Metamorphosis of an Ugly Girl – Part One

“The master is here, he’s here…” Lihua’s voice came from afar, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. “Ah—” Lihua, just entering the door, seemed to have seen a ghost, screamed, threw down the basin in her hands, and ran while shouting at the top of her lungs: “Help! There’s a ghost!” Qingqing, although not understanding what she was shouting about, vaguely sensed that Lihua’s fear might be directed at her? She suddenly remembered something the ghost doctor had said: “Miss, you must never eat dog meat; foxes and dogs are incompatible. Once you eat it, the black spots on your face will suddenly appear and will only disappear after half a month.” Qingqing had readily agreed because she didn’t eat dog meat. As a child, she had a very cute little yellow dog, which eventually grew into a big yellow dog, becoming almost her only childhood companion. But that yellow dog died from an illness, and Qingqing cried for a long time before silently burying it. That night, a bowl of fragrant, crispy dog meat was served at their dinner table. Qingqing, who normally loved dog meat, casually asked while eating, “Where did this dog meat come from? It smells so good!” Chapter 138: The Actor Red Mama laughed, “This isn’t bought; isn’t it your yellow dog? I found it in the backyard. You child… such a waste…” Red Mama spoke with dog meat in her mouth, her words broken. Qingqing didn’t let her finish before she “wah” vomited, vomiting until her mouth was filled with bitter water. From then on, she never ate dog meat again, and Red Mama never dared mention the yellow dog in front of her. Since Qingqing was so afraid of the yellow dog, it shouldn’t have been because she ate dog meat, right? Holding onto the last bit of hope, Qingqing picked up the mirror from the dressing table. “Crash—” The mirror fell to the ground and shattered into many pieces, looking so tragic in this eerie night. What was supposed to come would come. Who was it? Who gave her the dog meat? And who knew this secret? Before Qingqing could think more, there was a commotion outside the door: “Haha, seems like I can still stir the Imperial Guards!” Qingqing suddenly felt an odd calm, curious to see what tricks the person behind the curtain could pull off. And all she could do now was to stay calm! “Qingqing…?” Li Qin, surrounded by several guards, called out tentatively, leaving everyone speechless. They all followed Li Qin’s gaze, scanning the surroundings but found no trace of the beautiful Anu, only Lin Qingqing with a face full of black marks. Ya Fu, who arrived shortly after, immediately burst into tears and rushed to embrace Qingqing without waiting for anyone’s reaction: “Elder sister, is it you? Have you come back? Oh… Ya Fu and Father have missed you so much…” Qingqing pushed her away; she smiled sweetly at Qingqing, yet continuously spoke of the pain of separation: “What’s wrong with you… What happened?” When Li Qin patted her back, she immediately put on an expression of utmost grief, helplessly sobbing on Li Qin’s chest. After a while, Li Qin comforted her to leave, saying he would handle the matter. Ya Fu put on a show of concern and reluctance as she reluctantly left. He then waved for everyone to leave. The rain had stopped, and the hall was eerily quiet. Li Qin silently stared at Qingqing with a cold gaze, his usual playful warmth gone. Qingqing felt suppressed and finally couldn’t help but speak first: “How do you plan to deal with me?” Chapter 139: Why Change Face “Why?” Li Qin answered with a question. “Shouldn’t the Emperor be asking how to deal with me?” “Why?” Li Qin persisted. “Why have you become like this? Why hide your identity?” “Because I wanted to become beautiful, to make you fall for me. To make the Lin family, to make everyone look up to me.” Qingqing sat back in her chair, her voice lazy, devoid of any emotion. After a long silence, Li Qin sighed deeply: “Do you know why I never liked you, why I only saw you as a confidante?” “Why?” Qingqing’s calm voice had a hint of tension. “Even if you become beautiful, I won’t like you.” Li Qin cruelly stared at her, crushing her last hope: “Because you’ve changed, you’re no longer the kind-hearted Lin Qingqing.” “That kind-hearted Qingqing would only get sympathy and neglect.” Qingqing was somewhat agitated. “You’re wrong. Life has more than just love; there’s also friendship.” Li Qin’s voice was distant and profound: “Remember that year when I saw your innocent face in the suburbs, I regarded you as a true friend.” Qingqing sneered: “If I were beautiful back then, you probably wouldn’t have thought that way.” “Slap—” Li Qin suddenly raised his hand and slapped her: “You’ve insulted me, and you’ve insulted ‘Qingqing’.” Qingqing laughed, “It bothers you that I’ve exposed your thoughts, doesn’t it?” Li Qin glared at her for a long time: “Why do you care? You’ve never liked me; you like the fourth prince. Two people without any romantic feelings discussing who they like seems…” “Yes, I never liked you.” Qingqing interrupted him: “I’ve never considered you a friend either.” “You…” Li Qin was furious, not understanding why Qingqing had changed so much: “You’re just trying to cover up your true feelings. You used to share your heart with me without any pretense, now, you want me to execute you to free yourself?” Qingqing continued to sneer, neither confirming nor denying. Li Qin, in his anger, said, “Fine, I’ll grant your wish…” “Brother…” At some point, the fourth prince appeared at the door, “This vile woman has deceived you so, she deserves death. Kill her—” Chapter 140: To Live After Being Pushed to Death Both Qingqing and Li Qin were surprised by his words. Li Qin had always pitied Qingqing and was displeased with his fourth brother. He knew the fourth prince liked Qingqing but didn’t understand why he suddenly hid his feelings after Qingqing nearly drowned. This inability to read others’ thoughts made the king angry. However, hearing his words now, he wasn’t angry anymore and laughed, “Why should I kill her?” The fourth prince seemed very agitated: “This woman has committed the crime of deceiving the monarch; she should be executed.” Li Qin laughed, seemingly intentionally opposing him: “Although Qingqing deceived me, her crime isn’t death-worthy. And since she was appointed by the late emperor as the empress, she should be sent to the cold palace.” With that, he flicked his sleeves and left, not noticing the fourth prince’s relieved sneer. Thus, Qingqing was sent to the cold palace, where no one dared to visit. Sometimes, Qingqing wondered how the Lin family would react to this. In the cold palace, there was hardly even a mouse to be seen. Only Lihua came to attend to her, and after realizing that Anu was Qingqing, she dared not speak much to her. As winter slowly arrived, the weather grew colder and colder. The master and servant huddled under tattered quilts to keep warm, shivering from the chill. Qingqing had long since reverted to her beautiful self, but she spoke not a word all day. Meals were irregular, and she had become thin beyond recognition. On the winter solstice, a basin of charcoal was finally delivered to the cold palace. Lihua joyfully lit the fire, warmed the food, and called Qingqing to eat, but Qingqing just stared blankly at the sky, paying no heed. Lihua sighed and began to sob quietly, “My lady, I know you’re suffering, but this can’t go on…” Sensing someone approaching from behind, she turned to see it was the Fourth Prince. He signaled Lihua to step back, personally picked up the bowl and chopsticks, and placed them in front of Qingqing. Mistaking him for Lihua, Qingqing irritably pushed them away, then froze when she saw it was the Fourth Prince. With a cold tone, she said, “Doesn’t the Fourth Prince wish for my death? Why the sudden visit today?” The Fourth Prince, ignoring her sarcastic remark, softly said, “Eat something.” Qingqing snorted coldly, “I don’t even want to live, why should I eat?” The Fourth Prince stared at her coldly for a long while before suddenly raising his hand and slapping her. The slap was so hard that Qingqing saw stars, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She looked at him in disbelief and angrily said, “By what right do you strike me? A person who doesn’t care for me, what right do you have to hit me?”