Beauty to Ashes

Chapter 4

Jin Xiu did not wait for that man to reply. Instead, she received a swift slap from one of the higher-ranked concubines.

Her entire figure was thrown to the side with that slap. Slowly, a streak of blood dripped down from the corner of her lips.

Jin Xiu no longer spoke. She quietly allowed herself to be dragged away.

As it turned out, he hated her.

But thinking over it, it was probably well-deserved, right? Her father had destroyed his country and reduced him to become nothing but a hostage prince. He was humiliated a hundred times over; did he have any reason to love her at all?

She was handled roughly, both arms yanked backward as she was tossed out.

One year back, on the 7th day of the 7th month [1], she had rushed over. Back then, she saw brightly lit red candles and auspicious couplets hung up everywhere. Now, it was yet another 7th month. She had been dragged out of his sleeping chambers, as though she was the filthiest and nastiest object there was.

Suddenly, Jin Xiu slowly broke into her grin. Her hair bun was disheveled, her face a complete mess. She softly murmured a line, again and again.

To give her life to the one she loves. Even if there came a day of heartless abandonment, there would be no regrets.

No regrets...

She slowly shut her eyes.

Jin Xiu was thrown into the courtyard. The palace servants swaggered off without a care for what they left behind. Her cowardly palace maid did not dare to approach her. Jin Xiu softly instructed her to go to bed, and so the girl scampered off like a rabbit, burrowing herself into the room. After a long, long time had passed, Jin Xiu finally propped herself up with much difficulty. She slowly stood up and returned to her room, before tidying up after herself. She felt something sweet and fishy clogging her throat, and when she spat it out, she realized that it was fresh blood.

At this time, the watchman clanged a gong outside the palace walls. It was already past midnight.

She slowly walked out and arrived at the corner of the wall she was so familiar with. However, she could no longer prop herself upright. Slowly... she slumped onto the ground just like a little child, before curling herself into a ball.

"... I'm hated by Ah Ruo... I never imagined... But now that I think about it, his warmth and goodwill to me... was to make use of me...right?" She said in a soft voice. Then, an uncontrollable sense of anguish surged, almost breaking a hole in her chest.

As she repeated herself incessantly, she had no idea whether there was anyone standing before her. She only mumbled those words over and over again, and once she said the last line, she wasn't even able to fathom what she was talking about. All she knew was that the moment she stopped, the crack in her chest would threaten to tear her entire being apart.

"...But, his hate for me is reasonable, right?" As she said this, she suddenly heard a soft rustle. Opposite, someone tipped her a stalk of flower.

Jin Xiu muttered thanks, before reaching out to receive it. It was a fully bloomed magnolia, a flower she used to love. When she was still young, on the day the magnolias bloomed, Chen Ruo would always pick a huge bunch of magnolias for her, almost drowning her in them. Then, the youth would grin and help fasten her hair together with a stalk.

As it turned out, it was all just her wishful thinking.

Jin Xiu grasped the stalk in her hand tightly. She lowered her head before she slowly began to whimper.

That person opposite her seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, that person stretched out a hand and patted her on the shoulder. Jin Xiu finally burst into tears. She reached out to grab that person, only to catch the sleeves instead. A light rattle sounded and she appeared to have plucked off something from that person's wrist.

A string of beads. Its surface still carried the warmth of a person.

When she grabbed the other party, she could tell that the other person was a man. Jin Xiu widened her boundless but sightless eyes. She felt inclined to return the string of beads to the other person and apologize. She wobbled up and walked towards the wall. She called out softly, only to realize that the other party had already walked off without a sound.

Gripping onto that string of beads, Jin Xiu carefully stuffed it into her clothes before slowly forcing out a dismal smile.

Not knowing if there would be another chance to return it to him...

That night, on the seventh day of the night, Jin Xiu's sickness got worse. At the end of the seventh month, she wasn't even able to leave the bed.

Before this, she was merely an unfavoured lady-in-waiting who was content living at the peripheries of the palace. All the people in the palace seemed to have had forgotten her existence, allowing her to live her own life. But now, it was different.

Many conjectures were made about her relationship with Chen Ruo and in the end, she was completely alienated. I