom to rise up and overthrow the empress's rule. They secretly released boys aged fifteen and under in the Peony Kingdom, kidnapped the empress, and demanded that she relinquish her real power.
However, they greatly underestimated the Empress. Long before they plotted this uprising, the Empress already knew all their intelligence. It is said that the one who betrayed them was a mere fifteen-year-old boy.
The Empress ordered the execution of all men involved in the riot, except for Xinghui, because he was the man she loved. But his fate was not good; although the Empress did not kill him, she imprisoned him in a dark, sunless cave, reducing him merely to a tool for her sexual gratification.
Following the uprising, the Empress decreed that all women in the kingdom send their husbands to the palace. She selected a few handsome men to fill her harem, while the rest were all castrated. Of course, some deeply in love couples risked their lives to escape the Kingdom of Peony. But that's another story.
Green Butterfly intended to rescue the coachman, but as soon as she jumped off the carriage, the women from the Peony Kingdom became excited, as if they had discovered new prey. They mistook Green Butterfly for a man, and seeing that she was much prettier than the coachman, they wanted to capture her and take her back to the Empress to curry favor.
The women released the coachman, who had narrowly escaped death. He dared not linger for even a moment, and without regard for the carriage, he scrambled to his feet and staggered away.
Green Butterfly didn't want to make enemies of the Peony Kingdom. She said she was a woman and couldn't serve the Empress. Hearing that she was a woman, the women of Peony Kingdom became even more excited and insisted on stripping her clothes to see for themselves. Green Butterfly knew these women were "Magic Mirrors" (an ancient term for lesbian women). Even though she didn't want to offend the Peony Kingdom, she couldn't be insulted like this. To avoid implicating Chu Xiyin, Green Butterfly led the women away.
Although these women were skilled in martial arts, they were no match for Green Butterfly. With just a few moves, she had them kneeling and begging for mercy.
Green Butterfly had intended to release the women, but unexpectedly, one of them suddenly stood up and stabbed Green Butterfly in the left chest. The other women rushed over and tackled Green Butterfly to the ground, tearing her clothes off.
After verifying Green Butterfly's true identity, the five women from the Peony Kingdom were overjoyed and prepared to play a trick on her. To protect herself, Green Butterfly sprinkled the green glow from between her fingers at them, killing all five women instantly.
"Help me... do me a favor." Due to excessive blood loss and dehydration, Green Butterfly's lips were dry and white, and her face was completely bloodless.
"You...you...tell me!" Chu Xiyin had never encountered this situation before, so she was naturally flustered.
Green Butterfly slowly pulled open her clothes. Chu Xiyin felt heartbroken when she saw the blood gushing from Green Butterfly's left breast.
“Bao…” Green Butterfly squinted, too weak to speak.
"Do you want me to bandage you?" Chu Xiyin asked.
Green Butterfly nodded and fainted.
Chu Xiyin used the butterfly dart she had used yesterday to tear open her purple wedding dress, cutting out several long strips of fabric. Then, she removed Green Butterfly's clothes, measured the fabric horizontally and vertically, and first wrapped it around Green Butterfly's wound ten times horizontally, tying a tight knot. Then she wrapped it diagonally five times around Green Butterfly's wound, again tying a tight knot.
After bandaging her up, Chu Xiyin suddenly felt a little hungry. She lifted the carriage curtain and looked out. It was already noon, and the sun was directly overhead, making her feel thirsty and uncomfortable.
They had to get out of here as soon as possible, or they would both die! She climbed to the front of the carriage and looked around, only to realize that someone as directionally challenged as her, who couldn't even tell which way was north, south, east, or west, how could she possibly get out of this desert?
"Forget it, let fate decide!" Chu Xiyin closed her eyes and silently recited, "North is up, south is down, west is left, east is right, whichever direction you point to is the right direction!"
"Ahead! Alright!" Chu Xiyin gripped the reins with one hand and picked up the whip with the other. She then realized she didn't know how to steed! She sighed, patted the horse's rump, and said, "Horse, oh horse, I've never flattered a horse in my life, much less whipped it. If you don't want to be whipped, then run on your own! Otherwise, we'll all die here."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the horse took off running, startling Chu Xiyin so much that she almost tumbled off the carriage. It seems that every living thing is afraid of death.
Chu Xiyin climbed into the carriage; Green Butterfly was still unconscious. She gently placed Green Butterfly's head on her lap, and inadvertently glanced at her, noticing tear stains at the corners of Green Butterfly's eyes, and her mouth opening and closing as if she were speaking.
Chu Xiyin lowered her head and leaned closer, only to hear her repeating over and over, "Green-clad butterflies dance in the wind with the moon, twilight and rosy clouds await the butterflies."
Chapter 38 Polishing the Mirror (Part 1)
Chu Xiyin slept soundly the whole way as the carriage swayed.
She didn't know how long the horse had been running when she suddenly heard the cheerful sounds of women playing outside the carriage. Lifting the curtain, she was immediately stunned. This country was truly magnificent; the women walking on the streets were all dressed in short blouses and long skirts. Embroidered in the center of their blouses and along the edges of their skirts were various kinds of peonies of different sizes.
Chu Xiyin took out some silver coins from Green Butterfly's bosom, weighed them in her hand, and admitted that it was really inconvenient to carry these silver coins on her person.
As Chu Xiyin jumped off the carriage, she felt that many women were looking at her with strange eyes, making her feel very uncomfortable.
The script of the Peony Kingdom is quite peculiar; each character resembles a blooming peony, and the characters are connected end to end, differing only in shape, size, and color.
Chu Xiyin looked at the characters and sighed inwardly. Only now did she truly feel the pain of being illiterate.
"Excuse me, where is the pharmacy around here?" Chu Xiyin stopped a little girl who looked to be about ten years old and asked.
The little girl was very well-behaved, with a pair of bright, sparkling eyes that blinked constantly, making her very endearing.
The little girl pointed to a shop across the street. Chu Xiyin looked in the direction she was pointing. Was that a pharmacy? To her, it looked more like a place that sold cosmetics. Chu Xiyin thanked the little girl, walked across the street to confirm that it was indeed a pharmacy, and then carried Green Butterfly inside.
The doctor in the pharmacy was a very pretty woman. Her phoenix eyes were slightly upturned, making her quite alluring.
"Are you a doctor?" Chu Xiyin asked breathlessly. She felt severely exhausted after carrying him for only this short distance.
The woman nodded indifferently, glanced casually at the green butterfly perched on Chu Xiyin's shoulder, and said in surprise, "How dare you bring a man in? What if His Majesty finds out..."
Chu Xiyin was taken aback for a moment, then laughed awkwardly, "She's a woman!"
The woman's expression grew increasingly surprised, her phoenix eyes staring intently at Green Butterfly's face as if she wanted to devour her.
Chu Xiyin shuddered, and Green Butterfly's head tilted slightly with her shudder, her face pressed against Chu Xiyin's neck.
Chu Xiyin suddenly felt a chill on her neck. Fearing that Green Butterfly had lost too much blood, she said anxiously, "Please stop her bleeding, she's dying!"
"Come with me!" The woman gave Green Butterfly a strange look before leading them into the back room.
Chu Xiyin placed the green butterfly on the bed and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
The woman said coldly, "You can leave now!"
"I want to stay here!" Chu Xiyin looked at Green Butterfly on the bed with concern.
The woman glared at her, her phoenix eyes appearing unusually fierce.
"Then... I'll leave her in your care!" Chu Xiyin felt a pang of fear after being glared at like that. Not for any other reason than that she was afraid that if this woman got angry, she wouldn't heal Green Butterfly, which would be troublesome.
Before leaving the room, Chu Xiyin glanced at the woman. She felt that there was something wrong with the way the woman looked at Lüdie, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Forget it, let's fill our stomachs first and buy a couple of clean sets of clothes first.
It's good to have money; you can buy whatever you want!
Chu Xiyin went on a shopping spree, unaware that Green Butterfly, who was seriously injured, was in danger.
The female doctor at the pharmacy was actually a "mirror polisher." With her superb medical skills, she specifically targeted pretty women who came to her for treatment and had no ability to resist.
Over the years, countless young girls throughout the Peony Kingdom have been poisoned by it.
The woman closed the door, gently unbuttoned Green Butterfly's clothes, and her phoenix eyes lingered greedily on her smooth upper body.
The wound that Chu Xiyin had bandaged was still bleeding, and if this continued, she might really die from blood loss.
The woman applied some agrimony to her wound and re-bandaged it.
After bandaging her up, she gently lay down beside Green Butterfly, stroking her body. Suddenly, she reached out and pressed down hard on the peony flower on the bedside table. With a loud bang, the two of them fell into a black hole together.
Chu Xiyin bought a bunch of food and a bag of clothes and returned to the pharmacy. She searched the entire house but couldn't find Green Butterfly or the female doctor.
"Green Butterfly, Green Butterfly..." Chu Xiyin shouted as she rushed out of the pharmacy, only to bump into someone.
"You audacious scoundrel, how dare you be so reckless!"
Upon hearing the sound, Chu Xiyin looked up sharply and saw a fierce-looking woman tightly holding the little girl she had bumped into.
Wait, isn't this the little girl who led her to this pharmacy?
"Is it you?" Chu Xiyin asked.