CHAPTER 4: Off-script
"Enter," I said smoothly.
Cui'er burst in, her face pale with terror, her eyes wide and wet with unshed tears. She threw herself to the floor, kowtowing rapidly.
"Miss, it's terrible! A disaster has struck!" Cui'er wailed. "Second Miss Lin Wan is vomiting black blood in the Grand Hall! The Matriarch collapsed from the shock, and the Imperial Physicians say the Second Miss won't survive the hour! And... and..."
I looked down at her, my face devoid of all emotion. "And what, Cui'er?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince is furious!" Cui'er sobbed. "They... the guards searched your chambers while you were sleeping! They found a packet of Nightshade poison hidden beneath your floorboards! The Crown Prince is demanding you be dragged to the Grand Hall to face justice!"
I closed my eyes.
Ah, yes. The classic opening move.
It was exactly the same. In my past life, when Cui'er delivered this news, I had panicked completely. I had run to the Grand Hall in my sleeping robes, crying, screaming my innocence, looking like a crazed, unhinged lunatic. Lin Wan had laid there, looking tragic and beautiful in her suffering. Xiao Chen had slapped me so hard I bled, and the family, disgusted by my lack of grace and apparent jealousy, locked me in the woodshed for a month.
That was the day my reputation as the vicious villainess began, and Lin Wan’s reputation as the tragic heroine was cemented.
I opened my eyes. They were completely devoid of warmth, glowing with a dark, dangerous amusement.
"Help me change, Cui'er," I commanded, my voice ringing with an eerie calm that made the maid stop crying instantly.
"M-Miss?" Cui'er stuttered, looking up at me in utter bewilderment. "You... you are being accused of murder! Should you not put on plain, coarse clothes to kneel and beg the Matriarch for a thorough investigation?"
"Beg?" I laughed. It was a sharp, chilling sound that made the hairs on Cui'er's arms stand up. "I am Shen Luoyan. I am the legitimate daughter of the Shen family, the heir of the primary bloodline. Why should the Phoenix beg the dirt?"
I walked past her, throwing open the doors of my massive cedar wardrobe.
"Bring me my crimson silk dress," I ordered, running my fingers over the luxurious fabrics until I found the one I wanted. "The one with the golden phoenix embroidery. And bring my heaviest jade hairpins. If I am to attend a theatrical performance, I must dress the part."
Cui'er scrambled to obey, too terrified of my sudden, oppressive aura to question me. Ten minutes later, I stood before the mirror.
Gone was the disheveled, panicked girl. Staring back at me was a queen draped in blood-red silk and shimmering gold, her posture perfectly straight, her eyes sharp enough to cut glass.
[System Alert: The plot demands you rush to the Grand Hall and beg for mercy. Penalty for deviation: None. You are off script, Host.]
I smiled, a vicious, blood-curdling smirk.
"Let’s go see my dear sister," I whispered.
I pushed open the heavy wooden doors of my courtyard and stepped out into the morning sun, ready to burn their world to the ground.
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