Chapter 0321 Extra—Cao Qingran: The Air She Breathed, The Salt She Ate

When the Soul Incense was first lit, Cao Qingran felt somewhat uneasy in her heart.

Until she discovered that the “Xie Chengze” whose soul had been swapped seemed to possess Xie Chengze’s memories. His behavior remained unchanged from before—still fond of smiling, still gentle with everyone.

As if nothing had changed at all.

Heaven truly favored this body. Even after a soul replacement, it housed such a pure spirit.

Everyone believed he was still Xie Chengze. Emperor Jian didn’t believe in the theory of soul transference, and the imperial consorts rarely interacted with Xie Chengze because of her, making it impossible for them to distinguish between the two. Even Xie Jinyu, who had always relied on him, after repeated memory tests, came to believe that Xie Chengze had heard the court rumors and was deliberately hiding his brilliance to avoid embarrassing her.

Except for Hua Ning.

She firmly believed that “Xie Chengze” was not her son, convinced that his body had been taken over by an imposter.

“Qingran, none of them believe me! None of them believe me!”

The once bright and radiant young woman in red, whose beauty had once captivated the world, now looked haggard and weary, like a withered tree sinking into a swamp. With intense and desperate hope in her eyes, she gazed at Cao Qingran, seeking final salvation. “Qingran, aside from me and His Majesty, you are the closest to Ze’er. You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you?”

The delicate and charming woman lay in her embrace, her eyes red and moist, laying bare all her vulnerability. At that moment, Cao Qingran realized that a single word from her could save this woman.

Or easily destroy her.

A shameful, secret thrill surged within her.

That feeling of control and dominance, once lost, had returned.

“Yes…” She gently brushed aside the disheveled strands of the woman’s hair, suppressing the turbulent darkness in her eyes. “I also feel that Ze’er seems… different in some way.”

She patiently listened as Hua Ning detailed the differences between Xie Chengze and “Xie Chengze,” yet Hua Ning was troubled by the fact that the soul occupying her son’s body didn’t seem malicious. The child’s gaze toward her was always restrained and sorrowful, cautiously trying to please her, making it impossible for the kind-hearted Hua Ning to utter a single word of resentment.

“He always gives me the feeling that he didn’t willingly take over this body… but I just want my Ze’er back… He’s still so young…”

Noticing Hua Ning’s emotions gradually calming, Cao Qingran paused her comforting hand and said indifferently, “If it wasn’t voluntary, why doesn’t he dare admit he’s an imposter?”

“Even using Ze’er’s memories to deceive everyone—with such skill, perhaps the feelings he shows you are also fabricated?”

She lured her with every word, watching Hua Ning grow anxious again, feeling both satisfaction and shame.

The person who once could stir a thousand emotions in her had ultimately become a pawn in her hands, to be manipulated at will.

She could choose to say “I believe you” when no one else did, to soothe Hua Ning’s heart, or she could say “Perhaps you’re just overthinking it,” making Hua Ning frantically present evidence and crave validation in front of her.

She gradually became addicted to this belated thrill of revenge.

But it wasn’t enough.

To sustain this sensation and prevent the gentle and kind “Xie Chengze” from reconciling with Hua Ning, she secretly dispatched her agents to sow discord and intimidation against “Xie Chengze.”

“The reason Consort Hua wanted to retrieve her son’s soul was because the Heavenly Decree had proclaimed his spirit as the Lucky Star, and this title could protect you, a son without royal bloodline!”

“Once the imperial family learns that you caused the death of the Lucky Star, your only fate will be death!”

“You’d better maintain your disguise! You are Xie Chengze! You are the Lucky Star!”

She succeeded.

The intimidated “Xie Chengze” grew increasingly distant from Hua Ning, and as Hua Ning’s condition deteriorated, their relationship began to worsen.

Hua Ning resented him for pretending to be her son.

He resented Hua Ning for placing his innocent soul on the frying pan of public opinion, refusing to give him a way out.

Hua Ning eventually fell ill, gravely ill. On her deathbed, Rou Fei extended her life by a few months with a Life-Preserving Pill.

But she still passed away.

Upon learning of Hua Ning’s death, Cao Qingran was lost in thought for a long time.

She should have felt relieved, but what Cao Qingran felt was boundless loneliness and confusion.

Like a fish suddenly losing its direction, not knowing where to go, she wandered in the water. At night, Hua Ning’s sorrowful face would always appear, fierce and disappointed, questioning her.

“Qingran, are you satisfied now?”

Cao Qingran’s mood sank to the bottom, losing all desire for everything. She suddenly realized that, to her, Hua Ning was no longer poison but the air she breathed and the salt she ate.

She had destroyed her.

And destroyed herself.

Destroyed the self that should have been pure, flawless, free, and unrestrained.

Cao Qingran lost all desire for everything—the position of Empress, the Cao family, freedom—it all seemed meaningless. She entered the Buddhist hall, intending to extinguish that stick of Soul Incense, but then she vaguely thought, even if Xie Chengze returned, what would it change?

Hua Ning was already dead.

Would having Xie Chengze return only make him bear the pain of losing his mother, and then have him investigate her?

Cao Qingran was a coward. She dared not face the real Xie Chengze and then be confronted with his pure, flawless eyes filled with questioning and resentment.

She replaced the wooden table and bodhi with peach wood, hoping to refuse the mother and son from entering her dreams to question her.

Her life returned to the beginning. The meaning of her existence was to become the Empress and then make Xie Jinyu the Crown Prince, the future emperor.

She originally thought “Xie Chengze” was mediocre and would inevitably lose to Xie Jinyu, but she unexpectedly discovered Sheng Shihai’s ambition.

Sheng Shihai miscalculated and accidentally bribed her insider, instilling in “Xie Chengze” the idea that if he didn’t compete for the throne, he would die, saying he was merely a whetstone cultivated by Emperor Jian for the Crown Prince, and wanting to support “Xie Chengze” in contending for the throne.

“Xie Chengze” believed it, or perhaps he didn’t.

By then, Cao Qingran had noticed that “Xie Chengze” seemed particularly averse to Long Yang’s Preference, so he grew increasingly repulsed and resentful of Xie Jinyu’s dependence, and their relationship became increasingly cold and distant.

“Xie Chengze” seemed to want to escape Jingcheng, so he became “extremely greedy for wealth.” Wuhen and Wuji forbade him from leaving Jingcheng, so he became irritable and easily angered. “Xie Chengze” tried to win Shen Yuan over to his side, but Shen Yuan always managed to step on his tail with every word.

Perhaps Sheng Shihai persuaded him, or perhaps he wanted to take revenge on Xie Jinyu and Shen Yuan. She sensed that the real battle for the throne had begun.

She had witnessed this decade-long struggle from the sidelines, initially believing that Xie Jinyu and Shen Yuan could defeat “Xie Chengze” and Sheng Shihai. Yet she never expected Xie Jinyu to nearly lose—had she not intervened promptly by having Cao Que assist Shen Yuan, Xie Jinyu might truly have been killed by “Xie Chengze.”

“Xie Chengze” was no longer the original “Xie Chengze” anymore.

Everyone had become unrecognizable.

In the end, Cao Qingran decided to put an end to this farce. She revealed the truth of the soul exchange to Xie Jinyu, explained the matter of the Soul Incense, then secretly arranged for Shen Yuan to kill Xie Chengze, framing Shen Yuan for Xie Chengze’s death.

She was indeed despicable.

To the very end, she dared not let Xie Chengze return.