A Fish Longing for the Old Pond

Part 6

16

The bed creaked into the night, and I eventually drifted off to sleep, exhausted.

In my dream, everything was pure white.

Suddenly, a sharp voice came from behind:

"Give me back my body! You shameless wandering ghost!"

I turned around and saw a strange woman staring at me with venomous eyes.

When she saw my face, she froze:

"You're Chen Yu? You're not dead?"

Upon hearing her words, I instantly realized she was the wandering ghost who had taken over my body.

"I never died! You're the one who came out of nowhere and possessed my body! You're the one who needs to go away!"

"Impossible! I'm a transmigrator. This world exists for me! I need to find the Fourth Prince! I will be the Empress! You must die! Give me back my body!"

She lunged at me.

This scene felt oddly familiar.

A sharp pain struck my head, and I remembered what had happened ten years ago.

It wasn't that I had fallen asleep without reason; she, thinking herself superior as a soul from another world, had deliberately collided with my soul to forcibly take over my body.

My soul had been damaged and hidden within my body for ten years, and even these memories had been forgotten.

Thinking of the lost ten years, a wave of hatred surged within me, and I wanted to tear her apart.

With that thought, countless blades appeared around the transmigrator.

She fell to the ground, screaming in agony as she was slashed to pieces.

In my dream, I had control over everything.

I walked up to her, looking down at her miserable state:

"That was punishment for stealing my body and ruining my life. I haven't even begun to settle the score for how you abused my children and nearly killed Chi Yan Chi."

"Chi Yan Chi? You're doing this for him? Hahaha, he's a demon! He ruined the Fourth Prince and me. Otherwise, I would be the Empress now! He's the real villain! If he hadn't taken advantage of me when I was unconscious, I wouldn't have gotten pregnant with those brats."

The transmigrator shared her memories from the past ten years with me.

From her perspective, I saw her naively trying to become a courtesan, wander the world, seduce the Fourth Prince, and commit all kinds of absurdities, ruining my reputation.

Chi Yan Chi had repeatedly brought her back.

He even sought out monks and Taoists to expel her from my body, but to no avail.

Later, Chi Yan Chi steadfastly refused to break off the engagement and secretly became the Crown Prince's aide, repeatedly setting traps to expose the Fourth Prince, ultimately helping the Crown Prince ascend the throne.

As for the so-called taking advantage, there was no memory of that.

All that existed was the day of the bestowed marriage when Chi Yan Chi coldly told her, "Even if it's just her body, Chen Yu can only be mine."

"You see, this is your childhood friend, the so-called perfect gentleman. Look at how dirty his methods are."

"He's a controlling maniac. If he truly loved you, he would have helped me achieve my goal and make me the Empress!"

This indeed differed from the Chi Yan Chi I remembered.

But my love for Chi Yan Chi was for him as a person, not for whether he was a perfect gentleman.

In fact, seeing his obsessive side made me like him even more.

But there was no need to explain this to her.

"The Fourth Prince was mediocre in ability, not outstanding in appearance, and already had a legitimate wife."

"What do you know! Power and status are a man's best attributes. I'm different from you, a feudal woman who only looks at appearances! So what if he has a legitimate wife? Their marriage was arranged, and they have no emotional foundation. He said he loves me. As long as we work together, I will become the Empress!"

She was hopeless, keeping such a person around would only bring disaster.

Before leaving the dream, I controlled the entire space and slowly crushed her soul to pieces amid her screams.

17

When I opened my eyes again, daylight was already streaming in.

I rubbed my eyes and looked at Chi Yan Chi, who was also watching me.

I reached out to touch the faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Did you stay up all night?"

"Yes, I wanted to watch over you."

I knew what he was worried about, so I told him what happened in my dream.

After listening, Chi Yan Chi's gaze deepened, and instead of responding, he said:

"I've heard that in the southern regions, there is a type of Love Gu [1] that can bind lovers together in life and death. I have already sent someone to find the Gu Witch. My dear wife... would you plant this Gu with me?"

Although he phrased it as a question, his tone left no room for refusal.

I played with his fingers, buried my head in his chest, took a deep breath, and answered, "Alright."

The process of planting the Gu was not complicated.

Our blood was mixed together with water and then ingested.

After the Love Gu was planted, a red mole appeared on each of our palms.

Chi Yan Chi gently rubbed the red mole, looked up, and smiled at me.

His smile dazzled me completely.

If this was the security he needed, I was willing to provide it.

________
Footnote:

[1] Gu (蛊) is an ancient Chinese black magic from the south, involving the manipulation of poisonous insects to punish or curse others, created by placing hundreds of poisons together and letting them fight until only the strongest remains.

Love Gu (情蛊) is a type of Gu. It typically causes the affected person to lose consciousness and become completely subservient to the one who cast the Gu. The victim believes they have fallen in love with the caster and will do anything to stay by their side. You can simply think of this as a type of brainwashing.

However, in the context of this story, it seems that the Love Gu only functions to bind lovers together forever and is not like the typical Love Gu.