Transmigration: The Fate of the Villainess

232 No more… The number one beauty Part I

Golden light illuminated her dream. The source of that light was an orb that Bai Yu had seen in her dream before, along with the enormous golden dragon. She walked barefooted, following the orb that drifted aimlessly forward.

‘Mother.’ A little voice of a girl echoed. Bai Yu swept her eyes around her but could not find the speaker. When she opened her mouth to ask for the person’s location, she could not speak.

‘Mother. Don’t leave me.’

Bai Yu stopped looking around and stared into the orb that had halted at the same time she stopped walking. Did the voice come from this orb?

‘Mother.’ This time, it was a boy’s voice. ‘Don’t leave me again.’

Leave? Again?

Leave what?

Whom did she leave behind?

‘Mother.’

.....

‘Mother.’

The girl and the boy’s voices became a cacophony that made Bai Yu cover her ears. She wanted to shout that she was not their mother!

She was going. Going somewhere… A brilliant silver light suddenly shone. Its gleam was so bright that she had to close her eyes.

‘Return.’ A familiar voice of a woman sounded in her head. ‘Your time has yet to come.’

‘Return.’ This time, it was a man’s voice, so gentle that her heart basked in its warmth. ‘Do not lose to fate.’

Fate? Lose? Someone like her would lose to fate?

‘Mother. I’m waiting for you.’

‘Mother. Please come back to me.’

Losing to fate, huh?

Never! A villainess like her would never lose to fate!

Hah!!!

“T…That!”

“Y… Your Majesty… Your Majesty has woken up!”

“Impossible!”

“R…Returning from death?!”

“Such a thing has never happened in the centuries before…”

“Coming back to life…Oh heavens. How cruel can you be?!”

“Yu-er! Can you hear me?”

“Sister! You’ve woken up. You’ve really woken up.”

Bai Yu was panting hard, like a person who had been holding their breath for too long to the point of suffocation. Her dried lips tried to move, asking for someone. “…My…”

“Here, Your Majesty.” When her eyes had finally adjusted, she saw that Yue Mei was standing near her bed. Next to her was Bai Xue, who was carrying a swaddle of golden fabric, and Xiao Xi, with similar size of silver cloth. The two bundles were put down on the bed. Bai Yu turned over to gaze at her children’s little faces.

“Fortunately, Your Majesty has gathered enough strength for one last push before fainting. The princess is safe.” Xiao Xi explained it while still crying. She did not look too different from Yue Mei beside her.

“When you stopped breathing, it felt like my heart broke.” Yue Mei gently wiped the sweat on her daughter’s face. Her mother’s eyes were clearly swollen.

“I’m back, mother.” Bai Yu smiled.

She might have already died if her children, Yue Nan, and Ouyang Hongxian, had not stopped her in time. Bai Yu looked at the two infants. A son and a daughter. Their skins were white, slightly ruddy, and they were both plump, like two big steamed buns, making Bai Yu feel the urge to bite them.

Her finger lightly scratched the cheek of the sleeping child. “You two steamed buns are a phoenix and dragon pair too, huh?”

It was you who pulled me back from that same fate, again and again.

“Wait until your father comes back. He won’t know which one’s the phoenix and which one’s the dragon,” Bai Yu said with a smile. Her little buns were so beautiful that it would be believable if she said they were female twins. When her thoughts went to Ouyang Feilong, Bai Yu immediately looked up. “Where is his majesty right now?”

There was not a word of reply. She frowned before trying to sit up despite the pain. Yue Mei and Bai Xue rushed to help her at the same time as Xiao Chang and Xiao Xi took the two infants into their arms. Bai Yu leaned back against the headboard that felt sturdier and more ornate than what she was used to. When she had properly sat up, she then realized that she was not in her own palace. She was in Ouyang Feilong’s bedchamber, which was many times more spacious than hers.

When she swept her eyes around the room, she then discovered that they were not in private. The room was filled with consorts and courtiers who had accompanied Ouyang Feilong to the ritual. Bai Yu was still frowning as she stared, puzzled, at the white attire all of them wore. The color was exclusive to the period of mourning. Then, she finally understood… She must have stopped breathing for so long that they all thought she was dead.

Where was Ouyang Feilong?

Did he think she was dead as well?

“You all can rise and go back to change. Bengong is fine. There’s no need for any mourning.” Bai Yu did not want to ask for her husband in front of such a large number of people. She must protect her image as the empress. The heavy weight on her head told her that Xiao Xi and Xiao Chang had dressed her up in her full formal attire.

What she felt was only a short, passing dream. Yet so much time had passed in this world. Death was indeed terrifying…

“Taizi.” Seeing that all of them were silent and not moving to follow her order, Bai Yu called for Ouyang Mingxian. He had been standing at the foot of her bed, Chu Jiaoxin and Bai Hua beside him in an all-white dress. “You all can go back. Bengong is fine.”

“But…” Ouyang Mingxian seemed to struggle to say something. In his sharp eyes reflected the light of the pain that had never appeared before. Bai Yu turned away from him and to another person whom she could speak more comfortably.

“Father, let them leave. I have to hurry to see his majesty.” Bai Yu wanted to see Ouyang Feilong more than watch these people grieving over her death and resurrection. Bai Han was another person who refused to look her in the eyes, though he spoke calmly.

“I am afraid that is not possible.”

“What do you mean, not possible?”

“Your Majesty can no longer have…an audience with the Emperor.” It was Yue Mei who continued with an explanation. Tears welled up in her reddened eyes before they started falling again. “…The Emperor is sleeping.”

Ouyang Feilong was sleeping?

“The Emperor is sleeping next to…” Yue Huiling stepped forward to speak to her with swollen eyes. The general was in the same mourning attire as the others. Bai Yu contemplated her cousin’s words before turning back to look at the other side of the bed.

Ouyang Feilong was indeed lying next to her. This bed was truly wide. Even though they were both sleeping on it, there was enough space left for the two little buns. Her husband was not in mourning clothes. He wore his golden robe, embroidered with a dragon pattern. On his head was the emperor’s hat, with its twelve strings of pearls.

His enchanting face was wan and full of scratches, spoiling the beauty she loved. Bai Yu reached out to touch those injuries with a trembling hand… What happened to this beautiful face?

Her hands moved to his broad shoulders, lightly shaking them to wake the slumbering person up to give her an answer as to what had happened to the face that had captivated her. The purple jade bracelet peeked out from her sleeve as she exerted more strength to shake him.

“Your Majesty…” No matter how hard she tried to shake him or call out to him, Ouyang Feilong’s eyelids did not move and revealed his bright golden eyes.

Bai Yu blinked, chasing away the water in her eyes. She did not want them to overflow. She did not want what she thought to come true. She gazed at his hands, overlapping with each other like a sleeping person. A glimpse of the purple bracelet could be seen peeking from the golden sleeve of Ouyang Feilong’s robe. Bai Yu moved her shaking hand to caress it. The jade’s cold surface felt no different from the skin of its wearer.

Bai Yu closed her eyes in surrender to the truth. The tears she had tried to hold back finally flowed free. Though she tried to open her eyes to see the beauty of her husband engraved into her heart, everything was blurred by the curtain of tears. She could no longer see him clearly… From now on, he would go to a faraway place where she could not see him.

Bai Yu held his hand, which was wearing the jade bracelet. The sound of the two bracelets colliding against each other might have been light, but it rang and echoed in her head. As if this was the sound when a heart broke… As if this was the sound she heard from him because her lover no longer made a noise. He did not even have the sound of his breath.

He was not breathing.

Ouyang Feilong was not breathing… He was not breathing like she was moments before!