The breathless crowd, the guards, even the wind through the courtyard trees—everything froze, like the world itself had paused to decide if I would be reclaimed or discarded again.
Six whole minutes crawled by, each one pressing down heavier than the last. The cold stone beneath my forehead bit into my skin. My arms trembled under the weight of stillness, but I didn't lift my head. I couldn't. Every tick of silence felt like a blade dragging down my spine.
And then… movement.
From his throne above, Shen Fuchen raised a hand. The jade ring on his finger caught the sunlight. "The divine healer shall now perform the cleansing ritual for you."
It wasn't acceptance. Not yet. I remembered what I'd read—whispers in exile, scribbled pages smuggled under temple doors. The divine healer wasn't some benevolent physician. He was a demon. A masochist. Captured centuries ago and bound to the Shen family by a soul contract so cruel it was said to make even ghosts weep. They had stripped him of freedom, but not of his nature.
And his nature… was dark.
They called it a cleansing. But everyone knew what it was: a test. A gauntlet of pain, endurance, and humiliation. If I survived it, I'd be declared "purified." If I didn't… my name would vanish from the records forever.
Two guards stepped forward, silver armor flashing. They each took one of my arms and helped me rise. Head still bowed, I let them guide me past the crowd, past the nobles and the stifling silence, down a shaded corridor wreathed in wisteria.
An You followed close behind. Her steps were soft, but I could hear the panic in them. As though she didn't know if she was following me to a ritual or a funeral.
They led us to a side chamber behind the Pavilion's eastern wing. Smaller than the grand hall, but no less heavy with ritual. Incense burned in the corners, scenting the air with ash and old things. A copper basin steamed in the center, surrounded by lotus petals. Crimson curtains veiled the walls.
The guards stopped at the threshold. One turned to An You. "Only the attendant may remain."
The door closed behind them with a sound like finality.
An You approached me with trembling hands. I didn't resist as she began to undress me. The outer robe, emerald green, slipped from my shoulders and caught on my wrists. Then the crimson sash. Then the thin inner tunic. Each layer peeled away some remnant of dignity.
Only one garment remained.
She hesitated.
I met her gaze. "Go on," I said softly. "Let them see what six months of rot and rain have done."
Her fingers shook, but she obeyed.
Now naked, I stood in the chilled chamber, feet firm on the marble, skin riddled with pale scars—ghosts of infection, of flame, of survival.
Across the room stood the divine healer.
Clothed in ceremonial white, his face hidden behind a veil of silk. Only his eyes were visible—dark, calm, and deeply, disturbingly focused on me.
He stepped forward. Silent as he raised his stick up to the sky. "gods of the land, I present to you Shen Mi who was once impure. She has come to redeem herself." With a strike on the ground, I felt a cold ambiance cover me instantly.
It was insanely dark and chilly. Voices whispering in my ears. My body went still, and I couldn't move or run. I stayed there, shivering internally.
Another stroke to the ground, and the voices were all gone. The divine healer opened his palms, his eyes fixed on me with disbelief.
More like... disbelief that I survived.
My face twitched in pain as An You lifted me out of the copper basin, clothed me with a snow white linen and taken to another inner chamber to be dressed up. I sat down on the stool, my body cracked up from immensely absorbing so much power.
"Young Miss, is there nothing really wrong with you?" I assumed her asking that question was because impurity was hard to get rid of meaning more excruciating ritual and chants and pain as well. "You can tell me if anything is wrong..."
"Be dismissed!" I waved my hand and she scrambled out of the room in fear. I breathed out, my hands raising up to my hair. "Xue Lian, I know you were the one who did it."
"Took to long to acknowledge me." As usual, she appeared in the most awkward position, behind the curtains. Her clothes already changed to a heavenly knitted robe. She had her hair packed into a bun. "You really take risk don't you? What was the one thing I ask ed you not to do?"
"Did you think I had an option?"
"And did you think I'd be there to have saved you when the ritual actually worked? You could have endangered yourself, this timeline and more importantly, activated the devil bone. Tsk, you should really start facing the consequences of your actions!"
I didn't say anything and kept shivering. Xue Lian tossed me a towel and when I couldn't catch it, it fell to the ground. She picked another one and rubbed off the remaining water off my hair. "You've disrupted somewhere in the god system. I'd explain later on. Keep your spirit level together."
"Where did you go this morning?" I asked, slowly adapting to the new me after the cleanse. My skin was smoother and white, no more spots. I rose from the chair, picking the robes but after bit and adorning it on my body.
"I needed some fresh air. Your cabinet was a disgust and also, I gave those two a befitting burial. In the realm of the twelve gods, no dead shall escape being put in the ground. I had to."
"Oh---" Was what I could respond with since there was nothing that came to my mind.
"You are doing it all wrong!" Xue Lian spat out, flicking my hand from the robe and taking everything off from me. She looked me up and down, unimpressed. "You survived a soul-breaking ritual, and you thought throwing on a bathrobe would be enough?"
She didn't wait for my answer. Of course not.
With a flick of her fingers, golden threads appeared in midair. They shimmered, moving like they had a mind of their own, and wrapped around my body—tight in some places, flowing in others. The fabric they wove into wasn't just red. It was deep, ceremonial red. The kind of color you don't wear unless you've either been chosen by the gods… or dragged yourself back from the dead.
And somehow, both applied to me.
She stepped back and tilted her head. "Now, that's better."
I barely had time to breathe before she was pulling open a carved jade box filled with ornaments that didn't look like they belonged in this world—black iron combs shaped like phoenix wings, strings of pearls, delicate chains meant to fall just right on my face.
She started on my hair next, her fingers weirdly gentle. "Left braid. It shows you've been through something and came out the other side."
"Resilience?"
"Sure. Let's go with that." She smirked. "But really, it just means no one will try to poison you again. At least not in public, I hope..."
My hair twisted into something regal and poise. When she pinned the final piece—a crescent blade at my crown—I didn't even recognize myself in the mirror. My skin was flawless.
The hell did I even resemble someone who loved entrapped in the woods for six months.
Xue Lian stepped back, arms crossed. "You're ready." A suge of pride erupted in her as she stepped away admiring her creation. An You pushed open the door and to her amazement couldn't keep her mouth from drooling.
"Miss Shen Mi, you even look prettier than Ran Yaoyao. The maidens and princesses will be so jealous." She screamed, smiling proudly at me. "Now other maidens won't look down on me that my mistress is a weakling."
I ignored her dettered remark and moved out of the room. Immediately I was escorted to the outside where I previously knelt. Instead of kneeling on the rough marbled ground, a red linen was spread and I knelt down not with my head bowed.
"Father, do you accept me now?"
"Shen Mi, every impurity of you has been taken away. You are now one of the royals."
The smirk only appeared and soon enough, a canon was shot as the final ritual practice. The silence disappeared and everyone began admiring me from where they were seated. I didn't loose guard, my eyes swept through the crowd, noting figures that were once present in the brothel yesterday.
From Zhang Chang to the empress, Tian Tian and Lin Hua who's gaze was more preying than anything else.
On His verdict, I rose from the ground and was led into the chamber.
"Let the game begin!"