My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

Real... real goods?

Chen Yi's expression changed instantly, freezing in place.

The Dowager's face was gloomy, her gaze dark as deep water. Her cheeks bore a blush—it was truly hard to imagine someone who had lived alone in the palace for over a decade could still appear so tender and radiant.

And yet, his hand was still placed where it should not have been.

Chen Yi looked at the Dowager, then at Zhu E, who was walking over in the distance.

This Zhu E's disguise technique... it really looks alike, almost identical to the one in my arms...

Why does it look exactly the same?!

Chen Yi suddenly felt his blood rushing upward, pain coursing through his body.

His hands loosened, and he staggered back several steps, almost tripping. Pressing his temples, he felt dizzy.

The Dowager watched him coldly, her crimson lips tightly pursed, saying nothing.

Contact was made.

Even if it was just a fleeting moment.

Unspoken fury surged within her, her fingers trembling lightly as she looked down at this brazen subordinate who had dared to cross the line.

Having been struck twice by the unnamed old servant's palms, the injuries on her body were neither large nor small. Now, under this moment of shock, Chen Yi's mind grew chaotic, and he collapsed to the ground.

He had once thought of turning on the Dowager after killing ten men...

Or imagined voicing icy words atop Jingren Palace, "No matter how imperiously you behave as a ruler, I will not be swayed."

But he had never considered that he would encounter her here.

And not just encounter her—

Chen Yi thought of the sensations on his hands and lips at that moment, and felt even dizzier.

The Dowager didn't know how to face him, and wasn't he the same?

The Dowager had prepared to meet him in the courtyard, while Chen Yi had prepared to meet her in Jingren Palace; neither had expected this accidental encounter.

Originally anticipating a fiery confrontation, swords drawn and tension palpable, who would have thought it would turn out so... absurd?

Zhu E saw Chen Yi collapse to the ground and rushed forward in panic, while the Dowager merely watched this woman who had disguised herself as her. Zhu E threw herself onto Chen Yi, cradling him in her arms.

The Princess of Annan embraced the man whose head now rested upon her soft, maternal bosom.

This scene resembled Guanyin cradling a child.

Seeing it with phoenix-like eyes, she felt an inexplicable sense of heartache.

Chen Yi, his mind dizzy, felt the profound force of the unnamed old servant's unique palm technique. Though unnamed, it was undeniably potent. Even with the old servant showing restraint, the difference in skill level left him injured deep within. Stimulated further, his struggling spirit faltered, and his vision churned as colors clustered chaotically in his sight.

Seeing the "Dowager" embrace him, Chen Yi instinctively tried to push her away.

Zhu E hurriedly took out medicine from her garment and, seeing him try to push her away, quickly said, "Sir, I'm fake—just a counterfeit."

Chen Yi gradually calmed down.

Meanwhile, Zhu E had already retrieved ointment, unscrewing the bottle, preparing to apply it. But one hand supported him while the other struggled to pour the medicine, repeatedly shaking the bottle to coax the cream out.

After a moment of struggle, Chen Yi exhaled heavily, about to close his weary eyes, unwilling to face anything more.

When suddenly, he heard a voice at his ear:

"Let me do it. I'm the real deal."

The breath Chen Yi had just released suddenly swallowed back into his chest.

The Dowager had approached, her frosty expression nearly snatching the medicine bottle from Zhu E.

Deep blue ointment landed on her hand, radiating a faintly bitter medicinal aroma. She looked at the Zhu E holding Chen Yi, her gaze deep and silent as she smeared the ointment over the charred palm mark.

Her delicate hands, those of a nation's matriarch, glided along with the ointment, soothing the injury without expression, merely tending to the application. Once done, she turned her gaze slightly, catching Chen Yi's head nestled warmly against the imposter's chest, unmoving.

Echoes of the underground palace flitted through her mind, and her fingertips lightly trembled.

Back then, as she slept, she had held him tightly from behind, while he had docilely rested the back of his head there.

For a moment, the Dowager felt a surge to kill him, solely because this subordinate she had personally groomed seemed to have no bottom line—ready to wag his tail for whoever fed him...

Returning to her senses, shame-fueled anger flared within her. Clenching her hands tightly—until it hurt—she used the pain to ground herself.

"Turn him around," the Dowager ordered.

She watched as the imposter flipped Chen Yi's body forward. His broad back exposed before her, her chest tightened, her gaze a mix of pity and anguish as she slowly applied the ointment.

After completing the application, Chen Yi's condition appeared to improve. He gasped for breath, his respiration stabilizing.

Unconsciously, the Dowager's fingers had begun gently stroking his wounds, as if afraid of causing further pain. And when she returned to herself, the hatred surged back into her heart, shame and anger accompanying it.

Standing slowly, the Dowager cast Chen Yi a look of disdain before focusing on the imposter. Her voice chilling:

"Named Zhu E—so you must be the Princess of Annan."

Zhu E squinted slightly, realizing this woman was the mastermind intent on arranging their downfall, and replied:

"Indeed, little maiden—after ten years apart, how time flies."

"You still remember me?"

Looking at her present appearance, the answer was clear.

Zhu E stood her ground and replied, "If I didn't, how could I impersonate Her Majesty?"

Fire flared within the Dowager's heart. Yet she revealed no anger, her voice smooth and melodic: "Although I dwell deep in the palace, I have heard that Southern Border women all learn disguise techniques because their appearances are unsightly and unfit to meet others. Is there truth to this rumor?"

"Quite the opposite, little maiden," Zhu E replied.

"Oh?" The Dowager sneered.

Zhu E offered a sweet laugh in a teasing tone: "Little maiden only practices disguising herself uglier than she truly is."

The Dowager's anger surged, her phoenix-like eyes brimming with rage.

Yet, sitting regally in court for so long, she was no stranger to countless faces and personalities, and wielded an imperial grace to mask anger from showing. She smiled instead:

"Beauty and ugliness are but fleeting measures; all shall eventually turn to bones. I simply hadn't expected that the esteemed Princess of Annan would resort to thievery."

This remark was clearly meant to insult Zhu E, accusing her of unfaithfulness, branding her as a base woman who shamed her ancestors by cuckolding the Prince of Annan.

But Zhu E's personality—what a character she was! Not being from the Central Plains, she instead gave an obsequious laugh at the haughty Dowager: "Not only stealing, but stealing inside the palace..."

She drew out the mocking tone:

"...right beneath the eyes of the Dowager."

The words struck like a thunderbolt, the Dowager trembling slightly, fully experiencing the sensation of fury searing through her lungs.

"Princess of Annan, do not overreach yourself," she responded coldly. "Should I summon the old servant here to execute you, what then?"

Zhu E broke into giggles, leaning over until her figure loomed over Chen Yi like a mountain pressing down upon his face, almost sprawling onto a tabletop.

"Go ahead, go ahead! His Highness has already left; what use is killing a princess?"

Upon finishing, Zhu E foolishly cuddled Chen Yi closer, rocking him gently:

"Wouldn't that leave you two estranged forever? Tell me, wouldn't he want to kill you to avenge me?"

The Dowager's chest heaved, sneaking a glance at Chen Yi. His face was entirely hidden beneath Zhu E's "mountain," obscuring his expression entirely. In a burst of irritation, she kicked Chen Yi.

Having milk, calling someone else "mother"! Bowing like a dog to this Annan Princess!

Upon reflection, she froze, unable to comprehend what drove her to such unseemly conduct. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself, turning away.

The Prince of Annan was nowhere to be found, leaving only his disgraced, adulterous princess behind. Considering the larger picture, a mere woman held little strategic importance—after all, even Emperor Gaozu had abandoned his wife three times.

Whether Zhu E was captured or killed here would only bring more trouble, possibly even spark an intentional scheme by the Prince of Annan to discard her.

After mulling it over, the Dowager placed her hands crossed over her abdomen and said smoothly:

"Women need not make things harder for one another; I shall spare you today. Take care of yourself."

Zhu E couldn't stand the condescending tone and replied, "Indeed, indeed, the old hag should hurry along."

The Dowager's clenched fingers tightened further as her arched brows rose sharply: "Southern barbarian shrew!"

"Old virgin!"

"If you dare enter the capital one more step, I'll have your face ripped off!"

Still wearing the Dowager's face, Zhu E chuckled: "Good, so you admit you're ugly!"

"You—!" The Dowager's composure finally broke.

"Cough, cough..."

As they continued quarrelling, Chen Yi, who had been feigning death, coughed a few times, causing the "mountain" on his face to jiggle.

Zhu E's cheeks flushed slightly. Letting out a playful whimper, she tightened her hold on Chen Yi.

The Dowager regained her composure, adopting a calmer tone as she said:

"Marriage through courtship yields a wife; elopement yields a concubine. You, as the princess, surely understand the weight of such matters. He is about to be titled a marquis; according to the law, it is up to the palace to decide if there's no lawful marriage established."

The Dowager's reference to the law came from Great Yu's marital statutes, which sought to arrange maidens for unmarriageable noble sons—after all, family standings, no matter how grand, eventually fade over generations.

Hearing this, Zhu E's naturally bewitching gaze filled with meaningful depth.

Of course she understood the implications behind these words—that even as the disloyal daughter-in-law of Annan, she could potentially enter Chen Yi's household if sanctioned by the palace...

But who gave you the right to say?

"Marriage through courtship yields a wife; elopement yields a concubine. That's true indeed," Zhu E replied nonchalantly and off-topic. "But the one he likes best is always the concubine."

The Dowager shot her a phoenix-like glare, holding back her response, and slowly walked away.

Finally free to breathe, Chen Yi let out a long sigh.

"Ah, my lord, you've woken up."

Zhu E pretended she hadn't realized earlier.

Faced with this woman whose every gesture radiated seductive charm, Chen Yi chuckled bitterly, then squeezed her thigh sharply, feigning anger as he said, "Still pretending here?"

Zhu E feigned frailty, adopting a tender and pitiable demeanor, her voice gentle as silk: "Doesn't my lord love it so?"

Though Chen Yi had regained some strength, Zhu E's softness felt like cotton, leaving him reluctant to rise.

At one time he had thought Zhu E fell short of Qin Qingluo; now he saw that even without managing household affairs in the Prince Mansion, the princess carried her own unique charm.

And when tending to household matters, Zhu E met his desires most fervently.

He raised his hand, brushing past the mountain to gently caress Zhu E's face, though the angle made it impossible for him to see her.

"A counterfeit, you see," Zhu E said coquettishly.

"The real thing isn't always better than the fake," Chen Yi replied.