Chapter 33 This is called treating white as black.
Qingqing was stopped by the Imperial Guards in front of Xianning Palace.
The people there were the same few she had seen when she was working there before. Upon seeing her, they acted in a businesslike manner, crossing their arms.
"...This servant wishes to see Your Majesty."
The two said in unison, "Your Majesty, please rest and do not see outsiders."
Qingqing shut up. Her gaze turned to the majestic palace.
Click, one of the windows suddenly closed. A glimpse of an indigo hem flashed through the pristine white fabric.
Those who wore this color in the palace were all eunuchs.
She blinked, then suddenly shouted back, "This lowly servant, Yang Liuqing, requests an audience with Your Majesty!"
King Wu's guard is as stable as Mount Tai.
Qingqing knelt at the doorway, repeating the action for the third time.
"This sinful maid Yang Liuqing deserves to die a thousand deaths—"
One cry after another echoed through the empty palace, a cry that reverberated through the wind and snow.
Her voice was too weak; in this weather, how could she possibly wear such a high-class robe in the Xianning Palace?
But Wo Xue, with her hands tucked behind her back and her ear pressed against the window crack, repeated it word by word:
“Eh…this wretched servant Yang Liuqing is stupid, I shouldn’t have, I shouldn’t have,” he suddenly stammered.
Yan Di rolled her eyes and glanced sideways: "Speak."
Wo Xue looked at the boy sitting cross-legged on the ground, seemingly lost in thought, with trepidation, and swallowed hard, saying, "Persuade, persuade His Majesty to do good."
"Turning towards goodness." These two words were like sparks, directly igniting Yan Dibai, who was already on the verge of exploding. He scrambled to his feet, glaring fiercely at the man:
"What did she say?!"
Wo Xue knelt down with her hands on her head, saying skillfully, "Your Majesty, we must not allow that lowly servant to spout nonsense in public!"
Yan Dibai's chest heaved violently, his teeth clenched in hatred.
"This is outrageous!"
What has that woman been reflecting on these past few days?
He was already irritated, and she actually tried to singe his beard?
The boy casually raised his foot and kicked, his eyes reddening with anger, and a sense of pent-up frustration welled up inside him.
Wo Xue glanced furtively and saw the young emperor's beautiful face, pale as a flower, contorted in a grimace. She clicked her tongue inwardly and said with absolute certainty:
"That Yang Liuqing deserves to die! His Majesty is wise and mighty, how can he tolerate a mere woman spouting slander? This servant will seize her now, and His Majesty will subject her to severe torture!"
When he said this last sentence, his resounding determination turned into a perfectly timed question.
Sure enough, Yan Dibai stopped her busy pace and turned to glance at him strangely.
It wasn't said to be bad.
Wo Xue quickly lowered her body, feeling both secretly pleased and annoyed.
He had been having a very difficult time lately. Aside from the beatings and scoldings from His Majesty, one night he suddenly felt a pain in his leg in his dream. When he opened his eyes, he found His Majesty sitting in front of him, kneading his thigh. As if he had inhaled a lot of tobacco, His Majesty seemed somewhat dazed, and the pressure of his touch fluctuated, muttering something like, "Why have you become so thin and hard?" This terrified him so much that he almost wet himself and scrambled out of Xianning Palace.
With both hands covering her buttocks, Wo Xue immediately lamented that she had saved herself.
He didn't think he had any special skills, except that he was better at reading people than others.
Although he disliked Yang Liuqing from the moment she appeared, and even more so hated that she had gained his favor, the fact that no one could have made His Majesty so furious and yet not been killed was no ordinary person. His Majesty's current state... clearly showed that he cared deeply about her.
At this point, Wo Xue couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. However, she quickly stopped herself, her face contorting with righteous indignation:
"I'll seize her and bring her to justice!"
Before he finished speaking, he jumped up, his wide sleeves fluttering like a goose flapping its wings.
Qingqing was reading the seventh edict of self-reproach: "This servant is guilty, guilty of failing to stop His Majesty from committing evil in time,"
The two Imperial Guards looked at her with a hint of disbelief. They were probably thinking how incredibly audacious this maid was. She was trying to correct herself, and then expect His Majesty to do the same. Just as they were straining to hear what the seventh accusation against His Majesty would be, Lady Woxue flew down from above, grabbed Yang Liuqing, and ran upwards.
The two guards looked at each other in bewilderment.
Qingqing stumbled along, not even having time to speak to Woxue, before he launched into a barrage of words:
"You little brat, you're really something! I can't beat you! Go and appease His Majesty. Don't forget my kindness in giving you the medicine, so say a few good words about me."
When he reached the tall lacquered door, he quickly stopped, pushed the door open, threw Qingqing inside, then closed it and used his body to hold it in place, letting out a satisfied sigh.
Just as things were about to ease up, the Imperial Guards below stopped the two of them again.
Wo Xue spat, cursing his bad luck. He went down to take a look and immediately let out a sarcastic "Oh!"
"From the Inner Palace? So they can't wait to come and serve His Majesty?"
The two were Wu Yuzhi and Deng Mengnu.
It had only been an hour since the imperial edict was received. Upon hearing Wu Yuzhi read it aloud, Deng Mengnu's eyes reddened and she wept, saying:
"It seems I'm going to die in the palace. The sooner I die, the better. Anyway, I have no family. I won't implicate you. Just say I slipped and fell to my death."
He then instructed Sister Wu, "If you see Qingqing, just ask her to burn some paper money for me. I don't crave food."
He then kicked off his shoes and attempted to jump into the well to commit suicide.
Wu Yuzhi sat on the washbasin, the imperial edict in her hand clenched until it had a hole in it. Gritting her teeth, she chased after her and slapped her hard across the face. The slap brought tears to the woman's eyes. She grabbed Deng Mengnu's shoulders and said bitterly:
"It's better to live a wretched life than to die a good death, you idiot!"
The other sisters in the inner palace were still silently patting their clothes when someone couldn't help but sob, and suddenly a string of hot tears fell in the cold courtyard.
Everyone knows there's no escaping it, and no one dares to say it. The work in your hands can't stop; even if you cry, you have to keep working while you cry.
Deng Mengnu covered her face. "Why did it have to be us? I might have been happy before. But even those two personal maids are dead... What are we going to do?"
Looking at Deng Mengnu, whose face was streaked with tears, Wu Yuzhi murmured, but for the first time, she couldn't utter a single word of comfort.
Who can disobey the Emperor's decree? Wang Bi cannot, and she certainly cannot.
Wu Yuzhi also wanted to know who had caused them to end up like this, and what kind of grudge they had committed to warrant such a situation.
But it was too late.
Wu Yuzhi sat down again, clenching her trembling hands, and said coldly:
"What should we do? We'll just do as the imperial edict says."
The glimmer of light in Deng Mengnu's eyes dimmed. After a long silence, she stood up: "I'm going to find my sister Qingqing, I'm going—"
"What's wrong with you? Haven't you heard what kind of life she's been living lately?" Wu Yuzhi was furious and went up to slap her again, but someone grabbed her wrist.
Returning home, Aunt Liu tossed aside Wu Yuzhi's hand. Her triangular eyes darted up and down, and her aged voice crackled, more chilling than the cold wind:
"That girl got wind of it beforehand and went to plead for you. Just behave yourself."
Deng Mengnu was stunned: "Who?"
Liu Ao scoffed: "Who else would be stupid enough to bother with you two laundry maids?"
Deng Mengnu's legs went weak: "Qingqing, Qingqing hasn't been... lately?"
"She's bold, and loyal too," Aunt Liu chuckled sinisterly. "I knew it. No matter how calm and honest she pretends to be, she can't hide her true colors. She'll get what's coming to her sooner or later."
Aunt Liu entered the room with a normal expression, saying, "I've seen plenty of people like me who think they're special."
With a slam of the door, Deng Mengnu collapsed to the ground.
After an unknown period of time, she got up and resolutely headed towards the deep palace, a place she had never set foot in before.
The snow crunched, and in the blink of an eye, a series of footprints were superimposed on a series of even smaller footprints.
The two women walked side by side, moving forward together.
...
The first time Deng Mengnu saw the emperor's attendant face-to-face, she was met with a sarcastic remark. Her courage vanished instantly, and she stammered, "This servant, this servant..."
Wu Yuzhi continued, "My lord, this matter has nothing to do with Qingniang. She is young and naive and made a mistake by accident. We have come to apologize and beg Your Majesty to be lenient and not hold it against her."
Wo Xue chuckled inwardly, "You two are quite loyal to each other."
Deng Meng's wife was embarrassed, but Wo Xue scoffed, her smile turning completely cold: "Two mere laundry maids serving His Majesty is a blessing you earned in your past lives. Pleading for Yang Liuqing? You're not worthy!"
Before the two could explain, Wo Xue summoned the Imperial Guards: "Take them aside and await their fate."
He flicked his whisk, yawned leisurely, and glanced at the tightly closed gate as if he didn't notice.
*
Qingqing knelt on the black brick and gently wiped her runny nose.
If you think about what Wo Xue said carefully, you can tell that he must have had a very difficult time with Yan Dibai recently.
She always believed in reciprocity; if you help me, I'll help you back. In the past, she wouldn't have been so overly kind in speaking up for others.
So this is where Oxide's foresight lay.
She made the wrong judgment again.
The room was warm and cozy, and my thin clothes quickly stopped making me feel cold. Slowly, a pair of snow-white, reddish bare feet came into view.
Qingqing withdrew her gaze and remained seated.
Those two long, bare feet, each with distinct slender shanks, circled around her three times, but no one spoke.
Yan Dibai stopped, several veins bulging on the instep of his foot. He couldn't help but start calculating the accounts. The girl who had been silently standing on the ground suddenly leaned forward.
He squinted, and the next moment, his clothes were grabbed by a pair of hands.
Yan Dibai's pupils contracted, and Yang Liuqing, who was holding onto his clothes, looked up at him and said sincerely:
"Your Majesty, this slave is guilty."
She was still covered in fresh snow when she entered. The warmth of the hall caused it to melt into fine water droplets, soaking her hair and skin. A few strands of her disheveled hair naturally clung to her cheeks.
A few drops of fluid clumps, like glistening beads, were applied to her long, curled eyelashes. They trembled as she blinked, seemingly about to fall.
The person is still the same person, and the face is still the same face.
But perhaps because it had been many days since we last met, several things had inexplicably changed.
Yan Dibai's Adam's apple bobbed as he averted his gaze, preparing to erupt in an extremely unfriendly manner. Qingqing gripped her clothes tightly and stood up abruptly, facing a startled Yan Dibai.
The girl's eyes were like two calm, peaceful puddles. The white water could usually only reflect one sun and one moon.
Now, he's in one of those two little puddles.
She brought her well-maintained face closer, seemingly forgetting that she was merely a lowly servant. With her hands resting on her lap, she spoke to him casually and in a relaxed manner.
Will His Majesty punish me?
Yan Dibai's mind raced, and the voice that came out was so hoarse that even she found it unbelievable:
"...What?"
Qingqing glanced at the ground and realized they were standing too close, their toes almost touching. So she took a step back. "Your Majesty, won't you punish me?"
Yan Dibai's unfocused eyes widened, and he saw the girl's expression clearly again.
He remained steady and composed. His inexplicable palpitations were suddenly suppressed by a strong hand.
"Tch." Yan Dibai curled his lips, reverting to his usual ambiguous demeanor:
"Who gave you the audacity to speak to me like that, Yang Liuqing? You're getting more and more arrogant."
Qingqing quickly seized the opportunity to interject in his words:
"Naturally, it was given to me by His Majesty."
Yan Dibai's slanted eye twitched, and he was about to mock her for talking nonsense when he suddenly fell silent.
It seems it really was him who gave it to me.
...A string of vile and obscene thoughts flashed through Yan Dibai's mind. A strange anger surged within him, and before he could even formulate a retort, the obnoxious Yang Liuqing smiled slightly:
“I admire Your Majesty’s kindness, and I remember all the good things Your Majesty has done for me. I spoke out that day only because I was worried.”
When the girl smiled, she revealed two rows of white teeth, and her delicate face instantly gained an indescribable radiance.
The glow of fireflies cannot compare to the radiance of the sun and moon. But if you look closely when no one is around, you can see something special about them.
And at this moment, it's just the two of them.
As the boy stared at her face, he wondered for no reason if Yang Liuqing was using her beauty to seduce him.
He was puzzled.
"Impossible." Yan Dibai quickly rejected the idea. This wasn't the genuine, simple smile he wore when facing Xiao Yuanjing.
But this concession did indeed make Yan Dibai feel better. Since she had given in... Yan Dibai smiled amiably:
"What are you worried about? Tell me."
Qingqing withdrew her sour smile. "If Your Majesty guarantees you won't be angry, I'll speak."
The young man paused, then chuckled, "Yang Liuqing, don't think that just because I promised not to kill you, you can keep pushing your luck."
Qingqing looked at him, raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her eyelids, and silently lowered her head.
"..." Yan Dibai: "I am the emperor, how could I be angered so easily?"
Yang Liuqing looked up again and smiled.
“I fear I will suffer the same fate as Tan Hua and Tan Yue. I still hope to serve His Majesty, and I want to see a peaceful and prosperous era. Until then, I do not want to die.”
She took a breath and met his usually cunning and ruthless eyes with intense intensity. For a moment, she found those eyes less terrifying than she remembered.
Qingqing exhaled, ignoring the boy's increasingly strange expression, and revealed the truth she had always wanted to tell him:
"Your Majesty enjoys trampling on people's hearts and manipulating human nature. It is because when you see people with ordinary emotions, joys and sorrows, who adhere to universally established rules, struggling back and forth on the line of morality, constantly distorting their nature, and becoming more and more unscrupulous and contrary to their true intentions, you feel a heartfelt pleasure."
Struggling and fighting for money and love, "every action of those trapped in this quagmire confirms what Your Majesty thinks. This is what Your Majesty sees, so Your Majesty believes everything is so, and therefore trusts no one."
As expected, Yan Dibai's expression turned icy.
She pressed her advantage, speeding up her speech: "Therefore, Your Majesty thinks that the top scholars and top scholars are nothing more than this kind of people, and that you would not have a shred of pity when you kill them. I was just waking up from a dream at that time, worried about the future, and I couldn't help but blurt it out. I'm not blaming Your Majesty, I'm just afraid."
“I was overjoyed when His Majesty promised not to kill me. At that moment, I also felt that although His Majesty was disillusioned with the world, he still had a glimmer of hope for people.”
The boy's red lips parted slightly, but he quickly closed them, watching her chatter on and on.
Qingqing's tone softened again.
“Even when I told His Majesty I wanted to climb the ranks, he only threatened me. Everyone says Xiao Yuanjing’s achievements are too great and threaten the emperor’s position, how could His Majesty not know that? But His Majesty did not consider suppressing him as Prime Minister Lin had requested. His Majesty no longer cares about reputation, and if he were truly muddle-headed and narrow-minded, he could have ambushed and killed him during the autumn hunt. I violated palace rules by having a private conversation with him, and His Majesty did not blame me at all. I wonder, does His Majesty really not want the world to be at peace at all?”
"Under Xiao Yuanjing's rule, Longnan was a paradise in the Northwest. His reputation was so great that even Miss Xue from the remote Jizhou admired him. Which emperor wouldn't be wary of him?"
...
"Although Your Majesty keeps calling me a lowly servant girl and an ugly maid, if Your Majesty cared so much about social status and appearance, how could you possibly have promoted me to the position of Imperial Attendant?"
The art of flattery requires practice.
As I poured out my thoughts, they became clearer, like parting the clouds to reveal the blue sky. The tangled threads in my mind seemed to spontaneously untangle themselves, becoming distinct and clear.
Qingqing didn't mention Yan Xifang, tacitly acknowledging that it was a taboo topic.
Yan Dibai seemed to freeze, staring at Qingqing as if she were dead.
That's quite interesting.
She was interesting from the very beginning.
Yan Dibai tilted his head childishly at Yang Liuqing. He had always felt that she was a person who was both utilitarian and non-utilitarian.
He still doesn't believe her in the slightest when she says she'll follow him and become his subordinate.
She was indeed smarter than other women. She knew her place and never coveted the rank of concubine, nor did she want to waste time fighting with them.
She wanted to be his "subject," and she made a grand display of herself before him.
Is this the kind of insight an ordinary person should have?
It should be noted that when Wo Xue reported back then, Yang Liuqing's relatives and neighbors swore to heaven that she was illiterate. Now, however, they are showering her with flattery, and can even offer some political opinions.
She never stopped trying to figure him out.
But this time, Yan Dibai wasn't so angry.
The reason for this strange calm was unknown.
There was a person who spent all his time studying himself, and for some reason, he didn't find him so disgusting.
It's strange. Yang Liuqing was no different from those women, yet... she was strangely different from them.
The boy started circling her again, and Qingqing felt uneasy. Suddenly, he stopped. He leaned down, pinched her chin with one hand, and began to knead her face. There was no outburst of anger as she had imagined. Yan Dibai curiously touched her all over.
She then became frightened and quickly shrank back. Yan Dibai pinched her thigh, muttering, "Why has it grown back? And it's not hard anymore..."
Qingqing, daring enough to dove aside, was met with Yan Di's fierce expression: "Move again and I'll chop off your leg."
Qingqing: ……
He was no longer interested in the female body, and at this moment he allowed no resistance whatsoever. He forcefully removed any obstacles.
Then, ignoring Qingqing's stiff body, he lowered his head to look at the scars under her semi-transparent silk pants.
It was three or four inches long, but very thick. This shows how deeply the porcelain shard was inserted.
The boy's breath tickled her legs, even through the fabric. Qingqing wanted to move her legs; her half-fallen pants were truly an eyesore. However, Yan Dibai persisted, even saying:
"Let me see."
"...Your Majesty, this is not appropriate." Accustomed to situations always taking unexpected turns, Qingqing pursed her lips.
Yan Dibai's face immediately darkened: "What's wrong with it? It's not like I haven't seen it before. I'm not good enough, so why are you being so coy? Besides, what if I really do favor you? That's your good fortune. It's not impossible for me to make you a Noble Consort. You're so ugly, you don't even have one ten-thousandth of my beauty. In fact, I'm the one who suffers."
When you're under someone's roof, you have no choice but to bow your head.
Fortunately, she wasn't a girl deeply poisoned by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. She'd already seen it all; it wasn't like she wasn't getting any meat on her hands.
With a slight shift of the body, two white legs gradually appeared on the dark brickwork. However, they were just barely stuck in the back of the knees.
On his right thigh, a reddish-brown scab, resembling half a parenthesis, stood out starkly.
Yang Liuqing's legs were white, tender, and soft.
And this scab is hard and out of place.
Yan Dibai had seen the naked bodies of the concubines in the past, so two legs were nothing to him.
But he found the scar an eyesore.
So he caressed her for a moment, then returned with a vermilion brush. Without a word, he began to draw on her leg. In a few strokes, a crimson flower bloomed from his hand.
The boy admired it carefully, then slowly smiled and said, "Much prettier."
When the sticky, itchy feeling finally subsided, Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief. Looking down at the flowers, she was quite amazed by their beauty.
It's so beautiful and vibrant, it's exactly the same as the traditional Chinese paintings I've seen in textbooks.
She looked at him in surprise. Was Yan Dibai really not as ignorant as he seemed? Then, as if understanding what Qingqing was thinking, Yan Dibai arrogantly said:
"This is called treating white as black."
Qingqing didn't understand, and stared at him with wide eyes.
Yan Dibai's heart skipped a beat at her silly look. He turned his head away uncomfortably, avoiding her gaze: "Use the scar as the stem, and the white skin as the stamen."
"I see," Qingqing murmured. "Your Majesty is learned and talented."
Yan Dibai became even more uncomfortable with the sudden praise, glanced at her sideways, and snorted coldly:
"I am very capable." During his years as crown prince, his studies were always highly praised by Prime Minister Lin.
Qingqing smiled. She stared at the flowers for a while, then moved her legs, wanting to pull them back. Her flesh trembled slightly, and at first glance, even the flowers seemed to tremble. Her pink, rounded fingernails barely brushed against the painting as she lifted her pants, slowly obscuring the stems and flowers, which were faintly visible through her translucent white underwear.
The white meat is gone, and so is the safflower.
Yan Dibai suddenly felt thirsty.
Yang Liuqing was fully dressed, tucked her hair behind her ears, and raised her eyes clearly. Her expression was calm, as if she hadn't felt the ambiguity of her actions just now at all.
Yan Dibai's nose wrinkled into two lines, and he threw down the vermilion pen and hugged it.
Seeing this, Qingqing tentatively asked, "Is Your Majesty no longer angry?"
He seemed to be lost in thought and did not respond.
She lowered her head: "Your Majesty, could you please not have the other two girls as maids?"
Ah, I'm waiting here.
Although he knew perfectly well why she had come, Yan Di's eyes remained dark and unfathomable. The itch in his throat suddenly dissipated, and he gave a strange, sarcastic smile:
"So the fox's tail has finally been revealed, hasn't it?"
Qingqing was very honest: "When I entered the palace, I was fortunate enough to be cared for by the ladies of the inner palace, otherwise I would have frozen or starved to death. These two, in particular, are my benefactors, and I can't bear to see them suffer. I also want to..."
Yan Dibai narrowed his eyes and said, "Speak."
She hesitated for a moment, and for the sake of this rare peaceful atmosphere, she told a white lie:
"I wish to serve Your Majesty alone, and do not want others to compete for it."
Both thunder and rain are acts of imperial favor, which she takes on alone. She bears both the good and the bad.
One person serves.
This sentence is like a sudden rainstorm, pattering down banana leaves and making one's heart pound.
Yan Dibai's heart tightened, and he frowned deeply. His eyes, which had been smiling just moments before, turned icy cold as he looked at Yang Liuqing.
It hasn't been moved for a long time.
Many concubines have said the same thing.
Those who died, and those who didn't.
He was suddenly filled with disgust, for this perpetual insatiable nature, for this spoiled and arrogant attitude. But Yan Dibai smiled gently:
"Yang Liuqing, by what right do you speak to me like this?"
Qingqing bowed down without hesitation: "I am Your Majesty's loyal servant, and if Your Majesty wishes, I will also be Your Majesty's loyal subject. Wherever Your Majesty goes, I will go."
Answering irrelevantly and downplaying the issue.
She wanted his favor, but refused to reveal her true feelings.
Yan Dibai smiled coldly.
"I don't need it. Servants, I have Wu Xue. Ministers, I have Yi Fu and Lin Xiang. Yang Liuqing, what do you think I'm lacking?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 20:17:02 on September 20, 2023 and 21:17:10 on September 23, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: DZ 5 bottles; Lueluelu 2 bottles; Tianya Shuangke and Qunzi 1 bottle each;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
