Chapter 38: Cough, Climbing the Dragon Couch
At the hour of Hai, the Zichen Hall was brightly lit with candles, yet there was a silence unique to the deep palace.
Yun Zhao followed behind Xiao Jin, feeling his eyelids drooping. He couldn't help but yawn quietly. Just as he was about to stretch his stiff body,
"You don't have the demeanor of a lady from a noble family at all." Xiao Jin's voice was like a needle tempered by ice, piercing him without even turning his head. "It's already a great honor to have you serve in the imperial court."
[Dog Emperor! Is this mean streak inherited from your ancestors?!]
Yun Zhao rolled his eyes in his heart, forced himself to suppress his laziness, and followed with his head down.
No matter how tired you are, life is what matters.
The lights in the bedroom were brighter than those outside.
A woman dressed in the attire of a palace maid from the Imperial Food Bureau was standing by with her head bowed. Upon seeing Xiao Jin enter, she quickly knelt in greeting, her voice deliberately gentle and melodious, "Your Majesty, may you be well. I am Cao Suzhu, a servant from the Imperial Food Bureau. I heard that Your Majesty has not had dinner yet, and I am concerned for your health. I have prepared some light snacks. Please do me the honor of enjoying some."
Xiao Jin paused, his sharp gaze first sweeping over the plates of exquisite snacks on the table that were obviously prepared with great care, and then slowly moved to Cao Suzhu's lowered face.
The look in his eyes was as if he were looking at an unsightly ornament, icy and devoid of any warmth. He walked straight to the dragon couch and sat down, his dark dragon robe sheen shimmering dimly in the candlelight.
"Who is in charge of the Imperial Food Bureau now?" He asked, his voice not loud, but it caused the temperature in the hall to drop suddenly.
The eunuch standing by hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it's Aunt Suying."
"She will receive her salary tomorrow and leave the palace." Xiao Jin's tone was flat, but it sounded like a thunderclap.
Cao Suzhu's face turned pale as paper in an instant. She knelt down heavily with a plop. Her forehead hit the gold brick with a dull sound. Her voice was filled with tears and panic: "Your Majesty, please spare me! Your Majesty, please spare me! It was... it was Aunt Suying who sympathized with me and asked me to bring food! I... I just wanted to serve Your Majesty with all my heart!
"Oh! Aunt Suying is extremely cautious and respectful. Why would she arrange for someone to deliver snacks at this time and in this place? It's obvious that you're just trying to get into the royal bed and take a chance."
Yun Zhao watched coldly from the sidelines, understanding the situation. A few days ago, Cao Suzhu had helped Xiao Jin change clothes while he was in a good mood, and she had thought she was special.
[However... this kind of person who will do anything to achieve his goal, perhaps keeping him around... has other uses?]
Yun Zhao just had an idea.
"Yun Zhao," Xiao Jin's voice sounded again, interrupting her thoughts, "Take the others and retreat to the outer room to wait."
He paused, his eyes falling on the trembling Cao Suzhu kneeling on the ground. The corners of his lips curled up in an arc that was cold and almost cruel. "You, stay. Tonight, sleep with me."
Yun Zhao's heart was instantly overwhelmed by a huge sense of absurdity. [You dog emperor! As expected, you can't suppress your lust! Tsk!]
Not daring to show any sign on his face, Yun Zhao quickly lowered his head and said, "Yes." He led a group of eunuchs who held their breath and dared not make a sound, and retreated one after another to the back of the carved partition door connecting to the outer room.
The heavy door was not completely closed, leaving a gap that was large enough to clearly see the flickering light and shadows inside.
Cao Suzhu couldn't believe her ears! The huge ecstasy instantly dispelled her fear. She raised her head abruptly, her eyes gleaming with astonishing brilliance, and her voice was so sweet that it could drip honey: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty! I... I will undress you right away?" She crawled on her knees towards the dragon bed, her posture gentle and charming.
Xiao Jin sat on the couch, looking down at her condescendingly. There was no trace of lust in his deep eyes, only bottomless indifference and a hint of amusement.
"Look up," he ordered.
Cao Suzhu looked up as she was told. In the candlelight, her eyes were filled with just the right amount of shyness and admiration. Her face was pretty and charming, especially the slightly open neckline that revealed a small section of her snow-white neck and a faint curve.
Xiao Jin did not reach out as she wished. Instead, he pulled out a broken jade fan from his sleeve and used the cold and hard fan bones to frivolously press against Cao Suzhu's chin, forcing her to lift it higher.
His gaze was like a cold probe, slowly sweeping across her carefully groomed face and deliberately exposed skin, finally stopping on that little groove.
That look was like evaluating a commodity for sale, full of undisguised scrutiny and contempt.
He suddenly retracted the fan and uttered a word coldly from his thin lips: "Take it off."
Cao Suzhu's body stiffened, and then her face flushed with shame, but also with a hint of excitement of success.
With trembling hands, she began to unbutton her clothes one by one.
Soon, only her thin lilac-colored bellyband and panties were left in the hall. In the slightly cool air, her body trembled uncontrollably.
"Stand up." Xiao Jin's voice was calm.
Cao Suzhu stood up as she was told, stepping barefoot on the cold gold bricks. She subconsciously wanted to wrap her arms around herself to cover herself, but she didn't dare to disobey the order. She could only stand there stiffly, allowing the scrutinizing gaze to sweep over her from head to toe.
Deathly silence.
After a long moment, Xiao Jin sneered, and the laughter was particularly harsh in the silent bedroom.
He stood up, and his tall figure completely enveloped Cao Suzhu, bringing a suffocating sense of oppression.
"Just because you're such a mediocre woman," his voice was like poisoned ice, each word coming down clearly, "you dare to harbor such dirty thoughts and try to get your hands on the emperor's bed? You really don't know how to live or die!"
All the color and hope on Cao Suzhu's face disappeared in an instant!
The immense humiliation and fear made her whole body tremble like a sieve. She suddenly knelt on the ground, grabbed the clothes on the ground and hugged them to her chest, her voice broken: "Your Majesty, please spare me! I dare not! I dare not! It's just...it's just that being a palace maid is too hard, I'm bullied everywhere, so...I want to fight for a better future! I deserve to die! Your Majesty, please spare me!"
"Enough!" Xiao Jin interrupted her hypocritical sobbing with a harsh voice, his brows filled with undisguised disgust and impatience, as if even one more glance would pollute his eyes. "Get out! Get out now! If I ever see you again within a hundred steps of Yanying Palace or Zichen Palace," he paused, his voice as cold as the wind of the underworld, "I will have your hands and feet severed and thrown into the darkest well in the Ye Ting!"
Cao Suzhu felt as if she had been pardoned, but also as if she was being chased by a ghost. She rolled and crawled, holding her clothes, and almost used her hands and feet to rush out of the inner room, breaking open the partition door. With tears streaming down her face and her clothes in disarray, she disappeared into the darkness outside the hall.
Yun Zhao silently averted his gaze, sighing silently inwardly: [This Cao Suzhu, her ambition is as high as the sky, and her methods are quite ruthless. Although she suffered a great humiliation today, I'm afraid she won't give up easily as long as she's alive!]
[Tsk, the damn emperor actually spared her life? It seems... he did have some compassion? Or perhaps, just how effective is a beautiful woman's tears?]
"Yun Zhao!" Xiao Jin's voice, as sharp as a knife, pierced through the door, carrying with it lingering anger and a hint of barely perceptible fatigue. "Come in and serve!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
