Chapter 8 Are you this gentle to every woman?

    “Yu-er”

    “…”

    “Yu-er”

    “…”

    “Miss Bai”

    “Yes?”

    “Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

    “I…um, I…”

    “Did benwang interrupt Miss Bai’s rest?”

    “No, not at all, Your Highness. That was rude of me.”

    Bai Yu lowered her head to escape from his caring eyes. Her heart was racing because of her own feeling, not the body’s…No matter which life, those eyes could still lure her in.

    Was fate playing a cruel joke on her? Or was this the punishment for an evil woman who fell so completely in love with one man that she did not value her own life?

    The first day she transmigrated she met Bai Hua, the heroine who looked exactly like Song Lianhua in her former life. Now today she had to meet the secondary male lead. ‘Wei Wang’ or ‘Ouyang Wenrou’ who was the spitting image of Li Wenrou.

    O death…why could it not have the slightest mercy on her?

    She gripped her hands again. The pain in her fingertips amplified as bright red blood started seeping out. A reminder that she could not escape her reality, not even by death.

    “Miss Bai!” The gentle voice showed surprise. Two large hands took her bloodied ones into his hold in an attempt to stop her from hurting herself again. For a brief second, Bai Yu saw reprimand within those brown eyes.

    Ouyang Wenrou released his hands from the woman who kept escaping his gaze. He let royal doctor Mu check the wound and stop the bleeding. He was surprised to see the ever-calm and collected Miss Bai in a daze like this. And how she gripped her hands when their eyes met…Just when did Miss Bai have him in her sight?

    Since long ago, only his third brother Ouyang Mingxian could get any reaction other than formality and manner from Miss Bai. She did not care about anyone else, not him, not even Taizi. Then what did the reaction just now mean?

    “Apologies to doctor Mu. I was feeling a little unwell so I unconsciously gripped my hands.” Bai Yu tried to make an excuse, though it was not quite convincing. Her mind was so filled with the events of her old life that finding her voice to speak was the best she could do.

    Her face was still lowered. Her eyes shut tight while her heart tried to suppress the feelings for the man who had the same face and personality as her past lover.

    “Miss Bai’s wound is healing slower than normal,” royal doctor Mu said after stopping the bleeding.

    “What do you mean?” Ouyang Wenrou asked with a face full of worry.

    “I think it is because of the magic within Miss Bai’s body, Your Highness.”

    “Yu-er’s magic is stronger than any woman. Why would it hinder her recovery?” Yue Mei was flustered. At the same time, Bai Yu sat still and listened to the doctor calmly without any trace of her out-of-character behavior moments before. She tried to stop her feelings from leaking out any more than this. Remember, this man is Ouyang Wenrou, not that Li Wenrou.

    “About this matter, may Wangye please take part in inspecting Miss Bai’s condition.” The royal doctor Mu who had light orange magic turned to Wei Wang, who was renowned for his skill in healing with magic.

    Ouyang Wenrou was the ninth son of the current Emperor, born to a royal consort rank Pin. His mother died in childbirth, so he was raised by the former Empress who was Ouyang Mingxian’s birth mother. All in Da Yang knew that if a child was favored by the Emperor ‘Ouyang Hongxian’, that child would have the character ‘Xian’ in their name to resemble his. It was clear that Ouyang Wenrou was not one of them.

    But it was also known by all that Ouyang Wenrou had the ability to heal others with magic, different from how most magic was used in fighting. He had the level of dark red magic, inferior only to very few people in the royal family, leading to him finally receiving the Emperor’s favor later and was given the royal title Qin Wang, named ‘Wei’, and becoming Wei Qin Wang or Wei Wang the secondary male lead of the story.

    Wei Wang and Qin Wang were brought up by Empress Wei, who passed away several years ago. The two brothers had always been close and depended on each other up until when Bai Hua transmigrated here and caused a rift between them. In the end, Wei Wang was the one who gave up.

    There were two or three times in the series where Bai Yu fooled the gentle Wei Wang and used him to harm the heroine. This time, however, she was not sure whether the events would go according to the series she starred in.

    “Benwang will have to excuse himself, then.” He said with a slight smile as he extended his hand to touch Bai Yu’s arm. His two fingers pressed down on her pulse point, and her little heart started racing again. Ouyang Wenrou showed a smile, as if wanting to laugh, while also trying to maintain his manners when he saw that she turned her face away in an attempt to calm her rushing heartbeats.

    “It seems that the poison is suppressing Miss Bai’s magic, preventing the body from using it to heal the wound.”

    So that was it. Bai Hua was also inflicted with the same poison yet her cuts healed faster, which meant that the poison only affected magic users!

    “Oh dear!” Yue Mei exclaimed. In her thought, she blamed herself for giving the poison to her daughter without researching its effect enough.

    “Then, Your Highness, what should we do?” Her father was equally anxious.

    “You’ll need many medicinal herbs. A higher level of healing magic is also needed.”

    “That means…” she softly said.

    “There is only benwang who can treat Miss Bai’s injury.”

    No!

    “Wangye please have mercy.” Everyone in the mansion immediately kneeled to beg Wei Wang whose smile never faltered from start to finish. He casually waved his hand as he spoke.

    “Although healing with magic consumes a lot of power, such a small wound wouldn’t be too tiring for benwang.”

    “Wangye is the most gracious.”

    “No need to be so humble, Miss Bai.”

    Then I won’t be humble here…Can you stop smiling like that?!

    --------------------

    “Haaah. Haaaaaaahhhh.”

    “…”

    “Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh”

    “Is something wrong, miss?”

    “Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh”

    “Miss…”

    “Can I scream?”

    “No, miss. It’s not seemly.”

    But I’m a villainess! I should be able to scream!

    “Haaah.” In the end, she could only scream internally.

    It was good news that there was nothing wrong with her body for not being able to use magic since the real cause was poison. It made her relieve that at least she could use magic in the Meihua lady competition. But the bad news was that she had to meet that smiling Ouyang Wenrou again for treatment. He was not the same man as the one in her past life.

    But just seeing his face…made her feel that fatal pain again.

    “In your eyes, do you think Wei Wang is close to me?” Bai Yu fished information out of her maid again.

    “I can say that you’re familiar with each other, miss. Since you were young, every time you went to see Qin Wang you’d almost always meet Wei Wang. You once said that Wei Wang’s magic made him worth getting close to for future benefits.”

    This Bai Yu did plan to use other people from the start, huh?

    “Mmm”

“What’re you thinking, miss?”

“I’m just thinking if it’s almost due for Bai Hua’s return yet.”

“Why, miss? Should I send people to tell her to stay there longer?”

“It’s not that.”

“What is it, then, miss?”

“I’m thinking about going to pray at the temple too.”

“Huh?”

    “Why? Is that weird?”

    “Of course it’s weird, miss!” Xiao Xi blurted out loudly. Her expression further reflected how shocked she was. “…Normally, if it isn’t because Qin Wang, miss would never step into any temple. Or when you do, you’ll tell me to announce in the streets that you’re going to the temple or to hand out congee…”

    So this puppy maid is saying that she only went to the temple to build her image…

    “So this time does miss want me to go spread the news?!”

    Bai Yu sighed. Shortly after she told Xiao Xi to notify Yue Mei, her mother came to see her at her residence.

    “Visiting the temple is a good thing. This time I’ll order male servants to announce that we’re looking for bodyguards for your cavalcade, so the people can praise you indirectly.”

    “There’s no need for that, mother.” Even her mother was also like this… “I just want to go quietly. Third sister went to the ancestral temple and there’s no news back yet, that must mean that she was living too comfortably.” Bai Yu ended her sentence with a grimace to insinuate that she was dissatisfied.

    “I’ve already sent people to cause a ruckus. There’s no need for you to go there yourself, dear.” Yue Mei understood her daughter’s intention, though she did not want her darling daughter to be involved in unpleasant matters. In her eyes, Bai Yu could only be domineering to servants. Moreover, in the past seven days that Yue Mei sent her people to harass Bai Hua at the temple, all of them came back defeated. She was afraid that her daughter would not be able to go up against Bai Hua who had changed into another person, even though Bai Yu was successful at the banquet.

    “Let me handle it myself, mother. If something happened to her and we are all here, people may gossip that our mansion sent a daughter out to suffer without a care. At least we can avoid getting criticized if I were there too.”

    “Oh, my dear child…” Yue Mei patted her daughter’s hands. “…You being mature like this makes me a lot more relieved.”

    “Mother please don’t be worried. Third sister has been a thorn in your side for so long. From now on I’ll be the one to deal with her.”

    Bai Yu intentionally shielding her mother away from the heroine was her first step in avoiding getting her life destroyed by Bai Hua’s retaliation like in the series. From now on if Bai Hua did not come after her, she will let Bai Hua live her own life as she tried to steer her mother away.

    Ultimately…Bai Yu wanted her mother to let go of the resentment and find true happiness for herself.

    “All this time, my heart hurts when I see the face of that traitor’s daughter! Even though I used my authority to detain her mother, I still couldn’t fully get rid of her because your father was meddling…”

    Yue Mei thought back to her painful past. “…Is this the love your father kept telling me of?”

    “Mother” Bai Yu tightly clasped her mother’s hands. She completely understood the feeling of being betrayed.

    Men’s hearts were hard to perceive like an abyss. They uttered love words but in the end, they turned to another woman, protecting her with the excuse of goodness but never realized that they were hurting another woman who was betrayed again and again.

    “What are you planning to do to her this time? Can you tell mother?”

“Uh…” Shit…she had not thought of anything yet.

“You can use your grandfather’s people if you wish.”

People from the Yue family? Mother, exactly what are you thinking about?

“Mother, please rest assured. I won’t let that lowly concubine child live a peaceful life.”

“But you have to promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You have to rest until you’re fully recovered first.”

    “But…” She wanted to go to the temple to escape from that secondary male lead. Bai Yu did not want to admit that she wanted to get away from having her heart raced every time she met Ouyang Mingxian and Ouyang Wenrou.

    This body had two hearts. One that was a love engraved on the body had already made it hard enough for Bai Yu to give up. This time the feelings from her broken heart in the former life made her want to escape from everything.

    “Don’t worry. If you’re unsure whether you’ll recover in time before Bai Hua’s return, I’ll order her to wait until you finish your business at the temple then return together.

    She would not be able to avoid Ouyang Wenrou anyway. Bai Hua’s returning on schedule or not also would not concern her in the first place.

    Bai Yu sighed again.

    “Alright, mother.”

--------------------

    Three days later a message was sent from Wei Wang’s palace that Ouyang Wenrou had gathered all the herbs and was ready for treatment. For manner's sake, Bai Yu who was lower in rank had to go to Wei Wang’s palace to be treated.

    She was woken up before dawn to bathe and then be put in a bright red dress. Though she was unwilling to wear the color that was her former lover’s favorite, drowsiness made her compliant.

    Bai mansion was quite far from Wei Wang’s palace, but the carriage driver was familiar with the path due to the palace’s proximity to the male lead’s which the old villainess used to find different excuses to visit.

    Wei Wang’s palace was vastly different from Qin Wang’s. Outside was surrounded by green bamboo trees and decorated with miniature mountains in various spots. The ground had been dug to create ponds that would resemble rivers. The artificial rivers would lead up to the front of the palace which was all created from jade. A constant breeze throughout the area made this place completely separated from the world outside.

    A palace maid came in a respectful manner to guide her in, and Bai Yu followed, maintaining both calmness and refinedness. There were a lot of people here, so she had to be mindful of her actions. After a moment of walking, voices reciting a passage from a book were heard from the opposite side of the walkway. When she turned to look at the source, she found noble children diligently reciting their lessons.

    In front of them was Ouyang Wenrou as the teacher. His handsome face showed a warm smile like usual. His black hair flowed in the wind, contrasted by his white attire.

    ‘Angelic’ was a word that suited Li Wenrou, no, Ouyang Wenrou the most.

    Bai Yu was brought to a part of the palace that was surrounded by scenery more beautiful than the ones on her way in. Every time wind blew, she could smell fragrant in the air which made her body relaxed, almost forgetting that she was meeting the man who resembled her former lover who had cruelly betrayed her.

    “It seems that Miss Bai takes a liking to the scenery here.”

    Bai Yu flinched. She hurriedly pulled back from holding her arms outstretched on both sides and taking a deep breath. Xiao Xi had warned her a few times that this was an inappropriate manner, however, how could she restrain herself from doing this? After pulling back her arms, she curtsied in respect to the man in front of her.

    “Blessings to Wangye.”

    “Rise.” Ouyang Wenrou said as he gestured to tell her to sit. Bai Yu took a seat without waiting for the host because the weight of her hair accessories was screaming at her to sit down as soon as possible.

    “Benwang had servants prepare the herbs. They’ll bring it shortly.”

    “I have troubled Wangye.”

    He did not answer but stared at her for a brief moment before smiling. Ouyang Wenrou went to sit behind the seven strings guqin that was put there. Bai Yu dazedly watched the man in white, feeling as if she was enchanted by an angel’s charm.

    The sound of guqin reverberated amidst the quiet surrounding. There was no awkwardness between the two people at all as an unfamiliar tune sounded throughout the area. Bai Yu felt like there was a warm breeze drifting past her skin and embracing her. When she looked around her, she saw a red light encasing her body, blending in with the color red of her elegant dress.

    Ouyang Wenrou glanced up at the woman in front of him, feeling surprised again. A moment ago when he walked up behind her he saw that she was acting strange again. It was as if this was not the first miss of Bai family that he had known who was calm and graceful. She was more lively and beautiful.

    If this was her true self and not a pretense, then the current Bai Yu was a beauty that was much more tangible than before.

    Seeing a wide smile decorated with two dimples on her face, Ouyang Wenrou further enjoyed the change in her personality. His fingers rushed to play music. Imbued with his own magic, trying to make that smile even wider.

    As he intended, Bai Yu enjoyed the warmth of the breeze and the music so much that she forgot that she was not alone. She was unaware that the wide smile she usually had when she was together with Ouyang Mingxian was making Ouyang Wenrou’s heart race.

    They had seen each other since childhood. He himself often played with her together with his older brother, yet this was the only time that Bai Yu beamed like that in front of him, not the mannerly smile like always. Unconsciously, Ouyang Wenrou smiled, as if in a reply to her.

    Amidst the sound of guqin that echoed through the palace, little Xiao Xi watched her young miss and was surprised to see such a smile. Her first miss who saw her mother’s hatred and resentment since she was born was now being happy with someone else other than Qin Wang.

    The pleasant atmosphere and the melodious sound of guqin continued for over one ke.

    Thrum…The sound of guqin stopped at the same time as the wind ceased. Bai Yu felt a rush of heat flowing throughout her body. It was a familiar sensation…It was her magic!

    “Miss Bai should be able to feel your magic now.”

    “Yes, Your Highness.” Bai Yu replied happily.

    “But only this one song can’t make you able to use your magic like before.”

    “Wangye has said that you will use herbs…”

    “For benwang’s method of treatment, herbs are used to help save energy. The best way is to heal with magic…” He said with a gentle smile as a small drop of sweat trailed down from his temple to his chin.

    It was clear that using healing magic exhausted Ouyang Wenrou, because her magic was almost at the same level as him. Still, he put his ten fingers to the strings again. “…Seeing Miss Bai enjoys the atmosphere, benwang couldn’t help but want to play guqin with healing magic.”

    Bai Yu gazed at a sheen of sweat on his face. She knew very well how hard it was to play the magic guqin but playing for the healing magic was even harder. Just one song could make him this tired…

    Bai Yu pressed her lips together as she stared at the man in front of her, trying to seek an answer from it. What were you exerting yourself this much for?

    His brown eyes lifted to meet hers as if he already knew she was looking. Ouyang Wenrou smiled at her with a face void of any worry or unease.

    The melody started once more and warmth surrounded Bai Yu again. The gentle breeze roused a tender heat in her heart. His kindness made her question whether this man was the Li Wenrou she knew in her past life or not? Impossible it may seem, she still could not stop herself from thinking that Li Wenrou and Ouyang Wenrou were similar in both appearance and personality…He had always been like this!

“Are you this gentle to every woman?”

    The sound of guqin resonated through the palace, drowning out the small voice from the woman’s muddled heart until nothing else could be heard.