Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 272: Then I’m Still Your Princess Consort
The bright moon hung in the sky, and the night was still.
Song Lianhe was exhausted from the day’s turmoil, but as she lay on the bed, she didn’t feel the least bit sleepy.
’How... strange.’
Her past life hadn’t been a peaceful one. It was full of frustrations, and as she grew older, she came to understand one thing: if you want something, you have to fight for it with all your might. As a result, her life had been very hard.
But she had one saving grace: no matter how big her problems were, they had to step aside for sleep. Her sleep quality was excellent. Barring the occasional instance of eating or drinking too much, she rarely had trouble falling asleep.
After thinking it over, she realized it was because of what Xuan Mei had told her.
Xuan Mei had told Song Lianhe that if her master wanted to see her, he would return on his own. She wouldn’t have to go looking for him. And perhaps, he might even appear tonight...
That ambiguous answer had actually given her insomnia!
’Simply unforgivable!’
’But she was even angrier with herself. So what if he comes back? It wouldn’t be the first time he’s shown up in the middle of the night to scare someone. It was the same way at the Prince Si Mansion—he’d arrive in secret and leave in a hurry.’
Unable to sleep, she finally rolled over and sat up on the bed, letting out a soft sigh. "Sigh..."
She got off the bed barefoot. Without lighting a lamp, she walked straight to the table and poured herself a glass of water.
Hand on her hip, she walked to the window, pushed it open, and let the moonlight spill into the room. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Roughly estimating the hour, she raised an eyebrow and leaned against the windowsill, listening quietly...
Finally, a scream tore through the air above the E Mansion, sounding particularly shrill in the silent night.
Song Lianhe smiled faintly, swirling the water in her cup. She took a sip, smacked her lips with relish, and drank as if savoring a prehistoric vintage.
"SNAKE! SNAKE!!"
"AAAH!! So many snakes!"
"Someone! Help! Somebody, help!!"
Listening to the chorus of screams and cries for help as if it were the world’s most beautiful symphony, Song Lianhe squinted in satisfaction.
’This sleepless night wasn’t so bad after all.’
"Did you cause this commotion?"
The sudden, deep male voice in the pitch-black room startled Song Lianhe so badly she almost threw the cup in her hand.
She spun around in a panic, her bright eyes wide, and saw a tall figure sitting on her bed.
"You..."
’She had been mentally prepared... or rather, she had held a sliver of hope that he would suddenly appear!’
’But the reality was, she was genuinely startled!’
"Can you please not be so scary every time?" she asked, pressing a hand to her chest, which was heaving up and down.
Despite the pandemonium outside, the room was filled with a strange silence.
He didn’t speak, and Song Lianhe found she didn’t know what to say either.
They had only been apart for a day, but the current awkwardness felt utterly bizarre. She stood there like an elementary school student being punished, not knowing what to do with her hands. Her toes were as restless as a cat’s paws, curling and uncurling, gripping the floor.
Through the bed curtains, the man’s face was a blur of shadows, but she could vaguely make out his sharp profile and powerful build.
Suddenly, he stood up, pushed aside the curtain, and walked out.
As he drew closer, Song Lianhe couldn’t stop her heart from pounding. Her cheeks flushed red, and her breathing grew ragged.
Zhou Cangyan had a unique scent—a cool, woody fragrance mixed with a hint of iron. It was the smell of blood that had seeped into him from years on the battlefield, the scent of hot, fresh blood spilled in the biting cold...
Before, she would have found his aura too cold and wouldn’t have dared to approach him.
But after that night, it was as if she’d developed some strange, embarrassing fixation. Now, just the hint of his scent was enough to throw her into disarray.
’Sigh, it was all her own fault for never having had a boyfriend. That’s why he could get her so flustered.’
’Looked at another way, it was just one night. It’s not like she lost a limb or anything. What was there to be so worked up about?’
’Strictly speaking, she was a veteran of romance who had now slept with two men. How could she let herself be at a disadvantage?’
Steeling herself and mustering her courage, she cleared her throat and began, "Uh, Prince..."
Suddenly, her feet left the ground. Zhou Cangyan had swept her up into his arms!
"Zhou Cangyan! What are you doing?"
Afraid of falling, she instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
The man carried her straight to the bed. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his light brown eyes shot her a warning glance. "Don’t run around barefoot again."
’Song Lianhe froze. It was because of *that*?’
Outside, chaos reigned. Screams of "Snake! Snake! Snake!" could be heard intermittently.
Zhou Cangyan glanced out the window. "I didn’t know you had a knack for controlling beasts."
’That didn’t sound like a compliment.’
Song Lianhe said quietly, "Everything in the world has its counter. Once you understand the principles, it isn’t that difficult."
’Of course, some special methods were also required.’
’For example, animal protein extracted from frogs, rats, fresh fish entrails, or certain medicinal herbs can be processed through decomposition, concentration, and drying to create a dissolved animal protein. This substance has an incredibly strong, foul smell. While humans aren’t very sensitive to it, it’s a powerful attractant for all kinds of snakes.’
’She had only needed to plant a single pellet of it on Song Xilan to give her a night she would never forget!’
"Just because she hit you today? Or... is it because of someone else?"
One side of Zhou Cangyan’s face was cloaked in darkness, while the other was illuminated by the bright moonlight. His face, half in shadow and half in light, was just like his mercurial temperament.
Song Lianhe didn’t overthink it. She sneered, "I was never going to take that slap for nothing! The only reason I didn’t retaliate during the day was because this is the E Mansion, and you have important business here. I couldn’t let my affairs disrupt your plans."
’When it came to revenge, timing wasn’t an issue.’
Zhou Cangyan raised an eyebrow and stared at her for a long moment. Then, the corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk. His voice was laced with a certain laziness. "Making such a scene... aren’t you afraid Zhou Junlin will come after you to settle the score? Song Xilan is his Princess Consort, after all."
Song Lianhe’s eyes went wide. "Well, I’m *your* Princess Consort! The great Prince Qing is my husband. If I get bullied, how could he just stand by and do nothing? That would be a slap in his face, wouldn’t it!"
She said it with such matter-of-fact confidence, but as she spoke, her eyes kept darting toward him.
The way she called him "husband" so righteously, with a hint of a wheedling tone and those expressive eyes of hers, was enough to make one’s heart stir.
Zhou Cangyan lowered his gaze slightly, then suddenly rose to his feet. "Stay in your room."
"Hey, where are you—"
In the blink of an eye, he had vaulted out the window.
"...going?"
Song Lianhe sat there, stunned for a moment. She didn’t move until she heard a "CHIRP, CHIRP" and noticed Chun Hua perched on the windowsill.
The bird was exceptionally excited and seemed agitated, flapping its wings so hard that it knocked a couple of feathers loose.
When it saw that Song Lianhe wasn’t coming over, it turned its head, let out another "CHIRP," and bobbed its little head insistently toward the outside.
Song Lianhe was helpless against its summons. "Alright, I’m coming."
This time, she slipped on her shoes and ambled over. "This is just a minor spectacle. What’s there to see? If you’re going to follow me, you need to broaden your horizons..."
But as she reached the window, she froze—
