Chapter 4: Cruel and ruthless, like a beast with bared fangs, very interesting
Zhao Changning smiled, squatted down and slowly admired her final miserable appearance.
"I'm just exhausted and don't want to fight, but you shouldn't think of me as a cat without claws." Her expression gradually tightened, and her tone turned cold. "I just told you that the tea was poisonous, and you still dared to drink it. You're really brave."
Zhao Changning believes that she is very strict and many people are afraid of her. She has been trying hard to maintain this, but the closer people are to her, the less afraid they are of her.
Yun Qiao's eyes were full of disbelief, as if he felt that this was impossible for Zhao Changning to do.
She tried to crawl out, mumbling incoherently, "He, he won't let you go."
Zhao Changning shook his head and sighed. This girl actually thought that Hu Gouer could protect her.
"Yun Qiao, you've followed me for so many years, how could you still be so stupid? You actually trusted a eunuch? He can even cut off his thing, let alone you, an outsider?"
"Zhao Changning, he is the seal holder and has much more power than you. He will not let you go..." Yun Qiao coughed up blood foam, his eyes red.
"Ahem, if you don't want it yourself, why don't you let others have it? Do you think you're a good person? Pah, serving an old man who is about to be buried is not much more noble than me... Why can't you let me take the lead?"
Zhao Changning looked at her with some pity. She had been by the emperor's side since she was twelve years old, a full eight years, and had experienced everything. Although she was tired and her skills had become duller in recent years, she underestimated herself.
"Whether I want it or not is my business. You are wrong to come and rob me openly. Yun Qiao, you are too stupid. Without me, you won't get far."
Yun Qiao's eyes were filled with hatred and unwillingness, blood kept flowing from the corner of her mouth. She looked into the dark void, and slowly stretched out her hand, as if she had grabbed something, holding it tightly.
"I want money, lots and lots of money. One day, I want you to kneel down before me. I want..."
Before he finished speaking, his hands suddenly loosened, and the whole person lay on the ground in a strange posture, motionless, the brocade on his body glowing moistly in the candlelight.
Zhao Changning stared at Yun Qiao's body, feeling a mixture of emotions.
Can Yun Qiao rest in peace? Can people rest in peace after death?
Yun Qiao had served in the imperial court for a long time, but had never worn such fine material. He had been suppressed by her all these years, living cautiously. Like her, he had been suppressed too harshly.
Yunsheng looked at the scene in front of him and was so scared that he collapsed to the ground. He curled up into a ball and shivered in the corner.
He was the one who brought over the cup of tea.
Zhao Changning glanced at him, his eyes dim and his tone flat, "Throw her out of the palace, and remember to deal with her cleanly."
Yunsheng trembled and said, "Aunt, I, I, I don't know how to deal with this, Aunt..."
"Oh? You don't know? It doesn't matter this time." Zhao Changning smiled softly, "But you'd better know more things so that I can see your usefulness."
Yunsheng stood up tremblingly, tears began to well up in his eyes again. He tried to move Yunqiao's body several times with shaking hands, but failed.
Zhao Changning watched coldly, then walked out the door and said to Xiao Shun, who was guarding the door, "Tell Xiao Zhi to keep an eye on him and deal with him cleanly. If she has family outside, give her more money."
Xiao Shun nodded obediently and ran off to call for help.
The night gradually deepened, and the cold wind was like a knife, blowing painfully. The female role's opera voice faded in the night sky, and the imperial city slowly quieted down.
Hu Gou'er took the time to come out and take a look, and happened to run into a palace maid who was surrounded so tightly that only her eyes could be seen. In the light of the lanterns under the eaves, she saw that the figure looked like Yun Qiao.
He yelled angrily, "Where have you been? What did I tell you before?"
"What did Eunuch Hu tell me?" Zhao Changning took off his hood and scarf and said with a smile, "I guess my memory is bad. I forgot."
Hu Gou'er's eyes shrank for a moment, "Auntie?"
Zhao Changning nodded calmly, "It's me. Eunuch Hu seems disappointed?"
Hu Gou'er had made it this far, so he was certainly no ordinary person. He chuckled and said, "Aunt, why are you here? It just so happened that the Emperor said he was itchy."
Zhao Changning brushed off her snow-stained sleeves, feeling the chill carried by the wind into her bones. She said briskly, "Then I'll go in and serve you."
Hu Gouer grabbed her, but when he saw her sharp gaze, he let go out of fear out of habit. He immediately realized that something was wrong, but unfortunately he had already lost the momentum.
"Where's Yun Qiao? She served the emperor very well today. In fact, there's no need to trouble Aunt to come all the way here."
Zhao Changning turned his head and looked at him coldly, "She won't come again."
"What do you mean?" Hu Gou'er's tone also turned cold.
He is now the seal holder and is stirring up trouble in the court. He is no longer the little eunuch who fawned on others.
"Zhao Changning, if you don't want something, can't someone else pick it up?"
Zhao Changning smiled when he heard that, his eyes full of disdain. After glancing at him lightly, he turned around and went in.
With the examples of her predecessors, she was very clear in her mind that if she took a step back and lost what she had, and let Hu Gou'er and Yun Qiao stand up, they would tear her apart like hyenas and grind her bones into ashes.
There was another thing that frightened her. It turned out that Hu Gou'er and Yun Qiao had noticed that she was distracted while serving in the imperial court.
What about the old emperor?
Hu Gou'er looked at her thin back viciously. Sure enough, this woman who appeared calm and acted like a lamb was actually a wolf.
He knew very well that Yun Qiao was most likely dead.
But he didn't expect that Zhao Changning would be so cruel and ruthless.
Perhaps the next step will be for Zhao Changning to plot against him.
Zhao Changning walked slowly into the hall, soaking his hands in warm water as usual, then hesitantly took the lotion on the side and gently rubbed it on his hands.
As soon as she entered the lattice door, she saw the emperor trembling and trying to get up.
The emperor heard the voice and coughed, "You are here."
Zhao Changning was stunned. It seemed that the emperor knew she would come?
He immediately stepped forward to support him and said softly, "Your Majesty, why did you get up?"
She then scolded the trembling palace maids standing outside, "Are you all blind? Can't you see?"
The emperor waved his hands weakly, his tone grave, "I told them not to move."
His cloudy eyes were filled with desolation. He looked at his uncontrollable hands and said dully, "I'm really old. Even moving makes me shake violently."
Zhao Changning had just experienced a bloody battle and now cherished the opportunity to serve the old emperor. People like her had no right to be confused, no right to be soft-hearted, and even less right to be disgusted.
She was afraid of Hu Gou'er. She needed the old emperor's favor and power to cover her. She had never hoped so much that the old emperor could live longer.
"Your Majesty, long live you, and you will live long live you." As she spoke, tears inexplicably flowed down her face.
She couldn't tell where the tears came from, she just felt a dull pain in her heart.
The emperor saw that she suddenly became lively and had emotions, completely different from her previous wooden and dead look. He actually smiled and slowly moved to the couch, leaning on her hand.
He saw her fear and confusion, her beautiful and gentle face with a hint of stubbornness. He couldn't help but stroke her face gently, "Are you speaking for Yun Pei for her or for yourself?"
Zhao Changning was stunned, "I..."
She didn't know, she was still confused, which made her a little discouraged.
A look of understanding flashed across the emperor's wrinkled face, and he said calmly, "Changning, there are countless people in this palace, palace maids, eunuchs, concubines. Among these people, there are those who are smarter than you, and those who are more beautiful than you are not as smart as you. Unfortunately, those who are smarter than you are not as beautiful as you, and those who are more beautiful than you are not as smart as you. Those who are both smarter and more beautiful than you are too ambitious and surround me like annoying flies. No one can make me feel as comfortable as you. I am old now, not young. Even though I am the emperor, it would be difficult for me to have someone who is completely comfortable serving me, even if I live a few more years."
Zhao Changning understood some of it, but was still confused. The emperor rarely spoke so much to her, like an elder.
She looked up and just stared, "Your Majesty, I don't understand."
The emperor smiled, looking at her with eyes that were as if he were looking at a perfect work of art painted by his own hands, satisfied and proud. "It doesn't matter if you don't understand, just serve me well."
His eyes were unusually gentle, completely different from his usual moody and strange expression, and he started to talk more.
"The women in this palace are beautiful, but they lack soul. Each one lacks animality. At first, they are all full of fighting spirit, like beasts baring their teeth, which is very interesting. But once they start competing for beauty, the animality immediately disappears. They will actively remove their claws and fangs, chasing favors, and stretching out their necks to be played with. Changning, they will not survive long in this palace."
After all, they had been together for eight years, and Zhao Changning gradually figured out what kind of person the emperor was.
She did have sharp claws and fangs at the beginning, and she fought hard to survive in the palace. Wasn't she a beast?
As expected, the emperor knew everything, even her tiredness. He probably knew that she would eventually kill Yun Qiao.
She only needs to serve him well, please him, and not make him bored, and then she can get everything.
Zhao Changning's heart was pounding. What had she done to deserve such favor from the emperor? Was it just because she served him well?
The emperor saw her expression changing constantly and felt more and more satisfied. He only had one thing in common with her, which was that she had no desire for power. How could someone have no interest in power?
Absolutely impossible. Humans definitely have animal nature, but it is hidden to varying degrees.
He wanted to make her "alive". No matter how well a wooden beauty served him, her dullness would be annoying, especially since he was old and boring.
"You are smart. After all, you have served me well. Today is your birthday. What reward do you want?"
His old voice was filled with an unquestionable majesty, "No matter what it is, I can reward it, even if it's a human."
Zhao Changning raised her head suddenly, and at that moment, several faces appeared in her mind.
She prostrated herself trembling with fear and piety, "I don't want anything. As long as I can serve you forever, I will be satisfied."
The emperor laughed, with a calculating gleam in his cloudy eyes. His wrinkled face looked like a chrysanthemum shriveled by the sun, and his tone was cold.
"Now that Yun Qiao is gone, do you want to take Hu Gou'er's life?"
The author has something to say:
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The heroine is really ruthless [holding her chin]
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