Chapter 17 [17]

【17】

"That bastard hurt me!!!"

Lu Zhiwan's facial expression was almost out of control, especially when Empress Dowager Gu and Concubine Gu also looked at her, she really wanted to dig a hole on the spot.

Quietly pinching her palms, she forced a stiff smile. "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. However, I come from the countryside and am not good at music, singing or dancing. In my eyes, all songs and dances are the same. Your Majesty, please watch with the Imperial Concubine."

Xiao Jingting looked at her thoughtfully, with a look of regret on his face: "If that's the case, then forget it."

Then he turned to Concubine Gu and said nonchalantly, "Go and see for yourself."

Concubine Gu was a proud and arrogant person. When she saw the emperor's refusal, her pretty face turned red and white, and she was extremely embarrassed.

She tilted her head and gave the Queen Mother a look of grievance, but the Queen Mother just shook her head slightly.

Concubine Gu bit her lip and caught a glimpse of Lu Zhiwan who lowered his head beside her. She felt that this vixen was pretending to be well-behaved and was extremely hateful.

But under the emperor's nose, he couldn't teach her a lesson.

After taking several deep breaths, Concubine Gu concealed her cold gaze and said softly, "Since Your Majesty is busy, let's do it next time."

Xiao Jingting didn't say yes or no, he just turned sideways and looked at Queen Mother Gu: "Mother, please try this hawthorn bean paste cake. The imperial kitchen just made it at noon."

"Okay, I'll try it," Queen Mother Gu replied gently. She picked up a small, delicate, flower-shaped pastry from the pink and white porcelain plate, gracefully brought it to her lips, took a bite, and then her eyes narrowed as she praised, "It's really good."

"Yu'er, Concubine Lu, you should try it too."

These words eased the awkward and tense atmosphere in the hall a little. Lu Zhiwan took the pastry and ate it in small bites, hoping that this suffocating social scene would end quickly.

Perhaps God was moved by her sincerity. After chatting for a while and drinking half a cup of tea, Empress Dowager Gu prepared to leave.

Xiao Jingting lifted his robe and stood up: "Your son will see your mother off."

Empress Dowager Gu chuckled and agreed, then walked out side by side with the emperor, constantly reminding him, "Ah Yin, although you're busy with state affairs, you should also take care of your health, especially at the turn of spring and summer, when you're most likely to catch a cold..."

The mother and son walked in front, followed closely by Concubine Gu, and Lu Zhiwan followed silently at the end. He looked very cautious on the outside, but his mind was full of thoughts -

"The Empress Dowager has always called the Emperor Ah Yin. Is that his nickname? I don't know which silver it is, the silver in gold, silver, and jewelry? Silver isn't very valuable, but he's an emperor after all. Calling him Ah Jin sounds more noble."

"I didn't expect the dog emperor and the queen mother to be like this in private. But since they're not biological mother and son, they really can't be close..."

"This Imperial Concubine Gu seems to be particularly good-tempered today. She wasn't angry at all when the bastard Emperor rejected her at first? Look at the way she looks at the Emperor. Could it be that she really likes him? Alas, it's a pity that the bastard Emperor is just a blockhead who has no romantic feelings. It's better for the beauty to find someone else to love as soon as possible."

"That hawthorn bean paste cake was indeed quite appetizing. What should we eat tonight? The sweet and sour pork ribs that the imperial kitchen sent yesterday were quite good..."

Outside the magnificent palace, Xiao Jingting helped Empress Dowager Gu onto the sedan chair. Turning around, he saw Lu Zhiwan standing quietly beside the jade steps. He seemed well-behaved and docile, but in fact, his dark head was still struggling with whether to eat sweet and sour pork ribs or roast chestnut chicken tonight.

How come she only knows how to eat?

Xiao Jingting stepped forward and seeing that she was still unaware, he couldn't help but raise his hand and knocked on her forehead.

Lu Zhiwan covered his head and groaned. Seeing the tall man standing in front of him, he immediately put on a smile and said, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Xiao Jingting lowered his eyes to look at her: "Everyone has left, but you're still standing here. Do you want to be a gatekeeper at the Yangxin Palace?"

Lu Zhiwan finally reacted and hurried forward to hold Xiao Jingting's sleeve, softly and coquettishly saying: "My skin is delicate, and it will turn black like charcoal if it is exposed to the sun for half a day. Your Majesty is willing to let me guard the door?"

As soon as she said that, she felt the man's gaze on her face, as if it were real, and her ears inexplicably felt hot.

After looking for a while, he snorted in an ambiguous voice and walked into the hall.

Lu Zhiwan: “???”

"Was this bastard just laughing at her?"

"How is she not delicate? She's only sixteen years old, as tender as a flower, so tender you could squeeze out water! You have no taste!"

She followed him into the palace, cursing. Meanwhile, Imperial Concubine Gu accompanied the Empress Dowager back to the Cining Palace. She couldn't help but complain, "Aunt, why didn't you say a word for me just now..."

Empress Dowager Gu took the half-copied Buddhist scripture slowly and carefully sorted out each page. "What do you want me to say for you?"

"Please let Your Majesty and I go together to enjoy the singing and dancing." In front of her aunt, Concubine Gu couldn't help but speak with a little girl's arrogance. "Although Your Majesty favors Concubine Lu, she can't monopolize Your Majesty, right? There are so many other women in the harem. Your Majesty should treat them all equally. Otherwise, will he really follow the example of the late emperor, who favored Concubine Zhen alone and neglected the country, as those outsiders say?"

Her hands paused as she sorted through the Buddhist scriptures. Empress Dowager Gu's round, kind face frowned for the first time. She looked at the imperial concubine seriously, "Yu'er, your majesty is not the late emperor, and Lady Lu is not Concubine Zhen. They cannot be confused."

"Not now, who knows about the future." Concubine Gu looked at Empress Dowager Gu's face, which was well maintained but still showed signs of aging, and thought to herself, her aunt had been alone in the empty room for all these years, and she had to wait for Concubine Zhen and the late emperor to death before she finally got her happy ending. She, Gu Yu'er, didn't want to follow this path. Her beauty was still there, but her love was gone. Even if she finally became the number one in the harem, her best years would have been wasted. What's the point?

Empress Dowager Gu was a smart and perceptive person. When she saw her niece's cunning eyes, she knew what she was thinking.

When her brother suggested sending Yu'er to the palace, she hadn't agreed. Her life had already been ruined in the inner palace, and she couldn't bear to see her beautiful niece suffer the same fate. Furthermore, the emperor had a strange illness and disliked socializing, so entering the palace would be no different from being a widow.

But her brother insisted on doing so, and Yu'er was ambitious and wanted to become the queen and the most noble woman in the world.

The father and daughter were determined to do it, and Empress Dowager Gu couldn't stop them. In the end, she had to agree to let her niece enter the palace.

As it turned out, her expectations were correct.

The emperor, in recognition of her kindness in raising him, bestowed upon the Gu family the title of Imperial Concubine, but that was all. To the emperor, Gu Yu'er was no different from any other woman.

"Yu'er, you put that poison in A Yin's food. He spared your life for the sake of me and your father and brother. That was the most righteous thing he could do. Now you still want me to speak well of you..."

Queen Mother Gu sighed softly, her dark eyes aloof and serene. "First, I cannot bring myself to say it. Speak- ing would only further alienate Ah Yin from me. Second, you should understand his character. Unless he wants to, no one can change his decision."

Gu Yu'er knew that drugging him was a big mistake, but she still insisted, "But aunt, you raised him after all. If it weren't for your kindness and compassion, how could he be where he is today?"

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Gu's expression darkened and her tone became more serious: "Yu'er, be careful with your words!"

Gu Yuer wanted to say something but stopped herself and finally shut up.

After a long silence, Empress Dowager Gu spoke seriously, "Although I don't care about external affairs, I'm not blind or deaf. You previously ordered Concubine Hu and Concubine Zhao to harm Concubine Lu, and then pushed Concubine Zhao to take the blame. Didn't you think others didn't know?"

"Aunt..."

"Listen to what I have to say first."

Empress Dowager Gu's face was stern. She spoke slowly, "You don't need to quibble, let alone explain. Since I know, His Majesty must know too. You should know clearly why he didn't pursue the matter... Yu'er, listen to your aunt's advice. Don't just focus on your own little piece of the picture. Consider the overall situation. Your father and brother hold high positions in the court, so you should be low-key and generous in the harem. I don't ask you to win the emperor's favor or give birth to an heir. As long as you behave yourself and do your best as a concubine, it will be enough for you, me, and the Gu family. You should know the principle that the moon waxes and wanes."

Imperial Concubine Gu sat there in a daze, her stiff expression only softening a little after a long moment, still unwilling to give in. "But I... also want to please His Majesty."

Which girl doesn’t have love in her heart and doesn’t want to be cared for and loved by her lover?

Looking at the young and beautiful face before her, Empress Dowager Gu's eyes were dazed. Then she slowly lowered her head and continued to sort out the Buddhist scriptures: "In this world, nothing can go as one wishes. Besides, I also advised you before. This path is your own choice."

Unlike her, she didn't even have a choice back then.

Hearing this, Concubine Gu still bit her lip and remained silent.

Empress Dowager Gu also knew that she had hit a dead end. She sighed softly and after a while, she continued, "That Concubine Hu is also of ill-intentioned character. The Emperor cannot tolerate any sand in his eyes, and neither can I. Tomorrow I will issue an order to send her to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to shave her head and practice asceticism. From then on, she will spend the rest of her life in seclusion, thus atonement for her sins."

Concubine Gu didn't care about the life or death of others, and said calmly: "It's up to you, aunt."

Queen Mother Gu looked at her deeply and said earnestly, "Those who commit many evil deeds will be punished. This happened to Concubine Zhao and Concubine Hu. Yu'er, please do not repeat the same mistakes and follow in their footsteps. Otherwise, even I cannot save you..."

Facing her aunt's eyes that contained hidden majesty, Concubine Gu's heart suddenly trembled, and she lowered her head in dismay: "Don't worry, aunt, Yu'er knows her limits."***

The night is dark and the moon is bright.

In order to better understand the reason for this sudden appearance of mind reading, Xiao Jingting allowed Lu Zhiwan to sleep in the bedroom.

In the dead of night, listening to the even and gentle breathing beside his ears, Xiao Jingting slowly opened his eyes.

He raised his hand and opened half of the curtain. The faint candlelight shone into the dark bed curtains, and also illuminated the beautiful face that was sleeping soundly.

Xiao Jingting supported himself on the bed with one arm and sat up, his dark eyes staring at the woman deeply.

From the ridiculous encounter at the beginning, to the gradual physical contact, to the sudden emergence of her inner voice today, why did so many strange things happen to her?

Could it be... that she is a monster?

After staring at the face for a long time, Xiao Jingting raised his hand and stretched out two long fingers towards the peach-like face.

I poked it and it was tender. I pinched it and it was soft.

Where in the world could there be such a monster? Lazy, greedy, and defenseless—

But maybe it is precisely because he is useless that he can't survive among the monsters and comes to the human world to make a living?

This reason sounds a bit absurd, but it is inexplicably reasonable when applied to the Lu family.

Xiao Jingting was amused by this assumption, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, but after a moment, he suppressed it. He rubbed the soft cheek twice, until the person under his palm groaned, then he withdrew his hand and lay down again.

***

Lu Zhiwan, who was sleeping, had no idea that in just one night, she had become a different species in the eyes of men.

But soon, she knew—

Three days later, Lu Zhiwan returned to Lifeng Palace after recovering from his illness.

Looking at the crowd of monks and Taoist priests standing in front of the courtyard, Lu Zhiwan said: "???"