After Transmigrating, the Female Lead Went Dark (GL) - Chapter 26

Zhou Zhuying’s imagination of the bridal chamber was: Xiao Xinyue would carry her back to the room, gently place her on the bed, intimately kiss her lips, and begin to undress her, while she shyly responded…

Instead, what happened was: after entering the room, Xiao Xinyue put her down and said, slightly breathless, “Sect Leader, you really are heavy.”

Zhou Zhuying’s romantic notions immediately dissolved. She rubbed her stomach and deflected the blame indignantly. “It’s the phoenix crown that’s too heavy!”

Xiao Xinyue glanced at her phoenix crown, smiled, and led her back into the room. She pressed her in front of the bronze mirror and said, “Then let me remove it for you.”

Zhou Zhuying didn’t refuse, as she was eager to take off the heavy ornaments. And the makeup on her face, though beautiful, felt uncomfortable, like her face had been smeared with flour all day. I heard ancient “foundation” was rice powder. Isn’t that the same as flour?

Now that she and Xiao Xinyue had plenty of time to chat, she examined the rouge and powders on the table and asked, “What are these cosmetics made of?”

“I don’t know much about them,” Xiao Xinyue said. “But they are all products of Yunxi Pavilion. I heard they don’t contain any lead powder that is harmful to the skin or body, so you don’t need to worry about damaging your face even if you wear them all day.”

“They even know that lead is harmful to the body…” Zhou Zhuying muttered.

After removing her makeup and all her head ornaments, her neck instantly felt much lighter.

She finally had the leisure to explore Xiao Xinyue’s bedroom.

At first glance, the layout here was the same as the room she was staying in, but the warm antechamber had a door that led to the adjacent room—a study. In the center was a writing desk, and the three walls were lined with bookshelves. Besides books, the shelves held antique vases, colored glaze, and jade artifacts.

The female lead is loaded! Zhou Zhuying felt a pang of envy.

Xiao Xinyue also removed her own head ornaments. Turning around, she saw the Sect Leader sneaking into her study. She quietly followed her and leaned against the doorway, watching to see what tricks the Sect Leader was up to now.

She saw the Sect Leader staring at a pair of jade Ruyi scepters, her eyes glowing. She stretched out her hand, a conflicted expression on her face—she wanted to touch them but was afraid of damaging them and having to pay compensation. After a while, she gave up on the jade Ruyi and turned to touch a nearby jade pillow. As she touched it, she muttered, “Such a hard pillow. Wouldn’t sleeping on it cause cervical spondylosis?”

Xiao Xinyue watched the Sect Leader in amusement. She said, “It’s precisely because I was afraid of sleeping poorly that I left it here as a decoration!”

Zhou Zhuying was startled. Thank goodness I didn’t try to pick up any of those things! If I had been startled like that, my hand would have slipped, and I wouldn’t be able to afford the compensation even if I sold myself into servitude.

“Saintess sister, your collection here is quite rich,” Zhou Zhuying said.

Xiao Xinyue walked toward her and explained, “These jade artifacts are mostly gifts from others. Some were given by Master on my birthday, and some were given by subordinates. These things aren’t very useful to me, and since they were gifts, I can’t sell them, so I just leave them here to collect dust.”

“I could tell at a glance that Saintess sister isn’t the type to like such vulgar things,” Zhou Zhuying flattered her.

Xiao Xinyue asked, “Then what do you think I like?”

“Things that are not vulgar, such as… me!”

Xiao Xinyue’s temple twitched. She knew the emphasis of the Sect Leader’s sentence wasn’t on “like me” but on “I am not vulgar.” So she asked, “Does the Sect Leader consider herself a ‘thing’?”

“Yes! The kind of ‘thing’ that says, ‘If Saintess sister goes East, I will accompany you East; if Saintess sister goes West, I will go with you West.’”

Zhou Zhuying had completely mutilated the original saying (which was more like “I wouldn’t dare go West if you tell me to go East”) into something unrecognizable, yet the revised words were incredibly heartwarming.

“Since that’s the case, shouldn’t the Sect Leader change her address?” Xiao Xinyue asked.

“Oh, right. I should call you something more affectionate in private. How about… Wife?” After saying this, a certain song echoed in Zhou Zhuying’s mind, and she hummed a little tune.

Xiao Xinyue: “…”

She rubbed her forehead. “Just call me by my courtesy name, Zhaojian.”

Zhou Zhuying said, “You scared me! I thought you were asking me to call you *Biaoz (prostitute, similar pronunciation to Zhaojian in Chinese)!”

Xiao Xinyue: “…”

She felt her patience was wearing thin.

Fortunately, the Sect Leader’s attention quickly shifted. She wondered, “Do I have a courtesy name? Should I come up with one on the fly?”

“Yangchun (Early Spring).”

“Huh?” Zhou Zhuying was confused.

“You—” Xiao Xinyue paused. “The Demon Sect Leader’s courtesy name is Yangchun.”

“Yangchun Baixue (White Snow in Early Spring)? That sounds quite nice.” Zhou Zhuying was satisfied with her new courtesy name. “But isn’t calling you by your name a bit too formal? I want to call you Saintess sister because that’s my exclusive address for you.”

Cheesy, cheesy, so much green tea. Zhou Zhuying inwardly critiqued her own behavior.

Xiao Xinyue, seemingly oblivious to her manipulative little tricks, said with a smile, “Fine.”

“So, Saintess sister, your room doesn’t have any secrets, right? After all, I’ll be living here from now on. What if I accidentally stumble upon a secret and get killed to silence me?!”

Zhou Zhuying truly was a master of both extinguishing and fanning the flames. Xiao Xinyue was amused and frustrated by her question, unable to get genuinely angry.

She raised her hand and pinched Zhou Zhuying’s bright, smooth cheek. “If it were a secret, I would naturally have hidden it before marrying the Sect Leader. Why would I leave it somewhere so easily reachable?”

“That’s true.”

The voice of a female disciple rang out from outside. “Saintess, the hot water is ready.”

Zhou Zhuying whispered, “Which one of us bathes first?”

Xiao Xinyue looked at her meaningfully. “Since we are married, bathing together wouldn’t be inappropriate.”

Zhou Zhuying’s heart hammered in her chest. She thought: So exciting! So unrestrained! So wild!

She became bashful. “Two people might be too crowded, though? Why don’t you bathe first, Saintess sister?”

“Very well. Then I ask the Sect Leader to wait a moment!”

Zhou Zhuying: “…”

The script wasn’t supposed to go like this, was it?

She quickly went out to check the bathtub and found it was quite large. Two people could easily bathe in it! Unable to restrain her restless heart, she hugged the tub. “Wow, so Saintess sister usually bathes in such a huge tub? You could almost swim in it!”

The corner of her eye caught a creamy substance nearby, which looked like bath gel, and her attention immediately shifted. “What is this?”

“It’s a cleansing product made from ground bath beans mixed with soap pods and plant ash, used for washing the face and body.”

Zhou Zhuying complained, “Why didn’t I have this before?”

Xiao Xinyue reminded her, “Before our marriage, the Sect Leader was still a prisoner.”

“Oh.” The Sect Leader remembered. As a prisoner, having three meals a day and the ability to bathe was already excellent treatment. Wanting facial cleanser, bath gel, and shampoo was simply delusional.

“Then, now that I am the Saintess’s Wife, can I use it?” the Sect Leader asked.

Xiao Xinyue looked at her with a half-smile. “The Sect Leader is quick to embrace the identity of ‘Saintess’s Wife.’”

Zhou Zhuying said matter-of-factly, “Of course! Since we have to pretend to be a married couple in front of others, to fool everyone else, we must first fool ourselves. That is the definition of superb acting.”

“Fool ourselves first?” Xiao Xinyue’s gaze deepened, losing its earlier amusement.

Zhou Zhuying’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know what she had said wrong to displease Xiao Xinyue.

Xiao Xinyue walked toward Zhou Zhuying. Since the latter was crouching, being looked down upon by her made Zhou Zhuying feel immense pressure, and she started to panic.

“The Sect Leader seems to have some insight into how to act?” Xiao Xinyue bent down and moved closer to her. Zhou Zhuying was so startled that she plopped down onto the floor.

“Saintess sister?”

Female lead, please don’t be like this. I’m scared! Zhou Zhuying whimpered internally.

“So, has the Sect Leader been acting all along, fooling me, and fooling herself?” Xiao Xinyue’s eyes suddenly became sharp and dangerous.

Zhou Zhuying finally realized the female lead’s misunderstanding.

Is the female lead thinking that I’m only pretending that I’m not the real Sect Leader? Heaven knows, I’m not lying! No matter what this body looks like, my core is definitely no longer the Demon Sect Leader!

“I… didn’t,” she said weakly.

Xiao Xinyue knelt down, her knees lightly touching the floor, her hand bracing the floor beside Zhou Zhuying’s waist. As the physical distance between them narrowed, the Sect Leader’s uneasy heart beat faster and faster. They could both feel the other’s breath close by.

“Didn’t you? Let’s take a look.” Xiao Xinyue placed her other hand on Zhou Zhuying’s waist and gently untied the red sash.

“Look? Look at what?” Zhou Zhuying felt her body weaken. Her arms supporting her on the floor became feeble. Her mouth was so dry that swallowing saliva wasn’t enough to quench her thirst; she only wanted a scoop of clear spring water to drink deeply.

Xiao Xinyue didn’t speak. With the sash undone, Zhou Zhuying’s red skirt loosened. The red silk top also came undone, revealing the red lanchun (inner skirt) underneath.

Zhou Zhuying’s eyes darted toward the bathtub. She muttered softly, “Saintess sister, the water will get cold.”

Xiao Xinyue paused her movements, then quickly scooped her up and placed her in the bathtub. Before she could recover from the shock, Xiao Xinyue flicked her forehead. “Then hurry up and wash!”

With that, Xiao Xinyue walked out of the bathing area.

Zhou Zhuying watched her back, feeling all her passion extinguished by a bucket of cold water.

Stopping a flirtation halfway is an extremely immoral act! Even the virtuous Liu Xiahui wouldn’t act like this! Hurry back, let’s play like mandarin ducks!

However, no matter how much she called out internally, Xiao Xinyue did not reappear.

She could only remove the damp inner skirt and bathe while the water was still warm.

After soaking for a while, Xiao Xinyue brought a clean set of clothes and placed them nearby. She saw that Xiao Xinyue was not looking at her, so she said, “Saintess sister, even though my figure is better than yours, you don’t need to be afraid of looking and feeling ashamed.”

Xiao Xinyue gave Sect Leader Zhou a sidelong glance. “Have you decided to repeatedly poke at my feelings?”

Sect Leader Zhou thought: The female lead is the female lead. She describes seduction so gracefully.

Suddenly, her expression changed, and she gasped. “Saintess sister, where is my sanitary napkin? I think my period is starting!”

Xiao Xinyue: “…”

She said, “How would I know where you put it? It’s probably in your dowry box!”

Zhou Zhuying stood up in front of Xiao Xinyue, quickly dried herself, put on the clean clothes, and then began rummaging through boxes and cabinets for her sanitary napkins.

It wasn’t her fault that she forgot about the sanitary napkins. The main issue was that she didn’t know when this body’s menstrual cycle was. After waiting for a long time without its arrival, coupled with being busy with the wedding preparations, she gradually forgot about the whole “Aunt Flo” matter.

Before she could put on a sanitary napkin, a sharp pain shot through her lower abdomen.

Why is the pain starting before the period has even begun?!

“?!” All the strength seemed to drain from Zhou Zhuying’s body, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Hearing the noise, Xiao Xinyue rushed over. Seeing her clutching her abdomen, curled up like a shrimp ball, she was slightly shocked. She quickly lifted her and placed her on the bed, asking anxiously, “Sect Leader, what’s wrong?”

Zhou Zhuying was in so much pain that she felt speaking even a single word would increase the agony. She pointed to her abdomen, sweat already streaming down her forehead.

Xiao Xinyue frowned. She knew that some people experience pain when their period starts, but she had never seen pain as fierce as the Sect Leader’s.

She thought of something, placed her finger on the Sect Leader’s wrist, and indeed found her pulse was abnormally fast.

“Wuwuwu… Saintess sister, it hurts so much.” The Sect Leader’s whimpering came through. She clutched Xiao Xinyue’s clothes, like a miserable, helpless child seeking a safe harbor.

Xiao Xinyue took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, positioning the Sect Leader to lie on her side with her back to her. She then located the Qihai, Guanyuan, Zhongji, and Xiayuquan acupuncture points and began injecting her inner energy into them.

These points are typically used to treat menstrual pain. Since Xiao Xinyue had no needles, she could only use her inner energy to clear the blocked meridians.

Suddenly, she felt the flow of her True Qi wasn’t following the normal path. Instead, it was reversing its course from the Zhongji point upwards, rushing straight toward the Tanzhong point on the chest.

The Tanzhong point is where Jingqi (Essence Qi) normally converges and is a junction point for the Ren Meridian and the Foot Taiyin, Foot Shaoyin, Hand Taiyang, and Hand Shaoyang meridians. According to the circulation of Jingqi, it should never flow in reverse from the Zhongji point to the Tanzhong point.

Moreover, the True Qi she injected suddenly disappeared after entering the Tanzhong point. This looked entirely abnormal.

Xiao Xinyue’s heart sank: This problem is likely related to the disappearance of the Sect Leader’s True Qi.

Zhou Zhuying was already in a semi-conscious state from the pain. She weakly held Xiao Xinyue’s hand. “Saintess sister, am I going to be the first person to die from menstrual cramps?”

Xiao Xinyue’s face darkened. She raised her hand to wipe away her sweat. “Stop talking nonsense.”

She decided to take a dangerous risk and inject the True Qi directly into the Dantian (elixir field). Zhou Zhuying immediately felt much better, but she was already utterly exhausted from the pain. Even though the pain in her abdomen lessened, she had no strength left.

The prolonged effort of channeling True Qi was also exhausting for Xiao Xinyue. Sweat was streaming down her forehead, neck, and body.

After tending to her until midnight, when Zhou Zhuying finally fell asleep, Xiao Xinyue got out of bed to boil hot water in the kitchen.

The people on duty in the kitchen heard the commotion and thought the Demon Sect remnants placed within the sect were causing trouble. They quickly checked and found Xiao Xinyue. “S-Saintess?!”

“Did I wake you?”

“Saintess, are you boiling water? Please let us handle it.”

They were hired by the Moshan Sect to do chores, and boiling water was part of their daily routine. Seeing the Saintess boiling water herself filled them with the shame of having slacked off.

“You all go back to sleep. I’ll do it myself.”

“No, no, no! This is our job! Besides, we should have anticipated that the Saintess would need hot water again tonight and prepared it earlier…” they said earnestly.

Xiao Xinyue: “…”

“Saintess, please go back. We will bring the hot water over when it’s ready. We won’t keep the Saintess and Saintess’s Wife waiting.”

Xiao Xinyue didn’t offer any further explanation. She waved her hand and returned to the room.

Author’s Notes:

Short Scene: The Rumors

Servant: The Saintess and Saintess’s Wife were battling it out until the third watch of the night!

Disciple: No wonder the Demon Sect Leader slept until noon the next day, and when she got up, she was so weak that the Saintess had to feed her!

Servant: You bet! When the Saintess came to boil water, her clothes were disheveled, and she was dripping with sweat. So we thoughtfully boiled an extra pot of hot water!

Disciple: The Saintess is that kind of Saintess!