Chapter 33 Turning Point (Xiao Xiu) I thought...between you and me, it had already...
On the Boshan stove, a golden beast spewed out green smoke, which stretched the human figure reflected on the screen into longer and shorter ones.
Shu Yao sat upright like a mountain, meeting Xiao Chengjing's scorching gaze that was determined to win.
The candlelight flickered slightly in her calm eyes, but it couldn't cause a single ripple.
"Your Majesty," she said in a clear voice, breaking the silence in the hall. "This has already been the third time this month. According to the agreement..."
"Promise?" The warmth in Xiao Chengjing's eyes faded away little by little, as if a light suddenly went out, leaving only a bottomless darkness.
He stood up and walked slowly behind her.
A tall figure loomed over her from behind.
Shu Yao looked at the low table, and the dark shadows gradually swallowed up her own shadow.
Her long eyelashes did not move, she just sighed silently, leaned on the edge of the table, and slowly turned around.
She raised her eyes, her gaze clear and steady, facing the oppression that was so close.
He leaned over, put his arms over her shoulders, and leaned heavily on the table on both sides of her, trapping her in a small space.
"Yaoyao." He locked his eyes on hers.
Even if she knew, she would not have the slightest intention to deal with him at this moment.
He was still like a gambler, stubbornly turning his gaze back and forth in her eyes, trying to dig out any ripples.
Even if it's just disgust, that's fine.
He put on his usual cynical expression, trying to hide something. "Agreements are dead, but people are alive." His Adam's apple rolled, and his voice took on a forced languor. "Yaoyao, you're being so fussy. Isn't that a waste of a good night?"
Shu Yao did not avoid his approaching gaze, but instead smiled faintly.
She seldom smiled like this, and at this moment she smiled faintly, like a plum blossom blooming proudly in the snow, which actually made him stunned for a moment.
"Could it be..." she began, her voice as clear as pearls and jade, "Your Majesty, in the eyes of every word I say is like flirting?"
Slightly stepping back half an inch, she reiterated word by word, without any hint of charm in her voice: "It has been three times this month. According to the agreement, I do not need to serve Your Majesty today." After saying this, her eyes narrowed, and the smile that had just appeared on her disappeared completely.
Hearing this, Xiao Chengjing's hand that was supporting the edge of the table suddenly clenched into a fist, his knuckles turning white, as if he was trying hard to endure something.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly raised his right hand and grabbed her jaw with an uncontrolled anger.
The force was so great that Shu Yao couldn't help but frown.
Her subtle reaction was like a needle, pricking his pupils and making them tremble.
Almost subconsciously, he withdrew the strength from his knuckles and turned it into a vague support, with only a faint tremor showing through his fingertips.
He deliberately slowed down his voice and forced out a hint of tenderness: "I thought... between you and me, it has long been more than just this." He said the first three words with some difficulty, perhaps because he was unwilling to give in.
Although Shu Yao was being restrained by him, there was no emotion in her eyes, but instead a hint of sarcasm.
It's like being an outsider watching a play that you have no control over.
After a long moment, she slowly raised her hand and grasped his wrist without hesitation. She smiled softly and said, "It's more than that? Oh, Your Majesty, tell me, besides that little bit of physical intimacy, what else is there between you and me?"
what else?
Countless fragments flashed before his eyes.
When he was wounded by an arrow, she was completely focused on saving him; when she turned her back to him to steady the memorials, her ears turned red; and when she was just learning to ride a horse, her bright and lively smile.
He thought that she treated him differently after all.
But there was no shyness in her eyes at this moment, only cold scrutiny.
What did she take him for? What did she take herself for?
He felt more absurd than ever before.
All the excuses, questions, and even coercion froze in the throat and became extremely ridiculous.
In the end, he just curled the corners of his mouth coldly and turned away resolutely.
After parting on bad terms that day, Shu Yao waited and watched for a few days and found that the library still allowed her to enter and leave freely.
I felt a little relieved and thought to myself: One of Xiao Chengjing's few advantages is probably that his methods are not too despicable.
One day, she was scanning the book at a glance when her sight was suddenly caught by a few lines of small characters.
Letter:
There is a pond in Liang Palace, named Taiye Pond.
Shu Yao's fingertips brushed over the three words "Taiye Pond" on the page, and her mind moved.
The lake in the palace is most likely an artificial lake.
Since it is an artificial lake, there must be a water diversion channel.
Thinking of this, she wanted to go and find out what was going on immediately.
On second thought, although Xiao Chengjing hadn't explicitly ordered her to stay at home, given his suspicious nature, he would definitely send someone to secretly monitor her. If she rushed to the pool right after reading, it would be too obvious.
She had to suppress her anxiety and pretend to flip through his book.
Unfortunately, the ink words in front of my eyes moved like ants, and I couldn’t even see half a word.
So he put down the book, and walked slowly back to the palace with a lot of thoughts in his mind.
As she reached the corridor, an orange figure nimbly pounced to her feet, rubbing around her skirt and humming non-stop.
I looked down at Daju and suddenly an idea came to my mind.
Willow catkins are flying by the Taiye Lake.
"Big Orange - Big Orange - where are you - come out quickly -"
Shu Yao drew out her voice and called out timidly and tenderly.
While shouting, he looked around quietly with his peripheral vision.
Not far away, behind the rockery.
Two little palace maids in orange-yellow palace dresses were relaxing on a stone bench.
One of them, a slightly older man, raised one corner of his mouth and sneered, "Look, did you see that?" He raised his chin in the direction of Shu Yao's departure and said with disdain, "The one who just passed by was His Majesty's newly appointed Consort Shu. She had so many people following her, what a grand ceremony."
The round-faced little palace maid next to her was startled when she heard this and quickly reached out to tug at her sleeve.
"Sister, please shut up!" The round-faced maid glanced around before moving closer. "What if someone overheard you talking so recklessly?" Her eyes gleamed with a timid glint of envy and fear. "Don't you see? All those silks, satins, jewelry, and antiques in the warehouse are rushing into her palace like they've grown legs... Who can compare to this favor?"
Upon hearing this, the older maid snorted coldly, her lips curled even higher. "Winning the emperor's favor? Ha, in my opinion, it's just that His Majesty has found a new thing, and he's really treasuring it!" She deliberately emphasized the word "thing". "Have you forgotten how she entered the palace? She's just a tribute from the Li Kingdom! Does she really think she's the legitimate master? Only a few days after the Jin Kingdom was defeated, she climbed onto His Majesty's throne. Such scheming... humph!"
"That being said... she is the mistress after all." The round-faced maid hesitated, but ultimately gave in to the conversational spirit and covered her mouth with her sleeve. "The other day, my fellow townsman was on duty in the library. He followed orders and stopped her, but then he was summoned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and reprimanded for offending the noble." She shuddered as she spoke. "Who can truly understand the emperor's thoughts?"
"Offensive?" The older maid raised her eyebrows, as if she had just heard a huge joke. "She's just a tribute girl with no support. You're flattering her too much!" Her voice was low and sharp, revealing a strange sense of pride. "Your Majesty hasn't visited her for several days. You see, when the time comes..."
The older palace maid was talking excitedly when she suddenly felt something brush against her skirt. She lowered her head and met a pair of cat-like eyes. She was startled and the color drained from her face.
When he came to his senses, his pale face instantly turned red, and he kicked him, shouting: "Where did you come from, you damn beast? Get out of here!"
The big orange cat meowed in pain and scurried into the bushes with its tail between its legs.
The older maid stroked her chest, which was heaving violently, and spat fiercely at the deep bush where Daju had disappeared. "Bah! You're not even worthy of being on the stage! You're truly unlucky!"
Seeing this, the round-faced palace maid forced a smile and whispered, "My dear sister, what does a beast know?"
Just at this moment, Shu Yao came out from behind the rockery and stood quietly a few steps away.
The two palace maids were both stunned when they saw her.
His eyes swept lightly over her body.
But Shu Yao was seen wearing the dress of Xiang Fei, with only a red gold hairpin inserted diagonally in her hair.
The beads embellished with gold threads trembled slightly as she walked, clearly a style that could only be worn by concubines.
It's her?!
The two palace maids felt as if a basin of ice water was poured from head to toe, and even their heartbeats skipped a beat.
He hurriedly lowered his head, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. He didn't know how much of the outrageous words he had just heard.
Shu Yao didn't even look at the two palace maids who were shaking like sieves, and walked straight to the grass beside the rockery.
She bent down and pushed aside some grass leaves, and saw a ball of orange fur curled up there in grievance. She stretched out her arms and gently held it in her arms.
"Empress..." A soft call came from outside the rockery, with a slight breath in the voice.
Shu Yao turned her head and saw Yunxiu leading two or three palace maids hurriedly arriving. A trace of regret flashed across her eyes.
Not long after he got rid of it, he was found by them.
Yunxiu hurried forward, with sweat on her forehead.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two palace maids standing stiffly beside Shu Yao, their faces as pale as death, and he couldn't help but stop in his tracks.
Shu Yao held the big orange cat in front of Yunxiu's eyes, and said in a tone as light as a breeze: "We found it, let's go back." After that, she turned around and carried the cat towards the palace.
Along the way, she stroked the soft fur of the big orange cat from time to time, and the scenery by the Taiye Lake repeatedly appeared in her eyes.
Although there was no trace of the aqueduct, there was clearly an inconspicuous small boat tied under the corridor...
Back in the bedroom, Daju curled up on the brocade cushion listlessly, too lazy to even wag his tail.
Yunxiu brought it its favorite fish soup. It just raised its eyelids, its ears twitched slightly, and then turned its head to the side.
Shu Yao's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly leaned over to gently pick up the big orange cat in her arms, gently stroking the soft fur on its back.
Unexpectedly, when his fingertips touched a certain place, Daju trembled violently and a half-whimper came out of his throat.
Feeling something was wrong, Shu Yao carefully pushed aside the clump of fur.
But seeing a purple bruise on the big orange skin was quite horrifying.
Shu Yao's face turned cold, and she immediately raised her voice: "Chun Tao, go and ask the imperial physician!" Although she was not sure whether the imperial physician could treat the cat, it would never be wrong to ask someone to take a look.
Chuntao hurried away in response.
Shu Yao sat upright in the hall, knocking on the table anxiously.
After waiting for a long time, Chuntao still did not come back to report.
Yunxiu took a half step forward, secretly glancing at Shuyao's face, and said in a voice as low as a feather: "Your Majesty... Sister Chuntao has been gone for a while. The Imperial Physician's Office is far away, or maybe she was delayed by something. Do you think... should I go and fetch His Majesty?"
Shu Yao sneered when she heard this.
It turned out that he was waiting for her here.
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The author has something to say: I revised the outline overnight. Let me see if the rhythm has returned a little. The original outline did have the problem of a single interaction mode between the male and female protagonists. Although I like it very much, the quality of the text is more important [let me take a look]
I plan to put the deleted content in the bonus chapter, I can’t write it in vain [evil smile]
If you have any opinions, you can raise them. I don’t reject writing guidance. People always have to find problems before they can make progress [狗头]
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